Revelation 13:1-2 (TS2009)
And I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads names of blasphemy. And the beast I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like the feet 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.

In Revelation 12 we saw the dragon with seven heads and ten crowns representing Satan. That it was seen in heaven symbolizes Satan's spiritual power. The beast shows similarities with the complete statue from Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2 and the Four Beasts in Daniel 7. It comes from the sea which means it comes from the unstable nations of people. This represents Satan's earthly power or empire. It is the same beast on which Babylon the Great sits in Revelation 17. This beast is likely Satan's final Global Empire or world government.

Revelation 13:3 (TS2009)
And I saw one of his heads, as having been slain to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the earth marvelled after the beast.

The head that was slain likely refers to the Babylonian Empire or king Nebuchadnezzar which will revive with the final global empire. The mouth of the beast is like that of a lion. In Daniel's vision of the Four Beasts the Babylonian Empire is symbolized by a lion. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream it is symbolized by the head of gold of the complete statue or image and given a special place in God's plan because He calls Nebuchadnezzar "king of kings".

Revelation 13:4-5 (TS2009)
And they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to fight with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great matters and blasphemies, and he was given authority to do so forty-two months.

The people will worship Satan. The beast was given a mouth speaking great matters and blasphemies. This is a parallel with the little horn of Daniel's Four Beasts. See also Daniel's Ram and Goat and Seventy Weeks. The forty-two months equals a time and times and half a time in Daniel 7. So the tribulation will last 3.5 years. In Revelation 12 we learned that 1,260 days is the period that God's people are nourished or protected.

Revelation 13:6-7 (TS2009)
And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against Elohim, to blaspheme His Name, and His Tent, and those dwelling in the heaven. And it was given to him to fight with the set-apart ones and to overcome them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and tongue and nation.

The beast fights with the set-apart ones and overcomes them. From the Son of God we know that in the time of the end there will be chosen ones on earth which need to be gathered by His messengers to complete God's Kingdom (Matthew 24:30-31). After these are killed they will complete the government of 144,000 (Revelation 7:4) that will rule together with the Son of God in heaven. Authority was given to Satan's beast over every tribe and tongue and nation clearly shows this is about Satan's final Global Empire or world government.

Revelation 13:8 (TS2009)
And all those dwelling on the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the slain Lamb, from the foundation of the world shall worship him.

All ungodly people will worship Satan's beast.

Revelation 13:9-10 (TS2009)
If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who brings into captivity shall go into captivity, he who kills with the sword has to be killed with the sword. Here is the endurance and the belief of the set-apart ones.

See also Jeremiah 15:2, Jeremiah 43:11, Genesis 9:6. In the Old Testament we see for example eye for eye, tooth for tooth... (Exodus 21:24). God is righteous and will make all things right. Perhaps verse 10 refers to the Babylonian captivity of God's people. During Satan's final global empire on earth God's people will be held in captivity again. But God will protect His people and make things right in the end. The Son of God said You heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you, do not resist the wicked. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. (Matthew 5:38-39). Revenge does not belong to man, but to God.

Revelation 13:11 (TS2009)
And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.

In the Scriptures a lamb symbolizes the Messiah. But this beast is like a lamb and speaks like a dragon, like Satan, like a deceiver. This is another beast of Satan. Most likely this is Satan's king that will disguise as the Son of God in order to mislead as many people as possible. In Revelation 20 he is called the false prophet. Perhaps he can be regarded as the literal anti-Christ. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream we saw that king Nebuchadnezzar was called "king of kings" with a special purpose. Perhaps this false prophet will be the absolute king of Satan's final Global Empire or world government. A king in the liking of king Nebuchadnezzar. This is likely because the final Global Empire is symbolized by the beast that was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the pit of the deep and goes to destruction, it is the eighth beast as explained in the next chapter about Babylon the Great.

Revelation 13:12 (TS2009)
And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

In Daniel 3 we can read about king Nebuchadnezzar's image of gold which is presented to all people. The king orders all people to worship this idol of gold.

Revelation 13:13 (TS2009)
And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from the heaven on the earth before men.

Fire from heaven is usually related to punishment from God. Perhaps the best known example is that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Peter warns that the present heavens and the earth are treasured up by the same Word, being kept for fire, to a day of judgment and destruction of wicked men. (2 Peter 3:7). Perhaps God will rain fire on earth again, as a plague of punishment, for all people who keep refusing him.

Revelation 13:14 (TS2009)
And he leads astray those dwelling on the earth because of those signs which he was given to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword, yet lived.

The false prophet will deceive the people on earth and will force people to make an idol for worship. This idol is related to Nebchadnezzar's image of the Babylonian Empire which will in some way be revived.

Revelation 13:15 (TS2009)
And there was given to him to give spirit to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause to be killed as many as would not worship the image of the beast.

Perhaps this means that there will be demonic possession on earth on a scale never seen before. Perhaps many people will be possessed by demons and will intend to kill God's people.

Revelation 13:16 (TS2009)
And he causes all, both small and great, and rich and poor, and free and slave, to be given a mark upon their right hand or upon their foreheads,

The hand is often used in regard to an action (Exodus 15:6, Psalms 74:11, 1 Kings 8:15,24). The forehead is often used in regard to a person's belief. A person's belief and his actions are related. The mark is directly linked to the worship of the beast. Those who receive the mark do so because they worship the beast.

Revelation 13:17 (TS2009)
and that no one should be able to buy or sell except he that has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

There will be a time when the rulers in Satan's Global Empire or world government will introduce a system of slavery which will force people to worship Satan in order to be able to make use of the financial system. In the 2020s we can already see the first signs of such a system.

Revelation 13:18 (TS2009)
Here is the wisdom! He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty six.

Wisdom is inextricably linked to king Solomon. Two other places in the Scriptures where six hundred and sixty six is used is in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles 9. After king Solomon had finished building God's temple he received six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold every year. Around that time he also started breaking God's laws. Perhaps this indicates that gold and material wealth corrupted him. Power corrupts. Every human king throughout history was more or less corrupt, even those who start as king of God's people eventually become corrupt. During Solomon's reign God broke the covenant He made with king David.

Another place in the Scriptures is Ezra 2:13 where God's people are listed who returned from the Babylonian captivity under king Nebuchadnezzar. After the Persians conquered the Babylonian Empire they allowed God's people to return to Jerusalem, even to rebuild the temple. The sons of Adoniqam count six hundred and sixty-six. Interestingly, after God's people started rebuilding the temple his sons are listed again in Nehemiah 7:18 counting six hundred and sixty-seven.

In the Scriptures the number 6 is linked to humans. On the sixth day God created man (Genesis 1). The number 7 is linked to God. On the seventh day God rested (Genesis 2). Man is created by God and is below God. But it seems that man wants to be God himself. Satan deceived Eve by telling her that she could become like God and Eve deceived Adam (Genesis 3).

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