Revelation 13:1-18

Tomlinson's Comments

CHAPTER XIII
THE VISION OF THE TWO BEASTS

Text (Revelation 13:1-18)

INTRODUCTION

1 and he stood upon the sand of the sea.
And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as though it had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed: and the whole earth wondered after the beast; 4 and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? and who is able to war with him? 5 and there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to him authority to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his month for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, even them that dwell in the heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. 8 And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain. 9 If any man hath an ear, let him hear. 10 If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12 And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed. 13 And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who hath the stroke of the sword and lived. 15 And it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; 17 and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty and six.

In the twelfth chapter, we, as it were, were taken back stage, to behold the real personality behind the church's persecution. Under the symbolism of a dragon, we found the arch villain to be none other than that old serpent, that is called the devil and Satan.
But as Christ must have human instrumentality to present Him to the world, so, likewise, the devil must employ some human instrument to carry on his nefarious work.
The thirteenth chapter is devoted to the uncovering of the agents employed by Satan. They are two in number:

1.

First, the seven-headed, ten-horned beast coming up out of the sea. Revelation 13:1

2.

Second, the two-horned beast, like a lamb, coming up out of the earth. Revelation 13:11

Taking them under consideration in the order in which they are presented, we begin with the first.

The First Beast

Revelation 13:1-2 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and this dragon gave him his power and his seat, and great authority.

This first beast appears again in Revelation 17:3 and undoubtedly, the beast mentioned in the nineteenth chapter in relation to the false prophet is the same as this first beast.

From this we are given to understand that the record of these two beasts extends into the nineteenth chapter, where both are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Our first symbol, then, to be unfathomed is that of the beast. Daniel stands ready to help us with this, as he had a wonderful experience with beasts, of the very same nature. In the seventh chapter, Daniel tells us of four beasts which he saw. The first was like a lion, the second was like a bear, the third was like a leopard, and the fourth was a nondescript beast, dreadful and terrible, strong exceedingly, with ten horns. He was grieved in spirit concerning them and was told by one of them that stood by, who made Daniel know the interpretation of the things:

These great beasts, which are four are four Kings which shall arise out of the earth (Daniel 7:17) Later in the same chapter and Daniel 7:23 we read:

The fourth beast shall be the fourth Kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from all Kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and break it in pieces.
If the fourth beast is the fourth Kingdom, then it naturally and logically follows that the third beast is the third Kingdom upon the earth; the second beast is the second Kingdom and the first beast is the first great world empire.
There have only been four world empires in all history. In their order they are: The Babylonian, or the lion world empire, the Media-Persian, the bear empire, the Grecian, symbolized by the leopard, and last, the Roman Empire, the non-descript beast.

Daniel not only informs us that the beast is a symbol of a world empire, but further informs us that the last great world-empire, the greatest and most dreadful of them all, is the Roman. Also he tells us that the Roman empire is to have ten horns. These ten horns, he tells us in (Daniel 7:24) are ten Kings.

As the four great beasts were said to be four Kings, which later we are told are four world empires, by the same token the ten horns being called ten Kings, are also ten Kingdoms, but lesser ones than the great parent empire.
History records that the Roman Empire was broken up into ten smaller Kingdoms. So, we have identified the beast as the Roman Empire and the horns as smaller Kingdoms.
Another matter we should notice here is that in Daniel, the seventh chapter, the plurality of world empires is presented by a succession of different beasts, each beast representing a succeeding empire, but in Revelation, only one beast appears in this part of the vision, but combining all the properties of all the beasts of Daniel's vision.
The beast John saw combines the feline cruelty and dexterity of a leopard, the tremendous strength of a bear and the terrifying roar of a lion.
The succession of world empires, one succeeding the other, could not be symbolized by a succession of beasts in this vision, because the Roman Empire possessing the characteristics of all the preceding beasts, as a whole is pictured here by a single beast of composite character. Since no beast in the natural world possesses all such characteristics, this last one is presented as a nondescript-literally not able to be described in the realm of nature.

We notice something else interesting to behold. In John's vision the beasts going to make up the composite symbol of the beast coming up out of the sea are enumerated in the reverse order as given in Daniel. In Daniel, the ten-horned beast, or Rome, was the last of the four, but in John's vision, it is the first, then as named the leopard, or Greece, then the bear, or Meda-Persia, and last the lion, or Babylon, which in Daniel's vision is first.

A simple explanation of this reversal of order is that Daniel, in the days of the Lion, or Babylon, was looking forward from the time of that first great world empire. John, on the other hand, lived in the days of the nondescript beast, or Roman Empire and was looking backward. Looking backward, the order of the beasts to him, then, would be the leopard, the bear, and the lion. Daniel looking forward would see them in the reverse order, the lion, the bear, the leopard and the nondescript beast.
The beast nearest to Daniel was the farthest from John, and the beast nearest to John was the farthest from Daniel.

How appropriate to symbolize a worldly empire by a beast. While man is an uplooking creature, the beast takes a downward look. So an earthly Kingdom ever looks downward because it takes an earthly view of things. While the Kingdom of Christ ever looks upward because its affections are set on things above and not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)

We are now ready to consider yet another symbol, that of the sea. John saw this beast come up out of the sea. The restless ocean is a symbol of commotion. Revelation used the term sea as a symbol of peoples, multitudes and nations.

The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations and tongues. (Revelation 17:15) Knowing that the beast John saw is the Roman Empire, how fitting that it is said to come up out of the sea. The Roman legions conquered all the then known world and thereby was composed of many kinds of peoples, nations and tonguestogether constituting multitudes.

The symbol of the sea not only represents peoples, nations, multitudes, tongues but also their perpetual unrest. Let Isaiah speak here: But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God to the wicked. (Isaiah 57:20-21)

We must not fail to note what part of the body of this beast was likened to a lion. It was the mouth! Since the lion, in Daniel's vision was Babylona word that means babel or confusion, the beast of John's vision which is the Roman empire speaks confusion to the world. This will be enlarged upon when we consider the second beast of this chapter.

The Heads Considered

We have thus far passed over the interpretation of the symbol of the Heads. In Revelation 17:10 we read: But the seven heads are also seven Kings. We found in Daniel that a King represented a Kingdom, or government. Since these seven heads, or governments belonged to the one and same beast empire, or Rome, we must look for the explanation in the form of government of the Roman empire. In all her long history Rome had seven forms of government, as follows: 1. Kings, 2. Consuls, 3. Dictators, 4. Tribunes, 5. Decemvirs, 6. Emperors, and 7. Military governors.

While John sees these seven heads all at the same time, even as the parts of Nebuchadrezzar's image was seen all at once, but represented four Kingdoms, one following and displacing another, so here these heads symbolize seven succeeding forms of government, one following and displacing another.
Again we read: And upon his heads the name of blasphemy. we must interpret the term blasphemy. By blasphemy is meant the claiming of divine prerogatives. Upon one occasion Jesus said,: I and my Father are one, then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them: Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

The Jews answered him saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because thou being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:30-33)

Did the King and emperors of Rome blaspheme? Yes, they claimed to be divine and required their subjects to worship them. The Roman emperors made the worship of themselves compulsory and was enforced under penalty of torture and death.
Alexander claimed to be the son of Jupiter Ammon, and the Roman Emperors claimed divine honors and required men to worship their statutes and to offer them sacrifices. And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Here is revealed who manipulates the reins of the pagan Roman government, or all ungodly governments for that matter. The twelfth chapter revealed the devil under the symbol of a dragon. So the devil was behind the vile Roman Government. The devil gave the beast his seat or throne. We read in the vision of the seven churches: Where Satan's seat is. Also, the devil gave the Pagan Roman Empire its great authority. No other world empire ever enjoyed such great and sweeping dominion. Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast.

Literally the phrase wounded to death means as slain to death. And we should remember that whatever hurts the beast or Roman Empire is a direct blow to the dragon, or the devil, which gave the political government its power. This wounding of the head is a phase of the bruising of the head of Satan, or the devil. (Genesis 3:15)

But shall we proceed to the identification of the head that was bruised. We have already found the seven heads to represent the seven forms of government through which the beast-political Rome-went in all its history. The woman, or the church began to bring forth Christ to the world in the days of the fifth form, or fifth head, namely the Emperors. Did the days of the Empire receive a wound unto death? Most certainly it did as we learned in the story of the vision of the trumpets. The first four covered the wounding of the western half of the Empire and the next two the slaying of the eastern half, culminating with the fall of Constantinople, the then existing capítol after the Fall of Rome.
The imperial head was wounded unto death in A.D. 476 when Odoacer hurled the last of the Roman emperors from the throne. Gauging our conclusion from the experience of all past history, we would expect this to be the end of the empire.
Ninevah fell to rise no more. Babylon succumbed to the armies of Cyrus and became and it still is an abode of doleful creatures as prophesied by Isaiah: And Babylon, the glory of Kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

It shall not be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherd make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there: and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. (Isaiah 13:19-21)

Tyre fell and on the bare rock, which once was the site of that great city became a place where fishermen spread their nets.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: behold I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. I will make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. (Ezekiel 26:3-5)

Carthage, the great rival of Rome, fell and Caius Marius, seven times lifted to the consulship, but banished to Africa a century after the fall of that great African City, as he sat among its ruins, musing upon the fickleness of the fortunes of empire, said to the Roman officers who came to him, Go tell your masters that they have seen Marius sitting among the ruins of Carthage!
This was a subtle but pointed warning that Rome would meet the same fate as Carthage. Marius did see the coming of the wounding of the head, but he could not know that the deadly wound would be healed. He understood not the satanic power behind the Roman Empire, symbolized by the first beast depicted here.
Mysteriously, slain Rome arose out of her ashes. Something new under the sun transpired. Conquered by the northern hordes of Goths, Vandals, Huns and Heruli, the vanquished overpowered the victors by converting them to a religion, which was a mixture of paganism and Christianity. Constantine had, by royal edict, made whole armies Christian. There was no regeneration in the hearts of those soldiers, so instead of Christianizing his soldiers, great masses of unconverted heathen paganized the church. How easy it was for the pagan conquering hordes out of the north to embrace such a half pagan religion. And all the time mysteriously, wondrously the wounded head of the period of the emperors was being healed by this religious state arising in the midst of the political arena. Hear Myers, on this. I quote only a few excerpts because the whole statement is too long for this space allotted.

Long before the fall of Rome there had begun to grow up within the Roman Empire an ecclesiastical state, which in its constitution and its administrative system was shaping itself upon the emperial models. This spiritual empire like the secular empire, possessed a hierarchy of officers, of which deacons, priests or presbyters, and bishops were the most important.
These bishops collectively formed what is known as the episcopate. There were four grades of bishops, namely: country bishops, city bishops, metropolitans or arch bishops, and patriarchs.
At the end of the fourth century, there were five patriarchates, that is regions ruled by patriarchs. These centered in the great cities of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem.
Among the patriarchs, the patriarchs of Rome were accorded almost universally a precedence in honor and dignity.
Before the close of the eighth century, there was firmly established over a great part of Christendom what we may call an ecclesiastical monarchy.
The removal, by the acts of Diocletion and Constantine, of the chief seat of the government to the east, instead of diminishing the power and dignity of the Roman bishops, tended greatly to promote their claims and authority. It left the pontiff the foremost personage in Rome.
Upon the surrender of the sovereignty of the West into the hands of the Emperor of the East, the bishops of Rome became the most important personages in the Western Europe. A dispute about the use of images in worship, known in church history as the War of the Iconoclasts, which broke out between the Greek Churches of the East and the Latin Churches of the West, drew after it far-reaching consequences as respects the growing power of the Roman pontiffs.
In this quarrel with the Eastern emperors, the Roman bishops formed an alliance with the Frankish princes of the Carolingian house. The popes consecrated the Frankish Chieftains as Kings and emperors, the grateful Frankish kings defended the popes. Such a broad outline was the way in which grew up the Papacy, an institution which, far beyond all others, was destined to mould the fortunes and direct the activities of western Christendom throughout the medieval times.Myers-' Ancient History pages 582, 583, 584, 585, 586.

Thus we see how one of the heads was wounded, as it were to death, and how his deadly wound was healed.
In the Pergamos period of Church History, as visioned in that of the Seven church periods, which corresponds to the time when Constantine united church and state, thus compromising the truth with Paganism, we read these words: I know thy words, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is.
The papacy could never have healed the wounded head of the pagan empire of Rome had she not occupied the seven-hilled city, where Satan's seat has ever been.
We have taken some time, and quoted to some length from history, though only a fragment which could be given, but it has provided us with a comprehensive picture of the head wounded unto death and how the wound was healed.
The sway of Rome under the papal system of government became in spite of her downfall, mightier and more extensive than her sway under the Caesars, because she had power over both body and soul.

We are ready now to proceed in this chapter: Revelation 13:5, And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

From the revised pagan Rome, went out great pronouncements, Blasphemy is not merely profanity, but the claim to divine perogatives by human beings. Did the pontiffs claim divine perogatives?
The popes claim to be the vicegerent of Christ. He calls himself the vicar of Christ. A vicar is defined as one who is authorized to act in place of another. Whom did Christ authorize to act in His stead. Hear Him:

How when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he shall show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:13-14) Christ's authority is absolute, in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18) and he has never delegated it to any human being. The apostles only spoke as moved by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Therefore no man has the right to claim to be the Vicar of Christ. To do so is the heighth and depth of blasphemy.

The heighth of this blasphemy was reached in 1870 when it was decreed that the pope sitting as God in the temple of God, spoke with an infallible voice. How the world needs to keep in mind what Paul wrote in AD. 54: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (as that the day of Christ is at hand Revelation 13:2) shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he is as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)

And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
That is, power was given pagan Rome, rising out of the ashes of a slain head, the emperors and the empire, to continue through the rise of the Papacy.
Again this period of forty and two months, 1260 days or years is mentioned. We have found that the holy city, or the true church of Christ was to be trodden down by the Gentiles for forty and two months; the two witnesses prophesied in sack cloth for one thousand two hundred and three-score days; the woman, or the true church, was driven by the dragon (the devil) into the wilderness for twelve hundred and sixty days, where she was nourished for the entire time, called a time and time and half a time; and now the beast-political Rome is given power to continue for forty and two months. All refer to the same length of time and all refer to the same period of time.
All these events begin and end at the same time. Each mention only presents different phases of the persecution of the Church for that span of years. They are different parts of the same history.
We have already, in our study of the two Witnesses, found this period designated ended in 1793 A.D.
At the end of that time-period, there is an exaltation of the two witnesses in the printing and distribution of the Bible on a worldwide scale, the Church of the Philadelphian period (the Restored Church) comes out of the wilderness and the old imperial Rome, revised in the power of the Papacy, receives a mortal blow. Ecclesiastical Rome, through its alliance with the Frankish princes of the Carolingian house, united church and state, and the descendants of these same Frankish princes, the modern French nation, dealt a death blow to the papal imperial duality, bringing it to an end.
Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy, carried the pope to France and forced him to crown himself (Napoleon) as emperor of France. The coronation took place in the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris Dec. 2, 1804.

In less than a year after Napoleon's coronation the subservient French clergy were teaching the youth of France, The Emperor is the minister and power of God, and his image on earth, ran the new catechism; to honor and serve him is to honor and serve God. Myers Mediaeval & Modern History, page 552. Blasphemy? Yes. The heart is still speaking great things and opening his mouth in blasphemy against God.
Thus did this bring about the complete breakdown of the ancient empire. So did the Holy Roman Empire, the longest lived of human institutions, come to an end. And the end was 1260 years after the Pope was declared Lord of the Church. So again as always, we see history corroborating the Bible. We must ever carry the book of Revelation, and its symbolism, in one hand and a book of history in the other. Things are come to pass and do come to pass as it was sent and sign-i-fied to the apostle John.
While the pope still attempts to take a hand in politics, his influence from that fateful day when the Holy Roman Empire came to a sudden end, has steadily waned. Shorn of his sceptre as a temporal ruler, he now presides over a mock Vatican state with a railroad only six hundred feet in length!

Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues and nations.

And did political Rome make war with the Saints? From Justinian, when Gibbon said, Catholic soldiers burned the conventicles with their -congregations-' down through the centuries, political Rome, motivated by papal intrigue has reddened her domains with blood.
To name the murdering of the Waldenses, Albigerses, the Carnisards, the massacre of Bartholomew's day, and the slaughter of life in the Spanish Inquisition, besides the host of unnamed massacres, only serves to attest the truth, that It was given unto Him to make war against the saints. Truly, political and papal Rome was made drunk with the blood of the saints. And surely it was given him to overcome the saints. And also power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

All worship this beast-government, namely, render fealty to this government, whose names are not written in the book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
A book of life is a registry of the lawful citizens of a place. By the same token, the Lamb's book of life must then be the registry of the names of the true citizens of the Kingdom of God, or the Church of Christ.
All who by faith and obedience to the required scriptural terms are rightful citizens. In the first church is described in the New Testament, all who entered into the Kingdom of Christ were first preached to or taught. So Christ, the law-giver commanded in His commission: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. Matthew 28:19. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

This then first required hearing. But during the days when the beast held sway, babies who could not hear were admitted to the Kingdom.

Seconds All in the beginning were required to believe. They were taught so that they might believe. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)

Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel, he that believeth. (Mark 16:16)

But under this beast government babies were admitted into the Kingdom without faith.

Third: In the New Testament Church, all who heard, by being taught or preached to, were buried by baptism, or immersion into Christ.

Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. (Mark 16:16)

But under the beast government an unbeliever was sprinkled in order to become a citizen of that government. Hear Cardinal Gibbons the late Catholic Cardinal to the United States:

For several centuries after the establishment of Christianity, baptism was usually conferred by immersion, but since the twelfth century, the practice of baptizing by affusion (sprinkling, italics ours) has prevailed in the Catholic Church, as this manner is attended by less inconvenience than baptism by immersion. (Faith of Our Fathers, page 266)

Much, much more might be included here to illustrate the point but sufficeth to say, all who seek citizenship in the Kingdom of God in the divinely prescribed manner have their names written in this book of life of the Lamb, and by this act reject the authority and claim of the beast.
The beast government, or the papacy, which revived the dying head of the beast, prescribed naturalization laws not found in the New Testament, and claimed all who conformed to these laws were citizens of the Kingdom, while the Lamb's Book of Life contains only the names of those who have been born again, according to Scriptural requirements.

But a deceived world worshipped the beast. Never must it be forgotten, that the one who gave this beast such power that required the worship of all men was that old deceiver, which deceiveth the whole world, the dragon, or the devil.

Revelation 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

This is the eighth time this admonition occurs in Revelation, the other seven times are found in the vision of the seven churches. This is a characteristic saying of the Lord. Since He was the speaker who uttered the other seven like admonitions, we logically must infer that He is, likewise, the spokesman here. No one else makes use of it, and He always employs it in connection with certain of His utterances in order to impress upon us their peculiar and special importance.
How significant its use here, in connection with stressing of the divine difference between citizenship in the kingdom of the dragon (devil) energized beast kingdom of papal Rome, and the citizenship of those of Christ's Kingdom, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life]

How ill becomes the denominational world to practice the same Satan-inspired citizenship requirements of the beast government! How needful to heed the call to come out of this spiritual Babylon! Such a call is given in Revelation 18:4 :

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues.

Revelation 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the saints.

While not the same wording, how very similar in thought to the statement following the call to come out of Babylon, as we have just quoted from the 18th Chapter.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double. (Revelation 18:6)

If the beast and his adherents lead the worshippers of her government captive, the beast shall finally and eventually be made captive: as the beast has slain with the sword, so it shall be likewise slain with the sword-a strong intimation that the last great war will cut off the head and not merely wound it. They that take up the sword shall perish by the sword. (Matthew 26:52)

Here is the patience and faith of the saints. The true saints then, with patience shall wait for it. Wait for what? During the centuries of oppression, misrule, arrogant false claims and oppositions to God's will, the patience of the saints will be maintained by their faith in the prophecies concerning the doom of Satan and his beast government which oppressed the true church.

The Second Beast

Thus far we have followed the career or the first, or seven headed, ten-horned beast. The first ten verses of the chapter have dealt with this first beast, the remainder of the chapter describes another beast, different, yet allied to the first one.
The very fact that the first beast had to do with a world government, wounded to death, but resurrected in a religio-political temporal government, gives us strong reasons for understanding that the second beast symbolizes something of like nature, for the symbol being the same, the thing symbolized must be the same.

How startlingly significant! As in the creation, the water was first and the dry land, or earth came out of the water (Genesis 1:9), so out of the sea, or waters, (signifying peoples, nations and tongues in great commotion), came the earth from whence arose the second beast.

It is subsidiary to the first and arises in order to continue the existence of the first. Shall we read the record:

Revelation 13:11-12 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

We have already learned that the earth to John meant the Roman Empire in its political aspects. John here sees this second beast rising up out of the Roman Empire, the ordered part of the world.

While the first beast, or political Rome had ten horns with crowns, this second beast had two horns like a lamb, this presenting similitude like the Lamb of God, which presents it as a beast with a religious aspect. It professes to be Christian, or Christ-like in character.
No symbol could more fittingly represent the real character of a religious organization exercising all the power of the first beast (political Rome) before him. Such a religious organization would claim to represent the Lamb of God, but really its voice is the voice of the devilhe spake as a dragon.
Has there ever arisen anything out of the earth (or the Roman Empire, as John understood the earth to mean) while the empire continued to exist after one of its heads (the imperial form) was wounded? Has there arisen a beast government, lamb-like in appearance out of political Rome, intimately aligned with that government which continues even to this day? If so, does it resemble this symbolism given in Revelation?
Only a cursory acquaintance with history will call to our remembrance such a system which has been known for fifteen centuries as Romanism, or the Roman Catholic church. It arose out of the earth,political Rome and is a system religious in character and political in aim. It was closely associated with the temporal empire and is still identified with the nations which are off-springs of the old universal empire.
We digress here for a space to present a picture of the three great systems which have arisen at different times and under diverse circumstances, each of which have been religious in character, but political in aim. All have opposed the true church. Since Pentecost, the birthday of the church, there have been three great adversaries which have arisen to oppose the New Testament Church. They have perpetuated the time-long struggle between the serpent and the seed of the woman-Christ.
All these, religio-political systems, have had one supreme purpose-the opposition of God's declared purpose to bring everything under the dominion, sway and sovereignty of Christ. All three systems were energized by the devil.

It was a contest over the kingdoms of the world embodied in the battle between Christ and the devil in the wilderness of temptation (Matthew 4:1-11). Shall we deal with them in their order.

The Three Great Adversaries

1. First: The first adversary against the church was Judaism, which first opposed Christ in his life time and would not rest until he was crucified. This is not fanciful interpretation. Hear Christ, himself, declare that these were of the devil.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father will ye do. Because I tell you the truth, ye believe not. (John 8:44-45)

The nation, though until 1949, without national life, has miraculously maintained its national character, and throughout the centuries, and, even now, when they have set up a government in Palestine, are bitterly opposed to the Church of Christ and the seed of the woman, which the church brings to the world. Judiasm has never changed in nature. Its aim still is supremacy over the Gentiles and the rejection of Christ as her Messiah. She has never withdrawn from the field of battle.

2. Second: The second great adversary, or next of these great religious systems, having as its aim domination of the world and the overthrow of Christ's Kingdom is Islam, or Mohammedanism.

Islam, you remember was a movement that came up out of the bottomless pit, the devil's domain. It was led by a false prophet Mohammed, who based his teaching upon a false book, the Koran. At one time it almost conquered the world and to this very second is opposed to the true Church and the Christ himself. This system, too, has never withdrawn from the field of conflict.

3. Third: The third great adversary, or third of the three great religious systems having uncompromising purpose of world dominion, and the destruction of the true church is Romanism. This system, like the two preceding, is also religious in character, but political in aim. This system is the most formidable of all three. Like the other two, its purpose is to seize dominion of the world, the exact aim of the dragon himself, or the devil.

While all three are Satanic systems with a common character and purpose, the last of the three is different from the others in its method of opposition. Its manner of opposition is infinitely more subtle.
Judiasm and Mohammedanism were openly opposed to Christ and his Kingdom, Catholicism presents itself in a Lamb-like characterization, or as the embodiment of Christianity itself. No wonder, then, it was revealed in the Thyatira period of church history, that the depths of Satan had been reached. (Revelation 2:24)

What an exact symbol, then, is this second beast of this third system!
Such a remarkable difference is presented to us, because Romanism did not come into existence as an open and outright opponent to the true church, but claiming to be the true church. She has always had a close and a Siamese-like connection with political Rome. In the truest sense Siamese twins of church history. To sever one from the other would mean death for both. While the first beast-political Rome-arose out of the tumultuous and restless sea of a multitude of nations; papal Rome arose out of the earth-the Roman Empire.

This second beast rose up out of the earth in the guise of a two-horned lamb, being both political and religious, speaking as the dragon, or proclaiming devil doctrine in the cloak of religiosity, and exercising all the power of the first beast, or political Rome. Shall we quote Myers on this. Under the heading The Two World Powers, he says:

-The two great ideas, -says James Bryce,-' which expiring antiquity bequeathed to the ages that followed were those of a world monarchy and a world religion.-'

We have seen how out of one of these ideas, under the favoring circumstances of the earlier Mediaeval Centuries, was developed the Empire, and out of the other the Papacy. The history of these two powers, of their relations to the rulers and the peoples of Europe, and of their struggle with each other for supremacy, makes up a large part of the history of the Mediaeval Centuries.Myers. -Mediaeval and Modern History.-' Page 111.

Hear Myers again, same book, page 112:

As God has set in the heavens two lights, the sun and the moon, so has he established on earth two powers, the spiritual and the temporal; but as the moon is inferior to the sun and receives its light from it, so is the Emperor inferior to the pope and receives all power from him.

Myers inserts a footnote here. Quoting:

Dante, maintaining the rights of the Emperor, ruined the force of this comparison by pointing out that, while the moon often eclipses the sun, the sun never eclipses the moon.

We now quote a similar statement from another source:

Like the two great luminaries fixed by the Creator in the firmament of the heaven to give light to His creatures, so also hath He ordained two great powers on earth, by which all are to be governed and preserved from error. Those powers are the pontifical and the royal; but the former is the greater, the latter the lesser. Yet under both, the religion of Christ is so ordered that, by God's assistance the apostolical power shall govern the royal.

Henderson's Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. Bohn's edition, 1896.

We quote from yet a third source in which Dr. Green in his history on page 468 describes the inauguration of Boniface VIII.

At his inauguration two kings held his stirrups. He proclaimed a jubilee for the year 1300. He appeared before the multitude on one day in his pontificals, on another day with sword, crown and sceptre, exclaiming, -I am Caesar! I am Emperor!-' This same Boniface issued a famous bull (Unam Sanctum) in which with marvelous exegesis, he quoted (Luke 22:38): (And they said, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough, insertion mine) saying: -Both swords, the spiritual and the temporal are in the power of the church.-' That bull further explicitly declares that -there is one holy Catholic and apostolic church, outside of which there is no salvation or remission of sins. We declare, announce and define, that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman pontiff-'.

He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him. With what infinite brevity is here described how the papal power would exercise the powers of the state. The papacy was for centuries the power behind the throne.
Shall we also note that he exercised not only the same power-political, but he exercised that same power, from the same place, the seat of the Roman Empire and the seat of the depths of Satan, the imperial city of Rome, where Christ tells us: Satan's seat is. (Revelation 2:13)

Revelation 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. We are still in the realm of symbolism and must constantly remind ourselves of that fact.

The alleged miracles of papal Rome are innumerable. Rome has claimed the power to perform miracles throughout the ages. In the Breviary are recorded such miracles as: Francis Xavier turning sufficient salt water into fresh to save five hundred travelers. St. Raymond laid his cloak upon the sea and sailed upon it. The statue of the Virgin Mary is made to weep. At Naples a reddish solid in a vial, said to be the blood of St. Januarius turns to liquid. At the grotto of Lourdes, the Virgin Mary appears frequently. I now quote from The Externals of the Catholic Church, second edition, 1918, revised to conform to the new code of Canon Law. On pages 226, 227 we read:

The Miraculous Medal. There is a widely used medal known by this title because it takes its origin from a vision. It is a medal of the Blessed Virgin. This beautiful medal has a remarkable history. It was given to the world through a vision which was vouchsafed to a holy servant of God, Sister Catherine, a French Sister of Charity, known to the world as Zoe Laboure.-'
On November 27, 1830 and on several occasions, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her as depicted on the medal, and commanded the saintly nun to cause the medal to be made. This was done, with the sanction of the Archbishop of Paris, within two years; and the use of the medal of the -Immaculate Conception-' spread rapidly throughout the world. Many and great indulgences have been given to its wearers.

And do not for a moment entertain the thought that all these miracles are spurious. To John was revealed the fact that this second beast was given power to do great wonders:

Revelation 13:14 And the object of the performance of these miracles is given in Revelation 13:14 :

And deceiveth them that dwell upon the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.

Not only had this second beast (Papal Rome) the voice of the dragon, for he spake as a dragon, but he deceived the world like the dragon, for the devil is that old serpent and satan, which deceiveth the whole world. (Revelation 12:9)

Again quoting:

Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which has the wound by a sword and did live.

The word image means something like another thing. The first beast represented a world-wide political power and the Roman Catholic Church is fashioned after the old political Rome in her governmental functions, even to making the seat of her government in Rome, even as did Imperial Rome make that her capital.
The Roman Catholic Church ever calls her head, the pope, after the fashion of old Imperial Rome. Hear Myers at this point:

The College of the Pontiffs was so called probably because one of the duties of its members was to keep in repair a certain bridge (pons) over the Tiber. This guild was the most important of all the religious institutions of the Romans; for to the Pontiffs belonged the superintendence of all religious matters. The head of the College was called Pontifex Maximus, or Chief Bridge Builder, which title was assumed by the Roman Emperors, and after them by the Christian bishops of Rome; and thus the name has come down to our times.-'Myers Ancient Historypage 365.

Not to see in all this symbolism the union of church and state, the union of political and papal Rome is to be utterly spiritually blind.

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, (not the beast), should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Revelation 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

This image was not a mere likeness of political Rome; this image had life. Papal Rome gave life to the ecclesiastical government fashioned after the temporal. The spiritual power converted the restored temporal power of Rome into a terrible reality. The pronouncements of interdicts, bulls and anathemas emanating from Rome through the centuries, even to the late pronouncement of the Assumption of Mary, December 1950, attest to the truth that the image was given power to speak.
And as to the power given the image to kill again, we refer you to history. Witness the Albigenses of the southern Alps; the wars carried on against the Waldinses, who, persecuted by Pope Greogry IX, because they believed men should interpret the Bible in their own way, as against church pronouncements; the wars waged against the Huguenots; the slaughter of 18,000 victims in the Acquisition of the Netherlands; the terrible wars pursued against the Protestants in Europe, the persecution by bloody Mary of England, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew'S, August 24, 1572.

Revelation 13:16-17 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

This, doubtless, is a figurative way of expressing object servitude to the image of the beast, but there is more detail revealed.
A brand or a mark upon a person is a symbol or badge signifying complete ownership of the one so marked, or branded by him whose mark he bears. Slaves used to be branded. Even one who sold himself to another, as recorded in the Scriptures were branded.

And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew women, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, then shalt thou take an aul and thrust it through his ear, and he shall be thy servant forever. (Deuteronomy 15:12; Deuteronomy 15:16-17)

Coming back to our passage under consideration, then, to bear the mark of the beast is to be his servant and the right hand is the servants instrument of action in that servitude. We found out earlier that the right hand also signifies strength, so the servant of the image of the beast also serves with his strength, giving that strength unto that image.
That, not only the strength was given to the image of the beast, but also the mind is indicated by the mark being received on the forehead.

And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children. and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontless between thine eyes. (Deuteronomy 6:6-8)

Here, we see these two members are mentioned together in relation to one's belief or faith. Do we find that multitudes gave their entire allegiance of hand and mind to the image of the beast, or religio-political Rome? Most certainly this is amply fulfilled in Romanism.
A mark in the hand represents the practice, whereas a mark in the forehead indicates a profession of belief. It can not be merely an accident or coincidence that a mark on the forehead inducts a person into the Roman Church and the making of a mark evidences his faithful subservience.
And the mark? It is the sign of a cross with water in the sprinkling ceremony. Without this mark there is no salvation. And it is the Roman Catholic Church-the image of the beast-which instituted this mark.

Revelation 13:17 And no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

It has been a common practice for Catholics to patronize Catholics and to hire only Catholics in business and institutions wherever possible. The councils of Tours, Constance, and the Laterans forbad business dealings with heretics.
And Romanism is ever associated with the Latin people and language. Rome was the ancient capital of the Latins. The Romans spoke the Latin language. The Roman Catholic church has always been known as the Latin church, as against the eastern church, being known as the Greek Orthodox church. The Roman sacred books are written in Latin, the masses are conducted in Latin, regardless of the country in which the church is established. The councils of the Roman church conduct their sessions in Latin. In the earliest history of Italy the inhabitants dwelt in the central section known as Latium and the reputed founder of this Latin race was Latinus or as the Greeks, who preceded the Romans as a world empire, spelled the name LATEINOS. Which leads us to the last verse:

Revelation 13:18 Here is Wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred three-score and six.

Thus Revelation declares this number. Remember it is the number of the beast, the number of his name, and the number of a man, and the number of all three are the same-666.
Now the figures 666 are the Arabic characters for the numbers, but they were unknown for several hundred years after John wrote. John wrote in the Greek language for readers who understood that tongue. So the numbers, naturally, would be expressed in Greek characters. Now the Greeks did not indicate their numbers by figures but by letters, just as the Romans did. The number symbols of the Latin language are as follows:

I,

V,

X,

L,

C,

D,

M

1

5

10

50

100

500

1,000.

Latinus was the reputed founder of the Latin Race. The New Testament was penned in Greek. The Greeks spelled the name Latinus as L-A-T-E-I-N-O-S. Greek letters had a numerical quality, like the Latin language did. The word Lateinos adds up as follows: L=30, a=l, t=300, e=5, i=10, n=50, o=70, s=200. Adding 30 plus 1 plus 300 plus 5 plus 10 plus 50 plus 70 plus 200 equals 666.
So the name is the number of the beast and that name, Latinos, the number of the man, is 666. Thus Christ has left us with no room for the faintest shadow of a doubt as to the identity of the beast. Indeed, here is wisdom!

Having so identified the beast, we still must not improverish our understanding, but rather enrich it by a further understanding of the spiritual meaning of the number 666.
666 stands as the sum total of all human achievement, spiritually speaking. That number of man is six, repeated three times to call our attention to the incompleteness of the Roman church. It is a human church, founded on a claimed foundation of a human being Peter. It has a human at its head-the pope. Its doctrines are human pronouncements. Its foundation and superstructure are homogeneous-both human.
But over against this number of incompleteness, God's doings reach seven, the symbol of perfection and completeness. Man never gets, in human achievements, or religious practice, beyond six. He has never attained the seven of perfection.
When God completed the six days of creative acting, the six days were a finished work-a perfected work. But God did not stop at six. He went on to completion. God rested on the seventh day.

Yet another thought. Only one other time does the number 666 occur in the Scriptures. It is found once in the New Testament, and once in the Old Testament. The Old Testament reference is Ezra 2:13 and one that has to do with numbering, also:

The children of Adonikam, six hundred sixty six. The word Adonikam, according to Young's Concordance, means My Lord has risen. The head of the Roman church called himself, Rector Ecclesaei or Lord of the Church. He rises up to make himself Lord, though only human. How logical that he should be given a number of six thrice repeated, to reveal to us his utter humanness, heading a two beast institution, which is political and papal Rome, speaking like a dragon, or the devil!