Verses 11-14

 

Verse 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Beast = Nation see Dan 7:23 “Thus he said, The fourth shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth..."Earth = Less populated area as opposed to “water” which represents populated areas

See Rev 17:15 “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

Lamb = Jesus

Dragon = Satan

Therefore the text says, John saw another nation that began in a unpopulated area. This Nations has two powers (horns) that are Christ ordained but does and says things that are Satan ordained.

The United States began in an unpopulated area of the world. It had two Christ like characteristics (1) Freedom of Religion and (2) Rule of Law, “Justice for All“. It is also speaking like Satan – Force.

Civil and religious liberty would be characteristic. It needs no argument to show that this is precisely the profession of the American government. Article IV, sec. 4, of the Constitution of the United States reads in part: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government." Article VI: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." The First Amendment to the Constitution begins as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." These articles profess the amplest guaranty of civil and religious liberty, the entire and perpetual separation of church and state. What better symbols of them could be given than "two horns like a lamb"? In what other country can be found a condition of things which would represent so completely this feature of the symbol?

Republican in Form.--The two-horned beast, with a noticeable absence of crowns upon its horns, symbolises a nation with a republican form of government. A crown is an appropriate symbol of a kingly or dictatorial form of government, and the absence of crowns, as in this case, would suggest a government in which the power is not vested in any such ruling member, but is lodged in the hands of the people.

But this is not the most conclusive proof that the nation here symbolised is republican in its form of governmentThe Constitution on which it was founded guarantees "a republican form of government," as shown above. This constitutes another link in the chain of evidence that this symbol applies to the United States of America. There is no other government to which anyone could reasonably think of applying this symbol.

The power symbolised by the two-horned beast must be some nation distinct from the powers of the Old World.

It must arise in the Western Hemisphere.

It must be seen assuming a position of prominence and influence about the year 1798.

It must rise in a peaceful and quiet manner, not augmenting its power and expanding its territory, as other nations have done, by aggressive wars and successful conquests.

Its progress must be so evident as to strike the beholder with as much wonder as would be the perceptible growth of an animal before his eyes.

It must be republican in its form of government.

It must be Protestant in its religion.

It must exhibit before the world, as an index of its character and the elements of its government, two great principles which are in themselves perfectly just, innocent, and lamblike.

It must perform its work after 1798.

We have seen that of all these specifications, it can be said that they are conclusively met in the history of the United States thus far; and that they are not met in the history of any other nation. It is therefore impossible to apply the symbol of Revelation 13: 11 to any other nation than the United States of America.

To Speak as a Dragon.--As we come to the third beast, with two horns like a lamb, it is declared that he "spake as a dragon." This can only mean that at some time his nature changes from that of a lamb to that of a dragon, that he speaks as a dragon, and that he does the same kind of work as the dragon before him.

Permit us to say at this juncture that it is with much pain that we contemplate a nation arising so peaceably and devoted to such noble principles of government, taking on the nature of the beasts that preceded it, and in doing so descending to the role of persecutor of God's people. We have no other choice, however, but to be guided in our study by the divinely inspired outline so plainly given us in the prophecy. Since the United States is the power denoted by the symbol that speaks as a dragon, it follows that it will enact unjust and oppressive laws against the religious belief and practice of its citizens so that it may be justly called a persecuting power.

 

Verse 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

To Exercise Persecuting Power.--Not only does this nation speak as a dragon, but it is declared that he also "exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him." Looking back a little, we find that the first beast before him is the leopard, a symbol of the papacy. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that a so-called Protestant nation will exercise the persecuting power of the papacy, and thereby become pseudo-Protestant

The exercise of this power takes the form of causing the people in his jurisdiction "to worship the first beast," the papacy. The Greek word for "worship" used here is a very significant one. It is from the simple verb, kuneo, "I kiss," compounded with a preposition to indicate that the kiss is directed toward someone--in this case the papacy, or its titular head the pope. It is ordinarily translated "do obeisance to, bow down to," and is used by the Septuagint in Nebuchadnezzar's decree to all "people, nations, and languages" to "fall down and worship the golden image" he had set up in the plain of Dura. Daniel 3: 4, 5. Such "worship" must mean to submit to the authority and decree of the one to whom obeisance is made. This is the picture given in the prophecy of the "worship" given to the papacy by a so-called Protestant people.

Verse 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Verse 13 And he (2 horn beast i.e. United States) manifest great power making fire (destruction) come down from the sky, seen by many people.

Verse 14 The United States seduces the other nations and people by there miraculous weapons and technological powers. The United States leads in forming a religion that copies immolates the Roman Church.

We should now also ascertain by what means the miracles in question are wrought, for Revelation 16: 13, 14 refers to "the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world."

In predicting events to occur just before His second coming, the Saviour says: "There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matthew 24: 24. Here again are wonders foretold, wrought for the purpose of deception, so powerful that were it possible even the very elect would be deceived by them.

Thus we have a prophecy (and there are many others) setting forth the development in the last days of a wonder-working power, manifested to a startling and unprecedented degree to propagate falsehood and error. The "spirits of devils" were to go forth to "the whole world," but the nation with which this development is especially connected in Revelation 13, is that represented by the two-horned beast, or false prophet. We must therefore conclude that the prophecy calls for such a work as this in America. Do we find anything like it at the present time?

There is a widespread belief and teaching current among all classes of society, that when a man dies and his body is laid away in the grave, an immortal "spirit" or "soul" within him does not really die, but soars away to its place of reward or punishment. This belief naturally leads one to ask, "If disembodied spirits are alive, why may they not communicate with us?" There are thousands who believe that they can and do, and who claim to have communication with departed friends.

But the Bible, in the most explicit terms, assures us that the dead are wholly inactive and unconscious until the resurrection; that the dead know not anything (Ecclesiastes 9: 5); that every operation of the mind has ceased (Psalm 146: 4); that every emotion of the heart is suspended (Ecclesiastes 9: 6); and that there is neither work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, where they lie (Ecclesiastes 9: 10). Whatever intelligence, therefore, comes claiming to be what from the word of God we know he is not. That our dead friends do not return to us is shown in 2 Samuel 12: 23, where David says of his dead child, "Now he is dead, . . . I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." Any such intelligence that comes to us cannot be a good angel, for angel's of God do not lie. Spirits of devils do lie, and this has been their work ever since the first lie about dying was told by their leader in Eden, "Ye shall not surely die," when the Lord had said plainly to Adam, "Thou shalt surely die." Genesis 3: 4; 2: 17.

Also fire is symbolic at time of the Holy Spirit and we see a movement of false manifestations of the Holy Spirit such as faith healing and speaking in tongue. This movement began in the United State and spread to the World.