God calls human empires 'beasts' because they operate with bestial greed and cruelty—not because they are literal animals.
In Daniel and Revelation, 'beast' is a symbolic name for empires and governments. Les Feldick teaches that these empires are pictured as wild animals because their behavior is bestial: they are greedy, they oppress their subjects, and they show no regard for human rights. The beast, then, is a government—often the Roman Empire and its end-times revival—not a bizarre creature.
Daniel 7:2-7 — The passage where God shows the four gentile empires as wild beasts rising from the sea.
Revelation 13:1-2 — John applies the same beast imagery to the final world empire, combining the features of Daniel's four beasts.
The Bible repeatedly describes the great gentile empires as 'beasts.' Daniel 7 records, 'Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another' (Daniel 7:2-3). The first was 'like a lion' (7:4), the second 'like to a bear' (7:5), the third 'like a leopard' (7:6), and the fourth was 'dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly,' with great iron teeth and ten horns (7:7). The New Testament uses the same imagery. John saw 'a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns' (Revelation 13:1), and describes it: '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' (Revelation 13:2). The dragon gave this beast 'his power, and his seat, and great authority' (Revelation 13:2). These passages do not describe literal zoo animals. In prophecy, 'beast' is a word God applies to world empires, and the animal features depict the character of those governments.
Les Feldick teaches that God deliberately chose the word 'beast' to describe these empires. 'Now the reason God has chosen the word beast is because all these great empires, as we're going to see here from Daniel's point of view, are bestial in their behavior, and again in their greed, and in the way they treat their subjects' (Clip 2). He also points out that for most of human history ordinary people had nothing but 'existence, most of them under abject poverty, slavery, oppression,' and that human rights were not defined until the Magna Charta came out of England in about the 14th century (Clip 2). Les is emphatic that the beasts are not animals. 'Those aren't animals. Those aren't creatures. These are empires. These are governments' (Clip 3). The lion is Babylon, the bear is Medo-Persia, the leopard is Greece, and the fourth beast is the Roman Empire (Clips 3, 7). The same four empires that Daniel 2 shows as a head of gold, chest of silver, belly of brass, and legs of iron are seen in Daniel 7 as wild beasts (Clip 4). The change from metals to beasts shows their true character. In Revelation 13, the beast is 'first and foremost the revival of the old ancient Roman Empire' (Clip 1). It is called a beast because 'the government will be so bestial in its operation' with no concern for human rights (Clip 1). Les also explains that 'beast' has a two-fold meaning: it can mean the Roman Empire, original as well as revived, and it is also the man of sin—the Antichrist—who will rule this final world system (Clip 5). The sea from which the beast rises is symbolic of 'the sea of humanity, out of the masses of the nations' (Clips 3, 5). The final beast in Revelation 13:2—like a leopard, with feet like a bear and mouth like a lion—combines the attributes of all the previous empires (Clip 6).
Les identifies the four beasts of Daniel 7 with the four gentile empires that dominate biblical prophecy: the lion is Babylon, the bear is Medo-Persia, the leopard is Greece under Alexander the Great, and the fourth, dreadful beast is Rome (Clip 3). He links them to the metallic image of Daniel 2—gold, silver, brass, and iron—showing they are the same empires seen in two different ways (Clip 4). The fourth beast, with its ten horns, is the ancient Roman empire that fell and then reappears in the end times as the revived Roman Empire (Clip 7).
The word 'beast' is not about appearance; it is about behavior. Les says God chose the word because these empires are 'bestial in their behavior, and again in their greed, and in the way they treat their subjects' (Clip 2). He gives examples: Alexander the Great, who grew up in poverty and was driven by greed to conquer the world, and the Romans, who looked at Greece's wealth and wanted it (Clip 0). This greedy, oppressive spirit is what makes a government beast-like.
The average reader may imagine a dragon or sea monster, but Les says that is not what is indicated. 'It's a symbolic statement that out of the sea of humanity, out of the masses of the nations, there's going to come, number one, this final empire' (Clip 5). Daniel's beasts 'aren't animals... These are empires. These are governments' (Clip 3). The sea imagery represents the mass of humanity from which these governments arise.
Les teaches that the word 'beast' has a two-fold meaning. 'It can mean the Roman Empire, original, as well as revived, but it's also the man of sin. It's the Antichrist who is going to rule this final world system' (Clip 5). So the beast is both the government and its ruler.
Greed Drives the Beast Empires
Les illustrates the greedy spirit behind world empires, citing Alexander the Great and the Romans as examples of nations that coveted what others had.
Beast = Bestial Government
Les states the beast in Revelation 13 is the revived Roman Empire, and it is called a beast because its government is bestial—having no concern for human rights or individuals.
God's Deliberate Choice of 'Beast'
Les says God chose the word beast because the great empires are bestial in behavior, greed, and treatment of their subjects, and notes that human rights barely existed until the Magna Charta.
Four Beasts Are Four Empires
Les explains that Daniel's four beasts are not animals but empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome—rising from the sea of humanity.
Metals to Beasts: Same Empires
Les connects Daniel 2's gold-silver-brass-iron image with Daniel 7's wild beasts to show the same four gentile empires are in view.
Beast: Symbolic Sea and Two-Fold Meaning
Les clarifies the sea is symbolic of the masses of humanity, and that the beast refers both to the revived Roman Empire and to the Antichrist who rules it.
Composite Beast Attributes
Les shows that Revelation 13's beast combines the attributes of all previous empires—leopard, bear feet, lion mouth—in the revived Roman Empire.
Fourth Beast Reappears
Les describes the fourth beast of Daniel as the Roman empire that faded off the scene and now reappears in prophecy with ten horns.
Daniel 7:2: Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
Introduces Daniel's vision of four great beasts rising from the sea.
Daniel 7:3: And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
The four empires are called 'great beasts.'
Daniel 7:4: The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
The first beast is pictured like a lion—the first empire.
Daniel 7:5: And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
The second beast is like a bear—the second empire.
Daniel 7:6: After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
The third beast is like a leopard—the third empire.
Daniel 7:7: After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
The fourth beast is dreadful and terrible—the fourth empire with ten horns.
Revelation 13:1: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
John sees a beast with seven heads and ten horns rising from the sea.
Revelation 13:2: 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 combines a leopard, a bear, and a lion—the attributes of Daniel's four empires.
No. Les Feldick says, 'Those aren't animals. Those aren't creatures. These are empires. These are governments.' The four beasts symbolically picture Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Because its government operates in a bestial way. Les teaches that the beast in Revelation 13 is the revival of the ancient Roman Empire, and it is called a beast because the government shows no concern for human rights or the individual.
It is a symbolic statement that the final empire rises out of the sea of humanity—the masses of the nations. It is not a literal sea monster.
Yes. Les says the word beast has a twofold meaning: it can mean the Roman Empire, original as well as revived, and it is also the Antichrist, the man of sin who will rule the final world system.
Watch the Teaching: Daniel's Vision of 4 Beasts & the Antichrist Explained