Reklamation Ministries
Seeing the Church and the World in Plain View
It is well known, particularly in Adventists circles, that this two-horned non-royalist power represents our blessed country, the United States of America. 6 No doubt you're also familiar with the reasons. Unlike the first beast, he comes from the earth, the new world. The two crownless horns show two non-royalist two-party government based on its Republican and Protestant ideals. The lamb-like appearance fore-casts youthful innocency —established upon the principles of peace and liberty. And his having the power to dictate who should buy and who should not, shows that he represents a nation that leads in controlling the world's wealth and industry.
Having only two horns, not ten, the beast therefore depicts a local, not a universal
government. Nevertheless, he will influence all Christendom to "make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." That is, he will engineer a worldwide government set-up, re-enthroning the principles of the church-state rule of Papal Rome; a system now characterized by Catholicism, apostate Protestantism, and Capitalism. In other words, the world will copy the Leopard-like beast. (Verse 12) Put still another way, it means that America will urge the world to re-establish an apostate religious-political system after the model of Western society with principles imaging those of the Dark Ages. (Verse 12). Note that it did not say that the Two-horned beast urged the world to worship the "head"—the Papacy, but the "beast"— the system—which is: Catholicism, apostate Protestantism, and
Capitalism, topped off with Spiritualism! This is when, "Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government. . ." 7
The "Beast" and the "Man"
Now that we have looked at the context of Revelation 13, we are now better prepared to identify the 666. "Here is wisdom," says the Scriptures. "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six
Six hundred threescore and six." (Verse 18).
To identify this "man," we must identify the "beast"—the power the "man" represents and leads. Thus we must ask, to which power is (Verse 18) referring? The Leopard-like or the Two-horned? Look at it again! Note that it did not say, count the number of the beast with the wound! Or count the number of the beast which had his deadly wound healed! It just states, "count the number of the beast." Whenever the Bible refers to the Leopard-like beast, it always mentions the wound! (See verses 3, 12). In contrast, "the beast" without mention of the wound, is the "Two-horned Beast or the Image Beast." So, the beast or power in (verse 18) is the "Two-horned" or the United States of America--not the Papacy.