Revelation 13:1–10

Chapter 12, introduced the woman and the dragon, and the dragon is clearly identified for us as the Devil. Now in chapter 13, you find first the beast out of the sea and then the beast out of the earth.

Remember too where we are in that chapter 12 pictures the dragon, the Devil, being thrown out of heaven and, in consequence, no longer having any access to God, and in a fury because, first, his regime has been restricted; second, his time is short; and third, he can’t do anything with the son of the woman; therefore, he is enraged against the woman and is venting his anger against the church.

The beast, the dragon, the Devil, goes after the woman during 1,260 days or 42 months or three and a half years or time, times, and half a time. That is, an extended period of suffering that the Lord in his mercy cuts short. But Satan does not work in isolation.

We need to remember that this is the context in which all this is set. So he’s pursuing the woman who is in the desert, a place both of trial and of some protection, and the dragon now stands on the shore of the sea.

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. 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?”

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. 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.

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.

The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

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 astonished and followed the beast. Men 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 make war against him?’

The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast, all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.”

The point of this passage, chapter 13, is that he operates commonly through two agents. Through these two agents, Satan carries out his wretched war on God’s people.

We will look at the beast that comes out of the sea so that we may better understand the nature of our opposition.

The power of Satan expresses itself in antichrists in concrete historical opposition to God’s people.

The ancient world commonly thought of the sea as evil or at least a symbol for evil, especially amongst non-seafaring people like the Jews.

So a beast coming out of the sea reflects a chaos threat. This sort of source for the beast is typical enough of apocalyptic literature, mixing the metaphors. The sea will be finally abolished at the end. There is no more sea, the symbol of all that belongs to the fallen order will be gone. It is important to recognize this beast recurs in the book, and this is another one of those instances where a symbol is introduced and then explained a little later.

The beast reoccurs with more description in chapter 17:8 and following.

In chapter 17, you find a woman again, but this is quite a different woman. This is the woman on the beast,

17:4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls. She had a golden cup in her hand filled with everything detestable and with the impurities of her prostitution. 5 On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Detestable Things of the Earth

John is greatly astonished v6. The angel asked John, “Why are you astonished? this beast is identified as the beast that has just been introduced to us back in chapter 13. It’s the only one in the whole book like this. So, we know we’re talking now about the same beast.

17:8 “The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction.” Out of the Abyss or out of the sea. It’s the same difference, mixing of metaphors. “The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come. This calls for a mind with wisdom.”

At one level, this is a parody of God, we remember how God and the Lamb are regularly described in this book as the one who was, and is, and is to come.

The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.

What is that going to mean in the ancient world?

There are also seven kings, you have your mingling of metaphors again. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.

What does all this mean?

First, was, now is not, and will come out of the Abyss.

On the face of it, this suggests that the beast is that satanically inspired power that (however he’s understood historically), having received a stroke of death, in chapter 13 he has received a fatal wound, nevertheless returns to hurl himself with renewed fury against the forces of God.

Ch 13:3: One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. In verse 12, you’re really talking about the beast of the earth, but this beast of the earth looks back on the other beast. This beast from the earth, exercised all the authority of the first beast, the beast from the sea, on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

Look at the language, you can speak of a wound that has been healed, and you can speak of a fatal wound, but how you can speak of a fatal wound that has been healed?

It is purposely incongruous, and the reason it’s incongruous is bound up with the fact that in chapter 17 he appears as the one who was and is not, because he was killed; he received a fatal wound, and yet will be.

This beast comes, attacks, receives a fatal wound, and then disappears because of it, and then comes back again. It’s the beast who, as it were, keeps on coming out of the Abyss and out of the sea. It’s very important to see that the language, especially of chapter 13:2, is drawn from the vision of Daniel 7.

In Daniel 7, there are four great beasts. The lion there represents Babylon; the bear, Media; the leopard, Persia; and the fourth beast is Greece. The ten horns coming out of Greece are the Seleucid kings. They follow out of Alexander the Great of Greece, and they lead out of the Greek Empire all the way to the terrible little horn, which is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who is in control when you have the three and a half years.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the three and a half years from 167 to 164 BC when they made it a capital offense to observe the Sabbath or have any copy of Scripture and so on. All of this is past when John writes, but the beast is still here. He was, he is not, and he is to come.

This beast recurs throughout history. He is Antiochus Epiphanes, but he’s also Nero. He’s the whole Roman Caesar institution that tries to destroy the church. Hence, the woman is the harlot sitting on the seven hills, which is Rome, that represented all that was evil, the totality of evil at this point in the empire.

What would that mean to anybody living in the ancient world?

What would it mean to anybody living in Europe today?

It couldn’t mean anything other than the power of Rome. The beast is also Pope Innocent III and Mao Zedong. John’s time of writing, the beast is not clearly manifest. “Now is not.” When you read the seven letters, you see that, yes, there has been a recent martyr, Antipas, but it’s not as if there are huge strings of people being killed.

In John’s specific context, then, the major opposition to the church is certainly connected with the Roman Empire. chapter 17: 9–10. The seven hills on which the harlot is sitting is clearly Rome, the city built on seven hills.

Then there’s another mix of metaphors. The seven also equals seven kings, we’re told. Five are fallen, one is, and one is yet to come.

Now what does that mean?

The simplest solution would be that John is locating himself in Roman history, so that the seven kings are seven Caesars or something like that. The trouble is the various solutions don’t work very well.

It may be that seven, which is so often used in John as a number to symbolize completeness, means that John sees in the seven kings the power of the Roman Empire as a whole. Part of it is passed (five kings), part of it is present (the sixth), and part of it is still to come.

The symbolism is probably simpler than everyone tries to construct. The seven regularly symbolizes a completeness of kings. To have five gone means the Roman Empire, this next in the series of exhibitions of the beast. Five have come, a substantial number have gone. We’re still in it, and one is still to come, but that means John sees something beyond the Roman Empire.

The third element in the interpretation of the beast, and what might be most important for us.

There is more to come beyond the Roman Empire. Chapter 17:1, You’ve been told in chapter 13 that he has seven heads. You’ve had the harlot riding the beast, identified with Rome, and then suddenly you are told v11. The beast who once was, and now is not. I think it is clear we are talking about the same beast, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

What is going on there?

You have this whole thing nicely wrapped up with ten horns and seven heads, and suddenly in comes another one. The beast himself, we’re told, is an eighth king who belongs to the seven and yet succeeds them. He’s an eighth. He belongs to them in some sense, yet he succeeds them in another.

What do you do with that?

Well, it’s disputed, but it might be tied to another Johannine writing.
1 John 2:18–19, My dear children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even so also now there are already many antichrists.” In other words, the arrival of Christ ensures also the arrival of Antichrist until finally in the new heaven and the new earth there’s no more opposition.

The assumption of the language in 1 John 2 is that there is an ultimate Antichrist to come but that in anticipation of his coming there are already many antichrists who come along.

This might be what is meant here. Once you’ve identified the seven heads as the seven hills of Rome, you bind it up with the Roman Empire, but then if you start mentioning an eighth, doesn’t it sound as if you’re going beyond the Roman Empire. There are only seven hills, not eight.

John is careful enough from his point of view that, at the end of the day, he doesn’t want to make the Roman Empire the sum total of all the active historical opposition against the people of God.

The eighth belongs to the seven in the sense that he plays the same sort of role as the seven, but of course he’s an eighth, which puts him beyond. That suggests that this period, finally, is a time of special evil, the time of the Antichrist before the return of the Messiah.

Now if you go back to Revelation 13:2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion.

What this is suggesting is that this beast has some of the characteristics of the beasts that are identified for you in Daniel 7: the Babylonian cruelty, the Medo-Persian cruelty, and the Greek and Seleucid cruelties. It’s partly leopard, partly lion, and partly bear. It has part of all of them, but this is another beast, and the dragon gives this beast particular power and throne and great authority.

V3 suggests, yes, he dies down for a while and comes back again. The beast out of the sea embodies all the evil of previous empires. Then he reemerges again as Satan’s own emissary. This is a beast whose authority is derived. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

Let’s look clearly at what is being said there.

At the historical level, we see this beast or that beast or the other beast, but this text is telling us to see behind the beast, the dragon. Where did Hitler get his authority? Where did Pope Innocent III get his authority? Where did the Gnostic heretics get their authority?

This suggests that the symbolism drawn from Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7 makes a kind of twofold point.

First, the beast of the sea embodies all the evil of previous empires, which in John’s perspective meet in Rome.

Second, the beast’s authority is, finally, derived from Satan. “The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”

If the beast recurs, if the beast recurred even in the first century, yet there are beasts beyond Rome, if Antichrist comes at the end but there are antichrists who come in anticipation of the end.

If these are concrete historical personages but with the authority of the Devil behind them, this means that when a Pope Innocent III or a Hitler or an Idi Amin or a Stalin erupts, from a theological perspective, as he hurls all his weight and cruelty against all that is good and right, and not least against the church. Then what you see is the concretizing in history of the power of Satan himself coming again against Christ, often trying to claim the authority of Christ. You see these antichrists afresh in anticipation of the final Antichrist again and again and again.

Again and again and again he receives a fatal wound, and the people rejoice, and then they’re astonished that he springs back to life again.

Isn’t that what happened at the end of World War I?

The war to end all wars. Then there was World War II.

Now, of course, with the Cold War theoretically dead, you have all kinds of people saying conflict has ended in history.

I don’t pretend to know what’s going to happen in the next five years, let alone the next 50 or 100, but if the Lord tarries, I’ll guarantee you this: there will be more war, a lot more war, a lot more suffering, bloody revolution, more persecution, because antichrist keeps coming back.

You give him a fatal wound, and everybody says, Aha! Then he comes back, and everybody says, Oh, you can’t beat him, can you, and everybody joins him. It has been a regular pattern in history.

Satan takes over the legitimate interests of the state until the state becomes Satan’s toy to oppose Christ.

People are constantly surprised at the survivability of raw evil.

You can’t fight the state. It’s just too powerful. You could fight it the way Bonhoeffer did, but he paid for it with his life.

Shall our culture survive if it squeezes God to the periphery and worships self and things and success and money and sports and media personalities? These are all forms of the beast.

Antichrist comes in many forms. First John 2:18: “Even so there are many antichrists