The Beasts
For Meditation
Last week we encountered the terrible red 7-headed dragon, John’s symbol of Satan. We recognized that behind everything in our lives in the world there is waging a great spiritual war. Jesus has already conclusively won the war, but Satan seeks to deceive, kill and destroy as many people as he can before the final day of judgment.
Chapter 13 now looks at this war through a different angle, taking the perspective of earth instead of heaven. John is borrowing heavily here from Daniel chapter 7 and his vision of the beasts. John sees two beasts emerge in the world, one on the sea and one on the land, who are given power and authority from the dragon. This is an “unholy Trinity,” a parody of the true God on the throne. These beasts have been the subject of enormous speculation down the centuries, and many people associate them with the so called “anti-Christ” (interestingly, a word that is never used in the book of Revelation). But remember, the key to interpreting Scripture wisely is to always look a the original context and intent of the author. Who was John thinking of as he wrote about these beasts?
It’s nearly certain that John was envisioning the terrible, violent powers of the Roman empire. Not only did Rome exert political and military power over the known world, but the emperors of Rome demanded allegiance and worship reserved only for God alone. By telling the story as he does, John suggests that behind this violent and idolatrous empire is the dragon himself, using the powers of politics, military and religion to wield destruction on the earth. He suggests that we don’t just experience spiritual warfare in our personal lives, but also in and through the institutions and powers of the societies we live in.
This is a call to faithfulness and wisdom. While we do not live under the Roman empire, the book of Revelation suggests that every “empire” and every human society exhibits elements of anti-Christian idolatry that will lure Christians into compromise. Every nation becomes “beastly” when it exalts their own power and economic or military security as a false god and demands total allegiance. It is the call of the Christian community to resist idolatry and worship the true and living God as the one who alone is worthy of our allegiance.
Revelation 13-14:5
1 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 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 filled with wonder and followed the beast. 4 People 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 wage war against it?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
10 “If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword they will be killed.”
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.