Revelation 13: Beast from the Sea vs. Beast from the Earth

We must realize that Revelation chapters 13 to 18 are not a chronological continuation of the previous chapters, but a clarification of details in their relationship to the prophecies in Daniel 7 about the two “beasts” or “horns” following Constantine’s Christianized Roman Empire. Revelation 13:1-5 describes the First Beast from the Sea:

“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. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound…” (Rev. 13:1-3).

Though not identical to the description in Daniel 7, there are elements that are sufficiently similar between them so as to make a correct correlation. (Again, the details are not as important as the entire message.) According to Daniel, the last of the four beasts from the Sea (Rome) would originally have 10 horns, but one of them (the Muslim Turkish Ottoman Empire) would destroy three previous horns (including the Christian Byzantine Empire). Here in Revelation, it states that it had received the dragon’s power, throne, and authority, clearly Satan’s power and authority:

 “Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation” (Rev. 13:7).

But these Muslims only had their authority because God allowed them to have it. Even though it says it would authority over “every tribe…”, and verse 8 says: “all who dwell on earth will worship it,” this could be just a hyperbolic rendering of reality, since the same text also clarifies that not everyone worshiped the beast, because it only refers to “everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 13:8). In other words, those whose names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life did not worship this beast. Also, according to the text in Revelation, while the First Beast from the Sea was in power, humanity was asked two important questions: “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Rev. 13:4). These are evidently rhetorical questions, since the expected confession of faith from those who had given themselves over to worship the First Beast would be, “no one.” Many of God’s true people were taken captive or slain for their faith, including the almost two million Armenian Christians that were murdered when the Ottoman Empire began to crumble at the end of World War I. For some reason, God allowed these centuries of Jewish and Christian massacres, but at the same time He called them to persevere and endure in their faith:

“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” (Rev. 13:10).

As seen by history, Islam was directly responsible for putting a stop to the effectiveness of God’s two witnesses, both Israel and the Church. Israel was in the diaspora without a land, and the Catholic Vatican became corrupted and evil. The land of Israel became dominated by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and it also destroyed the Christian Byzantine Empire. Thus, during the middle of Daniel’s last “week,” the symbolic “bodies” of Israel and the Church laid “dead” in “Jerusalem,” which was for about a total of 14 centuries (since the birth of Islam). The Muslim nations of the world were rejoicing over their victory and refused to let them be “buried” (or honored) because these 2 people groups “had been a torment to those who dwell on earth” (Rev. 11:10). Even today, Muslim societies intentionally teach their children to hate Jews and Christians. We often hear about how Muslims “make merry and exchange presents” (Rev. 11:10) when a terrorist attack against Jews and Christians has proven successful.

 

But the text adds that this beast would suffer a mortal wound: “One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound… (Rev. 13:3a). Thus, this First Beast from the Sea would fall, as also described in Daniel 7:12. The Ottoman Empire was definitely conquered and dissolved by the allied Christian nations at the end of World War I. But after a while, “…its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast” (Rev. 13:3b). Thus, the First Beast will later come back to life in the form of the Second Beast from the Earth. After the true Christians and Jews are raised from this earth at Jesus’ appearance in the clouds, Islam and the Ottoman Empire will become a global Caliphate and will have Satan’s power to do great wonders. But only those who remain behind will be worshiping and serving it, not true Christians or Jews.

I believe that we are still in a time between the two Beasts, and the second one will finally meet its end when the Messiah comes to establish His Kingdom (Dan. 7:22, 26).