I’m going to pause in my current blog series to talk about something that’s making news right now, and may be of interest to some of my readers. Apparently, a strange-looking statue has recently been installed at the visitor’s plaza at the UN Headquarters in New York. Based on what I can find, it seems the statue was erected in or around November of 2021. According to a UN Tweet, the statue is, “A guardian for international peace and security” and is the “fusion of a jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of … Mexico.”
What seems to have gotten the attention of a lot of people is that the statue seems to bear a resemblance to the description of a beast which is described in the Daniel 7:2-4:
“I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings…”
As the account of Daniel’s vision goes on, he sees three more strange beasts come up from the sea, a sort of lopsided bear, a leopard with four wings, and then finally a very terrifying and different kind of beast with huge iron teeth and ten horns.
Now, there’s been a lot chatter on social media that the statue at the UN also resembles a beast seen by the Apostle John in a vision, which is described in Revelation 13:1-2:
“and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion….”
Social media has been lighting up with reports from people suggesting that this is a sure sign of the nearness of the end of times. So, what does it mean?
Well, to the Mexican government, it’s pretty clear what it means. The jaguar is one of their national animals, and the eagle is a symbol of the United States. The blending of these two symbols together is a way of them showing that they stand with us. We are one, I guess. But was this prophesied? Is it a sign that we are in the end of times?
Well, let’s first talk about Daniel’s vision. In Daniel 7 we’re told that Daniel was troubled by what he had seen and so he asked – who is probably an angel who was nearby – what his vision had meant. He was told that the vision represented four coming kings, or kingdoms, which would arise. Now, almost without exception, evangelical scholars agree that the four beasts represented four very influential kingdoms that the Jews would have to deal with: the Babylonian kingdom, the Media-Persian empire, the conquests of Alexander the Great, and finally the Roman Empire.
Now, all four of these kingdoms rose to power and either transferred their glory to the subsequent kingdom, or fell, as in the case of the Roman empire. But they’re no longer. Daniel’s vision, though it was for his future, is now in our past.
But what about the book of Revelation? Is the statue in New York something that might be compared to what John saw? Well, let me first say that there seems to be a connection between what John saw in his vision and what Daniel saw in his dream. John saw a single beast, but it had characteristics from the four beasts that Daniel saw. John’s beast was like a leopard, and had feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion, and it had ten horns. Obviously, whatever the beast is, it draws its symbolizes from Daniel. It seems to be a composite of sorts of the four powerful kingdoms that Daniel saw. But, what does it mean?
Well, we’re told that the beast that John saw had a very specific purpose, and that is, “to make war with the saints…” (vs 7). If the book of Revelation was written as early as many think that it is, then there’s little doubt who this beast represented. Quite early in the life of the church Caesar Nero led a vicious campaign of persecution against the Church. It could easily be said that he ‘made war with the saints.’ Incidentally, when Caesar Nero’s name is translated from Greek to Hebrew. The numeric value of that name becomes 666.
But he’s not the only king or kingdom to declare war on the saints of God. A number of other Roman emperors who followed Nero also persecuted the Church. Islamic rule rose to power in the 7th century and Christians were often persecuted by that new faith. The Roman Catholic Church persecuted believers in the Middle Ages, and as Protestantism came to life, they persecuted the Anabaptists. During the 1700s, there was significant persecution of protestants in France. And as Communism came into the picture, open season was often declared on Christians by the Marxist governments. Today, it’s very dangerous to be a Christian in places like Somalia, or Afghanistan, and of course, North Korea.
To all of these Christians who faced persecution down through the ages – and today – by these corrupt, often Satanic governments, the identity of the beast is clear. It’s any government who turns its might against the Church of God. So, what of the statue in New York? Is it a signal that we’re entering the end times?
Well, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if one day the UN decides to go after Christians. Jesus told us that we would have persecution. Here in the West we’ve been insulated from it for centuries but we may one day get to taste its glory. But to suggest that the erection of this statue is a sign that the end is near reveals, what I believe, to be a very superficial understanding of the Bible. Throughout the ages, Christians have faced governments that have crucified them and fed them to lions, imprisoned and tortured them, burned them at the stake, sold them into slavery, and beheaded them. These Christians died bravely and faithfully while staring the beast in the face, not supposing that the end of time was near. Christians today see a photo of a statue on their phones from the comfort of their homes and assume it’s time for Jesus to come rescue them. How are we’ve come …
Peace,
dane
Dane Cramer is a backpacker, follower-of-Jesus blogger, jail chaplain, amateur filmmaker, Podcast host, and author of two books: Romancing the Trail and The Nephilim: A Monster Among Us , and has worked as an investigator for over 35 years.