End-time Antichrist Archives » From Daniel to Revelation

Introduction

There are several beasts in Revelation.

There are the Beast from the Abyss (Rev 11:7), the Sea Beast (Rev 13:1), the Land Beast (Rev 13:11), and the Scarlet Beast on which the Harlot sits (Rev 17:3). There is also an Image of the Beast (Rev 13:14), which is the real end-time persecutor of God’s people (Rev 13:15). Since it is the image of the Sea Beast, it might also be a beast.

Purpose

The ultimate goal of this website is to identify the Mark of the Beast, that is, the mark that the followers of the Beast in the end-time will receive on their foreheads (Rev 13:16), as opposed to the Seal of God, which God’s people will have on their foreheads (Rev 14:1). The purpose of the current article is to identify the Beast to which this mark belongs, which is the Beast from the Sea (Rev 13:1).

Revelation 13:1-2

The Sea Beast had seven heads and ten horns:

13:1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.
Then I (John) saw a beast coming up out of the sea,
having ten horns and seven heads,
and on his horns were ten diadems,
and on his heads were blasphemous names.

It received its appearance and power from four other animals:

13:2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard,
and his feet were like those of a bear,
and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.
And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.

The Dragon stood on the seashore.

According to some older translations, such as the King James, it is John who stood on the sand of the sea in 13:1, but the earliest manuscripts of Revelation read “he,” which would refer to the Dragon mentioned in the previous verse (Rev 12:17). The context also show it is the Dragon:

In Rev 12, the Dragon suffered a series of defeats. After the last defeat, it went away to prepare for the war with the remnant of God’s people (Rev 12:17).

In Revelation 13, the Dragon, the Sea Beast, and the Land Beast work together (e.g., Rev 13:4; 13:11-12). If it is the Dragon who stood on the sand of the seashore, then it tells us how the three came together. The Dragon goes to the seashore to secure reinforcements. From that vantage point, it is first joined by the Sea Beast (Rev 13:1) and later by the Land Beast (Rev 13:11).

The Beast is the 11th Horn.

This article argues that Revelation’s Sea Beast and Daniel’s 11th horn symbolize the same world power. The following sections will provide the following evidence for this statement:

Firstly, there are several strong allusions to Daniel 7 in the description of the Sea Beast, implying that it relates to the kingdoms in Daniel 7.

Secondly, there are similarities between the Sea Beast and the 11th horn specifically that identify them as one and the same entity. For example, both are described as God’s main enemy on earth, persecuting God’s people for a time, times, and half a time, and both will only be destroyed when Christ returns.

Thirdly, both the 11th horn and the Sea Beast are the main successor of the Roman Empire, continuing the authority of that empire.

Part of Daniel 7

The Sea Beast is part of the series of kingdoms in Daniel 7. This is indicated by the strong allusions in the description of the Sea Beast to the animals of Daniel 7:

1) Both the Sea Beast and the animals in Daniel 7 come up out of the sea (Dan 7:3).

2) The Sea Beast is described as receiving from four animals (Rev 13:2) and there are also four animals in Daniel 7.

3) Three of the animals from which the Sea Beast receives (a lion, a bear, and a leopard) (Rev 13:2) are explicitly the first three animals in Daniel 7 (Dan 7:4-6).

4) The fourth animal from which the Sea Beast receives is a Dragon (Rev 13:2). The fourth animal in Daniel 7 is not named, but its description fits a dragon (Dan 7:7).

5) The Sea Beast has the same number of heads and horns as the four animals of Daniel 7 have in total, namely, 7 heads and 10 horns (Rev 13:1). [Show More]

These allusions are perhaps the strongest allusions to the Old Testament one would find anywhere in the Book of Revelation. They are not a coincidence but imply that the Sea Beast is part of the series of kingdoms in Daniel 7. In other words, the Sea Beast explains those kingdoms in more detail.

God’s Main Enemy

(a) Both the 11th horn and the Sea Beast are God’s main enemies on Earth. [Show More]

(b) Both the 11th horn and the Sea Beast are described as the Antichrist. Both blaspheme God (Dan 7:8, 11, 20; Rev 13:5-6) and overpower God’s people (Dan 7:21, 25; Rev 13:7).

(d) Both persecute God’s people for “a time, times, and half a time” (Dan 7:25; Rev 13:5). The Sea Beast’s period is identified as 42 months (Rev 13:5), but that is the same as the “time, times, and half a time.” [Show More]

Succeeds the Roman Empire.

Both Daniel’s 11th Horn and Revelation’s Sea Beast succeed and continue the power and authority of the Roman Empire:

The 11th Horn – Using animals as symbols, Daniel 7 describes four successive ‘worldwide’ kingdoms. The fourth animal symbolizes the Roman Empire. [Show More]

From the fourth empire, 11 horns grew, symbolizing the kingdoms into which the Roman Empire fragmented. The 11th grew up last, uprooting three of the previous horns. It was the final and most important fragment of the Roman Empire; the continuation of Roman authority. It was small at first but grew in power and eventually dominated the other fragments (kingdoms). It is different from the others because it blasphemes God and persecutes His people. It will only be destroyed when Christ returns.

The Sea Beast – The same applies to the Sea Beast in Revelation. The previous article identified the Dragon as the Roman Empire. [Show More]

The Sea Beast receives its power and authority from the Dragon (Rev 13:2). Therefore, like the 11th horn, it is the main successor of the Roman Empire, the unique continuation of the power and authority of the Roman Empire.

Since the Sea Beast is the 11th horn, it began to exist after the Roman Empire fragmented. Rev 13:1-2, describing the Sea Beast coming up out of the sea, was the beginning of its existence.

Conclusions

Johan described the horns first.

Perhaps the horns were the first to become visible as the Beast rose out of the water, or perhaps John described the horns first because they were the last part of the animals of Daniel 7. [Show More]

Crowns on its Horns

While the Dragon has diadems (ruler crowns) on its heads (Rev 12:3), the Sea Beast has diadems on its horns (Rev 13:1). The allusions to Daniel 7, listed above, require us to interpret these crowns in terms of Daniel 7:

Daniel 7 has four animals symbolizing four successive empires.

Each has one head, except for the third, which has four heads, symbolizing the four concurrent divisions of the Greek Empire. The heads, therefore, exist during the time of the four empires. Consequently, the crowns on the heads of the Dragon indicate that it ruled during the time of the four empires.

While none of the other animals have horns, the fourth animal has 10, and later 11, symbolizing the fragments into which the Roman Empire divided. That the Sea Beast has diadems on its horns indicates that it rules during the time of the horns. In other words, it ruled AFTER the fourth empire had fragmented.

A Human Organization

The Beast comes out of the Sea (Rev 13:1). The sea is equivalent to “the earth” (Dan 7:2, 17), symbolizing the people of the world. In other words, both the animals in Daniel and the Beast in Revelation are organizations of the people of the world.

A Christian Organization.

The term stephanoi (victory crowns of the Olympics) is often used in Revelation to symbolize victory over sin, for example, “the crown (stephanos) of life” (Rev 2:10). But the Sea Beast has “diadems” on its horns. This is an untranslated Greek word, meaning crowns of rulers. In other words, the Sea Beast rules over people.

The Beast received its “power … throne and great authority” from the Dragon (Rev 13:2). A throne symbolizes authority to rule. Since the Beast received its throne from the Dragon (Rev 13:2), it received its authority from the Roman Empire. But it was not military authority. Another article identifies the Beast’s throne as Christian Religious Authority. In other words, the Beast is a Christian organization. [Show More]

Revelation’s Dragon and Daniel’s 4th animal are two symbols of the same power, namely, the Roman Empire. [Show More]

The Sea Beast is the same as the 11th horn that grows out of that fourth animal in Daniel 7. (Read article)

Previous Conclusions

Revelation’s Beast is Daniel’s 11th horn, which symbolizes the Church of the Roman Empire.

For clarity, this article reserves the term “Beast” for the Beast in Revelation 13:1 and refers to the creatures of Daniel 7 as animals.

Therefore, since the Sea Beast received its authority from the Dragon, it received its authority from the Roman Empire.

The Ten Horns in Daniel 7 are the kingdoms that arose from the fragmentation of the Roman Empire.

In Daniel 7, ten horns grow out of the fourth animal.

A previous article identified the 4th animal as the Roman Empire. [Show More]

The 10 horns are the nations of Europe into which the Western Roman Empire divided in the fifth century. [Show More]

The 11th Horn symbolizes the Church of the Roman Empire that became the Church of the Middle Ages.

After the first 10, an 11th horn comes up from the fourth animal (the Roman Empire). It is different from the others. It becomes larger than the other horns and opposes God. It blasphemes the Most High and persecutes His people (Dan 7:8, 24-25). These things are not said of the other 10 horns. Based on Daniel’s description, a previous article identified the 11th horn as the Roman Church, meaning the Church of the Roman Empire:

In 380, the Roman Empire made Nicene theology the State Religion of the Roman Empire, meaning that it was the only legal religion but also that it was subject to the authority of the emperors.

In the next (fifth) century, Arian tribes wrestled control of the Western Empire from the Romans and fragmented it into several Arian kingdoms, symbolized by the first ten horns of the fourth animal (the Roman Empire). The Roman Church survived as a distinct organization with its principles and a hierarchy of bishops but was now subject to Arian rule.

In the next (sixth) century, the Eastern Empire subjected three Arian nations and liberated the Roman Church, enabling it to rule itself, symbolized as the 11th horn coming up.

However, only in the High Middle Ages, from the 11th century onward, was the Roman Church able to dominate Europe and persecute God’s people.

Read Article

It is one of the kingdoms into which the Roman Empire fragmented in the fifth to eighth centuries. Specifically, it symbolizes the Roman Church.

SUMMARY

The fatal wound and resurrection of the Sea Beast suggest that this world power would have a period of great authority for “42 months,” followed by a period of death before its ‘resurrection’. This may be applied as follows to the ‘Roman Church’:

1. The 42 months represent the many centuries during the Middle Ages when it massacred people who did not accept its blaspheming doctrines and practices.

2. Its authority received a fatal wound through religious liberty and the separation of church and state in the time of the French Revolution.

3. In the end-time, the wound will be healed (Rev 13:3) when an image of the beast (a copy of the system during the Middle Ages) is set up, which will again kill its opponents.

A further indication – that the beast is the ‘church’ – is that the Sea Beast is not just a political power; it is also a religious power, for it “blaspheme His name and His tabernacle“and “make war with the saints.”

More specifically, the Sea Beast is a Christian organization, for it is a deliberate counterfeit of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus Christ, it:

- - Receives its authority,
  - Looks like one from which it receives its authority, and
  - Has a ministry that lasts three and a half years, followed by a death and a resurrection.

Other indications that the Sea Beast is a Christian organization are:

- - It specifically persecutes God’s people. Only a Christian organization is able to do that.
  - It uses a lamb-like beast as its agent. Revelation refers 28 times to Jesus as a lamb.
  - The Bible predicts in various places that the church would become corrupted.

The End-time Antichrist

The Sea Beast is not ‘personally’ involved in the end-time. Just like it received its authority from the Dragon (Rev 13:2), which symbolizes the Roman Empire, the Sea Beast gives its authority to its end-time assistant; the Beast from the Earth (Rev 13:12). The Earth Beast then convinces the people of the world to make an Image of the Sea Beast (Rev 13:14), which is an end-time organization in the likeness of the Sea Beast. In other words, it is an end-time organization that functions on the principles of the church in the Middle Ages. It is this ‘Image’ that persecutes and kills God’s end-time people (Rev 13:15).

The religious oppression and intolerance of the Protestant Orthodoxy (in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) were disturbingly similar to the Church in the High Middle Ages. The Holocaust and similar more recent religious cruelties make it clear that today’s version of institutional Christianity is not significantly improved over that of the Middle Ages. The end-time Antichrist is not any of the specific organizations that exist today, but an application of the principles of the church of the Middle Ages. Whenever we see persecution and killing of people for their religious convictions, whatever form that persecution takes, then we must know that the principles of the Roman Empire are at work, for God never uses force.

– END OF SUMMARY –

Evidence from Revelation

The previous section identified the Sea Beast by identifying Daniel’s evil horn. The current section identifies it based on what Revelation 13 itself says about it.

The time, times, and a half describes a period of 1260 years, from the time the Roman Church was liberated.

The death and resurrection of the Beast suggest that the world power, of which the Beast is a symbol, would have a period of great authority for “42 months,” followed by a period of death (the fatal wound – Rev 13:5) before its ‘resurrection’ (“his fatal wound was healed” – 13:5).

In the previous chapter, the 42 months are described as a time, times, and half a time or 1260 days (Rev 12:6, 14), during which God’s people will have to hide. These are the same period (time, times, and half a time = 3.5 years = 42 months = 42×30 = 1260 days). This same period is mentioned as a time, times, and half a time during which God’s people will be given into the hand of Daniel’s 11th Horn (Dan 7:25)

The nature of Revelation, with things such as beasts with seven heads and ten horns, that are worshiped by the people of the world, implies that time indications are also symbolic. For example, the ten horns are ten kings that will reign “for one hour” (Rev 17:12). This must be a symbol of a much longer period than one literal hour, but still a relatively short period, perhaps only some months. Compared to one hour, 42 literal months (3½ years) is a very, very long time.

Daniel 7 states that the 11th horn comes up when it uproots three of the other horns (Dan 7:8). That refers to Emperor Justinian’s wars in which he subjected the three Arian nations that dominated the Roman Church. Those wars began in 533 and ended in 552.

The authority of the Roman Church received a fatal wound by the introduction of religious liberty in the time of Napoleon and the French Revolution in the 1790s. The period from the 530s to the 1790s is 1260 literal years. It is, therefore, proposed that that was the period of authority of the Roman Church.

It follows that we today are living in the period of the Fatal Wound. The Church is no longer able to compel God’s people to comply with its demands, as it was during the Middle Ages. It further follows that the healing of the wound lies in our future. In the end-time, when the Image of the Beast is created (a copy of the system during the Middle Ages), the Beast-power will again be able to “cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev 13:15).

Revelation implies that the Beast is a Christian organization.

Firstly, the Beast blasphemes God and persecutes His people (Rev 13:6-7). A non-Christian organization is unable to identify God’s true people. Only a Christian organization is able to persecute God’s true people, for God’s people are identified by their protest against unbiblical doctrines and practices in the church.

Secondly, more specifically, the Beast is a counterfeit of Jesus Christ:

While Jesus is an image of His Father, the Sea Beast is an image of the Dragon. [Show More]

While Jesus received His authority from the Father, the Sea Beast received its authority from the Dragon. [Show More]

While Jesus’s ministry lasted for three and a half years, the Beast ruled for 42 months (Rev 13:5), which is also equal to three and a half years.

Like Jesus, the Beast’s ministry is followed by a death and a resurrection. [Show More]

Thirdly, one of the Beast’s associates is a lamb-like beast (Rev 13:11-12). Revelation refers 28 times to Jesus as a lamb. This is the only instance in Revelation where “lamb” does not refer to Jesus. The lamb-like beast, therefore, looks like Jesus but “spoke as a dragon” (Rev 13:11).

The beast is something dragon-like that has a Christian face! It claims to serve Jesus, yet its actions serve the Dragon!

The New Testament elsewhere often predicts that the Church would apostatize.

For example:

“The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim 4:1; cf. Acts 20:28-31; 2 Tim 3:1-5; 1 John 2:18-19).

The end-time Beast will not be the same organization as the Beast during the Middle Ages.

The final end-time phase of the Beast, after the Fatal Found had been healed, will be very different from the Roman Church and the Church of the Middle Ages. We should not expect the same organizations to be involved. In the end-time war, the sea beast will be resurrected, and an Image of the beast will be set up (Rev 13:14). Since it is the Image that persecutes God’s people in the end-time, and not the Beast itself, the Beast is probably resurrected by the creation of the Image, which will be a different organization.

The Church of the Middle Ages brutally persecuted and executed believers who dared to stand up to its doctrines and practices, but the religious oppression and intolerance of the Protestant Orthodoxy (in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) were disturbingly similar. For example, the role Calvin played in the murder of Michael Servetus. Bosnia, Rwanda, and the Holocaust show that Protestant Christianity has not significantly improved over that of the Middle Ages.

I propose that we define the beast as the mainstream church of Christendom. That definition would allow it to be represented by different organizations at different times.

Religious persecution is a sign of the Antichrist.

Whenever we see persecution and killing of people for their religious convictions, we see the spirit of Satan at work, for God never uses force. If God used force, He would not have allowed evil to develop. But He created us as free beings with the wonderful ability to make our own choices. He protects our freedom, for if He would override our freedom to choose against Him, He would be destroying the miracle which He has created.

Final Conclusions

Revelation’s Beast is the mainstream church of Christendom. This identification is based on the following:

The Beast is the same as the Evil Horn in the Book of Daniel, which is the Church of the Roman Empire, which grew to become the Church of the Middle Ages.

The description of the Beast in Revelation 13 identifies it as a Christian organization.

The beast symbolizes the Antichrist in both the Middle Ages (before the Fatal Wound) and in the end-time (after the Wound had been healed), but different organizations may be involved. In the end-time, the beast could take the form of the Protestant Orthodoxy.

Tag: End-time Antichrist

Revelation’s Beast is the Church of the Roman Empire.