CONSIDER ALL THE EVIDENCE
Both Daniel and John see beasts rise from the sea. Dan. 7:2-8, Rev. 13:1-3. Are these the same beasts? To be certain our identification of the beasts is accurate we must examine the scriptures which describe them and their conduct. It is written, "By their fruit ye shall know them."

THE FATE OF THE BEAST
The Lord destroys the beasts of Revelation Chapter 13 when He returns. 2 Thes. 2:8, Rev. 19:11-21, 20:10-15. The Lord destroys the beasts of Daniel's Seventh Chapter when He returns. Dan. 2:44-45, 7:9-11, 8:25, 9:27, 11:45. Mal. 4:1, Jer. 51:25.

THE BEAST MAKES WAR
The beast of Daniel's Seventh Chapter makes war against the Saints. 7:21, 25, 8:10-11, 24, 25. 11:31-35. The beast of John's Thirteenth Chapter makes war against the Saints. 13:7, 15, 11:7, 6:9-11, 17:11-14 and 20:7-9.

THE BEAST BLASPHEMES GOD
The beast seen by John "opened his mouth in blasphemy against God." 13:5-6. The beast seen by Daniel committed blasphemy against God. 7:8, 20, 25, 11:36.

The evidence is irrefutable. The beasts of Daniel and John are the same beasts.

ACCOUNT FOR DESCRIPTIONS
If the beasts are the same beasts, we have a question. "Why do John and Daniel describe the beasts differently?" The difference in descriptions could be caused by the difference in the personality, experience, training and education of the two men. Daniel was educated and wise, trained in the interpretation of visions. John was not formally educated and had no known experience in the interpretation of visions.

VIEW POINT
However, there is another reason for the differences in their accounts of the Beast. This is the vantage, the view point, the place in time and history from which they witnessed the rise of the Beast. Daniel saw these visions some 2,300 years before the beasts rose from the sea. He was looking forward in time, from his place on earth, as he watched each beast rise and submit to Satan. John, on the other hand, sees these visions from Heaven. He sees these events from timeless eternity, is looking back into human history, and thus sees the Beast after it has consolidated from the smaller beasts.

SEE, AND COMPREHEND
Because these beasts all exist during the lifetime of that generation who witnessed the return of Israel to Jerusalem, and these same nations must be destroyed at The End, we should be able to recognize which beast represents which nation.

ROME AND CO-RULERS
Revelation 13:1. "...And I saw a beast rise up out of the sea..." This is the European Common Market Nations, ruled by Satan. 13:3, 13, 15. 20:7-9. Dan. 7:2-8, 8:9, 24-25, 11:21-22. The empire which will rule the world at the time of The End is, like Medo-Persia and Greece, a combination of several nations. The first empire to rule the world was made up of several nations: Babylon, Assyria and Chaldea. The Medes and Persians combined to defeat Babylon. The army of Babylon was given a choice: swear allegiance to the new King, or die. So the victor assimilated the military and everything else, and several nations became an Empire. Greece under Alexander, and then Rome, were also combinations of nations. Dan. 2:37-39, 8:4-8, 11:5-9.

And, so it is today. The empire of Russia (Gog and Ma-Gog) is today made up of several nations. The British Empire is more than one nation, her military forces consists of men from several of nations. The military of the United States of America includes men from subject nations.

Verse 2: "...The leopard... Bear... Lion..." As the empires of Greece and Rome were made of several nations, the Empire of the Beast in these last days consists of a group of ten nations: the European Common Market-NATO Alliance Nations.

The Bear, Leopard and Lion will submit to the Dragon's rule. Dan. 7:1-7, 12. Rev. 17:13. These nations have consumed smaller nations. The Lion is the United States of America (Babylon) and the smaller nations which she rules. The Leopard is China, the Kings of the East and those Asian nations which she rules. The Bear is Russia, the Kings of the North, Gog and Ma-Gog, and the nations she has consumed. Daniel 7:1-12.

What we see described by Daniel and John, then, is every nation on the face of this earth today brought to do battle against God's people as they gather in Israel. Isa. 34:1-4.

A BODY PREPARED FOR SATAN
Verse 3: "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death..." "Heads..." That is, one of the leaders of this group of nations (King or President) will suffer an assassination attempt. This will be the Leader of Greece. Rev. 17:11, Micah 5:5, Zec. 11:8, 15-17. However, he will not die, as Satan will enter into and possess his body. John 13:27.

Verse 4: "...They worshiped..." And so the Dragon will rise up to rule the world in person. Dan. 11:21, Nah. 1:14.

Verse 5: "...A mouth speaking great things..." He will make claims and promises which he cannot prove or keep. In the garden of Eden he promised mankind they would not die and would be as gods--he still does. "...blasphemy against God." Slander, lies: Evolution, the Big Bang Expanding Universe Theory and Relativity. Dan. 7:8, 25, 11:32-38.

"And power is given him to continue forty and two months." He will absolutely rule the world absolutely for three and a half years. Dan. 7:23-25.

SOPHISTRY
Verse 6: "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God." One of his lies is, "God is a deceiver because He said He created Adam and Eve full grown and mature." "How," Satan asks, "can God claim to be honest if He created a stratified rock, or light before stars?" Sophistry! Intelligent and well educated men wrestle with, and are defeated by, such babble. See pp. 135 and 143.

IN THE MIDST OF THE WEEK
Verse 7: "It was given unto him to make war with the Saints." 6:9-11, 11:7. Dan. 7:21, 8:10, 11:31-35. Satan used the Magi in an attempt to get the government (Herod) to murder Y'Shua at His birth, just as he had used the government of Egypt to kill Moses. He will now use Modern Scientists in murdering Christians.

REJECT GOD, WORSHIP SATAN
Verse 8: "...All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book." Malachi 3:16.

Verse 9: "If any man have an ear, let him hear." Those who love the Truth will hear and will understand.

HAVE PATIENCE
Verse 10: "He that leadeth into captivity... he that killeth with the sword..." Faith in The Word of God is the foundation of patience. Patience founded upon faith cannot be shaken. Justice comes.

THE FALSE CHURCH
Verse 11: "And I beheld another beast coming up... he had two horns..." Alexander was the horn of the goat. The Pope is the horn of the Catholic Church. Thus, two false christs (one will die, or take an early retirement) will rule the End Time (False) Religious Establishment. 1 Tim. 3:1-7, 4:1-3.

"Like a lamb..." The Lamb is the Messiah. This beast is like a lamb. Therefore the "horns" are false Christs who lead Satan's religious establishment. This is the World Council of Churches taken over by the New Age Movement, ruled by Satan. Those who refuse to join this false church and worship him will be killed.

"Spake as a dragon..." Satan is the dragon. The horns speak like Satan. Sophistry, the philosophy of religion and ancient Babylonian science. Luke 1:69, Mat. 24:24.

SATAN'S POWER
Verse 12: "He exerciseth all the power of the first beast.." "He" is the horn of the false church. The first beast is Satan. The head of the church will use Satan's power, like the magicians of Egypt. Exo. 7:11. "Cause craft to prosper..." Magic and witchcraft grow in darkness. Dan. 8:25.

"And causeth... them ...to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." The false christ will force mankind to worship the ruler of Rome, as men did in Babylon and Rome. Dan. 3:5-6, 11:32, Mat. 24:15.

Verse 13: "...Great wonders..." False signs and lying miracles. Exo. 7:12.

Verse 14: "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth..." Do not be deceived. Mat. 24:4, 5, 11, 24. "Make an image of the beast..." Dan. 3:1-6. Yes, Satan has done it before, and will do it again. We are the generation who will see it: be it plastic statue, three dimensional television or computer generated laser hologram.

The lamb-like beast depicted in Revelation 13:11-12 is "they" of Daniel 11:31. These are the false Christs who lead Satan's one-world religious establishment. "They shall place the abomination..." Rev. 13:14-15.

Verse 15: "And he had power to give life unto the image..." Real life, or just real enough to deceive those who do not love the Truth. Satan will execute us if we will not worship the beast. Dan. 3:8-11.

SATAN'S MARK
Verse 16: "...To receive a mark." Why? God has marked all those who believe in Him. Why? The Lord knows who belongs to Him, so the mark would not seem to be for His benefit. It is a spiritual mark, so the man of flesh cannot see it. There would seem to be only one reason for the mark of God. So the angels of God and the spirits who serve Satan can recognize followers of their respective masters. The angels of God will help His servants. The evil spirits will make war against the servants of God. Rev. 9:4.

Why, then, would Satan need to mark all of his followers? So his followers can tell each other from Christians? Possibly. But there is another reason. At the time of the birth of Y'Shua, the Emperor of Rome sent out a proclamation that the world should be (enrolled) numbered. Why? So all the world could be taxed. Luke 2:1-3, Dan. 11:20.

REFUSE THE MARK
Verse 17: "That no man might buy or sell..." No man can use money (not earn it, save it or spend it) without paying taxes on it. However, there is another reason: Control. Those who refuse to accept the number of the Beast will not be able to buy food or medicine. We will not have any way to collect retirement funds or Social Security benefits, or pay our house payments.

This is economic war against Christians. The Beast will make war against the Saints by forcing them to sell their soul for a shot of insulin or penicillin--or die.

We will give our testimony in sackcloth and ashes.

UNDERSTANDING IS A GIFT
Verse 18: "Here is wisdom..." Wisdom comes from the Lord, it is a gift. He will give you the wisdom to recognize the number of the Beast so you won't be fooled into accepting it. It is the "number of a man." Does this mean every man will have the same number? "...his number is 666."

It does not seem to be practical for every man to wear the same number. That would not make it any easier to tax all the world, nor would it help regulate buying and selling. Those tasks would be easier if each man had his own number. According to the I.R.S. or Social Security, for example, the number of a man is 572-52-1516.

The practice of Numerology has been used in attempts to figure out the number 666. According to that "science" all letters have a number. All numbers are added together and reduced to one number and its corresponding letter. Thus 666 is equal to 18 which equals 9 which is "I." (Selfish Egotism.)

However, there is another possibility. 666 is Six Hundred, Sixty and Six. That is, it is three sets of numbers: hundreds, tens and units. Three sets of numbers is the number of a man.

The technology already exists by which each man can be recognized by palm print or blood vein pattern of the eye, by laser and computer. "On the hand, or the fore head..." All that remains to be done, is to match each man's number and financial information to these patterns by computer. Mankind just needs to be enrolled. We still have time to refuse. 1 Peter 4:12.