Revelation 13:2
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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.
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