I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns, seven heads, and ten royal crowns on its horns. On its heads were blasphemous names. The beast that I saw was like a leopard. Its feet were like bear's feet, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave it his power, his throne, and complete authority. One of the beast's heads looked like it had sustained a mortal wound, but its fatal wound was healed. Rapt with amazement, the whole world followed the beast. They worshiped the dragon because it had given authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight a war with it?" The beast was allowed to speak arrogant and blasphemous things, and it was given authority for 42 months. It uttered blasphemies against God, against his name, and against his residence, that is, against those who are living in heaven. It was allowed to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, languages, and nation. All those living on earth will worship it, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb that was slaughtered from the foundation of the world. Let everyone listen: If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed (Rev. 13.1-11).
The beast is a Leopard with the mouth of a lion and feet of a bear. The beast has all the features of the first three beasts of the book of Daniel (the lion, the bear, the Leopard). The Romans took over the Grecian empire (the Leopard). Greece had overthrown Mede and Persia (the ram). Medo-Persia had overthrown Babylon (the lion). This beast is the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire is principally Grecian with Persian and Babylonian elements.
At the time that Apostle John received the Revelations at Patmos, this beast was already in power. In Rev. 17, the angel tells John that the beast “is”.
After Christ defeated the dragon, the dragon attempted to wipe out the Jews but failed. He then directed all his anger on the Christians (the descendants of the seed of the woman). The dragon gave the Leopard beast his immense authority and throne.
The beast has ten horns. These horns refer to ten kings. This beast is identifiable with the Roman imperial cult that suppressed and persecuted the early church. The early church suffered great persecution during the reign of ten kings beginning from Nero in 67AD to Diocletian in 313AD. The ten primitive persecutions against the Christians as recorded in John Fox’s book of Martyrs:
1. Nero Caesar, AD 67
2. Domitian AD 81
3. Trajan AD 108
4. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus AD 162AD
5. Severus AD 192
6. Maximus AD 235
7. Decius AD 249
8. Valerian AD 257
9. Aurelian AD 274
10. Diocletian AD 303
These ten kings are the ten horns of the Leopard beast. The imperial cult demanded the worship of the Emperor as god. As a sign of loyalty, every citizen would burn incense and sacrifice to the Emperor, acknowledging his divinity. Anyone who refused to perform this act of worship was a traitor to the emperor. It was so easy to identify the Christians because they believed only in one God who is in Heaven. Refusal to worship the emperor as god led to terrible punishments and deaths.
Christians were beheaded, others were burnt alive, others were slaughtered, others imprisoned and starved to death etc. This was the time of perseverance of the saints. To captivity and to the sword they went. Tacitus records the scene in Rome when the persecution of Christians broke out: “And their death was aggravated with mockeries, insomuch that, wrapped in the hides of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or fastened to the crosses to be set on fire, that when the darkness fell they might be burned to illuminate the night”.
The Roman imperial cult was subdued during the 4th century by Constantine who supported Christianity. In 330AD, the empire split into two; west and east. Constantine founded a new capital city in the eastern half of the Roman empire at Byzantium. The city was his new Rome and was later named Constantinople (the “city of Constantine”). Constantine institutionalized Christianity and made it the state religion. This stopped the persecution of the church. Constantine later introduced many pagan practices into the church. The western empire spoke Latin and was Roman Catholic. The eastern Empire spoke Greek and worshipped under the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity.
Overtime, the east thrived while the west declined. The western part of the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century on September 4, 476AD. The eastern part continued to exist as the Byzantium Empire for hundreds of years.