Revelation 13:11-18

11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth.
He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a
dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first
beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants
worship the first beast, whose fatal wound
had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous
signs, even causing fire to come down from
heaven to earth in full view of men. 14Because of
the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the
first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.
He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the
beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
15He was given power to give breath to the image
of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all
who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He
also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor,
free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or
on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell
unless he had the mark, which is the name of the
beast or the number of his name.
18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let
him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's
number. His number is 666.



13:11 - Just as the Beast from the sea was in the image of the Dragon, so is this second
Beast which arises from the land (as it should be translated rather than earth). This Beast
had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. This Beast came up from the land,
which means that it came from within Israel itself. This second Beast is closely associated
with the False Prophet (Rev. 16:13; 19:20) and in some sense, they are synonymous. This
correlates to the false prophets that Jesus warned of (Matthew 24:5, 11). They parallel the
antichrists, but where the antichrists had apostatized into Judaism from within the Church,
these false prophets were Jewish religious leaders who sought to effect Christians from the
outside. The Jewish false prophets appeared like lambs, as Jesus had warned of those who
would come in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). In reality, however, they used deceptive,
subtle speech like the Dragon.

13:12 - The Jewish leaders who had become false prophets joined forces with the Beast of
Rome. This Beast exercised all the authority of the first Beast, which means the second
Beast is the agent and subordinate of the first Beast. Judaism had become completely
subservient to the Roman Empire. They led all those on the land (rather than earth as it is
translated in the NIV) to worship the first beast. The Jewish leaders had led Israel in
worship of the Emperor, the first Beast, whose fatal wound had been healed (in a counterfeit
resurrection of a counterfeit son). The resurrection of the Beast is given as one of the
reasons for worship of the Beast, just as the Resurrection of the true Son of God is a reason
for worship of Him.

13:13-14 - The second Beast performed great and miraculous signs, just as Jesus had
said the false prophets would do (Matt. 24:24). The book of Acts records several instances
of Jewish false prophets working miracles (Acts 8:9-24) and working under Roman
officials (Acts 13:6-11). This is all just as Jesus had predicted (Matt. 7:22-23). The Church
needed warning about this lest they think that these apostates were exercising God’s
judgment against the Church. This Beast was clearly working, however, on the behalf of
the first Beast rather than the Lamb. This second Beast ordered the people of the land,
Israel, to set up an image in honor of the first Beast. The true act of Israel’s apostasy was
the rejection of Jesus Christ and the obedience to Caesar. This rejection of Christ was
tantamount to idolatry.

13:15-17 - The Beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first Beast, so
that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. This
is creation language. As God created man in His image and gave him the breath of life, so
God did the same when He created Israel as His people and breathed life into them. Now,
Israel was trying to re-create itself in the image of the Roman Beast rather than God. Those
who fought against them could be killed, just as Christ had been. The charge against Christ,
in fact, was that He was a rival to the authority of Caesar (John 19:12-15). The Beast forced
six categories of people to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead. Without
this mark, no one could buy or sell. Acts is full of incidents of organized Jewish religion
serving the interests of Caesar by persecuting the Church (Acts 4:1-3, 15-18; 5:17-18,
27-33, 40; 6:8-15; 7:51-60; 9:23, 29; 13:45, 50; 14:2-5; 17:5-8, 13; 18:17; 20:3; 22:22-23;
23:12, 20-21; 24:27; 26:21; 28:17-29). The mark of the Beast is the Satanic counterfeit of
the seal of God on the foreheads and hands of the righteous (Rev. 3:12; 7:2-4; 14:1; Deut.
6:6-8; Ezek. 9:4-6; Ex. 28:36). Israel has rejected Christ and is marked with the seal of
Rome’s lordship.

13:18 - It was clear to John’s readers that the sea Beast was the Roman Empire. He now
provides his readers with another form of identification, so there would be no mistake as to
who the Beast is. Six is the number of man in the Bible, while seven is the number of God,
completeness and wholeness. It was common in Greek and Hebrew to add up names to get
a number of a person or thing. Jesus’ number in Greek was 888. The complete number of
God then was 777. So, it made sense the number of the Beast, was the fullness of the
number of man, 666. 666 was also explicitly mentioned in 1 Ki. 10:14 and 2 Chron. 9:13.
That number marks the high point of Solomon’s reign and the beginning of his downfall
into idolatry. From that point on, one-by-one, he broke the three laws of godly kingship
recorded in Deut. 17:16-17. For Jews, the number 666 symbolized apostasy; the mark of a
king and a kingdom in the Dragon’s image. John says that 666 is man’s number which it
is. He says, though, that anyone who has insight will be able to calculate the number.
What took wisdom was that, although the Revelation was written in Greek, the number had
to be calculated in Hebrew. Although the Beast was the Roman Empire and its number
was the number of man, it is also true that it is the number for the Hebrew form of the
name, Nero Caesar. Caesar was not specifically the Beast, but was the human personification
of the fullness of the Beast.