 The Identification of the first Beast
There are two beasts mentioned in Revelation, The
first is introduced in Chapter 13:1 with the second
one coming on the scene in verse 11. We are going
to focus primarily on the first beast with this
study. If there is to be any degree of accuracy in
the identification of this beast we must consider
two things. One is to whom this letter was written,
and secondly, we must take into account the
symbolism in effect in the day and time in which the
book was written.
Many people today think the
beast is a malignant force yet to come. I have read
of people in a panic over the veri-chip technology
which advocates the implanting of a microchip under
the skin in order to identify and track people.
They are convinced that this technology can grow
into the mark of the beast. There is also
technology in the development stages where certain
world wide retail chains are looking into a chip
that can automatically scan items as one walks from
the store and automatically deduct the cost of these
items from one's account. The problem with this is
that this does not take into consideration, those to
whom the letter was specifically addressed. What
value would such a letter have for people who were
undergoing severe persecution at the time if it were
a revelation of events roughly 2000 years in the
future?
The text we will be looking
at is Revelation 13:1-10
1 and he stood upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a
beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns,
and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and
upon his heads names of blasphemy.
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 the dragon
gave him his power, and his throne, and great
authority.
3 And (I saw) one of his heads as though it had been
smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed:
and the whole earth wondered after the beast;
4 and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave
his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped
the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? And
who is able to war with him?
5 and there was given to him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies; and there was given to him
authority to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against
God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle,
(even) them that dwell in the heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the
saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to
him authority over every tribe and people and tongue
and nation.
8 And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him,
(every one) whose name hath not been written from
the foundation of the world in the book of life of
the Lamb that hath been slain.
9 If any man hath an ear, let him hear.
10 If any man (is) for captivity, into captivity he
goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with
the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience
and the faith of the saints.
ASV
First, we can determine
easily that the beast is not Satan. Satan is
represented in chapter 12 as the dragon who made war
with the remnant of the radiant woman's seed. In
verse 2 we see the dragon, Satan, giving the beast
his power, his position or throne, and his great
authority. In verse 4 we read that the heads of the
beast worshipped the dragon, Satan. So the beast
cannot be Satan since it derives it's abilities from
and is in a submissive allegiance with him. It is
obvious that the dragon, Satan, is using the beast
for the achievement of his own purpose. So with
Satan as the enabler of the beast we can confidently
eliminate him from being in consideration as the
beast.
Verse 1 of
Revelation 13 starts with the continuance of the
sentence in Revelation 12:17. John saw the dragon,
(Satan), standing on the sands beside the sea where
the beast emerges from the water. Interestingly,
the symbolism used for "beast" was used by Daniel to
represent a ruler or his government, (Daniel
7:2-8). Daniel used the same animal imagery to
represent the the four world empires which were
Babylon, Medo-Persian, Grecian and then the Roman
Empire. The fact that the leopard, bear and lion
are used here probably demonstrates that the Roman
empire was a composite of the other three. This
usage of apocalyptic language would have been
familiar to those of the time who were versed in old
covenant figures of speech. This goes back to the
thought that Revelation was written in language the
Jews would be able to understand without
incrimination before the Romans, thereby giving them
more incentive to destroy those who were holding
fast to their faith. We can easily see today how
successful this manner of writing was in that the
book of Revelation continues to be a source of
misdirected doctrine. Anybody with a poor
familiarity of old testament speech would be utterly
baffled by the figurative language of this book.
Looking closely at John's
description of the Beast we see Satan standing upon
the sand of the sea. This would likely be the
Tyrrhenian sea, which bordered the territory and
land of Italy, where the Roman empire had its
capital with the imperial palaces built alongside
the Tiber river. This imagery places the dragon
within close proximity of the Beast, overlooking and
personally directing the coming struggle against the
faithful remnant of the radiant woman's seed. This
thought squares perfectly with new testament
teaching that Satan had been given the power to do
as he will with the nations of the Earth, (Matthew
4:8-9). In addition to the close proximity of
the Dragon to the beast, the Hebrews not being a
seafaring people, recognized the sea as being
capable of bringing storms of immensely destructive
proportions. David wrote in imagery of a storm
coming inland from the sea, breaking the cedars from
Lebanon and shaking the wilderness of Kadesh, which
represented Jehovah revealing His strength and
power, (Psalm
29). Daniel used the imagery of the sea when
describing the 4 great beasts arising in
Daniel 7:3. Notice particularly the language
used in
Daniel 7:7, "After this I saw in the night
visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great
iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was
diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and
it had ten horns." While not all scholars agree, it
is my belief that Daniel's prophecy is about the
rise of the Roman empire. Certainly, the Jewish
Christians, well versed in old testament teaching
would instantly see a parallel and draw the
conclusion that the beast of Revelation 13 and the
beast of Daniel 7:23 were one and the same.
The beast is said to have
ten horns with a diadem, or crown, on each, and
seven heads with the name of blasphemy on each. An
interesting point in History may shed some light on
what the 10 horns could represent. The Roman Empire
was made up of several geographic territories called
provinces. Each province fell under the control of a
provincial governor.
As a rule set by Augustus there were always 10
senatorial provinces in the Imperial government
system. These provinces were under the direct
control of a Proconsular Senator, with little need
for intervention by the Emperor, though he had the
power to appoint or dispose of these governors if he
wished. The governors, served for one to three years
depending on which province he was over.
Notwithstanding, there were other lesser provinces
under the rule of the Roman empire as it expanded.
There were about 28 in all by the middle of the
second century. The number "ten" carries with it the
meaning of completeness in the minds of the Hebrews,
thus simply meaning the complete number of vassal
kings within the Roman empire which I personally
believe to be the more likely interpretation. One
must be very careful when literalizing a number
surrounded by so much symbolic language. Consistency
almost demands it be taken in the same way as the
rest of the surrounding imagery.
The seven heads probably referred to the seven hills
of ancient Rome. Every October there was a
commemoration to the fact that Rome was founded on
seven hills. The seven hills of Rome; Cermalus,
Cispius, Fagutal, Oppius, Palatium, Sucusa and
Velia, figured prominently in Roman mythology,
religion, and politics.
The seven heads could also have represented the
seven Roman emperors from Augustus Caesar to Flavius
Domitianus, better known as Domitian. These emperors
reigned with such power and distinction that Roman
temples were erected to each one of them. These
emperors were worshipped in these temples as Gods
and Lords. This practice started with Augustus
Caesar and by the time of Domitian, evolved into
mandated emperor worship. Under Domitian, those who
refused to worship him as a God were subjected to
various punishments from exile to death.
Revelation 17:10 lends great support to this
interpretation.
So we now have a mental
image of just how powerful a foe has arisen against
Christianity. The Parthians were no help, The
Romans, who worshipped many Gods, hated them. There
were not enough Christians to make any kind of
impact on the socio-economic scene. When drought,
famine, or natural disaster struck, the Christians
with their one deity worship were blamed. The Jews
were no help, they were excused from Emperor worship
and were of no help whatsoever to the Christians.
Revelation 13:3, "And (I
saw) one of his heads as though it had been smitten
unto death; and his death-stroke was healed:" There
are plenty of theories as to what this death blow
was. One of the most popular I read was that this
was the crushing of Satan's head prophesied in
Genesis 3:15. However, upon careful consideration
of the text, we see that the beast is something
other than the dragon, (Satan), which therefore does
not make sense. John mentioned this death blow to
one of the seven heads, (emperors), as a means for
the identification of the beast to the Christians.
It therefore stands to reason that this blow must be
something that is widely known and easily attributed
to its rightful understanding by the intended
audience. This said, in 64 AD, during the night of
July 18, fire broke out in the merchant area of the
city of Rome. Fanned by summer winds, the flames
quickly spread through the dry, wooden structures of
the Imperial City. Soon the fire took on a life of
its own consuming all in its path for six days and
seven nights. When the conflagration finally ran its
course it left seventy percent of the city
devastated. Of Rome's fourteen districts only four
remained intact. Three were leveled to the ground.
The other seven were reduced to a few scorched and
mangled ruins. This event happened during the
reign of Nero and would be something that definitely
would be in the minds of the people of that day.
The association in their minds between the burning
of Rome and the wounded head of the Roman Empire
would be easily recognized. There was plenty of
time for this death blow to one of the heads to be
healed. History tells us that Rome was built back
bigger and better than ever.
When considering the facts,
the Roman emperor Domitian, who reigned from 81 AD
through 96 AD best fits the description of the
beast, especially considering the internal Biblical
evidence that states things which will "shortly come
to pass" in
Revelation 1:1. We learn from history that
Domitian pushed the concept of him being a God so
far that he would reject any communication written
to him if it was not addressed to "Supreme Lord and
God". From a Christian viewpoint, this is nothing
short of blasphemy of the name of God to ascribe the
title of God and Lord to anybody or anything other
than Jehovah Himself. The imperial Roman empire at
the time was said to include all the inhabited
earth, depending on whether you heard it from a
Roman or a Parthian. The body of water we know as
the Mediterranean Sea got it's name because it
literally means "the middle of the earth". All
people, with the exception of the Christians
worshipped Domitian as a God. The Jews were excused
from this but they did compromise by praying to
Jehovah on behalf of Domitian to avoid persecution.
In the Hebrew mind, the
number 6 was symbolic of that which was not perfect,
thereby evil. Seven represents perfection. Six
being one less than perfect is falling short of the
mark. The definition of "sin" is literally, "to
miss the mark". So to obtain the ultimate of that
which was evil or lacking, the apocalyptic writers
of John's day were using a series of three sixes to
represent the worst evil that could befall.
Furthermore this number was reserved for those in
government who caused evil to be administered.
No other emperor in the
history of the Imperial Roman Empire fits the
description of the beast better than Domitian. We
therefore conclude that the first beast of
Revelation 13 can be none other than the evil
Imperial Roman Empire, which was personified in the
person of Flavius Domitianus, (the number of a man).
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