Revelation 13 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Revelation 13

The First Beast

13:1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,¹ that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.² And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

10   If anyone is to be taken captive,
    to captivity he goes;
  if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
    with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,³ and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of⁴ the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,⁵ to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.⁶

Footnotes

[1] 13:6 Or tabernacle
[2] 13:7 Some manuscripts omit this sentence
[3] 13:12 Or on its behalf
[4] 13:14 Or on behalf of
[5] 13:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
[6] 13:18 Some manuscripts 616

Commentary

v1-4: The devil has many disguises. He is the power behind the dragon (ch 12) and behind the beast. The beast is described in terms of three animals from Dan 7.4-6, the leopard, the bear, the lion. John does not intend us to physically imagine the beast, but to appreciate its horror, and its evil intentions. Through the beast he exercises great power on the earth, taking advantage of the apparent miracle of his healing (compare Matt 24.24). Through this deceit all the world will follow him.

The beast stands as an alternative to Jesus Christ and in opposition to Him. This is the essence of the 'anti-christ,' the one who seeks to usurp the true Christ. Ths chapter presents a series of his attempts to replicate the true: he has crowns/diadems (v1), names (v1), power/authority (v2); he elicits worship and praise (v4), he is resurrected (v12), and demands allegiance from his followers (v7-8).

v5-8: The beast enjoys 3½ years of authority, and the people of the world worship, except those who belong to the Lamb. Those who are faithful suffer the beast's attacks. We have confidence in God's final and overall victory, but we understand that, until that day, many hardships fall upon His people. The glorious testimony is that His people continue to be faithful to Him through those trials.

v9-10: There is captivity for some and death for some; the response of the faithful is to be faithful.

v11-14: The second beast, following the style of the first. This one comes from the land, the first from the sea, but they are united in their opposition to God.

Like the first beast, there is an attempted replication of the true. He has great authority, making people worship the first beast. There are false miracles. The appearance is like a lamb, to confuse those who see the lamb as picturing Jesus Christ. In contrast, the second beast deceives many (v14) - the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16.13).

v15: The image itself comes to life by the beast's power. Like Nebuchadnezzar, he put to death those who did not worship the beast. This time is fearful; there can only be hope in Christ, for none can stand in their own strength.

v16-18: The beast brings a security for the people, as they have to submit to it in order to buy their necessary food. The beast has a number, 666. This indicates incompleteness, a falling short of perfection. And it is the number of man, not the true Son of Man.