Revelation 13:1-2 “Who’s the Beast of Revelation Coming Out of the Sea?”

Who’s the Beast of Revelation Coming Out of the Sea?

Bible Study Guide

(Verse 1) The seven year Tribulation period spoken of by the prophet Daniel will be a time of horrific chaos and calamity. The first three and a half years will pale in comparison to the second half, which is called the Great Tribulation. The beast of Revelation will bring about unimaginable apocalyptic events.

These events will be so great that Christ spoke of them in this way in His Olivet Discourse.

“For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22)

Despite all of this, it’s important we remind ourselves that it’s not going to be a world that is out of the control of God. The beast of Revelation will be allowed to finish his work. This is not because God has chosen this for mankind. It’s because mankind has chosen this for itself through sin and the rejection of God. Sin matters!

Satan (the dragon) knows his time is short and the end of the story is near. He’s about to make his final stand. After all, he only has three and half years left to mock and imitate God and torment humanity with temptation, deception, and death.

The Beast is the Antichrist

The dragon that John sees in his vision is Satan. Remember, he’s been cast down to earth. He’s burning with anger. He’s going to attempt to destroy God’s plan by destroying the Jews, defiling the temple, and destroying all Christians who have come to believe and accept Christ during this Tribulation period.

Throughout the Bible, the sea has often been a symbol of the chaos and evil that exists within humanity. John sees a beast coming out of the sea. The beast is the antichrist.

In other words, the antichrist (beast) will be a human that will rise out of the population of mankind.

The term antichrist comes from a Greek word meaning “against” or “instead of.” He will live up to the meaning of his name as he will oppose and attempt to replace Christ. We’ll see how he does this in a moment.

The term “antichrist” does not appear anywhere in Revelation. In fact, the term used for the “antichrist” is the “beast.” “The beast” is used 28 times in Revelation. In other parts of the Bible, he’s also referred to as the “man of lawlessness,” “son of perdition,” “Foolish shepherd,” and “king who exalts himself.”

The only place in the Bible the name “antichrist” appears is in the first and second letters of John. It appears 4 times in his first letter and 2 times in his second letter.

What Are the Ten Horns and Seven Heads of the Beast of Revelation?

The beast (antichrist) will be revealed well before the halfway point of the Tribulation. In fact, his first public appearance will occur after the rapture.

“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

In the first three and a half years, of the Tribulation, the beast (antichrist) will set himself up as a political figure with the answers to all the world’s problems. He will not be viewed as an antichrist. He’ll speak eloquently and people will gravitate to him to listen to the solutions he has for humanity and the condition of the world.

The ten horns were first seen by Daniel the prophet. They represent the ten nations or kingdoms that gather around the beast to form his global political power and alliances.

In time, there will be three of those ten nations or kingdoms that will not fall in line with some of the ideology of the beast out of the sea. The beast (antichrist) will remove them from his global alliance of ruling powers. This will leave seven nations or kingdoms which is represented by the seven heads.

See Daniel 7 for a prerequisite review of Revelation.

The Leopard, the Lion, and the Bear – Oh My!

Daniel was the first to see visions of the leopard, the lion, and the bear. Each of these animals represented the mark of the first three world ruling empires that opposed God’s people and His land.

The lion represented the kingdom of Babylon. The Persian Empire was represented by the bear and the lion symbolized the Greek Empire and Alexander the Great. All of these nations persecuted and dispersed God’s people. They also brought war and trampled on His land.

The Beast Out of the Sea

But there was a fourth empire. This empire was so great that it wasn’t represented by any animal. In Daniel’s vision, it was called the “beast.” This was the Roman Empire. Keep in mind the Roman Empire controlled all the territory that today encompasses Europe. It also controlled a great portion of the land that surrounds the Mediterranean Sea.

The Roman Empire is responsible for killing an estimated 2 million Jews and tens of thousands of Christians. They tortured and maimed Christians. Roman soldiers would cover Christians in a flammable liquid, tie them to a post and light them on fire for use a night torch to light the streets. They were also responsible for the torturous death by crucifixion of Jesus.

The Roman empire the beast out of the sea represented was a culmination of the evils of the nations represented by the leopard, the lion and the bear.

This future beast (antichrist) of Revelation is going to come out of the old Roman Empire. What do I mean by this? Somewhere out of the old territory ruled by the Romans, the antichrist (beast) along with his ten kingdoms will rise.

“He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.” (Daniel 7:23)

The Beast of Revelation Will Oppose Christ

(Verse 2) The beast will have no power of its own. It will get its power from the dragon (Satan) who has been hurled down to earth.

His attention to building political alliances and a global power will now begin to shift. The beast will have achieved what he came to achieve politically. Now with the power of the dragon (Satan), he’ll turn his attention to spiritual things. His aspirations will turn from being a world leader to his desire to be a spiritual leader. And oppose God.

He’s about to set himself up in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and declare that he is God and demand to be worshiped. He’s going to turn on the Jews whom he deceived. He will now hunt them down and want to destroy them.

Jesus’ Warning of the Beast

This is why Jesus gave this warning in His Olivet Discourse.

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:15-22)

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