Chapter 13

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.

rise up

Daniel's fourth beast, (See Scofield "Daniel 7:26") , The "ten horns" are explained in Daniel 7:24 ; Revelation 17:12 to be ten kings, and the whole vision is of the last form of Gentile world-power, a confederated ten-kingdom empire covering the sphere of authority of ancient Rome. Revelation 13:1-3 refers to the ten-kingdom empire; vs. Revelation 13:4-10 to the emperor, who is emphatically "the Beast."

(See Scofield "Revelation 19:20") .

13:2  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.

like unto a leopard

The three animals, leopard, bear, and lion, are found in Daniel 7:4-6 as symbols of the empires which preceded Rome, and whose characteristics all entered into the qualities of the Roman empire: Macedonian swiftness of conquest, Persian tenacity of purpose, Babylonish voracity.

13:3  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.

wounded to death

Fragments of the ancient Roman empire have never ceased to exist as separate kingdoms. It was the imperial form of government which ceased; the one head wounded to death. What we have prophetically in Revelation 13:3 is the restoration of the imperial form as such, though over a federated empire of ten kingdoms; the "head" is "healed," i.e. restored; there is an emperor again--the Beast.

world

ge = earth. John 7:7, (See Scofield "Revelation 13:8") .

13:8  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.

world

Kosmos, Summary: In the sense of the present world-system, the ethically bad sense of the word, refers to the "order," "arrangement," under which Satan has organized the world of unbelieving mankind upon his cosmic principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and pleasure. Matthew 4:8 Matthew 4:9 ; John 12:31 ; 14:30 ; 18:36 ; Ephesians 2:2 ; 6:12 ; 1 John 2:15-17 . This world- system is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but, seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by Satanic principles.

13:16  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:

he causeth

Antichrist the person is to be distinguished from the "many antichrists" 1 John 2:18 and the "spirit of antichrist" 1 John 4:3 which characterizes all. The supreme mark of all is the denial of the Christian truth of the incarnation of the Logos, the eternal Son in Jesus as the Christ John 1:1 John 1:14 .

(See Scofield "Matthew 1:16") .

The "many antichrists" precede and prepare the way for the Antichrist, who is "the Beast out of the earth" of Revelation 13:11-17 and the "false prophet" of ; Revelation 16:13 ; 19:20 ; 20:10 . He is the last ecclesiastical head, as the Beast of Revelation 13:1-8 is the last civil head. For purposes of persecution he is permitted to exercise the autocratic power of the emperor- Beast.

(See Scofield "Revelation 19:20") .