Revelation #40

Today we move into Chapter 13!



Revelation 13:1-4



The First Beast

1And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"



Remember we ended in chapter 12 we ended with Satan(dragon) standing on the sea shore. Now as we see in verse 1 of chapter 13 we see a beast rising out of the sea. This beast is the anti-Christ. Rising out of the sea is a symbolic picture of the anti-Christ rising out of a gentile nation. He has ten horns which represents 10 nation power which could be the European Economic Union that is present today. Look at Revelation 17:12:



Revelation 17:12



12And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.



It also says this beast will have seven heads which represents Rome, known as a city on seven hills. Look at Revelation 17:9:

Revelation 17:9



9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;



Verse 1 continues on to tell us that this beast will also have 10 diadems on its horns which helps explain more that it will represent 10 nations and blasphemous names will be on its head which is a clear indication of who they will follow...Satan not Christ. In verse 2 we are told Johns see the beast and describes him with animals...a leopard, a bear, lion and the anti-Christ is the fourth beast. To get the meaning of these we have to look at Daniel 7:1-8 and 15-17:



Daniel 7:1-8



Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

1In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2Daniel declared, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, 'Arise, devour much flesh.' 6After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.



Daniel 7:15-17



Daniel’s Vision Interpreted

15"As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 16I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17 'These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.



So the beasts represent 4 empires in history of the world. Lion is Babylon, the bear is Medo-Persian, the leopard is Greece, and the last is the Roman empire. Which will once again be revived by anti-Christ as you will see later. Verse 2 goes onto say Satan will give this beast power and great authority! Verse 3 tells us one of its heads seems to have a mortal wound but it is healed. This is a picture of the anti-Christ trying to imitate Christ in a false resurrection for the world and many will believe. As we see in the verse the whole world marveled! Verse 4 tells us the world then worships Satan. We also see the anti-Christ is also some kind of religious leader for Satan but he also receives worship. And we end the verse with seeing the world praising the anti-Christ....what a terrible thought thought that will be reality!



Tom