The Beast (, ) may refer to one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12-13 describes these three beasts as follows:
The dragon (later revealed in the text to be Satan)Revelation 12:9 The beast of the sea (commonly interpreted as the Antichrist)Charting the End Times: A Visual Guide to Understanding Bible Prophecy by Tim Lahaye and Thomas Ice The beast of the earth (later revealed in the text to be the false prophet)Revelation 19:20
However, many people have different beliefs about the meaning of these beasts.
In Revelation 13:1–10, the beast of the sea rises "out of the sea" and is given authority and power by the dragon. It persecutes God's people in the 2nd part of Revelation 13. To buy and sell, everyone is required to have its name or number on their forehead or right hand (Rev 13:16-17). It speaks blasphemous words against God, will rule the world for 42 months (Revelation 13:5-7), and is described as resembling a leopard, a lion, and a bear—which are three of the animals in Daniel 7. It suffers a fatal head wound which is miraculously healed, bewildering the world's population and causing many to worship it.
In Revelation 13:11–18, the beast of the earth, later known as the false prophet, comes "out of the earth," exercises all the authority of the Sea Beast, forces everyone on earth to worship the Sea Beast, and convinces the people, through signs and wonders, to make an image of the Sea Beast.
In their fight against God, the Sea Beast and the False Prophet ally with the Dragon to persecute the "saints" and those who do not "worship the image of the beast [of the sea]" and influence earthly kings through three unclean spirits to gather for the battle of Armageddon.Revelation 16:13–16 These two beasts are ultimately defeated by Christ and thrown into the lake of fire mentioned in Revelation 19:18–20, while Satan, the dragon, is imprisoned in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years. After being released from the bottomless pit after the millennial reign, Satan deceives the nations one last time, ultimately ending in Satan being defeated and thrown in the lake of fire.
Book of Revelation
Beast from the Sea (The Antichrist)
The description of the Sea Beast is found in Revelation chapters thirteen and seventeen. Chapter thirteen gives the fullest description.
It rises out of the sea (Rev 13:1). The four animals of Daniel 7 also arise from the sea, explained as four kingdoms arising from the earth (Dan 7:3, 17). In Revelation, the "many waters" on which the harlot sits are explained as "peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues" (Rev 17:1, 15).
The beast has seven heads and ten horns (Rev 13:1), equal to the total number of heads and horns in Daniel 7, indicating some relationship.
The beast has crowns on its horns (Rev 13:1).
The beast "was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion" (Rev 13:2). These are the first three animals in Daniel 7, but in reverse order.
"The dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority" (Rev 13:2).
"I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain" (Rev 13:3). Revelation 17 describes these heads as representing kings and also mountains on which the woman sits.
The beast in Revelation 17 also suffers a severe fatal wound to the head.
"His fatal wound was healed" (Rev 13:3).
"The whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast" (Rev 13:4). Similarly, in Revelation 17, when the beast comes out of the abyss, "those who dwell on the earth... will wonder when they see the beast" (Rev 13:8; 17:8).
"They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast" (Rev 13:4). "Worship" is perhaps the key word in Revelation 13. It appears many times. In Revelation 14, three angels warn the world to worship the Creator alone. The end-time may be understood as a crisis over who to worship.
Apart from giving authority to the Sea Beast, the Dragon does nothing in Revelation 13. All the work is done by the Sea Beast, the Earth Beast, and the Image of the Beast. So, the people worship the Beast directly but the Dragon only indirectly.
"There was given to him — a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies... he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle" (Rev 13:5-6). The 11th horn of Daniel 7 similarly has "a mouth uttering great boasts." "He will speak out against the Most High." (Dan 7:20, 25)
"Authority to act for forty-two months was given to him" (Rev 13:5). He received authority over "the saints" and over all people (Rev 13:7). The 11th horn of Daniel 7 will "wear down the saints of the Highest One ... and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time" (Dan 7:25). It has been argued that the 42 months are equal to the "time, times, and half a time." (3½ times = 3½ years = 42 months)
Beast from the Earth (The False Prophet) The Beast from the Earth is primarily described in Revelation chapter thirteen. This beast comes out of the earth whose overall appearance is not described, other than having "two horns like a lamb", and speaking "like a dragon". His purpose is to promote the authority of the Sea Beast with the ability to perform great signs, even making fire come down out of Heaven. This Earth Beast is also called the false prophet. He speaks like a dragon commanding the people of the Earth to make an image "to" the beast that was wounded by a sword (the Sea Beast). It is declared that anyone who does not worship the Sea Beast or its image would be killed. This lamb-horned beast from the earth also causes all people to receive the mark of the beast "in their right hand or in their forehead."
The Scarlet Beast
Revelation 17 mentions another beast described as "a scarlet coloured beast", although it is most likely the same as the Sea Beast mentioned in Revelation 13.
Just like the Dragon and the Sea Beast, it has seven heads and ten horns (), implying that these three are of the same species. Since there are also seven heads and ten horns among the four animals of Daniel 7, and since the animals of Daniel 7 exist until Christ's return, the seven heads and ten horns of the beasts in Revelation imply that they are related to the animals of Daniel 7.
The scarlet beast is shown being ridden by a harlot who "reigns over the kings of the earth", () whereas the beast of the sea is not described as being ridden, and is given "power and great authority." The seven heads represent both seven mountains and seven kings, and the ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received kingdoms. Of the seven kings, five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. The beast itself is an eighth king who is of the seven and "was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition."
Image of the Beast Those who dwell on the earth are deceived into making an image (interpreted as a statue or a Satanic counterfeit to image of God) of the Sea Beast as a means to worship its authority. The false prophet breathes life into the "image of the beast", so that the image becomes alive and is able to speak. It also declares death to anyone who does not worship the authority of the Sea Beast. Those who are killed for not conforming to the authority of the Sea Beast are blessed through the "first resurrection" that allows them to rule in Christ's presence as priests during the one thousand-year reign. The second death has no power over these individuals who were victorious over the beast by not being deceived, even though they lost their lives on Earth by his authority.
Mark of the Beast
The number of the beast (, ) is associated with the Beast in chapter 13, verse 18 of the Book of Revelation. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the beast is "six hundred sixty-six" or (in Greek numerals, represents 600, represents 60 and represents 6).Revelation 13:18 Papyrus 115 (which is the oldest preserved manuscript of the Revelation ), as well as other ancient sources like Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, give the number of the beast as χιϛ or χιϲ (transliterable in Arabic numerals as "616") (), not 666; critical editions of the Greek text, such as the Novum Testamentum Graece, note as a variant.Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle and Aland, 1991, footnote to verse 13:18 of Revelation, p. 659: "" as found in C [C=Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus]; for English see Metzger's Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, note on verse 13:18 of Revelation, p. 750: "the numeral 616 was also read ..."
In Roman Numerals, in use when the Book of Revelation was written, the mark of the beast in Revelation 17:9 is rendered DCLXVI 'The Roman numeral for 666, DCLXVI, has exactly one occurrence of all symbols whose value is less than 1000 in decreasing order (D = 500, C = 100, L = 50, X = 10, V = 5, I = 1).'
The seven heads of the beast are described in Revelation as representing seven hills.
Rome was built on seven hills.
The mark of the beast is interpreted differently in the four main views of Christian eschatology.
Fate of the False Prophet Heaven opens and a figure on a white horse appears, followed by "the armies which were in heaven".
The beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gather to prepare for war against them. The beast is taken, along with the false prophet, and they are thrown alive into "the lake of fire" and the rest are killed. In chapter twenty, after the dragon is freed from the abyss and deceives the nations, the dragon is thrown into the lake of fire, where the beast and the false prophet are and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Interpretations
Preterism
Preterism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets prophecies of the Bible, especially the Books of Daniel and Revelation, by reference to events that had already happened. Preterist academic scholars generally identify the first beast from the sea with the Roman Empire, particularly with Emperor Nero.
The beast from the earth is generally identified with the Roman imperial cult. Sometimes there is a particular identification with a personage such as a chief administrator of Roman rule in Ephesus and Asia Minor. This is probably the provincial governor (or proconsul) who would have overseen the political and religious operations of the area from his capital in Ephesus or the High Priest of the provincial imperial cult. The imperial cult in Ephesus was set up by Domitian in AD 89. (Ephesus is the location of one of the Seven Churches in Asia to whom the Book of Revelation was addressed.)
This interpretation is based upon the angel's explanation of the beast in , that the beast's seven heads are seven kings () and that Nero, is the sixth king "who is", who was possibly alive and the emperor reigning at the time John was writing the book. The five kings who have fallen are seen as Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius; Galba is the one who "has not yet come, but when he does come, he must remain for a little while". (). Moreover, Rome was known in antiquity as the city of seven hills () and Revelation was a warning about events that were "shortly" to take place (Revelation 1:1).
In , the beast was given a mouth speaking in blasphemies against God and his name. Inscriptions have been found in Ephesus in which Nero is called "Almighty God" and "Savior". In verse 4, the beast is worshiped by the world alongside the dragon that gave it authority. Nero and Caligula "abandoned all reserve" in promoting emperor worship—they were the only two who demanded divine honors while still alive. Nero claimed to be the sun-god Apollo.