How to understand the beast of Revelation?

It is described as a “mystery” in need of explanation, and “a mind of wisdom,” signalling caution over interpretation, but also that reflection should bear fruit (Rev 17v7, 9). We’ll start with what is clear:

1.         The description points us to Daniel 7, and so we should look there for interpretive help. Daniel’s beasts represent “great kings” and their kingdoms, which may have existed before their reign (Dan 7v17, 23). With Daniel’s Greek beast (Alexander the Great), the “heads” are subsidiary kings and kingdoms derived from the original, which is stated in 17v10. The horns are subsequent kings in those kingdoms. And so, each beast can be said to span the entire period the heads and horns arise. This means the beast of Revelation is most likely a great king and kingdom which is then reflected in 7 subsidiary kings and their kingdoms, and looks to a time when 10 kings in one of those kingdoms will serve the primary kingdom.

2.         17v9 tells us its 7 heads are 7 hills on which the Babylon-prostitute sits, and that is identified as “the great city that rules over the kingdoms of the earth” (17v18). This would almost certainly be understood as a reference to Rome (and not Jerusalem as preterists argue). This leads some to assume the 7 heads are 7 Roman emperors, not least because they claimed divinity. Mounce outlines various problems with this, but the key one in the text itself is that these emperors represent the same kingdom not subsidiary ones, which is the nature of the heads according to Daniel 7. Moreover, the fourth beast of Daniel 7 is most likely Rome, and it is described very differently, although both have 10 horns.

3.         Because Satan has the same number of heads and horns it is possible they are just symbolic for “perfect/complete” (7) manifestation of his rule through major rulers and “many” (10) subservient rulers. However, the details of 5 being fallen, 1 current and 1 to come, imply that at the “heads” have specific referent.

4.         Much more convincing then, is Alford’s view. He notes the head-kings belong to the beast not the harlot-Rome (which they eventually turn against), and that it could not be said of Augustus and Tiberius that they are “fallen” when merely passing away in their beds. A better fit is the key “worldwide” empire-kingdoms that have oppressed God’s people, and presumably the key kings that led that. So, the five that have fallen are Egypt (Pharoah), Assyria (Sennacherib), Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar), Medo-Persian (Artaxerxes I) and Greece (Antiochus Epiphanes IV), leaving the 6th “that is” as Rome, possibly under Nero (the suggestion that the number 666 corresponds to his name is apparently not clear).[1] Supporting this is (1) that the beast is a composite of the descriptions for Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece from Daniel 7, (2) Dan 7v12 explicitly says his three beasts will be allowed to “live for a period of time” even after the Roman one is destroyed, explaining why Revelation’s beast would have its form, (3) Dan 10v20-21 pictures demonic “princes” of Persia and Greece fighting Michael, just as Satan and his demons fight Michael in Rev 12. (4) Isaiah 23-27 is in mind where Tyre is the harlot, the Leviathan-serpent from the sea is defeated by the Lord, and people are rescued from Egypt and Assyria (23v1ff, 27v1, 13), (5) the prophets predict each of these kingdoms as falling.

5.         But just as the Greek beast was Alexander with four heads who were the four Greek kingdoms and kings that resulted from him, we must ask what is the initial king and kingdom from which these seven kingdoms derive? It is possible that the initial beast is Satan himself and his kingdom of darkness. However, that doesn’t fit the imagery from Daniel of the beast as a source human king, or of Revelation that gives 666 as the number of the beast “for it is the number of a man.” Quite possibly, the beast from which subsequent kingdoms derive is therefore Egypt and Pharoah, as his hostility to Israel has such prominence in scripture. But this makes it hard to pinpoint the extra kingdom to make five more before Rome. Philistia opposed Israel but was hardly a worldwide entity. The Phoenicians and Hittites were more so, but didn’t really oppress God’s people. Perhaps then, as the beast spans such a period, we must conclude that it is Satan and the kingdom of darkness. And Revelation does lump all worldly kingdoms together as one (11v15). The idea that it comes out of the abyss at a future date supports this as the abyss is the place evil spirits are consigned (Rev 9).

6.         What this brings to Revelation, is that we see the great world empires and key oppressive kings of ancient history as imaging Satan just as believers are to image and rule with Christ (12v3, 13v1). These kingdoms are therefore to be seen as Satanic in origin and expressions of his kingdom, with their immoral “culture” upheld by him. This was the case for Tyre in Isaiah 23 and Rome in Revelation 17, which is why its harlot can be said to be sitting on the beast, which is the kingdom of darkness in its various historical expressions.

7.         A tension in the text is that we are told the beast “once was, now is not, and yet will come up from the abyss” (17v8), but also that the beast’s 6th head-king “is” when John was writing and is almost certainly the Roman empire represented by the persecuting emperor of John’s day. The same tension is seen in the beast being given authority for 42 months (13v5), which in context is the time the earthly members of the New Jerusalem (the holy city of 21v2, 10) are trampled (11v2), whereas we are told it will only come out of the abyss towards the end of that period. So, the idea that the beast “is not” can’t mean Satan is not active through human kings and kingdoms. Rather, it means he is not more personally present because he has not yet come out of the abyss.

8.         This helps us hugely in understanding Revelation 20 and strongly supports an a-millennial reading. The beast “once was” but in John’s day “now is not,” and yet will come up from the abyss” (17v8). This syncs perfectly with the idea that Satan was bound at the time of Christ and will only rise in the way he had before that time, just before the end. And his particular work pre Christ and at the end is one of “deceiving the nations.” But that isn’t simply keeping them from gospel truth, it is deceiving them so that they honour the beast-Satan (13v14, 12v9) and so do his bidding in oppressing God’s people (20v8). This consigning of the beast to the abyss is therefore almost certainly pictured in chapter 12 where Satan is cast out of heaven. The context is Christ’s ascension into heaven (12v5), and although details may be uncertain, the general sense is clear: “The deceiver of the world” has been vanquished (12v9), which seems to presume his deceiving is therefore curtailed in some way (as 20v3). And this victory is seen by him being cast down to the earth and “the sea” under which the abyss was said to be within Jewish thought.[2] And so, coming out of the abyss is synonymous with coming out of the sea and onto the earth (Is 27v1, Rev 13v1).

9.         What follows is that from the time of Christ, we should not expect a king who oppresses and seems to overwhelm God’s people at the head of a world empire until the end of this age. And it is striking that Christian kingdoms are the ones that have dominated since the 1st century. God in mercy restrains the beast so that his church can grow. This is not to say that the church will be free from persecution or battling immoral culture. These things continued in John’s day when the beast “was not,” even during the kingdom of the 6th head. And the beast has authority throughout the “42 months” of the church age (Rev 11). We must therefore see the oppressive wickedness of all earthly kingdoms such as the medieval Catholic Kingdoms, Islam’s Caliphate, the 3rd Reich, and Communism, as expressions of Satan’s rule and kingdom, whilst wondering as they arise whether they may be the final more extreme expression that will herald the end. Likewise, all immoral culture should be seen as upheld by Satan’s rule and kingdom, just as Tyre was in the time of Isaiah and Rome in the time of John. This is why we should be wary of it and flee it. Indeed, it is quite possible that in John’s symbolism, the prostitute represents immoral culture throughout the period of all the beast’s kingdoms. This would explain why she is depicted as Tyre as well as Rome, why she sits on all 7 head-hills, why her destruction comes just before Jesus returns, but also why she is identified as Rome (17v18) in John’s day.

10.    But what of the 7th and 8th heads in Revelation 17v10-13? Throughout the book, the number 7 denotes completion and the end. So, the 7 emperors view again seems not to fit, nor that it 7th meant the end of Rome was immanent. Alford suggest the 7th empire is Christendom, but though often wicked, this was hardly an oppressor of God’s people. Most likely, it is the final worldwide king (and kingdom) before Christ’s return: the “man of lawlessness” of 1 Thess 2. We are told he will remain only “a little while” which we are also told of Satan’s release at the end (20v3).

11.    But 17v11 explicitly tells us that it is an 8th king that is the supreme manifestation of the beast-Satan. As the beast only has 7 heads and the 8th king “belongs to the 7” he would seem to be part of the final kingdom Satan brings into being, and perhaps born to its key king as a sort of Satanic incarnation. Verse 12 tells us at that time 10 kings will give him their power, presumably as the nations that are gathered against God’s people in 20v8-9. Beale notes the number 8 may also imply resurrection as Christ was raised on the 8th day. 13v3 tells us one of the beast’s heads had what seemed to be a mortal would that was healed. Some suggest this is playing on the myth of Nero returning after his death. It could well refer to Nero, as the description comes at a point that implies the beginning of the 42 days of the church age. The point might then be that with the 6th beast-king dying and the beast being “not,”  another will arise at the end of the age. But, it is also possible that all this refers to the 7th king seeming to die and then come alive in an 8th. Being confident of what this all means now is hard, but as with other prophecies it will no doubt become clear when taking place.

12.    13v11-18 suggests the beast is represented by one who is in the guise of Christ v11, and so anti-Christ and false prophet (19v20). This is an individual who draws people to the first beast, which in John’s day was no doubt the cult of Caesar. Note that it is by this means the earth is “deceived” v14, 19v20, which picks up Satan’s work in 20v3. This should make us steer clear from all religion (Christian too) that seeks to encourage an idolatrous allegiance to the state.



[1] https://biblehub.com/commentaries/alford/revelation/17.htm

[2] https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/707-abyss