The Beast Rising From the Sea

THE BEAST RISING FROM THE SEA

Contrary to the thinking of many, Scripture was written as long form-letters containing paragraphs, without chapter and verse numbers.  Stephen Langdon, the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Roman church from 1207-1228 AD, was the person who divided the New Testament into chapters and verses.  He performed an admirably work but occasionally his divisions were not always correct.

One such mistake was the division of the 12^th and 13^th chapters of Revelation.  The first sentence or verse of chapter 13 should be the ending of chapter 12. 

This section should read as follows:

Revelation KJV:  (12:17)  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (13:1)  And stood (and he stood i.e. the dragon stood [not John as in I stood]) upon the sand of the sea, and saw a 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.

It was the dragon who stood on the sand of the sea and not the apostle John.  The dragon was conjuring up a beast from the sea after his defeat by the Archangel Michael and being cast down to the earth (and you thought Satan and his angels were expelled prior to creation).  At this point, Satan no longer has access to the heavenly court to make accusations due to the crucifixion, shed blood, and ascension of Jesus Christ.  His primary occupation in heaven is now finished, along with his cohorts, and he can no longer return (see the book of Job).  Since the Son of God is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and is now beyond Satan’s influence he now focuses upon the earthly Christians which is the “remnant of her seed” meaning all Christians are literally of the family of Jesus. 

Revelation 13 a continuation and fulfillment of Daniel's little horn (extension) of the iron beast of Daniel 7 (the Roman Empire).  John, was completely knowledgeable that Daniel had written on this subject, but he also received further revelation on the subject that Daniel did not get.

 Revelation 13:1-2 says,

1 … And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.

Daniel saw four distinct beasts (Daniel 7:3), however, John saw just one hybrid beast composed of characteristics of all four beasts envisioned by Daniel.  Daniel’s beasts were basically portrayed as a lion, bear, leopard, and a nameless iron-toothed beast. John, on the other hand, sees a single beast with the mouth of a lion, feet of a bear, and the appearance of a leopard and some other characteristics.

It is apparent that Daniel saw a succession of empires, each in turn opposing God’s Kingdom. But John sees all of these beast empires as a single, continuous, dragon-inspired empire. Both are correct, of course, but from different viewpoints.

In Daniel’s vision of four beasts, he sees also a fifth that is like an extension of the fourth beast in the progression of history referred to as “the little horn”. These four or five beasts are:  Babylon (607-537 B.C.);  Medo-Persia (537-330 B.C.);  Greece (332-63 B.C.);  Rome (63-476 B.C.); and Rome extended / the “little horn” (Roman Church).  A “horn” is symbolic of power or authority.  The horn of an animal was seen as its primary weapon by which it dominated others by force.

Daniel 7:7- 8 illustrates that this “horn” is an outgrowth of the fourth beast with iron teeth (Rome). That is our first major clue as to its interpretation.  This “horn” assumes power as a successor to the Roman Empire. It is, in fact, Papal Rome – not just the Pope but the entire organization.

A Death Wound Healed

Revelation 13:3 KJV  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.

The KJV translation of “as it were wounded to death” appears in other versions as: 

appeared to have been killed; seemed to have had a fatal wound; as slain to death;  though it had been smitten unto death; as if it had been slain to death; appeared to have been wounded to death

These various interpretations of the original Greek seem to indicate the beast appeared to be “done away with” but nobody could be actually certain.

Did the beast have a death wound?  Those prophecy students expecting a person appearing as the beast, who they usually call “the antichrist”, will debate the possibility of an actual death and then the possibility of an actual resurrection of the beast.  Since the beast from the sea is not any particular person but an organization known as the Roman Church with a supposed leader called the Pope (although he may not actually be the power at all times) the concept of death and resurrection can take several forms.

The pope was actually taken captive by Napoleon and placed in prison where he died in 1798.  Later Napoleon considered a Pope necessary to conduct his emperor coronation, so he reinstated a person as pope in 1800.

Dragon Worship

Revelation 13:4 KJV  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?

The dragon worship is symbolic because the European Catholics did not mentally or physically call out to a dragon with prayer and worship.  I hesitate to say that Catholic doctrines and liturgies are satanic, however, a pope claiming the power to nullify and amend the teachings of the apostles and even those of Jesus Christ is a satanic concept.  A man claiming to be equal to or greater than God (or Jesus) appears in 13:5-6 where the leader of the Roman Church has a mouth speaking arrogant blasphemy.

Revelation 13:5-6 KJV  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.  (6)  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

The little horn of Daniel and the beast of Revelation is given authority and the power to reign for 42 months which is equivalent to 1260 “days” that are actually years, according to verse 5.  This time frame began with Justinian from 529 to 534 AD when Roman law was changed to reflect church law.  He also changed the yearly calendar count from the Roman system to the Gregorian system.  The time period of the little horn began with Justinian in Constantinople but quickly transferred to the Roman Church hierarchy and specifically the Pope.

The French Revolution

This 1260 year time span is the period from Justinian to the French Revolution in 1789-1794.  The revolution completely disrupted Europe and the Roman Church.

The French Revolution, 1789-1793, overthrew the Roman Church in France, killed or exiled its monarchs, and established what they called a Republic.  The pope joined a European coalition in 1795, sending 12,000 troops to fight against France and to bring it back under church control.

In 1796 France sent Napoleon to Austria and Italy which were easily defeated.  When Pope Pius VI refused to renounce political power, he was taken captive and Napoleon expelled the entire Roman curia. The pope later died in a French prison in Valence at the age of 82. As his health failed, Napoleon issued an order that no successor should be named.  However, eventually Napoleon allowed Pope Pius VII to be elected in Venice on March 14, 1800.  His relationship with Napoleon was often troublesome, and in fact, Napoleon imprisoned him as well from 1809-1813.

Napoleon became weakened after his calamitous invasion of Russia in 1812 and he was forced to step down in 1814.  After his abdication, the nations of Europe met at the Congress of Vienna to “redraw the map of Europe” and produced what came to be known as the Holy Alliance in 1815.

War Against The Saints

Revelation 13:7 KJV  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Many prophecy students are awaiting the so-called “antichrist” to appear and begin killing Christians.  At the moment I would say there are very few actual, real Christians to round up and kill in Europe and the Western world.  The Middle East terrorists have supposedly murdered the majority of the Christians in that area and they aren’t the beast per se.  However, millions of Christians were killed by some means during the reign of the little horn.

From Stephan Jones:

One only needs to read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to begin to comprehend the scope of the Roman persecution in their attempt to retain power over the minds of all men. Millions were killed, tortured, burned at the stake, and “worn down” as Daniel said. There is no need to look to a future “Antichrist” to do these things. They have already happened.

By David A. Plaisted

For two or three centuries, many Protestants have given figures concerning the total number of people killed directly or indirectly by the Papacy during the Middle Ages.  The numbers given include 50 million, 68 million, 100 million, 120 million, and 150 million. 

Dowling in his History of Romanism says "From the birth of Popery in 606 to the present time, it is estimated by careful and credible historians, that more than fifty millions of the human family, have been slaughtered for the crime of heresy.

Catholic historian Vergerius admits gleefully that during the Pontificate of Pope Paul IV (1555-1559) "the Inquisition alone, by tortures, starvation, or the fire, murdered more than 150,000 Protestants."

The Revelation 13 description of the beast from the sea is a continuation and expansion of the Daniel 7 prophecy concerning the “little horn”.  Daniel indicates the Vatican/Pope situation will continue until the return of Christ, although the killing of Christians by the Roman Church has apparently stopped.

Daniel 7:21-22 KJV  I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;  (22)  Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

The Roman Church was given power (or authority) over all kindreds (races), and tongues, and nations.  When scripture speaks of nations and tongues it usually only refers to those of Europe and the Biblical area.  It is doubtful if Africa, the Americas, and other remote places would be included within the grasp of this first beast.

But yet the Church came back to life, and the second beast gave its authority to the first.