We have seen the first two cycles of judgments, the seven seals (6:1-8:1) and the seven trumpets (8:2-11:19). Now we begin the third cycle. This third cycle of visions consists primarily of histories of key symbolic characters: the Dragon, the Woman, the Beast, the False Prophet, the 144,000, angelic announcers, and the Son of Man (see Introduction: Structure). Unlike the seven seals and seven trumpets, these visions have no explicit numbering. But like the preceding cycles, these lead up to a vision of the Second Coming (14:14-20). The two preceding cycles have focused on the judgments issuing from God’s throne. This cycle depicts in depth the nature of the spiritual conflict. Characters appear in symbolic form to represent the forces on the two sides of a cosmic spiritual war.
God himself has already been revealed in 4:1-5:14. Opposing God are Satan (the Dragon) and his agents, the Beast (13:1-10) and the False Prophet (13:11-18; see 16:13). On God’s side are his people, portrayed as a light-bearing woman (12:1-6, 13-17), and as a chaste, numbered, and protected multitude (14:1-5). These two complementary pictures show the saints in their capacity as witnesses of God’s light and as separated from the corruptions of the world. Thus the saints are exhorted to remain faithful to Christ in opposition to the persecution of the Beast; and to remain pure in opposition to the seduction of the Prostitute (see Introduction: Counterfeiting). The symbolic pictures show the two sides stripped of all inconsistency and confusion, so that we may better understand the nature of our warfare (cf. Eph. 6:10-20). The present conflicts will be superseded by the peace of 21:1-22:5 when the consummation of God’s plans takes effect.
Like
the first two cycles, this one consists of four parts (Introduction:
Structure). An opening scene introduces the characters (12:1-6). Then
follow 6 symbolic histories (12:7-14:11). After an interlude
reassuring the saints (14:12-13) comes the seventh, climactic history
(14:14-20). There are thus seven symbolic histories in all: the
history of the Dragon (12:7-12), the history of the woman (12:13-17),
the history of the Beast (13:1-10), the history of the False Prophet
(13:11-18), the history of the 144,000 (14:1-5), the history of the
angelic proclaimers (14:6-11), and the history of the coming of the
Son of Man (14:14-20).
A woman appears arrayed in cosmic light. The imagery calls to mind Joseph’s dream (Gen. 37:9-10) and the picture of Jerusalem bringing forth the Messiah and his remnant (Mic. 5:3; Isa. 54:1-4; 66:7-13). The Old Testament saints collectively are in view. Mary the mother of Jesus is included in this group, but only as an outstanding member of the whole. The later history shows that the New Testament saints also are included (12:13-17). The light-bearing character of the woman foreshadows the glory of the new Jerusalem (21:11, 22-27). She has her citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20), and receives the splendor and importance of heaven. In her privileges the church now already partakes in the blessings of what is to come. But she is still buffeted by Satan.
Opposing the woman is an enormous red dragon. Our chief opponent is not any earthly power. We struggle “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12), at the head of which is Satan (Eph. 2:2; 2 Cor. 4:4). The Dragon is identified as Satan, the Devil, in 12:9. The image of a dragon shows that Satan has enormous power and hideous enmity to God. Satan has constantly opposed the plans of God, and has been repeatedly defeated in the great acts of God’s saving power (Gen. 3:1, 15; Ps. 74:13-14; Isa. 27:1; 51:9-10; Ezek. 29:3; Luke 10:18; 11:14-23; John 12:31; Col. 2:15). Now he rises against the Messiah (12:4-5) and his servants (12:17), but will suffer final destruction (20:10). The Ancient Near East has certain myths about a sea monster or water god producing chaos. Polytheistic myths dimly sensed the threat of Satanic chaos, but in their confused groping they never penetrated to the reality.
The Dragon has seven heads, increasing his hideousness. In the symbolism of Daniel and Revelation, multiple heads often symbolize multiple manifestations of a single kingdom. In the same way, Satan manifests his power through multiple channels and in multiple institutions and events. Seven, the number of completeness, suggests that the Dragon has extensive power and many manifestations. He aspires blasphemously to imitate the completeness of God.
The Dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky. The Dragon attacks God’s order and rule, symbolized by the order of the stars. He assaults heaven itself, symbolized by the effect on heavenly bodies. This verse has given rise to speculation that a third of the angels fell and became demons at the time that Satan rebelled against God. But the Bible gives few details about the fall of Satan and his angels. The immediate focus of verse 4 is not on Satan’s original act of rebellion but on his attack on the male child. In the background lies Daniel 8:10, which predicts the attack of Antiochus Epiphanes on the Jewish people and their temple. Against this background, the stars may symbolize the angelic representatives of the church in its heavenly character (note the stars in Rev. 12:1; Michael and his angels in 12:7).1
The woman gave birth to a son, in fulfillment of Micah 5:3. Christ is born, and his triumphant rule over the nations is certain to be established.
Satan attempts to destroy the child as soon as it is born, as Herod did in Matthew 2:1-18. Herod’s action is the beginning of a series of satanically engineered attempts to deflect the accomplishment of God’s salvation. Satan tempts Christ in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13) and is active in the background when Christ casts out demons and when he confronts opposition from Jewish leaders. Revelation encapsulates all this opposition in the single picture of Satan seeking to devour the child. Passing over Jesus’ earthly life, it arrives immediately at the ascension and enthronement of the Messiah: her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The Messiah himself is beyond the reach of Satanic attack. So, subsequent to the ascension, Satan turns his attention to the woman, the followers of the Messiah.
God looks after the woman for 1260 days, the same period of 42 months or three and a half years mentioned in 11:2-3; 12:14; 13:5. (For a full discussion, see under 11:2-3.) The 1260 days is the entire interadvent period. It begins immediately after Christ’s ascension. It continues throughout the period of Satanic assaults on the church, that is, the whole period until the Second Coming. During the entire period, God protects the church from satanic attacks. But the vision also applies with particular force to times of intense distress that may come when the church suffers violent attack. The protection comes in the desert. Israel after the exodus from Egypt wandered in the desert. This desert gave them relief from the idolatry and oppression of Egypt. But it was also a time of testing, a time tempting them to lose faith and rebel. They were to look forward to rest and satisfaction in the promised land. Similarly, the church looks forward to final rest in the new heavens and the new earth. But for now she is subject to testing on earth.
The victory of Christ (12:5) results in sweeping consequences, beginning with the expulsion of Satan by Michael, who is functioning as an agent of Christ (see Dan. 10:21). We are not to think here of the fall of Satan at the time of creation, but of the defeat of Satan in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ (12:12; Col. 2:15; John 12:31).
The war was fought in heaven. The Bible indicates that until the time of Christ’s triumph, Satan was permitted to appear in the heavenly places (Job 1:6; 2:1; Zech. 3:1-2; Luke 10:18). His abilities are curtailed through Christ’s earthly ministry and above all through Christ’s resurrection and ascension (cf. Rev. 12:11).
As with the serpent in Genesis 3, Satan’s chief weapon is his deceit. He leads the whole world astray (v. 9). He tries to confuse the church with heresies (v. 15) as well as accusing people before God for their sins (v. 10; Zech. 3:1-2).
In verses 10-12 a loud voice from heaven, the voice of heavenly worshipers, celebrates the fact that Christ has already achieved the decisive victory. Satan has been defeated (vv. 7-9). His ability to accuse is curtailed (v. 10). The salvation and kingdom of God have already come (v. 10). However, strife still continues for a short time on earth (v. 12). As usual, the “shortness” is measured by prophetic standards, as in 1:3. The time of fulfillment of God’s purposes has arrived, and this fulfillment unfolds in a way that stretches out toward the consummation. Revelation reminds saints in distress that martyrdom may come, but that because of Christ’s victory over death the martyr is victorious rather than defeated by death (v. 11). Victory has both a present and a future manifestation.
Having failed to destroy Christ (12:4-5), the Dragon tries to destroy the people of Christ. He uses his mouth, representing his deceit (12:15, 9; 2 Thess. 2:9-10). When deceit fails, he tries persecuting power (12:17-13:10). The woman flies to the desert, an image that speaks of the powerful and supernatural care of God active on behalf of his people. His people experience powerful protection even in circumstances where it may seem impossible that they would be delivered. “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). By speaking of the desert and the period of three and a half years, Revelation here expands on the earlier summary in verse 6. The protection applies to the entire interadvent period (see the discussion under 12:6 and 11:2-3).
The earth comes to the help of the woman. The very structure of God’s created world restricts and frustrates Satan’s plans. Since Satan cannot wipe out the church as a whole through his deceit, he tries another plan: to war against the rest of her offspring. 13:1-18 exposes the character of this war, indicating that it involves raising up earthly instruments of persecution.
A beast rising out of the sea represents persecuting power, especially the power of a demonized state. The monstrous mixture of features shows the fierceness and the repulsiveness of the Beast. He is hideous. One might be terrorized into submission, but who would genuinely want to worship this mass of ugliness? The rebellious world is fascinated with his power (13:4), but Christians have their eyes opened through this and other biblical revelations.
The Beast combines features from the four beasts of Daniel 7:1-8, 17-27. The beasts of Daniel represent idolatrous kingdoms. This Beast in Revelation must be a worldly kingdom summing all of them up. The state-controlled persecutions against Daniel and his friends thus suggest the nature of the persecution that the seven churches must face from the Roman state—and persecutions of later ages. Interpreters disagree about which particular persecution the Beast most directly represents (see Introduction: Interpretation). Because it expresses a general principle of Satanic opposition, we may expect multiple manifestations. As indicated in the Introduction, these manifestations include the first century, the final crisis, and all times in between.
In Asia Minor local officials threatened to kill Christians if they refused to worship the Roman Emperor. A similar opposition to godly worship will crop up just before the Second Coming (2 Thess. 2:4). Persecutions come sporadically in between these two times (2 Tim. 3:12-13; 1 Pet. 4:12-19; Matt. 24:9). 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 indicates that we are dealing with a repeated pattern of Satanic opposition (“the secret power of lawlessness”). This lawlessness is currently restrained, but will have a final, climactic outbreak (“and then the lawless one will be revealed”). Christians must not be surprised by these pressures. They must face martyrdom, if necessary, knowing that God is in control and that his triumph is certain.
The Beast represents in the first place demonized state power that demands worship. As with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. 3), the demonized state threatens to kill Christians unless they bow down. But the symbolism of the Beast applies to more subtle temptations to idolatry. In democratic countries, the state does not insist on literal worship. But citizens are tempted to look to the state as if it were a messiah. It is the greatest concentration of earthly power, and so it must be the remedy for all ills, economic, social, medical, moral, and even spiritual. Moreover, state persecution in its blatant form threatens to overwhelm us through fear. But in subtle ways in our hearts we are tempted to give ultimate commitments to anything that we fear: fear of man (human opinion), fear of death, fear of pain, fear of poverty. So this picture of idolatry has universal application (see discussion in the Introduction: Counterfeiting).
The Beast is a counterfeit of Christ. Note the following parallels:
The Beast is an image of Satan, whom Satan brought forth (13:1), just as Christ is the exact image of God, begotten by the Father (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; Ps. 2:7).
The Beast has ten crowns, while Christ has many crowns (19:12).
The Beast has blasphemous names written on him, while Christ has worthy names (19:12).
The Dragon gave the Beast his power and his throne and great authority (13:2), just as Christ has power (5:12-13) and throne (3:21) and authority (12:10) from the Father (John 5:21-23).
The Beast has a fatal wound, counterfeiting Christ’s resurrection (13:3). The Beast’s healing is one of the principal features that attracts followers, just as the resurrection of Christ is one of the principal points of evangelistic proclamation.
Worship is directed both to the Dragon and the Beast, just as Christians worship both the Father and the Son (John 5:23).
The Beast attracts the worship of the whole world (13:3), just as Christ is to be worshipped universally.
The Beast utters blasphemies, while Christ utters the praises of God (Heb. 2:12).
The Beast makes war against the saints, while Christ makes war against the Beast (19:11-21). The song of praise to the Beast in 13:4 counterfeits the song to God the warrior in Exod. 15:11. The striking juxtaposition of Christ and the Beast in 19:11-21 shows that these two are the two main warriors in the battle. Christ is the divine warrior, fulfilling the imagery of Exod. 15:3; Isa. 59:16-18; 63:1-6; Hab. 3:3-15; Zech. 9:13-15; 14:1-5. The Beast is the unholy, counterfeit warrior, fulfilling the imagery of Dan. 7:1-8.
Satan himself attempts to counterfeit God the Father. He engages in a mock creation, in which he brings forth his image out of chaotic waters (13:1; parallel to Gen. 1:2). Similarly, the False Prophet, or beast from the earth (13:11-18), counterfeits the work of the Holy Spirit. He desires that people worship not himself, but the Beast, just as the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ (John 16:14). He works miraculous signs, counterfeiting the miracles of the Holy Spirit (13:13-14). He forces a mark on his subjects (13:16), just as Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13).
Together, Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet form an unholy trio (16:13). They counterfeit the Holy Trinity (see Introduction: Counterfeiting). Satan as a deceiver is always trying to make his ways look attractive (2 Cor. 11:14-15). Our danger lies in the fact that his counterfeits are always close to the real thing, and we may mistake the one for the other. But when Revelation opens our eyes, there is a world of difference between his horrors and God’s beauties. We can be confident because he is only a counterfeiter, an imitator, not a creator. And his productions are always bestial and degenerate like himself. Beasts must give way before Christ the king (19:11-21).
One final counterfeit figure exists, namely Babylon the prostitute, the counterfeit of the bride of Christ. See 17:1-19:10.
The Beast’s ten horns imitate the ten horns of the Dragon (12:3). They represent his power. 17:12 indicates that they take particular form in “ten kings” who help execute his purpose. The horns correspond to the ten horns of the fourth beast in Daniel 7:7, 20. The seven heads represent multiple manifestations, as in 17:10, again imitating the Dragon (12:3). The Beast combines features of leopard, bear, and lion (v. 2). He sums up the beasts in Daniel 7:2-7, and is more fierce and hideous than any of them.
Behind the Beast, as an earthly institution, a perversion of state power, stands the Dragon who energies and endorses him (v. 2). Christians are to be alert to Satanic influence not only with individuals but with institutions and whole societies. The mass of people in the Roman Empire were attracted to emperor worship, but the number of people seduced did not lessen the seriousness of their error. Likewise communism and fascism and Hinduism and materialism and New Age spirituality may be mass movements today, but Christians must resist these mass seductions.
The Beast’s mortal wound and recovery counterfeit Christ’s resurrection. Revelation may be alluding to a myth that grew up after Nero’s death (68 A.D.). A rumor spread that he had not really died, and that he would soon return at the head of the Parthians to wreak vengeance. But the symbolism has broader application. The revival of a powerful movement or an institution after serious trouble seems to indicate to the followers that it is invincible. The Empire seemed to survive all threats, thereby showing that it was eternal and attracting more worship than ever. But all such hopes are mistaken. Only Christ brings eternal life, and only his kingdom will last forever.
The Beast’s counterfeit character comes out clearly in his blasphemies (v. 5). Even these are ultimately under God’s control, as is hinted by the phrase was given. God gives people even the strength and breath through which they blaspheme him. The continued dependence on God underlines the security of the saints and the ultimate futility of all opposition to God.
In addition, we find that the Beast’s power has a definite limit. He exercises his authority for forty-two months. This period is the same period of distress and persecution mentioned in 11:2-3; 12:6, 14. (See discussion under 11:2.)
The Beast compels worship (13:8), and when the saints refuse to submit, they are martyred. But despite their apparent defeat, martyrs enjoy victory with Christ both immediately (6:9-11) and when their prayers for the final defeat of the Beast are answered (19:11-21). The Beast aspires to universal control and allegiance from every tribe, people, language and nation (v. 7). But ultimately all nations belong to Christ (5:9). The necessity for decision is set out in black and white. One must give ultimate allegiance to either Christ or the Beast. One cannot be neutral. All except the saints go after the Beast, underlining the fact that apart from Christ people remain in the power of Satan and darkness (Col. 1:13; Eph. 2:1-3; Gal. 1:4; Acts 4:12).
The book of life (v. 8) is the heavenly roster of names of those destined to new life through the purchase of Christ’s blood (5:9; see 3:5). As in 17:8, the phrase “from the creation of the world” modifies not “slain” but “written.” Thus we read, “written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.” In the midst of persecution and the immense power of the Beast, the saints may find security in God’s guarantee of their heavenly citizenship. Similar guarantees are found in 7:1-17; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27.
The exhortation to hear (v. 9) picks up on earlier exhortation in 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; and in the Gospels, Jesus’ exhortations: Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; 7:16; 8:18; Luke 8:8; 14:35; Matt. 7:24, 26. Saints must take to heart the warning of Revelation, and be on the alert against the deceptions of the Beast as well as giving way out of fear.
Patient endurance (v. 10), believing in God’s faithfulness and his triumph through Christ, enables the saints to pass through all distresses. God never promises that we will be free from suffering in this world; on the contrary, he repeatedly announces that it will come. But he promises sustenance. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). (See 1:9.)
13:11-18 The beast from the earth, also called the False Prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10), functions as a propagandist for the Beast. His actions counterfeit the witness of the Holy Spirit (see Introduction: Counterfeiting)
In first-century Asia Minor, the main propagandists would have been priests of the emperor cult and the “Commune of Asia,” a council of distinguished city representatives promoting loyalty to the emperor. In our day as well totalitarianism enlists propagandists. Just before the Second Coming counterfeit miracles will accompany the appearance of the lawless one (2 Thess. 2:9). The False Prophet embodies a repeatable pattern (see Introduction: Interpretation). Satan uses deceit as his main weapon (Rev. 12:9; 20:3). He uses human instruments and institutions to magnify and propagate his deceits.
We may then ask what are the principal means of deceit around us now. In an industrialized society, mass media, educational institutions, advertising, the whole of the “knowledge industry” offer the principal channels through which people learn and confirm their view of themselves and their world. In principle technologically enhanced communication and social organizations can support both truth and error, righteousness and wickedness. But in societies affected by the fall, all too often distortions of the truth invite people to pursue idols and simultaneously blind them to the realities of their idolatry. For example, the media may become filled with the presuppositions of a materialist worldview. What message results? God need not be mentioned except in expletives, since he is nonexistent, absent, or irrelevant. Humanity invents its own meanings. We are part of an evolutionary whole. Progress comes by freeing ourselves from a primitive past. Money, health, intelligence, beauty, and sexual pleasure give us the good life. And so Herbert Schlossberg (Idols for Destruction) finds himself attacking modern idols called “history,” “humanity,” “mammon,” “nature,” “power,” even “religion” inhabiting our knowledge industry and floating through its channels of communication.
These ideas pervade the atmosphere. They are all the more insidious because they are “atmospheric.” They tend to be assumed rather than overtly disputed. One receives the subtle impression that it is all obvious. Everyone who is informed, everyone who is “with it,” has gone past the stage of questioning. In reality there never was a fundamental questioning, because the ideas seem so natural and inevitable. The average person is no more aware of them than the fish is aware of the water in which it has swum ever since birth. The few who are aware can still take comfort. They may say to themselves, “How could we possibly be wrong, when the miracles of modern science and technology show our superiority to the ideas of the past?”
Technology, then, becomes the worker of miraculous signs (13:14). The signs tells us that true power resides in the modern view of the world. Worship the power of the beast, the power of technocratic state organization, the power of the expert, because technology can work wonders like no one else.
The second beast is from the earth (v. 11), whereas the first is from the sea (v. 1). Together, then, they hint at the attempt to master the whole earth: sea and dry land. Interestingly, these two beasts are modeled after the two monsters in Job 40:15-41:34. Behemoth exercises power on land (Job 40:15-24) and leviathan on water (Job 41:1-34). The Ancient Near East produced multiple speculations about a land-monster and a sea-monster. Some Jews thought that the two monsters were now hidden, but would appear in the last days and be destroyed. Job is probably referring to the hippopotamus and the crocodile, but with incredibly charged, hyperbolic poetic imagery. Readers are invited to use these physical creatures as windows onto the nameless terrors of nightmares and the spiritual reality of the preternatural realm of demons. In Job, God is creator and therefore master of them all. So is he also in Revelation. In Revelation the pairing of the two beasts in this way increases the sense of their power and terror: they are superhuman, cosmic, ageless monsters. But simultaneously it proclaims their bounds: God has bounded them from the beginning, as Job indicates.
The second beast has two horns like a lamb (v. 11). He also, like the first, offers counterfeiting. The exercise of the authority of the first beast (v. 12) is the counterfeit analogue of the fact that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit as “another Counselor” with his authority (John 16:13-15). He promotes worship of the Beast, just as the Holy Spirit promotes worship of Christ (Rev. 13:12). He performs miraculous signs (v. 13), analogous to the Spirit-worked signs in the Book of Acts. Priests in the first century were not above working a little fakery to encourage people to come and patronize their temples. In the first century, the image (v. 14) is the image of the emperor set up in the local temple dedicated to the imperial cult. Now, it is the concrete thing through which the godlike power and presence is mediated and adored. For some people, the TV set!
All who refused to worship the image were to be killed (v. 15). Nebuchadnezzar threatened death to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for not bowing down to his image (Dan. 3). Christians in the Roman Empire might be killed for treason, or disloyalty to the emperor, if they refused to participate in the imperial cult. Totalitarian governments of our time are seldom so crude. But the local government official, as an image of government power, requires total allegiance such as a Christian cannot give.
Successful modern democratic governments are not killing people literally. They do not need to, as long as their idol programs are so successful! They travel not toward paternal severity, but toward maternal smothering. The state undertakes to help you by stuffing you with what is good for you—according to its wonderfully “enlightened,” beneficent judgment. But if you do not agree, you are socially unfit and maladapted. The old “you” must be “killed,” socially speaking, by social engineering, in order that the new “you” may function as a upstanding, healthy citizen of the state. To this end, the state uses education, financial penalties, financial inducements, endless regulations, and bureaucrats overseeing and directing your decisions. No, we Christians in such a country do not feel the immediate threat of the sword. But untangling ourselves from the clinging web of idolatry is like death. For the web exists inside us as well as outside, in the ways in which we have already, as members of our society, absorbed its godless assumptions. As verse 16 indicates, participation in the society is hardly possible without idolatry. The society regards the Christian as a misfit, a misanthrope, a victim of insanity. He does not share knowledge of the “obvious verities,” and so cannot be trusted. Thus a consistent Christian will find it difficult to fit in and mix with pagan society. The difficulties may be subtle, as in “tolerant” modern democratic societies, or they may be blatant and harsh, as in the Roman Empire or modern totalitarian countries, where Christians may suffer literal confiscation of property.
What is the mark (vv. 16-17)? The mark of the Beast is a counterfeit for the seal of God’s name on the saints (7:2-8; 14:1; cf. Ezek. 9; Deut. 6:8). The Beast owns those who are marked and they are his slaves (14:9; 19:20; 20:4). The mark denotes spiritual allegiance and ownership, both in the case of God’s mark and in the case of the counterfeit by the Beast. In both cases the mark is at root spiritual rather than visible. The multitude of speculations about a visible mark are beside the point.
What about the number 666? The number 666 falls short of the divine completeness of seven. When we expect 777, we get a consistent falling short in 666. Thus 666 has an obvious symbolic value. But there may be a further association. We need first to understand that in both Hebrew and Greek a numerical value was associated with each letter of the alphabet. In Greek, A had value 1, B 2, I 10, K 20, and so on. The letters were sometimes used as a shorthand for numbers. Both Jews and pagans sometimes played arithmetical games with the numerical value of whole words. Christians found that the name Jesus had numerical value 888 in Greek. Hence, the number 666 also makes a contrast with the name of Jesus (cf. 14:1). Jesus is the Christ, who brings in the new creation on the eighth day. The Beast is the Antichrist, who counterfeits Christ but falls short.
Many have attempted to connect 666 with the numerical value of someone’s name. But there are far too many possibilities. People may resort to transliterating or translating names into Hebrew or Greek as well as putting them in a Roman alphabet; people may use different forms of names, adding or deleting titles and abbreviations of titles and names. By such means people have succeeded in correlating the number with each of the main Roman emperors of the time: Nero, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. The speculations about modern antichrists also continue to multiply. But such speculations miss the point. Revelation calls not for cleverness but for spiritual discernment.2
The 144,000 represent the saints in their complete number (see 7:4-8). They form a priestly company (5:10) consecrated to offer praise to God on the holy mount. God affirms his ownership and protection by placing his mark on them, in contrast to the mark of the Beast in 13:16-18. The sound from heaven is probably the sound of praise from the saints. Their loudness and exuberance reflects that loudness like thunder of God himself when he appears in theophany, as at Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:16; Ezek. 1:24; Rev. 1:10; 4:5; etc.). The new song (v. 3) picks up the theme from the Old Testament of singing new songs to celebrate a new day of victory for God (Pss. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1). No one could learn the song except the 144,000, that is, the redeemed. The 144,000 symbolize all the people of God, every one of which is known and numbered by God. The dwellers on earth who have not been redeemed cannot participate. The experience of and participation in God’s salvation gives us a special inner appreciation of God’s goodness, greatness, and grace.
The 144,000 are described as chaste. Sexual imagery is used here to denote spiritual purity. Christ’s faithful followers keep away from Babylon the Prostitute and are loyal to him exclusively, as his pure bride (19:7-8; Eph. 5:26-27). Purity in sexual behavior is of course included as one element in this comprehensive purity (1 Cor. 6:15-20).
Now come three announcements from three angelic beings. Because of their similarity in pattern, these three episodes belong together as a single symbolic history (14:6-11). This symbolic history is the 6th out of 7 (see Introduction: Structure). The 7th symbolic history includes the appearing of the Son of Man (14:14), that is, the Second Coming. Thematically, angels are placed just before this Coming. They give a final solemn warning concerning the coming judgment and the necessity of repenting if one is to escape judgment.
God may of course send extraordinary warnings just before and during the final crisis leading to the Second Coming. But the message has a point throughout the church age. Through the church and through preaching, not merely directly through literal angels, the Lord gives warning to the unrepentant world.
The first angel calls on all to repent (14:6-7). Every nation, tribe, language and people is one of many occurrences of a fourfold label for all human beings. The reach of the message to all nations fulfills the promise made to Abraham that all peoples will be blessed (Gen. 12:3). But curse also comes to those who curse Abraham, and now, in the last days, this curse falls on those not repenting in response to the gospel. As other parts of Revelation make clear, the gospel involves turning to Christ. But here the focus is on worshiping and fearing God. The prime sin of the nations is the refusal to worship the One who has created and sustained them (Rom. 1:18-32; Acts 14:15-17; 17:22-31). The coming of the gospel is not what creates guilt; people are already guilty for rebelling against God. The coming of the gospel shows the way of escape and return to fearing God, before it is too late: the hour of his judgment has come (v. 7). The normal division of the universe into three parts, heaven, dry land, and sea, becomes four parts when one distinguishes salt water from fresh. These four parts of the universe all receive judgments in the first four trumpets (8:7-12) and the first four bowls (16:1-9). The mention of the four parts here thus contains a subtle reminder of the fierceness of God’s judgment against rebels.
The second angel announces the fall of Babylon, who seduced the nations. The center of false worship has fallen (see further development of this theme in chapters 17-18). Turn to true worship before it is too late. Babylon the Great, the great seductress, is further described in 17:1-19:10. She seduces people to adulteries. Sexual immorality as well as idolatry, which is spiritual adultery, were major temptations for the seven churches (see 2:20). But the effect, like that of drunkenness, is confusion of mind, shame, foolishness, and disgrace. See 17:2, 4; 18:3; 19:2; Jer. 51:7; Prov. 9:13-18.
The third angel elaborates on the fearsome judgment that comes to the unrepentant, the followers of the Beast. This threat is simultaneously an encouragement to the saints. It encourages them to hold fast even under intense suffering. Their suffering is but little in comparison with the wrath of God. It also shows that ultimate vindication will come. The Christian faith, which seems so small and puny to worldly eyes, will be shown to be true, and the worshipers of the Beast, who seem now so secure because of the worldly might of the Roman Empire, will find all their false hopes come to nothing.
Those who worship the Beast will be tormented with burning sulfur (v. 10). The torment goes on forever: not only does the smoke rise forever, but the sufferers have no rest, no sabbath, no relief (v. 11). What do we do with this picture?
The idea of endless torment is abhorrent to modern Western sensibilities. It troubles many Christians as well as non-Christians, and causes not a few in our day to look for some escape from the apparent meaning of these verses. Let us consider carefully. The Christian ideal of love, and its leavening effect on the West, has sensitized us to the appalling nature of cruelty and torture. Pagan societies of the ancient world, before the coming of Christianity, were shockingly brutal against their enemies, and too few within these societies had much of a troubled conscience. How did Christianity change this situation? It showed that cruelty is heinous because it is practiced against people made in the image of God, people moreover who are or may become our brothers and sisters in Christ, people who may become fellow heirs of salvation. Secularization converted this love of neighbor into a wishy-washy sentimentality. It liked to dream that everybody is innocent and suffering is senseless. Thus, we have to separate between good and bad within modern attitudes.
Moreover, the Second Coming represents a radical change in the situation, in that the possibility of repenting comes to an end. We quite rightly train ourselves during this age to have a hopeful attitude even toward the most terrible sinner. We pray and expectantly hope for repentance. We learn to love our enemies. This response fits the character of this age, but does not fit the arena of the Second Coming. Moreover, during the present age we love and admire many things about pagans because, even in their rebellion, they display many admirable reflections of God’s goodness. Our reactions may be proper now, but will change when we see undiluted wickedness in all its ugliness and hideousness. The Second Coming means the separation of good and evil. It means a separation not only of good and evil people, but a separation between good and evil within people. In evil people, evil comes to full fruition. Goodness remains only with God and those enjoying his blessing. It is hard for us to picture just how evil evil may actually become.
We must let God be God. He knows what he is doing, when he displays mercy and when he displays justice. We must therefore continue to take the teaching in Revelation seriously. We must stir ourselves up to reckon with the fact that God is indeed a God of justice and of punishment for evil. In repentance and turning to Christ lies the only escape from hell.
(On the Beast and his mark, see 13:1-10 and 13:16.)
In the midst of these threats of judgment comes a message to the saints. Persevere (see 1:9). Do not cave in to the temptations of the surrounding society and its idolatries, however powerful and seductive they may appear to worldly eyes. Your reward will yet come (v. 13). Unlike the worshipers of the Beast you will have rest.
14:14-20 is the last of 7 symbolic histories. It depicts the Second Coming as the harvest over which the Son of Man presides (cf. Matt. 13:36-43; Joel 3:12-16). The “one like a son of man” is Jesus Christ (1:13; Dan. 7:13-14).
Two harvests are described, grain (14:14-16) and grapes (14:17-20). These are perhaps two aspects of the same events of judgment. Or the grain harvest may be the harvest of the righteous (Luke 3:17), followed by the harvest of the wicked in 14:17-20. The main background is the picture of final divine harvest in Joel 3:12-16. In Joel grain is harvested with a sickle, and grapes are trampled in the winepress; both carry the primary connotation of punishment. But in Revelation specific connotations of punishment come only with the second, grape harvest, thrown into the great winepress of God’s wrath (v. 19). It is thus possible that the grain harvest may symbolize the harvest of the righteous (as in 14:1-5). More likely, the background from Joel gives us the main clue to interpretation. Both grain and grape harvests are directly primarily the judging the wicked. As in Joel, deliverance for God’s people is symbolized in other ways, but still comes in conjunction with the judgment of the wicked.
The cycle of seven bowls of God’s wrath composes the fourth cycle of visions leading up to the Second Coming (see Introduction: Structure). The opening scene of worship (15:1-16:1) calls to mind the worship around God’s throne in 4:1-5:14. The overcomers rejoice in God’s presence (15:2). Seven resplendent angels receive bowls from the presence of God in the temple. The bowls symbolize the cup of God’s wrath, which in the Old Testament makes the nations drunk (cf. Isa. 51:17, 20, 22; Jer. 25:15-29; Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 23:31-34; Hab. 2:16; Rev. 14:10; 16:19). The bowls are poured out at God’s command (16:1), resulting in seven last plagues. The plagues lead up and include the Second Coming, since “with them God’s wrath is completed” (15:1).
The seven bowls show notable similarities with the seven trumpets. The first four bowls, like the first four trumpets, result in devastation on the four major regions of creation: dry land, sea, fresh water, and sky. Like the trumpets, the bowls are reminiscent of the Mosaic plagues against Egypt. But the bowls result in more severe judgments than did the trumpets. The trumpet judgments typically affected a third of the total, but the bowls affect the whole.
These bowls symbolize the judgments of God against evildoers. The general pattern may include both the judgments against the godless Roman Empire and the final crisis leading up to the Second Coming (see Introduction: Interpretation). The symbolism also asserts that, throughout this age, God may at his pleasure send judgments of utmost devastation on those who rebel against him.
As we progress through the Book of Revelation, the visions focus more and more on the climactic judgments of the Second Coming. The judgments of the 7 bowls reminds us of the nearness of the last things not only by speaking of the seven last plagues, but indicating the culmination of the wrath of God: with them God’s wrath is completed.
The events unfold beside a sea of glass mixed with fire (v. 2). The sea is the same as in 4:6. We see the events as issuing from God’s presence and his throne. Terrible disasters do not come by accident, but according to the just judgment of God. They are harbingers of the final judgment of the Second Coming. As in 4:6, the sea is reminiscent not only of the Red Sea crossing but God’s power to subdue the chaos of the sea. The Israelites stood on the far shore of the Red Sea and observed the death of their enemies through God’s power. In the last days victorious saints likewise stand on the far side of their troubles and the persecutions of the Beast. As in 14:3, they take up a new song of victory. But it repeats the old song of Moses, in that God’s final victory recapitulates the earlier victory at the Red Sea (see Exod. 15). The plagues that follow in Revelation 16 are reminiscent of the plagues that came on Egypt.
The saints praise God for the greatness and awesomeness of his power, but also for his justice in these powerful, miraculous acts (v. 3). God’s acts of judgment are never arbitrary or spiteful, but just payment for evil deeds. Cf. 15:4; 16:5, 7; 19:2, 11. See also 14:10-12.
When God manifests his greatness in his deeds, people from all nations see who he is. They may nevertheless continue unrepentant, as the Egyptians did during the plagues of the exodus. But there may also be a favorable response. Nations formerly in the darkness of paganism see the light of God’s revelation (Isa. 60:1-3). The coming of all nations, fulfilled in 21:24-26, answers the promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3).
The vision now shifts to the temple (vv. 5-8). Old Testament images of tabernacle, altar, temple, throne, cloud, fire, and thunder all converge in Revelation to represent in various fashion the presence of God in his splendor, might, and beauty (see on 4:1-5:14). The bowls are moved from the temple area into the hands of the angels who will pour them out. The imagery indicates again that God is the origin and sovereign over the judgments that will follow.
The angels are dressed in clean, shining linen (v. 6), which is Old Testament priestly clothing (Exod. 28:42; Lev. 16:4). The holiness of God’s judgments is thereby emphasized (see 15:3-4). The four living creatures refer us back to 4:6.
Smoke (v. 8) or thick cloud frequently accompanies God’s presence, especially when he is angry. The associations include Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:9, 16, 18; 20:18) and the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isa. 6:4; Ezek. 1:4). Cf. Num. 12:5; Pss. 18:8, 11; 74:1.
A loud voice comes from the temple (v. 1), indicating that the events take place according to God’s instructions and plan.
The first angel pours his bowl on the land, the first of the four major regions of the universe. The plagues fall not on all human beings, but on the ungodly: people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image (v. 2). (On the image of the Beast, see 13:14-15.) The sores are like the Egyptian plague of boils (Exod. 9:8-12).
The second plague is like the Egyptian plague of blood (Exod. 7:14-24).
With the third plague, God’s true servants praise God for his justice, taking up the theme of 15:3. As with the lex talionis (Exod. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21; Pss. 7:16; 9:15-16; Obad. 15; Matt. 7:1-2; etc.), the punishment fits the crime.
The fourth plague (vv. 8-9), scorching with fire, corresponds to Old Testament language of judgment by fire (e.g., Joel 2:3; Isa. 66:15; Mal. 4:1-2). Despite the severity of the suffering people refuse to repent (vv. 9, 11). The vision represents people in the hardness of their heart. Rather than taking the warning to heart, they use it as an occasion to be angry with God.
The fifth plague is like the Egyptian plague of darkness (Exod. 10:21-23). The repeated refusal to repent (compare v. 9) prepares us for the last two plagues. Nothing remains now but people in their anger and cursing to attempt a direct assault on God (plague 6) and for God to put down the rebellion for good (plague 7).
The sixth plague (vv. 12-16) shows the preparations for the final battle, the battle of Armageddon. Aspects of this same battle have already been described in one way or another: the kings and all kinds of people cluster together in 6:15; the army beyond the Euphrates is summoned in 9:14; the Beast wars against the saints in 11:7 and 13:1-10. Further descriptions occur in 17:13-14; 19:11-21; and 20:7-10. The later passages describe the battle with increasing detail and precision, all based on the eschatological battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39. Throughout the church age there are times of intense confrontation between God and the forces of Satan (cf. 2:10, 13), but the most intense comes at the Second Coming (19:11-21).
Not all interpreters agree that these various verses describe the same battle. But once we appreciate the thematic concerns of Revelation, and the pattern of seven cycles all leading up to the Second Coming, the thematic unity of the various passages becomes a strong pointer to their inward unity. After all, how many last battles can there be, on the great day of God Almighty (16:14; cf. 6:16-17; 15:1!)?
The Euphrates river dries up to allow for the movement of great armies, as in 9:14. The Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet appear together (v. 13). The False Prophet is the same as the beast from the earth in 13:11-18. Together the three form a counterfeit of the holy Trinity (see Introduction: Counterfeiting). They are not only demonic in character, but, at this climactic point, they become generators of further demonic spirits, in the form of frogs. Miraculous signs occur, as in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 and 13:13-15, to deceive the reprobate. They are all too willing to be deceived because they have already rejected God’s truth (2 Thess. 2:10-11; John 3:18-20).
They gather them for the battle. In the climactic battle all the forces of wickedness are assembled to make war against the warrior Lamb (17:14). The imagery alludes to the battle between God and Pharaoh in Exodus 15:2, but the panorama is cosmic in scope. In Hebrew, Armageddon means “mount of Megiddo.” In ancient Israel, Megiddo was a key city overseeing a major travel route between the great kingdoms of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Huge armies could assemble in the neighboring Plain of Esdraelon. Moreover, God’s people had experienced decisive battles there (Judges 5:19; 2 Chron. 35:20-22). Thus it is a fitting symbol for the location of the climactic battle.
The name is symbolic, and so cannot be used as a basis for speculations about geographical details of the final battle. In any case, the final battle is preeminently spiritual in character. Attempts to correlate it with the maneuvers of particular national armies miss the point. The battle is between the servants of God and the enemies of God, not between two earthly nations. Because of the missionary expansion of the church, nearly all nations now have in their midst both Christians and non-Christians.
The seventh bowl (vv. 17-21) brings the cycle of judgments to an end. Like the other cycles, this one ends with the Second Coming (see Introduction: Structure), though the symbols of the Second Coming are not as obvious as in some other cases. Note the following features: (a) 15:1 already told readers that the end of the wrath of God would come with the seventh bowl. (b) The removal of all islands and mountains in 16:20 corresponds to the final shaking of the earth in 6:14 and 20:11 (cf. Heb. 12:26-27). (c) Elsewhere the fall of Babylon is immediately followed by the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:1-10). (d) In 17:14-17 the fall of Babylon is immediately associated with the final battle, which takes place at the Second Coming (19:11-21). Moreover, the final battle was imminent in 16:16. (e) In Revelation the imagery of the final battle is repeatedly drawn from Ezekiel 38-39 (see note on 16:14). 16:17-21 fits into this practice by grouping together an earthquake, the overturning of the mountains, and hail, as in Ezek. 38:19-23. Hence it describes the divine plague-judgments accompanying the battle; a description of other aspects of the battle is delayed until 19:11-21 in keeping with the dramatic plan of Revelation.
1 See Beale, Revelation, 635.
2 Beale, Revelation, 718-728.