The Spirit show shows us the Kingdom of the Beast through animal imagery (the leopard, bear, and lion). This describes the base nature of the Beast and his kingdom, and it gives us a glimpse of how this kingdom and this demon will move about in the realm of humanity. This image combines different elements from each animal to create a horrifying monstrous creature with remarkable capabilities.
The prophet Daniel saw this Beast and was terrified by it. He said it was exceedingly dreadful having teeth of iron (an unbreakable bite) and claws of bronze (claws of judgment), which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet. This kingdom, it is said, will devour the whole earth, tread it down, and crush it.
Why animals? The gentile nations were given over at Babel to be ruled by the Spirit Princes known as Elohim, or “Gods” – demonic spirit. In the Codex, these nations tend to be imaged according to the animalesque nature of the demonic spirits that rule or control them, the spirits that give each nation its unique spiritual identity.
