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2 And [kai] the beast [therion] which [hos] I saw [eido] was [en] like [homoios] unto a leopard, [pardalis]
and [kai] his [autos] feet [pous] were as [hos] the feet of a bear, [arktos]
and [kai] his [autos] mouth [stoma] as [hos] the mouth [stoma] of a
lion: [leon] and [kai] the dragon [drakon] gave [didomi] him [autos] his [autos] power, [dunamis] and [kai] his [autos] seat, [thronos] and [kai] great [megas] authority. [exousia] KJV-Interlinear
2 And the
beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear,
and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and
his throne and great authority. NASB
John mentions the animals
of Daniels vision, in reverse order, Dan. 7:3-7.
The three animals
represent the empires of Babylon (lion), Persia, (bear), and Greece (leopard).
These three representing
the fierceness and strength, and speed respectively of those three empires.
Daniel listed them in
chronological order as they would appear in history, and John listed them in
reverse order as he was looking back in time.
John did not list Rome
in his grouping, because Rome was a transitory empire, from the Old Testament
into the Church Age. The anti-christs empire will not occur within our
dispensation, but rather will occur after the Rapture of the Church.
The next fierce empire,
more despicable than the former empires, will incorporate all of their
characteristics, and will be the last the final empire and attempt of Satan, to
accomplish his purpose.
Satan is the author and
designer of these empires, and the last empire of the Tribulation, will be the
best of his evil handiwork, making it the most terrible empire in all of human
history.
Throughout all of human
history, it has been Satan who has been at the helm of nation building, and
nation destroying.
The anti-christ will be
no different, having no inherent power or authority of his own, his foundation
and call to glory comes strictly from Satan and from no other source.
Satan does not work his
evil directly, but through the proxy of human interaction as a surrogate for
his evil. This Satan accomplishes through deceit, through confusion, through
ambiguity, and especially through human indifference toward truth.
The evil of the
Tribulation is not an anomaly that happens to occur at the end of history, but
is the result of a long and drawn out plan of Satan. And being indifferent
toward God, Christ, truth and the legitimate spiritual life, most people adhere
to the plan of Satan, without realizing it.