The throne of the beast, receives from the dragon, is religious authority.
WHAT IS THE THRONE OF THE BEAST?
“The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast” (Rev 16:10), with four consequences:
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- “His kingdom became darkened,”
- “They gnawed their tongues because of pain,” (Rev 16:10)
- “They blasphemed the God of heaven,” and
- “They did not repent of their deeds” (Rev 16:11).
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A king’s throne is a symbol of his authority. Similarly, God’s throne represents His authority and the throne of the beast symbolizes its authority. It is not a literal beast and not a literal throne.
The main purpose of this article is to determine what the beast’s authority is. What gives it the power to rule? Is it military might, or the power of money, or perhaps religious authority?
To understand the nature of the final conflict, this question is important, for the authority of the beast determines by what kind of power God’s people will be persecuted.
THE THRONE OF THE BEAST IS
CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY.
The current article proposes that the authority of the beast is religious authority; specifically Christian religious authority, which means that the end-time conflict is the persecution of God’s real people by the church. This is argued as follows:
(1) ONLY THE CHURCH IS ABLE TO PERSECUTE GOD’S PEOPLE SELECTIVELY.
Only the church is able to identify God’s true people. It is able to identify them because they oppose its blasphemous practices and doctrines. Therefore, only the church is able to selectively persecute God’s true people. In history, God’s true people were never selectively persecuted by people outside the church.
(2) GOD’S ENEMY IS INSIDE THE CHURCH.
In the seven letters (Rev 2-3), the powers that oppose God’s true people are inside the Church. Since the nature of the conflict in the seven letters should be the same in the end-time conflict, God’s end-time people will be persecuted by the church.
(3) GOD’S PEOPLE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE HARLOT.
According to Revelation 17, the harlot Babylon persecutes God’s true people (Rev 18:24). Since the true church is represented by a pure woman (Rev 12:1), the harlot Babylon is the fallen church. This symbolism is based on the Old Testament which refers to unfaithful Israel as an adulteress woman.
(4) DECEIVE BY MEANS OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet will deceive people by means of signs and wonders. That identifies them as religious organizations. Furthermore, according to Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonica 2, this is what the end-time false prophets will do.
(5) THE SEA BEAST IS THE HORN OF DANIEL 7.
The Sea Beast of Revelation is the 11th horn of Daniel 7 and that horn will blaspheme God, persecute His people and “intend to make alterations in times and in law” (Dan 7:25). This identifies it as false religion.
(6) THE END-TIME PERSECUTION IS OVER WORSHIP.
The main word in Revelation 13 and 14 is “worship.” This final conflict may, therefore, be described as a war over worship, and therefore, a religious war.
(7) THE BEAST FROM THE EARTH IS CHRISTIAN.
The beast from the earth has two horns like a lamb (Rev 13:11). In other words, it looks like Christ. Another indication of its Christian nature is that it is called the “False Prophet” (Rev 16:13; 19:20).
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(1) ONLY THE CHURCH IS ABLE TO SELECTIVE PERSECUTE GOD’S PEOPLE.
The Beast will make war with the saints and to overcome them (Rev 13:7):
In the Bible, it never was foreign nations that selectively persecuted God’s true people; neither are they even able to identify God’s true people.
Over the centuries, it always was the people who pretended to speak for God who persecuted God’s real people. For example, Jesus was killed by the Jews, who manipulated the power of the government. And it was the Jews who killed Stephan and also all the prophets of old; not foreign nations.
The church (or Israel in the Old Testament) is able to identify the true people of God by their opposition to the blaspheming teachings and practices of the religious authorities of the day.
Applying this principle to the end time, God’s people will be persecuted by the church for their unorthodox teachings.
(2) GOD’S ENEMIES ARE INSIDE THE CHURCH.
The seven letters in Revelation 1 to 3 serve as an introduction to the book of Revelation. The nature of the conflict in the seven letters should, therefore, be the same as the nature of the end-time conflict. An analysis of the powers that oppose true God’s people in the seven letters shows that God’s people are not persecuted or threatened by forces outside the church, but always by forces within the church, namely:
Evil men “who call themselves apostles, and they are not” (Rev 2:2), and
“The woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess”, but she teaches God’s bond-servants to commit acts of immorality (Rev 2:20).
(3) THE CHURCH IS PERSECUTED BY A WOMAN.
Compared to the earlier chapters, Revelation 17 uses a different set of symbols. Instead of the dragon, the sea beast, and the false prophet of the previous chapters, we find a harlot woman—Babylon—sitting on a scarlet beast (Rev 17:3). In this symbolism, the harlot persecutes God’s true people (Rev 18:24). The following are indications that this harlot is the church:
(A) There are two women in Revelation. The first is the pure woman (Rev 12:1); also called the bride of the Lamb (Rev 19:7). The second is this harlot Babylon. By describing both as women, the Author of Revelation tells us that the persecuting harlot is, in some respects at least, similar to the woman who represents God’s people.
(B) Babylon claims that she is “not a widow” (Rev 18:7). By implication, she claims to be the Lamb’s true wife (cf. Rev 21:9).
(C) Both Israel (in the Old Testament) and the church (in the New Testament) are described as women, and as adulteress women when unfaithful (e.g., Ezek 23:8, 19, 27; Hosea 1:2; 4:12; 9:1; Isa 1:21-23; Num 15:39).
(D) God’s people are called out of Babylon (Rev 18:4) which means they are part of Babylon, which also implies that Babylon is the church.
(E) Babylon “has become a dwelling place of demons” (Rev 18:2; cf. 14:8), which means that she was not always evil.
(F) The 144000 never defiled themselves with women (Rev 14:4). The “women” in this verse are Babylon’s daughters, who herself is the “mother of harlots” (Rev 17:5). The fact that the 144000 never defiled themselves with these women means they never agreed with Babylon’s blasphemous practices.
While Revelation 13:11-18 focuses on the end-time, Rev 17 provides a long-term perspective. But this description of the harlot Babylon is also applicable to the end-time. Since Babylon represents the fallen church, God’s people, in the end-time, are persecuted by the church.
(4) DECEIVE BY MEANS OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
Moses performed “wonders and signs” (Acts 7:36). Jesus was “attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him” (Acts 2:22; Heb 2:4). The Lord confirmed the word of the apostles “by the signs that followed” (Mark 16:20). “Many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles” (Acts 2:43; Acts 5:12). However, in the end-time conflict, signs and wonders will confirm the anti-God powers:
The beast from the land “performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men” (Rev 13:13-14; cf. Rev 19:20).
In the sixth plague, the dragon, beast, and false prophet will be assisted by “spirits of demons, performing signs” (Rev 16:14).
This identifies them as religious organizations. Furthermore, the NT warns that false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders:
“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders” (Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22).
“The man of lawlessness … whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders” (2 Thess 2:3, 4, 9).
In Biblical context, false prophets, and therefore the dragon, beast and false prophet, pretend to speak for God.
(5) THE BEAST IS THE 11TH HORN OF DANIEL 7, AND THAT HORN IS FALSE CHRISTIANITY.
The beast receives its power and throne and great authority from the dragon (Rev 13:2), which is the Roman Empire. The beast is another symbol for the 11th horn of Daniel 7, which grows out of the Roman Empire.
To a large extent, this horn is a continuation of the Roman Empire. The authority of the Roman Empire was military might but the 11th horn, which grew out of it, is “different” (Dan 7:24). It will overpower the saints (Dan 7:21), “speak out against the Most High and … intend to make alterations in times and in law” (Dan 7:25). This identifies it as false religion; specifically, false Christianity. Since the Sea Beast of Revelation is another symbol for the 11th horn, this confirms that the Sea Beast is religious (Christian) in nature.
(6) THE END-TIME PERSECUTION IS OVER WORSHIP.
The word “worship” is used five times in Revelation 13 and 14. Four times it is used for the people worshiping the beast (Rev 13:8, 12) and his image (Rev 13:15; 14:11), while the three angels warn the people to worship the Creator alone (Rev 14:7). This last conflict may, therefore, be described as a war of worship and, therefore, as a religious war.
(7) THE BEAST FROM THE EARTH IS CHRISTIAN.
The beast from the earth, which deceives the people of the world to create “the image to the beast” (Rev 13:14), looks like a lamb (Rev 13:11). The word “lamb” occurs 29 times in Revelation, and only in this one instance does it not refer to Jesus Christ. The Earth Beast, therefore, appears to be Christian, but it speaks like a dragon (Rev 13:11), which refers to Satan (Rev 12:9). In other words, it acts like Satan. For that reason, it is called the “false prophet” (Rev 16:13; 19:20). Both the words “lamb” and “prophet” imply that it is Christian in nature.
THE BEAST IS NOT A GENERAL FORCE.
Some preterist commentaries view Revelation as a general description of the war between good and evil. They do not agree that the characters and events in Revelation were ever or will ever become real characters or events. Some such commentaries interpret the evil powers of Revelation as the power of money. It is true, particularly in Revelation 18, that economic power is prominent:
Babylon is clothed in wealth (Rev 17:4), and in Revelation, clothes depict the nature of the entity.
Her merchants became rich from her (Rev 18:15). They “were the great men of the earth” (Rev 18:23).
However, the beast is not a general force such as economic power:
Firstly, the beast is a specific entity with a specific date of origin (Rev 13:1). It looks like a leopard, has the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion, and receives its power from the dragon (Rev 13:2). These are the four animals of Daniel 7, representing Ancient Babylon, Mede-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire. The beast of Revelation, therefore, received something from each of these empires and came into existence after them.
Secondly, the Beast persecutes the saints and overpowers them (Rev 13:7). Economic power never persecutes the true people of God SELECTIVELY. It is not able to distinguish between God’s true people and others.
Thirdly, the Beast’s authority is primarily religious in nature because its primary purpose is to oppose God, not to accumulate wealth. The Beast uses wealth as a tool but it is not its ultimate purpose.
ARTICLES ON THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES
Introduction
Revelation 15
First four plagues
Not interpreted individually
Overview – refuse to repent
Fifth Plague
The Throne of the Beast
The Mighty Angel of Revelation 18.
Conclusions
Sixth Plague
The Great River, the Euphrates, dries up.
The Kings from the East
Armageddon
Does “coming like a thief” support a secret rapture?
Why the Euphrates has to dry up
Summary & Conclusions
Seventh Plague
Purpose of the Plagues
To show that God judges perfectly
Why is it necessary to show that God judges perfectly?
For further reading on Revelation, Jon Paulien’s commentary is recommended. For general discussions of theology, I recommend Graham Maxwell, who you will find on the Pineknoll website.
