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Revelation 13:1-2

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [ the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Introduction

By now we should all have learned that we are the ones who “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, that all things present and things to come are ours, and that we are blessed if we are given to read, hear and keep the things written in this book.” (Mat 4:4, 1Co 2:21-22, Rev 1:3)

By now we should realize that John is seeing this entire vision as he looks behind himself and sees what God is doing, has done and is continuing to do in his own life, as “the revelation of Christ” is being revealed within him, John, who is the symbol of you and me and all of our “fellowservants who keep the sayings of this book” (Rev 19:10 and 22:8-9).

Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

It is you and me who see these things and immediately go to worship the messenger instead of God.

Let us remember that this chapter concerning the beast within us, the previous chapter concerning the woman and the manchild and their relationship with the great red dragon, along with the next two chapters, are all leading up to the fulfilling of the great day of God’s wrath, which is poured out on all of our unrighteousnesses and ungodlinesses.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

“Holding truth in unrighteousness” is the very function of Babylon the great, out of whom we must all come.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

So we will ask once more: if we are to “read, hear, and keep the things written therein” (Rev 1:3), then how do we keep these first two verses of Rev 13? To answer that question we will have to know what is signified in these two verses. So let us ask…

… What is meant by “standing on the sand of the sea”?

If this really is John as the symbol of all who read, hear, and keep the things written in this book, then it truly is instructive that he sees himself, at this point as “standing on the sand of the sea”. ‘Sand’, according to our Lord, is very unstable and never to be relied upon as a foundation for anything.

Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

So the “sand of the sea” is the symbol of each of us when we have heard Christ’s words but simply did not see the need to “tremble before them”. The “sand of the sea” and standing or building on that sand, is you and me when we consider obedience to every word of God to be fanatical and impractical in a world that completely ignores the words of God.

But to whom will God reveal Himself, and where is the place of His rest?

Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Isa 66:3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
Isa 66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
Isa 66:5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

So John “standing upon the sand of the sea” is in type you and me when we “Hear the sayings of Christ and do them not”. “Standing upon the sand of the sea” is “choosing our own ways and delighting in our abominations and doing evil before God’s eyes and choosing that in which God does not delight”. Standing on sand is asking what is permissible (what’s the least I can get by doing?) instead of what is commendable and in complete accord with the word of God. That is where we are when this beast is revealed to us as coming up out of the sea.

As always we need to know where these verses of Revelation derive their force and power. Once we see where they obtain their force and power, then we will see that all the beasts of the Old Testament become one single beast in the New Testament. If we are given to understand that mankind himself is that beast, then we will know that what applies to the verses from which these verses come applies to each of us individually before God. That is what is meant by “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1Co 2:13-14). Instead of seeing the people and events of the Old Testament as mere historical events and people, we see every person and event as what is, was and will be taking place in our lives.

So do the scriptures really reveal that mankind is a beast? What do the scriptures really teach?

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Let us ask a simple question. Where else in scripture are we told that anything rises up out of the sea? Here is the answer to that question.

Isa 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?

In light of what we learned about the woman who was given the two wings of a great eagle to fly into the wilderness last week, could this beast actually be you and me as we are being brought up out of the sea into the wilderness to rebel against the very Savior who is delivering us? Is that possible? Here are God’s own words concerning you and me as His firstborn and as His first fruits:

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

That is indeed what we all do. Where do we go from the wilderness? The scriptures make clear that we do not naturally want to follow the messengers of God. We actually prefer to return to Egypt. However, will we return to Egypt as we want? No, we will not go back to Egypt. Even at this early stage we are told that we will eventually go into Babylon until God sees fit to deliver us from there. It is right here in the same context, and for those who are given to receive it, it is in the very next verses.

Hos 11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Hos 11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
Hos 11:6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

“Our own counsel” means we do what we want to do in direct opposition to God’s counsel and what God wants us to do. “Their own counsel” is hearing Christ’s saying in His Word, and “doing them not”. That is the spiritual meaning of “standing upon the sand of the sea”.

Why does this beast have seven heads and ten horns, just like the great red dragon of chapter twelve?

We saw in our studies in chapter 12 that this beast and the great red dragon were nothing less than father and son.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Can we “look behind us” and see that we all “walked according to the prince of the power of the air… our father the devil”, and that we were all “the children of disobedience”, before we become the children of God.

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

This beast here in Daniel is the spiritual composite within us of all the nation empires of the Old Testament. All of those empires were nothing more than the offspring of the first Adam, who is symbolized by ‘the sea’ here in Revelation 13. It is only here in the New Testament that the spirit reveals, for the first time, that from God’s spiritual perspective, everything that was in Adam is in each and every one of his children. The result of this revelation is that we find all of the Old Testament empires and the beastly symbols of those empires all wrapped up into one composite beast within each and every one of us. Notice how the four beast empires of Daniel 7 compare to the four features of the single beast of Revelation 13. This is not just coincidence. What we are being told is everything that is in Adam is in all of of his children, including “the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly… the dragon gave him his power and seat and great authority”. Notice the correlation between Daniel 7 and Revelation 13.

Here are the four beasts of Daniel:

Dan 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
Dan 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
Dan 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and [it had] three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
Dan 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Dan 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it [was] diverse from all the beasts that [were] before it; and it had ten horns.

“It had ten horns”. Here in these five verses we have four beasts, one of which has four heads. That means we have four beasts with seven heads total.

There is no description given of the fourth beast except to say that it was dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. Who is this fourth beast? Why is it different from the other three? Where else in all of scripture do we read of any creatures which have “seven heads and ten horns”? It is only here in Revelation 12 and 13. Here is the answer to all of those questions:

Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Exactly who do the scriptures reveal this great red dragon to be? The scriptures leave no room for speculation:

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

So as we have already established in our studies in chapter 12, this great red dragon is “that old serpent called the Devil and Satan”.

Now look at the spiritual offspring of this great red dragon, and notice how much the spiritual son is the reflection of his spiritual father the devil.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

In Daniel 7 we have the same lion, leopard and bear, but in Daniel we are told that the fourth beast has the teeth of a devouring lion, even as we are told that “the fourth beast differs from the other three beasts”. This fourth beast is said to be” dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that [were] before it; and it had ten horns.

Were it not for the 12th chapter of Revelation, we would never know that this fourth beast is “our [first spiritual] father the devil”, and that the beast here in chapter thirteen is merely his spiritual seed and his offspring with the same spiritual “seven heads and ten horns”.

Why seven heads?

The reason there are seven heads here in Revelation and in Daniel tells us what the number seven always tells us. What we are being told when we read that this beast that comes up out of the sea has seven heads is that this is a complete and mature beast, and we are now dealing with the revelation of Adam in his full bloom. Notice what we read of the four beasts with seven heads in Daniel.

Dan 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it [was] diverse from all the beasts that [were] before it; and it had ten horns.
Dan 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn [were] eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire.
Dan 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
Dan 7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
Dan 7:12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

This prophecy here in Daniel s7 takes us all the way to the day of the judgment of this beast. “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame“. This is the day of judgment we are now in, but here in Daniel this is all “sealed up”, and we are told that it is not to to be understood until “the time of the end”, the time of judgment and the time when “the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Dan 7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Well, we happen to be those upon whom “the ends of the ages have come”. It is we who are living in the time when “many are running to and fro, and knowledge is being increased” in this “time of the end”.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples[Greek: tupos, type]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: aion, age] are come.

There it is! Christ is the “ends of the age”, and He was not accessible to those of Daniel’s generation, but He is accessible to us.

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Everything Daniel experienced happened to him as a type of us, and it “was written for our admonition”. Daniel was not living in the time which the holy spirit calls “the fulness of time”, but we are. We are living in the ‘fullness of time’ when “God has sent forth His Son” who is now, for the first time ever, revealed to be “in you” and with “the kingdom of God is within you”.

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Where is Christ, the king of God’s kingdom, to be found?

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The word ‘fulness’ in Galatians 4:4 is the Greek word ‘pleromah‘ and it means ‘completion’, as in ‘seven heads.’ Here is Strong’s definition of this Greek word.

G4138
πληρωμα
ple ro ma
play’- ro- mah
From G4137; repletion or completion, that is, (subjectively) what fills (as contents, supplement, copiousness, multitude), or (objectively) what is filled (as container, performance, period): – which is put in to fill up, piece that filled up, fulfilling, full, fulness.

No, this verse does not bolster the false ‘fullness now’ doctrine, which teaches that since we are neither male nor female in Christ, therefore the resurrection is already past, and the “sealing of the holy spirit of promise” is already past, and “the redemption of the purchased possession” is now ours.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest [Greek: down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

‘Fullness now’ is not the point of Galatians 4:4, but what this verse is teaching us is that we are living in the times in which “the Christ” is being revealed to “His Christ”, and what this verse is telling us is that from the scriptural and Biblical perspective of the holy spirit, the first Adam was not yet revealed in his full-blown blossom of completion until that fourth beast had come and the seventh head was on the scene. Only then would we be given to see and understand what our father Adam is in all of his glory, and only then would his replacement be revealed. “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law”, made to be “tempted of the devil” with the fullness of a completed and glorious Adam.

Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

Here is this same statement concerning the revelation of “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them” in spiritual terms:

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

“Then shall that wicked be revealed” is the “revelation of the son of perdition”. The revelation of “the son of perdition” is the revealing of “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them”. This revelation comes simultaneously with the revelation of Jesus Christ, who “shall consume the son of perdition, with the spirit [words] of His mouth, and shall destroy [him] with the brightness [knowledge] of His coming”. As is always the case, what sounds like an instantaneous event in scripture, is actually a process of “judgment” which requires that we all “endure to the end.”

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Why ten horns?

Both of these words, the word ‘ten’ and the word ‘horn’, have a spiritual meaning which is lost on the natural man. The number ten is always seen, when used negatively, in connection with the perfection of the flesh. Our perfection in the flesh is the sum of our sins and our debt to God. To what is that likened in scripture?

Mat 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

You and I are that “one… which owed Him ten thousand talents”.
It was because of Egypt’s sins that ten plagues were poured out on Egypt, and the sum of a lawless man’s offenses against God are summed up in ten commandments for the lawless and disobedient.

1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

This word has a positive application in scripture, where it is used in reference to the rewards of the “overcomers.”

Mat 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

The fact that these ten horns are found upon a beast who, as we will see later in this chapter, is given power to cause all men to receive his mark or his number or his name, tells us that this is the symbol of “all the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them” within us.

Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And 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.

According to Daniel 7 these ten horns have “the eyes of a man” (Dan 7:8), and according to Revelation 17, these ten horns “are ten kings.” It is in the days of these “ten horns” that Christ will judge this beast within us all.

Dan 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones [of these ten horns] were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

That these ‘ten horns’ are one and the same as the ‘ten toes’ of Daniel two is clear from the fact that it is in the days of both, that judgment comes and the kingdom of God is set up on this earth.

Dan 2:42 And as the [ten] toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these [ten] kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

The number ‘ten’ tells us that the flesh has been brought to its full glory and perfection. The ten horns on this beast, tell us that this beast is no longer an immature beast, or a ‘nepios’, but he has become a full grown child, or a ‘huios’ of disobedience.

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children [Greek: uihos, a mature child] of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Here is the spiritual description of how the great harlot rules over these ten kings within us. She rules over them by telling them to ignore Christ’s Words, and do what the beast within wants to do, “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind…” and not “doing the things Christ says to do.”

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

These ten kings, ten toes or ten horns are simply the symbol of the heart and mind of the beast we all are by nature. Their judgment and destruction is even now taking place in the lives of God’s elect.

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Why are these ten kings called horns?

Whether it is “the horns of the altar” or the horns of an ox, ‘horns’ in scripture are always the symbol of strength and power. The strength and power of the “horns of the altar” is our salvation. In the Old Testament, if one’s life were at stake, he “took hold of the horns of the altar” and begged for God’s mercy.

1Ki 1:51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
1Ki 1:52 And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.
1Ki 1:53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.

1Ki 2:28 Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

Both of these men eventually died at the hand of King Solomon because Solomon would not tolerate insubordination in his land and in his kingdom. When we “do not the things that Christ says” to do, we are as these insubordinate kings or horns within Christ’s kingdom, and we, too, must die so that Christ can live within us and replace the old insubordinate kings within us. These “ten horns” within us are the symbol of the strength of the innumerable false doctrines which carry us all away to our own destruction, just as Adonijah and Joab were destroyed for their insubordinate ways.

The strength of the altar is in its horns, so, too, is the strength of a bull in his horns.

Deu 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns [ are like] the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

When we rely on our “own strength”, the scriptures call that “taking to us horns.”

Amo 6:13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?

The symbolism of the ten horns on the beast that comes up out of the sea tells us that this is us in the full blown glory and perfection of our own strength in Adam, and according to Amos, it is all “a thing of naught.”

Summary

We have seen in this study that “standing upon the sand of the sea” is where we all are when we first see that “mankind himself is a beast” (Ecc 3:18). It is only now that we are able to see that the beast of Rev 13 is within us. It is here, standing upon the sand of the sea, that we see him with all of his strength and with his seven heads and ten horns and all the blasphemous names that are upon him.

We saw the scriptures which explain why this beast within us is said to have seven heads and ten horns, and what we saw is that this beast is described in these terms because he is the offspring of “his father the devil”, also known as the “great red dragon” in chapter 12. That being so, he appears just as his father appears, with “seven heads and ten horns” here in chapter 13. We are even told that in worshiping this beast and in serving ourselves, with no regard for the instructions of our Lord, we are also guilty of worshiping the dragon who empowers this beast who we are.

We have seen that this beast is said to have seven heads because ‘seven’ is the number that signifies completion, and we saw that at this point in our walk we are called the uihos, or complete and mature children, or uihos of disobedience, under the complete sway and influence of “the prince of the power of the air… our father the devil.”
We have seen that while the number seven signifies completion, the number ten signifies the perfection of our flesh and all of its desires to turn away from the words of our Lord. Hence we are said to have ten horns.

We have also seen that throughout scripture, horns are the symbol of strength, whether for good, as in the mercy that is hoped for in grasping the horns of the altar, or the strength of sin in our lives when we refuse our Lord’s words and seek our own ways and call it the horns of our own strength.

We have seen that are these ten horns are called ten kings because they represent all that is in us which perfects the strength of our flesh, even as it rejects the words of our Lord.

Finally, we are reminded that this chapter concerning the beast that is mankind, along with the preceding chapter concerning the relationship of the woman who brings forth the manchild, with the great red dragon, along with the next two chapters, are all leading up to and introducing the great day of God’s wrath, referred to as “the Lord’s day” in Revelation 1.

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

We are reminded that John sees this whole vision in retrospect, “behind him”, and we are reminded that none of us become the image of our saviour until we have come to see Him as He is and are changed into that same image from glory to glory.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn how the beast within us is given a deadly wound, and how that wound is healed so as to bring him back to very good beastly health. We will see that it is the healing of our deadly wound which causes us to be most faithful to our worship of this beast, and we will see that our worship of our own ways, is in reality nothing more or less than the worship of our father the devil, also known as the dragon which gave power to the beast.

We will see once again that the time in which this all takes place is referred to and signified as a period of “forty and two months”.

Here are the verses we hope to cover in our next study:

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.