UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF REVELATION - Biblical …



UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Part II: THE BEAST

In Part I we learned what the great whore is, so let’s continue the story. In his vision, the apostle John “saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 17:3). Whatever this Beast is, the woman is in control of it like a rider on a horse—she “reigns over the kings of the earth” (v18). Here is our first clue: the beast has to do with the kings/kingdoms of the earth. We learned when studying the meaning of the whore/city, Babylon, that we must think big, and we must look long. We must not be caught up, as so many are, in predictive speculation.

In Revelation 12:3 Satan is described similarly as “a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns.” This can hardly be a coincidence. And the reason is the Beast is Satan’s creation, his spawn. We read, “And the dragon gave him [Beast] his power, his throne, and great authority” (Rev. 13:2). Again, this is a reference to kings and kingdoms.

Revelation describes the Beast as a kind of continuum, or succession, that is temporarily interrupted: “The beast that you saw was [past], and is not [present], and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition [future]” (Rev. 17:8). Perdition means eternal destruction. The next description is, “There are also seven kings. Five have fallen [past], one is [present], and the other has not yet come [future]” (v10). And finally, “And the beast that was [past], and is not [present], is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition [future]” (v11).

This past, present, future aspect of the Beast parallels its creator, Satan. Revelation 20:1-3 says,

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.”

Before the coming of Jesus, Satan held vast power over the nations to deceive them and hold them under darkness and death. Satan tempted Jesus when he “showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the Devil said to him, ‘All this authority I will give you, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish’” (Lk. 4:5,6). Think for moment. Satan could not offer Jesus something that he did not possess. “All the kingdoms of the world” were his, and operated under his influence. At any and all times his kingdoms have comprised the Beast. Always remember, it is the great whore who holds the reigns which control the Beast. It is she who permeates the world with pride, self-reliance, and rebellion against God. And the Devil pulls all the strings!

But Jesus resisted the Devil and overcame him, triumphing over him through the cross, and bringing light and life! Through his death and resurrection, Jesus bound the “strong man”—Satan—and then by the power of the kingdom of God which he founded, began to “plunder” the Devil’s kingdoms (Mtt. 12:29). Thereafter, the power of Satan was vastly reduced, unable to resist the kingdom of God. As we read above, Satan could “deceive the nations no more.” Further, the saints “overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev. 12:11).

This huge reduction in Satan’s power was echoed in the Beast’s. Thus, “five [heads] have fallen”—past. But we know that Satan’s power has not been totally extinguished because he is still a dangerous “adversary” (I Pet. 5:8,9). So “one [head] is”—present. Satan is presently in a “bottomless pit,” which is not a place, but rather, a condition of restraint for evil spirits. But remember, Satan will be released from his restraint at the end of the age, and once again he will go out to “deceive the nations” (Rev. 20:7-9)—future.

Let’s now examine the seven heads of the Beast. In John’s vision, the angel told him, “The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings” (Rev. 17:9,10). In the scriptures mountains are often a symbolic reference to nations or kingdoms (Isa. 2:2; Jer. 51:24,25). No speculation concerning the identity of these seven kings/kingdoms has ever brought unanimity, because it always boils down to a guess. So maybe we should look in another direction.

Among other things, Revelation is a book filled with numerology, or numbers used as symbols. A literalist reading Revelation will nearly always fall short of understanding the meaning of its numbers. The numbers most frequently used in Revelation are 7, 10, and 12, with 7 standing way out among the others—51 times! In fact, the number 7 is found many times throughout the Bible, and it often is used as a symbol of completeness and fullness.

A good example of using seven symbolically rather than literally in Revelation is where John wrote “to the seven churches which are in Asia” (1:4). There were actually more than seven Christian congregations in Asia. What about Colossae and Hierapolis (Col. 4:13), and perhaps Troas (Acts. 20:5) and others? This demonstrates the dilemma all students of Revelation face: what is literal and what is symbolic? John’s message was meant to be directed to all the congregations of Christians of all ages.

Many commentators speculate that the seven heads are seven successive kingdoms, or they are seven Roman emperors. But these hypotheses shatter with the mention of the “eighth” head which goes to perdition (Rev. 17:11). But if we take the “seven heads” of the Beast to symbolize completeness and fullness, as with the seven churches, then we may conclude that the seven heads represent the fullness of Satanic evil found in all the kingdoms of this world throughout history.

But what about the anomaly presented by the eighth head? How can there be seven heads, in order to show fullness and completeness, when an eighth is added? John wrote that this eighth head “is of the seven.” The only other biblical reference to such a principle is the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles which has an eighth day, which is “of the seven,” or else it could not be the eighth, yet it is its own separate Sabbath (Lev. 23:34-36). This feast lasts seven days symbolizing, among other things, completeness and fullness, yet an eighth day is added as a capstone, which is both part of the feast, but which has its own separate meaning and significance.

What would be the capstone for the Devil’s kingdoms, one that would demonstrate his anger, his power, authority, and evil intentions more than ever before? It would be, upon his release from the bottomless pit, to precipitate the greatest time of human suffering in the history of the mankind—the prophesied great tribulation! The eighth head is of the seven because it represents the power of the Devil. But it is also separate, because it represents the unleashing of that power to a degree never before allowed by God.

The eighth head symbolizes the power and authority of Satan’s end time kingdom, the one that finally goes to perdition. The eighth head is Satan’s last kingdom, the one which Jesus destroys at his second coming. In Revelation 13:1-10 we read about another beast which seems to be the same as the scarlet beast upon which the great whore sits. They are indeed the same, except this passage focuses on the eighth head, where it is simply called the “Beast.”

Here the Beast has the characteristics of a leopard, bear, and lion, with seven heads and ten horns. Its description is reminiscent of the “four great beasts” which Daniel saw, which combined, would have possessed seven heads and ten horns (Dan. 7:3-7,17,19,24). John’s Beast is not a resurrection of any one of these four empires, but it is an end time kingdom which will possess the same Satanic qualities of power and authority, and which will be used by Satan to forcefully bring the whole world under its influence. “And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Rev. 13:7).

John wrote, “I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed….” (Rev. 13:3). Like nearly all aspects of the Beast, there has been much speculation as to the meaning of this wound. But the answer is simple. This event is future, it has not happened yet, so no one can accurately define it until it takes place.

Next we read, “…And he was given authority to continue forty-two months” (Rev. 13:5), or 3½ years. Neither the number 42 or a month is used in biblical prophetic numerology, thus we should consider this 3½ years as literal. This is a relatively short period of time for this final kingdom of Satan’s to reign. But we read that Satan will only “be released for a little while” (Rev. 20:3). This is the time when the Beast “make[s] war with the saints” (Rev. 13:7), and when “the Gentiles…tread the holy city [saints] under foot for forty-two months (Rev. 11:2). The prophet Daniel, writing about “the time of the end” (Dan. 12:9), prophesied, “…it shall be for a time, times, and half a time [3½ years]; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished” (v7).

This is the same time in which the “two witnesses…will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days [3½ years]” in Jerusalem, after which they will be martyred by the Beast (Rev. 11:3-10). Satan’s kingdom, brief as it will be, will bring about the longed-dreamed-of and so-called utopian “one world government.” We are told, “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him [Beast] (Rev. 13:8,4), except for Christians. Their resistance to the Beast will precipitate their genocide!

Satan’s last kingdom, the Beast, will be some kind of confederacy, as we read,

“And the ten horns [of the Beast] which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the Beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the Beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them…” (Rev. 17:12-14).

Since this confederacy of ten kings will consolidate for only a short time, and only just before Christ returns, it is of no use to speculate concerning their identity. And we cannot be sure if the number 10 is literal or symbolic. What is important is how Jesus will defeat them. This will be done through the “seven trumpets” (Rev. 8,9) and the “seven last plagues (Rev. 15,16). As we read about how they will bring about the utter annihilation of earth and men, we can only imagine about what becomes of the Beast.

At some point, the human leaders behind the Beast will become disillusioned and bitter over their loss. They will turn against the great whore, who has been influencing them with a Satanic, anti-god philosophy of pride and rebellion, because her promises failed them. And so we read,

“And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to fulfill his purpose, to be of one mind…” (Rev. 17:16,17).

Thus Satan’s last hurrah, his final kingdom, the Beast, will end in perdition—eternal destruction—to be replaced by the everlasting kingdom of God!

Tease:

In his vision, the apostle John “saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 17:3). Whatever this Beast is, the woman is in control of it like a rider on a horse—she “reigns over the kings of the earth” (v18). Here is our first clue: the beast has to do with the kings/kingdoms of the earth.

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