The Beasts of
Revelation Exposed
What do They
Represent?
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Sixth Head Wounded and
Healed
Let us review a
portion of history. In February 1798,
the papacy was almost fatally wounded
by Napoleon’s forces. The power
of the church was nearly destroyed
when the pope was expelled from Rome.
However, the church did not die. In
1929, Mussolini restored Vatican City
to the Catholic Church and declared
it a sovereign state. Since that
time, the healing of the deadly wound
has made steady progress toward
recovery. Today, the pope is regarded
as a significant figure in world
politics and even more, is considered
the most influential religious leader
in the world – all this in less
than 75 years! The point is that the
composite beast rises from the sea,
the Bible says, “the fatal wound
had been healed.” Notice
the tense of the verb: past perfect
tense. This means the healing is
completed when the beast rises from
the sea. Therefore, on the basis of
the three previous sentences, I
believe that the time is near when
the beast will rise from the sea
– because the fatal wound is
healed.
Who are the Seven
Heads?
So far, we have
established one point and asserted
one point about seven heads. The
established point is that each of the
seven heads is religious, anti-Christ
– and blasphemous. My asserted
point is that the wounded head is the
papacy. However, who are the other
six heads? The answer to this
question is quite simple. First, let
us gather all the data:
- Each head is
described as wearing a
blasphemous name. (Revelation
13:1)
- One head
seemed to receive a fatal
wound, but the fatal wound
was healed. (Revelation 13:3)
- The seven
heads are seven hills on
which the woman sits.
(Revelation 17:9)
Comment: In
Revelation 17, each head is declared
to be seven mountains or hills (the
Greek word ‘oros is
correctly translated as hill or
mountain). This chapter repeats and
enlarges some of the details about
the composite beast described in
chapter 13. In chapter 17, however,
an evil woman called a whore is
introduced into the story and she
rides the beast. The imagery is
direct and simple – this evil
woman will eventually control the
composite beast, much like a rider
controls a powerful horse. Let us
focus on the details concerning the
seven heads. Verse 9 says the seven
heads are seven hills (or mountains,
KJV) on which the woman sits. What
does this mean?
Not Just Any Place
In ancient times, God
was not worshiped “in just any
place.” Today, a church body may
look for property they can afford and
if the location and price is right, a
church is built. However, this was
not the case in ancient times. The
God of Heaven (as well as false gods)
was worshiped at special sites called
“high places” or holy
places located in the mountains.
Notice these Bible texts (there are
many more, but these will suffice):
Moses, looking forward
to Israel’s future, prophesied
the Lord would select a special place
for His temple. As it turns out, God
selected a mountain! Notice first,
the words of Moses: Deuteronomy
12:11 “Then to the place
the Lord your God will choose as a
dwelling for his Name – there
you are to bring everything I command
you: your burnt offerings and
sacrifices, your titles and special
gifts, and all the choice possessions
you have vowed to the Lord.” About
470 years later, the Lord identified
the specific place: 1
Chronicles 21:18 “Then the angel
of the Lord ordered [the prophet] Gad
to tell David to go up and build
an altar to the Lord on
the threshing floor of Araunah the
Jebusite.” About ten years
later, 2 Chronicles 3:1 records
the following: “Then Solomon
began to build the temple of the Lord
in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where
the Lord had appeared to his father
David. It was on the
threshing floor of Araunah
the Jebusite, the place provided by
David.” The point here, of
course, is that God placed His temple
on a mountaintop in a very specific
place.
Before Solomon built
the temple, notice where the people
worshiped. “The people,
however, were still sacrificing at
the high places, because
a temple had not yet been built for
the Name of the Lord. Solomon showed
his love for the Lord by walking
according to the statutes of his
father David, except that he offered
sacrifices and burned incense on the high
places.” (1 Kings
3: 2,3) Years later, after
Solomon died, Israel’s apostasy
matured. Notice what they did: “They
also set up for themselves high
places, sacred stones and
Asherah poles on every high
hill and under every
spreading tree. There were even male
shrine prostitutes in the land; the
people engaged in all the detestable
practices of the nations
the Lord had driven out before the
Israelites.” (1 Kings
14:23,24)
These few verses
explain why the seven heads are
called seven hills (or mountains). In
ancient times, mountains were
believed to be the footstools of God
(or gods). (Exodus 19:12; Psalm 95:5;
1 Chronicles 28:2) Remember
God’s dramatic presence on the
mountains of Sinai, Carmel and
Moriah? (Fire came down and consumed
the offerings of Solomon at the
dedication of the temple that was
built on Mt. Moriah.) Therefore, it
should not seem strange that
mountains were believed to be
footstools of the gods in ancient
times. Many native religions still
believe their gods dwell on the
mountaintops to this very day. God is
direct and to the point –
symbolism is both direct and simple
– the seven heads are seven
hills. Even David helps us understand
this concept: “I will lift
mine eyes unto the hills, from whence
cometh my help.” (Psalm
121:1 KJV)
Capital Hill
Americans should
easily grasp the concept of
describing religious (or religious
authorities) as hills since we refer
to the official building of our
lawmakers in Washington D.C. as Capital
Hill. If we assemble the
information that has been studied so
far, the weight of the evidence
points to this conclusion: The seven
heads are seven blasphemous religions
systems (or authorities) that people
look up to as having the truth about
God.
- They are also seven
kings. (Revelation 17:10)
This part of the
equation is also simple. The seven
heads are seven kings. A king has
authority; therefore, he has a
kingdom of subjects. Because each
religious system has authority, it
has subjects. Those who
“join” or submit to the
tenants of a religion submit to its
laws and regulations as subjects.
Thus, the seven religious systems of
the world can be called
“kings” for they truly have
subjects.
- Five have
fallen, one is,
the other has not yet
come; but when he does come,
he must remain for a little
while. (Revelation 17:10)
This verse will
support everything presented thus
far. To locate when the five
heads are fallen, we need to decide
when the conversation takes place
between John and the angel. The Bible
says this vision came to John on the
isle of Patmos (Revelation 1:9,10).
The vision occurred between A.D.95
and A.D.98. I take the angel’s
statement to be understood to be true
as of that date. This means
the five heads were fallen before
A.D. 98. If this is true, a simple
explanation resolves the identity of
the seven heads and satisfies these
specifications.
According to Webster,
the term “fallen” is not
limited to “destroyed or
collapsed”; rather, in a larger
sense it can mean “brought
down” or demonstrated to be
“false.” If I were Jimmy
Bakker, formerly of the PTL Club, was
a fallen evangelist, the reader would
understand that Jimmy fell from
respect and honor by his wrongdoing.
If we go back to the time of A.D.
95-98 and place the angel’s
words in their context of when it
was written, we find a simple
solution to solving the mystery
within this verse. When Jesus became
flesh and dwelt among men, five
religious systems were “brought
down” or exposed as false. Thus,
five of the seven heads were
fallen in A.D. 95. The ministry and
teaching of Jesus unmasked the vain
and foolish teachings of man. These
five religious systems predate the
birth of Jesus:
- Heathenism
- Atheism
- Islam*
- Judaism
- Eastern
Mysticism
*The title
“Islam” refers to the
Arabic faith. Although the title
today is often associated with the 6th
century A.D. influence of Mohammed,
the title Islam as used here,
identifies the ancient Arabic faith
from which Mohammedan grew. Even
though Mohammed is believed by the
Christians to be the founder of
Islam, it must be emphasized that
Mohammed did not invent the Islamic
faith. Rather, he united, organized
and expanded the beliefs of nomadic
Arabians. Even though he is
considered by Moslems to be the
first, and therefore the greatest of
God’s messengers, Moslems trace
the origin of their faith back to
Ishmael and his 12 sons. Moslems
regard Ishmael as the father of their
faith and not Mohammed. (See Genesis
21:13)
These five religious
systems are anti-Christ and were
proven false by the birth of Jesus
for the following basic reasons:
1.
Heathenism is religion apart
from the knowledge of the true God of
Heaven. In this religious system, man
creates his own gods according to
fantasy or whim.
2.
Atheism denies the existence
of the God of Heaven and His claims
upon man.
3.
Judaism rejects the teachings
of Jesus as the Messiah and seeks
salvation through obedience and
ceremonies.
4.
Eastern Mysticism teaches that
man can become God.
5.
Islam also denies that Jesus
is the Son of God and is not the
Savior of the world.
Wait, There are Two
More Heads!
John was also told
that one head “is” and one
“is yet to come.” The head
or religious system that had not
fallen in John’s day was
Christianity. Understand that what
was called Christianity in New
Testament times is now called
Catholicism. John was a charter
member of the group called
Christians, a new religious system
that Jesus established about A.D. 30
and this is why the angel said,
“one is” – meaning the
sixth head existed – even though
at that point, it had not yet fallen.
However, history traces and confirms
Catholicism’s fall from the
truth and verifies that an almost
fatal wound was inflicted on
Catholicism in 1798. At that time,
the Protestant Reformation came of
age and could be identified as the
seventh and final religious system of
the world. The angel told John the
seventh head would last for only a
short time. With all things
considered, Protestantism is a
“new comer,” in terms of
existence within the religious world,
since it is less than four centuries
old. In contrast, the other six
religious systems are twenty or more
centuries old.
Here They Are
In summary, to be
consistent with everything presented
thus far, it is fair to conclude that
the seven heads represent:
1.
Heathenism
2.
Atheism
3.
Eastern Mysticism
4.
Judaism
5.
Islam
6.
Catholicism
7.
Protestantism
Let me restate a few
important conclusions. There are
seven heads, seven of the same
thing. If the wounded head represents
the papacy, then remaining six heads
must also represent religious
systems. They are described as
blasphemous, kings and mountains, and
the timing of the angel’s
statement, that “five have
fallen, one is and one is yet to
come,” is consistent with all
that the Bible teaches on this topic
and is also compliant with recorded
history.
6. The
beast who once was, and now is
not, is an eighth king. He
belongs to the seven and is going to
his destruction. (Revelation 17:11)
The Eighth King will
belong to Them!
We will consider the
words, “once was, now is
not” in verse 11 when we discuss
the Lamb-like beast. For now, the
focus is on the seven heads. When
Satan physically appears on Earth
claiming to be God, he will “belong”
to the seven religions of the world
in the sense that they will exalt and
honor him as God. The responsibility
of exalting the devil as God will not
be the work of politicians, however
they will hasten to comply with the
desires of religious leaders.
(Remember, the crowns are horns
during this time.)
The devil will, by
using miracles, signs and wonders,
convince billions of people and their
religious leaders that he is God.
Thus, the devil will become the
eighth and greatest king. (Remember,
the seven heads are also kings.)
According to 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and
Daniel 11:36, the devil will
establish himself over the seven
heads and claim to be their God. He
will have the power and authority to
back up his claim, too! The reason
the devil is called the eighth king
is interesting. Remember when the
little horn in Daniel 7 plucked up
three horns by the roots? The little
horn became the eighth horn
and ruled over the remaining seven
horns with unchallenged authority.
Many people will oppose the
devil’s actions, but they will
be powerless to stop him. Notice what
Paul says, “Don’t let
anyone deceive you in any way, for
that day will not come until the
rebellion occurs and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the man
doomed to destruction. He will oppose
and will exalt himself over
everything that is called God or is
worshiped, so that he sets himself up
in God’s temple, proclaiming
himself to be God.” (2
Thessalonians 2: 3,4) It is also
appropriate to say that the devil
will be highly successful for a time,
appearing to be invincible, but his
throne, authority and power will be
short lived. Jesus guarantees it.
7. The ten
horns you saw are ten kings
who have not yet received a kingdom,
but for one hour will receive authority
as kings along with the beast.
(Revelation 17:12)
Horns in Bible
prophecy usually represent kings.
Remember the horns on the ram and
goat in Daniel 7? Although we
recognize the little horn of Daniel 7
to be more than one man, it
can be said that the papacy was a
“type of king” who ruled
over the people of the Dark Ages. A
horn is an ancient symbol
representing a powerful entity.
(Zechariah 1:18,19; Luke 1:69) The
ten horns on the composite beast
represent ten kings. These ten kings
are also symbolized by the ten toes
of Daniel 2 (see verses 42-44) who
will give their authority over to the
devil after he has conquered the
world during the six-trumpet war.
Since the devil will be regarded as
God by billions of people, the seven
religious systems will fully unite
with the devil, supporting him in his
establishment of a one-world
church-government. The devil will
claim to be king of kings
(government) and lord of lords
(church). The establishment of a
one-world church/government requires
the dissolution of all seven
religions. In other words, religious
diversity must come to an end because
God lives among men! This
consolidation of the world’s
religions into one global
church/government is called “an
image to the beast” in
Revelation 13 and is also identified
as a whore in Revelation 17. In other
words, the composite beast (seven
heads/ten horns) will no longer need
to exist because “God”
lives among men – commanding in
all matters of religion and
government. This new one-world
church/government will resemble the
composite beast that used religious
and political powers to oppress the
people. It makes absolute sense to
call this new global
church/government of the devil
“an image” of the
[composite] beast. The essential
difference between the beast and the
image to the beast is consolidation.
The beast is diverse having seven
religions and ten kings. The image is
singular – one religion –
ruler over all.
Obviously, not
everyone is going to be pleased with
the course of events taking place at
this time. Remember, the 144,000 have
been proclaiming truth during this
period of time. Therefore, the devil
will enable and empower civil
authorities to put to death anyone
who refuses to “worship the
image.” The civil authorities
will be “puppets” that
carry out the evil schemes of the
devil.
The Bible does not
name or identify the ten kings that
will appear, but I believe these
kings will be promoted to the
position during the sixth trumpet
war. However, the Bible provides very
little information about them. We do
know this much: “They have one
purpose and will give their power
and authority to the beast. They
will make war against the Lamb,
but the Lamb will overcome them
because he is Lord of lords and King
of kings – and with him will be
called, chosen and faithful
followers.” (Revelation
17:13,14)
Returning to the
Identity of the Composite Beast
So far, we have
established five primary points. They
are:
1.
The composite beast will be a world
government.
2.
The composite beast consists of the
world’s religious and political
systems.
3.
The composite beast will receive its
power, throne and authority from the
devil.
4.
The composite beast will astonish
everyone and overpower everything
that has authority.
5.
The composite beast will stand in
direct opposition to the authority of
God.
Now that these
elements have been established, the
remaining verses are easy to
understand. Please notice what each
verse says. There should be no
question about their meaning.
Revelation 13:4 Men worshiped
the dragon because he had given
authority to the beast, and they also
worshiped the beast and asked,
“Who is like the beast? Who
can make war against him?”
Revelation 13:5 The
beast was given a mouth to
utter proud words and blasphemies
and to exercise his authority for forty-two
months.
Revelation 13:6 He
opened his mouth to blaspheme God,
and to slander his name and his
dwelling place and those who live in
heaven.
Revelation 13:7 He was
given power to make war against
the saints and to conquer them.
And he was given authority over
every tribe, people, language and
nation.
Revelation 13:8 All
inhabitants of the earth will
worship the beast – all
whose names have not been written in
the book of life belonging to the
Lamb that was slain for the creation
of the world.
Revelation 13:9 He who
has an ear, let him hear.
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