The Ancient Régime
The Beast of Revelation embodies the ancient imperial power that has stalked the saints since the Tower of Babel incident. History is littered with the remains of past attempts by tyrants
and empires to dominate peoples and territories. Each new imperial power may
experience initial success. However, all past empires have floundered,
declined, and collapsed in the end. The Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar
and Caesar’s imperial realm, for example, ceased to exist thousands of years
ago.
Unfortunately, this imperial effort continues from generation
to generation. Today, we find the latest incarnation of this Ancient Régime
marching across the globe, imposing its will through military threats and
economic control, seducing Christians, and subjugating nations and peoples.
![]() |
[Roman columns - Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash] |
This raises the question - Why? Why does this pattern repeat? Why do men embrace corruption and tyrannical power time and again despite the lessons of History? Is humanity incapable of learning? That is the cynic’s answer. Or perhaps nefarious groups of conspirators are working behind the scenes from one generation to the next to impose a New World Order.
The Bible provides another explanation. There is a conspiracy in
operation, but it is under the control of the Devil in his continuing war against
the Creator of all things. His tactics, tools, and puppets may vary, and he rebrands
ideologies as needed, but his objective remains the same - To destroy the
people of God.
In the Book of Daniel, the Babylonian Empire is called
the “Land of Shinar,” a reference to the first attempt at global
government as recorded in the Book of Genesis, the Tower of Babel
incident.
Like that first Mesopotamian Kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar tried to impose
one language on the many peoples of his domain. Moreover, he erected a great high
“image” measuring six cubits in width and sixty cubits in height. He installed
it in the “plain” outside the city where he assembled representatives of
all the peoples of his realm to pay homage to his majesty and sovereignty –
(Genesis 11:1-9, Daniel 1:1-4, 3:1-9).
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great image composed of four sections
of different materials. Its golden head represented Nebuchadnezzar, and the
remaining sections symbolized three kingdoms that rose in succession after him
- (Daniel 2:1-48).
Nebuchadnezzar saw only one figure in his dream,
only one imperial system. Each of the four kingdoms was a part of this single whole.
The Kingdom of God represented by the “stone cut without hands from a
mountain” struck the image on its feet, turning the entire edifice into
dust - all four kingdoms perished together.
The same reality is portrayed in the seventh chapter of Daniel
where the prophet sees four “beasts” ascending in succession from the
sea. They symbolize kingdoms, beginning with Babylon. The first three possess the
characteristics of known animals – the lion, the bear, and the leopard –
(Daniel 7:1-25).
The fourth Beast is so horrific it has no analog in the animal
kingdom. It is a monstrosity with “ten horns… diverse” from its three predecessors.
This Beast wages “war on the saints,” and for a time, “it prevails
against them.” Nevertheless, the fourth kingdom is destroyed when “judgment
is made for the saints” by the “Ancient of days,” and the saints then
“possess the Kingdom.”
Despite their demise, the lives of the first three “beasts” or kingdoms continue in
the fourth realm. “But a lengthening of life was given to them” until
the fourth kingdom is thrown down and “given to the burning fire.” As in
the second chapter of Daniel, the entire structure is destroyed at once, and all four kingdoms perish at the same time.
THE BEAST FROM THE SEA
In the Book of Revelation, Satan is the “Ancient
Serpent” determined to destroy the “woman” and her “Son.”
This echoes the story in the Book of Genesis where the “Serpent”
tempts Eve in the Garden.
However, though the “Dragon” bites the heel of the messianic
“son” in Revelation, the Son defeats Satan when God raises him to
His “Throne” and installs him as the “Shepherd of the nations.”
The context makes clear the “Son” is Jesus Christ. He “overcame”
the Devil through his Death and Resurrection and so he now reigns as the “Ruler
of the Kings of the Earth” from the Divine Throne - (Revelation 1:4-7, 5:5-14,
12:1-17).
The “Dragon” is expelled from Heaven and loses his
prosecutorial powers. However, he is not yet finished and sets out to “wage
war” against the “Seed of the Woman, those who have the Testimony of
Jesus.” He is next seen standing on the seashore as he summons his “seed”
from the Sea, the “Beast” with seven heads and ten horns, and the “Beast
from the Earth,” the False Prophet - (Revelation 13:1-18).
This “Beast from the Sea” has the same characteristics
as Daniel’s four “beasts from the sea” – the “ten heads,” the
leopard, the bear, and the lion. However, the four animals ascend from the sea in
reverse order from Daniel’s vision, and John sees only one creature, not four. This
monster combines the features of Daniel’s four separate beasts. It is related
to them, but it is also something beyond them, and presumably, far worse.
John’s single “Beast” exercises all the authority of
the “Dragon.” Satan is the power behind the Imperial Throne, and the “Beast”
uses the Devil’s authority to “wage war against the saints, and to overcome
them and kill them.” This last clause echoes the language from Daniel
when the “Little Horn” waged war against the saints - (Daniel 7:21, Revelation
13:7).
The preferred weapon of the “Beast” is economic control. It sanctions any man who refuses to give allegiance to its image. The Ancient Régime demands the level of loyalty that belongs to God alone. All men who resist it are excluded from the economic life of society. No man may “buy or sell” without the Beast’s “Mark” or “Number,” 666.
The “Beast from the Sea” is allied with “Babylon,
the Great Whore” who has been seducing the nations since the beginning. In Revelation,
Babylon is integral to world commerce. No kingdom or empire can attack and
suppress God’s people without her economic control – (Revelation 18:1-23).
This Régime is something the world has seen many times. Its “seven
heads” represent seven “kingdoms.” By the time of John’s vision,
five had fallen, and the sixth was alive and well. It symbolized the Roman
Empire – (Revelation 17:7-12).
Yet Rome has fallen since that time. At some point, the world
will see the rise of the last and seventh “kingdom.” It will be the “seventh,”
but it also will be an “eighth.” It will be from the same lineage as its
predecessors but also something different and even more dangerous than its
predecessors to those who refuse to give homage to the Beast or its image.
This final incarnation of the Ancient Régime will include
the combined ambitions and inhumanity of its predecessors - Egypt, Assyria,
Persia, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, only now fueled by the rage of the “Dragon”
as he lashes out at the people of God in his death throes.
Throughout human history, there has
been one imperial power driven by Satan to pursue his objective of destroying
the people of God. History repeats because the “Dragon” has pushed the
same agenda since the beginning. While its form varies.
Today, we see a vast imperial power
once again marching across the globe, a government that uses economic sanctions
against nations, peoples, and individuals, anyone who does not acknowledge it
as supreme overlord. It manifests the characteristics of its predecessors, especially
those of Rome and Caesar.
Will the latest iteration of the Ancient
Régime become the “seventh” and final kingdom? Only time will tell. Empires
come and go, and they often fall suddenly and unexpectedly. Nevertheless, it
would be foolish to ignore the dangers posed by this latest “Beast,” and
it is lurking in plain sight as it once more stalks the saints.
[PDF Copy]
SEE ALSO:
- Loving Caesar - (The Inhabitants of the Earth willingly venerate the Beast and take its mark, and even believers are not immune from its allurements)
- Lamb or Beast - (The Inhabitants of the Earth refuse to follow the Lamb, choosing instead to swear allegiance to the Dragon and his Beast)
- The Choice - (Humanity is divided into two, and only two, groups, the followers of the Lamb and the devotees of the Beast)
- L'Ancien Empire - (La Bête de l'Apocalypse incarne l'ancienne puissance impériale qui persécute les saints depuis la Tour de Babel)
Comments
Post a Comment