>>20225651God's foolishness is better than man's wisdom.
>>20225649Why do you say it has been edited, or changed? As far as I know the Revelation book has remained same since the earliest centuries and there are early copies of it in museums. It's supposed to be enigmatic, again, it is God's glory to conceal "dabar", "logos", "the word", also translated "a matter". There are the seven spiritual seals which will be opened by the lamb. In the beginning when you read the book all the seals are closed, but your curiosity is aroused. As you live your life and go through spiritual evolutions relating to the Book of Revelation, the seals and meanings are opened gradually.
What is a beast? It's like a beast of the field, it's cattle. Predatory is not necessarily meant here, but it too, the mark of the killer, that is, the mark of Cain, who kills Abel in the very beginning of the Bible. So the beginning is explained in the end.
So, the beast itself is a combination of different animals. Eagle, Bear, Leopard, four wings, four heads. In addition to this there's the description of 7 heads and 10 horns, and these are kingdoms. I could tell you what these kingdoms are historically. 666? The number of units of gold that was brought to Solomon's temple each year. Everyone paid tribute to Solomon, the wisest, the richest, the most powerful. But he fell. He took foreign wives, started worshipping their gods. Got into witchcraft, demonology, in some sort of "Faustian" quest for power and fulfillment of uncontrolled desire. The masons are the builders of Solomon's temple, and Christ is the cornerstone which the builders rejected.
But after Solomon's fall came the slavery in Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. Before him was the Pharaoh in Egypt. One "divine" monarch ruling over everyone else. Everyone has to bow, like everyone had to bow to the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar. Anti-Christ seeks this power, says "I am god!", wants to enslave everyone: Jewish Messiah, rapture-hoax etc
