The nature of the beast
The devil with all his minions takes up quite a bit of space in the book of Revelation, and I also spend quite a few articles on the subject. Why is this? Shouldn’t we spend more time and effort describing God? Well, there is a reason.
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The character of the devil
The devil is described as aggressive, which is hard to deal with as a believer, but you know what you are dealing with. But he is also a deceiver and that is even more dangerous because you may be tired of all the fighting and think there is an easy way out. But the result is that you become loyal to the devil without even fully understanding it. That is why the book describes God and Satan so that you can see the differences and the similarities.
The description of the devil
The devil appears always in the form of a trinity, since God is three.
The first time this is after the enthronement of Christ (he is worthy to open the scroll) as four horsemen (the fourth is a summary of the other three). His action is described in very briefly (8 verses) and is in contrast to the two chapters of the eternal worship of God.
The first horseman appears as the great victor, but only 7 verses later he leaves a place of total destruction: The devil cannot fulfill his promises.
The second time he appears is when Jesus declared victorious again, born of the woman. Satan is shown as the ultimate loser.
- He tries to destroy the child – and fails.
- He fights against Michael – and is cast out of heaven.
- He tries to destroy the woman – and fails.
- He tries to destroy the descendants of Jesus, the Church, and also fails as we see in .
The devil is shown again as a trinity in the sixth bowl. which is judged in chapters 19 and 20. These passages frame the story of the harlot, where we also have one beast and the harlot.
These three views are interrelated in describing the devil’s activity.
The false trinity
To better understand how the devil is described, we need to look at the second story of the dragon and the two beasts.
He sets to deceive the church, but .
The but they acted differently. The first beast used violence, while the second used signs and miracles and economic pressure, see also in the historical context.
Now, if we look now at the three horseman, we see the same pattern:
- First comes the deceiver,
- followed by the one who uses violence (brings war),
- followed by the one who brings economic injustice.
The fourth is a summary of all of them, see we have another trinity situation there.
Finally, we look at the story of the harlot. Despite the many players in chapter 17, it is hard to see a trinity there. But you will make two observations:
There is a strong parallel between the beast in chapter 17 and the first beast in chapter 13.
| The first beast of Revelation 13 | The beast on Revelation 17 |
|---|---|
| Has 7 heads and 10 horns | Has 7 heads and 10 horns |
| Head as if slaughtered, grows back | 5 kings fallen, the seventh yet to come |
| Who can fight against the beast | Beast makes war on King of Kings |
| Speech of blasphemy | Blasphemous name |
| Fight against saints and defeat them | Fights against Lamb and is overcomeFight against Harlot and destroys it. |
| All who are not written in the book of life worship the beast | All who are not written in the book of life are overwhelmed |
But there is also a strong connection between the Second Beast in chapter 13 and the Harlot
The Harlot and the Second Beast
| The Second Beast of Revelation 13 | The Harlot |
|---|---|
| Comes from Earth | Sits in desert |
| Has two horns like a lamb | Is dressed like the bride of the lamb |
| Acts in power of the (first) beast | Sits on the (first) beast |
| Can make fire fall from the sky | Will be directed by fire (Offb.18/9) |
| All who do not worship it will be killed | Drink blood of the saints |
| Make a sign on forehead and hand | Has sign on forehead: Babel |
| Cannot buy or sell without characters | Cannot buy or sell without sign (Offb.18/11-17) |
| Requires wisdom | Requires wisdom |
The power of the harlot is also reversed here into: while in chapter 13 she dropped fire from heaven, now she is destroyed by fire; while she makes a mark on her forehead, here she herself is branded on the forehead (like a slave).
So where is the third part? Well he stays in the background as in chapter 13 and does nothing as in the description of the horsemen. But you will see him it the sixth bowl and in chapter 20.
This was also the case in the historical context: You see the two beasts but you do not see the devil directly.
The development of the picture
Looking at the development of the image, we see Satan in the first horsemen. This scene comes right after Jesus is identified as the one worthy to open the scroll that brings salvation to the world. Satan is exposed right after that. For this is what he claims in the first horsemen.
He is the one who is victorious, but he ends up in destruction and death everywhere. He was exposed for bringing the opposite of what Jesus brings. But what is that?
This is the theme that is developed in the story of the dragon and the two beasts. There . But he clearly shows the alternative: The two witnesses who live a lifestyle of worship and are faithful in their testimony even unto death.
This is finally unfolded in the last view, where Babel is described in detail as the counterpart of the New Jerusalem.