September 19: AN ALLY FOR THE DRAGON

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Revelation 13:1

Here begins the description of the dragon’s first end-time ally. John communicates imagery that takes us back to Daniel’s prophetic dream in Daniel 7. Here we see (vv.7,23) that a beast is symbolic for a king or a kingdom. This beast arises out of the heavily populated part of the world that is the setting of the Bible lands. It is the fourth entity to come into power out of the Great Sea (see 7:2). The densely populous nations and tribes around the Mediterranean Sea were symbolized by many waters (Psalm 29:3; 65:7; 93:4; Isaiah 17:12-13; Revelation 17:15). Some early manuscripts of our opening verse indicate that John sees the dragon on the shore, watching as the beast initially forms. As he watches, the dragon grooms and summons his first ally, ready to invest his own power and usurped authority into it. Old Testament imagery is used, portraying a sea monster that antagonizes the people of God.  

The seven heads are symbolically associated with the topography of the area where Rome is situated (see Revelation 17:9). Rome has long been dubbed “the city of seven hills.” This imagery carries forward to the period when, after the pagan Roman Empire imploded and divided into ten monarchies—symbolized by the ten horns and ten crowns—its bishop employed military (civil) power to completely destroy three of these, ostensibly because they supported “heretical” religious beliefs. This cannot be proven because their writings and libraries were also totally destroyed. Many historians believe they were targeted because of their objection to pagan idols being brought into the church and ‘recycled’ with new names (for example, a statue of Jupiter was renamed “Saint Peter”). The demise of the third of these three tribes was complete in 538AD, at which time the papacy gained official recognition as head of religious affairs.

Looking back again to Daniel’s dream, we find another facet in the symbolism of seven heads. Babylon was symbolized by the winged lion, Medo-Persia by the bear, and Greece by the four-headed leopard. Rome was the dreadful and terrible fourth beast (John could not think of an animal scary enough to adequately describe Rome). If we add up the heads mentioned here, there are a total of seven. Considering the philosophies that trickled down, Rome is described as a composite of the previous mindsets: Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greek philosophies that included mythology. History shows that, with each dominant empire, the policies became more brutal and less refined.

This beast rising up out of the sea has a very close identification with the fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads (12:3). This close association between the dragon and the first ally is a loveless and self-serving counterfeit of the loving and selfless relationship between our heavenly Father and His Son. Note this distinction however: while the dragon has seven crowns on his seven heads, the sea beast has ten crowns on his ten horns. The double sevens claimed by the dragon represent total power and authority, albeit counterfeit, for his position as ruler of this world (John 14:30) was seized by trickery and deception, lies and murder. The sea beast is propped up by the dragon to occupy the place of Christ in the hearts of the people. These two allies think in alignment with each other, hence the seven heads of both. In essence, the sea beast allows the dragon to do his thinking for him. Each head of the sea beast bears a blasphemous name down through the centuries, paralleling the covetousness of the dragon who wants to be in the place of the Most High (see Isaiah 14:13-14).

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. Revelation 19:11-12