THE TWO-HORNED BEAST by Editor

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1857

THE TWO-HORNED BEAST.

By Editor

Are the United States a Subject of Prophecy?

Every student of the Bible has probably noticed the fact that it is not until a nation is in some way connected with the people of God, that it is noted in prophecy. For instance, the Assyrian empire was founded by Nimrod; but it was not, according to some accounts, till more than fifteen hundred years after this event, when Nebuchadnezzar was seated on the throne, and God was using him to punish his rebellious people, and they had entered upon their term of seventy years' captivity, that the inspired announcement was heard in reference to this kingdom. "Thou art this head of gold." Dan. ii.

Babylon at this time held the scepter of universal empire. Three other kingdoms were announced to succeed it. These, being each in their turn universal, would each of course hold jurisdiction over God's people; hence their appearance in prophecy. With the history of these kingdoms, Persia, Greece and Rome, as they have successively arisen, all are more or less familiar. We here only wish to call attention to the fact, that we do not find them introduced into prophecy, till they have so far developed themselves, as to affect in some way the people of God. Long time, in some instances, were they preparing for that portion of their career which inspiration has seen fit to notice. For even while the first, the Assyrian, empire was rising to the zenith of its glory, far to the westward on the banks of the Tiber, Romulus was opening a city of refuge, an asylum for fugitives from justice, a retreat for all who might wish to shelter within its walls. There were assembling a company of rude and hardy people—the germs of a mighty nation. That city was called Rome; and there existed even then, in embryo, the fourth and last of earth's great universal empires. But prophecy takes no note of it till it has grown able to cope with the nations of the earth; when it is introduced into the drama, as a huge beast, dreadful and terrible.

If then, the righteous hold such a pre-eminent position on the page of prophecy; if the divine regard for them is such that the nations of the earth, the rise and fall of empires, are only to be accounted of as they are connected with them; it follows that no nation with which they have any special connection, will be passed over by the prophetic pencil. History has proved this to be so with reference to all past time; can we then suppose that our nation alone will be an exception to the rule? Of all the nations with which the Church of God has been in any prominent degree connected, will ours alone be passed unnoticed? This is by no means probable. To say then that the United States are not noticed in prophecy, is virtually saying that there are no people of God within its jurisdiction; but, aside from the facts in the case, it could not be supposed that a land like this would long be destitute of a true church, a company of genuine worshipers, whose laws have thus far been so favorable to their growth and development.

From these considerations we might confidently expect to find our government pointed out on the pages of prophecy: it remains that we examine those pages to see if we can find it there.

A wild beast is the symbol generally chosen to represent the governments of earth. Dan. vii; Rev. xiii. Do we find one which may fitly symbolize our own? In determining this we need not go far back. There is a symbol brought to view in the first part of Rev. xiii, in the application of which all Protestants are agreed. As we read from the first to the eleventh verse, we are happy to find ourselves in agreement with the majority of Bible readers, when we say that the power there brought to view is the Papacy. There are at least ten specifications which prove this. 1. The beast rises from the sea—the sea denoting "peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues." 2. It has seven heads, denoting the seven forms of government which have existed in the Roman empire. 3. It has ten horns, showing it to be identical with the fourth beast of Dan. vii, which all know symbolizes Rome. 4. The horns have each a crown, showing that the governments which sprung from the Roman empire would be monarchical. 5. This beast has the characteristics of the three first beasts of Dan. vii; namely, a leopard's body, a bear's feet, and a lion's mouth, showing its existence to be after those beasts had passed away, and making it again identical with the fourth of the series there presented. 6. It has power to make war with and overcome the saints, the same as the little horn of Dan. vii, 25. 7. It opens its mouth in blasphemy, which is also said of the little horn. 8. It was to continue forty and two months, 1260 days (years.) Just this length of time the Papacy did continue from its establishment in 538, till 1798, when it was for a time suppressed by the French. 9. This beast has one of its heads wounded to death. Thus was the Papacy wounded in the event just alluded to, when Berthier, a general of Buonaparte, took prisoner the Pope then occupying St. Peter's chair, and carried him into exile, where he died. 10. The deadly wound was to be healed. This was accomplished in Buonaparte's restoring the Papacy, but not to its former power.

These items are sufficient to fix the application of this symbol. But by reading on in the chapter (Rev. xiii) from the 11th verse, we find another beast introduced. This beast is contemporary with the one just spoken of; for it says [verse 12] that he exercised all the power of the first beast, before him: the word, before, not denoting that the first beast finished his existence before him in point of time, and passed away as he came up on the stage of action, but meaning before, that is, in the presence of, in the sight of; which is the literal meaning of the word enopion, from which it is rendered.

Having then ascertained that these two beasts of Rev. xiii, exist together, and bearing in mind that the first beast embraces the territory of all Europe, we are to notice, in considering this other beast, the following points: 1. Its location. 2. The manner of its rise. 3. The time of its rise. 4. Its age. 5. Its character. 6. The form of its government. 7. Its acts.

1. Its location. Rome was mistress of the world. The ten horns of the beast by which it was symbolized, [Dan. vii; Rev. xiii,] are explained in Dan. vii, 24, to be ten kings or kingdoms which should arise from it. These would of course occupy all the territory which Rome originally embraced. No government of any note has been formed in Europe which was not included in some one of the ten horns at the time of their rise. But it was not said that one of these horns should, by some strange metamorphosis, become another and distinct beast. Therefore we cannot look to the territory of any of the ten horns for the two-horned beast in question. In other words, we are excluded from the continent of Europe: it cannot be there. Being forced to look elsewhere, we take our way "westward" with the "march of empire," till we behold rising in this hemisphere, the colonial columns of our own commonwealth. And surely the degree of power and glory which this nation has already attained, and its growing influence upon the nations of the earth, would lead us to consider it in every way an appropriate subject of prophecy, unless something shall be found forbidding such an idea. But as it may be said that nothing definite is proved by these considerations, only that said beast cannot be located in Europe, we will pass on to show by other specifications that our own country is the power in question.

2. The manner of its rise. It will be noticed that most of the other wild beasts are said to come up by the striving of the four winds of heaven upon the great sea. The sea denoting people, and wind commotion, we see at once that these governments owe their existence to political strife and revolution among the nations of the earth. The two-horned beast comes up in a manner very different from this. "I beheld," says John, "another beast coming up out of the earth." He comes up as a thrifty plant would grow up out of the earth, noiselessly and without commotion. There was no striving of the winds upon the great sea by which it was developed. A short struggle, to be sure, was necessary to the achievement of our independence; but it was not a war of aggression. Our forefathers simply took up arms for a time to defend those privileges which necessity had compelled them to assume. The later war of 1812 is of no note in prophecy as it caused scarcely a ripple upon the stream of our prosperity. In short, this nation has come up just as we should expect a nation would, which was represented as growing up out of the earth; and this is true of no other nation of modern origin but our own. The Dublin Nation has unconsciously borne a thrilling and pointed testimony to this fact, but we have not space to insert it here.

3. The time of its rise. Mark the expression by which it is introduced to us. John says he beheld this beast coming up. It was coming up when he beheld it. It was rising. It had not reached its full development, but was growing. But what is the chronology of this scene? When did John behold it coming up? Ans. It was when one of the heads of the first beast was wounded as it were to death, or went into captivity. This as we have seen was effected by Buonaparte in 1798. It is at this time that the two-horned beast is introduced in the prophecy, and said to be coming up. Is this true of these United States? Were they then coming up, and in their rapid career beginning to attract the attention of the nations of the earth? Most emphatically so. And no other nation on the globe can be pointed to as at that time coming up in a manner answering to the prophetic symbol. Some curious and instructive statistics might here be presented from a comparison of the census of 1792 with one of 1852. But on this point we forbear, as these things are already set forth in our publications.

4. Its age. The age of this beast may in a measure be learned from the preceding specification, but there are some other items which weigh upon this point. This beast is said to have two horns like a lamb. In this we have additional evidence of the youthful character of this power. A lamb with two horns just appearing, or any beast with horns in a similar condition, could not be used to symbolize a power that had been long in existence. We have seen that the Papacy was to continue its allotted time, 1260 years, from 538 to 1798. The close of this period must of course be marked by some change in its condition. We cannot till after this change according to the prophecy look for the two-horned beast. This synchronizing with the receiving the deadly wound or going into captivity, we are brought down at least to 1798 as the period in which this power should begin to flourish. But even at this late date it is represented as a youthful power. Was our government then in this condition? It was: being only twenty-two years from the Declaration of Independence. Point to another prominent nation on the globe at that time answering to the symbol in these respects. It cannot be done.

Every item thus far examined we have found most strikingly carried out in the course of these United States. The remaining specifications we must defer to a future paper.