Dr Paul Allen

  A Great Beast John sees a beast rising out of the sea, summoned by the dragon on the seashore (12:17). The sea was a place of chaos, danger, and evil for the Hebrews (cf. comment on 21:1). The vision draws on Daniel 7:3, where Daniel sees “four great beasts . . . out of the sea.” The beasts in Daniel represent great empires, and a great empire — almost certainly Rome — is in John’s mind as well. The kingdom rising out of the sea is not humane, civil, or supportive of its citizens. Instead, it is like a ravaging and ferocious beast, preying on its citizens. The beast described here is probably the fourth beast seen by Daniel (Dan. 7:7, 19, 23). The beast in Revelation has extraordinary power, for it has ten horns, with ten diadems (Rev. 17:12; cf. Dan. 7:20, 24)—symbols of ruling authority—on its horns. It has seven heads, also signifying its authority and power. The dragon had seven heads and ten horns (Rev. 12:3), and he clearly has given his authority to the beast.  The be...

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard ; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's. And to it, the dragon gave his power, throne, and authority. —Revelation 13:1–2 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might ...

If there’s one part of the Bible virtually everyone has heard of, it’s 666—the “number of Beast.” And if there’s one thing no one can agree upon, it’s what that number stands for. We see 666 in Revelation 13:18: “let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” The wording here is important: John tells readers that the number must be “calculated,” which means there must be a hidden meaning behind it. But how do we calculate it? Calculating 666 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 my...

The image of the great harlot who is “Babylon the Great” symbolizes the prevailing economic and religious institutions that are in alliance with the political and social systems throughout history. John is concerned that an unfaithful segment of the church may participate in the economic, social, and religious institutions of contemporary society (Rev. 2:14–15, 20–24; 3:2–4; 17–18). And he knows that Jews may participate in the persecution of Christians (Rev. 2:9–10; 3:9). Thus, “Babylon the Great” includes hostile Jews and apostate Christians. But the main concern is to warn the churches not to participate in the idolatry of the economic and religious institutions of the empire. Thus, interpretations of the harlot in terms of the Roman Catholic Church alone miss John’s point. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church today is neither economic nor wielded through political institutions worldwide. Sectors of Protestant churches have become apostate both economically and morally. For...

John speaks of the “mark of the beast” in connection with the efforts of the false prophet (the beast from the earth) to force the inhabitants of the earth to worship the Beast (the beast from the sea) on the basis of economic sanctions. He writes in Revelation 13:16–17: “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Since John assumes that his readers understand what he is writing, the meaning of the “mark of the beast” needs to be analyzed within its first-century context and theological “world.” The mark of the Beast is a parody of the “seal of God” that the followers of the Lamb have received, marking them as belonging to God’s people (Rev. 7:2, 4, 5, 8; 9:4). The followers of the Lamb, many of whom are killed “for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God,” are descri...

John describes the false prophet as “rising out of the earth” (Rev. 13:11). While the first beast that arose from the sea echoed the four beasts of Daniel 7, the second beast that ascended from the earth echoes the four kingdoms of Daniel 7:17. Since Daniel 7:17 interpreted the four beasts as four kingdoms, John’s two beasts are intimately connected. It is a “beast” (Greek, thērion) like the Devil (Dragon) and the Antichrist (the Beast). This evil trinity parodies the true God: “As Christ received authority from the Father (Matt. 11:27), so Antichrist receives authority from the Dragon (Rev. 13:4), and as the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ (John 16:14), so the false prophet glorifies the Antichrist (Rev. 13:12).” The second beast, like the first Beast, parodies Jesus, the Lamb with seven horns (Rev. 5:6): it has “two horns like a lamb” (13:11). While the seven horns of the messianic Lamb symbolized the fullness of his strength as conquering Messiah, the two horns of the counterfe...

In Revelation 13, John describes the incarnation of evil, a figure inspired by Satan who opposes Jesus Christ and who seeks to usurp his place among the inhabitants of the earth as an object of worship and loyalty. He parodies Jesus’ death and resurrection in order to hide the fact that he has lost the battle against God. He deceives people with false teaching and seeks to validate his claims to divine authority with signs and wonders. He persecutes Christians who refuse to acknowledge him through economic discrimination and death. He will be defeated when Jesus returns. There are reasons to regard John’s description of the Beast from the sea as prophecy of a future historical figure, patterned on “prototypes” in Jewish history and in contemporary history. And there are reasons to understand John’s description of the Beast from the sea as a symbolic portrayal of the world system—past, present, and future, from Jesus’ first coming to Jesus’ second coming—that idolizes human authority...

John’s description of the Beast depicts a figure inspired by Satan, the Dragon who also comes from the Abyss. The Beast mimics Jesus, the Lamb, whose death and resurrection signaled his defeat, seeking to maintain his influence over the earth dwellers.  The Beast demands worship and loyalty from the inhabitants of the earth, using the kingdoms and rulers of the earth to exercise control. The seven kings and the ten kings that John associates with the seven heads and ten horns of the Beast could have been understood in the first century as depicting specific Roman emperors and their allies, or as depicting the political system and cultural and religious practices of the Roman Empire more generally. John’s interpretive comments suggests that he understands the Beast as the political, cultural, religious, and economic systems that Satan uses in order to thwart God’s purposes—to no avail, as God will destroy the forces of evil when the end comes.  The connections that J...