** The Beast **

And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea,
having seven heads and ten horns,
and upon his horns ten diadems,
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

And the beast which I saw
was like unto a leopard,
and his feet like a bear's,
and his mouth as the mouth of a lion;
and the dragon gave him his power,
and his throne, and great authority.

(Revelation 13:1-2)

AR 566

"And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea,"
signifies the laity in the churches of the Reformed,
who are principled
in the doctrine and faith of the dragon
concerning God and salvation:
"Having seven heads,"
signifies insanity arising from mere falsities:
"And ten horns,"
signifies much power:
"And upon his horns ten diadems,"
signifies the power of falsifying many truths of the Word:
"And upon his heads the name of blasphemy,"
signifies denial of the Lord's Divine Human,
and doctrine of the church not drawn from the Word,
but from self-derived intelligence.

"And the beast which I saw
was like unto a leopard,"
signifies a heresy destructive of the church
because derived from truths of the Word falsified:
"And his feet like a bear's,"
signifies full of fallacies
from the literal sense of the the Word
read but not understood:
"And his mouth as the mouth of a lion,"
signifies reasonings from falsities as if from truths:
"And the dragon gave him his power,
and his throne, and great authority,"
signifies that this heresy prevails and reigns
in consequence of its reception by the laity.