Two More Beasts - Revelation 13

13:1-10 - As the dragon (Satan) chases the woman and her child (the Church and God’s political kingdom on earth) trying to destroy them, John sees another sign “in the likeness of the kingdoms of the earth; a beast rise up out of the sea.” This beast has seven heads as well as ten horns and each horn has a crown, “and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” We learned yesterday that the horns represent power and the crowns can represent human created nations on earth but it’s interesting to consider why these nations are called “blasphemy.” I didn’t understand it until I thought about how the rulers of nations thought of themselves, as god emperors, the sun king, appointed by God to hold their positions, deified after death, etc. These kings and rulers considered themselves to be gods which is blasphemy by itself, but then the horrors they perpetrate in the name of God adds even more condemnation. This beast has the body of a leopard, the feet of a bear, the mouth of a lion, as well as the seven heads and ten horns and all the crowns. One of the heads was “wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed.” Maybe this represents the violent rise and fall of empires, when one ends in a heap of smoldering ash, then another rises to take its place, none of them are actually God’s kingdom on earth, but most claim to be. The IM quotes the Prophet Joseph Smith as teaching, “When God made use of the figure of a beast in visions to the prophets He did it to represent those kingdoms which had degenerated and become corrupt, savage and beast-like in their dispositions, even the degenerate kingdoms of the wicked world.” The IM further suggests that instead of trying to identify specifics through the image of the beast, it would be more profitable for us to consider the 6 characteristics that all these kingdoms represented by the beast display: 1. It had power over many nations 2. It opposed God and blasphemed against Him 3. The power it wielded was like the power that predatory animals have over their prey 4. Satan gave it power 5. People of the world worshipped or followed the beast 6. It was able to overpower many, including the Saints. Further, the IM says, “It could be said that any kingdom or government that exhibits these characteristics manifests the spirit of the beast. Revelation 17:8-12 contains additional information about the beast, including its ultimate destruction.” This seems similar to the great and spacious building that attracted people who were not interested in the things of God, but did value power and wealth and importance, etc. The people who admire this beast or these kingdoms, don’t value the gospel or God, the see the dominion wielded by these wicked rulers and think about how they can get that for themselves. But Jesus has the last word because in the end, “he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.” And through it all, the saints wait in “patience and the faith.” It’s interesting to consider exactly what this means in practical terms because here I sit in America mourning our downfall, furious at the disenfranchisement of the people, and honestly, when considered in the context of human history, I have no idea what disenfranchisement really looks like. I have no idea what patience and faith looks as a believer under a wicked ruler. Patience and faith when faced with injustice and persecution. It almost just seems like an exercise in imagination, I wonder if that’s going to change soon. 13:11-18 - John now sees “another beast coming up out of the earth.” This beast is simply described as having “two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” This one is just as powerful as the other beast but is also able to do “great wonders” such as bringing fire down from the sky and producing “miracles” and telling the people who see them to be obedient to the first beast. There’s also a violent streak to this beast which is that while advocating the worship of the first beast “as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed,” so this belief was enforced by the sword. This second beast controls commerce by marking the believers “and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark.” Again, looking at specifics probably isn’t the most profitable here, but my guess is that this second beast is the “spiritual” counterpart to the leopard shaped beast that represents the political kingdoms of the earth. It’s not hard to find a religion that has a mutually beneficial relationship with a corrupt government and both organizations use their individual influences to exploit and torment the people. I think it’s notable that the woman represents the spiritual organization of the Church and her child represents the political kingdom of God on the earth, but here we have Satan’s counterpart to those institutions in the shape of these other two beasts. Just like the woman and her child function in conjunction with each other, so do the political and religious organizations controlled by Satan. Just like Jesus can use his political and religious institutions to work together to bring peace and joy and prosperity to all people, Satan can use these dual instruments to oppress, enslave, and torture people. It’s an interesting commentary on just how powerful both institutions are and why Jesus doesn’t just need to have the Church during the millennium to fulfill his work, but needs the political structure as well.