July 21: PROPHETIC PARALLEL #12
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. Revelation 13:11
The twelfth parallel between Revelation 13 and the latter part of Daniel focuses on the Glorious Land and the undermining of its principles. It is important to note the development of the symbolism here. Earlier in Daniel chapter 11, the Glorious Land refers to the land of Israel (see v.16); the land flowing with milk and honey given to the Israelites after their desert wanderings. From there, the beacon of God’s salvation would shine forth to the world, through an obedient people blessed by God. If only they had lived up to what they believed (Exodus 19:8; Deuteronomy 5:27), even their health would have been protected (Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 7:15).
Instead, the children of Israel fell into repeated cycles of falling away from God, realizing their folly, experiencing His forgiveness, and falling away again. Fast forward to the two centuries prior to the Messiah’s arrival. Pagan Rome, under Satan’s dominion (see Revelation 12:4), permeated the land of God’s people: …no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power (v.16b). After the nation of Israel, as a corporate entity, rejected Jesus (Acts 7:57), Christ’s followers scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Their quest for peace and safety was punctuated with witnessing opportunities. Ironically, pagan Rome’s persecution of Christians caused the faith to spread like wildfire! But when Satan changed his strategy and joined the church, compromise moved in like a camel into a tent.
This negative influence from within went to work. The very principles meant to distinguish the church from the world were undermined. Papal Rome, thoroughly mingled with paganism, became the “established” church, and the remnant of true believers became the wilderness church (Revelation 12:6,14).
Today, many Christians recognize North America as a haven of religious freedom. Pilgrims who had escaped the corruption of the Roman church carried in their hearts the principle of free choice based upon love for God, the essence of the first four Commandments. The United States came up out of the earth and was established upon lamblike principles. The two horns like a lamb have been the glory of our nation: religious liberty and civil power existing side-by-side (see Matthew 22:20-22). But prophecy tells us that the beast out of the sea will enter our country (the beast out of the earth) and interfere with this separation of church and state. For he desires to unite church and state, thus harnessing civil power to enforce worship. When this occurs, our nation will speak like a dragon. Daniel wrote: He [the king of the North] shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown (Daniel 11:41a). The end of Daniel and Revelation 13 focus on the Glorious Land as having two horns like a lamb, and both show the undermining of the lamblike principles as the great downfall of the once glorious place of God’s beacon to the world.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:26-27