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Crowns on the Dragon's Heads and the Leopard Beast's Horns
What are they and why are they on both beasts?
Many people offer explanations regarding the crowns on the dragon's heads of
Revelation 12 and the leopard beast's horns of Revelation 13, but most of them have
failed to identify their purpose or the proper explanation of the placement of them on
two different beasts. This article will provide an explanation that makes sense
and answer questions about the crowns.
The crowns themselves symbolize kingly power. That much is usually not in
dispute. The problem comes when identifying to whom they apply and why they
are on two different beasts.
In order to answer the question of to whom they apply, the reader needs to understand
the identification of the dragon's heads and horns, so please
read the explanation of that issue here.
Once we understand that the dragon's heads and horns are the same as the heads and
horns on both the leopard beast of Revelation 13 and the scarlet beast of Revelation
17. The next step is obvious: If the heads and horns are identical for all three
beasts of Revelation 12, 13 and 17, then why have the crowns upon the dragon's heads
and the leopard’s horns. Does this question seem logical to the reader? Yet
they are upon two beasts, why? If the heads and horns were identical, it would
make sense that the crowns should be upon the heads and horns of the same beast.
There is a reason they are upon the heads of the dragon AND upon the horns of the
leopard beast of Revelation 13. The Bible credits the heads and horns of the
dragon to it from the activities of the leopard beast of Revelation 13. This
indicates also that the beast, the heads, and horns are upon are under the control of
that beast. Therefore, the crowns upon the heads of the dragon are telling you
that during the time of the heads, those kings whom the crowns symbolize are under the
control of the dragon. While the crowns upon the horns of the leopard beast of
Revelation 13 tell you that during the time of the 10 horns (10 kings), they will be
under the control of the leopard beast of Revelation 13 (which is also the scarlet
beast of Revelation 17).
The key ideas here are
1.
The body part the crowns are upon tells you the applicable period (head time vs. horn
time),
2.
The crowns represent kingly power,
3.
The body on which the crowns are upon (dragon of Revelation 12 or leopard beast
of Revelation 13) indicates which power is directly in control of those crowns during
the applicable period.
Point
1.
may not seem intuitive, but consider that in Daniel 2, 7, and 8, body parts indicate
succeeding periods. The body indicates the beginning time period of a kingdom,
the heads the next period, and the horns symbolize the final period.
The crowns themselves probably indicate the behavior of the heads or horns they are
placed upon. To understand this better, think of the wings on the back of the
leopard of Daniel 7. These wings were applicable to the time of the body of the
leopard, not the heads, so they indicated rapid conquest by Alexander the Great, but
not by his successors. Like the leopard, the crowns of Revelation 12 and 13 fall
under the
Characteristics Principle,
They tell you about the behavior when
behavior
of the part of the beast the crowns are upon (in the case of the dragon, it tells you
about the behavior of the heads) and
when
it does this behavior (the time represented by the heads of the dragon). Crowns
are an attached item on the beasts in the vision shown to John, and are not a
beast’s body, heads, or horns, so they must fall under the
Characteristics Principle
for interpretation, and may tell you something about how the heads will do something,
or in what way they will do something. The crowns being upon the heads of the
dragon indicates the heads will behave as kings during the time of the heads.
Point
3
of the key ideas above, that the beast the crowns are upon are in control during
the time period represented by the body part the crowns are on (time of the heads
or time of the horns. Must be true because the heads and horns are the same across
all three beasts in Revelation which have 7 heads and 10 horns. If there is no
difference in meaning by having them on different beasts, then the
third
point is not true. However, that would not make any sense. Why would God
show them on different beasts and different locations on the same heads and horns if
there is no difference in meaning? It seems unreasonable that God would do that,
so there must be a difference in meaning by having them on different body parts
and different beasts. The only explanation that the author has been able to
deduce from having crowns upon the heads of one beast and the horns of the other
when the heads and horns are the same across all three beasts, is that the beast
they are on must be in control of them. Nevertheless, there is scriptural authority
of a limited nature for this interpretation; we find this in the 10 horns.
In the case of the leopard beast of Revelation 13, the leopard beast body is in
control of them during the time of the horns because the leopard beast will return
someday. Right now as of April 2004, the leopard beast, which is also the scarlet
beast, is under restraint and as the angel said in Revelation 17, it "is not"
right now. However, when it comes back, the 10 horns will be under its
control. Revelation 17 verse 13 explains this where the 10 kings (10 horns) give
their power and authority to the returned beast, which makes the returned beast ruler
over the 10 horns. This means the beast ultimately gets control over the 10
horns. The leopard beast's body cannot be in control of the heads because
it is never coexistent with them (it "is not" during the time of the
heads). Yet, because the power represented by the body of the beast returns, this
occurs under the
Exception Principle,
during the time of the horns, it will be coexistent with its own horns. Therefore,
it is consistent with the idea that the beast they are on controls the horns.
In addition, just as the beast upon whom they sit eventually controls the 10 horns, so
it is with the seven heads. They are under the control of the dragon.
In summary, this means that during the time of the seven heads, the powers represented
by the seven heads have kingly power and are the dominant power coming out of the beast
after the beast went into restraint in 1798. Further,
during this time they are under the control of the dragon. Do not confuse the
dragon and the beast because of this, however. They ARE different powers
because the Bible shows them as separate powers! Control is NOT identity!
During the time of the 10 horns, the powers represented by the 10 horns have kingly
power and are the dominant powers coming out of the seven heads after the seven heads
are gone. Yet, as explained in the
section on the identity of the 10 horns,
these 10 horns are the Protestant Religions and
they will hand their power over to the beast
(the papacy, which the Bible says ascends out of the abyss and returns) for
accomplishment of a common purpose.
Therefore, in the end, the beast does become dominant over the 10 horns and directly
controls them during this the time of the 10 horns.
Note that the seven heads in Revelation 17 are seven kings, while the 10 horns are also
10 kings. This means since they are kings it is probably implicit that crowns
could exist for them, though they are not shown in that chapter. We do not want
to put something there that is not there, but if the heads and horns are the same across
all three beasts, then the Bible already shows the crowns elsewhere for us. In
Revelation 12 and 13, crowns are present, which implies that these are kings.
Revelation 17 calls them kings without showing crowns. Thus, saying they are kings in
Revelation 17 is equivalent to showing the crowns in Revelation 12 and 13 without
calling them kings verbally in those chapters.
We hope that this helps the reader understand the crowns upon the heads of the dragon
of Revelation 12 and the horns of the leopard beast of Revelation 13.