Within the Bible books of Daniel and Revelation a destructive creature or beast is described.  What is the significance of these prophetic visions?  What is the purpose of these writings to use animals as symbols of something greater?  Do these God inspired writings pertain to current events?  Using the scriptures it is possible to accurately answer these questions.

Prophecies of the Bible were given through visions and dreams, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, to selected individuals who recorded this information in written form (2 Peter 1:20, 21).  These prophecies use symbolic words that can be explained by comparing some scriptures with other scriptures in the Bible.  For example, Daniel 7:17 explains what a Beast is: "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth."  Compare this scripture with Daniel 7:23 "…the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms…"  Using these references, we can easily determine that a Beast is a kingdom or government.  The prophecy given to John, titled "Revelation" in the Bible, also speaks of a Beast.  This Beast is a government that will rule over the entire earth (Revelation 13:8,14-16).  This Beast is known as the United Nations.  Using the scriptures below, we can prove how this symbolic term of "Beast" represents the United Nations.

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Daniel 2:36-44  The fourth kingdom is made of iron and clay.  It is partly strong and partly broken.  In this scripture, the iron subdues all things.  In verse 44, Jehovah God sets up His kingdom.  Supposing verses 40-43 were describing historical events of long ago, how would God have set up His kingdom after the 4th kingdom of man was broken?  Many people believe that the prophecies written long ago pertained to that time only.  But if that were true in this scripture, God's kingdom would be ruling on earth right now, because His kingdom would have consumed all kingdoms, including the 4th and final kingdom of mankind.  God's righteous kingdom rules after destroying the last government of man.  God's kingdom is not ruling now, and therefore the 4th kingdom, described in Daniel, has not taken power.  This scripture is a prophecy of a government to come.

Daniel 7:3-7, 23  The fourth Beast has iron teeth, and is different from all other kingdoms.  The prophecy here uses animals to describe the different governments.  The United States, Great Britain, and Russia have power over the earth prior to the United Nations' rule.  Notice in verse 7 that this Beast has 10 horns, which represents complete authority, 10 being a complete number for man.

Revelation 13:1-4  At the beginning of its authority, this Beast looks like the United States, Great Britain, and Russia.  These are the same governments spoken of in Daniel chapter 7, but this Beast has ten horns with crowns upon them, meaning it has complete authority over the earth.  All nations will give their allegiance to the United Nations, some now and some in the time to come.

Revelation 17:7-13  Notice that this Beast has ten horns, just as the Beast described in Daniel 7:7 does.

Further Study and Research

After completing this study, you should be able to recognize that the following words can symbolize equal meanings:

Seven heads = seven mountains = kingdom/government

Beast = kingdom/government

Horn = king/ruler/one with authority

Additional references regarding this topic:

Matthew 24:15
Mark 13:14
Daniel 9:27
Daniel 11:31
Daniel 12:11
Daniel 8:13, 14
Revelation 13:14-18
Revelation 17:1-3
Revelation 14:9,10
Revelation 19:19-21