In the final conflict between good and evil, Jesus and the armies of heaven are confronted by an alliance of three entities introduced in the 13th chapter of Revelation: The dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the earth, AKA the false prophet. The sea beast and the false prophet are captured and cast alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). The dragon is seized by an angel who casts him and locks him up in the Abyss (Revelation 20:1-3).

The Lake of Fire is not a literal lake. It is not a place of eternal punishment. Scripture calls it the second death (Revelation 20:14). Death is the end of life, therefore the lake of fire is a place from which there is no return, i.e. they (the beast and the false prophet) cease to exist. The Abyss is like a prison from which a return is possible (Revelation 11:7).

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Revelation 12:1-3

1. Here is introduced the first mention of the dragon in the book of Revelation in connection with the marvelous appearance of a woman. The description of the woman connects her with Jacob whom God renamed Israel (Genesis 32:28).
2. Joseph, one of Israel's twelve sons, angered his brothers with his dreams: I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me. Genesis 37:9
3. When he told the dream to his father, Israel replied, Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? Genesis 37:10 The symbols, therefore, of the sun, moon, and stars are a direct reference to Joseph's mother, father, and brothers.
4. The dragon's connection with the woman is its desire to destroy the child as soon as it is born (Revelation 12:4).
5. What the woman gives birth to is not Jesus, son of Mary, but the promise of a savior in fulfillment of Scripture (Genesis 3:15).
6. This promise is delivered through the calling of Abraham from whose line would come the Messiah. The woman, therefore, is symbolic of spiritual Israel, not the literal nation of Israel.
7. The dragon's motive for this attack is because he knows the Messiah would bring about the end of his dominion on earth.
8. The dragon is called, that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. Revelation 12:9
9. Although thus identified, the dragon symbol represents all the human agencies that have been historical enemies of God's people.
10. The dragon has seven heads, ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. This description is nearly identical to that given for the first beast of Revelation 13 and the scarlet beast of Revelation 17.
11. Numbers in a Biblical context can have both a literal and symbolic meaning. The seven heads on the dragon is symbolic representing all the earthly powers opposed to God, to His law and those faithful to Him throughout history.
12. The ten horns, unlike the heads, are symbolic of powers that exist contemporaneously. They represent both divisions of power as with the breakup after the fall of the western Roman Empire, and the final union of said powers prior to Jesus' Second Coming (Daniel 7:24, Revelation 17:12).
13. The presence of crowns suggests entities that are empowered to rule, while the lack of crowns suggests those that are not yet empowered.

The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. Revelation 13:1-2

1. A beast in biblical prophecy symbolize powers that have been or will be hostile towards God's faithful on earth, and were historical enemies of the nation of Israel.
2. It is safe to assume that the dragon entity thus introduced is instrumental in the appearance of the beast that arises from the sea.
3. The sea symbolizes the populous region around the Mediterranean from which arise the great civilizations and empires of the ancient world.
4. There is a twofold identification for the dragon entity:
   • It is "that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray." Revelation 12:9
   • It also represents all the human agencies that have been employed by the devil in its attack on God's creation, his faithful people, and the promised Messiah.
5. The physical description of the dragon is is nearly identical to that of the beast from the sea and the scarlet beast of Revelation 17.
6. The beast that arises from the sea is in fact the end-time appearance of the beast and thus incorporates all the beast entities of the past represented by the seven heads on the beast.
   • Egypt
   • Assyria
   • Babylonia
   • Medo-Persia
   • Greece
   • Rome
   • The End-Time Beast
7. Just as the other entities mentioned, this beast stands in opposition to the God of heaven putting itself forward as a god and the object of worship, which explains why it is guilty of blasphemy.
8. The beast excercises its authority for Forty-two months. This the same period of time given to the little horn power that arises later on the head of Daniel's fourth beast, which has been identified as the Roman Empire. Daniel 7:25
9. Some expositors believe this prophetic period equates to three and one half years of literal time or 1,260 years in prophetic time.
10. Whichever it is, the significance of this period points to a time of great distress and persecution for God's people.
11. One of the seven heads bears the mark of a fatal wound. Who dealt this fatal wound and how was it healed?
12. The Roman Empire under paganism was a persecutor of Jews and Christians. She ceased to be such when Christianity became the state religion in the fourth century AD. She thus no longer qualified as a beast.
13. It is the sixth head, therefore, that bore the scar of a fatal wound. The healing of the fatal wound brings about the reemergent end-time beast prior to Jesus' Second Coming.
14. The healing of the fatal wound is revealed in the next discussion by the arrival of the beast that arises from the earth.
15. The ten horns symbolically represent the divisions of Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
16. The crowns on the ten horns symbolize the time when they are empowered as kings and become united in purpose with the end-time beast. Revelation 17:12
17. The scarlet beast revealed in chapter 17 is the same as the beast that arises from the sea. The former is shown as it existed in the past while the later as the beast that "yet will come."
18. In the final battle we find the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of earth confronting the Lamb of God and the army of heaven but they are defeated. Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:19-20

Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. Revelation 13:11-14

1. Just as water and earth are two different states of matter, so the beast from the earth symbolizes a power that differs from the sea beast, possibly in several ways.
2. Having lamb-like horns but the voice of a dragon strongly suggests that this entity is a deceiver, which would corroborate its other identification as the false prophet which is allied with the first beast and the kings of earth at Jesus' second coming (Revelation 19:20).
3. Causing fire to come down from heaven hearkens back to the prophet Elijah and the miracle on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:38). Here the second beast performs the same sign to deceive the people of earth.
4. It is the second beast, therefore, who by deception is instrumental in the healing of the fatal wound which causes the world into worshiping the first beast.
5. These last two points strongly suggest that the second beast that arises from the earth is a false religious entity that works on behalf of the beast from the sea.
6. Setting up an image of the beast strongly suggests the introduction of idolatry in the worship of the first beast.
7. Giving life and breath to the image of the beast suggests that it is not like other idols made of stone or wood. This image may symbolize a separate agency created to work in cooperation with the second beast.
8. The image of the beast commands the people of earth to bow down to it on pain of death. The worship of idols in ages past was how people would show devotion to their gods.

It [the second beast or the image] also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man [Or is humanity’s number]. That number is 666. Revelation 13:16-18

9. This mark signifies subservience (or loyalty) to the first beast by thought or deed. Those who refuse to receive the mark are denied basic necessities and privileges.
10. The mark of the beast is connected numerically with the name of the first beast (i.e. calculated from the name), and that number equates to 666. Unfortunately, we are not specifically given the name of the beast.
11. There is a difference in translation as to whether the identification of the second beast refers to one individual person or to humanity in general.
12. The number 7 signifies completion, perfection, and holiness. The number 777 would refer to the holy trinity of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus 666 might stand for the unholy trinity: The dragon, the sea beast, and the false prophet.

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf... The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Revelation 19:19-20

13. Like I said at the beginning, The lake of fire is not a literal lake. It is not a place of eternal punishment. Scripture calls it the second death (Revelation 20:14).
14. The lake of fire is not the destiny of those who have died by faith in Christ. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. Revelation 2:11

1. The Dragon: This is "that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan." But it seems the devil can only achieve its purposes through human agencies. Its main purpose as revealed in the 12th chapter of Revelation is to prevent the coming of the promised Messiah. To this end it has influenced civil powers in an attempt to destroy Israel. This explains its symbolic description similar to that of the beast.
2. The Beast from the Sea: There is just one beast but it has seven heads. The number seven in this context signifies completion or fulfillment. Throughout biblical history, Israel was oppressed by neighboring countries, some of which I have listed. All of these comprise the beast. The beast from the sea is the seventh head. It is the end-time antichrist that appears prior to Jesus' Second Coming.
3. The Beast from the Earth: Although identified as a beast which means, like the fist beast, it stands in opposition to God and is a persecutor of God's people; there are significant differences that define it. This beast is a wonder worker by which it seeks to deceive the people of earth, not into drawing attention to itself but rather into worshiping the first beast. This is why it is also called the false prophet which connotes a religious character. It also sets up an image of the first beast, suggesting the introduction of idolatry. Some prophetic expositors believe the false prophet is a professed religious leader. I think not but have no evidence to prove otherwise.

The prophetic books of Daniel and the Revelation use imagery and symbolism to convey their message, the understanding of which is open to interpretation and debate. I prefer rather to base my faith and understanding on other scripture, particularly the four Gospels which recount Jesus' acts and words, and the apostle's letters to the churches.