1 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 dragon is Satan, the same one who has been thrown from heaven by Michael and his armies. He stands on the shore of the sea and a beast comes out of the sea. The word beast is used 16 times in this chapter. 15 of those references are for the Antichrist and one is for a false prophet.
The sea can be interpreted to be many nations, as in “of the nations”. The sea could also symbolize a reservoir of chaos. If you put those together, it could come from nations in chaos. Most believe that this beast, this Antichrist, will come out of Israel to be as closely resembled to Christ as possible.
The beast has ten horns symbolizing great power. It has seven heads. This same description is used as a description of the dragon in 12:3. It was common in Near Eastern mythology for their to be seven headed monsters. This number seven appears to not be related to perfection or completion, but to the literal number seven. This has most often been interpreted to be seven kingdoms that have or will be on the earth. (Refer to 17:9-12.) The first six being Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The last being the Antichrist’s final world kingdom. The ten crowns or diadems refer to regal authority and power from victories. Many interpretations see these as 10 rulers that are at the command of the beast.
The blasphemous names are self-declarations against God and for itself. There are many instances of rulers who declare themselves to be godlike. The Roman Caesars are the most obvious examples.
2 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.
The leopard is generally considered to be the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great; the bear the Medo-Persia; and the lion was Babylon. Greek scholar A. T. Robertson wrote, “The dragon works through this beast. The beast is simply Satan’s agent. Satan claimed this power to Christ and Christ called Satan the prince of this world. So, the war is on.”
3 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. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
It is generally considered that the beast, the Antichrist, will have a wound occur that should kill it. The Greek word used for wounded is the same world translated “slaughtered”. In 5:6,9 this same word is used to describe the death of the Lamb. The word used for healed or lived, depending on the version, is the same word used in 2:8 as it refers to the resurrection of Jesus. In a miraculous manner the beast is healed. Some say that this is in reference to the Roman Empire that is dead and will be resurrected, but I believe it refers to the person of the Antichrist. The whole world follows it because of this miracle. More than following the beast, they worship Satan, the dragon. The beast is feared. Obviously, Satan can only try to imitate God and His Son Jesus. He cannot be himself. He will do everything he can do to be as God Is.
The world declares “Who is like the beast?” This is blasphemous to God. The phrase “Who is like God?” appears at least seven times in Scripture. Only God is incomparable. This is obvious work to replace God in the world.
The most powerful thing man has ever produced is nationalism. When a nation is completely committed to a single effort they can do great or terrible things. Here we see a world nationalism.
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
This Antichrist will lift itself up and blaspheme the One True Living God at every convenient occasion. It will rule for 3 ½ years. It declares hate for God, His name, heaven, and all the saints.
7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
It has power to war against all who follow Christ and to slaughter them. Not only can it speak against God and His people, it will be permitted to act against them violently. This is a deliberate war against Christians, Christianity, and the Church. Everyone else in the world will worship the beast. The beast will rule over the whole world for this time.
Here is a referenced to the Lamb’s book of life. This is an implication that those who believe in Jesus as the Son of the Living God are secure. Their names are recorded as belonging to Him. He holds the book the names are written upon and nothing can separate those from Him. We should rejoice knowing that we are secure in our relationship with Jesus. He has us.
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