Revelation 13 The Beast

Revelation 13:1.. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Verse 2.. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. Verse 3.. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Verse 4.. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

In Revelation chapter 13, we get a description of the beast. It rises up out of the sea. Revelation 17:15 tells us that the waters which you saw are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. Keeping that in mind we can see that the peoples and the nations actually enable the beast to exist. They give it life and power. Now this beast has seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Revelation 17:10 tells us that the seven heads are seven mountains which are seven kings.

What was Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream? This great image of a figure standing with a head of gold which represented the Babylonian Empire. The arms and chest of silver or the Medo-Persian Empire. The brass stomach or Grecian Empire. The legs of iron or the Roman Empire. The feet of iron and clay with ten toes. They are weaker than just iron. They are iron and clay. A democratic type of alliance. Not strong like a monarchy or dictatorship. Ten toes refer to the ten horns or ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. Revelation 17:12.

Now in verse three, we see that one of the heads of the beast is wounded beyond the ability to recover. This means that the beast itself is wounded beyond the ability to recover. Verified in Revelation 17:11. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. The beast was and is not pictures the death of the beast. But it is to come again for a short time. 

"They worshiped the dragon who gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Verse 5.. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months. Verse 6.. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. Verse 7.. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 

Verse 8.. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 

Verse 9.. If any man have an ear, let him hear. Verse 10.. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints

In verses 5, 6, 7 power is given to him to continue forty and two months or three and a half years. He blasphemes against God, and those that dwell in heaven. He makes war with the saints, and overcomes them. He also kills the two witnesses who had been invincible up to this point. Power is given him over all tribes, tongues, and nations. This happens in the second half of the tribulation period. You remember that the two prophets have free reign during the first half of the tribulation period to witness, call down fire at will and to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. It's not until they are eliminated that the beast has his way.

Now an encouraging word in verses 8, 9, & 10. The time of the beast will come to an end. He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Him and all that dwell upon the earth who worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Verse 11.. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. Verse 12.. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Verse 13.. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, causes an image to be made of the former beast.

Verse 14.. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live, and that men should worship it. Verse 15.. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Verse 16.. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: Verse 17.. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Verse 18.. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.

In verse 11, we see another beast coming up out of the earth. It looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. So Satan is disguised as the savior, a lamb. He duplicates the works of the two prophets. He makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. Do you remember how the magicians in Pharaoh's court were able to duplicate to a point the miraculous things that Moses was doing? So in verse 14, those that dwell upon the earth are deceived by the means of those miracles which the false prophet had power to do in the sight of the beast: saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, that had the wound by a sword, and did live.

In verse 16 & 17, He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, except he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. This is probably some type of computer system. The technology is here. We're already using cards and numbers to do all our purchasing of goods and services. It wouldn't be difficult to get rid of money altogether. As a matter of fact, Israel is already mulling over the idea of doing away with cash. The idea being that it would make it more difficult to evade paying taxes.

In verse 18, we see that the number of the beast is six hundred three score and six or 666. In biblical numerics, each number has a significance. Seven is the number of completeness. Six is short of completeness, incomplete man. Twelve is the number of human government. The Greek and the Hebrew numbers have more significance than in our language because they count with their alphabet. In other words, alpha, beta, gamma, delta is one, two, three, four etc. So every letter has a numeric equivalent. For instance, the number eight is the number for new beginnings. It is also the number for Jesus. If you total the numbers that spell Jesus, you come up with 888. So 666 is incomplete man. This is incomplete man's attempt to govern himself and the world with Satan's help. 666 could also be the numeric value of a man's name; the Satan empowered leader of the coming world system of government.