And they worshiped both the dragon and the beast, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" How the world worships power and sides with the strong! But were the emperors of Rome really worshiped? Gibbon, the historian of Rome, is authority for that fact. And another historian asserts of Caligula, one of the seven emperors, represented by these seven heads: "he began to regard himself as something more than a mere mortal, and to claim divine honors; and finally he erected a temple to himself and instituted a college of priests to superintend hisown worship." And so John goes on to say, in verses 5, 6, that he spake great blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

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Old Testament

New Testament