Topical Bible: Beasts: Persecutors

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Topical Encyclopedia

In biblical literature, the term "beasts" often symbolizes entities or individuals that act as persecutors of God's people. These representations are found throughout both the Old and New Testaments, where beasts are depicted as instruments of oppression, embodying chaos, and opposing divine order.

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, beasts frequently symbolize nations or rulers that oppress Israel. The prophet Daniel provides a vivid portrayal of such imagery. In Daniel 7, he describes a vision of four great beasts rising from the sea, each representing a kingdom that would dominate and persecute God's people. Daniel 7:17 states, "These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth." The beasts symbolize the successive empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, each known for their persecution of the Jewish people.

The imagery of beasts as persecutors is also evident in the Psalms and prophetic literature. In Psalm 22:12-13 , David laments, "Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul." Here, the psalmist uses beastly imagery to describe his adversaries, emphasizing their ferocity and intent to harm.

New Testament Context

The New Testament continues the theme of beasts as persecutors, particularly in the apocalyptic literature of Revelation. The book of Revelation uses beast imagery to describe the oppressive powers that stand against Christ and His followers. Revelation 13 introduces two beasts: one from the sea and one from the earth. The first beast, described in Revelation 13:1-2 , "And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and blasphemous names on its heads. The beast I saw was like a leopard, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion." This beast represents a conglomerate of political power and authority that persecutes the saints.

The second beast, often referred to as the "false prophet," supports the first beast and enforces its authority, as seen in Revelation 13:11-12 : "Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. And this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed."

Symbolism and Interpretation

The use of beast imagery in the Bible serves to convey the destructive and chaotic nature of those who oppose God's kingdom. These beasts are often characterized by their blasphemy, arrogance, and violence, standing in stark contrast to the order and peace of God's reign. The imagery underscores the spiritual battle between good and evil, highlighting the trials and tribulations faced by believers.

Throughout Scripture, the ultimate defeat of these beastly persecutors is assured. Daniel 7:26-27 proclaims, "But the court will convene, and his dominion will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High." Similarly, Revelation 19:20 describes the final judgment of the beasts: "But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur."

In summary, the biblical portrayal of beasts as persecutors serves as a powerful metaphor for the forces of evil that challenge God's authority and oppress His people. These images remind believers of the reality of spiritual warfare and the ultimate victory promised through faith in Christ.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

1 Corinthians 15:32
If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantages it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

2 Timothy 4:17
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Precious Deaths
... cry of persecutors against the men of whom the world was not worthy. But, precious
is their blood in his sight. Though they have been cast to the beasts in the ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 18 1872/precious deaths.htm

From Gallienus to the End of the Last Persecution (Ad 261-313)
... Some were thrown to wild beasts; some were burnt alive, or roasted on gridirons ... The
cruellest of all the persecutors was Maximin, who, from the year 305, had ...
/.../chapter ix from gallienus to.htm

Of the Cruelty of the Heathens against the Christians.
... For the fury of all wild beasts rages until their appetite is satisfied; and when ...
But that is the worst kind of persecutors whom a false appearance of clemency ...
/.../lactantius/the divine institutes/chap xi of the cruelty of.htm

I Relate all those Things on the Authority of Well-Informed ...
... should perish, and lest any future historian of the persecutors should corrupt ... and
partly scattered abroad, and to extirpate those noxious wild beasts who had ...
/.../of the manner in which the persecutors died/chap lii i relate all.htm

Constantine Having Settled all Things at Rome, Went to Milan About ...
Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died. ... winter, and by forced marches he came
into Bithynia with an army much impaired; for he lost all his beasts of burden ...
/.../chap xlv constantine having settled.htm

Thus was all the Earth Afflicted; and from East to West...
Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died. ... earth afflicted; and from east to west,
except in the territories of Gaul, three ravenous wild beasts continued to ...
/.../of the manner in which the persecutors died/chap xvi thus was all.htm

And Now that Cruelty, which He had Learned in Torturing the ...
Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died. ... imprison, or to send criminals to work
in the mines; but to burn, to crucify, to expose to wild beasts, were things ...
/.../of the manner in which the persecutors died/chap xxii and now that.htm

Already the Judgment of God Approached Him, and that Season Ensued ...
Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died. ... Under pretence of manly exercise and
recreation, he made him combat with wild beasts: but this device was frustrated ...
/.../of the manner in which the persecutors died/chap xxiv already the judgment.htm

(On the Lord's Ascension, ii. )
... gift of the Holy Ghost, was not terrified by bonds, imprisonments, banishments,
hunger, fire, attacks by wild beasts, refined torments of cruel persecutors. ...
/.../leo/writings of leo the great/sermon lxxiv on the lords.htm

Of the Power of Prayer.
... prayer, indeed, used to free from fires, [8946] and from beasts, [8947] and ... bivouac
on behalf of personal enemies, makes supplication on behalf of persecutors. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/tertullian/on prayer/chapter xxix of the power of.htm