TEACHING NOTES Part 16: The Beasts Introduction In this session we will read about the beasts of Revelation. In Rev. 13, John describes two beasts (which are unified) in vivid but complex detail. As usual in Revelation, these details are highly symbolic and difficult for modern readers to understand. Many people have attempted over centuries to identify the beast. However, for far too long people have tried to interpret Revelation within a modern context. This leads to much confusion with no hope of clarity and endless theories. Most modern views of Revelation (from the middle ages to now) simply ignore or dismiss the original context of the first century. The Key to Interpreting Revelation Responsibly: Original Context Revelation becomes a little less complex when we consider the historical context of the original audience. Revelation clearly states that it is written to seven first-century churches in Asia Minor to inform them of events that would happen soon. Therefore, John’s original audience was expected to be looking for these events in their lifetime and use Revelation to help explain what was going on. The moment we ignore the original context we have forfeited all hope of understanding the book correctly. While there will always be spiritual, and even practical, applications for our time, the meaning must be grounded in the original context. Therefore, as we study the beast we must also study historical figures that the audience knew to see if there are any connections. Note: Toward the end of our study of Revelation a simplified overview will be provided. A timeline will be provided that will show visually how the events of Revelation fit into history. This timeline will also show where we are today and what we can expect in the future. The goal of our study is to get into the first-century context before we flesh out our best guess of what view of end times we should take. Why two beasts? John is about to describe two beasts. But as we read Rev. 13 with Rev. 17 it becomes clear that John intends us to see these two beasts as one. John begins with a general sense of the beast (the 1st beast) and moves on to a specific identity (the 2nd beast). The first beast identifies a nation and the second beast identifies a specific individual with that nation. Therefore, there is ultimately one beast described in two ways. Homework Review: How many times does “antichrist” appear? You may have noticed that the term “antichrist” is not used in Rev. 13. In fact, the term is not used at all in Revelation. Why? Because there is no one antichrist in the New Testament, but many antichrists. John is the only author that uses the term and he uses “false prophets” and “antichrists” interchangeably. The passages below prove this: 1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” 1 John 2:22 “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:3 “and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” 2 John 7 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” The First Beast (Rev. 13:1-10) Revelation 13:1–2 ESV 1 And 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. 2 And 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. Beast rising out of the sea = In Old Testament prophesy, the sea often represents the Gentiles. The sea is also a symbol of chaos and evil in the Jewish mind. Therefore, John is seeing a beast that will be a Gentile and full of evil. Seven heads, ten horns, ten crowns = This beast is described in some of the same terms as the great dragon in Rev. 12:3. The seven heads and ten horns are explained/interpreted for us in Rev. 17:9-14. The seven heads are seven mountains and seven kings. The ten horns with crowns are ten kings/rulers/leaders who will also have authority for a short time to join in the coming destruction. Blasphemous names on its heads = This is also mentioned in Rev. 17:3. This beast will blaspheme God and His people. Like a leopard, bear, lion = This comes from Daniel 7. Daniel sees the “four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea” (Dan. 7:2). Then he sees four beasts coming up out of the sea. The first beast is like a lion with eagle wings that have been plucked off and is given the “mind of a man” (Dan. 7:4). The second beast is like a bear (Dan. 7:5). The third beast is like a leopard with wings and four heads (Dan. 7:6). The fourth beast is different from the other three and is “exceedingly strong.” This beast has been “given dominion.” It has iron teeth and “ten horns” (Dan. 7:7). This beast has the eyes of a man and “a mouth speaking great things” (Dan. 7:8). John is seeing the beast of all beasts. More info from Daniel: In Daniel 2:31-45, the prophet interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon). In the dream there is a statue with a gold head, silver chest, bronze waist, and iron/clay feet. Each of these represent specific kingdoms in history. The gold head is Babylon, the silver chest is Persia, the bronze waist is Greece, and the iron/clay feet is Rome. The dream of the statue is a prophesy timeline of historical events that happened just as Daniel said. Rome is the last earthly kingdom mentioned. Revelation is describing how Rome and rebellious Israel would destroy Jerusalem and the temple. ​ Rev. 17 interprets the 7 heads & 10 horns for us... Revelation 17:9–10 ESV 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. The seven heads are seven mountains = In the first century, everyone knew that Rome had the famous title of “the city of seven hills/mountains.” John’s original audience would have immediately knew that he was talking about Rome. They are also seven kings = This entire description exactly identifies the second beast as the emperor Nero. This also tells us that Revelation was written during the reign of Nero, which was AD 54-68. John says “five have fallen, one is, the other is not yet, and will remain only a little while.” We only need to look at the list of Roman emperors for the answer. List of Roman Emperors (Caesar): Julius - 48-44 BC Augustus - 27 BC - AD 14 Tiberius - AD - 14-37 Caligula - AD 37-41 Claudius - AD 41-54 (“five have fallen”) Nero - AD 54-68 (“one is”) Galba (7 months), Otho (3 months), Vitellius (8 months) - AD 68-69 (“little while”) Vespasian - AD 69-79 (emperor during fall of Jerusalem) Titus - AD 79-81 (general who destroyed the temple) Domitian - AD 81-96 Nerva - AD 96-98 Trajan - AD 98-117 Revelation 17:12–13 ESV 12 And 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. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. The ten horns are ten kings = During the Rome’s war against Jerusalem, the Jews gave authority to exactly ten rulers to lead certain regions of Israel. Each one was made a general to lead groups of soldiers from their region. Josephus was one of these generals over the region of Galilee and was captured early in the war. The other nine general were captured or killed. They hand over their power and authority to the beast = These ten kings/generals will surrender their power and authority to Rome and its emperor. This is exactly what happened as Rome conquered regions of Israel on its way to Jerusalem. Revelation 13:3–4 ESV 3 One 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. 4 And 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?” A mortal wound that was healed = One of its heads (kings) will be killed but seem to be healed. Historically, we know that this was a rumor in the first century about the Roman emperor Nero. It was called the Nero Redivivus Myth, which people believed that Nero had come back to life. A fairly large group believed this and there was even a man claiming Nero’s name to lead them. This rumor could be connected to the fact that John says this seemed to happen. The best interpretation would be that when Vespasian took the throne the empire had been “revived” so to speak. During the Year of Four Emperors, the empire was almost ended. When Vespasian took over, the empire was restored to an organized and peaceful state. Its seemingly mortal wound had been healed. They worshiped the dragon and the beast = We should keep in mind that our modern definition of worship is often limited to singing and bowing in prayer. But the biblical definition of worship is primarily serving. While worship can include singing and prayer, serving God in everyday life by doing what He says in the primary meaning of worship. Therefore, those who “worshiped” the beast are serving him as their leader and doing what he says. ​ Revelation 13:5–6 ESV 5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Blasphemous words = In Greek, blasphemia means to revile or slander. This beast will slander God and God’s people. Forty-two months = Again, John tells us of a 3.5-year period. This beast will have authority to slander and kill God’s people for 3.5 years. Historically speaking, Nero’s persecution of Christians lasted 42 months until he committed suicide in AD 68. Both Peter and Paul were martyred under Nero. We find out in the next verse that “exercise authority” refers to killing the saints. ​ Revelation 13:7–8 ESV 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. Allowed to make war on the saints and conquer them = This beast will succeed at killed many of God’s people. Nero killed thousands of Christians in the Roman empire in various brutal ways. These martyrs are likely the multitude that John saw around the throne in heaven in Rev. 7:9-17. ​ Revelation 13:9–10 ESV 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. Prophesy Poem = English translators have indented these verses because it is poetic language of repetition and parallelism. Taken captive, slain with the sword = Both of these occured during the war in Jerusalem. Josephus records that during the 3.5 year war and the various preceeding battles around Jerusalem, over a million people were killed and 90,000 were taken captive. The Second Beast (Rev. 13:11-18) Revelation 13:11–12 ESV 11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. Two horns like a lamb = Horns are always a symbol of nations. This two-horned lamb is likely connected to Daniel 8 where the prophet sees a ram with two horns defeated by a goat with one horn coming from the west that becomes exceedingly great. During the battle, the goat’s one horn is broken and four horns rises in its place pointing in all directions (symbol of a massive empire). Daniel also states that one of the goat’s regrown horns throws down some of the stars of heaven (Dan. 8:9-10; Rev. 12:4). Spoke like a dragon = This shows that the spiritual being driving the beast is the dragon (Satan). In Revelation, John is seeing the spiritual forces that are behind the events happening on earth. In other words, John is seeing earthly events from heaven’s perspective. Makes people worship the first beast = The second beast demands that the inhabited land serve the empire. This is the job of an emperor—to make sure that people honor and serve the interests of the empire. ​ Revelation 13:13–14 ESV 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. Remember, this is a vision of symbols: What John is seeing symbolism of what will literally happen, but the symbols themselves are not literal. Fire coming down from heaven likely points to the fact that balls of fire literally came flying over the walls during the war. Or this could refer to the fact that the Roman emperor Nero burned many Christians during his persecution of the church. In the presence of the beast = A better translation would be, “on behalf of the beast” meaning that the second beast is working on behalf of the first. If the first beast is the Roman Empire, the emperor would clearly be working on behalf of his empire. This is also the same language used in Rev. 19:20 to describe “the false prophet.” Therefore, the second beast and the false prophet are most likely the same person. Telling them to make an image for the beast = An image is a visual representation, like a statue or a coin with a face on engraved on it. Every time a new emperor came to power statues of the emperor were placed in Roman territories and temples. Also, new coins were made with the image and name of the new emperor—rendering the previous emperor’s coins obsolete. ​ Revelation 13:15 ESV 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. The speaking image = We know that several pagan temples would often devise tricks that made the god (statue) appear to talk and respond. This could be what John is seeing. Or this could refer to the fact that the emperor would have spoken decrees that anyone who refuses to worship him must be killed. Emperor worship was not only common in ancient Rome, it was strictly enforced. Even in Jerusalem a daily sacrifice was made to the Roman emperor in God’s temple. ​ Revelation 13:16–17 ESV 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. The mark, that is, the name of the beast = All the modern theories about the mark of the beast completely miss this glaring detail. Some thought it was bar codes, others thought it was credit cards, some thought it was vaccines, etc. But John clearly says that the mark is a man’s name. On the right hand or the forehead = We should not take this literal but as a metaphor. Just as God “sealed/marked” the 144,000 in Rev. 7 to protect the Jewish followers of Jesus, the beast has his own crew marked out to do his bidding. Receiving the mark of beast is a metaphor for serving the desires of the beast and being used by him to bring destruction on earth. ​ Revelation 13:18 ESV 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666 [oldest fragment says 616]. This calls for wisdom = John uses this phrase several times in Revelation. Every time John says this it is clear that he intends for us to figure out the riddle. Calculate the number of the beast = This was a common practice the ancient world called gematria. In both Hebrew and Greek there are no numbers. Each letter in the alphabet had a corresponding number. So a person’s name could be calculated into a total number. It is the number of a man, 666 = John has already told us that the mark is the name of the beast and that it is connected to buying and selling. Now we learn that the beast is a man (human). Therefore, we can calculate the number using his name and it will equal 666. A fragment of the oldest surviving manuscript of Revelation reads 616. By AD 170 there was already a debate about which number is correct. This indicates that there were some manuscripts with 666 and some 616. Both numbers actually work depending on what language you’re using. Does 666 show up anywhere else in the Bible? Actually it does, but only in one other place. In 1 Kings 10:14 the number appears as the weight of the gold that Solomon collected in one year. The gold weighed 666 talents. Here’s again, the number is connected with money. Most people read about Solomon’s wealth as a positive blessing from God. However, in Deut. 17:14-17 the king of Israel was commanded “nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver or gold” (Deut. 17:17). Solomon’s wealth was in direct disobedience to God. If we compare 1 Kings 10:14-29 with Deut. 17:14-17, Solomon disobeys every command. It’s no surprise that the very next section about Solomon (1 Kings 11) describes him turning away from the LORD. The Mark of the Beast: The mark is connected to money. The mark is the name of the beast. The mark is the number of a man. His name adds up to 666/616. Review of the Beast: 6th king from the nation of seven hills. Has an engraved image. 42-month persecution of the saints. His name is a mark for money. His name adds up to 666/616. ALL of these are true of Nero Caesar. In Asia Minor, coins had Nero’s image and his name spelled in Greek. Nero Caesar: Neron Kaisar (Greek) is spelled Nrwn Qsr in Hebrew N=50 R=200 W=6 N=50 Q=100 S=60 R=200 (Total = 666) Imperial coins, like those minted in the city of Rome and many other large Roman cities or provinces, had Nero’s image and his name spelled in Latin letters. Starting with Latin, Nero Kaisar is spelled Nrw Qsr in Hebrew N=50 R=200 W=6 Q=100 S=60 R=200 (Total = 616) The first beast is the nation of Rome. The second beast is Nero, the emperor of Rome. The mark of the beast is Nero’s name. What does this mean for us today? In the last few centuries many people have been trying to identify modern nations, people, and technologies to the beast and the mark of the beast. So far, everyone has been wrong. Why? Because the beast has already come and gone in the first century. There is no need to speculate about these things if we read Revelation in its original historical context. There will continue to be nations, leaders, and technology that look similar, because the enemy is still working to destroy us. We can expect that Satan will continue to use nations, leaders, and technology to bring down humanity until the very end.