As chapter 13 begins, John’s attention is diverted from the dragon to a beast rising up out of the sea.
He is described in a similar fashion to the dragon with his seven heads and ten horns.
You may recall the seven heads are most likely seven kingdoms (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the final kingdom of Antichrist). It is thought that this final kingdom will be made up of 10 individual ruling districts – thus the ten horns.
He is compared to several different animals, all of which are metaphors for one of the ancient kingdoms. A parallel passage of these animals is found in Dainel 7.
The leopard alludes to the swiftness and agility of the ancient Greek military under Alexander the Great.
The feet of the bear corresponds to the ancient Medo-Persian Empire’s ferocious strength and stability.
The mouth of the lion refers to the all-consuming power of the Babylonian Empire.
John reveals that this beast derives his power from the dragon, whose identity, we learned in chapter 12, is Satan.
All the world will follow the beast and worship both he and Satan who gives him power.
The beast will speak blasphemies of all kinds and will be allowed to do so for 3 1/2 years.
As in other times, it should be noted that God is the one who establishes the timeline for the Antichrist’s reign and rule. When God says he is finished – he is finished.
The Antichrist continues his blasphemous diatribe against God and everything that concerns God, his attributes, his home, his creation.
He is then granted the ability to make war against the children of God and to overcome them. He will then reign over every tribe, tongue and nation.
All who dwell on earth will worship him except those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world – even the Antichrist cannot take away the salvation of the elect.
After this, John sees another beast (the false prophet) coming up out of the earth. This one has only two horns like a lamb, which may indicate his inferiority to the Antichrist. However, he is still the mouthpiece of the dragon (satan).
The false prophet has all the authority of Antichrist and works in conjunction with him. As more of a religious leader, the false prophet entices people to worship Antichrist who is the political/military leader.
The false prophet performs signs that counterfeit Christ’s miracles, making it all the easier to convince the world to to follow Antichrist rather than the true Christ.
John then begins to talk about how the false prophet will tell those who dwell on earth to make an “image to the beast”.
MacArthur notes that this image refers to a replication of Antichrist that is related to the throne he will erect during the abomination of desolation (mentioned in Daniel 9:27), halfway into the Tribulation period.
We are also told that the false prophet somehow is able to give the image the appearance of life.
For a little deeper study into this “image of the beast,” I found this website helpful: https://www.gotquestions.org/image-of-the-beast.html .
The false prophet will then cause all on earth, rich and poor, small and great, to receive an identifying mark, either on their right hand or their forehead.
It will be necessary to have this mark to engage in daily commerce, including the purchase of food and other necessities.
John ends the chapter by noting that calculating the number of the beast is wise. For it is the number of a man, he says. And what is that number? 666
In MacArthur’s notes on this verse, he gives an excellent explanation of what makes 666 the number of a man.
“The number six falls one short of God’s perfect number, seven, and thus represents human imperfection. Antichrist, the most powerful human the world will ever know, will still be a man, that is, a six. The ultimate in human and demonic power is a six, not perfect, as God is. The threefold repetition of the number is intended to reiterate and underscore man’s identity…Because this text reveals very little about the meaning of 666, it is unwise to speculate beyond what is said.”
Final Thoughts
I can remember hearing messages preached on the Antichrist when I was a child. At that time, Revelation seemed like one big scary nightmare come true. It was all so hard to imagine the whole world denying Christ and being duped by some big phony.
Unfortunately, that premise no longer seems so far-fetched. With the bias of the media today and their ability to paint their own version of the truth for the viewer, it’s pretty easy to see how the world, or at least America could be swayed to believe something that isn’t true.
That mixed with the fact there are far less people growing up with at least some knowledge of God or the Bible, than there were when I was a kid, makes it pretty easy to see such a world-wide denial of Christ happening.
It’s very sad!
Yet, as sad as that part may be, there is good news in this chapter – good, hopeful, amazing news!
To me, the end of this chapter, as John tells us there is wisdom in calculating the number of the beast, he is telling us that it is wise to remember that as powerful and terrible as the antichrist becomes – he is, in the end, just a man.
Less than perfect. Less than omniscient. Less than all-powerful. Less than God!
Yes, no matter how larger than life he appears, this man is still able to be numbered, quantified, measured. His powers will have limits, a time frame, an an expected end.
One day our immeasurable, unlimited, all-powerful God will finally say – enough is enough and destroy this phony and the one who gives him power, once and for all!