Revelation Beasts of the Earth

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

–Revelation 6:8

Who or what are the ‘beasts of the earth’?  They will play a role in God’s wrath which will be unleashed during the Tribulation, aka the 70th Week of Daniel, or Jacob’s Trouble.

Are they literally wild animals?  Could it refer to pathogenic microorganisms?  Or perhaps it’s an allusion to the Antichrist and the false prophet?

The original Greek word for ‘beasts’ is ‘therion’, which is used 39 times in Revelation to refer to the Antichrist or things associated with the Antichrist. The mention of ‘beasts of the earth’ in Rev. 6 is the first use of the word ‘therion’ in Revelation. It has been suggested that the ‘beasts’ may use the ‘sword’, ‘hunger’ and ‘death’ to kill.

The word ‘therion’ is also used to describe the venomous snake which bit Paul’s hand in Acts 28:4

However, in light of the convergence of End Times signs in 2017, it does certainly appear that the number of attacks on people by wild animals is significantly higher than usual…let me rephrase that, that EVER BEFORE.

Here are a few examples from recent months:

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