Newsletter #38 The Two Beasts in Revelation 13 Introduction Now we have come to what many consider the most difficult chapter in the Book of Revelation. Since we know that Revelation has two parts, it becomes easier to understand. If you look on the overview at chapter 13 and at its corresponding section in Part I, you will see that this passage mainly describes historical events. The first thing we should notice is how chapter 13 begins. Revelation 13:1: 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. 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. (NKJV) The first word, if translated correctly, should be and and not then. Thus, there is close connection between chapters 12 and 13. They refer to the same time period. Thus, chapter 13 does not refer to a time some two thousand years later! The Roman Empire The Beast coming up out of the sea resembles the dragon described in Revelation 12:3, 9. That is confirmed in the last phrase quoted above, the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. Thus, it refers to an evil power. But which agent is the devil using this time? The First Beast is called the Sea Beast since it came up out of the sea. This passage is closely related to Daniel 7:3: And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. (NKJV) The book of Daniel describes four world powers in several of the prophecies: The lion represents Babylon, the bear Medo-Persia, the leopard Greece and the fourth beast dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong represents the Roman Empire. If you read Revelation 13:2 you find that the Sea Beast was like the lion, like the bear, and like the leopard. The only one left is the Roman Empire. That is the power described in chapter 13. The Seventh Head The next verse involves one of his seven heads. From this passage alone we do not know which one, but Revelation 17:10 helps us understand that it concerns the seventh head. There will be more details of this study in a future newsletter. Remember that number seven stands for fullness, completion or perfection. Thus our expectations should be high! Revelation 13:3: 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. (NKJV) The phrase as if it had been mortally wounded is puzzling and not well translated. Still most Bible versions use this phrase. Modern Young s Literal Translation correctly reads slain to death. The correct translation is not mortally but slain, and instead of using the word wounded the proper translation is death. The Bible uses the word slain for an animal which is slaughtered in a sacrificial act. The word slay literally means to kill or to murder. If both words slain and death are used as in slain to death, in the original 1
Greek, it must mean truly dead. Don t you agree? Most Bible translations want to give the impression that this head almost died. That is not correct! Furthermore, Revelation 17:10 explains that the seven heads are kings. So please help me! Do you know of a king in history who died a sacrificial death? The only one I know of is Jesus Christ! We found the same mysterious phrase in Revelation 5:6, Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain. If you remember we concluded that the Lamb certainly was slain. It is clearly stated in Revelation 5:12: worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Thus, the same puzzling phrase in two different chapters both refer to the same thing! This interpretation of Revelation 13:3 is also confirmed just a few verses later. Revelation 13:8 speaks also about the Lamb that was slain. Thus, according to the context the word slain should have been used in Revelation 13:3 as well. All these examples use the same Greek word and they all refer to Christ. Christ s Resurrection After His resurrection Christ showed the disciples the marks from the crucifixion on His hands and His side, John 20:20 and 27. Thus, Jesus looks as if He had been slain in an after-the-resurrection perspective. He carries the marks of His crucifixion. The next phrase, and his deadly wound was healed certainly implies that He was resurrected. The sad news is that the world marveled but still followed the beast. Jesus predicted this initial reaction in John 16:20. Revelation 13:4 makes it clear that everyone who did not accept Christ as Messiah, actually worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. The same is true today. If we don t accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we actually are on the devil s side. The continuation of verse 4 indicates that too many worshiped the beast. Caesar worship was demanded during the time of the Roman Empire. Revelation 13:4-5: 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?" And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (NKJV) Who is like the beast is the question in this passage. The Roman Empire was described in Daniel 7:7 and 19 as exceedingly dreadful, terrible, having teeth of iron, etc. Furthermore it devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled on its enemies. Yes, who is able to make war with the Roman Empire? It is a very fitting question. The Roman Empire used its power when it crucified the Messiah and blasphemed God by doing so. It had been given authority and used it to trample on Jesus during the time of His ministry. Here it is helpful to remember that the dragon, the origin of evil, was behind it all. A literal translation of the phrase given authority is to make war. This is very interesting! In Revelation 12 we have already concluded that the war lasted for 3½ years, from Jesus baptism until the cross. The war in Revelation 13:5 lasted for 42 months. These two time periods are the same both are 3½ years in duration. [A side note: When the Book of Revelation writes 42 months, it always refers to the time of Christ s ministry (27 A.D. 31 A.D.). When it writes 1,260 days or time, times and half a time it consistently refers to the time period from 31 A.D (His crucifixion) until 34 A.D.] The dragon (the devil) was behind the Roman Empire in a special way. Revelation 13: 7 and 8 primarily refer to the Roman Empire but any and every nation that has persecuted or will persecute saints also fits to this First Beast. Thus, the Sea Beast represents nations that persecute Christians. 2
The Diaspora It is noteworthy though, that Revelation primarily refers to Bible times. That is understood when we read the last verse about the Beast out of the Sea, Revelation 13:10: 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. (NKJV) This text is similar to the passage referring to the Diaspora, or the dispersion, of the Jews in Luke 21:24: And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (NKJV) The Earth Beast We have thus far defined and explained the First Beast, the Sea Beast. The Second Beast in Revelation 13 did not come out of the sea but out of the earth. We already in the study of Revelation 12 showed that the word earth does not refer to nations. Therefore earth must refer to another type of entity an entity that isn t bound to secular nations. That will become evident as we read further. Revelation 13:11-12: Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 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. (NKJV) This beast looks like a lamb. Since Jesus is the true Lamb, this beast looks like Jesus Christ! Thus, we are dealing with a religious entity! This lamb-like Earth Beast spoke like a dragon. John 8:44 says that when the devil speaks, he lies, since he is the father of lies. Therefore, we should expect to hear lies from the mouth of the Earth Beast. To really emphasize that the Earth Beast is just as evil as the Sea Beast, we read that he exercises all the authority of the first beast. Thus the Second Beast also gets its authority from the devil (See Revelation 13:2). Furthermore, this Earth Beast causes those who dwell on the earth to worship the first beast. The Bible continues to describe this Earth Beast in Revelation 13:13-14: 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. (NKJV) It must be a powerful religious entity. One who makes great signs and even makes fire come down from heaven. When Elijah was on Mount Carmel and fire came down from heaven, it was a showdown between Elijah, representing the True God, and a false religion. The fire could also be a counterfeit to the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost. In that case we are dealing with signs of a spirit that is not the Holy Spirit. It certainly deceives those who dwell on the earth. Thus, the Earth Beast represents false religions! The Image Furthermore, the Earth Beast tells its followers to make an image to the first beast. Image means a statue, a resemblance, or bearing the likeness of something in this case an image to the First Beast. So what is this image? Revelation 13:18 has the answer: 3
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666. (NIV) Generally, number six stands for incompleteness in contrast to number seven which stands for perfection, completion and fullness. According to the explanation in Revelation 13:18 number six is man s number. It obviously is not God s number, which would be 777. Therefore, number 666 refers to man-made things. Since the number is repeated three times its meaning is strongly emphasized. The image stands for MAN- MADE rules, regulations, doctrines, commandments, etc. Therefore, any religion, denomination or church that accepts and promotes man-made rules and regulations belongs to this Earth Beast! Human Traditions Jesus was very hard on human traditions, Mark 7:6-13. Jesus called those who promoted human doctrines and traditions hypocrites. A hypocrite in Bible times was one who put on a mask in a theatrical play and pretended to be what he was not. What is fitting in a play is, however, disgusting in God s eyes. Let s read Jesus summary of this passage regarding human rules and regulations, Mark 7:13: Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that. (NIV) By accepting man-made doctrines, human traditions, rules and regulations we actually nullify the word of God. That means that anything that is not true but has the likeness of being true, is the hallmark for this entity. If we nullify the word of God we actually nullify Jesus Christ, because He is the Word of God. Furthermore, by doing so, we actually worship the devil. That is very serious! It is up to you, dear reader, to figure out what kind of images there are in your life, in your church, denomination or religion. The Lie Now the Earth Beast will speak. It is a lie because he is under the influence of the father of lies, the devil. The purpose for this lie is to deceive and cause as many as possible to worship man-made rules and regulations. Revelation 13:15: 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. (NKJV) If you don t conform you will be killed. This threat was used when the martyrs were killed throughout history. If they would denounce their faith and conform to the ruling religious system, they would save their lives. It was used when 50 200 million saints were killed during the Dark Ages. Just as God puts His Seal on all faithful believers, so the devil puts his mark on his followers. Some say this will happen sometime in the future, but I doubt that. Let s read the next text and you will see why, Revelation 13:16-17: 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. (NKJV) The reason I doubt that this refers to a future persecution is the verse we just read. Again, when he speaks, he speaks a lie. Even if he says that those who don t accept his mark will be killed it doesn t mean it will happen. This is a lie to force people to adapt. If you study the concept to buy or sell in the Bible, you will find that it 4
most of the time refers to issues regarding salvation. Let me give a few examples. First the parable about the ten virgins, Matthew 25:9: No, they replied, there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. (NIV) The five wise virgins had enough of the oil and were saved. The five foolish ones, who did not have enough, were told to go and buy oil for themselves. But the fact is that the foolish ones were not saved. When Jesus began His ministry He cleansed the Temple. The same thing was repeated at the end of His ministry, Matthew 21:12: Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. It is written, he said to them, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers. (NIV) Why did Jesus cleanse the Temple? The money changers were buying the spotless lambs that the common people brought to the Temple from the countryside. Their blameless lambs were pronounced not good enough. Instead they were forced to buy a lamb with spots and blemishes from those who bought and sold in the Temple. The sellers made great profits. The buyers, the common people, were the losers. But the problem was that without the priests approval of the lambs, the common people could not have their lambs slaughtered. And without this sacrifice, their sins would not be forgiven. Therefore, those who were in charge of the Temple business used it to control the common people s salvation. The story of the cleansing to the Temple can also be found in John 2:14-16, Luke 19:45-46 and Mark 11:15-17. Jesus also used the word buy in regard to salvation but with a different slant, Revelation 3:18: I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (NIV) Jesus told us to buy His righteousness from Him. But we know very well that He did not refer to money. No, in Revelation 21:6 He offers the water of life without cost. In Revelation 22:17 Jesus offers the free gift of the water of life. Thus, when He asks us to buy His righteousness, it is free but He still uses the concept of buying and selling. The same idea is found in the Old Testament. Isaiah 55:1: Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (NIV) In Isaiah 55:3, only two verses later, the prophet refers to the everlasting covenant with God also a matter of salvation. So the Earth Beast lies and says; you will not be saved unless you believe as I do, unless you belong to my church, to my denomination, etc. That is beastly thinking! God says, come to Me and I will give salvation to you for free. The reason He can do this is, of course, that Jesus already paid the price in full. Conclusion The Sea Beast in Revelation 13:1-10 primarily refers to the Roman Empire but any persecuting secular power throughout history also fits to this Beast. 5
The Earth Beast refers to false religions, denominations, churches, etc. who speak (promote) man-made doctrines, rules and regulations. This prophecy was mainly fulfilled during the Dark Ages but the same thing happens also today. The dragon (the devil) has given both Beasts great authority. Number 666 represents man-made doctrines, rules and regulations. With these we nullify the Word of God and reject Jesus Christ. The concept to buy and sell is found in the passage about the Earth Beast, which refers to religious entities, and should therefore primarily be spiritually understood. Toby Joreteg MD, PhD www.tobyjoreteg.com 6