And 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. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 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. 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? 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. ...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. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:1-5, 7, 8)
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he does great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by the sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their fore heads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 13:11-18)
In order to identify the mark of the beast we first need to identify the beast itself.
What does a beast represent in prophecy according to scripture?
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. (Daniel 7:17)
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, (Daniel 7:23)
According to scripture, a beast represents a king/kingdom, otherwise, a nation or political power. There are two distinct beasts described in Revelation 13. Let's first examine some of the identifying characteristics of the first beast.
The first beast rises out of the sea which in Bible prophecy symbolizes multitudes of people, or a densely populated area.
The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. Revelation 17:15
This first sea beast also speaks great and blasphemous things.
For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. John 10:33
Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? Mark 2:7
Biblical blasphemy is claiming the position or power that belongs to God alone. This first beast will blasphemously claim to be God on earth and have the authority to forgive sins.
This blaspheming power would also persecute God's people for forty-two months. In scripture we are given the principle of one day equaling one prophetic year in Bible prophecy.
I have appointed thee each day for a year. (Ezekiel 4:6)
After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, (Numbers 14:34)
Using the Bible's prophetic day for a year principle, we know this sea beast persecutes God's people for 42 months (a month in the Bible being 30 days) which would be 1260 prophetic days, or 1260 literal years.
This sea beast in Revelation 13 is also described as an amalgamation of a leopard, a bear, and a lion, the exact beasts used to represent Greece, Medo-Persia, and Babylon in Daniel 7.
The vision in Daniel 2 is the same as in Daniel 7, only this time, instead of beasts, God uses metals to represent these kingdoms. Let's first look at the vision and its interpretation of Daniel 2.
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like chaff of the summer thresthingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:31-35)
Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And wheras thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (Daniel 2:37-45)
We know from Daniel's interpretation that the head of gold represents Babylon. With Babylon again being the starting point of Daniel's vision in chapter 7, God gives us even more details regarding these kingdoms that we know to be Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. (Daniel 7:3)
Just like the amalgamated beast of Revelation 13, the four beasts of Daniel 7 come up from the sea.
The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. (Daniel 7:4)
Like the head of gold, the lion with eagle's wings represents Babylon. Babylon has been compared to both the lion and the eagle by the prophets of God, (Jeremiah 4:6-7 and Habakkuk 1:6, 8 for example). Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had the heart (mind) of a man returned to him after spending years living among beasts of the field as an animal. (See Daniel 4, especially verse 34.)
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. (Daniel 7:5)
The bear, or breast and arms of silver in Daniel 2, represents the Medes and Persians who co-conquered Babylon. The bear raised up higher on one side indicating that one of the co-ruling kingdoms (Persia) was to become more powerful than the other. The three ribs represent the three provinces the Medes and Persians conquered in order to ascend to power: Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt.
After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. (Daniel 7:6)
This leopard like beast, or belly and thighs of brass, is Greece. Alexander the Great has been portrayed with a leopard pelt in lieu of a saddle. The leopard is known for its speed, but this leopard has wings. The four wings illustrate the astounding swift pace Alexander conquered from Egypt to India, in a swifter speed than even Babylon. After Alexander's death, the Hellenistic world was eventually divided into four empires representing the four heads of the leopard: the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east, the kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon.
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7)
The fourth beast represents Roman Empire which came to be known as the "iron monarchy of Rome". The ten horns represent the ten kingdoms into which the Roman Empire was divided into when it fell: the Alemanni, the Franks, the Burgundians, the Saxons, the Suevi, the Lombards, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, and the Heruli.
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. (Daniel 7:8)
This little horn arises from the fourth beast which represents the Roman Empire so it has to be a Roman power. The ten horns are the divisions of Western Europe so the little horn must arise in Western Europe. The little horn would uproot three of the ten horns in its ascension to power, literally uprooting them from history. The Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals denied the teachings of the Church of Rome and the Bishop of Rome called upon Justinian to get rid of those three tribes which are long extinct, no modern descendants whatsoever.
And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. (Daniel 7:20)
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Daniel 7:25)
This little horn speaks great, or blasphemous, words against God. The Bishops, or Popes of Rome claim both to be God on earth and to have the authority to forgive sins.
"The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ himself hidden under the veil of the flesh. ...Does the Pope speak? It is Jesus Christ who speaks." The Archbishop of Venice prior to becoming Pope Pius X
"We hold upon this Earth the place of God Almighty." The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII, Page 304
"Were the redeemer [Jesus Christ] to descend into a church, and sit in a confessional to administer the sacrament of penance, and a priest to sit in a confessional, Jesus would say over each penitent: 'EGO TE ABSOLVO' [Latin for "I forgive you"] the priest would likewise say over each of his penitents, 'EGO TE ABSOLVO', and the penitents of each would be equally absolved." Dignity and Duties of the Priest, Page 34 Ligonier
The Popes have also claimed to have the authority to change the Law of God.
"The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even Divine Laws... The Pope can modify Divine Law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent [representative] of God upon Earth." Lucius Ferraris Prompta Bibliotheca Article: "Papa" II, Vol. VI, Page 29
The Catholic Catechism has removed the second commandment against making and worshipping idols leaving only nine commandments remaining. They break up the tenth commandment, against coveting, into two parts to make up for the discrepancy. The Catholic Church has also tampered with the fourth commandment, the only commandment of the ten which deals with time. They changed the Sabbath from the 7th day of the week to the 1st day of the week.
"Sunday is our mark of authority... The church is above the Bible, and this transference of sabbath observance is proof of that fact." Catholic Record of London, Ontario - Sept 1, 1923
"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [Saturday sabbath to Sunday] was her act... And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things." H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons
"You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we [the Catholic Church] never sanctify. Cardinal Gibbons, In Faith of Our Fathers 92nd Edition, Page 89
The Roman Church-State has shed more Christian blood than any other entity that has ever existed on Earth via the Inquisition. Over 100 million Christians were killed by the Papacy during a period called The Dark Ages, so called because the Bible was illegal. If the Papacy caught someone with a Bible (see Psalm 119:105), they were immediately taken in for heresy and tortured and eventually killed.
In 538 AD, after the three kingdoms (Heruli, Ostrogoths, and Vandals) were plucked up by the root, Justinian's decree making the Bishop of Rome the supreme authority over all the church, (originally issued in 533) was implemented by Vigilius. Power hungry, it was around this time this church-state union began persecuting God's people. However, in 1978, Napoleon Bonaparte sent his general, Berthier, to Rome to arrest the Pope and claim Rome for Napoleon. This is the wound the Bible predicted that the Papacy would receive in Revelation 13:3. 538 AD to 1798 AD is 1260 years, or a time and times and the dividing of time (time/year + times/2 years + dividing of time/half a year = 3 and 1/3 years, or 42 months, or prophetic 1260 days.)
The Papacy is the only power entity that fits all of the characteristics described in the book of Revelation and the book of Danial, perfectly.
Click here for a quick summary of the sea beast/little horn power.
Next time we will examine and identify the second beast of Revelation 13, the lamb like beast that comes up out of the earth.