260    The Bible and the Future of the World 

{7:3} And four great beasts, different from one another, ascended from the 

sea. 

The four great beasts are four kingdoms, which arise during different time 

periods. The sea is a metaphor for the great sea of peoples and nations and 

languages on earth. These four kingdoms arise from the peoples of the 

world. The four winds are the four directions, and a metaphorical way to 

say that the whole earth is involved in these events. Kingdoms are groups of 

nations; they are referred to as beasts because they often behave like wild 

animals, not like children of God, nor even like men of reason. 

{7:4} The first was like a lioness and had the wings of an eagle. I watched as 

its wings were plucked off, and it was raised from the earth and stood on its 

feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. 

This beast is represented by an amalgamation of very different animals 

because it is an alliance of very different nations. The wings of the eagle 

represent the United States of America as well as its air power, which 

dominates during warfare. The beast is a lioness, feminine, because, for a 

time, this group of nations, or at least one prominent nation within the 

group, is led by a woman. The figure of a lion represents England as well as 

several of the nations of Africa. These will be a part of the group of nations, 

led by the great monarch, allied with the U.S. and others, who end the Arab 

invasion of Europe and northern/central Africa, by attacking the Arab 

forces in World War IV. 

The wings are plucked off of the beast, because, after World War IV is won, 

the United States leaves this alliance and no longer uses its air power on 

behalf of the alliance. The U.S. does not become a part of the great 

monarch s kingdom. After World War IV, the great monarch takes his place 

as ruler over a kingdom of faith and reason. The beast (the groups of nations 

fighting in World War IV) is raised from the earth and stands on its feet like 

a man, because now a kingdom is established which is reasonable (like a 

man instead of a beast) and which is led by a man, the great monarch, not a 

woman (represented by the lioness). This kingdom no longer behaves like a 

beast, but like a man with a mind and a heart. It is a devout Catholic 

Christian kingdom, but it is not perfect. This is not the kingdom of God on 

earth, which will only be fully established when Christ returns in the year 

A.D. 2437.