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Commentary on Revelation

Chapter 13

The beast from the sea

Rev. 12:17b And he stood on the sand of the sea. Rev. 13:1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

Who stood on the sand of the sea? Probably the dragon but possibly John. A beast rises out of the sea. The sea is often used to depict the restless, unsettled nations of men. Compare:

1. Isa. 57:20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

2. Rev. 17:15 And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.

3. Isa. 17:12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples, they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations, they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.

As we will see, this beast represents Rome (which rose from the restless, unsettled nations of the world) from its standpoint as a civil persecuting power. This beast has seven heads with ten horns and ten diadems. This is similar to the description of the dragon found in 12:3. This beast is a weapon or a manifestation of the dragon. That is, Satan was the driving power behind Rome against the Church. The dragon gives his power and authority to the beast to act on his behalf. What is represented by the seven heads? Chapter 17 is very helpful in answering questions concerning Chapter 13. In particular, Chapter 17 contains a short commentary in which an angel explains to John the meaning of some of things which he has seen. (See 17:7ff.) The angel steps outside of the vision in order to comment upon what John is seeing.

Rev. 17:9-10 - This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman [the great harlot] is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while.

First, the seven heads represent seven mountains. A classical description of Rome was "the city which sat upon seven hills." Archaeological Note: A coin minted during the reign of Vespasian has been found which represents the city of Rome as a woman seated on its seven hills: Palatine, Capitoline, Esquiline, Aventine, Quirinal, Caelian, and Viminal. If anything in this book should be clear to an honest reader, it is that the earthly villain in this book is Rome! Chapter 17 tells us that the seven heads also represent seven kings: five of which have fallen, one of which is presently in power, and one which is yet to come but will remain only a short while. Before proceeding we need a short historical review. Consider the following chart regarding the first 11 emperors of Rome:

1. Augustus, 31B.C.-A.D.14

2. Tiberius, 14-37

3. Caligula, 37-41

4. Claudius, 41-54

5. Nero, 54-68 (Ruthlessly persecuted Christians)

6. Galba, 68-69 (Reigned 7 months - hacked to pieces)

7. Otho, 69 (Reigned 95 days - committed suicide)

8. Vitellius, 69 (Reigned 8 months - murdered)

9. Vespasian, 69-79

10. Titus, 79-81 (Reigned for 26 months)

11. Domitian, 81-96 (Renewed Nero's attack on the Church)

Now, let's compare the prophecies found in Daniel 7, Rev. 13, and Rev. 17.

Daniel 7:7-8, 19-25 - 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. 19 "Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrible, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze; and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; 20 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, the horn which had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and which seemed greater than its fellows. 21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints received the kingdom. 23 "Thus he said: 'As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. 24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. 25 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, two times, and half a time.

Thus, in Daniel 7 we see 10 horns which represent 10 kings (see verse 24). Three of the horns are uprooted (see verse 8). Another horn arises which makes war on the people of God (see verse 21). This last horn is the eighth horn; that is, we have ten at first, then seven after three are uprooted, and finally eight when the last horn appears. As we have seen, Rev. 13 speaks of seven heads that represent kings (see the corresponding explanation in Rev. 17:10.) As will be seen in Chapter 17, the ten horns in Rev. 13 are not the same as the ten horns in Daniel 7. Revelation 17 speaks of seven heads that are seven kings (verse 10). Further it speaks of an eighth which belongs to the seven (verse 11). (Thus, the eighth horn from Daniel 7 is pictured here as the eighth head. That is, the horns in Daniel correspond to heads in Revelation. We will discuss the horns in Revelation shortly.) Look at the chart again. The seven kings in Revelation are the seven kings in Daniel which remain after three are uprooted. The three uprooted kings are completely ignored in Revelation. The eighth king would then actually be the eleventh to reign; that is, there had been 7 kings plus 3 uprooted kings.

Who is the fourth beast in Daniel 7 from which these kings arise? Rome. The first three beasts are Babylon (lion; Daniel 7:4), Medo-Persia (bear; Daniel 7:5), and Greece (leopard; Daniel 7:6). Daniel 7:12 tells us that these beasts lost their dominion but didn't die. The beast in Revelation 13 is pictured as being part leopard, part bear, and part lion. Rome, the fourth beast in Daniel 7, embodied all of the wickedness of the first three beasts and much more. Thus, it is described as being composed of pieces of the previous three kingdoms. When was the book of Revelation written? Rev. 17:10 says that five kings have fallen, one is, and one is yet come who will remain only a little while. The five who have fallen would be the first five: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero. Remembering that Revelation ignores the next three (who ruled and died all within a span of less than two years), the one who is must be Vespasian. Thus the book was written during the reign of Vespasian. The seventh who is yet to come and will remain only a short while would be Titus who followed Vespasian and reigned only 26 months. Further, Revelation 17:8 implies that the book was written during a lull in the persecution: "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; and the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come." Rev. 17:11 tells us that the "beast which was, and is not" comes back as the eighth king (Domitian). The beast who was is Rome under Nero, the beast who is to come is Rome under Domitian, the time when the beast "is not" describes the time between Nero and Domitian when the persecution against the Church subsided. Tertullian speaks of Nero as "the first emperor who dyed his sword in Christian blood, when our religion was but just arising at Rome." Eusebius writes that Domitian "finally showed himself the successor of Nero's campaign of hostility to God. He was the second to promote persecution against us." Tertullian called Domitian "a limb of the bloody Nero." Rumors circulated that Domitian was actually Nero who they said had either returned to life or never actually died. Why are the three short lived kings ignored? So Domitian would be the eighth king. Why did God want to associate Domitian with the number eight? For dramatic effect! The number eighth in the Bible refers to a resurrection or new beginning. The eighth day denotes the start of a new week. Male children were circumcised on the eighth day to depict their new relationship with God. The year following seven sabbatical years was the year of Jubilee when all things were renewed (Lev. 25). Domitian was thought to be a resurrected Nero and began the persecution anew. Note that the heads are said to have blasphemous names written upon them. This refers to the deification of the Roman emperors. Domitian ordered himself to be addressed as "Our Lord God Domitian." Recall our earlier comments concerning emperor worship. The three short-lived kings were ignored for dramatic effect! What do the ten horns in 13:1 represent? Again, Chapter 17 gives us some hints.

Rev. 17:12 - And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.

Rev. 17:16,17 - And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

Summary of hints provided by Chapter 17:

1. The horns are kings.

2. These kings do not presently rule but have given their power to Rome.

3. These kings will receive authority at a time of critical importance or activity.

4. They will be partly responsible for Rome's destruction.

The ten horns represent the client kingdoms and federates of Rome. Michael Grant in his book History of Rome (p. 196) described the client king system as follows:

The client kings were tied to the service of Rome in order to defend its frontiers and serve as listening posts to the outside world. In return, they were supported by the Romans against internal subversive movements and allowed a free hand inside their own countries. Thus Rome was spared the trouble and expense of administering these territories; and the formula worked well.

He described the rise of the federates in his book The Fall of the Roman Empire (pp. 8, 125) as follows:

In 382 Theodosius I took the revolutionary step of allowing whole German tribes to reside in Imperial territory as separate, autonomous, allied or federate units, committed to serving in the Roman army, though under the command of their own chieftains. Thereafter the practice continued and increased, until such federates became a regular and widespread feature of the life of the Empire.

The Visigoths comprised the first such group to receive 'federate' status and were allowed to live under their own laws and ruler on the condition that they provided soldiers and agricultural workers for the Romans. Did these groups contribute to the fall of Rome? The city of Rome was sacked in 410 by Alaric, a Visigoth. It was the first time in 800 years that the city had been taken by a foreign invader. Compare the following descriptions of Rome found in Daniel:

Dan. 2:41- And as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. Dan. 11:39- He [Rome] shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god; those who acknowledge him he shall magnify with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.

Why are there 10 horns? E. W. Bullinger in his book Number in Scripture (p. 243) says that the number 10 implies that nothing is wanting; that the number and order are perfect; that the whole cycle is complete. Thus 10 horns may simply represent all of the client kingdoms and federates. It may also refer to the fact that they, in a sense, drove the final nail into Rome's coffin - they completed the cycle.

3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder.

One of the heads seemed to have a mortal wound. A better translation is "And I saw one of its heads as though it had been smitten unto death." (ASV) The phrase "as though it had been smitten" simply indicates that the head was portrayed as having been slain. It need not imply that the head only appeared to have been slain. Compare Rev. 5:6 - "I saw a Lamb [Jesus] standing, as though it had been slain." The lamb was portrayed as such. Did the wound kill the entire beast or just the head? The beast. In 13:12 we see that the wound was mortal to the first beast and not just to one of its heads Recall that the heads of the beast represent Roman emperors. Which emperor is depicted by this head that is slain? Nero. Why? Compare Rev. 17:8 -

"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; and the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come." [A clue!]

(Recall that Chapter 17 is a commentary on what John had seen.) The first beast represents Rome as a civil persecuting power. Thus, the death of the beast would represent a relative end of the persecution and the resurrection of the beast would represent a reemergence of that persecution. Recall our earlier comments regarding Nero and Domitian. Tertullian said that Nero was "the first emperor who dyed his sword in Christian blood" and Eusebius wrote that Domitian "finally showed himself the successor of Nero's campaign of hostility to God. He was the second to promote persecution against us." It was rumored that Domitian was actually Nero resurrected. The beast was: When Nero died, the persecution temporarily subsided. The first beast (the civil persecutor, Rome) died. Nero is the head which receives the mortal wound and causes the beast to die. The beast is not: The book was written during a lull in the persecution. That is, it was written after the reign of Nero and before the reign of Domitian. (In fact, it was written during the reign of Vespasian.) The beast is to come: The persecution would begin anew with Domitian. Tertullian called him "a limb of the bloody Nero." The beast was resurrected; its mortal wound was healed. Domitian was the eighth head [if we disregard the three that Daniel depicted as uprooted (Galba, Otho, and Vitellius)]- he represented a new beginning of persecution.

4 Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"

The dragon is Satan who was the driving power behind Rome against the Church; that is, he had given his authority to Rome. This beast had died and come back to life. It seemed that even God was powerless to stop it. What hope did the Church have against an adversary which was this powerful? The situation looks hopeless, but the next verse should provide hope to an alert reader! (If you don't see why verse 5 provides hope then it is time to review.)

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; 6 it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. 9 If any one has an ear, let him hear: 10 If any one is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if any one slays with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The resurrected beast is pictured as being haughty and blasphemous. Domitian, who required that he be addressed as "Our Lord God Domitian," seems to have fit the bill on both counts. He had authority for 42 months. Now that we know what the symbol means this statement should provide cause to rejoice. Recall that a period of 42 months (or 3.5 years) implies that the current situation is temporary. A broken seven depicts something that is not complete or permanent. The beast may seem invincible, but God is giving a subtle warning that all is not as it seems! The resurrected beast makes war on the Saints and is pictured as actually conquering them. This is exactly the same situation which we saw in 7:7 where the beast (Rome) came out of the bottomless pit and conquered and killed the two witnesses (the Church). Here, as in Chapter 7, we are simply being presented the state of affairs from the beast's perspective. Rome thought they had defeated the Church. The Church may have even thought that they had been defeated. At the time Rome appeared to be the victor and hence they are presented as such. Earlier the persecution appeared to be over and hence the beast was pictured as being dead. Recall in Chapter 7 that after 3.5 days (a temporary defeat!) the two witnesses (the Church) came back to life and ascended to Heaven leaving the ungodly (those that dwell upon the earth) behind. The same event is being depicted here in Chapter 13. (Again, we see images motivated by dramatic effect.) Verses 9 and 10 are a call for endurance and faith which is required to be a conqueror. Verse 10 says that the sufferer is in God's hands and the persecutor will be punished. Consider verse 8: "and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain." What is the book of life? This verse indicates that it is the complement of "those who dwell upon the earth." Who are they? As we have seen many times before, the phrase is used exclusively to depict the enemies of God. Thus, the book of life contains the names of God's people. Compare 20:15. Recall, also, 3:5 - "He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels." What does this tell us? That it is possible for one to have his name erased from the book of life. That is, it is possible to fall from God's grace. Calvinists say that the book of life contains the names of everyone who has been or ever will be born. Does that make sense in this context? (No!) Does this passage support predestination? (It seems to indicate that the names of God's people were recorded before the world was created.) First, corporate predestination (as opposed to individual predestination) is taught in the Bible. In Romans 8:29-30 Paul writes that "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified." The Church, as a whole, was part of God's plan from the beginning and in that sense we, as a group, were predestined and foreknown. Ephesians 1:4 says that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Next, the translation of this verse is not precise. So far as the Greek goes, an equally likely translation of 13:8 is "Those whose names have been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world." 1 Peter 1:20 says that Jesus was "destined before the foundation of the world." The phrase in question appears again in 17:8. There the translation is more precise and seems to favor the RSV rendering of 13:8. Thus, 13:8 in all likelihood simply emphasizes that the Church as a whole was chosen before the foundation of the world. The consistency of the scriptures forbids us from using 13:8 to toss the notion of free will out the window. (If, instead, we toss out the consistency of scripture then why are we here?) God would have all men saved but he wants us to come to him by our own volition and free choice. If we can come to him by choice then we can leave him by choice. He has promised that he will not cast us out but we are still able to climb out on our own.

The beast from the earth

11 Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

The first beast arose from the sea; this second beast arises from the earth. That it rises from the earth stresses its human origin. It is not divine in origin. In verse 18 we will see that it is given a "human number." In 16:13 and 19:20 the second beast is called "the false prophet." That is, this beast is religious in nature but that religion is of human origin. Further, we see that that the second beast causes men to worship the first beast. It looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. That is, it is full of hypocrisy. It is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Conclusion: The second beast portrays the perverted religious side of Rome just as the first beast portrayed the civil persecuting side of Rome. The first beast depicts Rome as Egypt. The second beast depicts Rome as Jerusalem. Compare 11:8.

13 It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men; 14 and by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

The beast performs false miracles and lying wonders. The Roman priests were ventriloquists and magicians. Vespasian was rumored to have raised the dead. Stephen Benko in his book Pagan Rome and the Early Christians (p. 128) writes that "certain elements in the official Roman religion were based on magical principles, such as haruspicium (the examination of the insides of animals) and auspicium (flights of birds and natural phenomena). ... magic was an accepted form of religious piety." Busts of the emperors were used to test Christians who were required to confess before them that "Caesar is Lord."

16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Recall the economic persecution which the Christians suffered at the hands of the pagan guilds, and recall Christ's message to the church in Thyatira which we discussed in Chapter 2. A confession that Caesar is Lord was often required before one was allowed to buy and sell. Just as God marked his people in Chapter 7 to indicate that they were his, the beast marks his people in Chapter 13 for the same reason. The number of the beast is 666, a human number. What does this mean? The number 7 meant perfection and completeness. The number 6 depicted something that had fallen hopelessly short of perfection. Man was created on the sixth day and he fell from perfection. The number 3 is the number of divinity (the God head are three.) Thus three sixes depicts something which has fallen hopelessly short of divine perfection. Does that accurately describe this beast? Yes! This beast represents the false perverted religious side of Rome. Here, as elsewhere in the book, remember:

1. The book was intended primarily to provide comfort to the first century Christians who were suffering intense persecution by Rome.

2. Numbers in the book have special meanings. In apocalyptic books the usual rule of interpretation is reversed; that is, we assume something is figurative unless there is some overriding reason to take it literally.

We should however use common sense in our interpretations and rely on similar language in the Old Testament to aid our interpretation. Numbers can be made to symbolize anything if one is willing to work hard enough. For example, let A = 100, B = 101, C = 102, etc. and note that 107 (H) + 108 (I) + 119 (T) + 111 (L) + 104 (E) + 117 (R) = 666! For a second example, consider the following "proof" that Shakespeare wrote the King James version of the bible: The 46th word in Psalm 46 is "shake." The 46th word from the end of Psalm 46 is "spear." How old was Shakespeare in 1611 when the King James version was written? 46. For similar absurdities simply look at any current "the-end-is-near" commentary on Revelation. The setting at the end of Chapter 13: A terrible dragon has given his authority to a 7 headed beast which has arisen from the sea. The beast is killed but comes back to life. A second beast arises which looks like a lamb but sounds like a dragon. The second beast performs signs and wonders and causes the earth to worship the first beast. The chapter ends with the whole earth in the spell of the dragon and the beasts. What does the Church need at this point? The Church needs comfort and assurance, which is exactly what Chapter 14 provides.