<p>13:2 <em>And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were as the feet of a bear, his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority- </em>As noted on :1, the beast is the composite of all the beasts of Daniel 7. The dragon of chapter 12 is also the same ideology which speaks from the mouth of the earth beast in :11. The dragon may be damaged or apparently destroyed in political terms by the Lord's direct judgment, perhaps at the hands of Israeli or Western militia. But the jihadist philosophy re-emerges in another incarnation, just as has been witnessed so often in the war against various Islamic terrorist organizations.</p><p>The beast of Revelation 13 has elements of all the other beasts. And so does the fourth beast of Daniel 7. It had iron teeth and brass nails (Dan. 7:19), alluding to the brass of the third kingdom and the iron of the fourth kingdom. It had &ldquo;eyes of a man&rdquo; and a human eye on its horn, (Dan. 7:8,20), just as the first beast, the lion, had a human heart and stood up like a man (Dan. 7:4). The bear, the second beast, had three ribs in its mouth, representing its conquest of three other powers; the fourth beast features a little horn which conquers three other horns (Dan. 7:8). The bear also &lsquo;devoured much flesh&rsquo; (Dan. 7:5); the fourth beast &lsquo;devours&rsquo; the land (Dan. 7:7). The third beast, the leopard, had four heads (Dan. 7:6), rather like the fourth beast also has ten horns; and Revelation 13 explains that these are later located on seven heads. The fourth beast of Daniel 7 is therefore a composite beast; the other beasts merge into an entity which includes all of them, even though they still exist separately- for in the final Divine judgment, the fourth beast entity is destroyed, but the beasts have their dominion taken away although their lives are &ldquo;prolonged for a season and time&rdquo; (Dan. 7:12). This may mean that the final entity is destroyed, but the individual components of it continue to exist &ldquo;for a season and time&rdquo;. The only other reference in Daniel to a period being &ldquo;prolonged&rdquo; is when the same word is used in Dan. 4:27 regarding the possibility of the king of the kingdom prolonging his life by repentance; it could be that the delay or prolonging is in order they repent.&nbsp; This may also explain why the first beast, representing Babylon, is pictured as having a man&rsquo;s heart being given to it after its wings power are cropped. The historical king of Babylon had a beast&rsquo;s heart (Dan. 4:16), but his understanding a human heart returned to him on his repentance (Dan. 4:34). So this feature of the first beast may be a hit at a repentance after the pattern of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4.</p><p>It&rsquo;s apparent that the four beasts of Daniel and of Revelation (dragon, sea beast, earth beast, scarlet beast) are full of allusion to the cherubim vision seen by Ezekiel- also whilst in captivity in Babylon, just as Daniel was. The cherubim were likewise four separate living creatures beasts which somehow were also one. The four beasts of Daniel 7 become comprehended in the fourth beast and in the one composite beast of Revelation 13, which includes all elements of the previous beasts within it. Note that the Hebrew / Aramaic for &ldquo;beast&rdquo; means literally a living one- the living creature of the cherubim vision. The cherubim featured the faces of lion, ox, man and eagle (Ez. 1:10), and lion, ox and eagle feature in the descriptions of the four beasts; the &lsquo;man&rsquo; element is found in that the lion has the heart of a man, and the little horn of the fourth beast has the eyes of a man. The first living creature has wings which are lifted up from the earth (Dan. 7:4)- which is precisely the language of the cherubim wings being lifted up from the earth in Ez. 1:19,21; 10:16,19. As the first beast is made to stand on its feet (Dan. 7:4), so the cherubim caused Ezekiel to stand on his feet (Ez. 2:2; 3:24). The second creature had a &ldquo;side&rdquo; which was &ldquo;lifted up&rdquo; (Dan. 7:5), as the cherubim likewise had &lsquo;sides&rsquo; which were &lsquo;lifted up&rsquo; (Ez. 1:8,20). The third beast had four wings as each of the living creatures / cherubim did (Dan. 7:6; Ez. 1:23). The first and fourth beasts / living creatures have feet (Dan. 7:4,7) as the cherubim do (Ez. 1:7). The description of how these living creatures / beasts will be judged by the Lord Jesus includes language also used in Ezekiel&rsquo;s cherubim visions- One seated upon a throne, wheels of burning fire (Dan. 7:9).</p><p>Ezekiel&rsquo;s vision was surely well known to Daniel and John. The connection is surely that throughout the course of human history, especially the course of Gentile domination of the land of Israel, the glory of God shone through it all, it was all going according to His purpose; and the various beasts were in fact manipulated by the living creatures of the Angel cherubim. Daniel 7 says this in different terms by opening with the statement that the four spirits / Angels of Heaven were responsible for the uprising of the four beasts (Dan. 7:2,3). Events were not just taking their course, with everything spinning out of control; but rather, God through the Angels was powerfully in control. And His glory shone through the apparent cruelty, shame and randomness of the events that appeared to be happening to His land and people.</p>