The Beast Of Revelation

THE BEAST OF REVELATION

For the nearly 2,000 years since it was written, the book of Revelation has remained among the foremost challenges to prophetic biblical interpretation. No two people seem to view this book in quite the same way.

In the sixth century B.C., God in His revelation to the prophet Daniel, said: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.” (Dan. 4:12) St. Mark said: “For there is nothing hidden, that shall not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret but that it should come to light.” (Mark 4:22) Finally, Jesus Himself declared in John 16:25: “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs; but the time cometh when I shall no longer speak unto you in proverbs, but shall show you plainly of the Father.” These few verses are among the many which seem to indicate that through the unfolding of history and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that the heretofore hidden truths of the Bible would one day be clearly understood. Certainly our Heavenly Father has not left us with a book of “cryptic puzzles” which are never to be understood, but desires to share His long-held secrets with us, His children, and then through us, with the entire world.

It is my firm conviction that the time Jesus said would come has indeed arrived and that many believers the world over are now beginning to receive glimpses into various portions of Scripture and illuminating them like never before in history.

In the following few pages, I will attempt to share with you some of the insights that God has shared with me over several years of prayer, experience and study of His Word. For the years since those first “promptings of the Spirit”, my desire has always been to give the most concise, factual and scriptural account of what will prove to be the greatest evil ever perpetrated upon mankind in all of recorded history: The Beast of Revelation. John Robert Kenny Phoenix, Arizona August, 1986 A very important key to prophetic interpretation is to understand clearly

beforehand that the Revelation is a symbolic, visionary work which is not meant to be understood primarily in its literal context. The Bible is replete with examples of symbolic imagery; i.e., the Old Testament prophets, Jesus’ words (Matt. 13:34, John 16:25, etc.) and of course, the New Testament Revelation.

Let us begin at the first mention of the “beast” in the thirteenth chapter:

Rev. 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.”

To understand the phrase “a beast rise up out of the sea”, let us first examine what the scriptural metaphor for “sea” is. If we go to the 17th chapter of Revelation and the 15th verse we find that the “waters” described in John’s revelation are “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” The reference to the “sea” in 13:1 would infer that the “beast” will come from the rank and file or “sea” of fallen humankind. The “seven heads” are described in 17:9 as “seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth”. This “woman” is further identified as “that great city, which rules over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18). The “ten horns” are “ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet.” (Rev. 17:12) The “ten crowns upon the horns” simply describe the power and/or authority vested in these kings.

These passages, when elaborated upon and seen in their historical context, accurately describe in visionary terms the historical setting at the time of their writing. The newly-formed Christian communities in the Asia Minor area were undergoing tremendous persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire: hence the “seven mountains” spoken of here would be a reference to the famed “seven hills of Rome,” from which the entire Roman Empire was being orchestrated. Upon these “mountains” sat “the woman,” or the “great city” of Rev. 17:18, (Rome) with “ten horns and ten crowns upon her heads.” To reiterate, these “horns” describe “ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast,” (Rev. 17:12) meaning that these kings would serve the “beast” for a certain period of time. The “crowns” on the “heads” of course, as before are an indication of the authority or power inherent in these “heads” or kings themselves.

In the famed “Fox’s Book of Martyrs,” John Fox, without any reference whatsoever to the Book of Revelation describes ten distinct periods of persecution under ten Roman dictators, which could then account for these “ten horns”: Beginning in 67 A.D. under Nero, to Domitian in 81 A.D. Trajan in 108 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in 162 Severus in 192 Maximus in 235 Decius in 249 Valerian in 257 Aurelian in 274 Diocletian in 303 (1) In conclusion Fox writes: “Constantine (313 A.D.) so established the

peace of the church that for the space of 1,000 years, we read of no set persecution against the Christians, until the time of John Wycliffe.” (2)

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Continuing in the thirteenth chapter:

Rev. 13:2: “And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power and his throne, and great authority.”

“…like a leopard…” Not an actual leopard, but having the characteristics of one. In other words: ferocity, voracity, cunning, etc.; quite befitting descriptions of the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago: gobbling up territories and ruthlessly vanquishing their inhabitants as quickly as it could seize them.

“…the feet of a bear…” This suggests strength, or a strong, powerful foundation upon which to stand; something which the Romans most certainly had established at this point in history.

“…his mouth like the mouth of a lion…” Scripture refers to the devil as “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8) Again, a reiteration of the basic character of the Roman Empire of the time. Verse one states that this beast would have upon his heads “the name of blasphemy”, and in the sixth verse that he would “open his mouth in blasphemy.” As well as being quite proficient blasphemers themselves, the Romans would force their Christian victims to do likewise under penalty of death for their refusal to do so.

“…the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority…”

“The dragon” is identified in Rev. 12:9 as “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan…” indicating that the beast will gain his “power and authority” directly from Satan.

Rev. 13:3: “And I saw one of his heads as though it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast.”

In order to understand this Scripture, we need to see it in relation to Rev. 13:11-12: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon (verse 11) and he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them who dwell on it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,” (verse 12).

The “deadly wound” of verse three describes the “sack of Rome” by Alaric in 410 A.D., coupled with the raids by the Visgoths as well in the early fifth century, resulting in the downfall of the Roman Empire. That the “deadly wound was healed” obviously indicates that this “beast” would live on, or somehow be “resurrected” at a future date.

At this point I would like to take a brief step into another chapter of the Revelation in order to put a bit more foundation under the conclusion I am about to draw in explaining “the deadly wound that was healed”.

Rev. 6:4: “And there went out another horse that was red; and power was given him that sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and there was given unto him a great sword.”

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Subdividing this passage, we see that four distinct statements are being made:

(1) “And there went out another horse that was red…”

The color red, in Scripture almost always represents either the inclination to, the prescence of, or the personification of evil and/or violence. In Gen. 25:35, Esau, the first-born of Rebekah, “came out red, all over like an hairy garment.” In the 30th verse, he beseeches his younger brother Jacob to give him some of his red pottage, to the point of “despising his birthright” (verse 34). He was then called “Edom”, which literally translated means “red” (verse 30). Later Esau, (after his blessing is stolen from him by Jacob) harbors murderous resentment toward his brother for the entire twenty-one years he is away in Haran.

In Isaiah 1:18, we see sin described with the color “scarlet.” In the New Testament we find in Rev. 12:3 a reference to the “great red dragon” followed by its identification as the “devil and Satan” in verse 9. Finally, in Rev. 17:3 we find “the scarlet beast, full of the names of blasphemy,” to name but a few examples. Clearly then, the color red has always been associated with evil, God-denying forces since the beginnings of biblical history. Here in the twentieth century, the color red has also coincedentally been adopted as the symbol of international Communism.

One of Communism’s founders, V.I. Lenin, has stated that “The fight against religion must not be limited nor reduced to abstract, ideological preaching. This struggle must be linked up with the con-crete practical class movement; its aim must be to eliminate the social roots of religion.” (3)

Communism is the culmination of a long line of “earthly” systems that Satan has inspired in order to thwart the will of God on Earth, enslave God’s children and exalt himself, so that he might “ascend into heaven, and exalt his throne above the stars of God…to be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:12-14)

(2) “…And power was given unto him that sat on it to take peace from the earth…”

Consider the following quotes in conjunction with the above scripture:

“The whole history of wars for liberation shows that when these wars embrace large masses, liberation came very quickly. We say: since history marches forward in this way, we will have to abandon peace for war.”

V.I. Lenin

“We do not abandon the war theme…we must write of war so that the generations of young people which comes after us can love arms and be ready for struggles and victories.” Literaturnaya Gazeta (5) (Literary Gazette; Soviet)

And finally:

“Every Communist must grasp this truth: political power grows from the barrel of a gun.”

Mao Tse-Tung (6)

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Since the turn of the century, our world has known precious little peace. Agitating, aiding and abetting an already unstable global political climate has been none other than Communism and its parent ideology: Marxist-Leninism. War has been and still is an integral part of Communist methodology. Its purpose very briefly stated is: “the dictatorship of the proletariat,” or “worker’s rule”.

Just how do the Communists plan to acheive this end? The Soviet media organ Izvestiya quotes Karl Marx in its Dec. 5, 1928 issue with this bold proclamation:

“The Communists consider it unnecessary to conceal their views and purposes: they openly declare that their aims can be accomplished only through the overthrow by force of the whole existing social order.”

“Well, that was 1928!”, you might exclaim; but nothing at all has changed in basic Marxist ideology. In 1973, then Soviet premier Brezhnev declared: “Trust us comrades, for by 1985, as a consequence of what we are achieving by means of detente…a decisive shift in the correlation of forces will be such that by 1985, we will be able to exert our will wherever we need to.” What he pledged thirteen years ago has been clearly reflected in recent world events, especially since 1975 with the fall of Vietnam and Cambodia, to 1979 with the brazen Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Soviet/Cuban-backed takeover of Nicaragua, among others.

(3) “…And that they should kill one another…”

“There has never been a peaceful transfer of power in any Communist country. Only the most clever and ruthless men can reach the top of the party hierarchy, where they struggle amongst themselves for power. The stakes are high: absolute power, or disgrace and death. Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, and KimIl -Sung all eliminated their rivals in merciless purges. Even comrades who had served loyally from the earliest days of the revolution were sacrificed.

Of the 31 original members of the central committee that organized the Russian revolution, only four, including Lenin and Stalin, died a natural death. The remainder were accused, tortured, and executed my their own comrades. Of the 2.8 million party members in 1934, an estimated 1.6 million were purged by 1939–either shot or sent to labor camps. Only 50,000 of those lived to regain their freedom.” (7)

(4) “…And there was given unto him a great sword.”

A “sword” in Scripture normally refers to the Word of God, (Eph. 6:17, Heb. 4:12) but in this case, obviously has nothing to do with God’s Word, but everything to do with Satan’s (s)word: the “gospel” according to Marx. And a “great sword” it certainly has been. Communism has managed to ensnare over 42% of the world’s peoples and 39% of its landmass. (8) The “sword” can also be understood to mean a strong military capability, as well. Clearly, Communism is an historical phenomenon necessitating a very sober, critical analysis and a unified, determined response.

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To state what is by now a foregone conclusion; the references to “another beast” in Rev. 13:11 and the “red horse” of Rev. 6:4 are references to the atheistic, expansionistic system of worldwide Communism. The Bible says that this “other beast” exercises all the power of the first beast before him.” (Rev. 13:11) Looking back through history, there is no system that has even come close to rivaling the stark terror and brutal inhumanity manifested by the early Roman Empire, but even the most cursory, yet realistic glance at present-day Communism reveals an historical parallel to the butchery of the Roman Empire that is astonishing.

Returning now to our previous analysis of Rev. 13:

In the last part of Rev. 13:4, we read: “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

Within the Soviet Union we have witnessed without a doubt the most awesome military buildup of all human history, with the clear intent of world domination. Soviet imperialism has been responsible for the support and maintenance of violent revolution and terror throughout the entire civilized world. The following partial list documents Soviet conquests since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917: Soviet Territorial “Installed Regimes” “Liberation” Annexations Movements 1917–Russia 1946–Albania 1946–Yugoslavia 1920–Ukraine 1947–Poland 1949–Mainland Caucasus Rumania China Central Asia 1951–Tibet 1939–Estonia 1948–Czechoslovakia North Korea 1954–Vietnam 1949–E. Germany 1959–Cuba Hungary 1978–Afghanistan 1969–S. Yemen 1979–Nicaragua 1975–Cambodia Laos S. Vietnam 1977–Ethiopia Mozambique 1978–Angola

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All of the previous Scripture and historical references used thus far to describe the ancient Roman Empire can be directly applied to the current policies and practices of the present-day Soviet Union in nearly exact detail.

The “two horns” (leaders) I described earlier representing this “other beast” in 13:11 would necessarily be none other than Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin; the framers of modern-day Marxist-Leninism, or Communism. Communism is the virtual “resurrection” and re-animation of the brutality of the ancient Roman Empire; hence the “deadly wound that was healed.” The same cruelties endured by the Christians of 2,000 years ago under the Romans are being played out right before our very eyes today in the twentieth century under the Communists.

Lenin once wrote: “Terror must be perpetrated unmercifully and in the shortest time possible because people cannot endure the continued cruelty of the regime…the trials must be conducted promptly, ending in swift sentences for the greatest number (of clergy)…the confiscation of monasteries and churches should be carried out with the greatest severity, without scruples and in the shortest possible time. The more priests executed during this occasion, the better.” (9)

Historians generally agree on a conservative estimate of 150,000,000 people killed thus far under the various Communist regimes since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Some estimates go even higher. “Preposterous!,” some might say; but then again, we didn’t want to believe the stories about Hitler’s death camps either, but by the time they were liberated after World War II, it was far too late, and the awful, irreversible damage had already been done. The nineteenth century philospher Hegel once remarked that “history teaches us that man learns nothing from history.” Judging by the current Communist genocide campaigns in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Vietnam and a host of other countries, Hegel’s observations were right on target…we don’t seem to be learning anything from grave historical mistakes.

“Shifting gears” a bit…let’s try to analyze just how the world came to be divided between the forces of Communism and Democracy. Looking back through biblical history this division seems to have its origin in the first “unresolved conflict” between two of the earliest ancestors of humankind: the brothers of Cain and Abel and is now bearing its terrible fruit thousands of years later; here in the twentieth century. The following chart very briefly chroni- cles a few of the major epochs of history which have led us to the present moment of worldwide spiritual and geopolitical chaos:

Stating the conclusion: Cain’s (firstborn) historical resentment toward Abel (secondborn) still lives on within the pages of history, being passed along from generation to generation, epoch to epoch, all the way into the 20th century, manifesting itself in the “elder” and “younger-son” positions of the USSR and USA, respectively. Historical “Cain” (USSR) still desires to kill “Abel” (USA).

Note too, an interesting and important point concerning the use of the terms “right” and “left” in biblical history and even how they are used in the present to describe political affiliation:

In the Old Testament, the “right hand of the Lord” was always associated with God’s strength (Psl. 19:6), goodness (Psl. 48:10) or blessing (Gen. 48:14;20). In the New Testament, Jesus spoke of those “sheep” on his right as those who “would inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:33-34) and those on his left who would not. Solomon records in the book of Ecclesiastes that “a wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.” (Eccl. 10:2) It is interesting to note that the “democratic” or “free world” nations seem to generally espouse a basic belief in some sort of “Supreme Being” or God, while those nations considering themselves “non-democratic” or socialist/Communistic eschew any idea or notion of God or religious life; the former considered to be to the “right” of the political spectrum, the latter, to the “left.”

This concept of “left” and “right” seems to have come down from far back into history, and is something apparently (at least for the Christian) very significant to take note of when assessing the geopolitical lineup of the world today.

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Rev. 13:16-18: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.”

Many have felt this to be a literal, visible mark on the body, but again, at the risk of wild speculation, it must be emphasized that this is a symbolic vision, and in fact represents something else. Scripture tells us that “Satan is transformed into an angel of light…” (2 Cor. 11:14), and is “the most subtle beast of the field…” (Gen. 3:1). The “mark” will be just that: seemingly innocent and desirable, but just as the fruit was in the garden of Eden, it will be rotten to its core.

A “mark in the hand” symbolizes the deeds that the person will do as a subject of “the Beast,” physically implementing the dictates of his new master. This explains the heavy emphasis in Communist ideology of the “worker’ s revolution:” insisting that the economic “kingdom of heaven” can be built with the power of the “masses” without the help of God.

The “mark in the forehead” as well will not be a literal, visible “mark” of some kind. Bear in mind that God’s people will be receiving a “mark” in their foreheads, as well! (Rev. 7:2-3; 14:1) God is certainly not going to have His children running around in heaven with some sort of insignia on their foreheads. This is once again a symbolic metaphor describing what sort of “mindset” people will embrace in the last days. The use of the word “in” (the forehead) clearly tell us that “the mark” will not be external, but an internal condition of mind and heart.

“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds…” (Rom. 12:1)

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Prov. 23:7)

Verse 17: “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

In the Communist bloc countries, active resistance to the “party line” not only can disqualify a person from the privilege of buying and selling, but can easily result in prison terms of various lengths in the infamous “gulags” that dot the Russian countryside by the thousands. Conservative estimates place the number of imprisoned at approximately 6,000,000. Their “crimes” may range from “religious reactionary” to “enemy of the state” and everything in between.

Verse 18: “Here is wisdom…Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.”

This again does not represent a literal number, but a state of being. In the Bible, the number six is many times associated with sin or incompletion.

How did the number six come to be viewed in this way? Scripture says that “in Adam all die.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Because Adam failed to acheive his own maturity or perfection, no one else since him has been able to do so either. How did this condition come about? Here is one explanation…

would have then propelled them into the final stage of growth.

*10* Once there, they would have then been im- ________________________________ pervious to further temptation and there- |___9 | fore able to truly acheive God’s will to | 8 Completion | become one with Him and therefore per- |—7 | fected in character. The number 666, or |——————————–| the “number of a man,” is actually the |___6 | | | visionary metaphor for a triune (mind- | 5 | | Growth | body-soul) “man-centered” (as opposed |—4 | | | to God-centered) system comprised of the |———|—-|—————| essence of fallen human thought, and not |—3 | | Form. | merely a single entity or personage as |___2 | | has been commonly held belief. That | 1 Adam Eve | system is none other than Communism: |——————————–| exalting the human above the Divine. FIG. B In the seventeenth chapter, the sixth verse we read: “And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the

blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I wondered with great wonder.”

As we know from history, untold numbers of Christians met their deaths under the Romans, and today under the tyranny of Communism those same numbers of Christians and believers of all religious persuasions are undergoing persecutions of the vilest nature imaginable. To understand just what our brothers and sisters are enduring under Communism, a brief quote from Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, author of “Tortured for Christ” should shed a bit of light on an otherwise (basically) ignored reality:

“Christians were hung upside-down on ropes and beaten so severely that their bodies swung back and forth under the blows. Christians were put in ice-box “refrigerator cells” which were so cold that frost and ice covered the inside. I was thrown into one with very little clothing on. Prison doctors would watch through an opening until they saw symptoms of freezing to death, then they would give a warning and guards would rush in to take us out and make us warm. When we were finally warmed, we would immediately be put back in the ice-box cells to freeze–over and over again! Thawing out, then freezing to within just one minute or two of death, then being thawed out again. It continued endlessly. Even today sometimes I can’t bear to open a refrigerator.” (10)

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This is just one of thousands of accounts of unspeakable torture being endured behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains by believers of all religious persuasions. Pastor Wurmbrand testified before the Internal Security Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate in 1966 and corroborated this and many, many other stories of first-hand experiences under the butchery of Communism, and has published scores of excellent documentaries on the subject, as well.

This brief presentation has been created with the hope of provoking serious thought within the Christian community first of all, as we are the ones charged by Christ Himself to “let our light shine;” and to be “wise as serpents.” We are the ones responsible to know about and respond to this or any other system of anti-religious brutality which espouses violence or coercion against basic freedoms that are inherently given by God to all people. At the same time, our own ideas, regardless of how correct or true we may feel they are, must never be forced upon anyone either, for in doing so, we become no better than those who would do the same to us.

The temptation is of course to go on and on with documentation after documentation of Communist atrocities and other historical facts which would show irrefutably that Communism is indeed the “beast” prophesied in the book of Revelation, but many factors simply will not allow me that luxury. Perhaps enough has been said in this short paper to (as I mentioned before) provoke thought and hopefully action, as well.

In summary, I feel Pastor Wurmbrand says it best when he boldly declares:

“Sin must be called by its name. Communism is the most dangerous sin in the world today. Every Gospel which does not denounce it is not the pure Gospel. The Underground Church denounces it, risking liberty and life. The less have we to be silent in the West.” (11)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

(1) John Fox, Fox’s Book of Martyrs, Zondervan Pub. House. 1967. Chapter 2,

pgs. 5-24.

(2) Ibid. pg. 32, pp. 3

(3) V.I. Lenin, “Attitude of Worker’s Party Toward Religion” (1909),

Selected Works (International Publishers, New York, 1943), vol. XI, p.666

(4) V.I. Lenin, “War and Peace” (March 7,1918), Selected Works

(International Publishers, New York, 1943), vol. VII, p. 302.

(5) Literaturnaya Gazeta (Russian Literary Gazette), December 28, 1946.

(6) Mao Tse-Tung, “Problems of War and Strategy” (Nov. 6, 1938).

(7) Robert Conquest, “The Great Terror,” (Collier pbk., New York, 1973),

p. 173.

(8) Georgi Arbatov, The Soviet Viewpoint, New York, Dodd, Mead and Company,

1983, p. 25

(9) Samizdat, May 1984. (Russian dissident newspaper)

(10) Richard Wurmbrand, “Tortured for Christ”, (Diane Books, Glendale, Calif.,

1969), pgs. 36-37.

(11) Ibid. pg. 78 Biblical quotations taken from The New Scofield Reference Bible, (New York Oxford University Press, Inc. 1967 Edition)

John Kenny
P.O. Box 1048
Pasadena, Calif. 91102
213-222-5938