Revelation's Beasts

Revelation
13:1 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

13:11 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.

The study of the beasts of Revelation is a real challenge and the approach to accurate and meaningful understanding needs to include some basic tenets. The visions are dimensional, interactive, and interdependent. A biblical understanding of the angelic realm is essential and necessary for unlocking the prophetic scriptures for identifying these entities.

A broad knowledge of text pertaining to the subject requires careful investigation of the visions contained in other sections of the Bible as well as a comprehensive and correct rendering of the book of Revelation.

A great deal of symbolism is used and it is necessary to define the meaning of each symbol and its application. All of the definitions are explained within the text or in other related passages of scripture.

The symbol of the "dragon" is used in the book of Revelation to represent Satan [the ancient serpent in the garden] and his relationship to human kingdoms as "the god of this world". [Genesis 3; Revelation 12:3-17; 13:2; 20:2]

Satan is a fallen angel and is the instigator of a rebellion against the Lord's position and authority. [Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Revelation 12]

The symbol of a "beast" is used in Revelation to identify two specific fallen angelics. They are angelic princes who worship satan as their god and do his bidding on the earth for him.

The first is Abaddon-Apollyon, the angelic prince and king of the abyss who rules over seven Middle Eastern kingdoms for satan and is also king of the fallen angelics of the abyss. [Jude 1:6; Revelation 9:11; 11:7; 17:8]

He is seen coming out of the "sea" of Middle Eastern habitations in Revelation chapter 13. The sea is symbolic for the Gentile masses in the Middle East proper that surround the nation of Israel .... he is the "Assyrian" in Micha 5:5-6.

The same are the many waters that the woman [symbol for the condition of lost humanity apart from the Lord's providence and direction] sits on. These are described as peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.

The second is the false prophet who will control two religious clerics [two horns] who will support Abaddon-Apollyon and will lead a cult religion that worships him as a god. Abaddon-Apollyon is also associated with eleven horns who are all human kings.

The little horn of Daniel's visions is the one who will be possessed by Abaddon-Apollyon .... the other ten are those who will be united and will rule with the little horn. [Daniel 7; Revelation 9:11; 11:7; 13:1; 17:8] .... he is the king of the northern Middle East in Daniel 8:9-12; 8:23-25; 11:36-45; 12:7]

The false prophet is seen as coming out of the "land". The land is symbolic for the land of Israel and this will be where he will operate when Abaddon-Apollyon and his followers occupy and control Jerusalem and the temple mount. [Revelation 11:2; 13:11]

Satan is addressed early in Ezekiel 38 and 39 as gog the "chief" angelic prince of Mesheck and Tubal. He is the same as the dragon revealed in Revelation. [Ezekiel 38:17; Revelation 12; 13:1-2]

Revelation 12 includes a vision of satan's role as the god of this world, and ruler of the kingdoms of the Gentiles.

He is the enemy of the Lord, the predator of the nation of Israel, and the adversary of the Christian believer. Revelation 12 gives the account of his invasion of the nation of Israel at the middle of the coming tribulation period.

Revelation 12:2 and 17:8 present the seven heads [dominions, kingdoms] of satan's beast, seven angelic principalities [indicated by the crowns] seven human king positions [not in the vision], and ten additional human kings [indicated by the horns]. [Danel 7:7-25; Revelation 12:3]

Satan delegates authority over these dominions to Abaddon-Apollyon. Further investigation of chapters 9; 11; 13; 16; and 17 will reveal Abaddon-Apollyon as the first beast of Revelation who receives power and authority from satan.

The seven human king "positions" are revealed in the 17th chapter Of Revelation. Daniel's little horn, human king of the north, is Abaddon-Apollyon incarnate and he will occupy the 6th [king that "is"] and 7th [king "yet to come"] "king positions". [Daniel 7, 8, 11:36-45; 12:7]

Revelation presents a picture of satan's past and future relentless pursuit of attempting to disrupt, prevent, and destroy the Lord's plans for the salvation and future immortalization of human beings to enter eternal life.

He has been on this track since he discovered the Lord's purposes related to the creation of humans, provision of a remedy for their salvation, and their eventual inheritance of His universe.

It should be noted that the time line of this part of the vision presented in Revelation 12 starts with satan's rebellion which included drawing off 1/3 of the angels to follow him in the distant past after his creation and initial habitation of the Lord's universe. [Revelation 12:4]

He will have all of these angels with him when he is cast to earth at the beginning of the Lord's coming hour [time] of trial and wrath [Revelation 12:4, 12:9]

The Lord will allow the release of those which are in the abyss and those bound at the Euphrates River for the purpose of taking part in His judgment process of the earth. [Jude 1:6; 2Peter 2:4; Revelation 9:1, 9:11, 9:14]

Abaddon-Apollyon is now among the captured abyss angels and he is their king. He will also be satan's representative on the earth, the first beast of Revelation. He will be released with them at the beginning of the Lord's future hour of trial upon the earth. [Revelation 9:11; 13; 16; 17]

Abaddon-Apollyon and the abyss angels are the ones who inhabited the pre-Adamite earth and were involved with the corruption of humans before Noah's flood. They were all sent to the abyss during the flood except for Abaddon-Apollyon. [Genesis 6:1-7; 2 Peter 2:4]

Abaddon-Apollyon was free to continue and rule his five Middle Eastern post-flood dominions [human kingdoms] and was then sent to the abyss just before the first century. He will be released from the abyss by satan at the beginning of the coming tribulation period. [Revelation 9:1; 9:11]

The four bound fallen Euphrates angelics are the fallen angelic princes of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Grecia. These were subordinated to Abaddon-Apollyon in his past rule of the Middle East and will be released to do his bidding at the time of the end. [Daniel 10; Revelation 9:13-21]

Their function will be to lead their fallen angelic armies [200 million of them] to kill 1/3 of all humans during the coming tribulation period of the Lord's judgment. [Revelation 9:15-20]

Abaddon-Apollyon ruled his first dominion for satan [Satan is gog in Ezekiel 38], the land of Magog, just after the flood and the next 4 in succession .... all were located in the Middle East. He will rule over his 6th and 7th dominions of the little horn when he is released from the abyss at the time of the end.

The rest of the fallen angels have been and are with satan now and they reside as powers and principalities of the air [the earth's atmosphere].

Satan and these angelics still have access to the heaven, but will be thrown down to the earth with him at the time of the end. [Revelation 12:4, 12:9]

Next the vision moves to satan's attempt to kill the Lord in the first century and then jumps to the time of the end of this age when he will be earth bound and will persecute Israel. [Revelation 12:6]

The vision then re-states these things and adds more details. Michael and his angels will force satan and his fallen angelics that reside with him out of the heaven.

This archangel is assigned to Israel and he will stand up against satan at the beginning of the time of the end. [Daniel 12:1; Revelation 12:7]

Satan and his angels will be thrown to the earth and denied access to the heavenly dimensions at the beginning of the 70th week. The restraining function of the Lord's holy spirit will be diminished to allow satan the freedom to destroy the earth and its inhabitants. [2Thessalonians 2:6-12]

He will go forth with great wrath because he will know that his time is short. He will cause great destruction on the earth, attack the nation of Israel, and will persecute believers on a worldwide scale. [Revelation 12:12-17]

Satan knows that the Lord is working out His plans and purposes through the nation of Israel and believes that Israel's destruction will complicate, if not end, the process.

He has great fear of the Lord and knows that he must attempt to eliminate Him, or be eliminated himself. He knows that the Lord will return to the earth and to Israel at the time and will attempt to prevent this.

 

Revelation's beasts continued .....

The woman with the crown of 12 stars represents the nation [twelve tribes] of Israel. She is presented in contrast to the woman of Revelation 17 and 18. [Revelation 12:1-2, 12:5-6, 12:13-17]

The Lord will protect a remnant of Israel who will flee into the east [Jordanian wilderness area of Petra/Bozrah]. Their place of refuge will be off limits to satan for 1260 days (3 1/2 years) during the reign of Abaddon-Apollyon. [Zechariah 14:4-5; Matthew 24:15-16; Revelation 12:6, 12:13-16]

Only one third of the Israelites living in the land of Israel will escape death. Two thirds will be killed. Some will be taken into captivity by their attackers and some will flee into the wilderness where they will be protected by the Lord from the beast. [Zechariah 13]

It is significant to know that Satan and Abaddon-Apollyon are not the same entities. Careful observation of their destinies and the timing of the same will support this fact. [Revelation 19, 20]

They are shown as separate beings when the kings and their armies are gathered for war at Armageddon. These three, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, set the gathering in motion. [Revelation 16:13]

Abaddon-Apollyon is the beast who was, is not, and will come out of the abyss at the time of the end. He has the symbolic body of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. These three "animal" beasts are the symbolic parts of Abaddon's ancient Middle Eastern dominions including Grecia [leopard], Persia [bear], and neo-Babylon [lion].

These three empires are contained in Daniel's visions showing that they had their dominions taken away, but the lives of these habitations were prolonged in part so that they would exist at the time of the end. [Daniel 7:12] ... the popuations of these ancient empires still exist in the Middle East today.

Abaddon-Apollyon has ruled over five ancient dominions located in the Middle East in the past. These were the land of Magog, the Akkadian/Assyrian Empire, followed by neo-Babylon, Persia, and Grecia.

He will rule over two successive additional dominions at the time of the end. The second one will include the geographical land area and human inhabitants of the ancient dominions of the lion, bear, and the leopard.

John's vision of Abaddon-Apollyon is from the perspective of his final stage of development in chapters 13 and 17.

He has incarnated and has become one with the little horn [human king]. The little horn is the king that "is" and the next king that "shall come".

He does not appear as the "little horn" in chapters 13 and 17, but as Abaddon-Apollyon the beast from the abyss. Other visions in Revelation and Daniel will support the identity of the little horn as this possessed human king of the time of the end.

John sees one of the heads [7 dominions, kingdoms of Abaddon-Apollyon] as though it were wounded to death. This was the termination of the northern Greek dominion in the Middle East. The Greeks lost their empire to the Romans in warfare [by the sword]. [Revelation 13:1-3] ... and Abaddon lost his 5th "head" and was sent to the abyss .... he is still there at this time

When Abaddon-Apollyon is released from the abyss at the time of the end his position of power and authority will be healed. He will again have a kingdom ["head" healed] in the Middle East as in the past.

John sees a star [angel] "fall" from heaven who has the key to the abyss for the purpose of releasing Abaddon-Apollyon and the other abyss angels. This star is satan who is thrown to earth during the 70th week.[Revelation 9:1; 12]

One of the Lord's angels "comes down" from heaven and has the key for imprisoning satan in the abyss just after the battle of Armageddon and just before the 1,000 year reign of the Lord on the earth. [Revelation 20:1]

Satan will be imprisoned in the abyss so that he cannot deceive the mortal nations that will exist on the earth for 1,000 years. He will be released again, that is gog [satan] and Magog [symbol of the nations], to deceive once again before he is destroyed in the lake of fire.

There are ten additional contemporary human kings (horns) in this vision who are present during the little horn's rule of both his sixth and seventh dominions [kingdoms] at the time of the end. [Daniel 7:7; Revelation 17:8]

The little horn is the eleventh king of the set and will develop the sixth smaller dominion into the seventh divided dominion under the influence and control of Abaddon-Apollyon.

Abaddon-Apollyon will then incarnate him, become the eighth king himself, and rule the divided dominion for 42 months. [Daniel 11, 12; Revelation 11, 13]

 

Revelation's beasts continued .....

There is another "woman" in Revelation 17 and 18 who represents the organized unsaved masses of the Gentiles [nations] and their cities. She is the "other woman" in contrast to the "woman" [nation of Israel) of Revelation 12.

It should be noted that Israel's behavior and intransigence toward the Lord has placed the nation in the same position as Mystery Babylon the Great [the balance of unbelieving humanity] revealed in Revelation 17 and 18, but His covenant with Israel will stand and she will ultimately turn back to Him.

The woman [the condition of unfaithful humanity] of Revelation 17 and 18 is connected with all seven dominions [heads] of the beast. Her presence began shortly after the flood when humans began to build cities with collective populations. [Genesis 10]

She is the nucleus of the dominion ruled by the human king and they are both influenced and controlled by satan through his angelic agents; and satan is the god of the past and this present intransigent world.

A very significant event will take place at the beginning of the tribulation period that will include a lethal attack against Mystery Babylon's "great city" part. Mystery Babylon the Great is the symbol used to describe all of unbelieving humanity .... past, present, and future.

The little horn [human king], possessed by Abaddon-Apollyon, and the ten other human kings will hate her and destroy her core "great city" part with fire in one day. [Revelation 8:7-12; 17:16-18; 18:1-21]

Her primary feature is her arrogance and economic materialism which has a controlling worldwide influence. This great city part of Mystery Babylon the Great will not be located in the Middle East where the little horn will have his base of operations.

The Lord will use satan and his angelic and human hosts to judge her for intransigence. He will also reduce all of her other cities in the world to rubble at the time of the end with a worldwide earthquake. [Revelation 17:16-17; 16:19]

Human self-rule including government, social infrastructure, offensive and defensive military, economic systems, culture, false religions, etc. will end at the hand of the Lord.

The second beast of Revelation is also a fallen angel and he will operate through two religious clerics [two horns]. This beast is identified further as the false prophet who will promote the cult of the first beast. [Revelation 13:11]

He will present the cult as one that is to bring peace to the earth [will look like a lamb], but will actually preach [speak like a dragon] hatred and violence toward those who will not submit to the religion. [this description resembles the religion of Islam today]

This false prophet will perform signs and wonders which will convince humans that Abaddon-Apollyon is a god. Those that follow will make and/or possess an image of Abaddon-Appolyon for the purpose of idol worship. [Revelation 13:13-17]

There are some very strange statements made related to this activity. This image can apparently sense individuals who will refuse to worship Abaddon and can kill, or will have them killed.

These idols may actually be a demonic connection to a satanic network of fallen angels. There is scriptural support for the presence of large numbers of these fallen angelics operating on the earth at the time of the end. [Revelation 9; 12]

The idols carried by the followers of Abaddon-Apollyon may be able to detect and transmit information on humans who will not submit to their religion. Those who refuse to submit will then be hunted down by Satan's agents and killed. [Revelation 13:15]

It is possible that there will be a similar image, or idol, of this type placed in Israel on the temple mount. Some consider this to be the abomination of desolation that is to be set up during the time of the end. [Daniel 12:11; Matthew 24:15-16]

There will be an attempt made to restrict the economic transactions of those who will not worship Abaddon-Apollyon. Those with his mark will desire it for the purpose of identifying with him. [Revelation 13:16-17]

Humans will need to display identification of the mark of the beast in order to buy or sell. This mark is described as "the number of a man" and it is 6-6-6.

This will be a number that identifies the little horn [human king] who will be incarnated by Abaddon-Apollyon. Many have tried to identify the little horn [human king] using numerical equivalents for the letters of his name. None have been correct.

The number 6-6-6 is symbolic of the relationship regarding satan(6), Abaddon-Apollyon(6), and the human little horn(6) .... the number of the beast is his name, and or the number of his name, and also the number of a human [number of a man].

Satan will be the power behind Abaddon-Apollyon and his false prophet. His "anti-christ" [meaning "against" Christ] Abaddon-Apollyon, will rule the Middle East for 42months [1,260 days], and will cause great tribulation for the nation of Israel and the rest of the world.

Abaddon-Apollyon, his ten kings, and their followers will be destroyed by the Lord just at the end of His coming time of trial and judgment during the battle of Armageddon. [Revelation 16]