Book of Revelation:Chapter 13

The Battle: Forces of the ConflictSatan’s Agents—The Two Beasts

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.”

Satan and His Evil Forces• Beast out of the sea—political power• Its origin and appearance—indescribable horror

– “He stood on the sand;” dragon awaiting his henchmen

– “Coming up out of the sea;” the sea of humanity (Isaiah 17:12)

– Having: Ten horns (great power); complete strength, which was given by Satan!

• Beast out of the sea—political power• Its origin and appearance—indescribable horror

– “Seven heads;” perfect authority as it was given to him by Satan

– “Ten diadems” on his horns. (Satan has them on his head 12:3) Satan is the true power behind the beast’s royalty.

– “Blasphemous names” on his heads instead of crowns; to blaspheme God and His saints.

Satan and His Evil Forces

Revelation 13:2

“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.”

What the Beast Was “Like”• The beast was “like” (represents the

Roman Empire)• John sees a combination of the features

of the four wild beasts in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:4-6)

• “A leopard”• “Feet of a bear”• “Mouth of a lion”

• The beast was “like” (represents the Roman Empire)

• “Leopard:” ”cat-like quickness” to conquer the world with speed. (Grecian army)?

• “Feet of a bear:” awesome power to trample the enemy. (Medes; Persians)?

• “Mouth of a lion:” a nation’s ability to conquer; to prey like a lion. (Roman Empire)?

What the Beast Was “Like”

The Dragon—Power Behind the Beast!

• The “Dragon” gave the “Beast:”– “Power”—the real power behind the empire was Satan;

he delegated that power to Rome.– “His seat”—the ability to act– “Great authority”—remember, Satan’s authority is

limited.• Luke 4:6• John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11• 2 Corinthians 4:4• Ephesians 2:2

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.”

“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?’”

Revelation 13:4

Wound and Recovery• In John’s day, the beast embodied the form of the

Roman Empire.• Satan has always used men’s kingdoms as

instruments against God’s reign.• He cannot win, since “God rules in the kingdoms

of men” (Daniel 4:17).• “One” of the beast’s heads was wounded unto

death, but since he had seven, his life was not taken!

• Many suggest that the “wounded head” was Nero; he took his own life in 68 A.D.

• Persecution did ease somewhat after Nero’s death, but it revived under Domitian (81—96 A.D.)

• Another thought…The seven heads represent Rome--the world power in control. In time, Rome would be fatally wounded, but another nation would rise up and replace her—repeating the cycle …

Wound and Recovery

• The beast seems invincible. Causes all the “world” (outside of Christ) to marvel and adore him.

• By subjecting itself to the beast’s demands, the world is actually worshipping Satan.

• Enamored by the beast’s power, authority, and earthly wealth, they eagerly follow him…

• Nothing is comparable (so they think).• Nothing can make war and succeed (so they think).

Wound and Recovery

Revelation 13:5

“And he was given a mouth speaking great

things and blasphemies, and he was given authority

to continue for forty-two months.”

The Beast’s Actions• The beast’s target is God and His saints.• He blasphemes, speaking against God

with great arrogance.• This continues for 42 months—an

indefinite, broken period of time (God determines the length).

Revelation 13:6

“Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy

against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle,

and those who dwell in heaven.”

Revelation 13:7

“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.”

• Boldly rails against God’s people.• Blaspheming God is speaking against His eternal

nature and authority.• Blaspheming his name because of all He stands

for. • Blaspheming His tabernacle—the church.• Blaspheming those who dwell in heaven—

angelic beings who are God’s messengers and faithful servants.

The Beast’s Actions

Make War with the Saints and Overcome Them!

• The Beast is allowed to declare war against God’s people.

• He will conquer many of them.• Yet, he has only a limited amount of time (42

months).• Daniel foretold this (Daniel 7:21-25).• Great persecution came upon God’s people (the

church). They were tortured, murdered, and slaughtered for His name’s sake!

• Worldwide reign—could only have been Rome!

Revelation 13:8

“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.”

“If anyone has an ear, let him hear.”

Revelation 13:9

Many Will Worship Him!• Worldwide worship of the beast did not occur during

Nero’s reign, but during the reign of Domitian and later emperors.

• Failure to worship the “beast” did not invoke a death sentence under Nero…

• Those “not written in the book of life” were worshipping the beast!

• God’s sacrificed Lamb—Jesus Christ. Determined before the world’s creation!

Caution…• Some want to make “those who have been slain”

names were written before…• Foreknowledge of God was the reward of those

who would be faithful—not WHO they would be!• Christ’s death predetermined—not who the saved

would be (Ephesians 1:3)– Acts 2:23; John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:20; Hebrews 9:26

• Those who seek salvation should open their ears and LISTEN to God!

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.”

Tables Will Be Turned!• Many Christians would suffer and die at the

hands of the beast.• God’s promise—His justice would prevail and

triumph over the beast and his henchmen!• Those who have killed by the sword will suffer a

similar fate.• “Led captivity captive”—Ephesians 4:8• Knowing that the beast would be brought down

gave the saints reason to hold on and preserved their faith! In the end, God wins!

Revelation 13:11

“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.”

Revelation 13:12

Second Beast• Four characteristics:

– “Two horns like a lamb” (religious appearance)– “Spoke as a dragon” (an agent of Satan)– “Exercised all the power of the first beast” (backed

by political power)– “Caused the earth to worship the first beast”

(represents the pagans’ false worship of the Caesars as gods)

• The beast from the earth• The “land beast”-- represents false religion.• Appearance of the lamb—but the voice of the dragon!

• Speaking lies and falsehoods—trademarks of Satan (John 8:44)

• Mission—to cause men to worship the beast that came out of the sea!

• Referred to in other places as “false prophet” (16:13; 19:20; 20:10)

Second Beast

Revelation 13:13

“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.”

Revelation 13:14

Signs of Second Beast• The role of the false prophet was to entice men to

worship the first beast.• Empowered to work “great wonders”• These were really “lying wonders” to deceive

– 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; Matthew 24:24• Whatever these were—they were not of the same

quality as those worked by God’s servants.• Counterfeit miracles of false religions• Simon knew the difference! (Acts 8:5-13)• Remember Moses and Pharaoh?

• Deceives the earth by means of the signs• Granted to do so by the authority of the beast• Satan uses all types of tactics to deceive the simple-

minded.– 2 Timothy 3:13; 2 Corinthians 11:14,15

• The second beast instructs the world to make a statue to honor the first beast.

• Temples are built to glorify the Caesars.• Images of Caesars were made, and Christians were to

bow down and confess them as “Lord.”• Those who refused were threatened with death!

Signs of Second Beast

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.”

Threats of Death• Persecution and death threats would be used

against those who refused to comply with conditions of “emperor worship.”

• Function of priests in these pagan temples, requirements of offering sacrifices on their altars, the spirit of Caesar worship came to life!

• Would the disciples of Christ who, at this time, were undergoing these very acts, not understand what John was saying?

Revelation 13:16

“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.”

Revelation 13:17

“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 six hundred and sixty-six.”

Revelation 13:18

The Demands• The totality of the human society was under threat of

persecution if they did not receive the “mark.”• Whatever this mark was, it declared to those who

saw it that the one who had the mark was loyal to the empire and emperor!

• Those who worshipped the beast—belonged to the beast.

• Unqualified allegiance to Christ required God’s saints to prefer suffering martyrdom over compromising their faith!

• The mark stands for the name of his beast and the number.

• Those without the mark were prohibited from finding employment.

• Lucrative positions were withheld from them.

• They endured economic discrimination.• Why would one endure such hardships?

• Why not find a way to appease the “god of this world” and still serve Christ?

• They would not and could not compromise their faith and commitment to the Lord!

The Demands

Here Is “Wisdom…”• No single passage in all of Revelation has stimulated

more discussion than this one.

• What is the meaning of the mystical number 666?• It has been assigned endless applications and to

endless persons…

• Some, who claim the earlier writing date, say this is a cryptographic reference to Nero…

• However, one would need to shift from Greek to Hebrew, to solve the riddle! Dangerous to interpret symbolic language literally…

• The number 666 falls short of perfection…• Seems to me it means that the combined forces of evil—

dragon, Roman political power, and false religion—equal the number of “man” and “the beast”…

• Evil to the highest degree—will not win!• All who trust in man are destined to lose!• The fundamental difference between the lost and saved

is the one in whom one places his trust—God or man?

• This was true at this time—and it remains true in our time!

Here is “Wisdom…”