REVELATION 13 ---The Two Beasts
(v.1) John’s vision of a beast rising from the sea.
“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”
“Then I stood on the sand of the sea:” In Revelation 12, John’s vision mainly had an IN HEAVEN looking down upon earth view. NOW the scene of his vision shifts to the earth, and in this vision John IS standing ON the sand of the sea ON EARTH.
Many people today love the sea, but Jewish people in Biblical times regarded the sea as a wild, untamed, frightening place, a figure of evil that TRIED to resist God, as in (Psalm 74:12-13; Psalm 89:8-9; Isaiah 57:20).
“And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea:” From the place identified with evil and chaos and resisting God, a beast comes forth. The ancient Greek word translated beast here has the idea of a wild, dangerous animal.
Because John calls him “a beast” and not “a dragon” (as in Revelation 12:3), we KNOW this creature represents someone distinct from Satan but who represents the dragon (Revelation 12:9).
“Having seven heads and ten horns:” Though this beast is distinct from the dragon of Revelation 12, he is still closely identified with him. He is NOT the dragon (Satan), but he is LIKE him (AntiChrist), because the dragon also had seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 11:3).
In the Bible “horns” express strength and power. A bull with two horns is powerful creature, but a beast with ten horns has that much more power - just like the dragon of Revelation 12:3.
This LIKENESS TO SATAN is just one of the things that identifies this beast as the Antichrist. The word Antichrist only appears in the Bible FIVE times in four verses (1 John 2:18; 2:22; 4:3, and 2 John 7).
We can begin by understanding WHAT ANTICHRIST MEANS. The prefix ANTI can mean “against”, “the opposite of” or “instead of.” The Bible wants you to KNOW that he is “the instead of” Jesus.
Most people have focused on the idea of the “opposite Jesus.” I am SURE Satan loves that mistake and most likely ENCOURAGES it.
It has made people think that the Antichrist will appear as a supremely evil person, (horns, red-forked tail) that as much as Jesus went around doing good, he will go around doing bad.
As much as Jesus’ character and personality was beautiful and attractive, the Antichrist’s character and personality will be ugly and repulsive.
As much as Jesus spoke only truth, the Antichrist will speak only lies. This emphasizes the idea of the “opposite Jesus” too much.
The Antichrist will be more of an “instead of Jesus.” He will look wonderful, be handsome, smart, iconic, be charming and successful. He will AT FIRST be a peace maker. He will be the ultimate winner, and appear as an angel of light. In this sense the Antichrist will be a satanic messiah, instead of the true Messiah Jesus Christ.
“And on his horns ten crowns:” This is something different about the beast compared to the dragon of Revelation 12:3, who had seven diadems on his heads. The seven crowns of the dragon expressed his strength and power, because seven is a number associated with strength and completeness. The TEN crowns of the beast express his rule over a group of TEN NATIONS.
The figure of ten horns also associates this beast with the beast of Daniel 7:7, which represent the FINAL world empire of the Antichrist, which the Messiah will ultimately conquer: “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.” (Daniel 7:7)
In Daniel’s vision, the ten horns specifically represented ten kingdoms that this final world dictator has authority over (Daniel 7:24). In John’s vision the ten crowns on the ten horns emphasize/confirm this.
The visions of Daniel 7 and Daniel 2 also connect the GOVERNMENTS represented by the ten crowns with the ancient Roman Empire.
In those visions, Daniel saw three successive world empires, each succeeded by a fourth - which in the context of the visions is plainly the Roman Empire. In the days of that fourth empire the Messiah will come, destroy all earthly rule and reign over the earth.
Since we do NOT see the reign of Jesus on earth in the way Daniel prophesied, we can see that the Roman Empire will “resume”, be awakened, be restored in some way, expressed by this collection of ten crowns.
“And on his heads a blasphemous name:” The seven heads of the beast each advertise blasphemy against God. This speaks of more than the beast’s message; it speaks of his CHARACTER. He is a blasphemer, who speaks against God (as in Daniel 7:25).
(v.2) The description of the beast of the sea again connects it to images from Daniel 7.
“Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.”
“LIKE a leopard . . . LIKE a bear . . . LIKE a lion:” In this vision, God used images from Daniel’s vision of Daniel 7 to communicate the identity and nature of this beast to John. Daniel 7 uses four animals (beasts) to describe the course of human government from Daniel’s time until the ultimate reign of Jesus on this earth.
The first three animals are:
A LION (a picture of the Babylonian Empire),
A BEAR (a picture of Medo-Persian Empire), and
A LEOPARD (a picture of the Greek Empire).
The fourth animal was a dreadful, indescribable beast which SHARED the most terrifying characteristics of the previous beasts, yet represents the FINAL world empire under the Satanic dictator (Daniel 7:7-8).
John presents this beast as the extension of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, connecting his empire with the characteristics of the great empires of the past.
WHAT does that mean?
This FINAL world empire will have the catlike vigilance of a leopard, the slow and crushing power of a bear, and the authority and ferociousness of a lion.
Since the beasts of Daniel 7 represented empires more than specific men, some have thought that the beast of Revelation 13 is NOT a person, but a government or a cultural system. Many believe the beast is a broad picture of totalitarian governments, especially the totalitarian states of the 20th century.
But REMEMBER with ANY empire, especially brief empires, the government is almost totally identified with THE RULER.
WHAT DO I MEAN?
For example, when we think of The Holocaust, Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the figures of Hitler as an individual and Nazi Germany as a state are virtually the same.
Revelation 13 shows us that “the beast” IS A MAN, a HUMAN individual, though he is closely identified with his world-dominating government.
The antichrist is also called the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3), as was Judas (John 17:12). Judas was a man, NOT a system or a government, so it follows that the antichrist will also be A MAN, NOT SIMPLY a system or a government.
“The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority:” This world leader is really empowered and supported BY SATAN. Through this man, Satan will express his own desire and authority. In this, the beast, THE ANTI-CHRIST ACCEPTS & TAKES the offer that Jesus refused to give Satan in (Matthew 4:8-10).
The beast is NOT an ordinary man. He is called the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit (Revelation 11:7; 17:8), and ordinary men do NOT COME from there.
Seiss says it best, “One who hails from that place must either be a dead man brought up again from the dead, or some evil spirit which takes possession of a living man . . . In either case, the Beast, IS a person, & IS an extraordinary and supernatural being.”
(v.3) The beast and his wound.
“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”
“One of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded:” This is a REAL KILLING BLOW head wound, a mortal wound, not a superficial injury. The ANTI CHRIST WILL BE KILLED BY SWORD. Perhaps it is an expression of God’s judgment against the beast.
“And his deadly wound was healed:” The coming back to life & the recovery of the beast increases his fame and authority (all the world marveled and followed the beast). Twice later (Revelation 13:12 and 13:14) this recovery is mentioned in connection to the world’s worship and devotion to the beast.
We who study The Bible KNOW that whenever ALMIGHTY GOD REPEATS ANYTHING THREE TIMES…IT IS A VITAL WARNING AND REVELATION WE SHOULD REMEMBER.
The most natural way to understand John’s plain speaking words in Revelation 13 makes us KNOW that he speaks of A HUMAN MAN who will be mortally wounded and then brought back to life & healed.
“Wounded . . . Healed:” This is THE Antichrist, who TRIES to IMITATE Jesus in His death and resurrection. The world will believe this, the nation of Israel in particular, WILL FOR A TIME BELIEVE THIS, and it will add tremendously to his fame and power.
(v.4) The authority and popularity of the beast.
“So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
“So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast:” As people worship this beast and bow down before his government, it may be that they do NOT know they are ALSO bowing down to Satan himself; but it IS worship of Satan none the less. They clearly worship both the beast and the dragon, but their worship of the dragon may be unknowing.
Though Satan worship becomes more and more popular each year, it is still only a tiny fraction of people who openly worship Satan. But this is because more people expect Satan to appear with ugliness and horror.
This is wrong, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” reminded us in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15.
The world will be AMAZED at the POWER of the beast, and will BELIEVE he IS unstoppable/unconquerable.
For a SHORT time, the beast will look like a tremendous “winner.” PUBLICLY, THE FIRST 3.5 YEARS, THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL STEP ONTO THE WORLD STAGE, FILLED WITH TERROR AND CHAOS, WARS, HUNGER, DESTRUCTION after the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, JEWS AND GENTILES ALIKE WHO LOVE JESUS ARE SNATCHED AWAY, AND EVEN THE DEAD IN CHRIST, THAT MEANS JESUS WILL NOT EVEN LEAVE EVEN A DUST MOTE OF OUR DNA ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH FOR SATAN AND HIS ANTICHRIST TO USE FOR EVIL.
SO when he blasphemes Jesus and persecutes God’s people, they (the TRIBULATION SAINTS, THOSE WHO REJECT THE BEAST WILL APPEAR AS complete losers - for a VERY SHORT time.)
(v.5-6) The beast’s blasphemies.
“And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.”
“Speaking great things and blasphemies:” “Blasphemer” may be a more accurate title than “Antichrist” for this end-times dictator. As much as anything, this beast is a man who speaks against God and everything God stands for (His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven).
“And he was GIVEN authority to continue for forty-two months:” The beast continues without MUCH restraint by God for a period of forty-two months - the familiar three and one-half years BUT he is still UNDER God’s authority. GOD GIVES HIM THE AUTHORITY TO AN EXTENT…BUT NEVER FULL REIGN. EVEN DURING THE TRIBULATION SATAN AND THE ANTICHRIST AND THE FALSE PROPHET HAVE LIMITATIONS THAT THEY CAN NOT BREAK.
WHY & WHOM does the beast blaspheme . . . those who dwell in heaven? This means he speaks against those who were taken IN THE RAPTURE, and are therefore out of his reach. HE IS FURIOUS BECAUSE HE DID NOT BELIEVE THE RAPTURE WOULD OCCUR, AND HE LOOKED FOR THE TIME HE COULD PERSECUTE, TORTURE, HUNT DOWN AND KILL ALL THOSE WHO LOVE JESUS CHRIST….BUT SATAN LOSES AGAIN…BECAUSE HE CAN NOT TOUCH THE CHURCH.
(v.7-8) The beast makes war against the saints.
“It was GRANTED to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
“It was granted to him to make war with the saints:” Revelation 12 described the broad phenomenon of Satanic persecution during the tribulation period.
Here, the main instrument of that persecution is revealed: the government of the beast will PERSECUTE/KILL all those who do not bow in worship to the beast.
“To overcome them:” Overcome does NOT mean that the beast can overcome THE FAITH of the saints, but that he CAN destroy their physical lives, and by all appearances defeat the cause of God’s people on this earth.
WHO ARE these saints who are overcome by the beast? These saints ARE God’s people who come to Christ AFTER the church has been raptured & during The Tribulation.
“All who dwell on the earth will worship him:” This final world dictator WILL demand and WILL RECEIVE worship from the whole earth. But those who worship him WILL pay the price: they are whose names have not been written in the Book of Life.
HOW will all who dwell on the earth . . . worship him? It will probably be after the pattern of the worship demanded by the Roman Emperors in the days of the early church. There were times in the early church when all residents in the empire were required to burn a pinch of incense before a statue of Caesar and say, “Caesar is Lord.”
Christians refused to do this and were persecuted because of it. After the terrible totalitarian monsters of the 20th Century (Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao), it isn’t hard to imagine a dominating world leader demanding such a declaration of allegiance, tantamount to worship.
The Book of Life contains the names of all God’s redeemed/saved (Revelation 20:15). No fence riding allowed THIS time. You EITHER worship the beast OR have your name in the Book of Life.
“The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world:” This deeply meaningful title for Jesus reminds us that God’s plan of redemption was set in place BEFORE He EVER created the beings who would be redeemed. God wasn’t “surprised” by the fall of Adam or any other evidence of the fallen nature of man. God isn’t making it up as He goes along. It is all going according to HIS PLAN.
WANT PROOF OF THIS?
OKAY…HERE IT IS…
God the Son HAD a relationship of love and fellowship WITH God the Father BEFORE the foundation of the world (John 17:24)
The WORK of Jesus was ordained BEFORE the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20)
God CHOSE His redeemed BEFORE the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)
Names ARE written in the Book of Life BEFORE the foundation of the world (Revelation 17:8)
The kingdom of heaven WAS prepared for the redeemed BEFORE the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34)
WHAT does this mean? God KNEW who WOULD accept Jesus and who WOULD reject His Jesus BEFORE Adam WAS created. But God promised mankind FREEWILL, and so God MUST march through time and ALLOW each human throughout time to CHOOSE.
I get asked this question all the time:
WHY didn’t God just create those who would NOT chose badly & only those who would have STAYED perfect & pure? Because they would have HAD TO BE ROBOTS…programmed to love God.
THEY WOULD NOT HAVE HAD FREE WILL….AND CHOICE.
God is love.
He WANTS just like all of us, for someone to CHOOSE us, to CHOOSE to love us, warts and all. God has PROVED that He loves us warts and all…when HE GAVE THE WORLD WHO REJECTED AND CURSED AND DID NOT BELIEVE IN HIM, HIS PRECIOUS SON JESUS CHRIST TO DIE FOR ALL OF MANKIND.
SO IT IS NOW OUR TURN to CHOOSE Jesus.
KNOW THIS: no choice IS rejection of Jesus.
(v.9-10) A warning to all.
“If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”
“He who has an ear, let him hear:” These words ALWAYS precede a WARNING from God.
“He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity:” If you work FOR the beast and lead others TO WORK for the beast, you certainly shall go into captivity yourself. God will measure unto you what you have measured to others.
This ALSO WARNS that regardless what the BEAST tells people, or how things SEEM for a short time: there is NO hope in fighting with or against the Antichrist in yourselves. The ONLY HOPE/VICTORY is steadfast faith and endurance in Jesus.
“Here is the patience and the faith of the saints:” Though these NEW TRIBULATION CHRISTIANS WILL BE viciously attacked by the Antichrist and his followers, the saints of God must keep steadfast faith in the ultimate justice of God. He will reward their persecutors with persecution of His own.
The beast rising from the land.
(v.11) John’s initial description of this second beast.
“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.”
“Then I saw another beast:” This creature represents someone like the beast rising from the sea, because the same word beast is used to describe them both. At the same time, this beast IS different.
They are different IN ORIGIN, because one comes out of the sea, the other out of the earth.
They are different IN RANK, because the second is subordinate to the first (causes the earth . . . to worship the first beast, Revelation 13:12)
They are different IN APPEARANCE, because the second has a mild, “lamb-like” appearance.
“And he had two horns like a lamb:” The two horns may express the fact that this beast has authority in two realms, such as religious and political authority. Or, he may have two horns simply because that’s how many horns lambs have (two horns like a lamb).
“Spoke like a dragon:” Despite his lamb-like appearance, the message of the second beast is THE SAME as the message of the first beast.
This SECOND beast is called THE FALSE PROPHET (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10), as someone distinct from the first beast (the Antichrist) and the dragon (Satan).
With the dragon, the beast rising from the sea, and the beast rising from the land we have an UNHOLY TRINITY. The dragon is the anti-Father, the beast rising from the sea is the anti-Christ, and the beast rising from the land is the anti-Holy Spirit.
(v.12-15) The second beast’s “job description.”
“And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
“He exercises all the authority of the first beast:” The beast rising from the earth is essentially a Satanic prophet, who leads the world to worship the beast and the dragon.
It may seem UNBELIEVABLE that the world WOULD/COULD be led into worship of a man and of the devil. But by nature, men have an undeniable religious impulse, and they also have an undeniable rebellion against God. What men want most is not the elimination of religion, but their own religion. They say they want the kingdom, but they don’t want God in it.
“He performs great signs:” The beast rising from the sea has the “signs and wonders” to back up his false teaching. A specific miracle of the false prophet is described: he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. It is important that John highlights this miracle. In the eyes of the deceived world, it answers the miracle of the two witnesses, who minister during this period and are persecuted by the Antichrist and his false prophet (Revelation 11:5).
To the BLIND/DECEIVED world, this also puts this false prophet in the class of Elijah (1 Kings 18). We can imagine the false prophet as saying, “Let the true God answer with fire” and then performing his deceptive wonder.
REMEMBER SATAN TRIED THIS DECEPTION BEFORE!
WHERE?
In the days of the Exodus, Aaron performed miracles, and up to a point was matched miracle-for-miracle by the magicians of Egypt (Exodus 7-9).
In Deuteronomy 13:1-5, God assumes there will be supernatural works on behalf of false prophets and idols, and He warns His people to JUDGE a worker of miracles by THEIR MESSAGE, NOT ONLY by their works.
Jesus WARNED that some who worked miracles - even in His name - were false followers and would perish. (Matthew 7:22-23).
Jesus WARNED that in the end times, false prophets would emerge and show great signs and wonders to deceive. (Matthew 24:24).
Paul SAID that the Antichrist will come with all power, signs, and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9).
Knowing ALL this, the emphasis on signs and wonders among some Christians is frightening to me.
Some Christians say or think, “You can really know where God is and where His power is by signs and wonders.”
That’s a LIE that Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet could all STATE. Signs and wonders will be present among Christians, but the REAL MARKS of God’s PRESENCE, POWER, & WORK are LOVE & TRUTH.
“He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed:” The beast rising from the earth will use a deceptive, animated image as the focus point of the worship of the beast.
It may seem strange to us to have the whole world give this kind of worship to the IMAGE of a man, but the personality cults of totalitarian governments in the twentieth century are a good example of this kind of worship. All we have to do is remember totalitarian states like the Soviet Union or Communist China, and their omnipresent pictures of Stalin or Mao and we see a pattern that will be ultimately fulfilled BY the Antichrist on a GLOBAL scale.
The image of the beast is animated in some way; it has breath and can speak. Whether the image is animated supernaturally or technologically, the result will be impressive.
The Psalmist mocked idol worshippers because the idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
“They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not” in Psalm 135:15-16.
This image of the Antichrist will be a DIFFERENT kind of idol, because the image of the beast WILL speak and WILL SEE and cause those who REFUSE to worship the beast to be killed.
This idolatrous image is what Jesus, Daniel, and Paul spoke of as the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15, and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
It is an idolatrous image set up in the holy place of a rebuilt temple; it is an abomination in the sense of being supreme idolatry, and it is desolation in the sense that it will bring the judgment described by the seals, trumpets, and bowls upon those who OBEY/FOLLOW the beast.
This is the summation of the power of the Antichrist, whose authority ends after forty-two months (Revelation 13:5). This marks the HALFWAY point of the final seven years of man’s rule of this planet. The Antichrist’s power ends as soon as it peaks.
(v.16-17) The economic strategy of the first beast and the second beast.
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
“He causes all . . . to receive a mark:” Under the government of the beast and his associate, all will be given a mark. Without the mark, one will NOT be able to buy or sell except one who has the mark of his name.
The technology to give people a mark that enables them to buy and sell in the electronic economy is ALREADY available.
“A mark on their right hand or on their foreheads:” Satan is not a creative being, all he CAN DO is imitate God. We are not surprised to find that this too is a Satanic parody of something God will do; it imitates God’s mark upon his people (Revelation 7:3-4).
“The number of his name:” This was a common concept in the ancient world. In Greek (and Hebrew as well), letters were assigned a numerical value, such as “A” equaling 1, “B” equaling 2, and so forth.
(v.18) The number of the beast.
“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
“His number is 666:”
“It is the number of a man:” The letters of “Jesus” in Greek add up to 888. 666 may be a Satanic counterpart to the name of Jesus, or 666 may be God’s evaluation of such a Satanic counterpart - it falls short.
The two beasts are Satanic FAKES. We are presented with a false “Christ” and a false “John the Baptist” who promotes the false Christ. Satan can’t create, but he can/DOES effectively deceive with imitation.
INSTEAD of being AFRAID of the imitation - the Antichrist - LET’S be interested in the genuine: Jesus Christ, Amen?