The Beast out of the Sea
“The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast” (Revelation 13:1-3).
Both the prophet Daniel and the apostle John described political systems and leaders as beasts. This time, the beast came out of the sea, while the dragon was on the shore. It had ten horns with crowns and seven heads. John called it a beast because it comes up out of the sea of nations, or as some scholars refer to it, an instability of nations. This sea means large numbers of people. The beast in this chapter is the same beast from the previous chapter. Once again, as in the previous chapter, the seven heads with seven crowns represent rulers of government. These seven governments were part of the Roman Empire. They are:
1.) Babylon
2.) Persia
3.) Greece
4.) Turkey
5.) Syria
6.) Egypt
7.) Rome
There were also ten horns on this beast. During John’s time, the Roman Empire was in power. However, after the breakup of Rome’s dominance, five main parts remained, which are:
1.) Britain
2.) France
3.) Spain
4.) Italy
5.) Germany
In addition to these five, four kingdoms arose after the reign of Alexander the Great. They are:
1.) Greece/Macedonia (Antigonid Kingdom): Founded by Antigonus Monophthalmos, controlling the Macedonian heartland.
2.) Turkey (Western Asia Minor, Attalid Dynasty, Pergamon): Established in Asia Minor, serving as a significant cultural hub.
3.) Syria/Asia ( Seleucid Empire): Founded by Seleucus I, this vast territory stretched from the Mediterranean to India.
4.) Egypt (Ptolemaic Kingdom): Ruled by Ptolemy I, this kingdom was the most stable and centered around the new capital of Alexandria.
Now, this makes a total of nine kingdoms. However, the book of Daniel mentions a 10th kingdom and the emergence of an 11th kingdom. The Bible says: “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions” (Daniel 7:19-20). How does Daniel relate to Revelation, you may ask? The prophet Daniel also received visions of the end times that coincide with those of John. Therefore, when you see references to horns and heads in these two books, they are often used interchangeably. Nevertheless, to avoid confusion, we will stick with what is in Revelation for now, but please join me when we do a spinoff and revisit this in the next Bible lesson series, “Daniel: Discovering the Vision.” For now, the next kingdom is:
10.) Iraq
This makes a total of 10, but another kingdom emerges in the book of Daniel, which, according to biblical scholars, is the country of Iran, making a total of 11. We will provide more historical information in the Daniel Bible lessons, so you can have a more in-depth look at the historical events and how they relate to Revelation and today’s time.
John describes the beast as having the look of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. All of the beasts that he described are powerful animals, which shows that they had great strength, but were given more power and authority from the dragon (devil). The countries that are representative of these beasts are as follows:
1.) Babylon – Modern-day Iraq is the lion. A metaphor for the ancient Babylonian Empire, which was known for its all-consuming power as it extended its control over other nations. The Bible says: “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it” (Daniel 7:4).
2.) Persia – Modern-day Iran is the bear. A representation of the ancient Medo-Persian Empire, depicting its fierce power and great strength. The Bible says: “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ ” (Daniel 7:5).
3.) Greece – Still the same name is the leopard. The leopard is a metaphor for ancient Greece, alluding to the Greeks’ swiftness and military prowess as they advanced in conquest, particularly under Alexander the Great. The Bible says: “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule” (Daniel 7:6).
The Leopard and subsequent animal symbols were all native wildlife in Palestine, familiar to John’s readers.
These countries, represented by the animals in John and Daniel’s visions, play a major role in end-time events, as do the others mentioned. Again, we will go more in-depth into the historical nature of these countries as they relate to end-time prophecy in the next Bible lesson series, “Daniel: Discovering the Vision.” For now, in Daniel 7, the prophet records a dream in which he saw the rise and fall of 4 world empires, characterized by beasts emerging from the sea. John’s vision depicts a beast rising from the sea, which is the antichrist beast system. This system has an unholy trinity consisting of Satan, the Antichrist (the political beast system), and the false prophet (the false religious system). These heads on the beast symbolize dominion and authority, the horns signify power, and the crowns indicate rulership and dominance.
Each of the heads had a blasphemous name. These names represent rulers who demanded worship, such as the emperor worship demanded by Rome’s emperors, which challenged God’s authority and led to the early church's persecution. These names also represent intentional defiance and mockery of God and of anything associated with Him. This outright blasphemy is both spiritual and political, thus promoting the antichrist beast system.
The early church’s persecution began in 64 A.D. under the Emperor Nero and significantly increased in the 3rd and 4th centuries. He made Christians scapegoats for all that went wrong in Rome, thus subjecting them to burnings, crucifixions, or being meals for live beasts for refusing to worship Rome’s emperors. The Roman Empire was deeply polytheistic, worshipping various Roman gods. Religion was extremely connected with the Roman state. Public worship, sacrifices, and emperor worship were considered essential to the empire's well-being, but this conflicted with Christians’ belief that they worshiped only the one true God.[1]
Continuing in John’s vision, one of the heads received a deadly wound, but recovered. Because the heads and horns in both Daniel and Revelation are used interchangeably to represent kingdoms, we can understand that a kingdom or its ruler will have a fatal wound but miraculously recover, like a fake resurrection by Satan to imitate Jesus’ resurrection, causing the whole world to follow the beast. As we know, the devil can also perform false miracles, deceiving many into believing a major deception. Jesus warned that this would take place in the last days. The Bible says: “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). We must be careful not to be deceived in these last days and rely totally on the Word of God. The purpose of the Antichrist’s deception is to cause people to believe that he is the savior and the one who should be worshiped. However, this will be a fake miracle because he will be judged by Jesus and will be thrown into the lake of fire, for He is the only King of Kings and Lord of Lords who has already defeated the enemy and will reign for eternity.
[1] Brian O., "Why Did the Romans Persecute Christians?," Global Christian Relief, last modified December 27, 2024, https://globalchristianrelief.org/stories/why-did-the-romans-persecute-christians/.
