We’ve been doing this revisit of the end for awhile now, and I hope you’re getting something out of it. I know I am! Even though I’ve done quite a bit of study on what we're covering, as I write these I even learn something or are shown connections I hadn’t seen before. This week, we’re going to look at the beast rising out of the earth, but we’re winding down on this revisit. Next week, we’ll go through a synopsis of what we’ve learned and hopefully make some connections that may not have been obvious as we went through in detail. Then, the following week, we’ll be on to a new topic!
We mentioned last week that the phrasing of how this “earth beast” is introduced is helpful in understanding what it represents (Revelation 13:11). If you compare it to the introduction of the sea beast, you find that in the Greek the words are the same, however the order of the words is slightly different. This gives us a different picture of where this beast is coming from.
For the sea beast, John writes, “And I saw from the sea a beast rising” (Revelation 13:1). However, for the earth beast, he wrote, “And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.” It’s subtle, but I believe it’s important because this imagery for the sea beast suggests the sea was its direct origin, which aligns with the fact that the sea beast is the Roman Empire governmental structure and the Roman Empire encompassed the Mediterranean Sea. The imagery for the earth beast, on the other hand, suggests to me that rather than the earth beast’s direct origin being the earth, it just started its rise to power from that realm.
Perhaps this idea will become clearer as we get into who/what this earth beast represents. For now, let’s just put a pin in that distinction. As we move forward, just keep in mind that while it’s obvious that these beasts come from different locations, there is a difference between how each is actually associated with those locations.
If we move on to the rest of the description of the earth beast, we see that it exercised all the authority of the sea beast (Revelation 13:12). This is quite interesting because once you understand that the sea beast was the Roman Empire, you then realize that if the earth beast exercised all the authority of the sea beast it must be at least closely related to the Roman Empire, if not a continuation of that empire. Remember when we read how the sea beast was “going to its destruction?” (Revelation 17:8)
Also, remember that the sea beast and its seven heads represented eight “kings,” which we found out were eight Roman emperors that ruled. We couldn’t put our finger on which emperor we should start counting from, but I lean towards Caesar Augustus rather than Julius Caesar. You’ll see why in a bit.
Now, many of those who study Revelation believe that this earth beast is markedly different than the sea beast. So much so, that they associate it with a certain church or religious structure rather than a political/governmental one. The problem with that is, as we’ve seen in a prior week’s study, churches and religious structures are not represented as beasts in scripture. They are represented as women. And yes, the certain church that typically gets associated with this earth beast has its own sovereign city and things like its own bank, but the organizational structure of its religious aspect and its political aspect are one in the same. The head of one is the same individual as the head of the other.
People also get caught up in the fact that this earth beast had two horns “like a lamb” but “spoke like a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). So, because the word “lamb” is associated with this beast, and Yeshua is our Passover Lamb, they believe that this beast has to have some connection with Christianity. The problem with this is just because a certain animal is associated with something in scripture somewhere doesn’t mean that association always is intended.
A perfect example of this is if we go back again to one of Daniel’s visions. He saw a ram with two horns, one higher than the other, and a goat that smashes the horns of that ram (Daniel 8:3-7). A ram is just a male sheep, and we know that Yeshua called His followers sheep (John 21:17). Does this mean that the ram Daniel saw represented followers of Yeshua? No, of course not. We know that the ram represented the Medo-Persian empire (Daniel 8:20). Yeshua also talked about separating His sheep from the goats when He returned (Matthew 25:31-46). Clearly, goats in this instance represented those who do not follow Him, but does that also mean the goat Daniel saw was meant to represent non-believers as well? No, of course not. We know that the goat Daniel saw represented the kingdom of Greece, and its horn was the first king, Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:21).
So, just because this earth beast has horns like a lamb, does not mean it’s in any way associated with Christianity or that it’s an antichrist. What we can figure out though, from looking at all this imagery, is that horns are usually associated with individuals that reign over kingdoms. With the ram, the horns represented the king of the Medes and the king of the Persians. With the goat, the horn represented the king of Greece. So, the one thing we can say about the horns of the earth beast is that they likely represent leaders, if not specifically kings/emperors, of the governmental structure that the beast represents.
We also see that this earth beast spoke like a dragon (Revelation 13:11). We know by now that the dragon is associated with Satan, and that Satan is how the sea beast received its power. Therefore, we know that Satan is also working in this earth beast. The specifics of why this beast is described as speaking like Satan rather than John stating that the dragon gave it its power are not entirely clear. However, I believe that the intention was to describe a dichotomy in this particular beast. Namely, while it looked like a harmless lamb, its orders/actions/decrees were entirely the opposite. Almost as if it had an evil aspect to it that wasn’t quite obvious until it started speaking.
Another aspect of this beast that people equate to an antichrist, or just something religious in general, is the fact that it was able to perform signs that deceived those dwelling on the earth (Revelation 13:13-14). However, while many times the word “signs” is associated with miracles, it doesn’t mean that’s the only thing this word means. For example, Luke tells us about great signs in the sun, moon and stars (Luke 21:25). Yeshua Himself used the word in reference to the “signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3). The Greek word simply means a sign that confirms or authenticates something, so it's likely the use of it in this case meant that that signs performed confirmed what the earth beast was saying, and by that confirmation the people were deceived into believing those things.
Now is as good a time as any to look at who or what this beast might represent and see if there are any connections that seem to confirm it. While there seems to be a few different possibilities as to the specifics of this representation, when it comes down to it the evidence points to the earth beast being a continuation of the Roman Empire following the death of Nero. The individual that essentially revived the power and capability that the empire was previously known for, as well as restarting the pattern of more lengthy reigns of emperors in general, was Vespasian, and when you look at the characteristics of the earth beast there are a lot of things that seem to line up with this particular individual.
We addressed this last week, but as a refresher, Vespasian was the leader of the Roman Army that was addressing the Jewish revolt that was occurring when Nero committed suicide. He was literally directing troops outside Jerusalem when the empire was thrown into a tumult and a power struggle occurred that resulted in what is called the “year of the four emperors.” He turned the army over to his son, Titus, and headed to Rome where he eventually became emperor.
Do you remember what we figured out the word “earth” really means? That’s right, the land of Israel! Where was Vespasian when he started his journey and rise to becoming emperor? That’s right, the land of Israel! Is it highly coincidental that the beast of the earth came up out of the earth and that’s exactly what Vespasian did as he came to power? Perhaps…but here’s one more thing: Vespasian wasn’t the only emperor, initially.
I think it’s possible that the two horns on this earth beast represent Vespasian and his son Titus, who took over as emperor when his father died. If that is the case, the sea beast would include the first eight emperors when you start counting with Augustus (and his reign is the one that's officially considered the start of the "empire" form of government). However, it’s also possible, and perhaps a bit more likely when you compare with Daniel’s ram that we looked at earlier, that these horns represent Vitellius and Vespasian. You see, Vitellius was still emperor when Vespasian became emperor. He was recognized by the Roman Senate as emperor in April of 69AD and did not relinquish that status until he was murdered by Vespasian’s troops in December of that year. Vespasian was supported and declared emperor in July of 69AD by the power of the empire: the Roman legions of Roman Egypt and Judaea. He was recognized by the Roman Senate as emperor the day after Vitellius was murdered.
If that’s not enough, the earth beast’s dragon speech seems to line up well with the types of things Vespasian did while emperor. For instance, he was so concerned about his image and how he was received and spoken about by the people of the empire that if they spoke against him or what he did he would have them punished, or even executed. This is likely why Josephus painted such a rosy picture of the guy in his writings! However, if some of what Josephus wrote about him is true, it could also align with the dichotomy of him being a lamb in some cases and a dragon in others. There were quite a few cases Josephus recorded where rather than murder everyone in a Jewish town due to their rebellion Vespasian spared them by either making them slaves or just offering to leave them be if only they pledged their allegiance to the empire.
As far as some of the other descriptors of the earth beast, if you lean towards the signs being miracles there were actually individuals in the empire that were convinced he had divine powers and could work miracles. Not only that, he was hailed as a pharaoh in Egypt and proclaimed the son of their creator deity, Amun (essentially their version of Yeshua). He reportedly demonstrated this divine election by healing a blind, crippled man. I, however, lean towards these signs being associated with his efforts during the Jewish revolt where he essentially executed the wrath of YHWH on the rebellious (both to YHWH and to the Roman Empire) Jews, which of course included many situations of destruction by fire. The earth beast giving breath to the sea beast and killing those who didn’t worship it (Revelation 13:12-15) seems to align with Vespasian’s propaganda efforts while he was emperor. One of the things he focused on was increasing the empire’s propaganda to improve the support of the citizens, and as far as killing those who didn’t worship it, we already covered the fact that he didn’t hesitate to execute those who were against him. He also rebuilt Rome after it being in shambles as a result of the civil war caused by Nero’s death, and erected statues of the Roman gods.
To me, there’s no question that the earth beast is the continuation of the Roman Empire starting primarily with the efforts of Vespasian. He revived what the empire once was, causing everyone to be in awe of and worship it once again. Oh, and if you’re wondering about the mark (Revelation 13:16-17), much like previous emperors, Vespasian also minted coins with his image on them (and also included an image of the goddess Fortuna), which of course were the legal tender in the empire. Although, I tend to lean towards this mark being figurative, and a representation of where someone’s loyalty lies rather than a physical mark. That’s how it was used in Ezekiel’s prophecy at least (Ezekiel 9).
As we said earlier, next week we’ll do a synopsis and we’ll be done with our revisit of the end! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!
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