Chapter 13 Book of Revelation

Bible Verses

[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.

Commentary

V.1 In the traditional sense the beast with seven heads and ten horns is seen to be the arise of the Umayyad dynasty and its Caliphs which took control of Sunni Islam.

In current application this beast had seven heads since it was formed by the Seven Sisters (the oil companies) in the Middle East. The ten horns were the ten countries of the coalition - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates - all Islamic countries, and surprisingly in the day of democracies they were led by crowned heads - and while they often spoke and invoked the name of God, they did not adhere to God's law of loving their fellow man, which therefore makes blasphemous the Islamic invocation of, "Peace, Peace".

[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.

V.2 Both the traditional and contemporary views recognize the parallel to Daniel Chapter 7 (See the appendix to Chapter Four).

Daniel saw four great beasts come up from the sea. The beasts are representative of four powers or countries and their spheres of influence. These four powers are very different from each other and in many ways antagonistic towards one another.

The Four Powers in "the end time" as of the order in this verse are:

1. China (Leopard with four wings)
2. Russia (Bear)
3. The US and UK who act jointly and control the EU. (Lion and Eagle)
4. The Middle East (Dragon with 10 horns)
In Daniel 7:3ff, the same Four Beasts are described, although in a different order and with considerably more detail, such as that the Lion and Eagle act together and that the Leopard has four wings. All of this is in the appendix to Chapter Four.

In all, this reflects the main international players in the present day, and approximates the make-up of the UN Security Council. Particularly, Daniel points out that the Fourth Beast is different from the rest.

One particular point, and that is these Beasts must be distinguished from the Four Good Beasts as discussed in the Afterword of Chapters Four and Twelve.

[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.

V.3 Again, in the traditional view, might be seen as being right at the outset of Islam. Contemporaneously, there existed for awhile, both the Shiite and the Sunni branches, and for awhile they even merged back together when the Sunnis recognized the Shiite Imman, Ali as being the last (Righteous Caliph) but then His appointed successor Husayn was martyred, and that looked to be the end of the Shiites, but Shiism continued anyhow. Conversely, it was the following Umayyad Sunni Caliph, that was wounded and miraculously recovered. The differences in interpretation of this type is what separates the Sunnis from the Shiites.

In the modern context the head that recovered may be seen as the present predecessor of World Government. It was the US which in effect almost killed the League of nations which formed in San Francisco, but revived it to form the United Nations in New York, and caused the world and its inhabitants to worship the concept of the first Beast - the League of Nations, now a unipolar world controlled by itself.

[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?

V.4 The ancient traditional interpretation of the archetype is regarding the Great Division of Islam (between Shiites and Sunnis), which turned it into a dragon, devouring the nations and peoples of the East, extending up into Europe and down into Africa. The division occurred at its outset, and brought destruction from its outset, when the first Umayyad Caliph broke away from Ali, who had been appointed by Muhammad.

As seen in more detail in Chapter 17, today, the other three Beasts all worship (seek to have influence with) the Dragon (Islam - the Middle East - the World Oil Source). It is the oil/petro dollars which give the power to the Beast (the World Bank / IMF / World Reserve Currency) which is the UN that is controlled by the US which is its main support. None dare make war against the Beast (UN/US) because of all that monetary and military power.

[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.

V.5 From the beginning of Islam, and its division at the beginning, which was a great blasphemy, because while Islam taught that there was but One God, it divided into two opposing branches. These two branches had great power over the people for 1260 days. Forty-two months is 1260 days. That is to say 42x30=1260. Or the year 1260 on the Muslim calendar, and the year when Christ returned. This is the last verse to reference this date, and to understand it one must be sure that they understand The Most Clear Proof.

This being the last verse to reference the Most Clear Proof - the following verses sum up what happens to Islam, and to the Christians, following the year 1260 on the Muslim calendar (1844 on the Christian calendar).

[6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

V.6 Throughout the centuries that followed, great battles took place between Islam and Christianity, but neither group practiced the Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad to love one another and to even love their enemies.

They both spoke of loving God but they showed hatred towards their fellow man, which was a great blasphemy.

In the current time not only is this hatred expressed world wide, by all sorts of terrible machines and devices of war, but the people of the world have immersed themselves into materialistic and immoral pursuits rather than seeking the spiritual virtues towards which God has directed them.

[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.

V.7 The Beast (the UN) was given the power to make war. None other were supposed to have that power. Its power was to be over all people, languages and nations. What we have treated as two threads - ancient and modern - has now really merged and we see that the power of the Dragon, Satan, the Devil, spread over all the world in that all peoples and nations of the earth turned more and more unto materiality, immorality, greed, and intolerance of one another. This turning away from the laws of God has been increasing from day unto day until it will reach its destructive climax.

[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.

V.8 The turning away from God is universal. The evil is so immense that the eyes of most men are veiled from perceiving it, and that is good because it is such darkness that it destroys the very soul except those who are protected by the light of God.

Naught shall avail you in this Day but God, nor is there any refuge to flee to save Him, the Omniscient, the All-Wise. Whoso hath known Me hath known the Goal of all desire, and whoso hath turned unto Me hath turned unto the Object of all adoration. Thus hath it been set forth in the Book, and thus hath it been decreed by God, the Lord of all worlds.s

Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas: Verse 138

[9] If any man have an ear, let him hear.

V.9 This verse says: "If any man have an ear, let him hear." The importance of the Message, to mankind, is found in the following verse.

Therefore we must thank God that He has created for us both material blessings and spiritual bestowals. He has given us material gifts and spiritual graces, outer sight to view the lights of the sun and inner vision by which we may perceive the glory of God. He has designed the outer ear to enjoy the melodies of sound and the inner hearing wherewith we may hear the voice of our creator.

'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 267

[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.

V.10 After having been given this verse, by God, the Lord of all worlds, all countries should take note before they decide to invade another country.

[11] And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

V.11 Unless the future holds something different this is a continuation of the beast that we have been talking about. The two horns represent the two stages of the beast at different times. The first stage being that of the League of Nations which was wounded almost unto death but then recovered to become the United Nations (controlled by the US) that has spoken like a dragon unto the world - guiding it into wars and oppressing the nations with its monetary/financial system.

[12] And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.s

V.12 The US which in effect almost killed the League of nations which formed in San Francisco, revived it to form the United Nations in New York, and caused the world and its inhabitants to worship the concept of the first Beast - the League of Nations, now a unipolar world controlled by itself.

[13] And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

V.13 The power of this Beast was astonishing to the world. It would have been even more astonishing to the ancient prophets, used to warfare of only swords and arrows, to see in their visions a power that could rain down fire anywhere upon the earth.

[14] And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

V.14 The world government that had been the concept of what appeared to be the fatally wounded League of Nations, but which now lived in the second horn of the United Nations, was now spread to the world by the means of miracles/technology such as had never existed before. The Beast was able to communicate by TV, satellite, and Internet that its image should be imposed upon the world.

[15] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

V.15 The Beast now had the power to present its image as living persons into homes and hearts of all humanity. It could reach them anywhere and at anytime through TV, Satellite, Internet and many other forms to present its propaganda in a manner totally inconceivable to people at the time that the prophets wrote. And by means of this propaganda it created conflicts in which there were killed millions who did not submit to it.

[16] 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:

V.16 The power of the Beast, the US/UN was used to create a world finanical/monetary system based upon the world reserve currency of the US/Petrodollars from the Middle East, which all had to use and obtain either through their labor (hands) or some intellectual effort.

Everyone gets the mark, whatever it is, so one need not worry about not getting it - or trying to avoid it.

[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.

V.17 This is an apt description of modern currency. You can have cash in hand, or a credit card that you can name, or an ATM or bank number. Those are your three choices. If you don't have one or the other - you are really out of luck. Try living today by means of barter or some other way. Won't work.

In order to buy or sell, everyone has to have the mark (like the German Mark or the US Dollar). One could either have the mark itself or its name. "Will that be cash or credit card?" Or the number of his name, "Insert your ATM card here."

[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.

V.18 For years, people have pondered this verse trying to figure out who this person could be. The concept of name is very often a cloud to people trying to understand these verses. Literal letters and sounds are not what is important because these change in language from culture to culture and from age to age. What is important are "qualities" as designated by names.

Here is a first approach applying this archetype to the Islamic Faith. In the year 666 Mu'aviyyih, the first Caliph to take over the lead of the Islamic Faith after the passing of Muhammad, ordered the sacking of Medina - the City of the Prophet and the burial place of Muhammad. Mu'aviyyih tried to make Damascus the center of the Islamic Faith, but the people would not let this happen. It is the significance of that date

And here is another approach:
Since Herod died in 4 B.C. when Christ was born (and given that there is no year zero in the Christian calendar - this would add five years to the calendar) then Mu'aviyyih who rose to power in 661 A.H., (with five years added to the date) that would have actually been year 666 A.H.

Whichever, and whatever, in the Afterword to this chapter Thirteen, and from an appendix linked from there, there are discussed further concepts about 666.