Revelation 13 Archives » From Daniel to Revelation

2025-04-012025-05-05

The Beast continues the authority of the Roman Empire.

Overview

The main goal of this website is to identify the Mark of the Beast. The current article identifies the Beast.

Daniel 7 uses four animals to describe the kingdoms that will rule from the time of ancient Babylon until Christ’s return. The Sea Beast is part of that series of kingdoms because it receives something from each of the four animals in Daniel 7.

Specifically, the Beast is the 11th horn of the fourth animal Daniel 7. For example, both the Beast and the 11th horn are the main characters in their respective prophecies, are described as the Antichrist, persecute God’s people for “a time, times, and half a time,” and will exist until Christ returns.

Another article identifies Daniel’s fourth animal as the Roman Empire. Since the 11 horns symbolize the fragments into which the Roman Empire divided, and since the Beast is the 11th horn, the Beast is one of those fragments and came into existence when the Roman Empire fragmented. The way it is described means it is particularly that fragment that continues Roman authority.

The second beast in Revelation 13 (the Land Beast) is a Christian organization because it has two horns like a lamb, meaning it is Christ-like, and because it is called the “false prophet.” Since the Land Beast exercises all the authority of the Sea Beast, the Beast is also a Christian organization.

Purpose – To identify the Beast

The purpose of this article is to identify the Beast.

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. The first question is which beast this is, for there are several beasts in Revelation. Show More

It is the Mark of the Beast from the Sea (Rev 13:1) that will be placed on people. The Land Beast exercises all the authority of the Sea Beast (Rev 13:12) and deceives the people to make an Image of the Sea Beast (Rev 13:14). The Image then forces the people to receive the Mark of the Beast.

It explains Daniel 7.

The Sea Beast is part of the series of kingdoms in Daniel 7.

The Beast has seven heads and ten horns (Rev 13:1) and receives its appearance and power from four other animals:

“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.” (Rev 13:2)

Daniel 7 uses four animals to describe the kingdoms that will rule from the time of ancient Babylon until Christ’s return. The following allusions in the description of the Sea Beast to the animals of Daniel 7 indicate that the Sea Beast is part of the series of kingdoms in Daniel 7:

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

2) The Sea Beast receives something from each of the four animals in Daniel 7:

The first three animals, from which the Sea Beast receives its appearance (the Lion, Bear, and Leopard), are explicitly the first three animals in Daniel 7 (Dan 7:5, 6, 7).

The fourth animal from which the Sea Beast receives is a Dragon (Rev 13:2). For the following reasons, the Dragon is the fourth animal in Daniel 7:

(1) The fourth animal in Daniel 7 is not named but is described as “dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong … It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet” (Dan 7:7). This sounds like a dragon.

(2) Since the Dragon in Revelation is mentioned with three other animals that are explicitly the same as the first three animals in Daniel 7. Show More

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

These are perhaps the strongest allusions to the Old Testament anywhere in the Book of Revelation. It is not a coincidence but implies that the Sea Beast is part of the series of kingdoms in Daniel 7, explaining it in more detail.

It is the 11th Horn.

Specifically, the Beast is the 11th horn of Daniel 7.

For the following reasons, the Sea Beast is equivalent to the 11th horn that grows out of the fourth animal in Daniel 7:

(1) Both succeed and continue Daniel’s fourth kingdom.

The 11th Horn grows out of the 4th animal in Daniel 7. The Sea Beast receives its throne, authority, and great power from the Dragon (Rev 13:2), which, as argued above, is equivalent to Daniel’s 4th animal.

(2) Like Daniel’s 11th horn is the main character in Daniel, the Sea Beast is the main character in Revelation:

The fourth animal of Daniel 7 has 11 horns. The 11th horn is the main character in Daniel 7. It grows and becomes larger than all the other horns (Dan 7:20, 24). It will become so important that a court will sit in heaven to judge between it and God’s people (Dan 7:26, 9-11, 14). It will only be destroyed when Christ returns (Dan 7:26, 27). The only reason the first four animals and ten horns are mentioned is to enable us to identify the 11th horn.

Similarly, the Sea Beast is the main character in the Book of Revelation. For example, in the end-time crisis, the Mark of the Sea Beast, which is the Name of the Sea Beast or the Number of its Name, is put on the foreheads of God’s enemies (Rev 13:16, 17), and it will only be destroyed when Christ returns (Rev 19:20).

(3) 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).

(4) Both persecute God’s people for “a time, times, and half a time” (Dan 7:25).

The Sea Beast’s period is 42 months (Rev 13:5), which is the same as the “time, times, and half a time” of the 11th horn. Show More

(5) Both will exist until Christ returns (Dan 7:26-27; Rev 19:11, 20).

Specifically, therefore, both exist during the end-time crisis.

It continues Roman Authority.

The Beast is that fragment of the Roman Empire which continues Roman authority.

Another article identifies Daniel’s fourth animal as the Roman Empire. Show More

Therefore, the 11 horns symbolize the kingdoms into which the Roman Empire fragmented. The 11th grew up last. It was the final and most important fragment of that Empire. It was small at first but grew in power and eventually dominated the other fragments (kingdoms).

It began to exist when the Roman Empire fragmented, described in Revelation as the Beast coming up out of the sea (Rev 13:1). It received its throne, authority, and great power from that Empire (Rev 13:2). Therefore, it is the main successor of the Empire, the unique continuation of the power and authority of the Roman Empire, and will only be destroyed when Christ returns! The Roman Empire is still with us!

A Christian Organization

The Beast is 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.

The Beast is a Christian organization.

A throne symbolizes authority to rule. Since the Beast received its throne from the Dragon (Rev 13:2), it received its authority to rule from the Roman Empire. But it was not military authority. We can see the nature of its authority in the Land Beast because the Land Beast exercises all the authority of the Sea Beast (Rev 13:12). The following indicates that the Land Beast is Christian:

It has two horns like a lamb (Rev 13:11). All other instances of the term ‘lamb’ in Revelation refer to Jesus (e.g., Rev 5:6). In other words, the Land Beast looks like Christ, but spoke as a dragon (Rev 13:11).

It is called the “false prophet” (Rev 16:13). In other words, the Beast is Christian in name.

Elsewhere in Revelation, the Power opposing God’s people also claims to be Christian. Show More

Other Observations

The following are further observations from Revelation 13:1-2 that are not directly connected to the identity of the Beast:

John described the horns first because they were the existed last.

John first describes the horns and heads and then the beast’s body. Perhaps, as the beast rose from the sea, the horns became visible first, then the heads, and then the body.

Alternatively, John might have looked at these things from a vantage point in the future and saw past events in the reversed chronological sequence. Since the horns were the last to come into existence in Daniel 7, John saw them first. Show More

The crowns on the Beast’s horns imply that it rules during the time of the horns of Daniel 7.

While the Dragon has diadems (an untranslated Greek word, meaning 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 had one head, except for the third, which had 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. The Sea Beast’s diadems on its horns indicate that it ruled during the time of the horns. In other words, it ruled after the fourth empire had fragmented.

In older translations, John stands on the seashore. In the earliest manuscripts, it is the Dragon.

In 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 shows it to be the Dragon:

In Rev 12, the Dragon is involved in a series of wars but suffers defeat in all of them. After the last defeat, it went away to prepare for the war against the remnant of God’s people (Rev 12:17).

In Rev 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, where it is first joined by the Beast from the Sea (Rev 13:1) and later by the Beast from the Land (Rev 13:11).

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

Overview

This article is essentially a combination of the conclusions from previous articles. Concerning the Book of Daniel, previous articles concluded:

The fourth animal in Daniel 7 symbolizes the Roman Empire.

The 11 horns growing from this animal are the kingdoms formed when the Roman Empire fragmented.

The 11th Horn is the Antichrist, identified as the Church of the Roman Empire. In the fourth century, the Church was divided into factions, but the Empire made one faction its sole religion. This became the Roman Church, subject to the authority of the emperor. However, the Empire outlawed and severely persecuted other factions.

After the Roman Empire fragmented, the Roman Church survived as a distinct organization and grew in power in power to become the Church of the Middle Ages.

Concerning the Book of Revelation, previous articles concluded:

The Dragon, from which the Beast receives its authority, is the Roman Empire.

The Beast is equivalent to Daniel’s 11th Horn, symbolizing the Roman Church.

The 42 months during which the Beast will rule (13:5) are the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages ended when religious freedom prevented the Roman Church from persecuting. That is the fatal wound to one of the heads (phases) of the Beast (13:3). Today, we are living during this fatal wound.

In the End Time, the wound will be healed (Rev 13:3) when an Image of the Beast (a replica of the system from the Middle Ages) is established, which will once again persecute its opponents.

Book of Daniel

The fourth animal in Daniel 7 symbolizes the Roman Empire.

Daniel 7 symbolizes four successive empires as four animals emerge from the sea. The 4th animal is the Roman Empire:

There are only two animals in Daniel 8; the Ram and the Goat, explicitly identified as “the kings of Media and Persia” and as “the kingdom of Greece” (Dan 8:20-21). By comparing them to the animals in Daniel 8 (see here), the animals in Daniel 7 are identified as ancient Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and the Roman Empire.

The 11 horns are the kingdoms formed when the Roman Empire fragmented.

From the 4th animal (the Roman Empire), 11 horns grow. The first 10 symbolize the nations of Europe into which the Western Roman Empire divided in the fifth century. Show More

The 11th Horn is the Antichrist.

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, persecutes His people (Dan 7:8, 24-25), and will only be destroyed when Christ returns (Dan 7:26-27).

Show More

The 11th Horn is the Church of the Roman Empire.

The 11th Horn is one of the kingdoms into which the Roman Empire fragmented in the fifth to eighth centuries. In the Roman Empire, the emperors decided which religions and factions of religions to allow. In practice, after Christianity was legalized, the emperors were the heads of the Church and the ultimate judges in doctrinal disputes. Show More

“The truth is that in the Christian church of the fourth century there was no alternative authority comparable to that of the Emperor. The century did indeed see an increase in the power of the bishop of Rome, but he still could not be regarded as a figure even remotely as powerful as that of the Emperor.” (Hanson, p. 854)

“If we ask the question, what was considered to constitute the ultimate authority in doctrine during the period reviewed in these pages, there can be only one answer. The will of the Emperor was the final authority.” (Hanson, p849)

“The idea of papal sovereignty was foreign to the Byzantines. … unintelligible, unreasonable, and unhistorical. … (in) their concept of the order of the Christian world … The Christian Roman Emperor was the elect of God and … God’s vice-gerent [God’s agent on earth] on earth … His patriarchs or supreme bishops of the Christian Empire … were the spiritual heads of the Christian world, acting in harmony with him. Church and State were therefore one, indissoluble and interdependent.” (A Cambridge article)

“Simonetti remarks that the Emperor was in fact the head of the church.” (Hanson, p. 849)

The fourth-century church “did not regard Constantine’s authority as secular.” Rather, the church regarded the emperor as its “’bishop’ and pastor.” (Williams, 88)

“The emperor has the right, like any authoritative teacher, to examine and criticize and, where necessary, discipline or expel his pupils – language and ideas clearly visible in, for example, Constantine’s correspondence with Arius.” (Williams, 88)

The authority of the emperor over the ‘pope’ is illustrated by an incident in 378, when a church council in Rome granted the bishop or Rome authority over bishops as well as immunity “from the judgment of any tribunal save the Emperor’s court.” Emperor Gratian responded with a decree “allowing the Pope’s authority over bishops within his jurisdiction but refusing him immunity from ecclesiastical law.” (Hanson, p. 794)

“The history of the period shows time and time again that local councils could be overawed or manipulated by the Emperor or his agents. The general council was the very invention and creation of the Emperor. General councils, or councils aspiring to be general, were the children of imperial policy and the Emperor was expected to dominate and control them.” (Hanson, p. 855)

“In the later Roman Empire, civil and ecclesiastical authority blended. One example of this blending is the ecclesiastical edicts of Constantine and his successors.” (Boyd)

“Constantine established the precedent for imperial intervention in ecclesiastical affairs … while Gratian and Theodosius finally and decisively fixed the alliance of the state with ecclesial creed and persecution.” (The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code – Boyd, p33)

“Constantine gave the episcopal (papal) courts a place in the judicial system of the empire. … the episcopal arbitration was transformed into a legal mode of procedure. … the place given him (the bishop) in the system of justice was similar to that of the judges of the public law courts. … Moreover, the conception of his office as arbitrator was that of an authority transcending (exceeding) the regular civil courts.” (The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code – Boyd, p90-91).

In the fourth century, the Church was divided, mainly between Arian and Nicene factions. However, in 380, the Roman Empire made Nicene theology the State Religion of the Empire (see here), meaning that it was subject to the authority of the emperors but also received protection from the emperor. At the same time, the Empire outlawed and severely persecuted the other forms of Christianity. The Empire confiscated Arian churches and prohibited Arians from residing in cities. Outside the Empire, Christianity remained Arian.

The Church of the Roman Empire later became the Church of the Middle Ages.

In the next (fifth) century, Germanic tribes wrestled control of the Western Empire from the Romans and fragmented it into several Germanic kingdoms, symbolized by the first ten horns of the fourth animal. Since these tribes converted to Christianity when Arianism dominated, they were Arians. The Roman Church, with its teachings and hierarchy of bishops, survived as a distinct organization but was now subject to Arian rule.

In the sixth century, the Eastern Empire sent troops to the West and liberated the Roman Church by subjecting three Arian nations. This enabled the Roman Church to rule itself. This event is symbolized as the 11th Horn coming up by uprooting three other horns. However, it was still subordinate to the Eastern Roman emperors and depended on them for protection.

In the eighth century, Muslim armies significantly weakened the Eastern Empire, rendering it unable to protect the Western Church. The Church survived by seeking the protection of other rulers but was still subject to such rulers, who appointed (invested) the popes and the bishops.

Beginning in the 12th century, in the High Middle Ages, the Papacy attained power that rivaled and exceeded that of the Western Monarchs. It became the Church of the Middle Ages, which dominated the nations of Europe and persecuted God’s people. Read Article

Book of Revelation

The Dragon, when mentioned with the Beast, is the Roman Empire.

There are three seven-headed beasts in Revelation: the Dragon, the Sea Beast, and the Scarlet Beast. These beasts are part of the series of animals in Daniel 7, and explain those empires in more detail. Revelation 12 uses “Dragon” as a general symbol for all God’s opponents, but in Revelation 13, where it is described with the Beast, the Dragon is specifically equivalent to Daniel’s 4th animal (see here), representing the Roman Empire.

The Beast is equivalent to the 11th Horn, symbolizing the Church of the Roman Empire.

The Beast of Revelation, whose Mark in the Time of the End will be put on the foreheads of people (Rev 13:15-16), receives its authority from the Dragon (Rev 13:2). In other words, it received its authority from the Roman Empire. The Beast is the same as the 11th Horn that grows out of that fourth animal in Daniel 7 (see here), which has been identified as 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.

The Beast is a Christian organization.

Revelation confirms as follows that the Beast is the ‘church,’ and not just a political power:

(1) It is a deliberate counterfeit of Jesus Christ:

Like Jesus, the Beast has a ministry that lasts three and a half years (Rev 13:5) and was killed but resurrected from death (Rev 13:3).

While Jesus received His authority from the Father (Matt 28:18), the Sea Beast received its authority from the Dragon (Rev 13:2). Show More

While Jesus is the image of God (Col 1:15; John 14:9), the Beast is an image of the Dragon because both have seven heads and ten horns.

(2) The Beast persecutes explicitly God’s people (Rev 13:6-7). 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.

(3) The Beast uses a lamb-like beast as its agent (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). It is dragon-like with a Christian face! It claims to serve Jesus, yet its actions serve the Dragon!

(4) 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 Beast rules for 42 months.

According to Revelation 13, one of the Beast’s seven heads would have a fatal wound, but the wound would be healed (Rev 13:3). This means that the Beast would be strong for a period, followed by a period of weakness, before it again becomes strong.

The Land Beast “makes the earth and those who dwell in it
to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed” (Rev 13:12). In other words, the end-time persecution of God’s people, as described in the last part of Revelation 13, describes the time after the Beast’s wound healed.

Revelation 13 also says that the Beast would have “authority to act” for 42 months (Rev 13:5). Since this cannot be the period of weakness, the question is, do the 42 months precede or follow the Wound?

The 42 months describe the Middle Ages.

The article discussing the 42 months (see here) concludes as follows:

1. The “time, times, and a half,” 42 months, and 1260 days are the same period. Show More

2. This period is not the End Time but always precedes the End Time. Show More

3. The 3½ times it is not literally 1260 days but symbolic of a much longer period. Show More

4. A Day must be counted as a Year. That is how the Reformers interpreted the apocalyptic time prophecies. Therefore, 1260 days represent 1260 years.

5. The 3½ times or 42 months are the Middle Ages:

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 was wounded 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. Therefore, it is proposed that that was the period of authority of the Roman Church.

Therefore, the ‘Roman Church’ exists through three stages.

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 around the time of the French Revolution. We are today living during the fatal wound. The Church is no longer able to compel people to comply with its prescripts, as it was during the Middle Ages.

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.

The Beast is not directly involved in the end-time war.

Just like the Beast received its authority from the Dragon (Rev 13:2), symbolizing the Roman Empire, the Beast gives its authority to its end-time assistant, the Land Beast (Rev 13:12). The Land Beast then convinces the people of the world to make an Image of the Sea Beast (Rev 13:14). The Image persecutes and kills God’s end-time people (Rev 13:15).

The Image is an end-time organization in the likeness of the Beast. It is an end-time organization that functions on the principles of the Church of the High Middle Ages, but it is not the Beast itself. It will not be the same organization as during the Middle Ages. The Beast is resurrected by the creation of the Image, but it will be a different organization.

The Image of the Beast is religious persecution.

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 to the Church in the High Middle Ages. For example, the role Calvin played in the murder of Michael Servetus. Bosnia, Rwanda, and the Holocaust show that today’s version of institutional Christianity has not significantly improved over that of the Middle Ages.

Whenever we see persecution and killing of people for their religious convictions, whatever form that persecution takes, 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 overrides our freedom to choose against Him, He would destroy the miracle He has created.

Tag: Revelation 13

The Beast continues the authority of the Roman Empire.

Overview

Purpose – To identify the Beast

It explains Daniel 7.

It is the 11th Horn.

It continues Roman Authority.

A Christian Organization

Other Observations

Other Articles

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

Overview

Book of Daniel

Book of Revelation

Other Articles