This podcast explains the symbolic language used by John in Revelation 13:12-13 to describe the power of Satan in the last days leading up to the Second Coming. Satan's power is symbolized by a Second Beast that has a lamb-like appearance, but it speaks like a dragon (Satan). These verses say that this Second Beast “exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”

The power of the First Beast refers to Satan's dominion in the Roman Empire which continued until the Reformation. At that time, Protestant religions broke the ecclesiastical and secular power of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Roman Empire. In the modern era (post-Reformation), the power of the Second Beast evolved from, and grew out of the power of the First Beast. Satan's worldwide influence in the last days causes people to engage in the same types of wickedness and evil that were prevalent in the ancient Roman Empire. This is what it means for them that dwell on the earth to worship the First Beast.

The earthly agents of Satan who were part of the religious and secular institutions of the Second Beast do great wonders. These wonders include the great wickedness and false spiritualism that exists in the world today. The Second Beast also makes “fire to come down from heaven on the earth." This fire comes down as a judgment upon the wicked at the time of the Second Coming. The Second Beast causes this fire to come down only in the sense that it's acts of wickedness bring upon itself the fiery judgments of God at the Second Coming.

This podcast explains the symbolism used by John in Revelation 13:11, which states: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” The context for this verse is the end of the Great Apostasy in 1830, when the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was restored. The restoration came at the end of the Protestant Reformation, which also brought an end to the Holy Roman Empire and the power of the First Beast described by John in Revelation 13:1-10. The Second Beast in Revelation 13 rose up from the earth as the First Beast met its demise. The Second Beast rose from the earth to represent its manmade origin, which stands in contrast to the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which was heaven sent.

The Second Beast had two symbolic horns that represent its political and secular power on the one hand and its religious and ecclesiastical power on the other hand in the last days. The Second Beast has a lamblike appearance that deceptively portrays its innocence and meekness. However, Satan's kingdom represented by the Dragon is behind this false façade of the lamb. The Dragon has a mouth that speaks with great power in the last days. The Second Beast represents the kingdom of Satan that rose from the earth at the very time of the restoration to stand against and opposes the latter-day Church of Jesus Christ.

This Podcast explains the symbolism used by John in Revelation 13:9-10 to explain events of the Renaissance and Reformation, which led ultimately to the restoration of the Church and end of the Great Apostasy in 1830. John's prophecy of the Renaissance and Reformation is preceded by the statement in Revelation 13:9 that, “If any man have an ear, let him hear.” This statement emphasizes the importance of John's prophecy and the need for people of the world to both hear and heed the prophetic words spoken by John with reference to the Renaissance and the Reformation, which led ultimately to the restoration of the true church of Jesus Christ.

In Revelation 13:10, John symbolically describes the conditions of the Renaissance and the Reformation, saying: "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.” The captivity in this verse refers to the spiritual bondage of people held hostage to the belief system of the Roman Catholic church throughout the dark ages. Spiritual freedom and liberty came as reformers finally broke the bonds of Roman Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation.

Bloodshed paved the way of the Reformation throughout Europe and in Latin American countries where millions of people died for their faith in Jesus Christ. John symbolically describes this scene of carnage in Revelation 13:10, saying, “he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.” This prophecy was fulfilled as the Protestant Reformation ended the political and spiritual control of the Roman Catholic church in an era of great bloodshed.

Finally, John described people of faith from the Renaissance and Reformation in Revelation 13:10, saying: “Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” The saints are those people who patiently endured the Catholic Counter-Reformation that included the courts of inquisition, also known as the Holy Office. These ecclesiastical courts of the Catholic Church tried and punished heretics. For hundreds of years, faith-filled saints sought for, and ultimately prevailed in, their spiritual quest for religious and spiritual freedom.

This Podcast explains the symbolism used by John to explain the religious conditions and form of worship during the Great Apostasy in Revelation 13:8, where he said that “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship [Satan], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This verse affirms that the true Church of Jesus Christ was not upon the earth. The correct doctrines, priesthood, and prescribed ordinances had been lost worldwide in Satan’s war against the Saints such that it could be said that all who dwelt upon the earth during the 1260-year Great Apostasy worshipped Satan. To worship Satan means simply that in one degree or another, people failed to worship God in truth and in spirit. This occurred because many were forced to practice an apostate form of Christianity or because they simply did not realize that they were misled in their religious observances.

According to John, people who lived during the Great Apostasy did not have their names written in the book of the life of the Lamb from the foundation of the world. This means they did not receive a conditional promise of exaltation and eternal life when they were premortal spirits before their birth, nor did they have the means to qualify for exaltation and eternal life in mortality because the gospel was not present on the earth during the Great Apostasy. These topics and others are discussed in this podcast.

This podcast explains the symbolism and meaning of John’s vision in Revelation 13:7, which states that “it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” The HIM in this verse refers to Satan (the dragon) and the saints are members of the ancient church of Jesus Christ located throughout the Roman Empire. The saints are also members of Christ’s church among the Nephites on the Western Hemisphere and among the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. God allowed Satan to make war on all three groups of worshipers during the Great Apostasy. Revelation 13:5 symbolically identifies the period of the Great Apostasy as 42 months, which equates to 1260 days of years from 570 to 1830 AD. There were no legal administrators of God’s priesthood upon the earth for these 1260 years. The loss of earthly priesthood administration occurred as the ancient church in the Roman Empire fell into a state of complete apostasy, as the Nephites were physically destroyed on the Western Hemisphere, and when the Lost Ten Tribes were translated to heaven. The universal loss of earthly priesthood authority among all three groups fulfilled the words of Revelation 13:7, which say that “power was given [Satan] over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”

This podcast also describes the history of how Christ’s ancient church fell into a state of apostasy in the Roman Empire during the first three centuries of its existence. The persecutions of Christians by emperors Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Severus, Galerius, Diocletian illustrate Satan’s physical war on the saints. Satan’s spiritual war against the saints began with the paganization of the true doctrines of Jesus Christ in the first century and the complete paganization of the entire church after Constantine the Great made apostate Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.

This podcast explains the symbolism of the three blasphemies identified in Revelation 13:6. In this verse, John said that Satan‒acting through the First Beast of the Roman Empire‒opened his mouth “in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” The first blasphemy against God and his name symbolizes the deification of emperors in the Imperial Roman Empire and popes in the Holy Roman Empire. Both groups blasphemously elevated themselves to godlike status through worship and adoration. The second blasphemy against God’s tabernacle signifies false Christianity that blasphemously purported to be the true church of Jesus Christ during the period of the Great Apostasy. The true church of Jesus Christ was apostate long before the time of Constantine in the 4th century AD. His edits led to the further paganization of the true church. Satan’s third and final blasphemy of them that dwell in heaven signifies the worship and adoration of deceased saints.

This podcast explains the symbolism and imagery used by John in Revelation 13:5 to describe the Great Apostasy that began after the fall of Rome in 476 AD and before the start of papal authority in 607 AD. John describes the Great Apostasy saying: “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”

Many interpret this verse to mean that the Dragon (Satan) gave to HIM (the First Beast) a mouth speaking great things, etc. However, the HIM in verse 5 refers to the Dragon who was given a mouth from God to speak great things and blasphemies throughout the world. The First Beast is a symbol for the Roman Empire as just one geographical location in the world where the much larger Great Apostasy was a universal and worldwide loss of truth and priesthood authority, including the church on the western hemisphere among the Nephites and the church among the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.

Revelation 13:5 indicates that the worldwide apostasy lasted 42 months, which is a prophetic period of evil equal to 3½ years or 1260 days. In this case, the 1260 days are prophetic days of years or 1260 years. From John’s perspective, the Great Apostasy was measured as the period of time when there were no legal administrators of the priesthood anywhere on the earth. This means that the 1260 years ended when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was restored with priesthood administrators in 1830. Working backwards from this date, the Great Apostasy began on or about 570 A.D. This date corresponds to the translation of the Lost Ten Tribes as the last legal administrators of the priesthood on the earth until the restoration of priesthood authority in 1830.

This podcast also explains the difference in John’s 1260 day apostasy in Revelation 13:5 and Daniel’s 1290 day apostasy in Daniel 12:11. Revelation 13:5 defines the apostasy as an absence of priesthood authority, while Daniel 12:11 defines the apostasy as a flood of spiritual darkness that began with the Roman Abomination of Desolation in 70 A.D. The spiritual darkness began to end in 1360 A.D., as the spiritual light of the Renaissance began to emerge and the power of the popes began to decline in the Holy Roman Empire.

This podcast explains the symbolism used by John in Revelation 13:4 to describe worship in the period of time from the fall of Rome in 476 AD until 607 AD, when Phocus‒the Emperor in Constantinople‒decreed that the bishop in Rome was chief among all other bishops and clergy in the Roman empire. This verse covers more than 100 years between the fall of Rome and the emergence of papal authority in what would later become the Holy Roman Empire.

Revelation 13:4 states that "they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” This verse describes two separate forms of worship, homage, adoration or reverence for things that are not of God. The first form relates to the worship of the Dragon or Satan, which is more universal and worldwide than the worship of the First Beast in the Roman Empire. The worship of the Dragon includes locations like the American continent and all other lands outside the territories of the Roman Empire as of the early seventh century AD. By that time the Great Apostasy was universal in all the world, including apostasy among the Nephites in America and apostasy last of all among the Lost Ten Tribes no later than 570 AD.

The worship of the First Beast in the Roman Empire is also tantamount to worship of Satan, who gave the First Beast his power, his seat, and his great authority in Revelation 13:3.

As the power of the imperial Roman emperors declined and the power of the pope's increased, worshipers in the Roman Empire rhetorically asked: “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” The first question is a parody on the true worship of God. This verse means that earthly ministers of the First Beast (Roman Empire) had elevated themselves to a position above even God. The second question is a rhetorical recognition that there was no power on earth that could defeat or overcome the power of the popes in ancient Rome.

This podcast explains the symbolic images used by John in Revelation 13:3 to describe the end of the Imperial Roman Empire that fell with Rome in 476 AD, and the rise of papal power in the Holy Roman Empire over the course of hundreds of years. John describes these historical events in symbolic terms, saying: “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” (Rev 13:3) There are many and diverse views about the meaning of this verse.

One of the seven heads on the symbolic First Beast was mortally wounded by the sword when Germanic tribesmen from the north conquered Rome. The Roman Empire then began to divide into the modern nations of Europe represented by the 10 horns and 10 crowns on the head of the First Beast that died. However, that same head revived as the emerging nations of Europe gave their allegiance to the power of the popes. A major milestone in this revival occurred when Leo III, the Roman bishop and pope at Rome, coronated Charlemagne as the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 800 AD. After this major milestone, the power of the papacy increased to the point that the popes had supremacy over all heads of state in the time of Gregory VII (1073-1095 AD). The popes reached the height of their power in the days of innocent III (1198-1216 AD), and this power continued for the next 100 years. Papal power finally began to decline with the death of Pope Boniface VIII in 1303. This demise of papal power coincided in time with the emerging spiritual light of the Renaissance predicted in Daniel 12:11. In this verse, Daniel said there would be 1290 years of spiritual darkness like a flood from the time of the Roman Abomination of Desolation in 70 AD.

Revelation 13:3 also indicates that throughout the Dark Ages, people in the Roman Empire worshiped and wondered after the First Beast. This means they were astonished by the degree of power possessed by the Roman popes and worshipped them as they worshiped the Roman emperors before them.

This podcast explains and interprets the symbolism found in Revelation 13:2, which states: “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” The beast represents the ancient Roman Empire, which incorporates the brutality and tyranny of other empires before it. The beast has the body of a spotted leopard that Daniel 7 identified as the Greek empire. The beast had feet like a bear, which Daniel 7 identified as the Medo-Persian Empire. The beast also had the mouth of a lion, which Daniel 7 identified as a symbol for the Babylonian empire. Satan's power and dominion within each of these prior empires is consolidated into and becomes part of the composite power of the First Beast in Revelation 13.

In Revelation 13:2, the Dragon, representing Satan or the devil, gave his power, seat, and authority to the disembodied spirit of Cain as the spiritual head of Satan's dominion within the Roman Empire as of 70 AD. This podcast also explains from whence Satan derived his power when he was Lucifer in the premortal existence.