The Anti-Christ Beast of Revelation 13
Look first at Daniel to get a prophetic blueprint of history. Then apply the principle of repetition and enlargement (more detail). Daniel chapter 2 gives us this historical blueprint through a vision given Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted by Daniel.
Dan 2:1-3
1 Now in the second year of the reign of, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.
2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them, "I had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream."
Dan 2:26
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?"
Dan 2:28-29
28 "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind {while} on your bed.
29 "As for you, O king, {while} on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.
The vision of the metal and clay statue
.Dan 2:31-45
31 "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.
32 "The head of that statue {was made} of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
The interpretation. Babylon is the head of gold. The other following kingdoms are identified in parallel visions in Chapters 7 & 8. We will look at them later.
36 "This {was} the dream; now we shall tell its interpretation before the king.
37 "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory;
38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, {or} the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given {them} into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.
Medo - Persia is the breast and arms of silver. Greece is the belly and thighs of bronze.
39 "And after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.
Rome is the legs of iron.
40 "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.
The toes of clay are the 10 divisions of the Roman Empire as it fell apart. These were the Anglo Saxons, Alemanni, Heruli, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Suevi, Lombards, Burgundians, and Franks.
41 "And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.
42 "And {as} the toes of the feet {were} partly of iron and partly of pottery, {so} some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.
43 "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.
The stone is the Kingdom of God.
44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and {that} kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
45 "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy."
A parallel vision of four beasts representing the same four kingdoms - repeated but with more details added. The winds represent warfare and strife. The waters represent a multitude of nations, peoples, and tongues. (See Rev 17:15)
Rev 17:15
15 And he said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
Dan 7:1-28
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind {as he lay} on his bed; then he wrote the dream down {and} related the {following} summary of it.
2 Daniel said, "I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.
3 "And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.
The Lion - Babylon. Wings represent conquering speed. King Nebudchanezzer.
4 "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.
The Bear - Medo Persia. One shoulder raised above the other represents the dominance of the Medes over the Persians. The three ribs represent the three kingdoms overthrown by this kingdom - Egypt, Libya, and Babylon.
5 "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!'
The Leopard - Greece. Four wings representing great conquering speed. Four heads represent the Alexander the Great’s four generals who ruled Greece after his death.
6 "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.
The different beast - Rome. The ten horns - the divisions of Rome (Same as the toes of Chapter 2)
7 "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.
The little Horn Power. We will identify ten characteristics of the Little Horn and show how they were perfectly fulfilled by the Papacy.
(1) Came up among the ten horns - The Papacy arose in western Europe among the ten tribal divisions of Rome
(2) Came up after the ten were established - the Papacy became a political power by decree of the Roman emperor Justinian in AD 538 which was after the emergence of the ten tribal divisions that emerged as the Roman Empire fell apart in AD 476.
(3) Uprooted three of the ten horns - As the Papacy came to prominence, it influenced Pagan Roman armies to destroy three of the tribes which opposed its Christian doctrines. These three were the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Heruli. The last of these was destroyed in AD 538 when Justinians decree went into effect.
(4) Have the eyes and mouth of a man - the Papacy has a man as its visible head.
8 "While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great {boasts.}
An interlude vision of the Judgement Scene. Compare to Revelation Chapters 4 & 5. More details about the Little Horn are given in the interpretation of the vision beginning in verse 16.
9 "I kept looking Until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took {His} seat; His vesture {was} like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne {was} ablaze with flames, its wheels {were} a burning fire.
10 "A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened.
11 "Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.
12 "As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.
13 "I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.
14 "And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and {men of every} language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.
15 "As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.
16 "I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things:
Interpretation of the vision
17 'These great beasts, which are four {in number,} are four kings {who} will arise from the earth.
18 'But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.'
19 "Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, {and which} devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet,
20 and {the meaning} of the ten horns that {were} on its head, and the other {horn} which came up, and before which three {of them} fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great {boasts,} and which was larger in appearance than its associates.
(6) Little Horn persecutes the saints - Ever hear of the Papal persecution during the dark ages - Inquisition, etc. Millions of Protestant Christians killed by the catholic Church.
21 "I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them
22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.
23 "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the {other} kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.
(7) Different than the other ten horns - the Papacy was a religio-political entity different from the kingdoms before it.
24 'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.
(8) Speak out against the God. Verse 8 says it will utter boastful or blasphemous things. One quote of many like it from Prompta Bibliothea Canonica Juridicia Moralis Theologica appearing in the Catholic Encyclopedia Volume VI, pp. 25-29, "The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted, that he is not a mere man, but as it were, God and the Vicar of God. The Pope is, as it were, God on earth, chief king of kings, having plentitude of power." What do you think, could this be boastful and blasphemous?
(9) Have power for a time, times, and half a time( or three and ½ years, forty two months, or 1,260 days - see Rev 12:6,14) - Applying the prophetic day for year principle established in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 that equals 1,260 years. The Papacy lasted in primary power from AD 538 to 1798 in which year Napoleon’s general Berthier marched into Rome, deposed the Pope, and carried him into exile.
(10) Little Horn attempts to change God’s times and laws - The Papacy deleted the second commandment of the Decalogue about idolotry, and then divided the tenth commandment about coveting into two parts. Ask any priest what the ten commandments are, and he will prove this true.
25 'And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
26 'But the court will sit {for judgment,} and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.
27 'Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of {all} the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom {will be} an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'
28 "At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself."
Parallel vision about the kingdoms of Medo Persia and Greece and the little horn. Repeated with more detail. The vision is interpreted plainly beginning in verse 15.
Dan 8:1-12
1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously.
2 And I looked in the vision, and it came about while I was looking, that I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision, and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal.
3 Then I lifted my gaze and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns {were} long, but one {was} longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.
4 I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no {other} beasts could stand before him, nor was there anyone to rescue from his power; but he did as he pleased and magnified {himself.}
5 While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat {had} a conspicuous horn between his eyes.
6 And he came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath.
7 And I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power.
8 Then the male goat magnified {himself} exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous {horns} toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful {Land.}
10 And it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.
11 It even magnified {itself} to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.
12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over {to the horn} along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform {its will} and prosper.
Dan 8:15-27
15 And it came about when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man.
16 And I heard the voice of a man between {the banks of} Ulai, and he called out and said, "Gabriel, give this {man} an understanding of the vision."
17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end."
18 Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright.
19 And he said, "Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for {it} pertains to the appointed time of the end.
20 "The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
21 "And the shaggy goat {represents} the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
22 "And the broken {horn} and the four {horns that} arose in its place {represent} four kingdoms {which} will arise from {his} nation, although not with his power.
23 "And in the latter period of their rule, when the transgressors have run {their course,} a king will arise Insolent and skilled in intrigue.
24 "And his power will be mighty, but not by his {own} power, and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform {his will;} He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.
25 "And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify {himself} in his heart, and he will destroy many while {they are} at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without human agency.
26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; but keep the vision secret, for {it} pertains to many days {in the future.}
27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up {again} and carried on the king's business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain {it.}
See how Daniel’s visions are paralleled in Revelation
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The pure woman - the true church - God’s people
Rev 12:1-2
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
2 and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
Satan and Satan working through the Pagan Roman Empire. Satan lead Pilate to kill Jesus
Rev 12:3-4
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads {were} seven diadems.
4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
Rev 12:9
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Jesus
Rev 12:5
5 And she gave birth to a son, a male {child} who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Compare the 1260 days of verse 6 with the time, times, and half a time of verse 14 and Daniel 7:25.
Rev 12:6
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Rev 12:13-14
13 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male {child.}
14 And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Rev 12:17
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Compare this beast with the beasts of Daniel Chapter 7. Lion, bear, leopard, and dragon. Daniel saw them looking forward in time. John sees them in reverse order looking backward doms that have already been. Seven heads and ten horns. Seven remaining kingdoms out of the ten original divisions of Rome. (There are actually eight heads - see REV 17:11) One head receives a deadly wound but is healed. After Berthier dealt a deadly blow to the Papacy in 1798, it has slowly rebounded in power. Mussolini restored the properties of the Vatican to the Papacy as well as Papal authority in the Concordat of 1929. By 1995, the Pope had been named Time’s Man of the Year. See other ways that this beast compares with the Little Horn power of Daniel. Speaks blasphemies. Wears out the Saints of the Most High. Power for 42 months = 1,260 days = time, times, and half a time.
Note that the beast gets its authority from the dragon. The whole world follows after the beast. The beast is worshiped.
Rev 13:1-8
1 And he stood on the sand of the seashore. And 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.
2 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.
3 And {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;
4 and 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?"
5 And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, {that is} those who dwell in heaven.
7 And it was 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.
8 And 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.
A second beast arises. A lamblike beast. Arises out of the earth not the sea. Arises out of a relatively unpopulated area instead out of a densely populated area. It arises about the same time the beast receives its deadly wound c. 1798. No crowns indicates no king involved. The second beast is the USA arising in power around 1776 (US Constitution 1787), no king, sparsely populated area, authority in the two horns of religious and political freedom or Protestantism and republicanism.
This beast begins to speak like the dragon. It makes all to worship the first beast. It forms an image to the first beast - it begins to make religio political judgements. It begins to enforce religious doctrines through secular laws.
Rev 13:11-18
11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.
12 And 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.
13 And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
14 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.
15 And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16 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,
17 and {he provides} that no one should 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.
18 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.
The number of the beast’s name. The title on the Pope’s triple crown is VICARI(VorU)S FILII DEI. Using roman numeral equivalencies we get V-5, I-1, C-100, A-0, R-0, I-1, V-5, S-0, F-0, I-1, L-50, I-1, I-1, D-500, E-0, I-1. Adding these numbers together yields 666. On its own this is inconclusive because other names also add up to 666. However, considering the 10 other identifying characteristics, this just adds more legitimacy.
What is the fate of the Dragon, the Beast, the False Prophet (the image of the Beast) and those whop worship them?
Rev 16:1-2
1 And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth."
2 And the first {angel} went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
Rev 16:10-11
10 And the fifth {angel} poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,
11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.
Rev 16:13-16
13 And I 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;
14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.")
16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
Rev 19:19-20
19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army.
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.