One of the more complicated and misunderstood symbols in the Book of Revelation is the seven-headed beast that John saw coming out of the sea in Revelation chapters 13 and 17.

This beast relates to a particularly evil man who is referred to in the Bible as the Antichrist (1 John 2:18), the man of lawlessness, and the son of destruction/perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Recently, I have seen some people claim that the one head of this beast which John said will be fatally wounded by a sword but still manages to heal and live (Revelation 13:3, 13:14) should be identified with a current infamous American politician who was not fatally wounded, and whose attacker did not use a sword.

Yes, really.

So it seems that people today just don't read their Bibles, even as they cite verses from it to make claims about who they think the Antichrist will be.

However, Christians who are living in the time before the Rapture do not need to worry about who this evil man will be. This is because at the Rapture, all true Christians will be physically taken to heaven, and we will no longer have to worry about things that happen in this world.

However, the Bible also tells us that after the Rapture, many millions if not billions of people who were left behind on Earth will believe in Jesus (Revelation 7:9-14).

Yet these brand-new believers will have to face the next terrible seven years before Jesus returns at his second coming. This period of time is referred to as the Tribulation, and Jesus said it will be the worst time in all of human history (Matthew 24:21-22).

In part, this terrible time will be because of the man who is referred to as the Antichrist. I've already written a post which summarizes the most obvious traits of the Antichrist, so that he can be identified by people who are left-behind after the Rapture.

This post will examine further details about what we can learn about the Antichrist from the symbolism of the beast that John saw coming out of the sea, in case it may be helpful to anyone who is left behind after the Rapture.1

Yet even Christians who do not have to worry about being on Earth when the Antichrist is ruling can still benefit from this study. In particular, I hope this study will demonstrate that Christians should not be deterred from reading the Book of Revelation because of critics who claim it is too hard to understand due to some of the unusual symbolism.

Remember that "all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NRSVA). This is true even for the Book of Revelation.

At the very least, I hope that if you read this post, you will be equipped to counter the nonsensical interpretations of other people who label various politicians as being the Antichrist based on faulty interpretations of the beast that comes out of the sea.

So let's get into it!

The Physical Traits of the Beast from the Sea

The beast that John saw coming out of the sea is described primarily in Revelation chapters 13 and 17.

The physical characteristics of the beast are:

• It comes out of the sea (Revelation 13:1).
• It has seven heads and ten horns, with a crown on each horn, and blasphemous names on its heads (Revelation 13:1).
• Its body is like a leopard, with feet of a bear, and mouth of a lion (Revelation 13:2).
• One of its heads has a mortal wound which is healed (Revelation 13:3).
• The mortal wound is caused by a sword (Revelation 13:14)
• It is scarlet coloured (Revelation 17:3).

To make things easier, in the rest of this post I will refer to the beast that comes from the sea simply as "John's beast" or "the beast".

Now, these traits listed above may seem random, however, they are not. We can gain much insight into exactly what John is trying to represent when we remember that John is not the only inspired biblical author to have a vision about symbolic beasts.

The prophet Daniel also had a dream about four beasts when he was serving in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. And it just so happens that aspects of the beasts in Daniel's dream match up perfectly with the beast that John describes in Revelation.

In Daniel 7:1-8, Daniel describes four different beasts which he saw coming up out of the sea:

1. A lion with eagle's wings.
2. A bear.
3. A leopard with four wings and four heads.
4. A beast with iron teeth and ten horns.

We can now see that John's beast is made up of the same types of animal body parts as the beasts described in Daniel's dream (i.e. a mouth like a lion, feet like a bear, body like a leopard, and ten horns).

One difference is that John's beast has seven heads. Yet Daniel's leopard-like beast is described as having four heads, so the idea of symbolic beasts having multiple heads is not unheard of in Scripture.

Thus, if we can determine what these four beasts in Daniel's dream represent, it will likely give us insight into John's beast as well.

Four Beasts and a Five-Part Statue

Among conservative Bible scholars, the four beasts in Daniel's dream are usually believed to correspond to the different portions of a statue of a man which King Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream.2

As described in Daniel 2:31-35, different portions of the statue were made of different materials:

• the head of gold
• the chest and arms of silver
• the torso and hips of bronze
• the legs of iron
• the feet of iron and clay mixed together

At the end of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the statue was destroyed by a huge boulder which hit the statue's feet, and caused the rest of the statue to crumble into dust that was blown away by the wind.

God gave Daniel the interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar's dream, where Daniel identified each portion of the statue as being a political empire, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon as the head of gold, and ending with God's eternal kingdom as the boulder which will destroy and replace all human kingdoms and empires (Daniel 2:36-45).

Historically, we can see that the empires which ruled over the land of Israel after the Babylonians were the Medo-Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. The symbolism of the four beasts in Daniel's dream fits surprisingly well with this same series of four empires, as will be shown below.

Babylon

The lion-like beast with eagle wings (Daniel 7:4) represents Babylon, which was also represented as the statue's head of gold (Daniel 2:37-38). Babylon was known for their images of winged lions which guarded their royal palaces.3

In Daniel's dream, the lion-like beast has its wings plucked off, and it stands upright like a man and is given a human mind (Daniel 7:4). This corresponds well with details of Nebuchadnezzar's personal life, where he lost his mind as a divine judgment on his pride, causing him to live like a wild animal until God restored his sanity seven years later (Daniel 4:28-37).

Medo-Persia

The Medo-Persian empire conquered Babylon during Daniel's own lifetime, following the infamous incident where the divine hand of God wrote mysterious words on the palace wall while King Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar's son) was having a wild party (Daniel 5:1-31). That very night, Darius the Mede conquered Babylon and killed Belshazzar.

Thus, the Medo-Persian empire would correspond to the statue's chest and arms of silver in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:32, 2:39). Interpreters also see similarities between the Medo-Persian empire and the symbolism of Daniel's bear-like beast.

The symbol of the bear may indicate this empire was “powerful like a bear, ferocious, but less majestic, less swift, and less glorious... inferior in appearance and heavy and ungainly in movement" (in comparison to the lion/Babylon).4

The bear is described as being lifted up on one side, while eating three ribs in its mouth (Daniel 7:5). The three ribs could represent how the Medo-Persians conquered Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, and the bear being raised up on one side might represent the lopsided balance of power between the Medes and Persians within this empire.5

Greece

The leopard-like beast is generally seen as representing the Greek empire under Alexander the Great, which is also represented as the torso and hips of bronze in Nebuchadnezzar's statue (Daniel 2:39).

It is noted that a leopard was less feared than a lion, but it was faster. The four wings on the leopard also emphasize its speed, which matches with the remarkable and unprecedented speed of Alexander the Great’s conquests.6

The four heads on this leopard-like beast (Daniel 7:6) may represent how after Alexander the Great died, his empire was split up among his top four generals.7 This detail will be helpful to remember when we return to examining John's seven-headed beast.

Rome

As the next historical empire which conquered Greece, Rome is represented as Daniel's fourth beast with iron teeth and ten horns (Daniel 7:7), and would correspond to the statue's two legs of iron in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:33, 2:40).

Rome was eventually split into east and west and was ruled by two different emperors. This detail would correspond well with the statue having two legs.

The body of the fourth beast is not described by Daniel. Yet Daniel does say that this beast is different from the others, and it devours the whole world and tramples it into pieces (Daniel 7:7, 7:23, 2:40). It is also the only beast that is described as having a metallic component (i.e., iron teeth).

One scholar notes that:

Just as this monster was ‘different’ from all the others, so the Roman Empire differed from those that had preceded it. Rome possessed a power and longevity unlike anything the world had ever known. Nations were crushed under the iron boot of the Roman legions, its power was virtually irresistible, and the extent of its influence surpassed the other three kingdoms.8

There is more that needs to be said about this fourth beast regarding the ten horns, as well as the horns' relationship to the feet of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. This will be discussed later on in this post.

Support for This Interpretation of the Beasts

The interpretation of these four beasts in Daniel's vision as being four successive empires which ruled over the land of Israel, and their multiple heads and wings as representing divisions of ruling power within these empires is supported by a similar passage found in the Jewish book of 2 Esdras.

2 Esdras is part of the category of biblical books which are called the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha contains extra books that early Christians (and most Protestants during the Reformation) did not see as being equal to the other books of Scripture in terms of their spiritual authority. Thus, these books are not included in most Bibles that are printed today. However, these books had been included in the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the Old Testament that would have been used in the early churches, and so these books were traditionally seen as still having some sort of use or value for Christians.

2 Esdras is considered to be apocalyptic literature, which is the same genre as the Book of Revelation and portions of the book of Daniel.

In 2 Esdras chapters 11 and 12, a three-headed eagle-like beast is depicted as gaining and losing different numbers of wings. The author of 2 Esdras interprets the eagle’s wings as being different kings who will reign over this kingdom and then lose their rule or be killed by subsequent kings (2 Esdras 12:13-21, NRSVA).

The heads of the eagle represent three of the kingdom's even more oppressive rulers who come later on, and who finish off the beast's/kingdom's actions (2 Esdras 12:22-25, NRSVA).

It is noted by Frederick Murphy that “What happens with the eagle mirrors Roman history, from Julius Caesar to the Flavians, whose dynasty ended in 96 CE”.9

The final and largest head of the eagle is depicted as dying in bed (2 Esdras 12:26, NRSVA), which happened for Emperor Vespasian. At the time, such a death would have been unusual for an emperor.10

This example in 2 Esdras confirms that in Jewish apocalyptic literature it was possible to use beasts to represent kingdoms or empires, and for parts of these beasts to represent rulers. Additionally, just as in Daniel's vision, what happens to these rulers during their reigns is described by what happens to the beast or parts of the beast.

Thus, 2 Esdras confirms that it is reasonable to interpret the four beasts in Daniel's vision as representing four successive empires, and the parts of the beasts as representing different rulers within these empires.

The Beasts Come Out of the Sea

Elsewhere in Scripture, the sea monsters named Rahab and Leviathan are used to represent oppressive foreign empires such as Egypt or Babylon (e.g., Psalm 74:14, 87:4, Isaiah 30:7, Ezekiel 29:3, 32:2-3, Jeremiah 51:34).

To ancient near-eastern people, the sea represented a constant threat to life, and a source of chaos.11 This theme also appears in the Bible.

For example, God calmed the chaotic waters in order for the land to appear on the third day of creation (Genesis 1:9-13). The entire world was also destroyed by water during the flood (Genesis 7:1-24). Jesus famously calmed a rough storm when he was in a boat that threatened the lives of the disciples (Luke 8:22-25), and James also uses the sea as a metaphor for chaos (James 1:6). Thus, it is appropriate for the sea to be symbolically absent from the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21:1).

Other commentators have noted that the sea can represent all the non-Jewish nations of the world.12

Thus, the sea is an appropriate metaphorical source for both Daniel and John's beasts (Daniel 7:2-3, Revelation 13:1), which represent foreign non-Jewish empires that threatened God's people.

With this background, we can now move on to interpret the seven heads of John's beast.

The Seven Heads on John's Beast

In Revelation 17:9-10, the seven heads of the beast are said to represent two different things:

• seven kings: five which no longer rule, one who is currently ruling, and one more that will rule in the future.
• seven mountains/hills upon which sits the metaphorical prostitute who is called Babylon the Great.

The prostitute named Babylon the Great represents an entity which is rich, is associated with the colors of scarlet and purple, and persecutes/martyrs God's saints (Revelation 17:4-6).

Usually, in the Bible, God used the symbol of female prostitutes to represent how God's people became unfaithful to their covenant with God and began worshiping other gods (e.g., Ezekiel 16:8-63, Hosea 1:2).

Regarding the seven hills/mountains, there are a number of cities which claim to have been built on seven hills. For John's target audience, the most notable of such cities would likely have been Rome and Jerusalem, but could also have included Athens. Other such cities of interest to Bible prophecy scholars today include Washington D.C., Mecca in Saudi Arabia (the most important city for the religion of Islam), and Brussels in Belgium (the capital of the European Union).13

But John's first readers of the book of Revelation would most likely have interpreted the seven hills as referring to the city of Rome, and the prostitute as being the idolatrous Roman practice of Emperor worship.14 The early Christians' refusal to offer sacrifices or prayers to statues of the Roman emperor was one reason that Christians were persecuted at various times and places within the ancient Roman Empire.15

Thus, it is common for biblical interpreters to attempt to identify the seven heads of John's beast with seven Roman emperors. However, there were many more than only seven Roman emperors, and commentators cannot decide among themselves which seven should count, or even which one to begin counting from.16 So this does not seem to be the best interpretive option.

Which emperor would be considered as “the one who is living” during John's time also varies depending on when commentators estimate the Book of Revelation was written. Suggestions include Nero, Galba, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, or Domitian.17

An alternate suggestion which tries to fit the seven kings with seven historical rulers takes a more symbolic view of these kings by noting that

[Rome] was an Etruscan monarchy until the expulsion of the last Etruscan king… in 508 B.C. From the perspective of canonical Roman tradition, there were exactly seven kings in all: Romulus, Numa, Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcus, Tarquinus Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus … while there were probably more than seven historical kings, Roman and Etruscan historians identified minor figures with major ones to maintain the canonical number.18

Yet since John said that one king/head was currently living at the time when he was writing Revelation, this purely historical interpretation seems obviously incorrect.

Some commentators attempt to give up on identifying the seven heads as seven historical rulers altogether. Instead, they say the number seven simply represents "completeness", and the fact that John says the sixth head was currently ruling during his time shows that "the end is near".19

Yet this interpretation seems overly simplistic given that, based on the earlier analysis of the beasts in the book of Daniel and 2 Esdras, there is a specific meaning attributed to the various heads and portions of the beasts' bodies. The same is likely true for John's beast.

Futhermore, because of the large number of allusions in Revelation 13 and 17 to the book of Daniel,20 it seems clear that John is intending for his readers to recall Daniel’s vision and to interpret the symbolism of his beast in a similar way.

John's Beast as a Conglomerate of Daniel's Beasts

I believe that John himself gives the clue to the interpretation of the heads when he says they represent seven kings, five which are fallen, one which is currently ruling, and one which is still to come and rules only for a little while (Revelation 17:10).

So as he says, unlike Daniel's third beast where the four heads represented four leaders who ruled over parts of Greece simultaneously after Alexander the Great died, John is using the seven heads of his beast to represent seven kings who rule in sequential order.

It has been suggested that the seven heads of John's beast represent a series of human empires which have ruled over the land of Israel in different eras.21

Furthermore, we can see that the body of John's beast is comprised of parts from Daniel's first three beasts: the mouth of a lion, the feet of a bear, and the rest like a leopard (Revelation 13:2). John's beast also has the ten horns of Daniel's fourth beast (Revelation 17:3).

These details support the idea that John's beast transcends time, such that John's beast includes "within itself manifestations of other oppressive kingdoms" which historically ruled over and opposed God's people.22

From Genesis to Revelation, we see that in chronological order throughout Scripture, these kingdoms/empires were:

1. Egypt
2. Assyria
3. Babylon (Daniel's first lion-like beast)
4. Medo-Persia (Daniel's second bear-like beast)
5. Greece (Daniel's third leopard-like beast)
6. Rome (Daniel's fourth beast with ten horns)

Indeed, in this scheme, Rome would be the sixth kingdom, and would correspond with the sixth head/king of the beast which John said was ruling during his lifetime (Revelation 17:10).

However, we still have not figured out what the ten horns on Daniel's fourth beast represent, since it seems that they are the same ten horns as on John's beast.

Thus, solving the mystery of these ten horns on Daniel's fourth beast will also allow us to identify the seventh head of John's beast.

The Ten Horns on Daniel's Fourth Beast

As you may have guessed by now, there is debate among commentators over what the ten horns on Daniel's fourth beast represent.

As seen earlier, this beast is often interpreted as representing the Roman Empire. Daniel also clearly mentions that the ten horns are ten kings (Daniel 7:24). So, just like for the seven heads in John's beast, some commentators try to find a sequence of ten Roman emperors to label as these kings.

Yet Daniel saw three of these kings being uprooted or replaced by a greater king, who initially comes up as only a "little horn" (Daniel 7:8, 7:20). Both this greater king and Daniel's fourth beast are prophesied to be defeated by the coming of the Messiah (Daniel 7:21-22). This will happen at the Battle of Armageddon, which occurs just after Jesus' second coming in Revelation 16:12-16 and 19:11-21.

However, there were many more than just ten Roman emperors, and commentators who take this approach often disagree on which ten were the most important emperors that should be worthy of being counted among these ten. There were also never three emperors who were replaced by only one emperor. And finally, the Roman Empire was not defeated by Jesus at his second coming, since the second coming is a yet-future event.23

The same problem occurs if we identify the ten horns as either ten Roman provinces, or ten client kings of Rome.24

Furthermore, John specified that the ten horns had not yet received their power (Revelation 17:12), and so identifying them as any historical figures who lived at or before the writing of the Book of Revelation seems blatantly incorrect.

Alternatively, as with the seven heads, some scholars claim the number ten only symbolizes "completeness", rather than a specific series of kings.25

But let us return again to Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue. The very last stage of the statue after the two legs of iron is the feet and toes made of iron and clay (Daniel 2:41-42). Presumably, if the statue is depicting a typical human, there would be ten of these toes.

Therefore, it seems logical that these ten toes are the same as the ten horns on Daniel's fourth beast (Daniel 7:24), which would also correspond to the ten horns on John's beast which represent ten kings who had not yet begun to rule during John's time, and do so for only a short time after they receive power (Revelation 17:9-12).

Therefore, just as the statue's feet and toes made of iron and clay could be seen as an extension of the two legs of iron, the seventh head of John's beast is often referred to by prophecy commentators as the "Revived Roman Empire," which will have ten kings/rulers or administrative divisions.

Daniel also says that it is in the days of these ten toes/kings that God would set up his eternal kingdom (Daniel 2:42-45). This detail confirms that the feet of the statue represent a kingdom/empire which will rule for only a "little while" or symbolically "one hour" before Jesus' second coming occurs (Revelation 17:9-12).

After Jesus' victory, he will set up his own kingdom which will initially last for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6), and then carries on into eternity in the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 22:1-5).

So in conclusion, the seventh head of John's beast could be labelled as the "Revived Roman Empire" which will exist for only a brief time before the ten kings who rule this empire will give all their power over to the Antichrist for the last 3.5 years/42 months of the Tribulation period (Revelation 17:13, 13:5, Daniel 7:25).26

It is this empire which will exist at Jesus' second coming, and which will be defeated by him at the Battle of Armageddon, fulfilling Daniel's prophecies of the statue that is destroyed by a boulder (Daniel 2:44-45), or the fourth beast which is killed with fire (Daniel 7:11, Revelation 19:20).

Who are the Ten Kings?

Many prophecy commentators have speculated about what these ten kings may be.

In the past, the European Union was seen as having a lot of potential to become the Revived Roman Empire. This is because the Antichrist is prophesied to come from the same people who destroyed the second Jewish temple in 70 AD, who were the Romans (Daniel 9:26-27). The Roman Empire was based primarily in Europe, although it also included some areas now found in Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, and North Africa.

However, it wasn't clear to prophecy experts how the EU would end up with only ten members during the Tribulation, if the EU was supposed to fulfill the prophecy of the ten kings.

In a previous blog post, I discussed how the BRICS countries were ready to expand to ten members, and so this group also seemed like it could be an alternative possibility for the ten kings.

However, currently BRICS+ has only nine members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, because Argentina declined the invitation to join.

So currently in this time before the Rapture, we do not yet see the ten-king kingdom clearly forming. Perhaps the specific group of ten kings will only be fully formed in the chaos that will occur after the Rapture.

However, as noted earlier, it could be possible that the number ten in reference to these toes/horns/kings is only symbolic and represents a larger number of countries, or maybe even the whole world.

After all, a statue with, say, 193 toes on the feet, or a beast with 193 horns on its heads (to represent, for example, the current number of members of the United Nations) would be rather bizarre and potentially difficult for God to depict clearly in visions or dreams to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and John.

Yet what is most important is not the specific identity of the ten horns, but of the "little horn" who comes up among them, and eventually becomes the ultimate evil world ruler known as the Antichrist.

Is the Beast an Empire or a Person?

So, based on the earlier analysis, it seems that John's beast is a temporal conglomerate that represents seven human empires which either have dominated or will dominate the land of Israel and persecute God's people.

Yet the things that the beast does in the Book of Revelation seem to fit much better with the actions of an individual person. For example, the beast:

• will say proud/haughty words about itself (Revelation 13:5).
• will blaspheme God and the raptured Christians who are safe in heaven (Revelation 13:6).
• will be endorsed by a false prophet who will do impressive miracles when he is in the beast's presence (Revelation 13:11-13, 19:20).
• will have an 'image' made of it which can speak (Revelation 13:15).
• will be associated with the number 666, which is "the number of a man" (Revelation 13:18).
• will be captured at the battle of Armageddon along with the false prophet, and thrown into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:20).

Furthermore, it is noted that throughout Revelation, the masculine pronoun "he" is used to refer to the beast.27

It is also noted that in Revelation, the "parallels between the beast and the Lamb indicate that he [the beast] is a person: both have followers on whose foreheads are inscribed their names, both are conquerors, and both receive worship".28 Thus, in a number of ways, the Antichrist will attempt to impersonate Jesus.

All of these details are difficult to imagine and understand if John is intending them to refer only to an empire.

So it could be that, as in the case of Daniel's first lion-like beast, and the heads of the eagle in 2 Esdras, while the beast represents the empire, the actions of the beast represent the actions of the empire's ruler.

This makes sense because if a ruler has absolute control over the empire, then whatever the ruler does, the entire empire also effectively does.

Thus, as one commentator writes,

The antichrist … is in a general sense the seven-headed beast, and yet at the same time the eighth head or eighth king in particular, who somehow belongs to the seven (v. 11). In other words, the antichrist in Revelation is both an institution and a person, an empire and an emperor.29

Now, let us address the above comment which mentions that the Antichrist is also the 'eighth' head/king which seems to appear on John's beast.

The Antichrist as the Little Horn that becomes the Eighth King/Head of the Beast

So how does the Antichrist go from being only Daniel's "little horn", to "the beast" who has power over the entire world for the last 42 months of the Tribulation? (Revelation 13:5-8). I believe we can track his rise to power by putting verses from the books of Daniel and Revelation into their logical and chronological order.

First, Daniel says the Antichrist comes up as a "little horn" among the ten horns/kings who will be ruling the seventh head/empire of John's beast. But right from the start, the Antichrist seems to be proud, as he "speaks great things". As he comes up, he takes over the power of three of these pre-existing rulers/horns, thereby "plucking them up by their roots" (Daniel 7:8).

This initial appearance of the Antichrist likely corresponds to the First Seal judgment in Revelation 6:1-2. There, a rider on a white horse appears who seems to have conquered, but also goes out to conquer more. This conquering could be in the military sense, but it could also be more of a political conquest, as the Antichrist slowly gains more and more power.

Yet at some point, it seems the three kings who the Antichrist initially replaced may return, perhaps as sub-rulers under the Antichrist, because the Bible says that all ten kings will give their power and authority to the Antichrist (Revelation 17:12-13).

At this point, after the Antichrist has received the full authority of the ten kings, he has effectively become the seventh head of the beast. Since this seventh head is also the head of the beast which will be in power at that time, the Antichrist could simply be called "the beast", for short.

Now we can make sense of how John writes that "one of its [the beast's] heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed" (Revelation 13:3).

Specifically, the apparently-mortal wound will be caused by a sword (Revelation 13:14). The Greek word for sword used here is machaira, meaning a large knife, dagger, or sword.30

Once again, these details make much more sense if the seventh head of the beast is referring to a person, rather than referring in general to an empire, as some commentators suggest.31

So it seems that someone will try to kill the Antichrist by using a knife, dagger, or sword, and the assassin may even appear to succeed, until the Antichrist seemingly miraculously recovers.

In this way, the Antichrist will somehow make it appear that he has been resurrected. However, the Bible warns that the Antichrist's 'miracles' will all be done through the deceptive power of Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). So it will somehow be a fake resurrection.

Yet this apparent miracle would provide a convincing basis for the Antichrist to declare to the people of the world that he is God. He will even do this in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

After all, it was Jesus' resurrection from the dead which validated his claims to be God (John 10:17-18, 20:27-28, Romans 1:4, Acts 17:31).

At this point, after the Antichrist has received this seemingly-fatal wound and pulled off a fake resurrection, the Antichrist could be counted as the resurrected 'eighth' king/head of the beast, although he was formerly the seventh head which seemed to die when he was assassinated (Revelation 17:11).

Shortly after this, the Antichrist will also demonstrate the ability to kill the two witnesses who will prophesy in Jerusalem and cause many problems for the world's people during the first half of the Tribulation (Revelation 11:3-7). These two men had previously been invincible, due to their ability to shoot out fire from their mouths to destroy anyone who attacked them (Revelation 11:5). The world will celebrate the two witnesses' deaths (Revelation 11:10).

With these two demonstrations of the Antichrist's apparent invincibility, it's completely understandable that most people in the world will say "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?" They will actually worship the Antichrist as God, and will worship Satan also (Revelation 13:4).

At this point, the Antichrist will receive the full authority of Satan (Revelation 13:4), and he will rule the whole world for the last 3.5 years (42 months) of the seven-year Tribulation period (Revelation 13:5).

Together, the Antichrist and the ten kings (who likely will stay on as sub-administrators) will hate whatever entity or false religion is represented by the prostitute named Babylon the Great, and they will somehow destroy it (or at least, destroy its principal city) in a single hour, by using fire (Revelation 17:16-18, 18:8-10).

In this way, if Babylon the Great is a future idolatrous one-world religion, after it is destroyed, the Antichrist will claim all the world's worship for himself and Satan.

Under the instructions of the Antichrist's false prophet, the people of the world will make an idol of the Antichrist that will behead people who refuse to worship it (Revelation 13:14-15, 20:4). Furthermore, everyone who refuses to take the Mark of the Beast will be cut off from the global financial system, so they will be unable to buy or sell anything (Revelation 13:16-17).

At this point, the persecution of Christians which already began in the Fifth Seal judgment will likely increase, because Christians and faithful Jews will be the only groups of people who will refuse to worship the Antichrist as if he were God (Daniel 7:21, 7:25, Revelation 13:7-10).

Thus, it is appropriate for the beast in John's vision to be colored scarlet (Revelation 17:3) — the color of blood — because every empire which comprises one of the seven heads of the beast, from Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, the Revived Roman empire, to the 'eighth' Antichrist global dictatorship will all have persecuted and killed God's people, whether Jews or Christians.

The dragon which represents Satan in the book of Revelation is similarly red colored (Revelation 12:3), and he would be the ultimate inspiration and power behind the murder of Jews and Christians during the Tribulation. Jesus did say Satan was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

Yet because there are far more people in the world today, the Antichrist will likely achieve the terrible accomplishment of killing and persecuting the most saints out of any of the previous seven empires.

In the end, we could say that

Governments are beastly when they scheme to eliminate people who get in the way of their purposes. The greater the number of people affected, the greater the beastliness of the government that participates in such annihilation.32

So perhaps it is appropriate for the Antichrist to be called "the beast" itself, because he will far outdo all previous empires in his level of utterly totalitarian control over the world, and also how severely and comprehensively he will be able to persecute God's people.

No one else in history has been able to control every single person's ability to buy and sell, yet the Antichrist will be able to do so by using whatever technology that will enable the Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:16-18). It is also likely that he will make use of all the most advanced surveillance systems, probably enhanced with artificial intelligence, to try to track down and eliminate all Christians and Jews.

Such a dictatorial empire with this level of technological control really will be the pinnacle of evil, and Jesus' second coming will be the only hope to free humanity from the beast's worldwide domination.

Conclusion

To summarize, John's seven-headed beast with ten horns in the Book of Revelation represents all historical and yet-future empires which have had dominion over the land of Israel, and which have persecuted God's faithful people.

Yet due to the level of control that the Antichrist will eventually have over the last world empire, and how he will be the ultimate and most severe persecutor of God's people throughout history, he can effectively be identified as "the beast" itself.

Thus, the aspects of what "the beast" is described as doing in the Book of Revelation that seem to imply the beast is a man should be interpreted as happening to or being done by the Antichrist himself.

This includes how he will receive an apparently-fatal wound from a sword, and pull off a fake resurrection which will stun the world into believing his claims to be God, and worshipping him.

However, as invincible and terrible as the Antichrist will seem, he will only rule the world for 3.5 years. Jesus will throw the Antichrist into the Lake of Fire along with the Antichrist's false prophet after they are captured during the Battle of Armageddon, at the end of the Tribulation (Revelation 19:20). So Jesus will have the final victory.

Even better, everyone who lost their lives due to refusing to worship the Antichrist or take his Mark of the Beast will be resurrected. They will get to help Jesus and his Church rule the world for the next thousand years (Revelation 20:4).

So what does all of this mean for you today?

If you have not already done so, I would highly recommend that you take Jesus up on his offer to believe that he died for your sins, so that you can have eternal life.

This way, if the Rapture has not yet happened, you can look forward to escaping the terrible time of the Tribulation (Revelation 3:10). Share this good news with your friends and family, so that they can also hopefully be saved before the Rapture occurs.

But if millions or even billions of people have just disappeared all around the world, you will be heading into the seven-year Tribulation.

No matter what it costs you, absolutely DO NOT take the Mark of the Beast. Doing so will lead to your automatic condemnation to the Lake of Fire (Revelation 14:9-11), and eventual eternal destruction.

Yet even if you die during the Tribulation, if you have believed in Jesus, you will have eternal life in the New Heaven and New Earth, where all tears will be wiped away and there will never again be any suffering or death (Revelation 21:4). It will be better than anything anyone can currently imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9), and so it's infinitely more worthwhile to believe in Jesus and have him be your king rather than to follow the Antichrist.

Footnotes:

• 1. This post is based on a final paper I wrote for a course on the Book of Revelation during my Master of Theological Studies degree at Tyndale Seminary.
• 2. John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, revised and edited by Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, MI: Moody, 2012), 182-183, 187.
• 3. John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, revised and edited by Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, MI: Moody, 2012), 189-190.
• 4. JJohn F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, revised and edited by Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, MI: Moody, 2012), 192.
• 5. John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, revised and edited by Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, MI: Moody, 2012), 192-193.
• 6. John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, revised and edited by Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, MI: Moody, 2012), 194.
• 7. Thomas A. Howe, Daniel in the Preterists’ Den: A Critical Look At Preterist Interpretations of Daniel (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), 205-206; John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, revised and edited by Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, MI: Moody, 2012), 195.
• 8. Stephen R. Miller, Daniel: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, The New American Commentary Vol. 18, ed. E. Ray Clendenen (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 201.
• 9. Frederick J. Murphy, Apocalypticism in the Bible and Its World: A Comprehensive Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 148.
• 10. Theodore A. Bergren, “2 Esdras” in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books Third Ed., eds. Michael D. Coogan et. al. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001), 351.
• 11. “Monsters,” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, eds. Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, Tremper Longman III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 562-563.
• 12. John F. Walvoord, Revelation, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, eds. Philip E. Rawle & Mark Hitchcock (Chicago, MI: Moody Publishers, 2011), 204.
• 13. Wikipedia.org, "List of Cities Claimed To Be Built on Seven Hills"
• 14. A. J. Beagley, “Babylon”, The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments, eds. Ralph P. Martin, Peter H. Davids (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 112.
• 15. Emperor Nero captured, tortured, and executed many Christians after blaming them for the fire that burned down part of the city of Rome in 64 AD, but this persecution was limited to the city of Rome. The policy of requiring Christians to sacrifice to pagan statues of gods or statues of the Roman emperors appears to have begun under Emperor Trajan, as shown in letters that were sent between Emperor Trajan and one of his governors named Pliny, who was attempting to figure out how to deal with Christians in his region who caused problems for the local economy that depended on the sale of idols and sacrifices for pagan temples. But the persecution here was mostly limited to Pliny's region of Bithynia. In the early third century during the rule of Emperor Septimus Severus, it became illegal to become a Christian. The famous document The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas shows how if new converts to Christianity were caught, they were put on trial and were asked to sacrifice to the gods or the emperor, and if they refused, they were killed in the arenas. But it was only in 249 AD under the Emperor Decius who wanted to restore the old Roman religions that worshipping the gods and emperor became mandatory for all people throughout the Roman Empire, and paper certificates were given out as proof that individuals had done so. Christians who refused were imprisoned and tortured if they were caught without the certificate. Finally, Emperor Diocletian implemented harsh policies to arrest church leaders and required all Christians to sacrifice to the gods and emperor, or be tortured and killed. Fortunately, this persecution decreased as political chaos took most of Diocletian's and his immediate successors' focus off of Christians, and perscution of Christians officially ended inside the Roman Empire when Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 AD. Justo L. Gonzales, The Story of Christianity Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, Revised and Updated (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010), 44-46, 50-51, 98-99, 100-102, 120-126.
• 16. David E. Aune, Revelation 17-22, Word Biblical Commentary 52c (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), 946-947.
• 17. David E. Aune, Revelation 17-22, Word Biblical Commentary 52c (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), 947, 949.
• 18. David E. Aune, Revelation 17-22, Word Biblical Commentary 52c (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), 948.
• 19. Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, Revised Edition, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 317.
• 20. G. K. Beale, The Use of Daniel in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature and in The Revelation of St. John (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), 267.
• 21. Dennis E. Johnson, “Revelation” in The ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 2481.
• 22. "Just as the four beastly kingdoms in Daniel 7 spanned hundreds of years, so the empire dominant in the first century A.D. has latent within itself manifestations of other oppressive kingdoms that may be manifested in the future, as 17:10–11 show." G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 685.
• 23. Thomas A. Howe, Daniel in the Preterists’ Den: A Critical Look At Preterist Interpretations of Daniel (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), 225-226.
• 24. David E. Aune, Revelation 17-22, Word Biblical Commentary 52c (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998) 951.
• 25. Thomas A. Howe, Daniel in the Preterists’ Den: A Critical Look At Preterist Interpretations of Daniel (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), 209.
• 26. John F. Walvoord, Revelation, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, eds. Philip E. Rawle & Mark Hitchcock (Chicago, MI: Moody Publishers, 2011), 204.
• 27. Daniel K. Wong, “The Beast from the Sea in Revelation 13”, Bibliotheca Sacra 160 no. 639 Jl-S (2003): 337-338.
• 28. Daniel K. Wong, “The Beast from the Sea in Revelation 13”, Bibliotheca Sacra 160 no. 639 Jl-S (2003): 338.
• 29. Ramsay J. Michaels, Revelation The IVP New Testament Commentary Series 20 (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 1997), 197-198.
• 30. William D. Mounce, Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1206.
• 31. Such as is claimed by Walvoord, who prefers to interpret the head that was wounded as being the Roman Empire having been killed and coming back to life as the Revived Roman Empire. See John F. Walvoord, Revelation, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, eds. Philip E. Rawle & Mark Hitchcock (Chicago, MI: Moody Publishers, 2011), 205-206.
• 32. A. Berkley Michelson, Daniel & Revelation: Riddles or Realities? (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 136.