Revelation 13:1-18 Lesson 485

Revelation 13:1-18
Lesson 485

Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

In this lesson:

John's vision continues.

The beast from the sea (13:1-8).
The beast from the earth (13:11-14).
The talking statue (13:15).
The mark of the beast (13:16-18).

Study Tip:

Read each passage a second (or third) time. Rereading helps reinforce lessons learned. Plus, you might catch a vital point you missed with the first read.

The Revelation of Saint John the Divine

The King James Bible

Revelation 13:1-18
666

1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name 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 dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Margin notes:

"I stood upon the sand." (13:1) - This is John, the author of this book, speaking.

"Saw a beast rise up out of the sea." (13:1) - This is the antichrist, the first of two beasts (false prophets, satanic leaders) Satan will use to make war on Christians (12:17). The ten horns of the beast symbolize "ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power (authority) as kings one hour with the beast" (Revelation 17:12). Many Preterists believe the beast represents the oppressive Roman Empire. But futurists feel the beast is a prediction of things to come. They say the beast is the prophecy of an evil world government (or its satanic leader) that will rise just before Christ returns.  Still other Christians (Historicists) are convinced the beast represents both the religious persecution that came out of Rome and the persecution to come.

"Leopard... bear... lion." (13:2) - The book of Daniel uses these three strong animals to symbolize world power (Daniel 7:3-6).

"The dragon." (13:2) - Satan.

"And his seat." (13:2) - "And his throne."

"Wounded to death." (13:3) - "Fatally wounded."

"And all the world wondered after the beast." (13:3) - "And all the world was amazed that the beast (false prophet, satanic leader) survived." The beast will deceive people into thinking that, like Jesus, he was resurrected from the dead.

"They worshipped the dragon." (13:4) - "They worshipped Satan." The beast's job is to persuade people to worship Satan.  See 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

"There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies." (13:5) - The beast will deceive unbelievers for 42 months (1260 days) as prophesized in Daniel 7:25 2500 years ago.

"Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." (13:5) - "The beast exercised authority over the world (13:2) for 42 months (1260 days)."

"And his tabernacle." (13:6) - "And His dwelling (heaven)."

"To make war with the saints." (13:7) - "To make war on Christians." As prophesied in Daniel 7:21.

"And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." (13:7) - "And he was given power over all people, languages, and countries." This power will last forty-two months (13:5), while Jesus will have "everlasting" power (Daniel 7:14).

"All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life." (13:8) - Which means all non-believers will worship the beast. See "Today's Question" below.

"The Lamb." (13:8) - "Jesus."

"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." (13:10) - "Those (Christians) destined for prison will go to prison, those destined to die will be killed." This refers to a time (past, present, or future) of anti-Christian persecution.

"I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth." (13:11) - While the first beast uses force to coerce the world, this second beast is a religious leader, a false prophet (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10). This beast will use trickery and deceit. Preterist scholars believe the second beast symbolizes the pagan priests of the past who encouraged people to worship Roman emperors as gods. Others (futurists) feel the second beast represents a false prophet in the future who will form an unholy trinity with the dragon (Satan) and the "beast" from "the sea." These three will challenge the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). Still others (Historicists) believe the second beast is symbolic of the persecution the world endured in the past and will again in the future.

"Two horns." (13:11) - Two horns tell us that the second beast will have less power than the first beast with ten horns (13:1).

"He spake as a dragon." (13:11) - "He spoke like Satan." Because he is Satan's representative.

"Causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast." (13:12) - "Made everyone in the world worship the first beast."

"He doeth great wonders." (13:13) - The second beast will perform miracles, as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:9.

"He causeth all." (13:16) - "He makes everyone."

"Receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." (13:16) - The "mark of the beast" will be a tattoo, brand, or other permanent tagging that will identify people who reject Christ and belong to the beast.

"No man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark." (13:17) - "No one can buy or sell anything (food, clothing, medicine, shelter, etc.), except those who had the mark." It will be difficult for anyone to survive without having the mark of the beast on their hand or forehead.

"Here is wisdom." (13:18) - "This requires wisdom."

"And his number is Six hundred threescore and six." (13:18) - "And his number is 666." In John's day, many Christians believed the number 666 referred to the Roman emperor Nero, who persecuted Christians and was worshipped as a God. However, Futurists believe 666 represents an antichrist leader yet to come. No one knows who 666 represents. Throughout the centuries, well-meaning people have claimed that 666 stood for people ranging from Nero to the Catholic Pope to Napoleon Bonaparte to Adolf Hitler. Additional note: The number 666 "symbolizes extreme imperfection, for each digit is one short of seven, the number that signifies perfection." ("The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; page 465)

To learn more about the antichrist, see 1 John 2:18-23 and 2 John 1:7.

New Living Translation

Revelation 13:1-18
The Beast out of the Sea

1 Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God.

2 This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion! And the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority.

3 I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery-but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast.

4 They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. "Who is as great as the beast?" they exclaimed. "Who is able to fight against him?"

5 Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months.

6 And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling-that is, those who dwell in heaven.

7 And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.

8 And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made-the Book that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered.

9 Anyone with ears to hear
      should listen and understand.

10 Anyone who is destined for prison
      will be taken to prison.
   Anyone destined to die by the sword
      will die by the sword.

  This means that God's holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.

The Beast out of the Earth

11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon.

12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

13 He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching.

14 And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life.

15 He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.

16 He required everyone-small and great, rich and poor, free and slave-to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead.

17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

18 Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word-for-word translation of the Bible. However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."

Today's question:

1. What is "the book of life?" (13:8)

Strengthen your relationship with God by studying the Bible every day.

Answer: (Do you agree?)

1. "The book of life" is a list of people destined for heaven. It is a roster of everyone who accepts Christ as the Messiah. They will be rewarded with eternal life in paradise.

Application thought for the day:

What does this segment teach about Satan?
Should we fear Satan today?

Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies;" "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course, the "King James Bible." All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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