“Since the dragon could not destroy the woman, he became enraged and ‘went off to make war with the rest of her offspring.’ Now, the scene shifts to describe a beast who also has seven heads and ten horns, who is closely identified with the dragon. He and another beast institute a series of satanically empowered deceptions which bring the whole world under the sway of the beast with seven heads and ten horns, and ultimately Satan. This is the rise of the Antichrist, whose activities are key to the 70th week of Daniel” (preceptaustin.org Rev. 13).
“And the dragon stood on 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.”
Revelation 13:1-2 (NASB1995)
I believe the beast out of the sea primarily represents the Antichrist. However, its description in Revelation 13 embodies both the Antichrist and his kingdom. The word “sea” gives us a clue to its physical origin, the Gentile nations. After the Antichrist is resurrected from his fatal wound, his origin is said to be the abyss (Rev. 11:7; 17:8). I would suggest that the Antichrist’s physical origin is the sea, and his spiritual origin is the abyss.
Interestingly, the words “sea” and “abyss” are similar. The Greek word for “abyss” (abussos in Rev. 11:7) means “an extremely deep place, the abode of the dead (prison destined for evil spirits). It occurs only twice outside the book of Revelation” but can be found in the Septuagint as a translation of the Hebrew word “te’hom.” Te’hom refers to “depth, a deep place [and] indicates the deep, primeval ocean on earth as created by God” (Zodhiates on Gen. 1:2 te’hom; Rev. 11:7 abussos, CWSB). The Oxford English Dictionary notes that “in the original sense of the Hebrew [word] te’hom, the abyss was the primordial waters or chaos out of which the ordered world was created (Gen. 1:2). The term could also refer literally to the depths of the sea, the deep source of a spring or the interior of the earth.”
You might notice the similarities between the dragon and the beast. The dragon will give his power, throne, and great authority to the beast (Rev. 13:2). The mouth of the beast will be full of blasphemy towards God and God’s people. One of the heads of the beast appeared as if it had been slain, “and the fatal wound was healed” (Rev. 13:3a). This describes the death and apparent resurrection (by Satan) of the Antichrist. The event will astound the world, causing the whole earth to follow after him and worship both he and the dragon (Rev. 13:3-4). Shortly after his resurrection in the middle of the Tribulation, it is prophesied that he will commit an atrocity in the Temple known as the abomination of desolation (Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matt. 24:15). The Antichrist will be given world domination and wage war against the people of God for 42 months. (Rev. 13:5-10).
Daniel 7:23-24 helps us understand the nature of the 10 horns of the beast kingdom.
“The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread down and crush it. 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 3 kings.”
Daniel 7:23-24
The 10 horns are 10 kings and represent the political structure of the future One World government of the 4th and final Gentile Kingdom. Out of these 10 kings, the Antichrist will arise. He is the little horn spoken of in Daniel 7:8. “The animal symbolism [in Rev. 13:2] is drawn from Daniel 7:4-8, where the lion refers to Babylon, the bear to Medo-Persia, and the leopard to Greece, the empire of Alexander the Great. They are symbols of the empires that preceded the Roman Empire, the composite beast of [Daniel 7:7]” (LaHaye, Exploring Bible Prophecy, p. 524-525). I believe the 4th beast/kingdom will have elements of the 3 empires preceding it (see Daniel 2) but will be completely different and far surpass anything the world has ever seen.
As for the 7 heads, Revelation 17 sheds light on the meaning in verses 9-10, “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while” (NASB1995). There are different interpretations as to exactly which “kings” these 7 heads are. I believe they represent “the great empires of history; five fallen, one is, one is to come. “The five fallen at the time of John’s writing were; Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Medes-Persians, and Greece. The one kingdom that stood at the time of John’s writing, ‘one is,’ was Rome. The other that is yet to come at the time of John’s writing is the kingdom made up of 10 kings” (Goossen, Understanding the Harlot, p. 9).
Perhaps the most common interpretation of the 10 kings held by conservative eschatologists is that the future One World government will consist of 10 presidents or prime ministers of nations who rule the world. However, the emergence of the globalist mindset of today and plans by the UN and the WEF to achieve specific initiatives towards sustainable development (i.e., Agenda 2030 and the Great Reset) have forced me to expand my thinking. With the help of research done by my friend Emray Goossen, I believe this future world order will be much broader than just geographical lines on a map.
Daniel clearly tells us that the 4th Kingdom will be different. What if it’s so diverse that instead of being “a traditional kingdom ruled by one king over a geographical territory, a particular people, a set of nations, [or economic regions], it is a global set of kings that rule over specific functions as would the cabinet members of a traditional government, yet initially without one single ruler over all. He comes later [referring to the Antichrist]” (Goossen, Ten Kings of the Final Kingdom, p. 11). He goes on to explain what these “functions” might look like. For example, Information/Communication, Transportation/Travel, Commerce/Trade, Agriculture/Food Distribution, and Health/Population Control, just to name a few.
I lean towards this King of Function view over the King of Nations View. Only God ultimately knows, but the idea is fascinating to think about. Zephaniah 3:8 says the LORD will gather the nations to His assembly of kingdoms. We can certainly see elements of this type of world government beginning to come together today.
“‘Therefore wait for Me,’ says the LORD, ‘Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all My fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.”
Zephaniah 3:8 nkjv
Revelation 13:11-18 describes the second beast coming out of the earth, indicating “that this character, who is later described as [the] false prophet (Rev. 19:20), is a creature of earth rather than heaven” (Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 205). John 3:31 says, “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth” (NASB1995). “The two horns have a pertinent significance, for two is the number of witness and just as Christ declared the Spirit of God should ‘testify (lit., bear witness) of Me’ (John 15:26), so the third person in the Trinity of Evil bears witness to the first Beast” (Pink, preceptaustin.org, Rev. 13). The False Prophet completes this “counterfeit trinity” and leads the world into the deception of the worship of the Antichrist. He tells “those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come back to life” (Rev. 13:14 NASB1995). The False Prophet gives life to the image of the beast causing it to speak (Rev. 13:15). Anyone who does not worship the image of the beast will be killed! As I type, I am thinking of Artificial Intelligence and the role it could play in the future beast kingdom and the image of the beast.
“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 sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Rev. 13:16-17 NASB1995).
“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 13:18 (NASB1995)
“For those who are in the Church Age, the number of the Beast, as fascinating a puzzle as it may be, is of relatively little importance. For the Church will not be present when he is revealed. This is by design for we are to maintain a watch for Christ, not Antichrist!” (preceptaustin.org, Rev. 13:18).
Homework Reflections
- Read Revelation 13 and record in your journal everything you learn about each of these beasts.
- Read Daniel 9:27, 11:31-36, 12:11, and Matthew 24:15, and list everything you learn about the abomination of desolation.
- Read Philippians 3:20-21. How do these verses encourage us to switch our focus from the things of the earth to heaven?
Simply Persuaded 