“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” – Revelation 13:1,2

As revealed to Daniel (chapter 2) and John (Revelation 17) these heads represent mountains on which the woman sits but they also represent nations that rule the world and Israel. The last kingdom portrayed in Daniel’s chapter 2 is Rome but, it is clear that Rome changes form over time – into two legs, then two feet, and finally 10 toes.

Many think of Rome as disappearing in 476 AD but it simply changed form. First it changed into two legs – the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. Then it changed into two feet which represents its ‘walking’ into many other nations such as the Germanic nations under Clovis I becoming the Holy Roman Empire. A detailed study of this can be found at From Ancient Rome until World War 1. Under Constantine Rome changed from a political power into spiritual power that influenced and controlled many of the kingdoms that would follow. Rome has the unique capacity not only to conquer other nations but also to absorb them. That is why John saw this beast as a leopard (Greece), a bear (Medo-Persia), and a lion (Babylon).

The final form of this beast will be the ten horns that John saw, or the ten toes that Daniel saw. How do I know that this will be the final form of this beast? Because Daniel sees a rock which becomes a mountain crushing the toes, feet, and entire statue, and this stone represents the kingdom of God. Also John sees the ‘little horn’ which represents the Antichrist rising out of the ten horns and being destroyed by Christ Jesus’ return to earth.

“I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” – Daniel 7:8

We are living in the time that these events are about to take place. In the next article, I will present more information that the Bible has to say about this ‘little horn’.