First, let’s take a look at the beast from the sea. When we compare this beast with Satan, we can see that Satan is the head, and this beast emphasizes its power, and explains from the book of Daniel why the beast has ten horns and seven heads. We see what the dragon gave the beast all it has, isn’t it a bit like God giving everything to the Son? We see that although the beast was not completely dead, its wounds were supernaturally healed. Isn’t this a bit like the Lord Jesus’ resurrection three days after his death? Therefore the people worship the beast and Satan. A huge difference is that after the resurrection, Jesus only appeared to some pre-selected people, and then preached the Gospel to all nations through those persons, so that all nations would believe in the Lord through faith. However, this beast was lest people not know that something supernatural was happening, so it deceived everyone. Second, let’s look at the beast from the earth which is the false prophet. The false prophet can do great wonders and is the companion of the beast from the sea. He wants everyone to worship the beast. Isn’t this a bit like the Holy Spirit glorifying Jesus? Therefore, the three of them are a pseudo-trinity, and they are very similar to the Trinity God to confuse people. Isn’t this Satan’s usual tactic? Distorting the truth in order to confuse people.
1. The beast from the sea
“And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”(Revelation 13:1-10)
We did not explain last time why the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. It is because the dragon was waiting for the beast that comes up from the sea and the beast that comes up from the earth. We will share below the scene of the two beasts and the dragon. In time, Satan was thrown to the ground first, and only then did the corresponding disasters occur on the ground. Among the troubles, first there is the beast that comes up from the sea, and then there is the beast that comes from the earth. We will see later that this order is important too!
First we compare this beast with the dragon by this verse,”…a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.”(Revelation 12:3) We know that “…the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, …”(Revelation 12:9) So there are “seven heads and ten horns” or “ten horns and seven heads” means that it comes from Satan. The description here is that the “head” is in front, and there is a crown on the head, so we see that Satan is the leader and still has ten-horn power.
Let us now look at the beast that came up from the sea, “…having ten horns and seven heads, and on the ten horns were ten crowns, and on its heads were blasphemous names.”(Revelation 13:1) At this time, the “horns” are in front, emphasizing the power of the beast, so the crown is placed on the horns. It has a blasphemous names on its seven heads, which obviously says that it not from God, and everything it does is for itself. We can see that it has temporary authority to blaspheme those in heaven and temporary victory over all the earth, as said in this verse, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”(Revelation 13:8)
There is no explanation here as to why the beast has “ten horns” and “seven heads”, but in a way it has the same description as in the book of Daniel of the Old Testament. “Daniel said, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.”(Daniel 7:2-7) We saw that the beast that came up from the sea had the combined body of first three beasts, so we must make an overall comparison. The heads mentioned in these verses of the book of Daniel add up to exactly seven heads, since the third beast has four heads. The description of ten horns come from the fourth one since it has ten horns. So overalls, the beasts in the book of Daniel have seven heads and ten horns. Thus the beast comes up from the sea has ten horns and seven heads.
We see that “...the dragon gave him (the beast coming up from the sea) his power and his throne and great authority.”(Revelation 13:2) Isn’t this a bit like God giving everything to the Son? In the Great Commission, “…Jesus came up and spoke to them (the Eleven), saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”(Matthew 28:18) Indeed, in the time setting, the Father gave everything to the Son, and “David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord (God) said to my Lord (Jesus Christ), “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.”’”(Mark 12:36)
Regarding the beast from sea, the verses says, “I saw one of his heads as if (G5613) it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?””(Revelation 13:3-4) This word G5613 appears 492 times, 65 times in the book of Revelation. The typical meaning of this word can be seen from this verse, “When I (John) saw Him, I fell at His feet like (G5613) a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; …”(Revelation 1:17) John was not really dead, but seemed to be dead, so one of the beast head was not completely dead, but the fatal wounds was healed. This is indeed saying that it is impossible for humans, and it is obviously a supernatural thing. No wonder people all over the earth were astonished and followed the beast and worshiped the beast. These scriptures also gave the reason for worshiping the dragon.
This can only be said to be similar to Jesus’ resurrection after three days of death. At that time, Jesus died for three days and was truly dead. There is a great difference between these. Jesus said in the Last Supper, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.””(John 14:21) In the book of Acts, Peter made it very clear that the resurrection of Jesus was “not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.”(Acts 10:41) “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.””(Acts 10:42-43) Now no Christian has seen the death and resurrection of Jesus and Christians must live in faith. To the opposite, the beast is afraid that people will not know that something supernatural is happening to it. So it can use things like this to confuse people.
Here we talk about another forty-two months, which is the same thing as the one thousand two hundred and sixty days. That is to say, the forty-two months that God allowed the beast to roam rampant on the earth, temporarily prevailed, and at the same time, God protected the church one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is exactly forty-two months with thirty days as one month. This is what Jesus predicted, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”(Matthew 24:21-22) So those days cannot be too long! We see that it is the church that finally prevails, “…for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”(Revelation 19:7-8)
2. The beast from the earth
”Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”(Revelation 13:11-18)
We have seen that this beast from earth also comes from Satan. Although it looks like a lamb who is gentle, it speaks like a dragon. Its purpose on earth is to make people worship the beast from the sea. Isn’t this something like, “He (Holy Spirit) will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”(John 16:14) God gave this beast authority to do great wonders, and to cause fire to come down from heaven to the earth, the same as the description in the book of Job regarding the power of Satan, “While he (the messenger) was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.””(Job 1:16) When the messenger saw the supernatural phenomenon, he thought it must be from God. When we continue to read the book of Job, we will know that the fire actually came from Satan. This is what Jesus said, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”(Matthew 24:23-24) This is why John “…saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.”(Revelation 16:13)
We have seen how the false prophet controlled everyone, “…no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”(Revelation 13:17) We can see that those Christians who are unwilling to do this have a hard time living and must have God’s protection. No wonder the Lord Jesus would say, “You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”(Mark 13:13) The work of the false prophet is compulsive, and the beast of the sea works through the false prophet, because the false prophet wants people to worship the beast. This is similar to how Jesus Christ indwells Christians in the form of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who really works on us now, but the Holy Spirit will only work when we are finally willing in faith, just like what is mentioned in the book of Revelation mentions the church in Laodicea, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”(Revelation 3:20)
We also see that this order in time is similar to God’s setting. First there was the dragon, then the beast that came up from the sea, and then the beast on the earth. During the time when Jesus became flesh, there was a sequence. The Father sent the Son, but if the Son did not go, the Holy Spirit would not come. And the three of them exist at the same time, so they are a pseudo-trinity, and they are very similar to the Trinity God to confuse people. Isn’t this Satan’s usual tactic? Distort the truth a little bit to confuse people. In the book of Genesis, didn’t he tempt Eve with a mixture of right and wrong? (See Genesis 3:1-7) In the book of Job, doesn’t it also use a mixture of right and wrong when speaking to Eliphaz the Temanite? (See Job 4:12-21)
As for saying, “Here is wisdom (G4678). Let him who has understanding (G3563) calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”(Revelation 13:18) This word G3563 only appears twice in the book of Revelation. The other time is in the verse, “Here is the mind (G3563) which has wisdom (G4678). The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.”(Revelation 17:9) This does not give us enough information to understand the meaning of this word. We must look at other scriptures. Here its meaning is clear as stated in the following three typical verses. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (G3563), so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”(Romans 12:2) and “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind (G3563) is unfruitful.”(1 Corinthians 14:14) and “For who has known the mind (G3563) of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind (G3563) of Christ.”(1 Corinthians 2:16) There are many opinions about the number six hundred and sixty-six. I can only say that now I don’t know how to say what the Bible means, which isn’t said clearly there. Maybe one day I will understand!
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
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