14 He deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived.
And he deceives those on earth because of the signs – in establishing the Trinity doctrine, “the champion” of the meeting at Nicaea was St. Nicolas who apparently “struck” an Arian, or Arius on the jaw. “Saint” Nicolas was called “the wonderworker,” because he performed many miracles.
telling those on earth to make an image to the beast – this story is found in Daniel 3. The King of Babylon made an image, and whoever would not worship it would be killed. The Trinity is the man-made image of God, created by philosophers from 325 to 381.
In Rev 13:2, the beast was described as the combination of “three animals”- a lion, leopard and a bear, coming together to make one beast. The Trinity is an “image of the beast.”
The picture of God as a lion, leopard and a bear is also found in Hos 13:4,7-8:
“And you shall not know no God but Me…
So I will be to them like a lion,
Like a leopard by the road I will lurk,
I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs.”
This was God’s prophecy against Ephraim, the harlotry of Israel; and by extension, the harlotry of the New Covenant Church: the prophecy which Hosea began in Chapters 2 and 3.
who had the wound of the sword and come to life – this brings us back to verse 3, and the time period: one of the heads was crushed (the fall of the Roman Empire) and yet the beast lived. The key event in the fall of Rome was the Gothic war from 376-382. The Trinity was established in 381.