The Leopard Beast Revelations- (13:1–10) Whereas ch. 12 described the Dragon as Gods enemy, ch. 13 identifies two beasts as enemies of the church who ally themselves with the state against the saints. Ch. 13 lifts up the theme of conflict and demonstrates Johns application of the OT to the first-century crisis. John condensed the four beasts of Dan 7 into this leopard beast. Daniels lion, bear, leopard, and terrible fourth beast furnish the physical features for Johns leopard beast (13:1-2).It seems that John believed that the historical crises of the Jews during the persecutions of Antiochus IV of Syria were being repeated and fulfilled during Domitians reign. Thus John turned to Daniel as a scriptural basis for understanding what was happening. His visions update Daniel for the first Christian century. The leopard beast commits blasphemy, has dominion over the earth, is worshiped, and makes war on the saints (13:1, 5, 6). These evil deeds recall the misdeeds of Antiochus IV as recorded in Dan 7:21-25. John mentions the leopard beasts authority (13:2, 4, 5, 7) and power. These words, the actions of the beast, and the revision of Dan 7 suggest, as Beasley-Murray concludes, that the beast represents “the deification of secular authority” The leopard beast represents the Roman emperor Domitian.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:51:02 +0000
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