~~~ The Unholy Trinity Part 2 ~~~
The Beast from the Sea:

The images of beasts in prophetic dreams and visions symbolize the enemies of God's people Israel throughout its history.
Deuteronomy 28:49, Jeremiah 4:7

  1. John sees the dragon standing by the sea shore and then a beast coming out of it.
  2. The beast had seven heads and ten horns, each horn bearing a crown and each head a blasphemous name.
  3. The beast looks like a leapard but with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion.
  4. The dragon gave the beast his power, throne and great authority.
  5. One of the heads on the beast bore the scar of a fatal wound that had been healed.
  6. This caused the whole world to be in awe and follow the beast.
  7. They worshiped the dragon for empowering the beast.
  8. They also worshiped the beast, all those whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life.
  9. The beast exalted itself, spoke blasphemies against God, the heavenly realm and all those abiding there.
  10. It exercised its authority over the earth for a period of 42 months, during which time it waged war on the saints and defeated them.
Unfolding the Vision of the Beast from the Sea:
  1. The sea symbolizes the populous, multi-ethnic region surrounding the Mediterranian. Psalm 65:7, Revelation 17:15
  2. The horns bear crowns signifying they are ten kingdoms that coexist during the same period of time. Daniel 7:24, Revelation 17:12
  3. The seven heads symbolize seven chronological (historical) occurences of the beast from the sea. Revelation 17: 10 & 11
  4. The first beast bears striking physical attributes with the four beasts in Daniels dream. Daniel 7:1-7
  5. These four have been identified as the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greece and Roman empires.
  6. Prior to Daniel's time, two ancient empires that were enemies of Israel were the Egyptian and Assyrian.
  7. The seventh head on the beast is likely symbolic of the end-time little horn power that proceeds after the fall of the Roman empire. Daniel 7:8, Daniel 8:9
  8. The healing of the fatal wound causes the whole world to be in awe of the first beast and worship it. Revelation 13:3
  9. Forty two months is given for the beast to act. In literal time this equates to three and a half years. If prophetic time is used where a day = one year, that comes out to 1260 years.
 The Beast from the Earth:
  1. John then sees another beast ascending out of the earth. It has two lamb-like horns but speaks like a dragon.
  2. This beast works on behalf of the first beast, causing the people of earth to worship the first beast whose fatal wound had been healed.
  3. It performs miraculous signs for everyone to see, even making fire to fall from heaven to earth.
  4. The people of earth are deceived by these signs and wonders it was able to perform.
  5. The second beast commanded the people of earth to construct an image in honor of the first beast whose fatal wound had been healed.
  6. It gave breath to the image so that it could speak. Anyone who refused to worship the image were threatened with death.
  7. The image also forced everyone to receive a mark of loyalty to the first beast, either on their right hands or their foreheads.
  8. The mark is the name of the first beast or the number of its name. The number is 666, which is the number of a man.
Unfolding the Vision of the Beast from the Earth:
  1. The earth reference signifies a different geographical origin from the beast from the sea.
  2. One possibility for the origin of the second beast could be the new world (the Americas).
  3. The second beast bears no crowns suggesting it is not a political power. 2 Kings 11:12, Revelation 6:2
  4. Horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon is central to the second beasts deception.
  5. The second beast therefore stands in opposition to the true Lamb of God. John 1:29
  6. Causing fire to come down from heaven hearkens back to the prophet Elijah. 1 Kings 18:30-38, Revelation 13:13
  7. The second beast is in fact identified as the false prophet. Revelation 19:20
  8. The image it orders set up is an idol to the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. Leviticus 26:1
  9. The mark of the beast signifies subservience to the first beast by thought or deed. Revelation 13:16, Revelation 14:9-11
  10. 666 is both the number and equates to the name of the first beast because it is the antichrist. Revelation 13:17 & 18
  11. The two beasts, therefore, represent the emergence of a persecuting power through the union of religious and political power.
Prophetic time:

Prophetic time doesn't necessarily equate to real time. Some have suggested from scripture that one day of prophetic time equates to one year of real time. Numbers 14:33 & 34

  1. 42 months * 30 days per month = 1260 days = time, times and half a time (≈ three and a half years of days).
  2. This period of three and a half years is mentioned in the book of Daniel in reference to the 70 weeks prophecy. Daniel 9:24
  3. This prophecy has to do with the time when the Hebrew exiles in Persia would be allowed to return to their homeland.
  4. The 70 weeks do not appear to be contiguous. Only the last week of the 70 has any possible connection with John's vision of the first beast presented here. Daniel 9:25-27
  5. Regarding this last week, Gabriel tells Daniel, "He shall confirm the covenant with many." Daniel 9:27
  6. The "He" Gabriel is referring to is called "The prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary."
  7. This "prince" is the little horn power Daniel saw arising from one of the four horns on the goat (identied as the Greek empire). Daniel 8:9-11
  8. If we accept one day for a year, then one week (seven days) = seven years, half of which is, of course, 3 and a half years.
  9. Gabriel continues by saying, "In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." Daniel 9:27
  10. This foretells a dramatic change in attitude or behaviour on the part of this little horn power toward the people of God.

Forty-two months, the period of time given for the first beast, is the same period the holy city is given over to the gentiles. It is also the same period for the two witnesses who prophesy clothed in sackcloth and the woman clothed with the sun given refuge in the wilderness. Revelation 11:2, Revelation 11:3, Revelation 12:6 & 14

If the prophetic time periods are all identical, why are they expressed in different terms?

  1. Months for the gentiles that "trample on the holy city." Revelation 11:2
  2. Months also for the beast from the sea. Revelation 13:5
  3. Days for the two witnesses clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:3
  4. Days and times for the woman clothed with the sun. Revelation 12:6 & verse 14