John's prophecy of Revelation Chapter 13 is one of the most interesting of all the prophecies in the Bible. It has received much attention in modern times because it is thought that this prophecy predicts the coming of the much feared "beast," or "antichrist," of the book of Revelation. Before we can even begin to understand this prophecy however, it will first be neccessary for us to learn a few facts about the history of the Bible. Our English Bibles are the result of many transcriptions of the original Old Hebrew texts. The Holy Scriptures were slowly developed over time to include new texts that met the approval of the individuals who first recorded, and then re-recorded, this information over the centuries.
You should also be aware that the chapter and verse divisions you see in our English Bibles never existed in the original texts. They were added much later. There have also been many additions and substractions to the Holy Scriptures over the centuries. For the most part however, the King James 1611 Version of the English Bible probably retains an accuracy of better than 97% to the original texts. Also, since the Bible's key messages were recorded in different forms and in multiple locations throughout the Scriptures, it is therefore possible for us to clarify any errors that may crept into the texts during their many transcriptions over the centuries.
The prophecy of Revelation Chapter 13 was given to John, who was at the time being held prisoner on the island of Patmos in the eastern Aegean Sea around the second century AD. As John stood on the sands of the sea and gazed out across the great Mediterranean, he received a vision of two beasts, which he describes for us in great detail in this chapter. And now, John's description of the first beast (first antichrist) of Revelation Chapter 13:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast (the first 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: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? 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 (of the church), and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.
This is John's description of the first beast of Revelation 13. The rest of the verses of Chapter 13 refer only to the second beast (second antichrist) of Revelation. For those of you unaquainted with Bible codes, the word "beast" symbolizes a world-conquering empire that holds control over God's people. The word "heads" represents the nations making up those empires. The words "crowns" and "horns" stand for the kings and military leaders of those nations. John tells us that this first beast, or first antichrist, rises up out of the (Mediterranean) sea, and has seven heads (meaning his empire consists of seven nations), and ten crowns (meaning his empire is ruled by ten kings). This is a very unusual fact, for it means that this first antichrist adds three extra kings to the thrones of his seven-nation realm. He is also given the power to overcome the people of many nations, and even receives power to overcome the saints of the church, holding control over both Church and State for a period of 42 months. This power to control both church and state was not previously acheived by any known world-conquering empire. John describes this first antichrist as looking like a leopard (a Greek), and walking like a bear (a reference to his Persian locust-like army), and speaking like a lion (spouting the blasphemies of the Lion-nation of Babylon). The army of one of his heads (nations) is completely stricken down, but then miraculously recovers, causing the world to admire and worship the great military expertise of this very powerful antichrist. The prophecy then tells us that he is destined to go down in history as a great military hero instead of a villainous antichrist, and that only God's people will recognize him as the biblical antichrist. In the time of Christ, the Jews (Jacobites) of Jerusalem were expecting their Messiah to be a great military leader who would come riding into the city of Jerusalem on a white horse leading a million-man army. They were, to say the least, very disappointed when Jesus came riding into town on a donkey. It sounds like this first beast of Revelation 13 would come much closer to fulfilling the great expectations of the Jacobites. The last sentence in John's description tells us that since this first antichrist places God's people into captivity, it will thus be his fate to also be placed into captivity. Will you recognize this first antichrist of Revelation Chapter 13 when he comes riding into town on his white stallion leading a great army, or will you join the rest of the world in admiring him for his great military expertise?
We should now review John's description of the second beast (second antichrist) of Revelation Chapter 13, who is described for us in the second half of this famous prophecy:
...and he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb (a messiah) and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell within to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. and he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had the power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had the power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great,rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or on their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that have understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.
In the second half of Revelation Chapter 13, John tells us about a second beast (second antichrist) who will cause God's people to be killed with a sword (or other hand-held weapon), and reveals to us that it is this Second Antichrist's destiny to also be killed by such a weapon. This second beast, or second antichrist, does not rise up from the sea like his predecessor the first antichrist, but instead rises up from the land. His empire is made up of two heads (two nations), and is led by two horns (two military leaders). He comes representing himself as a two-horned lamb (a messiah), promising to lead his chosen people into a thousand years of peace. But he speaks sweet lies like the devil, and he possesses weapons of modern warfare with which he can send fire down from the sky (bombs) onto his enemies in faraway cities. This Second Antichrist uses an image (a man-made device) having the power of speech to spread his lies, and causes anyone refusing to listen to this man-made invention to be carried off to certain death. He also numbers the people who buy and sell in the marketplace (the Jews) by placing these numbers on their arms or heads, so they will be unable to buy or sell without using the numbers. John then tells us that the number of this second beast is 666 (the number of doom). Are you one of God's people who will recognize this second antichrist when he comes along, or will you be fooled into overlooking his true identity? If you would like to learn more about the secret identities of these two destructive antichrists, and reveal the hidden secrets about how their accomplishments will affect the destiny of God's chosen people in the last days, please click on the link below and order your copy of Edward Oliver's revealing new book, "Prophets and Frauds".
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