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“The Two Beasts of Revelation 13”
Revelation 13 retells the same story of cosmic conflict as the previous chapter but this time using the symbolism of Daniel’s animal visions (Dan. 7-12). Satan, depicted as a giant red dragon, summons two beasts which he empowers to be his agents of evil on earth. Having failed to destroy the Messiah he turns his destructive energies toward the church (12:12-13). But who or what are these beasts?
THE SEA BEAST = the war machine (13:1-10) — The first beast emerges from the “sea.” To Israel, a mostly agricultural and pastoral society, the sea represented the chaotic forces of evil which oppose God’s purposes. Violent and rebellious nations that threaten God’s people are sometimes described as tumultuous waves (Isa. 17:12; 57:20-21; 60:5). In Daniel’s vision, four beasts arise from the sea, each one representing a great kingdom: Babylon, Persia, Macedonia and Rome. The beast in John’s vision is Daniel’s fourth beast, which would be defeated after waging war against God’s people for a time (Dan. 7:2-8, 23-27), but is depicted as an amalgamation of the first three.
Therefore, this sea beast represents the Roman Empire. It possesses the tearing power of the “lion” (from the Babylonian empire), the crushing force of the “bear” (from the Persian empire) and the swift ferocity of the “leopard” (from Macedonia under Alexander the Great). The evil and might of Daniel’s first three beasts reaches its climax in the fourth, this “beast from the sea” which Satan uses as a tool to oppress God’s church. It possesses military strength and authority, symbolized by its ten horns upon which were set ten crowns, and malicious cunning, symbolized by its seven heads which bear blasphemous names (Rev. 13:1-2). This description signifies a government intoxicated with its own power, exhibiting total irreverence toward God and all that is sacred—Roman emperors took blasphemous titles for themselves and accepted, and eventually demanded, worship.
But this beast received what seemed to be a mortal head-wound which was then mysteriously healed to everyone’s amazement (13:3). This probably refers to the death (suicide) of Emperor Nero in 68 AD which plunged the empire into civil war and anarchy. After the “Year of four Emperors” (69 AD), Vespasian restored order and the Flavian dynasty began first with Titus, who reigned from 79-81, then Domitian, who reigned from 81-96. Nero’s bloodthirsty spirit lived on in Domitian and the persecution of Christians intensified to its historical apex.
The watching world marveled at the recovery of the empire and “worshiped the beast,” attributing to it divine qualities (Rev. 13:3-4). Though under the power of the dragon, God gave permission to the beast to do its worst: Rome was allowed to speak blasphemy against God and his church, to exercise authority for a period of time, to persecute and even kill the saints, and was given all those who would give their allegiance to it (Rev. 13:5-8).
THE EARTH BEAST = the propaganda machine (13:11-18) — The second beast rises from the “earth” and resembles, at first glance, an innocent “lamb.” But its speech quickly gives it away, for its message is diabolical, nothing but lies and deception. Because it has swallowed the lies of Satan (12:16; cf. Jn. 8:44), this beast is later called “the false prophet” (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). It supports the Roman Empire by compelling people to worship it (Rev. 13:11-12).
The earth beast represents paganism and false religion, particularly the Roman imperial cult whose job it was to disseminate propaganda. Through its "two horns"—the Roman Proconsul (the appointed political power) and the imperial priests of the Commune (the appointed spiritual power)—the earth beast worked to compel the citizenry to worship the Empire and Emperor while the sea beast enforced it.
While the first beast attempted to control people through fear, the second exerted its influence through deception. The Roman propaganda machine bolstered its lies with false displays of power, pseudo-miracles to deceive people into making an image of the Emperor and worshiping it (Rev. 13:13-14; cf. Mt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:9-10). Anyone who refused to give their total, public allegiance to the Empire—symbolized by receiving the “mark” of the beast on their hand or forehead—was either “slain” or economically boycotted (Rev. 13:15-17). This “mark” was a kind of anti-shema; the “shema,” so named after the first Hebrew word in the prayer (“listen”) was the daily Israelite prayer of complete loyalty to God whose commandments they were to bind on their “hands” and “foreheads” (Deut. 6:4-9). The “mark of the beast,” therefore, was not a physical mark on one’s body but one’s public loyalty and support of the imperial cult.
Saints suffering under such beastly pressure were called to two things:
- The call for faithful endurance (Rev. 13:10) — Saints who were being taken captive and slain with the sword by the Roman war machine were simply told to persevere and refuse to retaliate against this evil. They were not to resist the government (Rom. 13:2; 1 Pet. 2:13) but remain faithful to God and fight with spiritual weapons (Eph. 6:10-18). If they were unjustly taken captive or slain with the sword for their faith, they must follow Jesus and continue suffering in innocence, entrusting themselves to him who judges justly (Rev. 13:9-10; cf. 1 Pet. 2:23). “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:10b; cf. 1 Jn. 5:4)
- The call for wisdom (Rev. 13:18) — In addition to being “innocent as doves” in their suffering, they were also to be “wise as serpents” (see Mt. 10:16). Following the description of the second beast which used words to deceive, saints were told to discern between truth and error. They were to “calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man, and his number is 666.” (Rev. 13:18) Israelites would compute the numerical value of Hebrew words based on their constituent letters. Each letter possessed a value: Aleph = 1, Bet = 2, Gimel = 3, and so on. When the Greek words “Nero Caesar” and “beast” are spelled in Hebrew letters, they each add up to 666. In the numerology of Revelation, the number six symbolized ultimate (thrice repeated) creaturely imperfection in comparison to divine perfection (symbolized by the number seven). What does all this mean? Christians are to be wise enough not to be hoodwinked by the schemes of this beast. After all, behind this evil empire was a dark spiritual force pulling the strings, colluding with it and animating it. The “number of the beast” would signify to Christians that Rome belonged to Satan and would soon fall. So don’t put your trust in it!
In the face of the first beast’s violent persecution, the church was to endure faithfully and refuse to retaliate (Rev. 13:10). In the face of the second beast’s political and spiritual deception, the church was to be wise to the schemes of the devil (Rev. 13:18). Neither Rome nor any other earthly entity was the real enemy. God wants his people then and now to see that Satan works through earthly powers. Governments become beastly when they fail to protect people from evil and instead exalt their own power and economic security as false gods and then demand total allegiance. But they are merely tools under the influence of the evil one who wants to inflict as much damage as possible before he is “thrown alive into the lake of fire” (Rev. 19:20; 20:10). If we must suffer for our Lord, let us suffer innocently, faithfully and wisely!
