Revelation 13
CHAPTER 13
The sea beast
And I stood upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads were names of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were as the feet of a bear, his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as though it had a mortal wound; but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marvelled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying: Who is like to the beast? And who is able to war with him?
5 And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and there was given to him authority to continue for forty two months. 6 And he opened his mouth to blaspheme against God, to blaspheme His Name and His tabernacle, even those that dwell in the heaven. 7 And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. 8 And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb that has been slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is for captivity, into captivity he goes. If anyone shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
The earth beast
11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his sight. He makes the earth and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose wound had been healed. 13 And he does great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which were given to him to do in the sight of the beast, saying to those that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword but lived. 15 And he was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast should speak, and cause to have killed as many as would not worship the image of the beast. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great and the rich and the poor and the free and the bondservant, to be given a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; 17 so that no one should be able to buy or to sell, unless he has the mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He that has understanding, let him count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty six.
Commentary
13:10 This alludes to Christ’s teaching that whoever takes the sword shall perish by the sword (Mt. 26:52). Those who follow Christ do not use violence to anyone but seek to love their enemies.
13:11 Like a lamb- There will be a power system in the last days which is a false imitation of Jesus, the true lamb. He ‘plays God’ by appearing to be able to do the work of creation which God alone can do, giving life to a dead body as He did to Adam (:14).
13:14 Even if a person appears to be able to do miracles, we should not follow them if they are not teaching according to God’s word (Dt. 13:2).
13:16 The forehead represents the mind. The mark may not be anything literal, but rather an attitude of mind. God’s people are likewise sealed on their foreheads (7:3; 9:4). The difference between the believer and the world comes down to where our inner heart is.
