Revelation 13 The Beast, His Image, His Mark, And His Name

Sea Beast 

John sees a huge beast rising out of the sea and, boy, is this sucker ugly! It has seven heads and ten horns with a crown on each one. It looks kind of like a leopard, but has feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion. It also loves to say terrible and blasphemous things about God. So, it's all-around awful. The Dragon gives the Sea Beast its power and, naturally, everyone on Earth is totally amazed by it. They all worship the Sea Beast and the Dragon and don't think there's anyone in the world who can beat them. (Spoiler alert: there is.) John tells us that the Sea Beast loves to attack Christians and make them into martyrs. Not a good idea, Sea Beast 

He knows that the Sea Beast can be seductive at times, but John reminds Christians they'd be better off dead than worshipping the Sea Beast. This Beast probably symbolizes the Roman Emperors, some of whom liked to persecute Christians, and all of whom promoted Roman religion instead of Christianity. 

Even More Beastly 

Next, another beast comes out of the Earth. This one has two horns like the Lamb, but sounds an awful lot like the Dragon. The Earth Beast is kind of like the right-hand creature of the Sea Beast—it makes everyone worship the Sea Beast. It tries to get you to turn your back on God. Maybe it even wants you to use some of those coins with the emperor's face on him. You know, the ones that say the emperor is actually a god in human form. But don't do it. John gives us one final bit of info about this Beast—you can find out its true identity by knowing its number—666. Actually, this Beast probably represents the priests of Roman religion who supported the Emperors and increased the pressure on Christians to take part in the official religion of the Empire. 

At the expiration of the twelve hundred and sixty years the scene changes. The prophecy of the witnesses in their sackcloth state, hidden away from sight in the wilderness, ends, and they are now brought out into public view--but only to be killed. Their slaughter takes place at the hands of the beast. When we come to consider chapter XIII, we see that the Papacy is described as a beast reigning for forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty years, after which time another beast possessing great power and authority appears on the scene. This second beast is Protestantism, and through it the murder of the two witnesses at the close of the Papal supremacy in the vision before us was effected. It is further said 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." To "buy or sell" is to engage in the ordinary pursuits of life and have intercourse with human society. Applying this as a symbol to the analogous department of the church, we have the fact set forth that those without the special mark have no more recognized standing in the so-called churches than men that are not allowed to buy or sell have in a community.