Revelation 13:1-4 - The Beast Out of the Sea

“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority." From Revelation 10 to 14 we are looking at the middle of the Seven-year Tribulation. Chapters 10 to 12 somewhat look back and explain more detail about the first half of it. In chapter 12 we learned about the woman, or Israel; who gave birth to a male Child, Christ; the red dragon, Satan; who seeks to destroy the Child and His seed; and Michael, the archangel, who fights one final battle in heaven with Satan and cast him out. At the point when Satan is cast out of heaven, we begin to learn some details about the second half of the Tribulation when Satan comes down to the earth with great wrath knowing his time is short. Antichrist breaks his peace treaty with Israel and seeks to destroy it. But Israel is protected, and Satan turns is wrath to the rest of mankind for a specific amount of time, the last three and a half years of the Tribulation. Now in chapter 13 the final two personages are brought before us. One is the wild beast out of the sea (v. 1); he is both a political power and a person. We believe this is none other than the Antichrist. The other is the wild beast out of the earth (v. 11); he is a religious leader. We believe that this is the false prophet. We will learn more about him in Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10. Some texts read Rev. 13:1 as; "And he [Satan] stood upon the sand of the sea."  The sea symbolizes the Gentile nations (Rev. 17:15). From one of them, Satan will bring forth his "Super Leader," the man we call "Antichrist." Up to this point, many believe that Antichrist has headed a ten-nation European league; but now he is about to embark on a new career as Satan's world dictator. You will remember that Antichrist began his career as a peacemaker (Rev. 6:2) and even "settled" the Arab-Israeli problem by making a covenant with the Jews to protect them for seven years (Dan. 9:27). This protection would permit the nation to rebuild the temple and reinstitute religious rituals (Dan. 9:27; Rev. 11:1). But in the middle of the seven-year period (the time we are studying now in Rev. 10-14) he will break that covenant, stop the ceremonies, and set up himself as god in the temple (Dan. 9:27; 2 Thes. 2:1-12). The symbolic description of "the beast" enables us to learn something about his origin and character. God does not see him as a man, made in the divine image, but as a wild animal, under the control of Satan. He is a man (Rev. 13:18); but he is energized from hell, for he comes out of the pit (Rev. 11:7; 17:8). Just as Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, so "the beast" will be Satan in a human body (see John 13:2, 27). The seven heads represent seven mountains (Rev. 17:9); and since Rome was built on seven hills, this must be a veiled reference to that powerful city (see Rev. 17:18). It would be a most meaningful allusion in John's day! The ten horns represent ten kingdoms (Dan. 7:24; Rev. 17:12). It appears that "the beast" will head a "United States of Europe," a revived Roman Empire, before taking over as world dictator. All nations will no doubt admire and thank him for the "peace" he has achieved, little realizing the sorrow and destruction he will bring to the world. There are different views from the different commentators as to who this beast is. But most will agree that he is second person of the unholy trinity which is Satan, Antichrist and the false prophet. I am so thankful that as born-again follower of Jesus Christ, that we don’t have to worry about being on earth during this terrible time!