In his attempts to wage war against the offspring of the woman, the dragon stood at the shore of the sea and unleashed two beasts upon them. The first one emerged from the sea, while the second one arose from the earth. The Creator of the heavens, the earth, and the sea had seemingly granted temporary authority to the dragon to wage war on His people. The dragon took full advantage of his authority and tormented the children of God for a short period of time, forcing everyone to leave God and follow the trinity of evil which tried to emulate His power.
Beast with the Fatal Wound
The dragon stood at the shore of the sea and summoned a beast that came out of the waters. The sea represents the dark abyss where all the demonic forces reside. Out of the abyss, the dragon calls the beast that resembles the beast from Daniel’s vision with one notable difference. This beast had a seemingly fatal wound that had been healed and covered up.
The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.
Revelation 13:2-3 (NIV)
The fatal wound on one of the heads of the beast seems to be a callback to the scene in the garden. God said that the serpent would strike the heel of the offspring of the woman but not before He crushed his head. At the cross, Jesus crushed satan’s head when He died for the sins of the world. However, the world did not accept the Light that had come down for us and thereby provided the serpent with a second wind to try his best to deter mankind from finding their way back to the garden. The wound could also be a battle scar that the serpent suffered when being warded off by Michael and the other angels.
When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection they asked to see His wounds before they believed that it was the LORD who was in their midst. The beast of the sea unleashed by the red dragon is an evil spirit that is trying to emulate Jesus’s wounds and deceive the people who are looking for similar signs. People have an image of God in their minds and actively look for signs and wonders to build their faith. The deceiver knows this and uses the signs and wonders to his advantage to divert people away from the path of God. The beast from the seas is praised in eerily similar words by his followers as the Israelites praised their redeemer, the God of the Heavens and the Earth.
Who among the gods is like you, LORD?
Exodus 15:11 (NIV)
Who is like you— majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory, working wonders?
The beast of the sea was given the power to wage war against God’s holy people as it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. The beast was able to conquer even the elect and rule over God’s people. When people forget that they are the forgiven children of God, satan creates further doubts in their minds to disconnect them from God. Once they are away from His presence, he rules over them, offering them worldly blessings so that they don’t turn back to God. Just as God gave authority to satan to torment Job, He has given the beast authority over all the nations of the world.
At the same time, He has extended His foremost protection to the ones who have the seal of His approval on their foreheads. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life but those who are not in line with God’s plan will give into the sovereignty that the beast displays as they will not be able to differentiate between the works of the creature of the sea and that of God’s mighty hand. It is ultimately God who has given the beast its authority and yet the creature of the sea goes on to blaspheming His name. Yet, the people, who should be appalled by the words that are coming out of the mouth of the creature of the sea, praise the red dragon who unleashed the beast upon the inhabitants of the earth.
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
Revelation 13:10 (NIV)
Beast of the Earth
As John was trying to come to grips with the destruction caused by the creature from the sea, there before him, he saw another beast, coming out of the earth. This beast had two horns that seemed similar to the slain Lamb but when it spoke, it had the voice of a dragon. The beast of the earth was given all authority, similar to the first one as it made everyone on earth worship the beast with the fatal wound.
And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.
Revelation 13:13 (NIV)
Everyone was in awe of the great wonders that this beast of the earth could perform. While outwardly it looked deceptive and resembled the Lamb that was slaughtered for our sins, it had the heart of the dragon. It is interesting to note that while the first creature came out of the sea, the second one came out of the earth. This could mean that this beast is one of the inhabitants of the earth carrying out the dragon’s bidding in hopes of subverting the message of God.
Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
Revelation 13:14-15 (NIV)
The cause of the fatal wound of the first beast is revealed to us as he was wounded by the wielder of the double-edged sword, who we know is the slain Lamb. The creature of the sea was wounded by Jesus’s triumph on the cross but raised to life because of our rejection of His sacrifice.
People look at outward appearances only and do not weigh a person’s message to ensure that it is from God. Using this fact as leverage, the red dragon unleashes the second beast who takes on the appearance of an ordinary man allowing them to put their guard down. When we are in our comfort zones, we don’t stop to evaluate the will of God in every decision we make. The deceiver is thus able to use signs and wonders to convince us of the legitimacy of his message as we willingly walk away from the path of God.
The Trinity of Evil
It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666
Revelation 13:16-18 (NIV)
In the events that transpired in John’s current vision, it seems that the red dragon is trying to emulate God and His provisions for mankind. God sent His Spirit as a counsellor and guide to lead us back to Him. God sent His Son as a man of the earth to die as a sacrifice for our sins and bring the world back to the Garden of Eden. Similarly, the red dragon is sending an evil spirit from the realms of the sea to misdirect people into proclaiming its name. Likewise, the beast of the earth is emulating the Son of Man as it tries to divert the hearts of people towards the red dragon and the creature from the sea. So this number could be an antithesis of the number denoting completion, that is seven. God, His Spirit and His Son, are all working towards the completion of the redemption plan. At the same time, the dragon, the creature of the sea and the beast of the earth are all trying to stop God’s plan from reaching its fulfilment, thus, denoted by the number just short of completion, that is six.
Interpreting the meaning of the infamous three-digit number has been the life goal of many. There has been so much interest and speculation in trying to decipher it. The curiosity behind knowing the mystery that this number of the beast will reveal, coupled with John’s words, appears to be laying down a challenge for people with wisdom to calculate the number of the beast. It is also the fear of the unknown that causes people to contemplate the consequences of this number. People want to have some semblance of control over their future and thus speculate the meaning of this number.
Whatever is the meaning behind the mysterious number, it should not concern us to the extent that it takes over our thoughts or handicaps us by its fear. Our God who sits on the throne is the one in control over everything. He is the one who has given authority to the dragon, the other fallen angels and even the beasts that blaspheme His name. In order to identify the deceptive nature of the world around us, we must have a continuous connection with our Creator. Let us come to God asking for the wisdom to distinguish between His mighty works and the cheap sideshow act put on by the dragon.
Discussion Questions
- How can the beast have a fatal wound and still be alive?
- Why is there so much curiosity to know the meaning of the number of the beast?
- How can the beast conquer God’s people?
- Why would the world follow the beast who was blaspheming against God?
The Jordan Valley 
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