Revelation 13:1-2 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. 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.

Bible Believers know that the number 13 implies rebellion (against God).

Coincidentally, Revelation 13 begins with the introduction of the Antichrist (or the one who is against or contrary to Christ).

‘And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea‘

The Antichrist is a beast that will emerge from the sea. The sea mentioned here is most likely referring to the Mediterranean Sea because, as previously discussed in other commentaries, the Antichrist’s background and nationality will be Syrian Jew and the Mediterranean Sea is the closest to both Syria and Israel.

‘having seven heads and ten horns‘

Verse 1 continues and gives us a description of the appearance of the beast: seven heads with 10 horns and 10 crowns with the name of blasphemy on its heads. This description of the Antichrist matches with the description of Satan the dragon in Revelation 12. However, there is a difference between the two. Satan the dragon, has crowns atop his heads while the Antichrist has them atop his horns. This difference is due to the fact that Satan’s crowns refer to Satan’s 7 kings and kingdoms that span throughout time while the Antichrist will only reign in a future time. Since Satan has the crowns directly atop his 7 heads, this means there have only been 7 thus far but when we look at the Antichrist and his 10 crowned horns, we know that there will be 10 kings and kingdoms altogether, 3 of which are in the Antichrist’s or a future timeline. Refer to “The Seven-Headed Dragon and the Ten Horned Antichrist” video on YouTube for further details on these 10 kingdoms. A list of Satan’s kings is as follows:

  • Nimrod
  • Pharaoh
  • Sennacherib
  • Nebuchadnezzar
  • Cyrus or Darius
  • Alexander the Great
  • Augustus (Caesar)

The beast is in the future. The three remaining kingdoms are England, Russia, and America (we will revisit them in the next video/chapter).

‘and upon his heads the name of blasphemy‘

To get an accurate interpretation of what the name of blasphemy is, we have to understand the context of surrounding verses and compare scripture with scripture. Verses 5 and 6 give us context on what the name of blasphemy could be. Notice that in each of these verses, blasphemies are used to desecrate the name of God and His people so it is possible that the name of blasphemy could be one of Satan’s aliases. It is also possible that this name refers to the Roman numerals pertaining to the number of the beast or six-hundred threescore and six. Whatever the name of blasphemy is, it is important to note that God did not see it fit to mention it as to not give the enemy credit or recognition. Just as God does this, we too should focus on God and grow spiritually rather than focus our efforts on uncovering the evil of this world. We sometimes notice that when we watch all these conspiracy theories, it can grieve our spirit too.

‘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‘

This beast is like unto a leopard with a bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth. Thus far, we see that a leopard creature with 7 heads and 10 horns with 10 crowns atop the horns emerges from the sea.

‘and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.‘

The dragon is Satan incarnate. Because of this, we now know that Satan is going for a perverse and demonic version of the Holy Trinity where Satan mimics God, the beast or the Antichrist mimics Jesus Christ, and the false prophet which appears later mimics the Holy Spirit. The verse then goes on to say that Satan gives the beast his power, seat, and authority.

Recall Satan offering Jesus the authority of dominion over the world kingdoms to know what authority Satan refers to. Concerning Satan’s seat, Revelation 2:13 (another 13 where Satan is mentioned) provides us with insight into where it is located.

Revelation 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Who is the number 1 candidate that persecutes Christians? It is Rome. We also know that the martyrdom of John’s time and the entirety of Church history has been led by the Roman Catholic church and will continue in the future timeline based on Revelation 17 which mentions the shedding of the martyrs’ blood by the Roman Catholic church.

Based on context, we discover that Satan’s seat is Roman in power, so the Antichrist is going to be Roman Catholic.  The fact that Satan gives the Antichrist his seat in Rome means that the Antichrist will hold a position of power in Rome through the Roman Catholic church which strongly supports the notion that the Pope will be the Antichrist or the beast of Revelation 13.