Commencing, then, with chapter 12, how far does this line of prophecy extend?  The first symbol introduced, which can be applied to an earthly government, is the great red dragon.  The second is the beast of Rev. 13, which, having the body of a leopard, we shall call, for brevity’s sake, the leopard beast.  To this beast the dragon gives his seat, power, and great authority.  This beast, then, is connected with the dragon, and belongs to this line of prophecy.  The third symbol is the two-horned beast of Rev. 13.  This beast exercises certain power in the presence of the leopard beast, and causes the earth and them that dwell therein to worship him.  This beast, therefore, is connected with the leopard beast, and hence belongs to the same line of prophecy.  No conclusion is reached in chapter 13, and hence the prophecy is not there completed.  Going forward into chapter 14, we find a company brought to view who are redeemed from among men (which can mean nothing else than translation from among the living at the second coming of Christ); and they sing a song before the throne which none but themselves can learn.  In chapter 15, we have a company presented before us who have gotten the victory over the beast, his image, the mark, and the number of his name—­the very things brought to view in the concluding portion of Rev. 13.  This company also sing a song, even the song of Moses and the Lamb; and they sing it while standing upon the sea of glass, as stated in verse 2.  Turning to chapter 4:6, we learn that this sea of glass is “before the throne.”  The conclusion, therefore, follows that those who sing before the throne, in chapter 14, are identical with those who sing on the sea of glass (before the throne), in chapter 15, inasmuch as they stand in the same place, and the song they both sing is the first glad song of actual redemption.  But the declarations found in chapter 15 show that the company introduced in the opening of chapter 14 have been in direct conflict with the powers brought to view in the closing verses of chapter 13, and have gotten the victory over them.  Being thus connected with those powers, they form a part of the same line of prophecy.  But here this line of prophecy must end; for this company is spoken of as redeemed; and no line of prophecy, as already noticed, can go beyond the eternal state.

The line of prophecy in which the two-horned beast stands, is, therefore, one which is very clearly defined:  it commences with chapter 12, and ends with verse 5 of chapter 14.  The student of prophecy finds it one of vast importance; the humble child of God, one of transcendent interest.  It begins with the church, and ends with the church—­the church, at first in humility, trial, and distress; at last, in victory, exaltation, and glory.  This is the one object which ever appears the same in all the scenes here described, and whose history is the leading theme of the prophecy, from first to last.  Trampled under the feet of the three colossal persecuting powers here brought to view, the followers of Christ for long ages bow their heads to the pitiless storm of oppression and persecution; but the end repays them all; for John beholds them at last, the storms all over, their conflicts all ended, waving palm-branches of victory, and striking on golden harps a song of everlasting triumph within the precincts of the heavenly land.