Revelation 13, Two Beasts

After the death of the witnesses in chapter 11, and their resurrection, we see heaven opened.  There is war in heaven and Satan is cast down to earth, where he pursues a woman giving birth to a male child. Now the dragon and beast dominate the earth.

This chapter ends with the infamous 666.

Revelation 13: 1-4, A beast comes out of the sea

And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.  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.  

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?" 

NIV footnotes: Some late manuscripts say "And I stood on the shore of the sea" instead of "And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea" 

A new villain, another beast, appears, as the devil concentrates on earth. See Daniel 7 for the first appearance of the beasts.

How does the earth react to the Beast out of the Sea?

Revelation 13: 5-8, More on the beast

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.

NIV footnotes: The Greek is not clear on what event is "from the creation of the world".  It could be the slaying of the Lamb (as implied in the order of the text, above) or it could be the writing of names in the book of life.  So another translation might be "all whose names have not been written from the creation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain." Regardless, this all is to be seen as a plan that began at the creation.

Is the beast a literal historical figure?  How long is his authority?

List the different items which lasted 3 1/2 years – the witnesses, the woman in the desert, the beast….

Revelation 13: 9-10, Need for endurance

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. 

What is the message of Revelation 13:9?  Why is it emphasized here?  (This repeats a primary message of Revelation – patient endurance.)

Revelation 13: 11-15, A second beast

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.  He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.  And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.  

Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.  He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 

A second beast arrives, this time out of the earth

Here are the characters since chapter 11.

1. Two Witnesses (Rev 11)
2. The Beast from the Abyss, killer of the Witnesses (Rev 11)
3. The Pregnant Woman and her Child,
4. The Dragon (7 heads, 10 hours), identified as Satan,
5. Michael, the archangel.
6. First Beast (out of the sea)
7. Second Beast (out of the earth), who works for the First Beast

Revelation 13: 16-18, The mark of the second beast

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.  This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

The Second Beast is associated with the number 666. This number has generated lots of stories and speculation, most of them useless.  I will summarize some of these in another post.