Rev 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."
Chapter 13 begins a section of Revelation that identifies many of the enemies of the Lord's people and what we have to confront in this life. These enemies include Satan, the secular world system, the false religious system also known as the false prophet, the false religion known as Mystery Babylon and the image of the beast also known as the antichrist or false Christs. Satan is described as a seven headed, ten-horned dragon. Now we see rising up out of the sea a beast with seven heads and ten horns. The fact that it has seven heads and ten horns teaches us that it is in the image of the dragon. Satan is an imitator and we will make note of some of his imitations as we go along in this study. God created man in his own image. Satan created the beast in his image (with seven heads and ten horns).
Christ, as God manifest in the flesh, is the image of God:
1. 2 Cor. 4:4 "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
2. Col. 1:15 "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature."
3. Heb. 1:3 "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
In imitation of God, Satan has brought forth his own image in the form of the seven head, ten-horn beast.
The beast rose up out of the sea. The word, sea, indicates the "sea" of humanity:
1. Is. 60:5 "Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee."
2. Jer. 51:42 "The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof."
3. Ezek 26:16 "Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee."
4. Dan. 7:3 "And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another."
5. Zec. 14:8 "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be."
Satan uses the mirror image to imitate God. The image in the mirror is the exact opposite of that which it reflects. For instance, if you look in the mirror your right hand will be your mirror images left hand, etc.
The church has one head. In contrast, the beast has seven heads, which is the exact opposite of the church.
Since the time of Nimrod, designing men under the spirit of Satan have been trying to establish domination over humanity. Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord. God told man after the flood to be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue the earth. However, Nimrod in rebellion against God began to build a kingdom and led man to begin to build the tower of Babel, so that man would be under man's laws and man's government and man's religion. God confounded the language and they left off the building of Babel and were scattered abroad. Afterwards, Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam began to build a kingdom and had conquered nine nations, when five of the nations rebelled against him. When he went out to do battle against the five rebelling nations, God intervened to destroy his empire and sent Abram to rescue Lot with 318-trained servants and overcome the army of Chedorlaomer.
A few centuries later Syria under Benhadad reigned over 32 nations and had built a multi-national empire. Syria was the first head of the seven head beast in Revelation. God destroyed the head by using an army of 7,000 Israelites to defeat the 32 nation's army twice. The nation of Syria was no longer the great multinational kingdom that it had been up to that time. Next, Assyria arose to be a great multinational kingdom, carried away the ten tribes of Israel, defeated, and reigned over multitudes of other nations. Assyria remained a great nation until she went up against Hezekiah and Judah at Jerusalem. God himself sent an angel and destroyed 185,000 of the army of Assyria in one night and the sons of the king rebelled and killed the king of Assyria, which led to the downfall of Assyria as a multinational kingdom.
The third head to arise was Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar carried the children of Israel into captivity and Babylon reigned over the entire civilized world at that time.
Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream revealed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth heads of the beast. These were Babylon, Medo-Persian empire, Greece, and Rome. This is consistent with what we read in Rev. 17:10 "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." At the time of the writing of the book of Revelation, the kingdoms of Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persian empire, and Greece were all fallen. The kingdom of Rome was the existing multinational kingdom at that time.
"Upon his heads the name of blasphemy." This clearly teaches us that all the efforts at multinational or one world domination have been in direct opposition to God and are an open rebellion against God. Satan's purpose in raising these heads is spelled out for us in Rev. 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Satan has ever sought to destroy the true worship of God and has moved men to seek world domination in an effort to destroy those who would worship God in Spirit and in truth.
Ten is the scriptural sign of law or commandment. The beast had ten horns. The substitute or imitation of God ruling men by his laws and commandments is that the laws and commandments of men rule man. This beast rules by the laws and commandments of men. In addition, the substitute or imitation of worshipping God in Spirit and in truth is to worship by the doctrines or commandments of men. The beast tries to enforce man made religion upon man.
The book of Daniel says a lot about the seven head beast. For instance, Daniel chapter seven describes the beast. We will refer to the book of Daniel as we continue our study of the seven head, ten-horn beast.
Rev 13:2 "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."
The leopard, bear, and lion are beast of prey. They slay and devour their prey. In addition, the leopard has an unusual colored skin coat. It has black and yellow stripes with a white undercoat. This in itself tells us of the universal nature of the beast. There are three basic races of humanity, which are sometimes referred to as the black, yellow, and white races of man. Thus, the beast seeks domination over all of humanity.
The long and sharp claws of the bear's feet are designed to destroy its enemies. The beast not only seeks world domination and rule over all civilization but also seeks to root out and destroy any opposition to its rule. The greatest opposition to its rule is the true worshippers of God. Remember in Rev. 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The dragon uses the beast to attempt to destroy the remnant of the woman's seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The lion uses brute force to run down and overpower its prey and devours it with his mouth. The lion's teeth are sharp and he uses them to tear his prey. This brutality strikes fear in the hearts of its prey. Burning at the stake, feeding to the lions, impaling, and crucifixion are all brutal ways the beast has used to destroy its prey. This brutality not only serves to destroy the beast's enemies, but to keep the subjects of its rule in line.
"The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." The dragon is the source of the beast's power, seat, and authority. Without the dragon it has no power, seat or authority. Therefore, those who praise or worship the beast are really praising or worshipping the dragon. The word, power, refers to the strength or ability of the beast. This not only refers to its weaponry or numbers of soldiers, but also to its financial and social strength to rule and bear authority. The word, seat, refers to the place of government, the system of government, and the people who govern. The authority of the beast is its authority to rule over the people under its dominion. All of these come from are or derived from the dragon (Satan).
Rev 13:3 "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."
According to Rev. 17:10 "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." Rome was the head of the beast existing at the time of the writing of the book of Revelation. The true worship of God took its toll on Rome and the pagan empire was crumbling on its deathbed, when a marriage took place between the secular government and false Christianity. After this marriage, Rome revived and continued for several centuries before finally falling. Its deadly wound was healed. Since Satan is an imitator using the mirror image effect in his imitation, he had a problem imitating the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Satan doesn't have power to give life. Only God has this power. Thus Satan's imitation was to revive the sixth head of the beast that had a deadly wound. This is his imitation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"All the world wondered after the beast." The word, wondered, means to have great admiration. This revival of the sixth head of the beast brought admiration upon the world of the adherents of this multinational secular empire. The pagan worshippers were pleased because the emblems of their worship were preserved in the ceremonies and ordinances of this beast dictated religion. Today these emblems still survive in the world's holidays of Christmas and Easter. The nominal or false Christian religions were pleased because they now were at the seat of authority and could force those dissenters to conform to their false religious views. The secular world was pleased because this form of government rule after the commandments and doctrines of men was preserved. The only ones as a class who did not have great admiration for the beast were the true worshippers of Jesus Christ.
Rev 13:4 "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?"
Truly, only God is holy as one to be worshipped and only God has all power and is all victorious. Only God is worthy of being worshipped. Jesus Christ, being God, is worthy of all our praise and worship. When one worships Christ, he worships God. Again, Satan is an imitator. By worshipping the beast, the worshippers are also worshipping the dragon, since the dragon is the creator of the beast.
The worshippers of the beast are worshipping at the altar of multi-nationalism. They believe that a one-world government can cure all of humanities ills. They believe that such a government over man will result in stopping all wars, in solving all social and health problems, in bringing about fairness in judgment for all men. Men under the commandments of men base their beliefs on the utopian concept that humanity is good and that good would be manifest to all under a multinational one-world government. Of course, their views are faulty as the bible plainly teaches that man is by nature totally depraved.
Those who say, "Who is like unto the beast?" are making the government of man their God. These believe that the government can solve all their problems and societies problems. They want bigger government and broader government. They have deified humanity. They are as the men that Nimrod organized and went forth to build a city and a tower who top may reach unto heaven and said, "let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth." They have rejected the government and commandments of God and have replaced them with the government and commandments of men.
Acts 17:26 "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." God has determined the bounds of man's habitation. He has divided the nations and he did for the purpose that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him. Multi-nationalism is an effort to displace the government of God with the government of men in open rebellion against God.
"Who is able to make war with him?" Thus, men ascribe powers to the beast that he can win all battles and wars. For instance, believers in multi-nationalism say that such a system would be able to win the battle against poverty and against disease and against crime. They ascribe to the beast powers that truly only belong to God. So far, in man's history, six heads of the beast have come and gone and yet we still have poverty, disease, and crime. In the resurrection, God will destroy poverty, disease, crime, and death. Christ fought the battle against sin, death, hell, Satan, and the grave and arose victorious the third day. God is truly all-powerful and all victorious. God alone is worthy of praise and worship. Let us worship him and not at the altar of multi-nationalism.
