_And I stood upon the sand of the sea_, &c. Here _the beast_ is
described at large, who was only mentioned before, Revelation 11:7;
and a _beast_, in the prophetic style, is a tyrannical idolatrous
empire. The kingdom of God and of Christ is never represented under
the image of a _beast._ As Daniel... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things_ This
expression seems to be taken from the description of the little horn
in Daniel's vision, (Daniel 7:8,) and is explained, Revelation 13:11,
by the voice of the great words which the horn spake. It must be
observed, however, that it is... [ Continue Reading ]
_If any man have an ear, let him hear_ It was customary with our
Saviour, when he would have his auditors to pay a particular attention
to what he had been saying, to add, _He who hath ears to hear, let him
hear._ St. John repeats the same admonition at the end of each of the
seven epistles to the s... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I beheld another beast_, &c. From the description of _the
ten-horned beast_, or Roman state in general, the prophet passeth to
that of _the two-horned beast_, or Roman Church in particular. _The
beast with ten crowned horns_ is the Roman empire, as divided into ten
kingdoms; _the beast with two... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he doeth great wonders_ We have seen the greatness of the power
and authority of the beast, and we shall now see what course he
pursues to establish it. He pretends, like other false prophets, to
show _great signs and wonders_, and even to call for _fire from
heaven_, as Elias did, 2 Kings 1:11... [ Continue Reading ]
_Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of
the beast_ In saying, _Here is wisdom_, the apostle shows that it is
not a vain and ridiculous attempt to search into this mystery, but, on
the contrary, that it is recommended to us on divine authority. _For
it is the number of a... [ Continue Reading ]