Who (or What) is "the Beast"?

from an exposition of Revelation 10-11

The two witnesses testify in the face of fierce opposition. Then, “when they have finished their testimony,” not before, the beast is allowed to kill them (Revelation 11:7). While they still have our mission to testify to the world, telling the truth to a raging world, we cannot be stopped. As George Whitefield said, “Until God is done with you, you are invincible.” So, it is only after they – we – have fulfilled our mission that “the beast” can stop us.

Now, the famous beast makes his first appearance. Notice, he arises from “the bottomless pit,” that same pit that came with the fifth trumpet, that Satan (probably) opened up after being thrown out of heaven, that, like a Pandora’s box, unleashes demonic forces, like locusts infiltrating everywhere. Out comes, also, “the beast.” The beast alludes to Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7, where he saw a succession of world empires, symbolized by animals: a lion with eagle’s wings (Babylon); a lopsided bear (Persia); a leopard with four wings and four heads (Greece); and a fearsome, unnamed “beast” not like any animal we know, with iron teeth and ten horns (which was Rome).

The beast is a crushing empire. It will “make war on [the witnesses] and conquer them and kill them,” make them martyrs. The Roman empire sought to wipe out the Christian witness. There were spasms of intense persecution. The worst began in 303 AD. The emperor ordered the destruction of churches and scriptures. Christians were stripped of their legal rights. Then the pastors were arrested and imprisoned. Then, all people were required to sacrifice to Roman gods or face torture and execution. The beast was making war on the witnesses and turning them into martyrs. From time to time, the beast comes back, in other empires – like the Spanish Inquisition, Bloody Mary, the Nazis, and the communists – to try to wipe out the church. The beast makes war on the church. That’s what’s going on in this interlude we live in now, between the finished work of Christ and His second coming.

The world so hates the truth that it will try to destroy anyone who bears witness to it and will celebrate their deaths. The two witnesses being killed, in verse 7, signify the apparent defeat and temporary silence of God’s witnesses. Persecution appears to work, for a while. In verses 8 to 10, the world so celebrates the destruction of the witnesses that they humiliate them, laying their bodies out in the streets, like the philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche declaring that “God is dead and we have killed Him.”

The modern world thinks it has destroyed the witnesses. Now, we can throw out old morality and impose our new morality. We can do it because there’s no one higher than us to stop us, not even God. Something similar swept China about 50 years ago with the campaign to destroy the “Four Olds” and create new ideas, culture, customs, and habits based on their will, crushing anyone who resisted, including the church. They had the will to impose their way, like a beast, and so they did.

“The beast” is a symbol of the antithetical power to Christ, embodying the forces of evil, false religion, and worldly authority that oppose God’s sovereignty. “The beast” is a symbol of oppressive political power, corrupt governments that oppose God’s kingdom, like the Roman Empire, for the first three centuries of the church. But the beast represents not merely a political figure or even a singular entity. It is the embodiment of Satan’s rebellion and the corrupt systems that oppose God’s kingdom. The witnesses withstand the beast for a symbolic three and a half years with fire that comes out of their mouths, illustrating spiritual warfare using the Word of God. The beast is not able to stop the witnesses until their mission is done, thus showing God’s sovereignty over all evil. Even the beast can only do what God allows. The beast was embodied in the Roman Empire during the early church period, and has been incarnate down through history in any worldly power that blasphemes God, demands worship, and persecutes believers. The Spanish Inquisition, opposing the Reformation, was beastly. Queen “Bloody Mary” in England was a beast. So were Hitler, Stalin, Mao, the Ayatollah’s. The beast continues to arise, but it is still on God’s leash.

For the full exposition of Revelation 10-11, listen:

Covenant Reformed Baptist Church is Danville’s and Caswell County’s Reformed church.