<p>13:1 <em>And I stood upon the sand of the sea</em>- A position associated with the seed of Abraham in their land. This is the perspective from which we must view the beasts. The sea shore is on the earth / land promised to Abraham. John is viewing things from the very edge of that territory.</p><p><em>And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea</em>- If the earth is the land promised to Abraham, from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt, then this beast arises from the sea of nations and peoples immediately surrounding it. Iran comes to mind, as does Egypt and Libya, all home to jihadist Islamists with a sworn hatred of Israel. Turkey is also in view, and we can expect her to become more deeply anti-Israel.&nbsp;</p><p>There is a clear parallel between the four winds which strove with each other upon the sea, and the four beasts who came up out of the sea. The impression is that these beasts all exist at the same time, and their conflict with each other leads to the final appearance of a beast which represents all of them; and this entity dominates the earth / land promised to Abraham, and God&rsquo;s people upon it. The appearance of this entity will therefore be brought about by massive conflict within the land promised to Abraham- and this is what we are seeing before our eyes. The only uniting issue between the powers in that area is a common hatred of Israel and desire to take Jerusalem. This will be the basis of the final beast arising. We can perhaps look to the development of four distinct power groups within the land promised to Abraham, giving rise to ten &lsquo;kings&rsquo; or leaders, the horns of the beast, the ten toes of the image. The period of conflict between those groups could be very brief. We need not, therefore, think that the Lord&rsquo;s coming isn&rsquo;t near because we can&rsquo;t currently identify those four entities or ten leaders. What we are seeing before our eyes is the winds blowing on the sea, striving between the peoples of the land / earth promised to Abraham, leaving millions dead and the entire region in bitter division. And this, according to Daniel 7, will give rise to the emergence of the final entity of abuse, perhaps on the pattern of the entity known as the Islamic State.</p><p>We should therefore be looking for a group of four kings / kingdoms, out of which arise ten kings / kingdoms; and out of them arises one &ldquo;little horn&rdquo; in particular. Revelation&rsquo;s take on the beasts adds more detail- there are also seven heads, a false prophet acting as publicity agent for the beast, a whore riding the beast, sitting on seven hills / kings. The four beasts / kings are initially in conflict, striving with each other upon the sea, and arising from that comes the fourth beast entity, the composite beast including elements of all the previous ones. And from that there arises the ten horns and one little horn. We should not, however, think of these situations as having to be chronological developments, i.e. first the four, then the fourth beast, then the ten horns, then the little horn. It may work out like that, but not necessarily. The precise details need not concern us ahead of time; the picture is of a series of leaders and powers involved in the domination of the land promised to Abraham. The fact is, the beasts will all exist together in the last days, just as the metals of the image will. These various entities will &ldquo;arise&rdquo; from the land. And this is what we see happening already- in the last few years there has been what is called the Arabic, and particularly Sunni, <em>sahwa</em>, &lsquo;awakening&rsquo;. Powers and kings have risen up out of the scrubland and desert of the <em>eretz</em>, united in their hatred of Israel, but bitterly divided against each other.</p><p>We are for sure in the stage of the winds / <em>ruach </em>/ Angel controlled nations &lsquo;striving&rsquo; with each other- the <em>eretz</em> is full of conflict as never before, not just between Israel and her neighbours, but between those neighbours. There are currently four non-Jewish nations within the <em>eretz</em>- Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. But they exist just on paper as lines on the map; there are other significant entities within the area, e.g. Kurdistan, the Islamic State, Gaza, parts of Egypt and Turkey depending how one defines the northern border of Israel, parts of Saudi Arabia depending how the eastern border is defined. In total they make ten kingdoms, but the number ten may not be literal. We would then be awaiting for the &ldquo;little horn&rdquo; to arise- a charismatic, antiChrist leader, or perhaps another very small entity. For the horn is called the <em>little</em> horn, and yet it is the most powerful in the very last days. However, the Hebrew and Aramaic words translated &ldquo;little&rdquo; can mean &lsquo;short&rsquo; in terms of time as well as size. The idea may be that it lasts a very short time indeed, maybe literally days or hours in the very last day, and is the human representative of the beast / horns who personally challenges the Lord Jesus and is destroyed by the brightness of His coming.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The empires of Daniel 2 dominate the earth. The Hebrew <em>eretz</em> can refer either to the entire planet, or to the land- the land promised to Abraham, the land of Israel, from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt. The dominion of the four beasts is therefore over the same area. Daniel saw the beasts arising out of the great sea. This could be a reference to the laver, which is also called a 'sea' (1 Kings 7:23-26,39). This was a huge circular bowl for washing which was set upon 12 bronze oxen, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. They were arranged in four groups of three, facing north, south, east and west, in imitation of the camp of Israel in the wilderness. The beasts therefore arise out of the territory promised to the twelve tribes of Israel.</p><p>Rev. 17:15 interprets waters or seas as &quot;peoples&quot;. The beasts therefore arise out of the peoples who are to be found in the land of the 12 tribes of Israel. The interpretation is confirmed by the words of the Angel in Dan. 7:17, who says that the four beasts who arise out of the sea are four kingdoms which &quot;shall arise out of the earth / land&quot;.</p><p>Another possibility regarding the &quot;great sea&quot; is that it refers to the area of Babylon's dominion. The vision of Daniel 7 clearly parallels that of Daniel 2, which was intended to explain what would happen after the Babylonians. The arena of the &quot;great sea&quot; was to be dominated by other kingdoms apart from Babylon. In confirmation of this, we find the word <em>rab</em> &quot;great&quot; used about the greatness of Babylon (&quot;great Babylon&quot;, Dan. 4:30; Joel 2:2,11). But <em>rab</em> is also translated &quot;master&quot; (Dan. 1:3), &quot;lord&quot;, &quot;captain&quot;, &quot;chief&quot; (Dan. 2:10,14,48), &quot;master&quot; (Dan. 4:19; 5:11). We could understand the &quot;great sea&quot; as the sea of nations ruled over by the master, the lord of the sea, the king of Babylon- and Daniel is seeing this vision in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon (Dan. 7:1). As in the Daniel 2 vision, Daniel is explaining that the leadership of Babylon will not last, other kingdoms will arise to also dominate the sea of nations which was then under Babylon's sole control. This again pushes us towards understanding the entire vision as specifically concerning the area over which Babylon had dominion, and not the whole planet.</p><p><em>Having ten horns and seven heads; and on his horns ten diadems</em>- The beasts of Revelation are built upon the beasts of Daniel. In the latter day application, the various beasts are perhaps pictures of various aspects of the final beast. The beast of Rev. 13:2 was &quot;like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion&quot;. Here we see the elements of the various beasts of Dan. 7 and therefore the metals of the image of Dan. 2 all incorporated into this latter day beast. It is the equivalent of the image standing complete in the last days. It has &quot;seven heads and ten horns&quot; (Rev. 13:1)- which is the total number of heads and horns of the four beasts of Dan. 7. In harmony with this, Hos. 13:7 describes Israel&rsquo;s latter day invader as a lion, bear, leopard and wild beast. All elements of the beasts are brought together in the final latter day invasion. The singular beast of Rev. 13:1 arose out of the sea, but the beasts of Daniel 7 all also arise out of the sea; it&rsquo;s as if all those beasts are epitomized in the one beast, just as the image of Daniel 2 stands complete at the time of Christ&rsquo;s return, incorporating all the metals / empires of history. All this is explained further in commentary on <a href=http://www.n-e-v.info/cm/dan2com.html>Daniel 2</a>, <a href=http://www.n-e-v.info/cm/dan8com.html>Daniel 8 </a>and <a href=http://www.n-e-v.info/cm/dan9com.html>Daniel 9</a>.</p><p>The metals of the image of Daniel 2 and the beasts of Daniel 7 all have dominion over &ldquo;the earth&rdquo;, and this has reference is to the earth / land of Israel. This, I suggest, continues to be the focus in the visions of Revelation. When we read of various judgments being poured out upon the &ldquo;earth&rdquo;, we are reading about the situation in the land promised to Abraham. The references to &lsquo;thirds&rsquo; of the earth / land being judged is clearly alluding to the Old Testament prophetic descriptions of &lsquo;thirds&rsquo; of Israel or the population of Jerusalem being judged, especially in Ezekiel and Zechariah. Indeed Rev. 1:7 opens the prophecy by making the connection between Israel and the &ldquo;earth&rdquo;: &ldquo;Those who pierced crucified Him and all the tribes of the earth land shall wail because of Him&rdquo;. This is quoting from Zechariah&rsquo;s prophecy of how all the tribes <em>of Israel</em> will weep in repentance because of their crucifixion of their Messiah.</p><p>The four beasts of Daniel 7 are replaced in Revelation by one composite beast, although it is presented from different aspects. This, I suggest, is because the beast of Revelation specifically is the latter day beast, which incorporates all the previous beasts. </p><p>Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, said that Muslims should unite to capture Rome in order to &quot;own the world&quot;. The significance of this is that the ten horn entity, the latter day radical Islamist entity, is seeking to incorporate an element of the previous metals / beast systems, i.e. Rome. This is what we would expect if the image is to stand erect in the last days.&nbsp; Source: McElory, Damien. <a href=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10939235/Rome-will-be-conquered-next-says-leader-of-Islamic-State.html>&quot;Rome will be conquered next, says leader of 'Islamic State'&quot;</a>. <em>The Telegraph</em>. Retrieved 3 July 2014.</p><p>The beasts of Daniel represented empires, but this beastly empire in Revelation is a composite Leopard-Bear-Lion (13:2). It isn't just one of Daniel's three empires. It's all three empires rolled into one. In other words, this new empire is composed of the descendants of those earlier empires, in the same geographic location. Looking back at the history of the Middle East, we can now identify this new empire as the various powers that have controlled the Holy Land whilst the Jews were established within it.</p><p>It&rsquo;s surely significant that Daniel 7 is comprised of seven visions- each introduced by the statement that Daniel &lsquo;beheld&rsquo;. This matches with the series of seven visions we find in Revelation. I would say that Revelation is therefore a development and expansion of the ideas presented in Daniel; the basic picture presented in Daniel will come true, but the outworking of it is developed somewhat in Revelation.</p><p>The four beasts of Daniel 7 clearly are to be connected with the four separate beasts which we encounter in the book of Revelation- the dragon of chapters 12 and 20, the sea beast of 13:1, the earth beast of 13:11 and the beast ridden by the whore in chapter 17. Note how the four 'evil' beasts of Revelation are a conscious contrast with &quot;the four living creatures&quot; of God's heavenly throne room (Rev. 19:4 cp. Ez. 1:5,15). Perhaps the contrast is also to demonstrate how as in Daniel, the nations on earth have their representative, controlling Angels in the court of Heaven.</p><p>Each of the beasts has some similarities with the other beasts. Three of them &lsquo;arise&rsquo;; they all have horns; three of them have the same number of horns and heads; they all persecute God&rsquo;s people, etc. They all exist at the same time- they do not arise in chronological sequence. They are a different take on the four beasts of Daniel 7, but they have only outline similarities. The sequence of beasts / empires in Daniel 7 was a potential prophetic program, which never came to complete fulfilment. But the essence of the prophecy is repeated in Revelation, and will come true in the last days. It could be that we should not unduly sweat to understand the precise details of the beasts in Daniel 7, because this was part of a prophetic program which did not come about- I have written elsewhere about Conditional prophecy in Daniel. But the essence of the prophecy will come true in the last days, and we find it fleshed out in Revelation.</p><p>We read of &quot;the beast&quot; without any specification as to which beast is in view (Rev. 19:19,20; 20:4,10). This is surely because the various beasts are only manifestations of the one beast, just as the four beasts of Daniel 7 are comprehended in the fourth beast. The beasts are in a sense separate- thus the beast is put into the lake of fire before the dragon is (Rev. 20:10). But in another sense, these entities are all expressing the same reality and principles. Different aspects of the dominating entity may be destroyed at different times in different ways- hence the usage of the imagery of more than one beast.</p><p>As noted on 12:3, &quot;seven heads and ten horns&quot; refers to how groups of seven and ten nations and kings surrounding Israel are associated with previous dominations of Israel (7= Dt. 7:1; Josh. 3:10; Acts 13:19; 10 = Gen. 15:18; Ps. 83; the ten surrounding nations starting with Egypt and ending with Babylon of Jer. 46-50; the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the beast of Daniel 7; the ten invading nations of Ez. 38 headed by Gog).&nbsp; suggestion is that the seven heads and ten horns on the dragon and beast refer to a quick succession or co-existence of various peoples, leaders or entities originating from or around the land promised to Abraham, which will persecute God's people in the last days. They will all form part of the coalition of evil known as the beast or dragon, and radical Islam will be their religion.</p><p>The ten horns represent ten kings- the reference may be to individual leaders rather than to nations (Dan. 7:24). They arise out of the head of the beast, maybe implying they share the same overall ideology or thinking. That ideology would be that of hatred of Israel and a common desire to destroy her- which rather suggests Islam. That is the only appropriate ideology within the earth / land promised to Abraham which could be the candidate for the fulfilment of this prophetic requirement.</p><p><strong>The One Beast</strong></p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=5%>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>Daniel 7</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>2 Thess. 2</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Rev. 13</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Rev. 17</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Rev. 19</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>1.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p><em>Called:</em></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>The beast</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>The beast</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>The beast</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>The beast</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p><em>Also   called:</em></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>The little   horn</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>The man of sin</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>The eighth head</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>2.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Comes out of   the sea</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Comes out of   the deep (i.e. the sea)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>3.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Associated with   10 horns</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>10 horns</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>10 horns</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>10 horns</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>4.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Emerges at end   of Gentile times</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>End of Gentile   times</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>End of Gentile   times</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>End of Gentile   times</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>End of Gentile   times</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>5.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Amazing   recovery</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Amazing   emergence</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>6.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>A mouth   speaking great things against the Most High</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>God-defying</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Opens mouth in   blasphemy against God</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Full of names   of blasphemy</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>7.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Deceitful signs   and lying wonders</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Deceitful signs   and lying wonders t</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Deceives them   that had received the mark of the beast t</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>8.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Given publicity   by the beast out the earth</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Given publicity   by the false prophet (i.e. the beast of the earth)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>9.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>All deceived   who do not believe the truth</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>All that dwell   upon the earth worship the beast, whose names are not written in the book of   life</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>They that dwell   on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life, wonder at the   revival of the beast</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>10</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Persecutes and   overcomes saints</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Intolerant of   all religions</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Persecutes and   overcomes the saints</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Persecutes the saints&nbsp;Destroys   the whore</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>11</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Duration of 3.5   years</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Duration of 3<em>.5 </em>years</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>12</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>The son of   perdition</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Goes to   perdition</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>13</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Destroyed by Christ</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Destroyed by   Christ</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Destroyed by   Christ</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>Destroyed by   Christ</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table><p>Note that the little horn is treated as the beast (Dan. 7:11).</p><p><em>And upon his heads were names of blasphemy</em>- The beast of 17:4 was &ldquo;full of blasphemous names&rdquo;. Not only the heads of the Beast (13:1), but its whole body is covered with them, indicating that the entire empire sanctioned the emperors&rsquo; arrogation of divine titles; such titles could be found throughout the Roman world, inscribed on public buildings and monuments. The blasphemy of the last days will be in that the jihadists consider that they have Divine, even Biblical warrant to execute His judgments upon Israel and the true Christian church.</p><p>As noted many times, we are not to look for a chronological fulfilment in terms of a sequence of events. These are all kaleidoscope images of the persecution to be unleashed upon the earth / land. They merge and morph with each other, and yet re-emerge as separate entities. The dragon has seven heads and ten horns, with each head crowned; the beast from the sea has likewise seven heads and ten horns, but now it is the horns which are crowned; on the heads of the beast there are &quot;names of blasphemy&quot; (13:1). Their prototype in Daniel 7:20 has ten horns upon only one head.</p><p>The names of the Roman emperors were to be greatly revered. The cult of emperor worship grew very strongly in the 1st century. Yet Rev. 13:2 describes the names of the leaders of the beast, which on one level represented the Roman empire in the 1st century, as &ldquo;<em>blasphemous names&rdquo;. </em>To assign divine titles to the emperor was, to the Jewish and Christian mind, a blasphemy (Dt. 11:36; 2 Thess. 2:4). This would have made the Apocalypse an outlawed document in the first century. Consider too the clear references to the evil of the emperor worship cult later in Rev. 13: <em>one of its</em> <em>heads. . .</em>is set up as the very opposite of the true Christ.<br />13:4 Rev. 13 stresses the immense power of the final beast: &quot;All the world wondered after the beast... they worshipped the beast, saying... who is able to make war with him?&quot; (Rev. 13:3,4). This kind of power has never really been exercised by any previous manifestation of the beast. &quot;Power was given him over all kindreds, tongues and nations&quot;.</p>