Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
The composite beast of Revelation 13 will have characteristics of the other three kingdoms that are mentioned by Daniel and John. However, because of the constraints of time, we are now going to zero in on the first Kingdom of Babylon, because there are some chilling similarities that should be observed. John says specifically that the composite beast of Revelation 13 had a mouth like a Lion, and since it is a fact that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, we must pin down the reason why he saw this feature in his vision.
The reason why this is so important is because John says that the lamb-like beast exercises all the power of the composite beast. In other words, the lion in the composite beast speaks, and the lamb-like beast also speaks, mirroring very closely what lion did and said. The Lion in the vision is a reference to the kingdom of ancient Babylon, being the very first of the beasts Daniel saw, and then the interpretation was given to Nebuchadnezzar: “Thou art this head of gold.”
Thus, we are going to focus specifically on Babylon, the Lion. Question: What was Babylon famous for? Answer: It was famous for its buildings, its hanging gardens and its false system of worship, instituted by Nebuchadnezzar, and enforced by the king and the judiciary. Nebuchadnezzar himself was a great builder, and he took great pride in adorning his palaces with gold. That’s one of reasons why the Scripture says: “Thou art this head of gold.” So, we will make that our first point. Nebuchadnezzar was a great builder, and he also loved to adorn his palaces with gold.
Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!