Sea Beast of Revelation 13:1-10
Study:
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion:..." Revelation 13:1,2
Why "a beast rise up out of the sea," "ten horns," "a leopard," "a bear," and "a lion"? How do we understand Revelation 13?
And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. Daniel 7:3-7
Revelation 13 has its foundation in Daniel 7. To understand Revelation 13 we must first understand Daniel 7. What can we say about Revelation 13's vision based on Daniel 7?
-
the sea that John sees is the sea that Daniel sees...
the Mediterranean:
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:) ... And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border." Numbers 34:1,6
- John's beast is a combination of the kingdoms symbolized by Daniel's four beasts.
This means Revelation 13's beast is a kingdom bordering on the Mediterranean... In Daniel's vision, there are only four kingdoms and no others. John's sea beast must be one of these for Revelation 13 is founded in Daniel 7. The sea beast is a Roman kingdom! How do we know this? Read on and you will see. Notice the following:
Daniel, stands in Babylon and looks forward into the future thus seeing the beasts in this order: lion (Babylon), bear (Medo-Persia), leopard (Greece), and non-descript beast with 10 horns (Rome: its divided state), while John stands in Rome and looks backward into the past thus seeing the beasts in this order: 10 horns (Rome: its future unique divided state), leopard body (Greece), bear feet (Medo-Persia), and lion mouth (Babylon). But there is more...
(body part)
A conglomeration of Metals
(Dan. 2-Rev. 13 bridge equates statue with beast!)
(beast part)
A conglomeration of Beasts
Note: a person is recognized by their face thus we might very well call both Daniel 2's statue and Revelation 13's sea beast, Babylon!
So notice, that through the vision of Daniel 7, the statue of Daniel 2 is equated to the sea beast of Revelation 13. In Daniel 2, the metals, as body parts, are combined together to make a man while in Revelation 13, the beasts, as body parts, are combined together to make a beast.
Note: we have seen this before... a man equated to a beast! (See "King is Kingdom.")
In John's time, a historical understanding of Daniel 2's statue gives a logical interpretation of Revelation 13's sea beast.
Daniel 2's kingdoms' are sequential. The rise of a new kingdom meant the fall of the previous. In John's time, in the time of Rome, the fourth and last kingdom, all the other kingdoms were past and dead. That Revelation 13's sea beast has a Roman element means it is a Roman power. Because of this, the existence of elements of other kingdoms, in this sea beast, implies that these are but borrowings into this system from these past dead kingdoms. But there is more...
"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them:..." Revelation 13:5-7
Remember that Revelation 13 has its foundation in Daniel 7.
"I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Daniel 7:8
"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;" Daniel 7:21
"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Daniel 7:25
From these parallels, it is obvious that the sea beast is none other than the little horn of Daniel 7. But when we look closer the parallels are even more striking.
Recall the structure of Daniel 7:25.
Notice now the similar structure of Revelation 13:5-7 and Daniel 7:25:
[vs. 8: "a mouth speaking great things"]
Notice that the A/A''s talk of the sea beast's speech, his great words and blasphemies, and the contents of each while the B/B''s talk of the sea beast's persecution of the saints and the length of that persecution.
One last little thing now remains...
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, ... and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." Revelation 13:1,2
There is nothing hidden here. As shown previously, the dragon is the Roman Empire as it was the Roman Empire that crucified the man child, Christ. (Rev. 12:4) So, according to this verse, the Roman Empire gives "his power, and his seat, and great authority" to the sea beast. My only point for bringing this up is to ask if this agrees with Daniel 7. The answer is yes!
"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, ... and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn,..." Daniel 7:7,8
As the sea beast gets is power from the dragon or Roman Empire, so does the little horn get its power from the non-descript beast or Roman Empire. Thus, both Daniel 7 and Revelation 13:1-10 are in complete agreement on the identity of the sea beast. Revelation 13's sea beast is indeed Daniel 7's little horn.
Empire
w/o horns
Europe
w. 10 horns
& the little horn
sea beast
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