Last lesson we encountered the Dragon that came down from the heavens. Now, in this lesson, we will learn about two beasts from sea and earth who are associated with the Dragon. We will learn about the number of the beast too.

We also learned, in our last lesson, about a glorious woman, chased by the Dragon. That woman had given birth to the Christ. Now, in this lesson, we will learn about an abominable woman who rides upon the Dragon. This woman gives birth to harlots.

The Two Beasts

In Revelation 13, we meet two beasts similar to the Dragon.

• One beast comes out of the sea, and is called simply "the Beast". Like the king of Daniel 11:36, he "exalts and magnifies himself above every god ...against the God of gods". The Beast has heads, horns, and crowns just like the Dragon because the Dragon's authority is given to, and exercised through, the Beast and his image (Rev 12:3, 13:1-8). The form of the beast resembles a mixture of leopard, bear, and lion, which represents a powerful kingdom encompassing several nations.
• Another beast comes out of the earth, and is called "the False prophet" (Rev 16:13). He makes an image of the Beast and forces people to worship it (Rev 13:11-17). The False Prophet has two horns like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon. The resemblance to a lamb indicates priesthood, but his priesthood is false because his words are the false and lying doctrines of the Dragon. Satan's authority is given to, and exercised through, this False Prophet just as it is through the Beast (Rev 13:11-12).

In Revelation 19:11-21, the Beast and the False prophet make war upon the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who rides on a white horse. They are defeated and thrown into the lake of burning sulphur.

The Atrocious Woman

In Revelation 17, we meet an abominable woman who is a complete contrast to the glorious woman who was in childbirth.

• This atrocious woman is the opposite of the splendid woman who gave birth to the Christ child. This horrible woman sits on the beast that "will come up out of the Abyss" (Rev 17:8). That identifies him as the Dragon we encountered last lesson in chapters 12 and 20. In chapter 12, the glorious woman, who suffered in giving birth to Christ, fled from the Dragon. Now, in chapter 17, this abominable woman. "the Mother of Harlots" rides the Dragon.
• This atrocious woman represents the opposite to the city of God. This abominable woman pictures"the great city that rules over the kings of the earth" (Rev 17:18). Her name in the vision is Babylon (Rev 17:5) although her real name, as we shall see, is Rome. Both Rome and Babylon however are only representative of any society that reflects the opposite of the city of God the heavenly Jerusalem. Seven woe songs about the wicked city's fall are recorded in chapters 18 and 19.

The Anti-Christian Kingdom

The two beasts of chapter 13, and the abominable woman of chapter 17, represent the anti-Christian kingdom, the kingdom of Satan. When we give our allegiance to Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, we are welcomed into God's kingdom having been "rescued out of the kingdom of darkness" (Col 1:13).

• The kingdom of darkness is, essentially, a spiritual kingdom (Eph 6:12-13). Satan has rebelled against Christ, and his evil kingdom has waged war against Christ from ancient times. It will continue to do so until the great Day of Judgment. Jesus Christ, however, is the creator of all things, even thrones and kingdoms visible and invisible (Col 1:16). He is "King of kings and Lord of lords" (1Tm 6:15 Rev 19:13,16). His kingdom is eternal, whereas Satan's kingdom will be destroyed.
• Satan's kingdom, although spiritual, has been made manifest in this world, because Satan subverts the kings and governments of this world. Satan is never at a loss for corrupt political powers to do his work. Thus John saw "the beast and the kings of earth and their armies" gathered together to make war against Christ (Rev 19:19).
• Anti-Christian regimes usually have a symbiotic relationship with a corrupt religious establishment or antichurch. This, we remember, is symbolised by the lamb-horned beast called the False Prophet.
• The Roman empire is an outstanding example of what the Beast and the False Prophet represent. Before the empire was 100 years old it had not only crucified the Son of God but had begun persecuting the Christians, putting many to death because they would not worship false gods, not least among those gods being the Roman Caesar himself. Toward the end, the Roman empire became "Christian". But this state religion was a travesty characterised by hypocrisy and corruption. That false church has lived on long after the political empire died. Rome therefore corresponds well to the woman called "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots" (Rev 17:5,9,18). Even the famous "number of the Beast" (Rev 13:18), may be recognised as the number produced by placing the inferior Roman numerals (below 1000) in their descending order, as shown below.

The Number of the Beast

The Romans had their own peculiar way of writing numbers using combinations of letters of their alphabet. Compared to the Arabic system, the Roman numeral method was rather clumsy, and most inconvenient for mathematics. It only survives today on a few war memorials, some clocks, and as one means of numbering lists or parts of documents. This Roman curiosity is used in Revelation to identify Rome as the beast.

The number 666, the famous "number of the Beast" or antichrist (Rev 13:18), reveals its meaning, when we convert it to a Roman numeral: 666=DCLXVI. This number has an obvious pattern to anyone familiar with the Roman number system. The Arabic number is the sum of a consecutive set of the Roman numerals under 1000 in descending order as shown below.

So the number 666 is not understood by numerology or magic codes. The number simply represents a special and significant Roman numeral set, and thus identifies the Roman empire as the Beast. The descending order of the numerals, and the fact that they are inferior (below 1000) is a nice touch of symbolism too.

Our Allegiance

The Roman empire eventually fell, but the spirit of antichrist that drove it in the time of the early Christians continues to be very present in the world today. We must remember that the Devil still tries to corrupt the rulers of this world as he did those of the Roman empire, the Babylonian empire, and others of their ilk. He still promotes false religion based on man-worship and idolatry. The Devil (the beast who comes up out of the Abyss) is called "an eighth king" (Rev 17:8 and 11, 20:1-4). He is certainly not yet destroyed. The spirit of the Roman empire is not dead either, and her progeny of harlots live on.

If we are really genuine and devoted Christians, we may find ourselves in peril from the political and religious establishments in league in our time. But we take courage for nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:37-39).

The Kingdom of Christ

Christ’s kingdom "is not of this world" (John 18:36). His kingdom "is within you" (Luke 17:21). Jesus spoke of this kingdom when he said, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). Membership in the kingdom and church of Christ is not found by allegiance to any political nation or by following the religion of that nation. Nations rise and fall. Religious establishments wax and wane. But Christ and his church are glorious and righteous forever.

We must surrender to Christ our body and spirit. We may pay taxes to Caesar, but our allegiance is to Christ. When the nation we belong to requires us to follow a false religion, we must answer the Lord's call to "Come out of her my people!" (Rev 18:4). For some of us, that coming out and fighting on the Lord's side may be much more than just holding some reservations in our hearts. It may be that we are required to make nothing less than a bodily sacrifice.

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