What is the 'Beast Out of the Sea' in Revelation 13:1?

I thought I would go back to the study in Revelation involving the beast that rises out of the sea. Many will think this relates to a sci-fi monster movie but we have the answers from Scripture itself to shed light on what God is revealing to us. As I often tell people, you cannot understand Revelation without studying the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. To make a long story short, this 'beast' represents a unified government of Gentile powers. During this time, they will be officially unified under the Antichrist.

First of all, the ten horns on the beast represent ten kings or leaders which is found in Daniel 7:24 and Revelation 17:12. I guess you can call this a G-10 summit (Global 10). We also know from reading Daniel that the Antichrist will be the 'little horn' behind the scenes that will take power over the ten (Daniel 7:8). The seven heads on the beast can be counted from the number of heads the 'four beasts' in Daniel 7:4-7. Babylon (represented by a lion with one head), Media-Persia (a bear with one head), Greece (a leopard with four heads), and Rome (a beast that was difficult to describe by Daniel but had one head where the ten horns resided).

In Revelation 13:2, it gives a combination of the beasts (or animals) of Daniel 7:4-7. We read "And the beast which I saw was like unto a LEOPARD, and his feet were as the feet of a BEAR, and his mouth as the mouth of a LION: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." We know the 'dragon' is Satan from reading Revelation 12. This is a unified government under the control of Satan himself which will take place during the 7 year Tribulation. But we see shadows of this being prepared for fulfillment right before our eyes today.

As always, a lot more can be said. But it's interesting to note what those nations represented by those beasts are today. Babylon is modern day Iraq. Media-Persia is modern day Iran (it used to be divided which is why you get the two names although Iranians still refer to it as 'Persia' to this day). Greece (well, that's pretty much self-explanatory). And Rome (we must understand that in God's eyes, the Roman Empire still exists in a fragmented formed. Humpty Dumpty will be put back together again though).

It's interesting how Iraq and Iran are constantly making headlines in the news. Not to mention Greece with the economic chaos we're hearing about today. Just saying!