Series Guide

Revelation: The King Wins

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Chapter thirteen

Explore: Counterfeit Gods

Revelation chapters 12-20 speak at length about the dragon, the beast and the false prophet (initially called the second beast). They form an unholy trinity.

In Revelation 12, the dragon appears and seeks to take the place of God, but is overwhelmingly defeated.

Revelation 13 describes a beast out of the sea and a beast out of the earth. The descriptions of these creatures and their actions show that they are images of the dragon, and continue his work in different ways. They act as counterfeit versions of the Holy Trinity.

The beast out of the sea appears to be a counterfeit version of the Messiah. He is fatally wounded and then resurrected (13:3, 14). He bears blasphemous names, in contrasts with Jesus’ worthy name (13:2, 19:16). In Revelation 19, Jesus comes face to face with the beast for a final confrontation. But there is no battle. The beast is defeated in the blink of an eye.

The beast out of the earth appears to be a counterfeit version of the Holy Spirit. He is later called the False Prophet (16:13, 19:20). He performs great signs (13:13), has the power to give life (13:15), and compels people to worship an image of the first beast.

Daniel 7:2-3

²Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. ³Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

Daniel 7:4-7

⁴“The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.

⁵“And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’

⁶“After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

⁷“After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

The Beast out of the Sea

13 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ²The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. ⁴People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

This is a way of describing its false claim to be God. It is blasphemous in that it seeks to imitate God and deceive people from the truth.

This description of the beast combines the description of the four beasts in Daniel 7. Whereas in Daniel, each beast represents a separate empire, here this beast is described as a single combination of all of those empires. Hence, the beast more broadly represents all empires that have stood against God throughout history.

The power of the beast comes directly from Satan himself. When we draw together the complex metaphors and illusions, we see that this beast is a human representative, acting under Satan’s rule, and encouraging people to worship the dragon rather than God (13:4).

This beast imitates Jesus. He is in the image of the dragon, as Jesus is in the image of God. He had been fatally wounded by a sword (13:14) but was healed and resurrected. (‘Lived’ in 13:14 is the same word used for Jesus’ resurrection in 2:8.)

The beast leads people away from God and toward the dragon. John’s original readers would have recognised in this a reference to the imperial cult, where Roman emperors encouraged people to worship them and their families as gods. They will likely also have recognised the various forms of idol worship around them, some of which were noted in the letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3.

Daniel 7:13-14

¹³“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Daniel 7:9-10

⁹“As I looked,

“thrones were set in place,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
    the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    and its wheels were all ablaze.
¹⁰A river of fire was flowing,
    coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
    ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
    and the books were opened.

⁵The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. ⁶It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. ⁷It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

As in Revelation 11 and 12, this refers to the period between Jesus’ first and second comings. (See “42 months” in chapter 11 for further detail).

In Revelation 11:7, the beast killed the two witnesses who were later resurrected and victorious. Here in chapter 13, we are again reminded that though God’s people may suffer to the point of death, it will ultimately end in their victory.

The authority here is a physical authority. As verse 8 points out, the beast cannot affect the spiritual state of God’s people – those whose names are written in the book of life.

The book of life records the names of those who will receive the promised eternal reward. Notably, it is here described as the Lamb’s book, pointing to his sacrifice that made possible the sealing and saving of God’s people. (See also Revelation 3:5)

Jeremiah 15:2

²And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.’

⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰“If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

This draws our attention back to the same refrain used at the end of each of the letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3. In light of how he has just described the beast’s work, it is a stern call for John’s readers to understand the eternal consequences for how they respond to the present challenges. It is a reminder that we cannot be passive in light of these truths.

This reference to Jeremiah 15:2 again turns an Old Testament image upside down. Whereas in Jeremiah, the words function as a warning against sin, here in Revelation, it is used as an encouragement to persevere through such trials, as highlighted in the next sentence.

As with verse 9, the encouragement is to hear, see and persevere in spite of the many difficulties, persecutions, and possible death.

2 Kings 1:10-14

¹⁰Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

¹¹At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”

¹²“If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹³So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! ¹⁴See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!”

¹¹Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. ¹⁴Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. ¹⁶It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

The second beast is later called the false prophet (16:13, 19:20, 20:10), and acts as the third member of the unholy trinity. As the Holy Spirit highlights and points people to the work of Christ, so this false prophet highlights and points people to the antichrist.

The description of the beast emphasises that he is again an agent of the dragon, speaking with his voice. The two horns suggest it is subordinate to the first beast that had 10 horns. That it looks like a lamb contrasts this beast with the Lamb who was slain, highlighting once again its counterfeit nature.

The sign of fire coming from heaven is an allusion to Elijah in 2 Kings 1:10-14.

This brings to mind the story in Daniel 3 of King Nebuchadnezzar creating a statue of himself and commanding all citizens to worship him.

This description serves to highlight the immediate and real physical cost of being one of God’s people. It is an example of discrimination and persecution that some may face because they remain faithful to God.

Again, this contrasts with the seal placed on God’s people. Here the mark, via a name or number, identifies a person as belonging to the beast, as opposed to belonging to God.

Explore: A Mark on their Foreheads

The mark is a direct contrast to the mark and seal on God’s people in Revelation 7:2 and 14:1. Just as God’s people will be clearly marked and set apart, those who oppose God and his people will be marked accordingly.

Attempts to identify the mark as something visible or specific (such as a barcode or modern day computer chip) miss the main point of simple contrast.

The mark also serves to highlight that there is no neutral territory. You either have one mark or the other; you are God’s people or you are God’s enemy. The contrast will again be made in Revelation 14:1, where God’s people have the Father’s name written on their foreheads.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.That number is 666.

Explore: 666

Much has been written about this number, and many attempts have been made to decipher the supposed puzzle it contains into the name of a particular individual in history.

It is possible that John had a particular individual in mind in this reference, one who would have been easily recognised by John’s original readers. But modern readers have no need to seek to identify who this may have been (and many theories have been put forward!), as the point here is not in their specific identity, but in what they represent.

At a basic level, we can say that the number 777 would symbolise God’s completeness and perfection, and therefore the number 666 is symbolic of falling short of that. Thus, it is entirely appropriate that this appears at the end of two chapters that speak about a counterfeit trinity – three counterfeit gods. Though they bear some similarity to the Holy Trinity of God, they fall well short of that, and are merely deceptive counterparts.

John’s encouragement at the beginning of verse 18 that “This calls for wisdom” points us in a helpful direction for understanding the number 666.

As with Revelation as a whole, this number is not a code that we need to decipher in order to understand John’s message. Rather, the number is symbolic of all that is evil and stands against God, his purposes and his people. The call for wisdom is a call to be people who are discerning, who can identify false gods and false idols for what they are.

As Vern Poythress elegantly wrote:

“Revelation calls not for cleverness but for spiritual discernment.”[1]

[1] Vern S Poythress, The Returning King (New Jersey: P&R, 2000), 148.