Thank you for the kind words. I have kyredneck on ignore, but I got curious and peeked. Contrary to his opinion, I do hope to learn on this thread. I hope to specifically learn why Covenanter keeps saying that literal interpretation is oxymoronic. I also hope to learn more about how people interpret allegorically, since I am preparing to teach eschatology. This thread is a help for those purposes.
Well, I will put my head on the chopping-block and give you part of a Bible Study I lead some years ago on Revelation 13. I wrote up my notes and put them on the Marprelate Blog. You can tell me whether it is literal, spiritual or allegorical:
In Rev. 12, we saw Satan being defeated and cast down to earth. We saw that he is filled with hatred and malevolence against the people of God and at the end of the chapter we read that he,
‘Went off to make war with the rest of [the woman’s] offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ (12:17). In Chapter 13, we shall discover how Satan carries on that war.
v.1.
‘Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rise out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.’
John stands on the seashore, the border between the land and the sea and he sees two amazing creatures, literally
thuria, ‘wild beasts.’ The first beast has a close resemblance to the dragon (12:3), having the same number of heads and horns. It is interesting to conjecture why the dragon (Satan) wears his crowns on his heads, while the beast wears them on his horns. It seems that the Spirit is saying that Satan’s power comes from his great intelligence and cunning, whilst the beast’s power comes from brute force. We shall see (v.2) that Satan is the mind behind the beasts and they operate at his behest to aid him in his quest to destroy God’s people.
Two details will enable us to identify this beast. Firstly, it rises out of the sea. I certainly do not expect to see such a creature appearing off Exmouth sea-front! The sea represents the mass of unsaved humanity.
‘But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt’ (Isaiah 57:20. cf. Jude 13). John himself likens the sea to humanity in 17:15. Secondly, the creature
‘Was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion’ (v.2). The reference here is to Daniel 7:3ff, where Daniel sees a vision of four beasts; one like a lion, one like a bear, one like a leopard and one which was ‘dreadful and terrible.’ These animals are readily identified as representing the four ancient empires of Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome. By combining the creatures into one composite beast, John pictures for us all the world powers down the ages that are hostile to Christ. The bear symbolizes strength, the leopard speed, and the lion, savagery. Such are the forces that oppose the people of God. Satan has invested these nations with all his false authority and with great power. This beast therefore represents secular world power as it stands opposed to God.
v.3a.
‘And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed.’
Obviously this is in some sense Satan’s parody of Christ who was slain and yet is alive for ever more (cf. 1:18). I think there is more to it than that however. Early Christians would undoubtedly have associated this beast with the Roman Empire, and, as they faced persecution from the authorities, it would not be surprising if they were thinking of Daniel 2:44 and asking, “If the kingdom of God has come, why hasn’t the Roman Empire been broken into pieces, why hasn’t it received a mortal wound?”
The message here in Rev. 13 is that Satan’s kingdom has indeed received a mortal wound. In Chapter 12 we saw that he was ‘cast down’ and that he knew that his time was short. When Christ came, the whole kingdom of the devil received its death-wound. Consider Matt. 12:28-29.
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he firsts binds the strong man? Then He will plunder His house.” Satan has been defeated and is bound, and The Lord Jesus Christ is busy plundering his goods by bringing men and women out of his clutches into the kingdom {2}. Yet as we are looking at the power of the beast from an earthly perspective it seems that his power is as great and as malignant as ever. The Roman Empire finally fell in the Fifth Century, but other manifestations of the beast have arisen down the ages, and unless the Lord comes soon no doubt others will arise; but this does not change the fact that the beast has received a mortal wound and that his time is short.
‘And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly’ (Rom. 16:20).
vs.3b-4.
‘And all the world wondered after the beast. So they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and the worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war against him?”’
Because these powers and governments seem so powerful and indestructible, people put their faith in them rather than in God, and when they do that they are worshipping Satan whether they realise it or not.
‘Who is like the beast?’ They ask in unconscious parody of Exod. 15:11, and of course these governments claim power that belongs only to God. The present British Prime Minister makes a show of going to church, and political parties will sometimes make a show of courting the Christian vote, but in legislating for same-sex ‘marriage,’ the government is showing itself to be anti-Christ in that it is claiming to be wiser than God. It forgets that
‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people’ (Prov. 13:34).
v.5.
‘And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.’
So the beast is allowed to continue for 42 months which, as we saw when we looked at Chapter 11, is identical to 1260 days (11:2) and
‘Time, times and half a time’ (12:14), and represents the entire Gospel age, from the first coming of Christ until His second. All through this time, says John, governments will be boasting of their powers and abilities and claiming prerogatives that belong to God (cf. Daniel 7:8, 11, 20). Yet God has put a limit upon their authority and that of Satan, and in His good time will bring both to an end (cf. Isaiah 37:23-29). God rules, even in the midst of His enemies.
It is noteworthy that the 42 months that are allotted to the beast are the same time that the Two Witnesses are preaching and witnessing in 11:3, and the beast is unable to prevent them. This is what we see in places like China, India and Iran; the Church is growing in spite of all that governments can do. The beast’s kingdom continues in parallel, if you will, with God’s kingdom.
[continued]
