Daniel 7:, having an important bearing on the beast of Revelation, I will first refer to that chapter. The fourth beast, or Roman empire, is here seen in vision by Daniel from its beginning in ver. 7, to its close in ver. 26. We find in the last clause of ver. 7, that "it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns;" while ver. 8 further states:"I considered the ten 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." It is these ten horns, and the little horn, with which we shall mainly have to do when we turn to Revelation, but principally the latter.

Now Daniel, we are told in ver. 19, would know the truth of the fourth beast; and this is given in vers. 23-25,-" The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth etc., and the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." It will be seen that the ten horns and the little horn, will be in existence at the same time, and it is of some importance to be clear as to this, as the kingdom in its revived form, will comprise the ten horns and the little horn, and will commence some time before, and run on to the close of Daniel's seventieth week.

Turning now to Rev. 13:, we get John's description of the beast. "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 heads 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 throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast" (vers. 1-3). Also the last clause of ver. 5,-"And power (or authority) was given unto him to continue forty and two months."

As in Dan. 7:, so here, the beast is seen to rise out of the sea, which is generally interpreted to mean, the multitudes in an unsettled state. And it may be well to note in passing, his close similarity to the dragon from whom he derives his power etc., which chap. 12:3, supplies,-"And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns." The resemblance is striking and significant. It will also be seen that he combines in himself the leading distinctive features of the first three beasts of Dan. 7:,-viz. the leopard, the bear, and the lion; the order in which they are given in Daniel, being here reversed.

Before turning to other scriptures, it may perhaps be well to gather from those already before us, what they would seem to unfold concerning the beast. First then, Daniel's vision of the fourth beast, or Roman empire, clearly points, through the typical meaning of the ten horns, to another phase of this great empire, when it will be revived in a ten kingdom form; this we gather from chap. 7:24,-"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are" ten kings that shall arise; " from which it is evident that it looks forward to a future time. We are also told in the same verse that "another shall rise after them," foreshadowed by the little horn of ver. 8. Now it is this king, or little horn, which Rev. 13:speaks of as the beast.
In proof of this I would point to the striking similarity between the little horn of Daniel, and the beast of Revelation. Dan. 7:21 says, "The same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them." Rev. 13:7, "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them." Dan. 7:25, " And he shall speak great words against the Most High." Rev. 13:6, "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God etc."-Dan. 7:25, "And they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times and the dividing of time." (The same period spoken of in Dan. 12:7, as "time, times, and an half;" or an exact period of 3 ½ years; a Jewish year consists of 360 days.) Turning to Rev. 13:5, we get the same period of time allotted to the beast. '' And power (or authority,) was given unto him to continue forty and two months," which is equivalent to 3 ½ years (1:e., Jewish months, which consist of 30 days each.) Thus the identity of the little horn of Dan. 7:, with the beast of Rev. 13:, is complete.

There are also other features connected with the beast of Revelation which demand some consideration. In chap. 13:i, he is seen to have "seven heads," which chap. 17:9, informs us are "seven mountains." I do not interpret this, as some have done, to mean "the seven hilled city of Rome," which I consider would destroy its significant meaning; but rather as seven states, or kingdoms. Now we are told in Dan. 7:24, that "the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." As before stated, the Roman empire will be revived in a ten kingdom form, and the time of such revival will be soon after the rapture of the saints; then another king, or "the little horn," which we before saw to be identical with the beast of Rev. 13:, will arise and subdue three kings out of the ten, thus leaving seven; and I strongly incline to the belief, that these seven kings, or kingdoms, are symbolized by the "seven heads" of Rev. 13:i, and 17:9, and so identified are they with the beast, who now becomes their imperial head, that the woman, or harlot, of chap. 17:3, is seen sitting on the beast, having the seven heads and ten horns; while in ver. 9, the seven heads are viewed as seven mountains (or kingdoms) on which the woman sitteth.

It yet remains to account for the ten crowned horns of chap. 13:i, the angel's interpretation of which will be found in chap. 17:12, which reads:"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast." That these ten kings are quite distinct from "the ten kings, or horns," of Dan. 7:, is clearly evidenced by the fact that three of their number are not subdued by the beast, but rather, under the hand of God, the whole ten "agree to give their kingdom unto the beast," ver. 17, for the destruction of the harlot (papal Rome) as ver. 16, shows-"And the ten horns which thou sawest, and (not ' upon') the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."

Moreover we find these ten kings allied with the beast right up to the close of his career; this will be seen from ver. 14, where we are told-"these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them etc.," thus running on to the same time when the beast himself shall be overcome and cast alive into the lake of fire (chap. 19:20). Viewed in another way, three of the first ten kings (1:e. of Dan. 7:) are subdued by the beast, and he becomes the imperial head of the remaining seven; whereas the last ten kings, as we have seen, are the beast's allies, " giving their power and strength to him," ver. 13, and thus under this second aspect, the two are manifestly distinct the one from the other.
Reverting again to chap. 13:ver. 3 gives us another event connected with the beast. "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed:and all the world wondered after the beast." I would gather from this scripture that the beast, or imperial head, will be subjected to some very severe reverse in battle, which the words "wounded to death," would imply; and the latter clause of ver. 14, would support this view, "that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." This would seem to clearly point to a reverse in battle by the sword. But that this wound will only be partial may be gathered from the fact that, only one of his heads is seen as wounded to death, which would seem to me to imply, that his reverse will only be temporary, and his recovery so rapid, that all the world will wonder after him.

Turning to chap. 17:8, we get something further

-"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition; and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, . . . when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is," or "shall be present." This, taken in conjunction with ver. ii, "The beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." Also chap. 13:3, "And I saw one of his heads, as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast," forms an important factor in determining the identity of the beasts of the two chapters.

Reverting again to ver. ii, a difficulty presents itself as to how he (the beast) is the eighth, and yet of the seven. I think this may be explained as follows:

-The Roman empire, as we have before seen, will be revived in a ten kingdom form (the seventh phase of this great empire) three of these kingdoms being subdued by the beast, or little horn, who himself becomes the imperial head; and so it can be said of him, he is the eighth, and is of the seven. Chap. 17:10, also speaks of this seventh kingdom in the following words:"The other is not yet come; and when he cometh he must continue a short space." Why a short space ? Because the empire, 1:e., in its ten kingdom form, after a brief period of its restored existence, passes into the hands of the beast, who as its imperial head will form an eighth, which will further tend to explain the difficulty why he is the eighth, and yet of the seven.

I would here add another thought, that I believe the rider of the white horse of Rev. 6:2, is identical with the beast seen rising out of the sea in chap. 13:1; the latter showing his origin, while the former would point to the beginning of his victorious career. And if this be so, it adds force to my contention, as to "the other yet to come" of 17:10, and who continues for a short space; which I interpreted as the Roman empire in its revived, or seventh form of government. That it will only continue for "a short space" is evident as it will have ceased to exist in its ten kingdom form previous to the opening of the seals, when the rider of the white horse will have become its new imperial head. And I am more than ever convinced that it is in this last phase it is seen in chaps. 13:and 17:, and in no sense retrospective, as some have viewed it.

I might just add, for the sake of clearness, that where I have used the words, "the beast," throughout my remarks in connection with chaps, 13:and 17:, I have done so to preserve the scripture appellation, but in almost every instance it must be interpreted to mean the imperial head of the revived Roman empire. The empire may, in one or two instances, be associated with the head symbolically.

To these remarks I add a brief history of the beast:

I. The little horn of Dan. 7:8, 24. 2. The one who shall confirm a covenant with the mass of the Jewish people, and cause their sacrifice and oblation to cease in the midst of the week (Dan. 9:27).
3. The rider of the white horse commencing his career of conquest (Rev. 6:2). 4. First seen to arise out of the sea, (1:e., the multitudes in an unsettled state) and characterized by seven heads and ten horns (Rev. 13:i). The seven heads symbolizing seven mountains (chap. 17:9), 1:e., states or kingdoms, of which he becomes the imperial head. The ten horns symbolizing the ten kings of chap. 17:12, but wholly distinct, as I have shown, from the ten kings of Dan. 7:24. And here I would add an additional reason in support of this. The ten kings of Rev. 17:12, it will be seen, had "received no kingdom as yet," (ver. 12), whereas the ten kings of Dan. 7:24, were already reigning previous to the beast coming into power, for it is three of their number whom he subdues before he becomes the imperial head; whereas these latter ten kings, none of whom are subdued, "give their power and strength to the beast," (ver. 13), and are allied with him to the close of his eventful career. 5. Identified with the dragon (Satan), by the seven heads and ten horns, compare chap. 12:3. 6. Possesses the leading distinctive features of the first three beasts of Dan. 7:, and derives his power from Satan (chap. 13:3). 7. Receives a severe shock in his military career, described in chap. 13:3, as "one of his heads as it were wounded to death," see also last clause of ver. 14. I believe we get the symbol of this in the eighth chapter under the fourth trumpet, compare also chap. 17:8, 2:8. Becomes an object of Worship, (chap. 13:4, 8). 9. Becomes a blasphemer of God, and his name and temple and them that dwell in heaven, (chap. 13:6; compare Dan 7:25). 10. Makes war with the saints (chap. 13:7; compare Dan. 7:21). II. Upon the sounding of the sixth trumpet his time of power will be limited to forty-two months, or 3 ½ years, (chap. 13:5), being the same period as the two witnesses of chap. 11:3, whom he will overcome and kill (ver. 7). 12. Will favor the Antichrist, who will cause an image of the beast to be set up and worshiped (chap. 13:14, 15). 13. Will ultimately be associated with the harlot of chap. 17:, see vers. 2, 7, 9, and subsequently under the hand of God, aided by the ten kings of chap. 17:12, will destroy the harlot (1:e., papal Rome) see vers. 16, 17. 14. Finally assisted by the ten kings and others, will make war with the Lamb (chap. 16:13, 14; 17:12-14; 19:19). 15. His doom will be cast alive into the lake of fire (chap. 19:20).
H. M.