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The Beasts of Revelation
A growing number of Christian leaders believe that we are on the edge of a great outpouring of God’s Spirit – a spiritual revival with an accompanying immense harvest of souls into the Church. The sense is that it will amaze both the world and the people of God. Along with this, the implication of Paul’s words in Romans Chapter 11 is that when Israel turns to God, the nations will experience spiritual life from the dead.
In the Old Testament, Isaiah prophesied of nations changing direction and turning toward the light of God because of God’s dawning glory upon His people. Yet when we look at the Book of Revelation, it is not so easy to find such a positive scenario. There we see fearful judgments from Heaven, great shaking among the nations, darkness upon the earth, and beasts rising up to oppose the saints – blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
How does the Book of Revelation fit with what God is presently revealing to His Church? Many scholars interpret John’s visions as addressing primarily events in our future (futurism). Then because they do not see much positive in John’s Revelation concerning the Church’s future prior to Christ’s return, they have serious doubts about a coming great revival.
Other scholars see the Old Testament predictions of coming great glory on the earth as being fulfilled prior to Christ’s second coming. Foundational to this belief is the conviction that the Church Age is the only day of salvation. Therefore, they view the majority of the Book of Revelation as already fulfilled (preterism). In this view, the only way that Revelation can accurately fit with everything else the Bible says is to see it referring primarily to past events. Spiritual Babylon must be a picture of either first-century Jerusalem or Rome with the Beast being Nero Caesar. In fact, the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in Nero’s name does add up to 666.
A third approach to the Book of Revelation sees its visions comprised of timeless truth that speaks to the Church of all generations. Indeed, its message must have been applicable to the ones to whom it was addressed in the first century. And if it was relevant then, it surely is today. This third approach seems quite helpful. Just like the rest of the New Testament, Revelation spoke to the first century Church of then contemporary events (preterism). Similarly, it will also speak to the Church of the future (futurism). But most importantly for us, it speaks to us in this present generation.
One of the main themes in eschatology is the Beast of Revelation. It would be helpful in the light of God’s promise of a glorious future for His Church to consider how this personification of evil fits currently in our present spiritual warfare.
While I have not heard much Good News preached from Revelation Chapter 13, I believe that if we proclaim something other than the Gospel from this apostolic epistle, then our interpretation probably needs adjustment.
If Revelation Chapter 13 exposed the enemy’s strategy in the first century, it should also be particularly relevant as we face the same adversary in our nation today. And though it is true that John’s vision has future application, my purpose here is to encourage us all toward an active response to the enemy’s present schemes.
Over the years, Satan has sought to crush God’s covenant people through political and religious systems. From the time of Israel’s slavery in Egypt right down to the present, Hell’s gates have waged an intense warfare, but they have failed to prevail against the Lord’s house (Matthew 16:18). The resilience of the enemy in his propagation of darkness has caused many to wonder if there is someone who can successfully make war against the Beast (Revelation 13:4). The answer to that inquiry is clearly revealed in the vision of the kingly horseman whose name is called the Word of God (Revelation 19).
To understand the Beast in John’s Revelation, we must notice two groups of people – the heaven dwellers and the earth dwellers. All the earth dwellers are worshipers of the Beast and manifest his nature in their thoughts (his mark on their foreheads) and in their deeds (his mark on their hands). But the followers of the Lamb are being transformed into Christ’s image through the renewal of their minds (God’s name written on their foreheads – Revelation 14:1).
The Church must respond to the increased darkness in our nation. We must follow our Commander in Chief in this generation’s experience of the war, knowing that the conflict for the soul of our nation is not primarily cultural but spiritual. Spiritual warfare is not waged simply through a certain technique of prayer that addresses the devil; it is conducted through a lifestyle of obedience that follows the Lamb wherever He goes.
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.
The Greek word for “beast” in this passage is THERION – a wild animal. Remember that John is having a vision. He sees a very strange looking untamed creature rising up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns.
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. And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
The vision reminds us of one given to the prophet Daniel (Daniel 7:1 - 28). He had seen four wild animals arising out of the sea. The sea is often a picture of nations in turbulence (Daniel 7:2 - 3, 17; Revelation 17:15). These four Beasts symbolized four nations or empires that would arise over time. What he saw were a lion, a bear, a leopard (the same ones mentioned here in Revelation Chapter 13) and then a fourth one different from the first three. It would be extremely cruel, crushing everything in its sight.
Concerning Revelation Chapter 13, George Eldon Ladd writes:
This vision is directly dependent upon the vision recorded in Daniel 7, in which he saw four Beasts coming up out of the sea, representing a succession of four worldly empires. Some commentators see in the sea a symbol of the agitated surface of unregenerate humanity (Isaiah 57:20), which is likened to a seething cauldron of confused national and social life out of which great historical movements arise.[1]
However, John sees it in reverse order. Instead of speaking of the lion, the bear, and the leopard, he refers to the leopard, the bear, and the lion. While Daniel was looking forward in time, John was looking backward. The kingdoms exemplified by these three wild animals had already come and gone from the world stage. Many scholars see the lion as Babylon, the bear as Medo-Persia, and the leopard as Greece.
The fourth Beast in Daniel’s vision was Rome. The Roman Empire was extremely cruel and conquered the known world of its day. While Daniel saw the four creatures as he looked forward, John looked back because the fourth one was now operative in his lifetime. Rome was the great world power, crushing everything in its sight.
But John only saw one animal, not four. Whereas Daniel spoke of the fourth one as almost beyond description, John saw it as a composite creature, incorporating elements of the previous three empires. He saw a measure of the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and the Greek empires contributing to the present Roman system.
While the Beasts in these visions represented kingdoms, they embodied more than that. Each kingdom expressed the nature of a wild predatory animal. At the heart of each of these empires was the devourer. The Beast was not simply a political entity, it was a vehicle for Satan (known for his destructive preying upon humanity) to operate through and extend his activity on earth.
Not only was the Beast in John’s vision a composite creature, it had seven heads which were seven mountains [mountains can also symbolize kingdoms (Jeremiah 51:25; Daniel 2:35, 44)] or seven kings – seven governmental systems (Revelation 17:9 - 10). Looking back past the time of Daniel, John saw that the Beast was made up of more than the four creatures mentioned. More comprehensively, there were seven heads. If you go back to the first great empire through which Satan sought to destroy the covenant people, we recognize Egypt. And while there were many other smaller nations that later fought against Israel, the next world empire to crush her was Assyria. So if Egypt is the first head and Assyria is the second, with Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece making up the third, fourth and fifth heads, then Rome would be the sixth. Of these heads, the angel tells John:
five of them have fallen, and the one (Rome) is still reigning. The seventh has not yet come...
(Revelation 17:10 Weymouth)
Consider also the words of commentator William Milligan.
The seven heads seem most fittingly to represent seven powers of the world by which the children of God had been persecuted in the past or were to be persecuted in the future....
Making a natural beginning, therefore, with the oldest persecuting power mentioned in that Bible history of which the Apocalyptist makes such extensive use, and following the line down to the Seer’s time, the seven heads appear to represent the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman powers, together with that power, wider even than the Roman, which St. John saw was about to rage in the hurried days of “the last time”....[2]
The Beast, it seems, is political in its expression. While not every national government down through history can be equated with the Beast, we can see the enemy’s strategy for opposing God’s people. Consistently, Satan has arisen through political systems to resist the work of God. As a result, the collision of God’s kingdom with Satan’s results in nations either going through great redemptive change or being destroyed. Today, the soul of America lies in the balance while this great spiritual war is being fought. The opposing sides in this conflict, secular humanism and the Kingdom of God are both having an influence in our culture.
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.
The wild animal in John’s vision reminds us of the old Timex watch commercials. It “takes a licking, and keeps on ticking.” No matter what you do, it just keeps coming back. God arises and slays this creature in one generation, only to see it come back in the next.
We see the Beast in the Egyptian empire’s enslavement of God’s people. So the Lord revealed himself to a man – Moses, sent him to confront Pharaoh, and brought the empire to its knees. But within several generations, we see the Beast emerging again through the Assyrians. Then came the Babylonians, the Medo-Persians and the Greeks. Finally, in John’s day, we see Rome which in its composition expressed the nature of the previous three world empires and in some measure the type of government seen even way back in the days of Egypt’s oppression of the Jews.
It seems that no matter what is done, the Beast is a recurring phenomenon. Whenever a head is slain and recovers, the world marvels and wonders how to resist the inevitable. So they surrender to what seems an inescapable destiny.
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?”
Who is able to successfully wage war against this resilient, wild creature that keeps arising through political power to oppose God’s people? The Book of Revelation was written to answer that question.
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
The vision goes on to reveal the Rider and His armies defeating the seven-headed wild animal and casting him and his accomplice (more on him later) into the lake of fire. In other words, the King on the white horse is God’s answer to the strategy of darkness that has operated against humanity over thousands of years. Those who ride following Him are participants in His victorious ride on earth.
The Church is on the side that wins. Our God perfectly understands the enemy’s ways and his attempts down through the centuries to corrupt the earth. In fact, our King has all authority in heaven and on earth, and He has declared war against this insidious, wild creature. While the Beast’s final doom is not realized until Christ’s return, the war has been transpiring for centuries. The conflict is being waged presently, and God is sending out His draft call; we must respond appropriately to Him in this time of confrontation.
Many Christians think that the Beast will only be revealed sometime in the future. And clearly, there are future applications to the above verses of Scripture. But we must lift up our eyes and see the war in its present form in our own nation.
While I am not saying that our governmental system is synonymous with the Beast, its face has begun to emerge in our administrative institutions. And while this process is not as far along as it was in the Roman Empire of the first century, nonetheless it is occurring in our generation. You can see it where men have attempted to legislate God out of our schools, our courts, and our political process. Accompanying this legislative agenda can be seen a growing hatred of righteousness which redefines perversion as good and good as evil. Many consider the slaughter of the unborn to be a constitutional right, and self-expression to be appropriate even when it is degenerate and promotes wickedness. But our God has issued to His people on earth and to His heavenly hosts a call to battle in our generation.
And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
Notice that someone gave the Beast the ability to speak and the authority to function. Satan cannot operate on earth apart from God’s permission. Our Lord has all authority in heaven and on earth and is sovereign over all.
For example, if He had so desired, He could have easily kept the serpent out of the Garden of Eden. But it is as if He said, “this garden comes complete with serpent.” Similarly, our planet comes complete with spiritual opposition because God has determined to not build His Church in some sort of spiritual incubator. He is not out to produce innocence in us, but righteousness. Innocence is the lack of sin; righteousness conquers it. And though God wanted Adam to conquer sin, he failed. But the good news is that the last Adam succeeded.
Today, there is a dynamic surge of evil in our land. Some say that there is nothing that we can do about it. It is just a sign of the times. But righteousness does not roll over before wickedness; it subdues it. It overcomes evil with good. And since only God is good, His strategy is to reveal His own righteous nature among men. As a result, He calls us to humility, to servant-hood, to intercession, and to the unveiling of His power through the Gospel.
The Beast was given authority to act for forty-two months or three and one-half years. Since numbers seem to have mostly symbolic significance in the Book of Revelation, and since the number seven seems to symbolize the idea of perfection, it is easy to find it referenced over fifty times in John’s Revelation. For example, the seven Spirits of God could refer to the faultless ministry of the Holy Spirit. Seven trumpets could speak of the completeness of His prophetic declarations as they are sounded forth among men. And seven bowls could indicate the soundness and fullness of His divine judgments. Because three and one-half is exactly one half of seven, it probably has significant symbolic meaning. Consider the prophet Elijah.
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
The above verses refer to the days of Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal. It was a time of God’s judgments among His people. Wicked leadership in the land sought to kill the prophets of God while supporting the prophets of Baal. What was needed was a dramatic breakthrough from Heaven to confront the enemy. So, God answered by fire (1Kings 17 - 18). Because Elijah had prayed that it would not rain, God sent a drought that lasted for three and one-half years. But when he prayed for the rain to resume, God again displayed His power, and the drought ended. Heaven’s answer to prevailing satanic activity was to make known His supernatural power through intercession and prophetic ministry. As a result, His people who had lost their way gained fresh vision. The number three and one half seems to speak of just such seasons.[3]
Another example would be Jesus’ earthly ministry of three and one-half years. It was a time of God’s judgments among His people. The status quo simply could not continue – the time of prophetic fulfillment had come. Though the religious system opposed Him and sought to silence His prophetic voice, our Lord prayed diligently and God consistently manifested His power in healing, deliverance, and then ultimately at the cross in resurrection power.
The number three and one-half seems to speak of seasons of great confrontation in history when God takes issue with His people because of the enemy’s success in their midst. The Good News is that He has answers for us at such times, but it will certainly involve our embracing the cross.
Could it be that we are presently in just such a season? We see a great clarity of Hell’s activities in the earth and at the same time, we hear prophetically of God’s purpose to arise in great glory and extend His kingdom. It seems we are headed for great conflict and confrontation in our generation. A heavenly “draft call” is going forth and many are responding to the summons.
And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
(Revelation 13:6 NAS)
In the Book of Revelation, God’s tabernacle is His people who dwell in heaven. Such a picture reveals Heaven’s strategy at Christ’s resurrection. In His great mercy, God raised us up with Him and then seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ (Ephesians 2:6).
John’s visions reveal two companies of people – earth dwellers and heaven dwellers. Those who reside in the heavenly places bear the characteristics of their residence while those who are of the earth convey the fallen nature of man. The heaven dwellers appear as a woman clothed with the sun and crowned with glory in chapter 12. But of all the earth dwellers, scripture says that they bend their knee to the Beast.
And 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.
Again, notice that the Beast’s seeming success was granted to him. There is One greater than our enemy; our God is in total charge of the universe. Satan can do nothing unless the Lord permits him.
God has given Satan access into our nation. Not only that, He has permitted personal spiritual attacks against His people. One part of God’s strategy in extending His kingdom on earth is that He approves opposition. And according to the above verse, God grants the enemy opportunity to overcome His people.
Whenever God permits the success of the enemy, it is that we might come to grips with our own failures and weaknesses. His intention is that we would fall on our faces, humble ourselves before Him, and cry out for His mercy in our impoverished condition.
Consider the book of Judges. Whenever Israel’s enemies dominated them, God’s people would eventually recognize their plight, humble themselves, and begin to cry out for God’s deliverance. As a result, He would anoint prophetic leadership to release His power and defeat their oppressors. Today, our greatest problem is not the enemy; it is that instead of trusting God, we trust in our own education, our own strength, our own wisdom, and our own abilities to organize what we think needs to occur to extend God’s kingdom. But God does not need our strength and abilities. He wants us to come to the end of ourselves and cry out for Him to arise against our enemy.
As you read these pages, consider whether or not your life represents victory over the Beast. Or has God allowed you to be overcome in some ways in order to get your attention? Some of us are more consumed with sports than we are with the presence of God. Others are more focused on material things, money, and career. In other words, we are more known for the attributes of our national culture than we are for the values of Heaven. As a result, we are not a people of the Presence, but a people of mixture – and we are being overcome in the war.
Another area of spiritual conflict and failure has to do with believers pursuing ministry more than Christ. When we consider our society, one of the marks of the Beast is the quest for success, visibility, and recognition in the eyes of men. Sadly, that spirit is now operating significantly in the American Church as well. Too many pursue visibility in ministry along with recognition of their spiritual successes. Here’s a question to consider. If I feel frustrated because people do not acknowledge my spiritual gifts and ministry calling, could God be exposing an element of spiritual ambition in my heart?
Jesus spent His first thirty years hidden from the eyes of the nation and working in a carpenter shop. Even during the years of His subsequent ministry, He would often warn those He had just healed to not reveal His identity to others. At other times He would minister to people and then slip off into the crowd. It seems that though He had come to reveal the Father, to do so successfully, He had to have a heart for hiddenness.
Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior!
And it was in the context of Jesus instructing His disciples to give, to pray, and to fast in the secret place that He told them that God wanted His will done on earth as it was in heaven (Matthew 6:1 - 18). The way His will is obeyed there has no self-promotion in it. The last one who tried that did not last long.
It is true that God will call some ministries to be more visible than others. But He will also give them the grace to function in that calling. On the other hand, if we strive for recognition, we might find ourselves in situations for which we have not been adequately prepared and in a place lacking the grace we need to stand.[4] Then we become vulnerable to the deceptive attacks of the enemy who now has a larger and more exposed target at which to shoot.
David fought Goliath as the anointed but unrecognized king of Israel. The nation considered Saul to be God’s ruler of choice because he had the palace, the standing army, and the power to collect taxes. All David had was the call of God on his life. As long as he was hidden in his calling, he was safe. However, after he killed Goliath, his visibility in the nation suddenly increased. Soon the forces of Hell were arrayed against him. Since David had not sought the throne but to be faithful to do the rather obscure tasks that God had given him, when visibility came, it did so not from his own ambition, but from the hand of God.
A certain friend of mine has regularly preached the Gospel in one particular West African nation. Certain native leaders planned to invite some government ministers to the next meetings they were having with him. Many men would have jumped at the chance to influence nations at that level (There can be an appropriate time for such events). Significantly, my friend’s response was, “No, don’t do that. We’re not looking for that. We just want to slip in, preach the Kingdom, see people saved, work with the existing Church leadership and slip out. We’re not looking for visibility in the nation. We’re looking to simply function in a hidden way and extend God’s kingdom.” Clearly, there are those who pursue the recognition of men. And there are others who seek to walk before God that He might raise them up in His own time if He so desires.
Today in our nation, one of the ways to “succeed in ministry” is to get connected to highly gifted and nationally recognized ministers. The key is to be seen as one who is associated with them. The spotlight that falls on the famous then begins to reflect on others in their glow. In politics it is called coming to power by riding on the coattails of popular leaders.
My suggestion is that we not pursue visibility but intimacy with God and hiddenness before men. And since we are involved in His kingdom, let us then trust Him to establish the size of our sphere of influence.
And all who dwell on the earth will worship him (the Beast), 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.
Here we see the earth dwellers. Simply put, they are the ones whose names have not been written in the Book of Life. What marks their existence is that they worship the Beast. John’s statement about having an ear to hear indicates that he is speaking of spiritual matters. In other words, spiritual discernment is needed to understand his message. Who are the earth dwellers? They are the ones not born from above. They are all who are not heaven dwellers. Therefore, we have all been guilty of bending our knees to the Beast. Before we were recorded in the Lamb’s Book, we walked:
…according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.
In God’s eyes, there are only disciples of the Lamb and followers of the Beast. We once walked in harmony with the powers of darkness; now we love the Lamb.
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.
This verse simply states that justice ultimately rests in the hands of God. When we see the saints suffer pain and persecution by the sword, we can rest assured that their oppressors will reap accordingly. When we see people leading others into captivity, we know that God will judge righteously. We must trust Him when we see precious believers suffer painful and unjust treatment for their faith. Such circumstances will require both faith and patience in our hearts.
In the next chapter, we will consider the second beast in John’s vision and how it relates to the first one in the enemy’s war against the redeemed.
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