May 4, 2017
Andrea Hutchinson
Chapter 13 continues the vision of John which began after the Seventh Trumpet was proclaimed in c.11. This is the description of two of the characters [beasts] in play during this vision.
The Beast out of the Sea
13 The dragon[a] stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.
John’s vision in c.12 was a view of heaven. Now his vision shifts to a view of earth, specifically the sea. In many versions of this vision John states that he stood on the sand of the sea. This is interesting to note because ancient Israel was apparently wary of the sea. It was a figure of evil and chaos that seemed to resist God, though the resistance was unsuccessful. Examples of their wariness can be found in Psalm 74:12-13, 89:8-9 and Isaiah 57:20; and Matthew 8:23-27, the “ye of little faith” verse.
The beast of the sea is very similar to the dragon (presumed to be satan) in c.12, even down to the crowns, though the crowns are on the sea beast’s horns. There is much speculation as to the meanings of the seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads have been said to represent Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Persia, Rome and the restored Roman Empire. The 10 horns are viewed as signifying the final form of [Gentile] world power at the end times. This beast receives his power and authority from the dragon of the previous chapter. Though this beast is distinct from the dragon of c.12, he is still closely associated with him. He is not the dragon, but he is like him, because the dragon also had seven heads and ten horns, Rev. 11:3. The parallel to the four beasts, especially the forth, in Daniel 7 and the explanation given in 17:8-11 seem to say that the beast symbolizes a revived Roman Empire, which exercises universal authority and a specific ruler, whom John calls the antichrist in 1 Jn. 2:18. With this, John refers to an individual who has captured the imagination of many people. Though we commonly call this coming world leader the antichrist, the Bible gives him many names or titles. He is known as:
· The little horn of Daniel 7:8
· The king of fierce countenance of Daniel 8:23
· The Prince that shall come of Daniel 9:26
· The willful king of Daniel 11:36-45
· The one who comes in his own name of John 5:43, whom Israel will receive as a messiah
· The son of perdition, the man of sin, the lawless one of 2 Thessalonians 2:3
The descriptions in this vision continually connect to Daniel 7. It seems that God uses images from Daniel’s vision to communicate the identity and nature of this beast to John. Daniel 7 used four animals (beasts) to describe the course of human government from Daniel’s time until the ultimate reign of Jesus on this earth.
The blasphemous name may refer to the common claim of ancient Roman emperors to be divine. More directly, it is simply blasphemy against the name of the true God vv. 5-6, which Daniel predicted of the “willful king” during the tribulation.
The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority: This world leader is empowered and supported by satan. Through this man, satan will express his own desire and authority over the earth.
3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
John continues. One of the heads of the beast has a head wound, a mortal wound. Not a superficial injury. John tells us that the whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.
The most natural way to for us to understand John’s words here causes the reader to believe that he speaks of a man who will be mortally wounded and then healed. The world will be enticed, filled with wonder and follow and worship this man [beast]. The man will lead a revived empire [Roman?], and he will dominate and govern it. There is a train of thought where the beast represents a government. For example the Roman empire.
The whole world being enticed and filled with wonder follow and worship the beast, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they are following and worshiping satan. The one who gave the beast his power and his great authority. Many are worshiping blindly, unaware that their worship is false and therefore demonic,1 Cor.10:20-22. They are persuaded that no one is like him and that no one can successfully come against him.
We can see the analogy here; satan blaspheming Jesus in this vision. Jesus was mortally wounded on the cross and was miraculously rose from death, the people were in awe and wonder and they followed Him. And ultimately God gave Jesus all authority and a throne in heaven from where Jesus will rule.
This proves the true definition of an antichrist; one who imitates Jesus in His death and resurrection. An opposite representation. The world will believe this false representation, and it will add tremendously to the beasts fame and power.
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
We see that the beast was “given” a mouth and was “permitted” to speak against God and everything God stands for. His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. The beast was also given permission to exercise its authority for 42 months; [ its” refers, possibly to a thing; an empire or nation, rather than a man].
Some say that 42 months does not equal 1260 days because all our months do not equal 30 days each. The fact is, prophecy speaks of Biblical months, not our months as they are today. To understand the forty and two months, or the time, and times and dividing a time, that the beast will reign, we must first find the method of time the Bible declares for prophecy. God says in Ezekiel 4:6 “I have appointed thee each day for a year” And we also find the Bible acknowledges a month to be 30 days long. Because in, Genesis 7:11 we see the rain started on the 17 day of the 2nd month and in Genesis 8:3,4 we find the water receded at the end of 150 days, then it says the ark rested on the 17th day of the 7th month. That’s exactly 5 months to the day. If we divide the 150 days by the 5 months you get 30 days per month. So 42 months multiplied by 30 equals 1260. And according to Ezekiel 4:6, that’s 1260 years that Papal Rome would reign. ( This math, which I am incapable of even fathoming, was take from remanntofgod.org)
So, the beast was given authority to continue for forty-two months and it continues without restraint by God for that period of time – the familiar three and one-half years. The duration of the period shows that the beast has full reign for the first half of the final seven years, and that during this time he is under God’s authority. This is in keeping of Dan. 7:25.
Chapter 12 describes the broad phenomenon of persecution during the tribulation period. Here, the main instrument of that persecution is revealed: the government of the beast will persecute and kill all those who do not bow in worship to the beast.
Conquer [God’s holy people] 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.
8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.[b]
This world dictator will demand and receive worship from the whole earth. Those who’s names have not been written in the Book of Life.
The Book of Life contains the names of all God’s redeemed, from the beginning, Rev. 20:15. Worshipping the beast and having your name in the Book of Life are mutually exclusive.The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; our deeply meaningful title for Jesus, reminds us that God’s plan of redemption was set in place before He even created the those who would be redeemed. God wasn’t surprised by the fall of Adam, or any other evidence of the fallen nature of man. We can find comfort in that God isn’t making it up as He goes along. It is all going according to His plan.
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
10
“If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword,
with the sword they will be killed.”[d]
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
Whoever has ears, let them hear announces a warning to all. A solemn word from God, meant to capture the attention of all who hear it. The warning to the listener is that even when believers are facing captivity or death they can have patience and faith that God will vindicate them.This may have a secondary meaning, though; that there is no hope in fighting against the antichrist. The only way of victory is steadfast faith and endurance in Jesus. Though they are 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 out of the Earth
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.
This beast represents someone like the beast rising from the sea, because beast is used to describe them both. At the same time, this beast is different in origin because the former emerged from the sea and the present beast from the earth.The two are different in rank; the second is subordinate to the first, proved by the fact that he is given the task, by the first, to cause the earth . . . to worship the first beast, Rev. 13:12.
They are different in appearance, the second has a mild, “lamb-like” appearance unlike the harsher appearance of the first.
Take note that this is the only place in Revelation that the description lamb is not in reference to Jesus. There are differing ideas as to the reference of the two horns. The first is that it may represent authority in two areas, the religious and political. For example, they may represent Jewish worship and authority. Or, it may simply have two horns because lambs have two horns. After all this beast, while being described as a beast was illustrated in this vision only as lamb-like, there were no truly harsh beast like features defined.
The beast of the earth spoke like a dragon. This likely indicates that the second beast’s message was passed down from the first, just as the first beast’s message and authority was derived from the dragon (presumably satan). This second beast is called the false prophet in Rev. 16:3, 19:20, 20:10, as someone distinct from the first beast [the antichrist] and the dragon [satan].
12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
The beast rising from the earth is essentially a false prophet, who leads the inhabitants of the earth to worship the beast and the dragon. The causing of fire to come down from heaven to the earth [great signs] was very persuasive to the inhabitants who witnessed it. It backed up his false teachings. It is notable that John highlights this miracle. In the eyes of the deceived world, this great sign is very similar to the miracle of the two witnesses, who minister during this period and are persecuted by the antichrist and his false prophet, Rev. 11:5.
The beast from the earth will deceive the people by using the power given it to animate the image of the first beast, the focus point of the worship, with the ability to speak and the ability to kill those who refuse. The performance of these [great] signs of power by the beast [satan] is part of the mass deception that Paul prophesied in 2 Thess. 2:8-9.
16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
The mark is equivalent to the the name of the beast, and the number of his name. This mark, placed on the right hand or forehead identifies those loyal to satan. Satan is not a creative being, all he can do is imitate God. Therefore the mark mimics or is the counterfeit of the seal on the foreheads of the servants of God in cs. 7 and 14. Without this mark the people will not be allowed to participate in the economy.
The Greek term for mark, used here, is charagm (car-ag-mah) xáragma – meaning in it’s proper term, an engraving or etching; figuratively it is defined as a mark providing undeniable identification, like a symbol giving irrefutable connection between parties.
18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.
After the preceding verses describe the tyranny of the beast John seeks to provide wisdom and understanding to the reader. The number [name] of the beast, 666, is also described as the number of “a” man. This gives foundation to the fact that the beast is merely a man, not a god, as the signs might suggest. This man’s identity will someday be understood in relation to the number 666. It’s a key to identifying the antichrist.
As for calculating the number of the beast or a man: The number of the beast or 666 has forever been the single most incalculable math equation know to man. There are numerous ways to calculate this number and the infinite attempts to calculate it have lead to some interesting solutions, though not proven by scripture or man. The common concept in the ancient world is that in Greek and Hebrew the letters of the languages also had numerical value, therefore the name of the antichrist would be revealed by or in their languages. This was an example of just one attempt to identify the beast.
This verse has instruction [wisdom] that we should adhere to: “Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast …”. Instead of obsessing with fear and interest about the beast, [the number, the antichrist], we should obey the direction and leave it to the person who has the insight [skills] to prove the calculation. Because this instruction is in the Bible we know that this is not for us to calculate; at least not at the moment. Instead we should, as Christians be interested and disciplined in learning about the genuine: Jesus Christ.
The two beasts are false or satanic imitations of the genuine Christ. We are presented with a false “Christ” and a false prophet who promote the false god. Satan can’t create, but he can effectively deceive with imitation. Imitations work precisely because they are similar; if they were so obviously different, it would be easy to tell the difference. Again, we must beware and be familiar with the genuine Christ; which is God’s will for and instruction to the Christians.
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