Revelation 13 – The Dragon, Two Beasts, and the Mark

The Land and the Sea Beast

Revelation 13 depict two mighty beasts coming to the fore, both representing different aspects of the Kingdom of Satan in his time as well as ours. One beast arises out of the sea, hence we will call it “The Sea Beast.” This creature has 7 heads and 10 horns and is “like a leopard” but with the feet of a bear, mouth of a lion, and is given power by the dragon (Rev. 13.1-2). This beast has political power, the ability to “make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Rev. 13.7). The 42 months, or 3.5 years is probably related to the time period in Daniel 7.8 -25. The time allotted to the beast is essentially three and one half years, where the text states:

He shall speak words against the Most High,
    and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
    and shall think to change the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
    for a time, two times, and half a time.

(Daniel 7.25 Revised Standard Version)

Forty-two months is the period that corresponds to 1,260 days of the dragon’s pursuit of the woman (Rev. 11.2 King James Version, years in the JST), and so all of this could indicate that this beast has at least a 1,200 year long history of wreaking havoc with the children of God on the earth during a time of deep distress. 42 months also is about the time of ministry of Jesus while he sojourned upon the earth, a time when he faced severe opposition to the truths that he taught. All of this can certainly be read as a type- a symbol for the limited power of the Adversary as he works inside of time. He has limits to his power, but while he has the time, he is striving to destroy the souls of men.

A second beast comes up out of the earth, what I will call “The Land Beast,” a creature with 2 horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon (Rev. 13.11). This beast wants people to worship the first beast. Just as the Kingdom of God has both an ecclesiastical and political arm, so too does the kingdom of the Devil. We are dealing with a text that is accentuating the dualism of these powers.

The two beasts with their master, the dragon, “constitute an unholy trinity of malicious evil.”^[1]Richard Draper, Opening the Seven Seals: The Visions of John the Revelator, Deseret Book, 1991, p. 146.

As the son has two witnesses, so too the dragon ahs two monsters; as the Son draws his power from the Father, so too the first beast draws authority from the dragon; as the Holy Ghost glorifies the Son, so too the evil lamb glorifies the first beast. There is little doubt that John is working to expose these beasts in symbolic terms as the counterfeit godhead, or deceivers, or false law-givers whose powers will rule through the last days.

What is the objective of these beasts? To lead people astray, and to buy/sell, and get gain. This is the classic Mahan principle so perfectly taught by Hugh Nibley, whereby Satan works to convert the sons and daughters of God into property, into commodities.^[2]“The ‘Mahan principle’ is a frank recognition that the world’s economy is based on the exchange of life for property.” (“The Law of Consecration,” Collected Works of Hugh … Continue readingWe see this Moses 5.29-31, where Satan “did plot with Cain and his followers from that time forth…”^[3]See also Helaman 6.27. The whole issue is one of worship. The battle in chapters 12 and 13 is for the hearts and minds of the sons and daughters of God, and the fight is real, ongoing, and there are casualties.

The beast is a parody of the Lord and his government on earth

Who is like the beast? (Rev. 13.4) This is total irony, as it is the Lord who fits this description – see Exodus 8.10, 15.11; Deuteronomy 3.24; Isaiah 40.18, 25, 44.7, 46.5; Psalm 35.10, 71.19, 113.5.

καὶ μίαν ἐκ τῶν κεφαλῶν αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐσφαγμένην εἰς θάνατον, καὶ ἡ πληγὴ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ ἐθεραπεύθη. καὶ ἐθαύμασεν ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τοῦ θηρίου, (Revelation 13.3).

The phrase in Revelation 13.3 ὡς ἐσφαγμένην hos esphagmenen “slain” is just about identical to the one used to describe the Lamb’s wound in Revelation 5.6 – ἑστηκὼς ὡς ἐσφαγμένον hestekos hos esphagmenon, “standing as slain,” illustrating for the reader that John is punning on the beast, showing essentially that the beast is in imitation of the Savior. Satan is the classic imitator, always working to mimic what the Savior is doing in order to deceive. Both the beast and the lamb (the Savior) receive wounds. The Savior is killed and is resurrected, and the beast receives a fatal wound θανάτου πληγή thanatou plege – and is healed. This beast will die, but not in this moment. For now, the beast reigns!

The admiration given to the beast is not given out of love, but rather out of fear. Note the similarity between the lamb and the beast:

1. Both have swords (Rev. 1.16).

2. Both have horns (Rev. 5.6).

3. Both have followers who carry their name upon their foreheads.

4. Both have authority over the nations.

5. Both are worshiped.

6. Both receive a mortal wound (Rev. 5.6)

7. As Christ received authority from his Father, so the Sea Beast received authority from the Dragon. Essentially the dragon and his beasts are the opposite of Jesus Christ and John is working to show the parallels throughout his text. Essentially he is inviting his readers to see Satan for who he really is, using parallelism and symbols to teach these truths.^[4]Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ: Commentary on the book of Revelation, p. 409.

The beast does not speak for itself

Note that “there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things” – “to give a mouth,” means “to help someone say something” or “to give someone the words to say.” The beast does not speak for itself. It is a ventriloquist dummy or a sock puppet, parroting what the dragon tells it to say because it doesn’t have a mind of its own. This is not unlike the servants of Satan today, conforming to the current agenda of those that oppose Christ, his church, and all that is good and holy on the earth today.

Not a specific, single institution

It is important to understand that neither a single institution nor a specific collection is meant by these beasts. Essentially these beasts represent those systems, organizations, or institutions that oppose God, his church, the family, and all that is sacred to Deity. It is also good to make note that the beasts represent kingdoms of the world, not the entire world itself. Joseph Smith asked, “if the beast was all the world, how could the world wonder after the beast?”^[5]Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, Bookcraft, 1980, p. 186-187.

Revelation 13.18 The Mark of the beast – χάραγμα

Revelation 13.8 ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν· ὁ ἔχων νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου, ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν· καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ χξϛʹ. Here 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.

Theories abound as to what is going on in this text with respect to the numbers. To make matters more complicated, some texts of the Revelation of John had the number 616 instead of 666!^[6]Peter J. Williams, “P 115 and the Number of the Beast,” Tyndale Bulletin 58, no. 1 (2007): 151-53.

One scholar explained the issue this way:

When it comes to 666, one gematria explanation is that the number represents Nero Caesar. The Greek Neron Kaisar adds up to 1,005, but when the name is transliterated into the Hebrew letters nrwn qsr, the sum is 666. Nero Caesar also would explain the variant number of the Beast (616) found in some New Testament manuscripts. Transliterating the Latin Nero Caesar into Hebrew, nrw qsr, yields 616, suggesting John may have been thinking of the well-known Nero Redivivus myth when writing about the Beast (i.e., that Nero would rise from the dead to destroy Christians).

The gematria solution presents three major problems: It could be viewed as cheating with the spellings (the usual Hebrew spelling for Caesar is qʾst, not qsr, although the qsr form does exist). It assumes that readers knew Hebrew well enough to do the transliteration from Greek back into Hebrew. And, perhaps most tellingly, the early Christian commentators who knew of the Nero redivivus myth never identified 666 with Nero.

Ancient Sudoku

There is another possibility: 666 is a magic square (see the example below from Stefanovic). From very ancient times, philosophers and mathematicians were fascinated that the numbers 1–36 could be arranged in squares so that each row and diagonal would add up to the same sum (the same principle as modern Sudoku). One magic square has four rows and two diagonals that each add up to 111. The six lines of 111 equal 666. Each magic square in ancient Jewish and Greek tradition was also associated with a celestial body. In the case of the 666 square, that body was the sun, which was associated with Zeus, the highest god in the Greek pantheon.

Zeus was often associated with Baal and the mythological north (tsaphon) of Canaanite religion. Most relevant to the Beast of Revelation is Baal’s (and Zeus’) title, “lord of heaven” (Baal-shamem). It is possible that the “abomination of desolation” in Daniel 9:27 (shiqquts-shamem) is a play on Baal-shamem, since the Old Testament writers sometimes substituted words that meant “shame” or “abomination” into proper names that formerly contained “Baal” (e.g., Mephibosheth, Ish-Bosheth).

This would mean 666 is a symbol for the abominable Baal, the dark lord of the Old Testament world—satanic power in New Testament thinking.^[7]Michael Heiser, 666: What Theories Add Up?, Logos Talk, Tuesday, March 12, 2019.

The Babylonian Connection

Another author has show how there could be a connection to Babylon in this enigmatic text:

The number 666 is far from being fully understood. I is said to be “a human number” (arithmos anthropou) rather than a divine one. It consists of the triple six. Babylonian mathematics was based on the sexagesimal system, in which the basic counting units were the numbers 6 and 60. (The sexagesimal sysem has been accepted universally for the measurement of arcs and angles and for divisions of time.) Furthermore, the number six was also significant to the Babylonian religion. Sixty was the number of Babylonian supreme gods in the pantheon at different times (e.g. Anu and Marduk). (This explains why King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide; Daniel 3.1). A popular amulet worn by Babylonian priests contained a mysterious configuration of numbers in a square as follows:

The total of this sequence of numbers in the amulet both horizontally and vertically is 666. Six is thus the number of Babylon, and, as such, it stands in contrast to the divine number seven. Being one short of seven, it expresses human imperfection without God, in contrast to the number seven which expresses the completeness and perfection of God.^[8]Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 417.

Another simple way to examine this is to look at what John is telling his readers in the text. Followers of the Advesary are given a mark, a charagma, (χάραγμα) which denotes a stamp, etching, engraving, or impression. The word also denotes the mark given to a slave or an animal that was owned by a person. It also describes the mark left by a serpent’s bite or sting. This mark is used by John as a parallel to the seal placed in the foreheads of the followers of Jesus (Revelation 7.4) Another author disagrees with this idea, stating that “no evidence indicates an ancient practice of placing charagma on a person (for instance, for branding slaves with a mark, the word stigmata was used).^[9]Ibid., p. 414.

As the number 6 represents man without God, falling short of the mark, perhaps it is simply the idea that man is covenanting (the number 3) to associate themselves outside of the sovereignty of God (the number 6). When read this way, we see that this chapter is illustrating a world where man doesn’t want anything to do with God, his commandments, or the like. In other words, they would rather worship the beast (Rev. 13.12) than follow the light of the Savior. We read in chapter 14 that those who received the mark will be tormented (Rev. 14.10), and will not rest day or night (Rev. 14.11). It seems that the plagues associated with chapter 16 are targeted at these individuals (Rev. 16.2), and they are also associated with the beast later in Revelation as well (Rev. 19.20), and are left out of God’s kingdom in the final chapters of the text (Rev. 20.4). When read in its totality, it seems to correlate with the overall idea that this is a group of people willing to covenant with the enemies of God to fight truth, and to participate in the corruption of the world.

Application

There simply is just so much in this chapter that we just do not know. And yet the overall pattern makes perfect sense. The Adversary is real, and John used symbols to portray this reality. As we will see later in the book of Revelation, the dragon in John’s day, while representing Rome in many respects, still is open to be seen in many different ways, depending on the time period of the reader. Hence, the book of Revelation has perpetual relevance to the humble followers of Jesus.

The monsters in this chapter are not Satan but the result of the unbridled work of Satan within establishments, cultural ideologies, communities, and governmental institutions. Wherever men refuse to be governed by God or listen to truth, Satan has dominion; This whole chapter could be distilled down to the universal sin of pride. President Ezra Taft Benson has warned the Saints against pride: “The central feature of pride,” he taught, “is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means ‘hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.’ It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.” He goes on to state that “the proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives. (See Hel. 12:6.) They pit their perceptions of truth against God’s great knowledge, their abilities versus God’s priesthood power, their accomplishments against His mighty works.” President Benson said that the proud man gets no joy out of having anything but only out of having more than others.^[10]Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” Ensign, May 1989,4-7.

Pride is competitive, driving people towards wanting more and more, never allowing anyone contentment, all the while twisting their minds and souls into eternal self -centeredness. Always affected by the bite of the sea serpent of chaos, they continually carry his lack of light around with them. It affects both the labors of the body (the mark on the hand) and the works of their minds (the mark on the forehead). To these wicked souls, if they do not repent, they will eventually become slaves to this mark. Those who refuse to play the game of the Adversary will be up for persecution. So it was in John’s day, and so it goes today. This is the way of the sea of chaos, the telestial world in which we live.

The beast does not work alone, like the two witnesses in Revelation 11, he joins forces with the false lamb, or the fake religious system of the day. Together these two monsters have constructed a foundation of half truths and deceptions that are clever enough to fool the world. Satan works with these systems to counterfeit truth, producing miracles and attacking the Saints of God, both in John’s day as well as today.

One of his promises is the way of ease, with no consequences for wrong choices, so that man can rejoice in sins and find joy. The doctrine is taught throughout the text of the Book of Mormon through the anti-Christs that Mormon has left for us to examine. He gives us people like Sherem (see Jacob 7:1-18), Nehor (see Alma 1:3-5), and Korihor (see Alma 30:6-16). Each anti-Christ taught what was “pleasing unto the carnal mind,” and they “had much success” (Alma 30:53). But Mormon makes sure to tell us the rest of the story.

I find it ironic that neither the beast nor the false prophet construct the image of the beast. The people make the image (Revelation 13.14-15). The image of the beast is made by the people’s hard work, and when they need this system to work for them, they are abandoned, just like Korihor was (see Alma 30.60). The message is clear: if you choose to follow Satan, there will be no peace, no rest (Revelation 14.11). It is exhausting, and he is a demanding overlord. The only way of peace is through the Prince of Peace. There is no other way.