Today we look at the Beasts of Revelation 13. We won’t delve too deeply into the symbolism to ensure the main points are not obscured by excessive detail. I will create separate pages for each of the beasts, with more detail.
Revelation 12 concluded with the Dragon standing on the sand of the sea. What comes next is not launching into the next phase of the End Times, but rather an closer look at how the Dragon is persecuting the Woman. An example of this occurs in Revelation 12, where Revelation 12:1-6 is elaborated on in Revelation 12:13-17. What follows is a closer look at the persecution of the Woman at the hand of the Dragon.
There are 3 beasts mentioned in Revelation 13:
The Sea Beast
- Has an extensive kingdom (v.7)
- Has a particular hatred of Christians (v.7)
- Lasts for 42 “months” (1260 days).
- Causes people to worship the Dragon (v.4)
- Has a fatal head wound, that is healed (v.3)
- Power is given to it by the dragon (v.4)
- Slaughters and takes captive (v.10)
- It utters blasphemies against God (v.6)
Christians who take a literal interpretation of verses in Revelation saying that the Beast will be worshiped by everyone, misunderstand both worship, and a Biblical understanding of “the whole earth” or “all tongues and nations”. Just one example: Daniel addresses Nebuchadnezzar as ruler of the “whole earth” of “every nation, language, people” (Daniel 4). It merely implies a vast kingdom, but not literally the whole earth, or every literal tribe, tongue and nation. Worship is likewise misunderstood. God condemns people who “worship” him with their lips, but not their hearts. Worship, includes respect and honour. Thus it can be true to say that the whole earth today worships Islam, whether actual worship, or lip service to avoid trouble.
Islam was started by the self declared prophet, Mohammad, prophet of Allah. Islam grew over centuries to be the largest empire in the history of the world. It stretch from Mongolia, down to Indonesia, over to West Africa and north into many parts of Europe. It was a nation that was fast, vicious, and tenacious. It had a particular hatred of Christians and Jews and sought to supplant Christianity. Islam killed vast numbers of people and traded in millions more slaves. It is estimated that there were over 5 million Europeans taken as slaves, and countless Africans. Tammerlane, killed an estimated 5% of the entire world’s population. Allah rebuked Mohammad for wanting slaves, saying that Allah wanted to establish his religion by slaughter:
Allah said, 'A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.'
The Islamic Empire was the largest empire in human history spanning from Mongolia in the east to Spain and the the west coast of Africa, from Sudan in the south to much of eastern Europe. This map below gives an inkling – it also omits Indonesia – the worlds most populous Islamic nation.
The head of the Islamic empire was known as the Caliph, who ruled all of Islam, even for Muslims not directly under an Islamic government. There is an unbroken line of caliphs from Mohammad until Ataturk, who abolished the Islamic Ottoman Empire in 1922, after a series of overwhelming defeats during the first world war. Despite that fatal wound, Islam, after a period of confusion, continued to grow. While Islam lost its’ temporal or political power, it has continued to grow and expand.
Islam explicitly worships Allah who claims to be the God of the Bible, and describes Mohammad as the perfect man, greater than even Jesus, leading the patriarchs and Jesus in prayer when he ascended into heaven from the Temple Mount for one night. Muslims also “worship” Mohammad, although they would deny it, and are willing to kill anyone who blasphemes or criticises him, because Allah gave him power.
Islam held power in Israel for 1260 years, from the time of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque, until the Earth recognised Israel’s right to the land in November 1947.
The Sea Beast IS Islam.
The Earth Beast
The fatal head wound of the Sea beast put and end to it’s temporal authority or power. But it continued to live. The Sea Beast is explicitly a religious beast, unlike the Earth Beast. The Sea Beast’s fatal head wound was in 1922 when Caliph Ataturk, who had only been Caliph for a short time, abolished the Ottoman Empire. Islam is still growing today, over a century later.
The Earth Beast is not an overtly religious Beast. There is no mention of the Dragon, but the Earth Beast while not demanding worship of itself demands the whole earth honour the Sea Beast.
The UN, whose symbol is the earth and represents most nations on earth, demands that the world honour Islam. Nations around the world have enacted modern blasphemy laws to punish those who do not respect Islam. The UN, and governments around the world will advocate for and protect Islam.
The Earth Beast rains down fire
From Saddam Hussein to the wars from Sept 11, a coalition of Earth Beast governments rained down fire on those who did not submit to the new and improved, the “correct” version of Islam. The earth stood back and marvelled at it – we literally called it called it “shock and awe”1. The first war that was televised live: the Gulf War I, demonstrating the pinpoint precision with which the Earth Beast could call fire from heaven. We were told that these “terrorists” were not representative of Islam, and therefore the attacks were justifiable.
We create the Image Beast
Revelation 13:14. On September 11, 2001, the modern world was confronted with what Mohammad’s followers will do. There was a united effort around the world to create a new image of Islam – “True Islam” would not do such things. Hundreds of millions of dollars were thrown into community groups and inter-faith dialogues with the single mandate: produce publications, stories, documentaries, books to promote Islam in our communities. And to reinforce Islam’s new image, laws were enacted giving the image power. Thus, it didn’t matter whether what you said about Islam was true, the trial by media was what mattered. Thus the Image Beast is created and is given life and power to punish those who do not submit.
The Image Beast grows
Like all images and statues, the flaws are removed, and the best features are exaggerated. Media, and in particular social media attacked anyone who criticised Islam; they were silenced, banned, mocked, employers were hounded until people lost their livelihoods. On top of that cartoonists, were publicly executed; tourists, soccer players, random people were executed and beheaded, and the media told the world it was the fault of Christians and that the Western world deserved this for not respecting Islam.
Removing the flaws of Islam from the new Image was challenging: Islam’s treatment of women, and the history of slavery, just to name two. The media was again enlisted to produce positive stores of women in Islam and to attack Western culture on it’s treatment of women and slavery. Earth Beast governments no longer needed to take disagreeable citizens to court: the media, and in time, social media, would pronounce them guilty and silence them, ban them, and take their incomes. Anyone who had the slightest grievance against the West or Christianised culture were promoted by the mainstream media and social media; this accomplished two things: (a) took the focus off Islam, and (b) destroyed Christian values in the West.
The Image Beast, while initially made to promote a new image for Islam, took on anything that opposed Christianity and the West.