Chapter 13: The Two Beasts Revelation Chapter 13: The Two Beasts
Review The woman’s plight The child’s victory Satan loses The people of God Persecution The child’s victory Caught up to Heaven The dragon cast down Satan loses Earth, Heaven, Earth again A trinity of victories for God’s people
Chapter 13 Overview The Sea Beast (13:1-10) The Earth Beast (13:11-17) Its origin (13:1-2) Its wound (13:3-4) Its nature (13:5-8, 18) Its destiny (13:9-10) The Earth Beast (13:11-17) Its origin (13:11-17) Its abilities (13:13-15) Its demands (13:16-17)
Symbolism: The Number 8 We’ve hardly mentioned 8 8 does have symbolism Not since first class Hasn’t been used in Revelation so far 8 does have symbolism Day of circumcision “8th” day of the week Year of Jubilee 1st century baptism 8 means resurrection!
The Sea Beast (13:1-10) Seven heads and ten horns Daniel 2:31-45 From last week Out of the sea (Isa. 17:12,13, Dan. 7:2) Refer to Daniel 2, 7 and Rev. 17 Daniel 2:31-45 Prophecy of the statue Four kingdoms God’s eternal kingdom (church) One of these is Rome This concept is continued in Dan. 7
The Beasts of Daniel 7 Four great beasts (Dan. 7:1-8) Lion, bear, leopard, and another (Ref. ch. 13) Fourth beast = more powerful Four “kings” (Dan. 7:15-27) Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome The horns of the beast 10 horns plus another = kings Three are removed The 11th horn will oppress God’s people However, God will triumph
Back to Revelation 13 Seven heads? See Rev. 17:9-10 The Roman emperors Seven hills (Rome!) Seven “kings” with an 8th The 8th is a revival of a previous king So we have “8” heads The Roman emperors Before Augustus, Rome was not an empire Several emperors ruled in the 1st century (See dry-erase board)
The Roman Emperors 1. Augustus 2. Tiberius 3. Caligula 4. Claudius 5. Nero 6. Galba (7 months) 7. Otho (3 months) 8. Vitellius (8 months) 9. Vespasian 10. Titus 11. Domitian 1. Augustus 2. Tiberius 3. Caligula 4. Claudius 5. Nero 6. 7. 8. 9. Vespasian 10. Titus 11. Domitian Horns of Daniel 7 Heads of Revelation 13
The Roman Emperors Five would be fallen (17:10) One “is” (17:10) Augustus through Nero One “is” (17:10) Vespasian (69-79 AD) One to come a little while Titus ruled for only two years Then the eighth king (remember 8) Domitian, a resurrection of Nero Brought back persecution to the church The uprooted three ruled for only months
Back to Revelation 13 The Beast The Beast of the earth (11-18) The empire of Rome under Domitian Institutional persecution Given power temporarily by God Blasphemies, arrogance The Beast of the earth (11-18) Looking like a lamb, speaking like a dragon False religion, the emperor-worship The “mark” 666: remember Ezekiel 9 6 is the man number, short of perfection (7)
Summary We now see Rome described Domitian as Nero reincarnated Prophetically through Daniel John borrows Daniel’s symbols Heads, horns, kings, emperors “Seven hills” Domitian as Nero reincarnated The two beasts Sea beast = political power of Rome Earth beast = Rome the religion