Revelation 13:1-10 “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. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Beast rise up out of the sea - We have already shown that this beast is the antichrist power, the Papal Church State. We also know that it arose amongst Western Europe and therefore the sea is representative of the peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues of Western Europe. (Revelation 17:15) This is in contrast to the earth that helped the woman/church. Thus it is clear, as the papacy ruled from 538-1798, that the earth is to be recognized as that part of the world of which the papal power had no control over, it must be outside the old world. This helps to substantiate the Pilgrim Fathers flight to America as the earth helping the woman. It must also be noted that the second beast of chapter 13 also comes up out of the earth in contrast to this first beast. Here is another link to show that this second beast arose outside of the old world or outside of the papal church's reach. Seven heads and ten horns - The crowns are upon the horns thus showing that it is the horns that have the power. The horns represent the divisions of the Western Roman Empire as is seen in Daniel 7. It was through the divisions of Western Europe that the papacy ruled, through the kings and leaders of the countries and therefore the crowns upon the heads. Blasphemy - It is a blasphemous power according to verses 1, 5 and 6. In verse 1 it would represent the blasphemous titles that the head of the system takes to himself; Vicar of God, all names that are attributed to Christ he takes upon himself, God on earth etc. As we see in verse 5 he also speaks blasphemies. The Bible defines blasphemy as; when being only a man you make yourself as God. (John 10:30-33) Also claiming to be able to forgive sins when only a man. (Mark 2:5-7) The Papacy also enters into and practices these things. For verse 6 one may ask, 'how can the papacy blaspheme against the tabernacle of God, which is heaven, (Hebrews 8:1-2) and the angels?' The papacy has done so be setting up an earthly counterfeit tabernacle with counterfeited sacrifices by a counterfeit priesthood to a counterfeit god. Plus they claim that the priests are greater than the angels and that the Pope can excommunicate angels. Ligouri 'Dignity and duties of the Priest', pg. 31. Lucii Ferraris 'Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica Juridica Moralis Theologica', Vol. VI pg. 48. Like unto a leopard etc. - This casts our minds back to Daniel 7 from whence all of these beasts are found. The papacy is a composite beast, a make up of those that have gone before it. See point 6 in the fifteen specifications. One thing we must point out though is that it has the mouth of a lion. The lion represented Babylon in Daniel 7 and so when the papacy speaks it speaks as Babylon which is also one of its names. (Revelation 17:5) In looking at this a little more closely, the composite beast aspect, we can gain a greater understanding of the type of rule that the papal power would like, with history also laying open this fact. It is clear that this beast points us back to the image of Daniel 2, for it is a single image made up of a mixture of the kingdoms from Babylon the head through to Divided Rome in the feet, it is a composite image. (More information could be given on this point but space does not allow for it) So what is it that is in these kingdoms that is so vital to the establishment of Satan's empire/the Papal church? If we take the main characteristic for each of these kingdoms we discover something very remarkable about this composite empire. —Babylon was known for its idol worship, they were mad about their idols, Jeremiah 50:38. Their chief god was Bel/Marodach/Marduk who was the sun god, Jeremiah 50:2. So Babylon's main characteristic was idol worship, or more specific, sun worship. —Medo-Persia was known for its passing of decrees/laws that cannot be changed, Daniel 6, Esther, Ezra. —Greece. The Grecians were known for always seeking after wisdom, some new thing, through philosophy, 1 Corinthians 1:22; Acts 17:18, 21. Humanism, searching for truth by using human methods to support human interests, is based upon Greek philosophy. —Rome is known for its persecuting/desolating power, as iron breaks and subdues all things, Daniel 2:40. — And looking at the feet of the image in Daniel 2 we see that the strength of the iron/Rome continues through, its persecuting/desolating power of the state, with the miry clay being a symbol of an apostate church. (clay is used to symbolize God's people, His church, Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 18:1-6. Thus miry/dirty clay would symbolize a dirty church/apostate church) More information could also be given on this point but space does not allow for it. So in putting all of this together we find the following points about the reign of the Antichrist power; — There will be some form of idol/sun worship with decrees/laws that will be supported with human philosophy/wisdom, and it will be enforced by some form of persecution/death threat with all being done in the name of God, at the end of time. — So there will be an enforcement of some type of sun/day worship by political decrees/laws, and it will be reasoned out of why this is done through human philosophy/wisdom with the threat of persecution and it will be done in the name of Christianity at the end of time. Chapter 13 shows this very thing. — So, at the end of time Satan, through the antichristian papal power, wants to attack you spiritually with sun worship. — He wants to attack you politically with human laws. — And he will attack you mentally with human wisdom/the wisdom of man. — He will also attack you physically with persecution. — And then he wants to attack you in the name of God! Dragon gave - Firstly we saw that Pagan Rome was the dragon in chapter 12. But we need to remember that, even though it was Pagan Rome that gave the Papacy its power etc which we will see in a moment, primarily the dragon is Satan. (Revelation 12:9) So ultimately the power behind this beast is Satan. Seat - “When the Roman Empire became Christian, and the peace of the Church was guaranteed, the Emperor left Rome to the Pope, to be the seat of authority of the Vicar of Christ, who should reign there independent of all human authority, to the consummation of ages, to the end of time.” Papal Rights and Privileges, pgs. 13, 14. 1889. Francis P. C. Hays (who is a Roman Catholic). “The removal of the capitol of the empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330, left the Western Church practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organization. The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head.” The Rise of the Medieval Church, pg. 168. Alexander C. Flick. Ph.D. Litt.D. It is clear that Constantine gave to the papacy its seat when he moved the seat of government from Rome to Constantinople in the East, thus bequeathing her seat to the papacy. Read also did constantine change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Power and great authority - This was done through Justinian and his general Belisarius. Wounded to death - With one of its head being wounded to death it shows that the papacy has to be one of the heads. But remember that the papacy is a church/state and that the church never ceased to exist but the temporal/political power was vanquished. This took place in 1798; “In 1798 Berthier made his entrance into Rome, abolished the Papal government and established a secular one.” Encyclopedia Americana, 1941 Edition. But this wound is to be healed and she will once again be resurrected and restored to her full power again, as is seen in the latter portion of the chapter. This means that her temporal/political power must be fully restored to her as it was during her first reign. All the world wondered - To marvel or have in admiration. When the Papal power regains its supremacy the world will be amazed or will marvel at the sight of her being revived, being amazed that such a wound could be healed. Worshipped the dragon - This is a remarkable statement for it clearly shows that in worshipping the beast you are worshipping and giving homage to the dragon. Applying the interpretation would mean that in worshipping the papal power you are giving your homage and worship to Satan himself. This is exactly what he has desired from the beginning as we saw in chapter 12. The beast is just a front man for the dragon, one through whom the dragon works and operates, a visible agency. Make war with him - This is a statement after she has been restored to power and as we can see from the latter part of the chapter, showing her to be a dominating/persecuting power, how can one contend with such a power that receives a wound and lives. Continue forty and two months - As we have seen already the papal power ruled for 1260 prophetic days or 42 prophetic months. This is from 538-1798 the longest reigning power. War with the saints - As we have seen in chapter 12 the papacy has an almost endless list of persecutions against the true believers. I do not think we need to go through more of her atrocities. All that dwell upon the earth - In the end it is clear that there will only be 2 groups, those that worship the beast/papacy and those that worship Jesus Christ and have their names written in the Lamb's book of life. It is worthy to note that those that follow after the papacy and worship her do not have their names in the book of life to the loss of their salvation. (Revelation 20:15) Notice that it is the Lamb's book of life. The lamb is a reference to the manifestation of His self sacrificing love to die for our sins, putting aside Himself for the salvation of others. A life that did not use force or coercion that is in contrast to the beast. We are to manifest the same self sacrificing love that Christ did, (Ephesians 5:1-2) a love that will put aside self and devote the entire life to Christ. True brotherly love. (John 13:35) Leadeth into captivity - This is expounding upon verse 3. The papacy plunged many into the dungeon to rot; she killed, persecuted and coerced by the sword but she received that which she dealt out, “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matthew 26:52. She was taken into captivity and received a deadly wound which took away her power. Thus the time frame of this verse is when the papacy is going down into captivity in 1798. Patience and faith of the saints - Through the trying time of persecution the saints remain stedfast in the faith, they endure the suffering for a time like a good soldier. (2 Timothy 2:3)