Connect Revelation 17:3 to Daniel's visions; what similarities and differences exist? The scene John reports “I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast…” (BSB, Revelation 17:3) John finds himself in a desert place, watching a startling vision: a commanding woman astride a grotesque beast covered with blasphemous names, boasting seven heads and ten horns. Daniel’s closest parallel “I saw a fourth beast… and it had ten horns.” (BSB, Daniel 7:7) Centuries earlier, Daniel had seen four successive beasts rising from the sea, the last of which was unmatched in ferocity and crowned with ten horns. Similar settings • Both prophets are “in the Spirit” (Revelation 17:3; Daniel 7:1–2) and observe symbolic creatures in hostile, untamed landscapes—John in a wilderness, Daniel by a turbulent sea. • Angelic guides interpret what they see (Revelation 17:7; Daniel 7:16). • A beast represents a geopolitical power opposed to God (Revelation 17:9–12; Daniel 7:17, 23). • Ten horns point to ten rulers, later replaced or dominated by an eleventh (Revelation 17:12; Daniel 7:24–25). • Blasphemy characterizes both monsters (Revelation 17:3; Daniel 7:25). What Daniel lacks—and Revelation adds • The woman: Revelation introduces “Babylon the Great,” a human system riding the beast; Daniel’s vision has no rider. • Scarlet color: John highlights moral offensiveness (cf. Isaiah 1:18); Daniel describes metal, not color. • Seven heads: Daniel’s fourth beast has no heads enumerated; Revelation merges imagery from Daniel’s first three beasts (Revelation 13:2) into one composite. • Historical vantage point: Daniel looks forward to the cross; John writes after it, so the beast carries a harlot steeped in post-Calvary guilt. • Final outcome: Daniel sees the beast destroyed by divine judgment (Daniel 7:11); John shows both woman and beast judged—first the harlot (Revelation 17:16), then the beast at Christ’s return (Revelation 19:20). Key bridges between the books 1. Little horn ⇄ beast’s eighth king – Daniel’s “little horn” grows from the ten (Daniel 7:8, 24–25). – Revelation speaks of an “eighth” who “belongs to the seven” (Revelation 17:11). Both picture the end-time antichrist figure. 2. Ten-king coalition – Daniel: “ten kings will arise” (7:24). – John: “the ten horns… are ten kings… who hand over their authority to the beast” (17:12-13). 3. Duration of oppression – Daniel: “time, times, and half a time” (7:25). – Revelation: “forty-two months” (13:5)—the same three-and-a-half-year span. Why the differences matter • Progress of revelation: John receives fuller detail, showing how political power (the beast) and religious immorality (the woman) intertwine. • Near-far layers: Daniel’s beasts preview empires up to Rome; John’s single beast folds those eras together and rolls prophecy forward to a still-future climax. • Assurance for believers: both visions end with the beast destroyed and God’s kingdom established (Daniel 7:27; Revelation 20:4). Pulling it together Daniel gives the skeleton; Revelation adds flesh and color. Matching horns, blasphemy, and ultimate judgment confirm that both prophets describe the same satanic empire appearing in successive forms. Revelation 17:3 therefore stands as the New-Testament echo of Daniel’s fourth beast, assuring us that every kingdom opposed to Christ will fall—and that God, who authored both visions, is guiding history toward His promised victory. |
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