Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 13:11 - 13:18
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_13:11-18
11Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 12He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Rev_13:11 "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth" This is an allusion to Dan_7:17. Many have assumed that these two beasts are a parody of the two witnesses of God in Rev_11:13-14, while others have assumed that the dragon and the two beasts are a parody of the Trinity.
As the beast from the sea is an allusion to Leviathan (cf. Job_41:1-34), the ancient master of watery chaos, so the beast from the land is an allusion to Behemoth (cf. Job_40:15-24), the corresponding land monster (this in no way refers to dinosaurs, but to ancient eastern mythology).
These beasts are symbols of evil (chaos) and rebellion in God's created order (cf. Psa_74:12-14; Job_3:8; Isa_51:9-11; Amo_9:3). Sometimes Leviathan is called Rahab ("the twisted one," i.e., the serpent, cf Isa_51:9). In other places Rahab is a name for Egypt (the Nile, i.e., twisting river, cf. Psa_87:4; Isa_30:7 and possibly Ezekiel 32, especially Rev_13:2-3).
▣ "he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon" The reference to a lamb is an obvious parody of Christ (cf. Rev_5:6). His voice and/or message reveals his true character. Later in Revelation the second beast is always referred to as the false prophet (cf. Rev_16:13; Rev_19:20; Rev_20:10). He does not seek glory for himself, but recruits the world to worship the beast (cf. Rev_13:12). This is a parody of the work of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14-16) in promoting Christ. So we have an unholy trinity:
1. Satan as a parody of God the Father
2. the sea beast as a parody of God the Son
3. the land beast as a parody of God the Spirit
Rev_13:13 "He performs great signs" This is a present tense verb which means he continues to perform wonders. It was expected that the end-time false teachers would be able to do the miraculous and lead even the elect astray, if that were possible (cf. Mat_24:24; Mar_13:22; 2Th_2:9-11; the Didache 16:3,4). Miracles are not automatically signs of God (cf. Exo_7:8-13). This is another parody of Christ's ministry.
▣ "he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men" This is similar to Elijah in 1Ki_18:38, which may be the source of the description of the two witnesses found in Rev_11:5. It may refer to fire that fell as a judgment of God in Eze_38:22 or Eze_39:6. This may be another parody
1. of the two witnesses
2. of God's OT acts
3. of Pentecost in Acts 2
Rev_13:14 "who had the wound of the sword and has come to life" The word "wound" (plçge, cf. Rev_13:3; Rev_13:12; Rev_13:14) is usually translated "plague" in Revelation (cf. Rev_9:18; Rev_9:20; Rev_11:6; Rev_15:1; Rev_15:6; Rev_15:8; Rev_16:9; Rev_16:21; Rev_18:4; Rev_18:8; Rev_21:9; Rev_22:18). The footnotes of the NRSV have
1. for Rev_13:3 "the plague of its death"
2. for Rev_13:12 "whose plague of its death"
3. for Rev_13:14 "that had received the plague of the sword"
The theological intent of these translations is to show that the antichrist is not a person, but a world system. The term can be used metaphorically of a "blow of fate" or a plague (cf. BAGD, p. 674), but its basic meaning is a stroke, or a wound.
The accompanying phrase "and has come back to life" shows that "plague" is not the best translation in these verses related to the beast. The idea of an end-time, anti-God Antichrist leading the nations in rebellion is predicted in the OT in Ezekiel 38-39; Zechariah 14; Dan_7:21-27; Dan_9:24-27; Dan_11:36-39 and in the intertestamental apocalyptic literature, Sibylline Oracles, book III; IV Ezr_5:4; Ezr_5:6 and Apocalypse of Baruch XL, and in the NT, 2Th_2:3; 2Th_2:8-9.
Rev_13:15 "it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast" Elsewhere this beast from the land is called the false prophet (cf. Rev_16:13; Rev_19:20; Rev_20:10). Perhaps this is the metaphor of injecting life (i.e.,Hebrew ruah = breath) into the movement (cf. Ezekiel 37).
Rev_13:16 "to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead" As the saints were sealed unto God in Rev_7:3 (cf. Rev_13:16; Rev_14:9), here the evil one mimics God's action by marking his own. The Greek word implies an animal brand or a seal on a governmental document. Because of the location of the sign, some have thought that it was
1. a perversion of a Jewish phylactery (cf. Deu_6:8)
2. relating to the first century Roman culture, in which slaves were branded with their owner's name
3. soldiers tattooed in honor of their general
Rev_13:17 The mark of the beast relates to the purchase of food, and possibly employment. God's people are not protected from this economic privation.
Rev_13:17-18 "the number of his name" Ancient languages used the letters of their alphabets to also stand for numbers. As the Hebrew consonants of Jesus' name adds up to 888 (cf. Sibylline Oracles, 1.324), so the name of the beast, the end-time incarnation of Satan, adds up to 666. Six is one less than the perfect number 7 (cf. Gen_1:1 to Gen_2:3, seven days of creation); repeated three times it forms a Hebrew superlative (cf. Isa_6:3; Jer_7:4).
It is also possible that since six is the human number, it may refer to a personification of each person of the unholy trinity—the dragon (Satan), the sea beast (Antichrist) and the land beast (false prophet). It seems to me that the first beast is a personification of an anti-God political system and the second beast is a personification of an anti-God religious system. We are moving toward the great whore of chapter 17, the epitome of an anti-God world system from Daniel 7. Whether it is ancient Babylon, first century Rome, or an end-time composite world kingdom, it shows that human history is moving toward the ultimate conflict between "the god of this world" (cf. 2Co_4:4) and his minions versus the God of creation and His Messiah (cf. Psalms 2).
Rev_13:18 "his number is six hundred and sixty six" There is no consensus on who this number refers to. There have been countless conjectures, but none have been conclusive. Here are the three best theories in my opinion.
1. Since there is a manuscript variant between 666 an 616, it is possible to use Nero Caesar. The Greek letters translated into Hebrew equal 666 and the Greek letters translated into Latin equal 616.
2. Since a threefold repetition counts for a Hebrew superlative, 666 may mean the most evil person.
3. Since the context denotes a parody on the Trinity, the three Divine Persons are reflected in 777, while the three counterfeit ones 666.
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS TO Rev_14:1-20
A. It is possible that Revelation 14 is a response to the presentation of the overwhelming evil of Revelation 12, 13. I am sure that the readers wondered what would be happening to the saints during this terrible end-time persecution.
B. Some have seen another literary structure of "seven" in Rev_14:6-20. There is a series of seven angels, but this structure does not seem to be theologically significant.