Verses 1/10

This passage describes a beast which arises out of the sea (the nations). This is the same beast as appears in Revelation 11 v 7 and 17 v 3. The evidence for this is as follows:

a)   The beast in Revelation 11 v 7 arises from the bottomless pit or abyss (greek abussos), the same greek word occurs in Luke 8 v 31 where it is translated "deep" and refers to a stretch of water. It is concluded that in both Revelation 11 v 7 and 13 v 1 the same beast is being referred to, as they both arise from what can be regarded as the same place.
 
b)   In both Revelation 13 v 6 and Revelation 17 v 3 the beasts are associated with blasphemy.

The 7 heads and 10 horns of the beast are identified in Revelation 17 v 9 - 12. Verses 9 - 10 say about the seven heads:

"The seven heads are seven mountains ..... and THEY are seven kings".

The AV separates the kings and heads ("and THERE are seven kings"). This is inaccurate and has led to much confusion.

In Revelation 17 v 10, it says that five kings are fallen, one is and one is yet to come. At the time when Revelation was written, the 7th head of the 4 beasts in Daniel chapter 7 vs 3 - 8 was in the ascendancy (the Romans). How can this be equated with the statement that 5 are fallen, one is and one is yet to come in Revelation 17 v 10? The answer, which is consistent with Revelation 17 v 11 ("the beast ... is the eighth, and is of the seven") is that one of the six heads preceding the Roman beast is not completely gone, but is to emerge again after it.

Revelation 13 v 2 shows that this re-emerging beast has qualities which are similar to the first three beasts that Daniel saw. Its feet were like a Persian bear (it treads down the holy city with these - Revelation 11 v 2), its mouth was like a Babylonian lion and it had the appearance of a Greek leopard. The beast has 7 heads and 10 horns (v 1), which is the sum of the heads and horns of the four beasts in Daniel 7, again indicating that it has characteristics of all its predecessors.

It has been seen that Revelation 17 v 9 - 10 indicates that the 7 heads of the beast represent the 7 kings associated with the 4 beasts that Daniel saw. However, the 10 horns on the beast do not merely point back to the 10 horns on the head of the fourth beast, but represent 10 kings who will "receive power as kings one hour with the beast" (v 12 - see also notes on chapter 17).

Revelation 13 v 3 ties in with Revelation 17 v 11 and indicates that one  of the heads of Daniel's beasts does not fall, but re-emerges. It says "one of his heads ... wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed:  and all the world wondered after the beast".

Revelation 13 v 4 shows that the dragon of chapter 12, which is identified as being the devil and Satan, gives  power to the beast. The beast at the start of Revelation 13 is another manifestation of man's disobedience to God.

The beast of Revelation 13 v 1 - 10 is the little horn of Daniel 7, which emerges from the regions governed by the Roman beast. This is shown by the fact that Revelation 13 quotes the words of Daniel 7 which speaks about the little horn.

               13 v 5    "a mouth speaking great things" - Daniel 7 v 8
               13 v 7    "make war with the saints and overcome them" - Daniel 7 v 21

In Revelation 13 v 7 it speaks about the beast making war with the saints and overcoming them. This compares with similar statements in 11 v 7, 12 v 17 and 19 v 19, indicating that it persecutes the two witnesses of chapter 11, and that it wars against Christ and his army of saints.

A second beast - a false Christ that emerges before the return of Jesus.

Verses 11/16

This passage speaks of a second beast, this time coming from the land (v11), which has some similarity to a lamb (representing Christ e.g. Revelation 5 v 6). This beast is a false Christ which arises from the land of Israel and which tries to convince the people of the land to worship the first beast of verses 1 - 10.

This second beast "doeth great wonders" (gk semeion) and "deceiveth (gk planao) them that dwell on the earth" (Revelation 13 v 13 - 14). These statements contain similarities to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and Matthew chapter 24. The following table shows some similarities between 2 Thessalonians 2, the Book of Revelation, Matthew 24 and Daniel chapters 7/11.
 
 

2 Thessalonians 2 addresses the question of when the day of Christ's coming will be. Paul says that before it happens there will be two events, namely a falling away and the revelation of the man of sin (also called the son of perdition v 3). There seem to be two things described in 2 Thessalonians 2, namely the son of perdition (v 3) and the wicked (lit lawless one) (v 8). The son of perdition is "taken out of the way" (v 7) and then the wicked (lit lawless one) is revealed. Both the son of perdition and wicked one are associated with lawlessness (v 7 - iniquity  = gk anomia ; v 8 - wicked = gk anomos ; a nom ... means literally "not law"). The greek term anom... is used to describe both jews (e.g. Matthew 23 v 28 - "iniquity" = anomia) and gentiles (e.g. Romans 2 v 12 - "without law" = anomos), with the context of  how these people relate to the law of Moses (see Matthew 23 v 23 and Romans 2 v 12 - 14). It will be suggested that the son of perdition arises from the land of Israel and that the wicked or lawless one arises from the Gentiles, however they are similar in that both of them do not follow the ways of the God of Israel.

Judas Iscariot is described as the son of perdition (John 17 v 12), and he can be regarded as an Israelite who rejected his Messiah for material gain. Similarly, the son of perdition of 2 Thessalonians can be regarded as an ungodly, materialistic power. This suggestion arises from the fact that 2 Thessalonians 2 v 4 makes reference to Daniel 11 v 36 ("exalteth himself").

 Prior to Daniel 11 v 36, it speaks of how the king of the north (to Israel) and the king of the south behave towards each other when the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great breaks up. Verse 36 however introduces someone known as "the king" who shall "exalt himself", and "magnify himself above every God". This king is likely to be jewish in origin, as he shall not "regard the God of his fathers" (compare e.g. Gen 48 v 15). Verse 40 relates what happens to this Israelite king when it says "at the time of the end, shall the king of the south push at HIM : and the king of the north shall come against HIM".  It is also of interest that the king of Daniel 11 v 36 - 45 will "divide the land for gain" (v 39). This perhaps is a description of the current "land for peace" process taking place in Israel.

The Israelite son of perdition in 2 Thessalonians 2 is "taken out of the way" (v 7) prior to the revelation of the wicked/lawless one (v 8). This fits the pattern of Daniel 11 v 36 - 45 where the king is removed by the king of the North.
 
The second beast of Revelation 13 can be equated to the false prophet (gk pseudo - prophetes) of Revelation 19 v 20 (as both deceive and do wonders/miracles (compare Revelation 13 v 13, 14 with 19 v 20)). Items f), g) and h) in the table show that there are similarities between the wicked or lawless one of 2 Thessalonians 2 and the false prophet (lies, deception and signs). This shows that the qualities of the lawless one are manifested through the false prophet. The second beast or false prophet can be considered as a power in the land of Israel which promotes the king of the North to others living in the land.
 
It can also be seen from the table that the whore or "Babylon" of Revelation 17, who sits on the beast (v 3), manifests the qualities associated with both the son of perdition and the wicked one (references in item b)), which is iniquity (see above for a definition of iniquity). These notes suggest that the whore is Jerusalem and her iniquity indicates that she  reflects the attitudes of those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ, both of jews and of the nations round about.

Verses 17/18

The number of the beast is given as 666 (v 18) and points to the first beast of Revelation 13 being a re-emergence of  Babylon.

The significance of the expression "number of ... name" (v 17) of the beast can be explained by reference to Numbers chapter 1. In verse 2 of that chapter it says that the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel was to be determined "after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of names, every male by their skulls (AV polls)". Here, the number refers to members of a family, similarly the number of the name of the beast could be a reference to the number of his family/descendants. The only man having a family of 666 in scripture is Adonikam, who is mentioned in the Book of Ezra. In Ezra 2 v 13 it states that the children of Adonikam were "six hundred, sixty and six". The first point to make is that Adonikam came from Babylon to the land of Israel. Secondly, the name Adonikam may be of significance as it means "My lord is risen". When this is coupled with the fact that the land is encouraged to worship the beast (v 12), it becomes likely that the beast is regarded by its followers as another god or lord which has been resurrected (this ties in with the idea of it having a deadly wound which is healed - v 3).

The fact that skulls were counted in Numbers chapter 1 (the passage which provides language to do with numbering in Revelation 13), may be taken as another indication of the beast's idolatrous nature (see  the notes on chapter 11 for the link between skulls and idolatry).

666 is also the number of talents of gold that Solomon collected (2 Chronicles 9 v 13). This can be linked to the fact that the Babylonian part of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream was gold (Daniel 2 v 32).
 
In Revelation 13 v 14 the second beast says that an image of the first beast should be made. The statement "making an image" in Revelation 13 v 14 comes from Daniel 3 v 1, and the statement that "as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed" (v 15) comes from Daniel 3 v 5, 6. The image was put up by the king of Babylon and was made of gold. The reference to the image strengthens the conclusion that the first beast of Revelation 13 v 1 - 10 is another manifestion of Babylon.
 
It is possible that a power, centred on present day Iraq or historical Babylon, will emerge as the beast and that a false system of worship arising within Israel will endorse its claim to rule over Jerusalem. The idea that the beast will emerge to the North of Israel does tie in with other scriptures. Among these are the following:

a)  Daniel 11 v 40 - 45 (which is alluded to in Revelation 12 v 7 - 9) indicates that the invader  of the land will be the king of the North (which historically was the Seleucid kingdom based in Babylon);

b)  Joel 2 v 20 indicates that the invading army which afflicts the land shortly before the establishment of the kingdom will be from the north (note references to Joel chapter 2 in the notes on chapters 8 and 9).

[Notes:  The Seleucid kingdom based on Babylon was annexed into the Roman Empire by Pompey in 64 BC. So a beast growing out of Babylon would be consistent with the earlier statement that the little horn grows out of Rome.

In Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar is told that seven times will pass over his kingdom, following its cutting down. Although this prophecy relates primarily to Nebuchadnezzar's day, the fact that the stump of the Babylonian tree was encircled by a band of iron and brass (and presumably cut down by something silver), indicates that it has a longer term fulfilment relating to the kingdoms of men. On the basis that the seven times relate to seven years each of 360 days and that this number of days can represent years, the prophecy could relate to 2520 years, with the start being when Persia captured Babylon (539 BC). The prophecy would be fulfilled at about 1979/1980, when Saddam Hussein took over in Iraq and the Iran/Iraq war commenced (or Babylon/Persia war using biblical language). It may be that the emergence of Iraq since 1979 is of significance. ]

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