November 20, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Beasts of the Sea & of the Earth
Scripture: Revelation 13(NIV)
1 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. 2 The 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. 3 One 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. 4 People 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?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It 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. 8 All 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.
9 Whoever 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.
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It 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. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because 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. 15 The 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. 16 It 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, 17 so 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.
18 This 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.
Devotional
I once had an Indiana license plate that ended with the numbers 666. I’m not kidding. My pastor friends thought I had requested it. I did not. The car ended up getting totaled. People asked me if it was because of the 666 on the plate. It was not.
By now we have seen that Revelation is a book populated with symbolic numbers. This famous number has been ascribed to microchips, computer scanners, bar codes, Social Security numbers, Visa cards, and a giant computer in Belgium. This is crazy talk. Verse 17 clearly says that the mark “is the name of the beast or the number of its name.” So the number and a name somehow go together.
So the number is a name. But this doesn’t end the speculation. Down through the ages the beast has been identified as Saladin, the pope, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm, Adolf Hitler, Emperor Hirohito, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Henry Kissinger. I even saw someone say the beast was Ronald Wilson Reagan because there are six letters in each name. More crazy talk.
If the number 666 represents one individual, the best bet is Nero Caesar. He had persecuted the Christians in the Roman Empire until his death. There was a rumor that he had come back to life in the new emperor Domitian, who again was persecuting believers. In those days letters had a numerical value, and the Hebrew version of Nero Caesar has values that add up to the number 666.
Also, recall that the number seven in apocalyptic literature symbolizes completeness and perfection. Six falls just short of seven, and stands for incompleteness that is short of perfection. These numbers 666 would symbolize someone who thinks he is a god, but obviously is not.
The first beast of the sea seems to represent political power that persecutes the faithful. The second beast of the land, introduced later, could symbolize false religion that draws believers away from Jesus. In apocalyptic literature, heads and horns often symbolize rulers of the nations. Whether these represent the different empires that oppressed Israel in the past, various Roman emperors in their present, or future dynasties is uncertain.
What is clear is what we are to do in the face of evil: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:11-12).
Poem
All Levels Of Creation
A Hymn 76.76D
All levels of creation
Will suffer Satan’s rage
The skies, the Dragon’s fire
The seas, a Beastly siege
And from the earth a rising
An evil dazzling power
With magical expressions
Within the final hour
The Dragon’s goal is terror
Destruction all to shake
The Ocean’s Beast, foul language
Blaspheming in its wake
Confusions, lies, deception
The Earthly Beast’s full plan
Destruction of the masses
The slaughter of all Man
Yet, safe are those full written
Within the Book of Life
The ones remaining standing
Amidst this battle’s strife
“Be ready and attend ye!
Give ear, this warning’s cry!”
Though threatened, persecuted
These powers full decry!
