[§215] An Overview of Satan’s Kingdom [Two Beasts] in Revelation 13

This podcast provides an overview and explanation of the signs and symbols used by John to describe the kingdom of Satan on earth from about 70 AD to the Second Coming. In Revelation 13:1-8, John describes Satan's war on the remnant of Christ's ancient church through the instrumentality of the First Beast which represents the Roman empire. This First Beast entirely overcame the ancient church of Jesus Christ during the Great Apostasy. Revelation 13:9-11 symbolically describes the Renaissance and Reformation. In Revelation 13:12, John sees a Second Beast rising from the earth which represents Satan's latter-day kingdom that looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. The rise of the Second Beast corresponds in time with the restoration of the gospel in 1830. This Second Beast represents all institutions‒both secular and religious‒which lead people away from the true latter-day Church of Jesus Christ. Revelation 13:13-18 focuses primarily on the power of the Second Beast during the last 3½ years before the Second Coming in the period of the Great Tribulation, when the two witnesses will also minister in Jerusalem as described by John in Revelation 11.