Revelation 13:1-10

Revelation chapter 13. I want to read verses 1 to 10 and then verse 18. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. Upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like Ando 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. 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. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power under the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast, who was able to make war with him. And it was given unto him a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue 40 and two months. and he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. 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. 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. If any man have an ear, let him hear. 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 saints. Verse 18, Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast. where it is the number of a man and his number is 600, three score, and six. May God bless to us his sacred and holy word this morning. Finding a monster rising up out of the sea may remind us of Japanese folklore where Godzilla comes up out of the sea and goes on a rampage and destroys Tokyo or something of that nature. Our text, however, is not to be taken in such a literal fashion. It is symbolic in nature. It is a vision that’s been given to John. The language here must be understood and interpreted carefully. Now, we’ve looked at the contemporary nature of the book. and we looked at the theme of the book, which is the beginning, all this is at the beginning of the book of Revelation. Now at this point, I want to look at what would be perhaps most useful at this point, and that is the main characters of the book. We said the theme of the book was a judgment coming of Jesus Christ against apostate Israel. We have the theme of the book. the various characters of the book. We have the beast mentioned in this particular chapter. Also in this chapter, we have a second beast, which is known as the false prophet. We’ll be looking at the identity of that. And also we have Babylon the Great, the harlot, that is mentioned. I think those three are the main characters we want to cover. And then hopefully we’ll look at a more chapter-by-chapter review of the whole book at that point. And there’ll be more continuity to it. But I think it’s important that we lay out some of the key characters at this point. And so when we come to this, we can sort of flow through it with that all in mind. So let’s talk about the identity of the beast here that comes up out of the sea, that John saw here in a vision. Now, to understand this particular passage of scripture, we have to realize that John is drawing upon here the book of Daniel. So that what he sees is really related to us also in the book of Daniel. And so it’s important, I think, that we use Daniel to help understand this particular passage that he sees here because it all fits together perfectly. Look with me at the book of Daniel now, if you would, and chapter 7, verses 1 to 8. Hopefully as we identify the beast, we can start looking at some of the details related to the beast, connect it all up. Daniel chapter 7 and verses 1 to 8. In the first year of Belchazar, King of Bible, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. Four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings, and I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it. of it, and they said thus unto it, arise of our much flesh. And after this, I beheld, and lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of its four wings, a fowl, of its back, excuse me, and had upon the back of it, four wings of a fowl. The beast had also foreheads, and the minion was given to it. This I saw in the nine. night visions. And behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, strong exceedingly, and had great iron teeth. It devoured and breaking 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. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes, like the eyes of man, and a mouse-speaking great things. Now, John here alludes to Daniel’s prophecy, and these beasts arising out of the sea. Now, these beasts were told according to chapter 7 and verse 17, that these beasts are four kings or nations. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. And then if you would, down to verse 23, thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms. She’ll devire the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces. So we have the idea here that king and kingdom are used pretty much interchangeably here. The king has a kingdom. And so the king and kingdom are connected together, and we see this is the case. Now, in verse four, we have the eagle-winged line. This is the Babylonian Empire. We have in verse 5, the hungry bear. This is the Medo-Persian Empire. In verse 6, we have the swift leopard, which is the Greek Empire. And then we have what I will call the indescribable beast here, which is the fourth kingdom, world kingdom, which is the Roman Empire, that he talks about in verses 7-8. These are the same four world kingdoms. that were portrayed in the metallic image vision, our dream really in Daniel chapter 2 is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel interpreted. Now, I could say this with confidence that these four kingdoms are identified for us because the book of Daniel specifically tells us that the head of gold is Babylon. So we know that he starts with Babylon, which was in power at the time. In chapter 5, Babylon falls to the Medes and the Persians. And then, of course, if you read chapter 8, you’ll see that the two-horn goat, the Meads and the Persians, that’s why there’s two horns on it, falls to the unicorn with the big horn on it, which is Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire, which is, all that’s told us in the book of Daniel specifically. So there’s no question about the first three. We’re not told exactly who the fourth kingdom is, but we are told in chapter 2, in the days of the fourth kingdom, that the kingdom of heaven is going to be established. And when Jesus and John the Baptist came, what did they preach? The kingdom of heaven is at hand. and who was ruling at that time. It was the Roman Empire that was ruling. So I don’t think there’s any question there shouldn’t be. No matter how you, you know, what stripe you are as far as your eschatology, I think these four are pretty lined up for us. Now, if you’re dispensational, you may want to have a revived Roman Empire or something of that nature. But I think if you look at this carefully, I don’t think there’s any question about the identity of these forward. Now these are successive world powers. Now one nation conquers the next nation and overtakes their kingdom. Daniel was looking at this from the days of Babylon. So he starts out with the winged lion here, the eagle winged lion. And he individually describes the kingdoms. And he individually describes the kingdoms. John, however, relates to us a beast that is a combination of the first three beasts. And this indescribable monster that’s hard to describe. For he speaks of it in this way. He says his beast that he sees coming out is like unto a leopard. That reminds us of Greece. He’s going backwards now. He has the feet of a bear, which reminds us of the Medo-Persian Empire, and he has the mouth of a lion, which refers back to the Babylonian Empire. Now, he tells us these things, and I think it’s important to realize that if you look at verse 12 of Daniel 7, he says, is concerning the rest of the beast. he’s been talking about the fourth beast. And during the rest of the beast, they had their minion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. How were they prolonged? Well, they were prolonged when one nation gobbled up the other, they became part of that nation. So when we get to the book of Revelation, we see the combination. They were prolonged in the Roman Empire, these other previous nations. They’re all gobbled up and parted. now of this Roman emperor. The sea that’s mentioned here is of symbolic significance, I believe. Revelation 1715 says, the waters which thou sawest are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And so when he sees these beasts coming out of the sea, the sea here is going to represent, I think, mankind, the Gentile heathen world, you would in particular, which is in an agitated state. It’s stirred up and out of it come these beasts. Now, the idea of beast representing nations shouldn’t be too difficult for us to grasp because we talk about the American Eagle, the Russian bear, the English lion. We talk about the Chinese dragon. In John’s Day, The fourth beast out of the sea that has risen to power is the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire partakes of the evil, beast-like characteristics of the previous world kingdoms. But it’s much worse. And so we should keep that in mind. So this fits right in now with the contemporary nature of the book. The Roman Empire. empire is in power when John writes. So this would fit perfectly with what has already been told us previously. So this is not a revived Roman Empire in the far-off future, but we should see it, I think, as the Roman Empire of John’s Day. That, I think, should be fairly clear. There’s any questions on the identity, then, of this fourth beast or the one that comes up out of the sea in the book of Revelation. Does that seem clear? No questions on that? Okay. Now, let’s go to the little horn of the fourth beast. Here we have something interesting, and we’ll be comparing this with Revelation 13 as well, but we have to see here in the book of Daniel what he says here in verse 8, because I think this is important to us to understand properly. So verse 8 of chapter 7 of the book of Daniel, said, I considered the horns, meaning the horns of the beast here, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. Behold, in this horn, for I. like the eyes of a man on a mouth speaking great things. Now, any true identification of this little horn must be connected with the beast that it’s on. It is connected with the Roman Empire. So any identification of this little horn, we must connect it with the Roman Empire. It has to be rooted in Roman history. The Roman Empire no longer existed. today. The stretch the Roman Empire in the modern history is utterly ridiculous. It is, I think, bizarre to do so. So what you find here is the little horn has eyes and a mouth that becomes a head, doesn’t it? And we’re told this beast ultimately has seven heads. But here’s the first head. And this little horn assumes great power and authority with regard to the Roman Empire. The ten horns represent rulers. Verse 24 of Daniel 7, it tells us this. And the king commanded, and they brought, excuse me, chapter 7 and verse 24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings. that shall arise. So there are ten kings associated with this kingdom. These horns represent rulers, such as we would find, let’s say, in the Roman Senate leaders, the provincial governors of the nation. In fact, there were ten provinces in the Roman Empire. Italy, Asia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Germany, and Akaya. Notice how this corresponds to the ten toes of the metallic image in Daniel Chapter 2. I think Calvin’s comments in his commentary on Daniel, I think, are very good on this. Let me read you a portion of what he says. The prophet here distinguishes the fourth monarchy from the rest, as if he had said it should be a popular government, not presided over by one king, but divided into many heads. For they even divided provinces among themselves and made treaties with each other. Thus, when the prophet states the fourth beast to have ten horns, he means, that there were many provinces so divided that each ruler, whether pro-counsel or praetor, was like a king, for the supreme power was given to them, while the city, meaning Rome, and Italy, were given up to the consuls. The consul could indeed write to the provinces and command whatever he pleased, then he could elevate to honor whom he pleased for the sake of favor or friendship, But each of the praetors and pro-counsels, when he obtained a province, became a kind of a king, since he exercised the supreme power of life and death over all his subjects. Thus, we have the idea of ten kings. So this divided rule of the Roman Empire, we call a republic, if you would, gets circumvent. somehow. And this head arises, and it grabs power and authority over the nation. Verse 8. So here it’s set up as a republic, and it’s broken into different rulers of different provinces, but somehow or other, even though it has a Senate and so forth, this little horn comes up up and snatches the power from the nation. again, let me say this. I’m going to quote from Calvin, but I have to say that this is exactly what happened when Julius Caesar seized power over the Roman Empire and became the first Caesar. Here’s what Calvin says. I have no doubt that the little horn relates to Julius Caesar, and the other Caesar. who succeeded him. Remember there are seven heads, namely Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, and others. He calls it a little horn, because Caesar did not assume the name of king, but when Pompeii and the greater part of the Senate were conquered, he could not enjoy his victory without assuming to himself supreme power. Hence he made himself tribune. of the people and their dictator. Meanwhile, there were always consuls. There was always some shadow of a republic, while he daily consulted the Senate and sat in his seat while the consuls were at the tribunals. Octavius followed the same practice, and afterwards Tiberius also. For none of the Caesars unless he was consul, dared to ascend the tribunal. Each had his own seat, although from that place he commanded all others. It is not surprising, then, if Daniel calls the monarchy of Julius and the other Caesars a little horn, and its splendor and dignity were not great enough to eclipse the majesty of the Senate, while the Senate retained the name and form of honor, it was sufficiently known that one man alone possessed the supreme power. He says, therefore, that this little horn was raised among the ten others. I think Kelvin, Kelvin was one of the most helpful to me in the study of the book of Daniel. Now, this head, this little horn, we find, replaces three horns, doesn’t it? And if you read in verse 24, notice this, the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall arise after them. He shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. Rome was a republic, but it got transformed into an empire. There was a coalition for, formed by three powerful leaders, which was known as the first triumvirate. It was called the three-headed monster, where if Pompeii, Krasis, and Julius Caesar agreed to do anything, they had total power over the nation. They could do whatever they pleased. However, after a period of time, Pompeii and Krasis died and Caesar was left in control of all of it, where usually it was under the power of the previous triumphant. Soon, Caesar obtained supreme control, became emperor of the empire. In John’s day, the beast is seen certainly with seven heads, which must rule consecutively rather than at the same time. Because when we get to chapter 17, and we mentioned this in the past, in verse 10, we read that five are fallen in John’s Day. So they’re not in existence. Those would be Julius Caesar, Augustus, who’s also known as Octavius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. One is, that’s Nero, He’s the present ruler on the Roman Empire. The other is not yet come, and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. That’s Galba, who only reads for six months. This is known as the Julian line of the Caesars. These are all relatives of Julius Caesar. That will change. Vespasian will take over, and he will have a line that will begin to control. After the year of the year, the four Caesars when there is great turmoil. We’ll get to that later. So this is the little horn of the fourth beast. Is there any question about this issue? Is there anything that you want to ask about this matter? You’ll notice the dual imagery relating to the beast. We’ve already mentioned verse 24. We see that the fourth beast is the fourth kingdom. But we also saw verse 17, these great beasts, which are four kings. So, king and kingdom here are used in connection with these beasts. Revelation will shift between a general and a specific portrayal of the beast. Sometimes it refers to the whole empire. Sometimes it will refer to the emperor or the head of the empire as the main leader, the Caesar, the dictator. John identifies the emperor presently ruling and representing the beast as the 6th Julian Emperor Neuro. So the Empire of Rome was embodied in its emperor, just as our president stands for and represents the United States. If we say President Trump, many times we can be referring to the whole nation, not just to the individual. If we say Putin, we may be speaking of him as the head of Russia and referring to Russia and not just Putin himself. We can understand that, I think, in modern terminology, and I think we should recognize that in this terminology as well. I think I’m going to, stop at this point. And I think we’ll have to finish the rest of this later. But hopefully, this is the basis for how we’re going to interpret now the heads that we read about in the Book of Revelation. This is going to give us the key elements that we need. And I think if we follow what Daniel has laid out for us, he’s given us some clear indications here, it will really help us in the interpretation. We’re going to talk about the blasphemous names and him speaking great swelling words and so forth. We’re going to talk about his fatal wound. When we get dealing with all these various aspects, but we’re going to identify it with the Roman Empire and with the Caesars that are connected with the Empire. So that those things all hang together. As we close, is there anything all that you want to ask? The first five, the first five, the fifth one, was Claudius. Okay, and what was the other one? The seventh one? The seventh one is Galba. G-A-L-L-B-A. We’ll be looking at this later, but I think it makes a lot of sense as we go along to put what we’re told in Revelation to connect it back to Daniel also, because you see this, you see seven heads, what are they? Well, he tells us about the little horn that becomes the head, but he doesn’t really delve into the other six or anything. But his focus, remember, he’s focusing on the initiation of what’s happening. Whereas we get to John, he’s looking at it from things of already happen. We’re already to the, the sixth head. So you can see how time is developing and what’s happening there. Okay.