We read of the Sea Beast of Revelation 13:

³…The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast….⁷ …It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ All those who live on the earth will worship it…

Revelation 13

Many people have argued to me, that we are not, and have never been, at a period of time where an empire has had such extensive power. Therefore, or so the argument goes, this has not been fulfilled. While Revelation is acknowledged by the very same people to be a highly symbolic book, they believe this description of the whole world is literal. They don’t believe the Beast is literally from the Sea, but they believe not one nation, people, language, or tribe will escape the rule of this Beast. This is an inconsistency in interpretation that should be justified.

In Daniel 4, Daniel addresses Nebuchadnezzar:

¹Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound!

Daniel 4

Nebuchadnezzar II, the king of Babylon, is described by Daniel, as the king of all peoples, nations, and of men of every language and all who live in the earth. This is the same Nebuchadnezzar II who lead battles against the Assyrian empire and the Egyptian empire. Around the time period of Daniel, Babylon, was fought over viciously by the Assyrians, Babylonians/Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians, Arameans, and Cimmerians, and the Egyptians also threw their hat into the ring also at times, and then finally the Greek Empire conquered Babylon. It cannot be said that Nebuchadnezzar II was in any sense the ruler of the literal whole world, known world, or centre of history, while there were so many other nations and empires seeking to dominate Babylon. One only has to read the Wikipedia entry on Babylon to realise Babylon was in constant flux depending on which empire wanted it, especially in the time period of Daniel’s address. Even in the book of Daniel, we read of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, Cyrus and Artaxerxes, who all represent different conquering empires.

Nebuchadnezzar II, who bucked a common trend: being king of Babylon was normally a short-lived affair, had a dream where God himself describes the king and his kingdom that was visible to the end of the whole earth…and all living creatures fed themselves from it.¹ Daniel provides the interpretation:  “It is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth.“². Again, Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t the king of the world from a literal perspective, nor from from a known world perspective.

Turning our attention to Revelation 13. In this highly symbolic book, we are told that all tribes and nations will be subject to the Sea Beast. Why should this phrase in a highly symbolic book, be regarded as literal dominion over literally every nation and tribe, when we do not regard Nebuchadnezzar’s identical description as literally true, in a far less obviously symbolic passage?

In Revelation 17 & 18 we read of the Whore of Babylon who has royal power over the kings of the earth, and we read how she rides the Beast and how the Beast hates the Whore. How can the Beast have literal dominion over every single nation and the Whore have royal authority over those same nations, and that the Whore is simultaneously riding the Beast? Answer: It is not literal, nor absolute; it is merely descriptive.

There is no exegetical or hermeneutical reason to interpret the identical descriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II and of the Sea Beast differently. And if there were, the balance would favour that the Sea Beast’s description is non-literal given the extent of symbolism in the chapter and book.

Since we know that Nebuchadnezzar’s description is not literal in any practical sense, it is probable that the Sea Beast will not have real power over literally every single tribe and nation.

It is dangerous to hold that this must be a literal rule over literally every nation, if in fact it is not supposed to be literal. One could well reject and disbelieve God’s word because you applied a literalism that God did not use.

If the reign of the Sea Beast is not literally over every tribe and nation, how can we identify it?

1. The Sea Beast dominates for 42 months (1260 or 1277.5 days depending on calculation method)
2. Is characterised by beheadings and captives
3. It is an explicitly religious empire: they worship the dragon/satan because it gives power to the beast, and they worship the beast because the dragon gives it power.
4. It has a particular hatred of Christians (Rev 13:8) and Jews (Rev 12:15)
5. It mouths blasphemies against God, his name, his dwelling (temple mount on earth), and the saints in heaven.
6. It causes the Woman (Israel) to abandon and flee the land for 1260 days (was actually 1260 years).
7. Extensive, but not literal, control over every single nation.

It is indisputable that Israel has been gathered from the nations where she fled and was nourished (Revelation 12:14). Futurists are looking forward to a new temple, and new abomination, and a new desolation, and yet another gathering after 1260 days. While this is possible, what biblical rationale can be provided to overlook the desolation that has already occurred from a prima-facie perspective?

I believe Futurists overlook the apparent fulfilment due to a commitment to an eschatology rather than to a faithfulness to the text. In my view, this is no different than rejecting Christ’s first coming because He didn’t fulfil all that was prophesied of Him at the time. I accept there could be a future desolation of Israel, but without evidence for such, at this point in time, I will accept the evidence I have in front of me now, that does meet the description from John.

I have written more detail about the Sea Beast over at https://endtim.es/sea-beast/

Other Passages to consider

Acts 17:5-7

⁵ But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷ and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

Romans 9:17

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”

In Daniel, a book remarkably similar to Revelation in style, frequently uses similar terms such as ‘the whole earth’, which we know are not literal or absolute references.

Daniel 8:5

While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

Daniel 7:23

“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.

Daniel 2:35

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

1. Daniel 4:11-12
2. Daniel 4:22