What is Going on in Revelation 13?

The First Beast

"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. 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" (Revelation 13:1-2).

The seven heads is a composite of the heads of the beasts in Daniel.  Daniel writes, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another...And 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.’  After 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. After 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" (Daniel 7:2-3, 5-7).  

The ten diadems and ten horns in the passage from Revelation are a reference to the fourth beast in Daniel.  The ten horns symbolize ten kings, and the beast is considered a sea monster.  "After the writing of Daniel, in Caird’s words, 'no Jewish or Christian writer could use the lens of this myth except as it had been reground by Daniel”; when the myth was referred to in Israel, it was referred to polemically'" (Beagle, G., K., 1999).  The imagery of the sea monster is used in the Old Testament to represent kingdoms that persecute God's people (Beagle, 1999).   

"Whereas in Dan. 7:3–8 the lion, bear, leopard, and 'terrifying' beast represent four successive world empires, in Rev. 13:1–2 these four images are all applied to the one beast" (Beagle, 1999).  The empire dominant in the first century A.D. has within itself manifestations of other oppressive kingdoms in the future.  The Roman Empire represents all world powers who oppress God's people until the culmination of history.  For John the evil spirit inspiring Rome could dominate other world empires after Rome.  "Satanic evil expressed itself through the kingdoms of Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Sodom, and Rome. This system of evil will continue so to manifest itself in yet future kingdoms of the world, and has ability to manifest itself as well in economic, social, and religious structures on earth" (Beagle, 1999).

"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. 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?'” (Revelation 13:3-4).

In this case, there is a difference between the Lamb's (Jesus') recovery and the beast.  The beast's continued existence is not a reversal of his actual defeat.  The dragon and beast cover up that their authority have been removed and are expressing their anger over the defeat yet not reversing the situation.  Meanwhile, the Lamb did conquer the defeat of death by the resurrection.  Think of it as a World War II metaphor-"Christ’s defeat of the devil was like D-Day and the subsequent existence of the devil (and his servant beast) like the subsequent resistance of the Germans to the Allies’ inevitable advance" (Beagle, 1999).

The beast is set up as the supreme enemy of Christ and His followers and the only figure who fits this description is the devil himself.  Whenever any major opponent of God dies, it appears that the beast has been defeated, but will rise again in another form.  The beast works through his chosen agents throughout history, however, the revivals are under the hand of God who gives the authority (Beagle, 1999).

Also, "The Antichrist figure in Revelation 13 has both a pagan political-religious side and a pseudo-Christian side" (Beagle, 1999).  The beast's resuscitation represents the rise and fall of oppressive states, world systems, or social structures that continue because of the devil's inspiration of opposing God's people (Beagle, 1999).  

The multitudes worship the beast because of his falsely claimed incomparability and is an attempt at a Satanic imitation of God.  The beast's power to persecute is the motivation for worshipping him (Beagle, 1999).  As a result of the deception and uttering blasphemies against God, John writes, "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. If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 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" (Revelation 13:8-10).  

The Second Beast

"Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 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" (Revelation 13:11-12).

The two horns reflect the the evil ruler it talks about it in Daniel, where he states, "I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last" (Daniel 8:3).  Like the first beast, the second beast speaks with the devil's authority.  John identifies this beast also with the Roman Empire in his day (Beagle, 1999).

This beast has primarily a religious role since it is later called the false prophet.  It may even be equated with the state and false prophets within the church.  Jesus said that false prophets would arise in the believing community itself and likened false prophets to beasts.  "Though the beast professes to represent the truth and appears harmless as a lamb, his inner Satanic nature is revealed through his speaking with the authority of the dragon, reflecting the alluring, deceptive speech of Satan, the dragon, that led to the sin of Adam and Eve" (Beagle, 1999).

The first beast speaks loudly and defiantly against God, and the second beast make the first beast's deceptions sound more persuasive.  "False teachers in the church are encouraging compromise with the culture’s idolatrous institutions" (Beagle, 1999).  The second beast is aligned with the first beast, and this confirms the identification with the state (Beagle, 1999).

"It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 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" (Revelation 13:13-14).

These signs that the beast echoes are the acts of Moses, whose prophetic authority was validated by great signs.  The casting down of the fire from heaven recalls what happened in Elijah where it states, "Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench" (1 Kings 18:38).  

The beast shows himself as a spokesman for truth but is a false teacher and prophet.  Jesus even said,  "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24).  This indicates that deception doesn't come just from the outside, it also comes from "inside pretenders teaching that some forms of compromise with pagan religion are legitimate for Christians" (Beagle, 1999).  The beasts attempt to validate their authority of divine nature similar to those of true prophets (Beagle, 1999).  

"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. 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, 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" (Revelation 13:15-17).

"The second beast’s ability to 'perform great signs' in v 14 and now its ability to give 'breath' and power to speak to the first beast’s image recall various pseudo-magical tricks, including ventriloquism, false lightning, and other such phenomena, that were effectively used in temples of John’s time and even at the courts of Roman emperors and governors" (Beagle, 1999).  The signs may also include demonic activity because it was thought that demons were behind idolatry.  The second beast was persuasive in demonstrating the image of the first beast showing him as the true deity.  Christians are being pressured by the latter-day Babylon, Rome, to worship the image of Caesar. Some are being killed and others are suffering (Beagle, 1999).

"The demand that everyone receive 'a mark on their right hand or on their forehead' could be an allusion to the ancient practice of branding or tattooing disobedient slaves, soldiers, and loyal devotees of gods of various religions" (Beagle, 1999).  If branding is in mind, the worshipers of the beast are considered his property.  The mark alludes to the state's political and economic stamp of approval given to those who go along with the religious demands.  "Those not submitting to receiving the mark are unable to 'buy or sell.'  This is a reference back to 2:9 and 6:5–6, where it is said that economic measures are directed against Christians" (Beagle, 1999).

References

Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: a commentary on the Greek text. Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.