The Bible about the Beast

 

Contest of a god with a 7-headed monster called MUŠ.MAḪ “Distinguished serpent” in Sumerian (mušmaḫḫu in Akkadian), on shell plaque dated around 2500-2400 BCE. Collection Elie Borowski, Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

 

The real meaning of the Sumerian picture: Seven-headed dragon near the water / sea. He is served by a man (he is serving, because he kneels), but a man is not simple, but with two horns. Is one of the dragon's heads is drooped, and probably wounded, and is about to be bandaged?

 

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads… And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed… And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed”.

(Revelation 13:1-12)

 

In the center of the chiastic religious history of the world (chapters 12 – 19 of Apocalypse, see more “The structure of Apocalypse”), the most important thing is the Beast. This is the heart of the story.

We do not have a reasoned answer - how exactly the Beast will manifest itself in history. But we will try to understand as much as possible in this problem and collect as much as possible about the Beast from the Bible.

The Bible contains data showing the most important semantic characteristics. Further we will talk about the First Beast of the Apocalypse, most often calling it simply the Beast, as it is called in Greek by John in the Apocalypse, or Leviathan, as it is called in Hebrew in the OT.

There are many popular ideas and reflections about the beasts of the apocalypse. The modern technotronic transpersonal époque and electronic concentration camp provide a lot of food for thought. And this must be done, because yes, we are heading towards the End of Times at full speed. But we will take a different path. We are not interested in speculations against the background of current events, but in what the Bible says about the Beast.

Revelation, the book of Daniel, Job, Isaiah, Hezekiel, Jonah and other texts of Scripture give us a certain amount of information about the essence of the Beast and the dynamics of its activity.

Let us consider in detail the descriptions of the Beast in the Bible. Some of them will have short preliminary comments, but the most important are the bold and underlined words that indicate parallel passages in different parts of the Bible.

Using the theme of the Beast, we will see how amazingly complete the Bible is. From the first chapters of Genesis to the last chapters of the Apocalypse, written by different people at different times in different languages, the descriptions of the Beast not only do not contradict each other, but also harmoniously complement themselves using the same language of biblical signs, which conveys to us one general picture of the world.

 

The John's story in Apocalypse.

Here we present fragments of the Revelation, which concern the Beast and place them in the chronological order, which does not match with the order they are in the book (see more “The structure of Apocalypse” and “The Structure of the Biblical History”).

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 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. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

(Revelation 12: 1-17)

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 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.

These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

(Rev.17: 1-18)

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.

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. 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?

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. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

(Rev.13: 1-8)

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 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: 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. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

(Revelation 13: 11-18)

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

(Revelation 11: 3-7)

And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

(Revelation 16: 2-16)

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

(Rev.19: 17-21)

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

(Rev.20: 1-3)

In the New Testament, the word "beast" (θηρίον, lat. Bestia) was used to denote wild and fierce beasts and animals, including venomous snakes (Acts 28: 4,5). To designate animals and beasts in the broad sense of the word, another word was used - ζώον, it is also lat. animal, this word designates living beings near the throne of God.

 

The Daniel’s story

It is important to note that Daniel has a detailed parallel description of the events of the Last times with the beasts. John uses many images from the book of Daniel. Let us investigate it and at the same time correct some misconceptions in the interpretation of the book of Daniel.

…I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

…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. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time…

…I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things:

“These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever”.

Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

(Dan. 7: 2-26)

This fragment is written in Aramaic, then beast is חֵיוָא “animal, beast”; the Septuagint translation of it is also θηρίον.

 As you can see, Daniel gives a completely parallel story. The general meaning and sequence of events coincide with the Apocalypse. But in detail, Daniel reveals the problem from a different angle, and uses actually the same images as in John, but in a different way.

The four beast kingdoms emerge from the sea: the sea is a biblical sign of the place of satanic forces. Three seem to be ordinary, and the fourth is special, combining the features of the other three. Most likely, here we are talking about aspects of the same kingdom - the Beast of the Apocalypse. The John's Beast possesses all the attributes of the Daniel's four beasts: “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" (Rev.13: 1,2).

The Daniel's Beasts do not have seven heads. However, Daniel talks about brass and iron in the fourth Beast, and these same attributes are found in the Job's description of Behemoth and Leviathan “His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is cast iron”. There is a special difference between other beasts and the fourth Beast: it is great strength and global character, because the fourth beast will “devour the whole earth”.

As for the first three beasts, a little could be interpreted. The leopard beast is the sign of speed, the bear beast is the sign of bloodlust, the lion beast is the sign of rage. In the Scripture, there are frequent references to a lion and a bear, and sometimes a leopard, which speaks of the wickedness of kingdoms: "As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people" (Prov. 28:15).

The Daniel's story about the first lion-beast has the deepest meaning: “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". Leo is a sign indicating the tribe of Judah, the Kingdom of Judah. So we can talk about the Kingdom of Judah. Next are the wings of an eagle. The eagle's wings are a sign of the special and exclusive Grace of God. It was the wings of the eagle that the Christian Church received from God (Rev.12:14). The wings of an eagle, plucked out of the lion-like kingdom, leaves no doubt that we are talking about the Jewish people, who did not accept the Messiah and God's grace was taken away from him. This means that the Jews will play the most important role in the affairs of the devil and the apocalyptic Beast. Actually, Christ in the Apocalypse unambiguously calls the Jews who did not accept Christ "the synagogue of Satan" (Rev.2:9). Further, this lion "was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it". It is a pure allusion to the story of the Second Beast of Apocalypse "coming up out of the earth" (Rev.13:11) - the false prophet. It turns out that the false prophet-Antichrist will be of the Jews.

The fourth beast with ten horns is the closest to John's description. Among interpreters, there is a popular view that the John's Beast is an analogue of the fourth beast described by Daniel. However, a close reading reveals that this is not the case:

Firstly, there is a dual nature of Daniel's animals. On the one hand, they came out of the sea - a synonym for the place of Satan, and on the other: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth”. While the John's First Beast came out exclusively from the sea.

Secondly, “out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High“. Let us repeat the sequence of events according to Apocalypse: the Babylonian harlot; the ten kingdoms rise up against her: and then their power passes to the Beast, which "was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition". The fourth Daniel’s beast is more similar to Babylon the Great. The special “another” horn, not one of ten, but a special “eleventh”, is clearly similar to the First Beast in John. The signs of the horn and the beast are generally similar and mean in the Bible a kingdom, political power, and may well be used interchangeably. In addition, both “another” horn and the First Beast will blaspheme God. In the Bible, “to blaspheme God” means making oneself equal to God.

Thirdly, how these beasts will be destroyed? John writes that at the first judgment will be 24 judges-elders, and then: “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet... both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev.19: 20). Daniel, on the other hand, does not mention how exactly the “another” horn will be destroyed, but speaks of judges judging it, like John. The fourth beast of Daniel: "the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame". That is, the John's First Beast and the Second Beast-False Prophet were thrown alive into the fire. The beast of Daniel at first was killed, and then his corpse was burnt. This is more like the death of Babylon the Great: “these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire" (Rev.17: 16).

 

Other books of the Bible also mention the Beast:

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

(Genesis 3: 14-15)

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered… And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it…

(Genesis 9: 1-5)

If one reads superficially, it turns out that God will prosecute animals that have brought harm to humans (for example, a bear will kill someone). But will God judge foolish animals? In the Hebrew text, we are talking about simply animals חַי  living beings. But in the Septuagint חַי  was translated not as usual - as an animal ζώον, but as a predatory ferocious beast θηρίον. Maybe here we are talking not just about animals running in fields and forests, but about animals that are further presented in the Bible as signs indicating the devil. God will judge the devil and his minions.

For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons (taninim, תַ֝נִּינִ֗ים) in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan (לִוְיָתָן) in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

(Psalm. 74: 12-14)

Tanin תַּנִּין, sea-monster in plural תַ֝נִּינִ֗ים is synonymous with Behemoth בְּהֵמוֹת.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon (tanin תַּנִּין) shalt thou trample under feet.

(Psalm. 91: 11-13)

Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab (רַהַב) in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

(Psalm. 89: 10,11)

So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan (לִוְיָתָן), whom thou hast made to play therein.

(Psalm. 104: 25,26)

And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? He takes up all of them with the angle, he catches them in their net, and gathers them in their drag: therefore he rejoice and are glad. Therefore he sacrifices unto his net, and burns incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his meat plenteous.

(Hab.1:14-16)

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish ( גָּד֔וֹל דָּ֣ג) to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights

(Jonah 1: 17)

Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

(Jonah 2: 1-10)

The story of Jonah is important for us because it turns out that the devil (a big fish is one of the biblical signs of the devil), can swallow a man and he can live in the devil. This issue will be developed further.

 

Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale (tanin תַּנִּין)  in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.

(Ezek. 32: 2)

In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish (1) leviathan the piercing serpent, even (2) leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay (3)  the dragon (tanin תַּנִּין) that is in the sea.

(Isa. 27: 1)

Since God strikes the whole “trinity of Satan” with the sword, then most likely we are talking about the first coming, the resurrection of the Messiah and the emergence of the Christian Church. Then the Beast will receive a mortal wound in one of its heads. But the general context of the story is rather a massacre, and in context it is closer to chapter 19 of Apocalypse, where Christ smashes many with a sword.

 

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon (tanin תַּנִּין)? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

(Isa. 51: 9,10)

Isaiah makes the distinction of beasts: one beast twists, the other walks straight, and the third is in the hell abyss.

Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

(Jer. 5:22)

 

Separately, we need to present here what is written about the Beast in the book of Job.

Job first talks about the devil as a fallen angel. Job writes about the big fish and about Lucifer. Job generally has the most developed teaching about the devil in the Old Testament. But we are also interested in what Job writes about the incarnations of the devil, in particular about the analogue of the Beast of the Apocalypse - Leviathan.

This is written in chapters 40 and 41 of the book of Job. First, a little is said about Behemoth. Behemoth בְּהֵמוֹת  is the plural of בְּהֵמָה  beast, cattle, animal. The Septuagint translation of this word is θηρία that is the plural of θηρίον - a predatory ferocious beast. Simply animal in Greek is ζωον. It is θηρίον that John and the translators of Daniel use to name apocalyptic beasts. That is, one of the names of the devil in Job Bechemot is “beasts,” and chapter 40 first describes the plural (triple) character of the devil, and some features of the devil in general and Leviathan in particular.

But from the 24th verse of chapter 40 the devil in Job finally takes a definite earthly form.  This is no longer a fallen angel, not a big whale in the abyss, and not "beasts" Behemoth. Further we are talking about something curling-bending-twisting. Not only the name changes, but also the subject of the story.

In the book of Job, the description of the internal structure of the monster named Leviathan (Leviatan) begins. Further in the description of Leviathan there is already a presentation of its structure, components, system, attributes. Thus, in a paradoxical way (as in the Apocalypse) a structural aspect begins to be introduced into the personality of the devil. This is the most important thing for us.

Here and further, we will quote the book of Job mainly in translation from Greek, because the Hebrew text is rather distorted. Here is an English translation with our corrections.  

 Chapter 40 (10-27)

10 But now look at the beasts (θηρία, Behemoth בְּהֵמוֹת) before you; they eat grass like oxen.

11 His strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.

12 He sets up his tail like a cypress; and his nerves (νεῦρα tendons) are weaved.

13 His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is cast iron.

14 This is the beginning of the Lord's plan, created to be ridiculed by His angels.

15 And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy the four-legged in tartarus.

16 He lies under trees of every kind, by the papyrus, and cane, and butomus.

17 And the great trees make a shadow over him with their branches, and so do the bushes of the field.

18 If there should be a flood, he will not perceive it; he trust that Jordan will rush up into his mouth.

19 In his eye he will take it, crooking he pierces his nose.

20 But wilt thou catch the dragon (Leviathan) with a hook, and put a halter about his nose?

21 Or wilt thou fasten a ring in his nostril, and bore his lip with a clasp?

22 Will he address thee with a petition? softly, with the voice of a suppliant?

23 And will he make a covenant with thee? and wilt thou take him for a perpetual servant?

24 And wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or bind him as a sparrow for a child?

25 And do the nations feed upon him, and the nations of the Phoenicians share him?

26 And all the ships come together would not be able to bear the mere skin of his tail; neither shall they carry his head in fishing-vessels.

27 But thou shalt lay thy hand upon him, remembering the war that is in his body; and let he will not be?

 

Chapter 41 (1-26)

1 Hast thou not seen him? and hast thou not wondered at the things said of him?

2 Dost thou not fear what has been prepared for Me? for who is there that resists Me?

3 Or who will resist Me, and abide, since the whole world under heaven is Mine?

4 I will not be silent because of him: the word of power will have mercy on the one who is equal to him.

5 Who will open the face of his garment? and who can enter within the fold of his breastplate?

6 Who will open the doors of his face? the round of his teeth is terror.  

7 His inwards are brass shields, and his unity is like a stone smirites (σμιρίτης).

8 One to another cleaves (דָּבַק, κολλαω, stick, join), and the Spirit cannot penetrate him.

9 A man will cleave (דָּבַק, κολλαω, stick, join) to his brother. They are remain united together, and cannot be separated.

10 At his sneezing a light shines, and his eyes are as the appearance of the morning star (Lucifer).

11 Out of his mouth proceed as it were burning lamps, and as it were hearths of fire are cast abroad.

12 Out of his nostrils proceeds smoke of a furnace burning with fire of coals.

13 His breath is as live coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth.

14 And power is lodged in his neck, before him perdition runs.

15 Flesh with flesh is in his body; they cleave (דָּבַק, κολλαω, stick, join) to one another. (The Lord) pours upon him, but he shall not be moved.

16 His heart is firm as a stone, and it stands like an unyielding anvil.

17 And when he turns, he is a terror to the four-legged beasts which leap upon the earth.

18 If spears come against him, it will effect nothing, either with the spear or the breast-plate.

19 For he considers iron as chaff, and brass as rotten wood.

20 The bow of brass shall not would him, he deems a slinger as grass.

21 Hammers are counted as stubble; and he laughs at a fiery earthquake.

22 His lair is formed of sharp points; and all the gold of the sea under him is an immense quantity of clay.

23 He makes the abyss boil like a brazen caldron; and he regards the sea as a pot of ointment,

24 and the Tartar of the abyss as a captive: he reckons the abyss as his range.

25 There is nothing upon the earth like to him, formed to be mocked with by My angels.

26 He beholds every high thing: and he is king of all that are in the waters.

 

So, proceeding from the text of the Bible and its initial commentary, now we can begin to understand the meaning of the Beast.

The devil, a fallen angel, tries to imitate God. God is Yahweh Elohim. The proper name is Yahweh and Elohim "gods" in the plural, indicating that God is three Persons. Likewise, the devil also has three "hypostases". Job, Isaiah and John show us that the devil in history shows, as it were, three incarnations, or hypostases:

(1)   The fallen angel-spirit.

(2)   The devil in the form of a man.

(3)   The beast with seven heads and ten horns, called by Job and Isaiah as Leviathan, and John as the First Beast or simply the Beast.

From the Scripture we know a lot about Satan - the fallen angel and about Antichrist – the devil in the form of a man. However, there is a riddle of the Beast with heads and horns. Too big a problem and too many contradictions. However, John pays most of attention for the Beast, placing it at the center of the events of the Last times. It is the First Beast who makes the war with the Church, almost conquering it; it also kills the last two prophets; It is healed from a mortal wound; it overcomes the restriction established by God for the devil; the Babylonian Harlot sits on him; the whole world will be forced to worship him. The First Beast is the main mystery of the Apocalypse.

So how does the Scripture call these incarnations of the devil?

1.Satan as a fallen angel

Genesis – serpent.

John - red dragon, serpent, devil and Satan

Job - Rahab, tanin, behemoth, big whale (big fish).

Isaiah - sea tannin, son of the morning (Lucifer).

Psalms - Rahab, tanin, serpent (poisonous snake).

Ezekiel - sea/river tannin.

Jonah - big fish.

Daniel - beasts.

That is, in the Bible, Satan as a fallen angel is shown in the form of four unambiguous signs:

Land reptile - dragon, serpent, snake.

Venus Star (Lucifer).

A monster (tanin, Rahab, big fish) living in hell, abyss, sea or river (sea is a sign of abyss-hell).

Ferocious beasts (in plural) are tannins, behemoth.

There are also other signs - unicorn, lion, eagle, bird-catcher, etc. For more details, see our work “The Renaissance meaning of the myth of the Unicorn”. 

 

2.The incarnation of the devil in the world as a human person

Job - running perdition

Paul - the son of perdition.

Isaiah – leviathan piercing, upright

Daniel - lion with a human heart.

John - the second beast with horns like a Lamb; a false prophet, Antichrist.

 

3.The incarnation of the devil in the world – Beast\Leviathan

Job - Leviathan, sometimes Behemoth.

Daniel - the arrogant Horn.

John - the Beast with seven heads and ten horns.

Isaiah - Leviathan crooked.

Psalms – Leviathan.

 

The essence and mystery of this "Arrogant Horn", "Beast", "Leviathan", "crooked Leviathan" has a common root and core with the devil-Satan and Antichrist, but the Beast has a special features. Let's look at them in order.

 

 

 

 

The Nature of the Beast

 

Contradictions

The description of the Beast in the Bible is contradictory. This contradiction makes it difficult for us to understand such a phenomenon as the Beast. Moreover, the inconsistency lies not in different ideas about the Beast in different parts of the Bible, but in the fact that the contradictions are inherent in almost each of these parts. Therefore, the books of John, Daniel and Job, each of them presents these contradictions.

The first contradiction is the location, activity of the Beast. John, and Daniel and Job write that this Beast is from the abyss/sea/water. God limited the kingdom of the devil to the sea abyss, and the devil can only influence the earth from there, moreover, in the forms and boundaries determined by God. On the other hand, John, Daniel and Job tell us that the Beast will be on the earth; - moreover, he will reign on the earth and will achieve a triumph. 

The second contradiction is the ways of worshiping the Beast. On the one hand, it looks like political submission, and on the other, like religious worship.

The third and most difficult contradiction is the nature of the Beast. In the biblical descriptions, the Beast appears as a person or as an animal. The Beast will be judged and punished, even executed in the same way as a person. The Beast will be worshiped; one will make an image of the Beast to be worshiped. On the other hand, the Beast is described also as community, structure and first of all as a state. A beast, horn, head are popular biblical signs indicating a kingdom, a state.

We emphasize that everything related to the activity of the Beast on earth is global. The Beast as kingdom is worldwide. Therefore, all the interpretations that suggest non-global structures or personalities by the Beast are either gross mistakes or deliberate misinformation.

 

The basic biblical concepts of the Beast

The book of Jonah tells us an interesting thing: it turns out that the devil (a sea monster) can swallow a person and this person remains alive.

There were late Renaissance ideas about the devil as one large personality that consists of many people. For example, the famous Leviathan of Hobbes, in which the state is both a person, and a structure, and a connection of people.

This early intuition did not arise from scratch, but as a result of the Job's interpretation of Leviathan. The Book of Job takes this idea seriously, proposing certain concepts:

 

I. Leviathan is a community of people, political and religious: “his unity (σύνδεσμος) is like a stone smirites. One to another cleaves, and the Spirit cannot penetrate him. A man will cleave to his brother. They are remain united together, and cannot be separated” (Job 41: 7-9).

As you can see, Leviathan is a certain unity, the union σύνδεσμος (unity, union, bundle, cohesion, coupling, brace). It is not known what kind of stone “σμιρίτης” is, but the context shows that this union, this bond is very strong. Church in Greek is ecclesia, literally "convened meeting". But Leviathan is a cohesion, a bundle. But what kind of cohesion? The cohesion of whom?

"One to another cleaves (to stick)". The Bible is written in an extremely personalistic language, also has methods of describing structures with a high level of personality degradation (see more “The Structure of the Biblical History”). The expression "one to another" is analogous to "they" for the builders of the Tower of Babel. In the biblical language, the avoidance of mentioning a name, or any human characteristics and limiting only to a pronoun, tells us of a strong degradation of these people.

But further clarification is given of who these "they" are - these are people who "a man will cleave to his brother". We first time hear the word to stick, to join, “cleave” דָּבַק, κολλαω in Adam's declaration: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave/join unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).

Such adhesion is the union of man and woman into one flesh. Likewise, the union of God and men in the Bible is often represented as a marriage relationship: “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Eph. 5: 31,32).

In the Leviathan, it seems to be also a marriage relationships, but perverted – “a man to his brother” - this is a hint of sodomy. Religious relations are also perverted accordingly. Once the marriage term is used, it means that there is a perverted, religious connection of people in Leviathan. Moreover, the Spirit of God will not penetrate into this cohesion. And what is the spirit of this perverted religious union of people living in Leviathan?

“his eyes are as the appearance of the morning star (Lucifer)” (Job 41:10). The eyes are the window to the soul. Lucifer, the devil is the spirit of the religious cohesion of the people of Leviathan.

We read Job further: “Flesh with flesh is in his body; they cleave (דָּבַק, κολλαω, stick, join) to one another. (The Lord) pours upon him, but he shall not be moved” (Job 41:15). Leviathan has a body, which is made up of people in the flesh (the word “people” is not directly mentioned to emphasize the degradation of their personality). Where have we seen this before? In the doctrine of the Christian Church:

"For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (Rom. 12: 4,5); “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1Cr. 6:19); “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1Cr.12:12-13); “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (1Co. 6:17).

Leviathan is an "anti-church". That is, there is both a personality (the devil) and his body (people united, cleaved together). Only here everything is inside out. In the Church, each member is unique, valuable, has his place and work, and, like a marriage relationship, is in spiritual union with God. In Leviathan, the opposite is true. All are the same, their personalities are erased, there are not even individual members in the body of the Beast (all are named impersonally - "flesh"). There is no question of any special place for everyone: everyone is in a link with everyone, an analogue of the sodomite sin. Accordingly, a religious union with the devil is a pervert imitation of the Christian Church. This is the true church of Satan, not the cosplay of LaVey and the like.

Job in the light of Paul's theology reveals to us this most difficult riddle of the Beast. Job's story took place long before the emergence of not only the Christian church, but even before the Old Testament church of Moses. But it describes the events of the Last Times. This is the amazing integrity of the Bible.

However, the Leviathan/Beast has three "advantages" over the Church of Christ.

First. The Church is an assembly of free personalities. Each is unique, has its own place and ministry, and everyone is free. This means that an evil spirit can approach each member of the Church and tempt him to leave the Church. But one can't leave Leviathan. The Spirit of God cannot penetrate there. Leviathan is not a union of free personalities, but a bundle, an alloy of degraded people. God pours out His Spirit on everyone: “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28), but pouring out the Spirit on Leviathan has no effect. If a person has already become a part of Leviathan, then that's it.

Second. The Church is a religious association, and if worldly activity does not interfere with religion, then the Church has no special concern for it. A person who is a member of the Church lives his personal life. But there is nothing personal in the Beast-Leviathan, which means it is extremely totalitarian - “both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” (Rev. 13:16). Outside Leviathan, man has nothing. The Beast is both man and humanity, it is a combination of both the religious and the worldly. Job has an interesting remark: "all the gold of the sea under him is an immense quantity of clay". Gold of the sea (they traded by sea) is circulating money, the financial system. That is, the entire economy of the world is under the Beast. The Beast is everything: religion, politics, economics, culture, information sphere, etc. The beast is humanity. There will be a devil-Antichrist as a man and a devil-Leviathan as humanity.

Third. Inside the Leviathan, there is a constant enmity. Man is a wolf to man. But this internal enmity, in contrast to the internal Church enmity, does not weaken the Beast, but on the contrary strengthens it. Internal enmity is one of the bonds of Leviathan; this is such a paradox. In the Hebrew Job, in the phrase “One to another cleaves” instead of “cleave” it is written “approaching” יִגַּ֑שׁוּ  in the imperfect, which can mean a repeated, constant action. There is a permanent process - disintegration as a result of an internal war, but instantly everyone returns back to the cohesion: "But thou shalt lay thy hand upon him, remembering the war that is in his body; and let he will not be?" (Job 40:27). It is naive to think that since there is enmity among the cogs and knots of Leviathan, then one can play on it and defeat the Beast. The enmity only strengthens him. Even if in the underworld, Satan and his demons had enmity, this would weaken their strength: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" (Mat.12:25-26). But in Leviathan, the devil incarnated in humanity, division does not weaken him. So let the enmity among the sons of this world (politics, wars) does not mislead anyone - it does not lead to division, but to their even greater rallying in the body of Leviathan. Probably, the rules of the game in the Beast are written out in such a way, that everyone will pull in the same direction in spite of enmity.

Now, knowing the basic structure of the Beast, we can remove the third contradiction.

Here is what Job said: “He makes the abyss boil like a brazen caldron; and he regards the sea as a pot of ointment, and the Tartar of the abyss as a captive: he reckons the abyss as his range. There is nothing upon the earth like to him…” (Job 41: 23-25).

Daniel: “four great beasts came up from the sea” (Dan. 7: 3); “great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth” (Dan.7: 17).

A clear contradiction, - so from the sea (the abyss) or from the earth? John has an explanation: “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” (Rev.13: 1-2).

That is, the Beast of the sea, but comes out on the earth. John is seeing the process as the Leviathan/Beast comes out of the sea to the earth. However, we are immediately faced with a fundamental problem. John writes for a reason that he is standing on the sand of the sea:

“(God) have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it” (Jer. 5:22);

 “And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out its mother’s womb. And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist. And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates. And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee” (Job 38: 8-11); “caused the morning star (Lucifer) to know his place” (Job 38:12).

God limited the power of the devil by the underworld (the deep sea), and the devil will not cross it.  But how will he conquered the earth?

We have to know that the devil has an access to the earth by means of his influence on man. Because of the fall of man, people became sinned. At the same time, man was created as a lord of the earth “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28).

Then tempting and seducing man, the devil become the ruler of people and so the ruler of the world. Therefore the devil is called the prince of the world: “for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). However he is only the prince, not the king of the world. His form of the appearance, power and influence on people and world is limited by the real King who is God. The devil cannot use all his power against the earth, humanity, and faithful to Gog people by his own. Ant the most important - the devil is not prohibit to rule the world directly, but only via man. “And it came to pass on a day, that behold, the angels of God came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came with them. And the Lord said to the devil, Whence art thou come? And the devil answered the Lord, and said, I am come from compassing the earth, and walking up and down in the world” (Job 1:6-7). To go around a plot of land according to the Bible semantic means to indorse an ownership. Then the devil brags that he owns the whole world. But he lies: “And the Lord said to him, Hast thou diligently considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a man blameless, true, godly, abstaining from everything evil?” (Job 1:8). God unmasks the devil’s deception, because while in the world there are faithful, godly people, the devil cannot be an owner, a king of the world.   

However, in the Last times, there will be a lot of wicked, but very few godly people: “when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Such a bad, wicked condition of humanity will enable the devil to become (for a short time) the king of the world.

Being limited by the abyss, Satan as an angel cannot triumph on the earth by himself. But he can triumph on the earth as the Beast-Antichrist in those, who are “made” of the earth, from the dust of the earth: in man. He also can triumph on the earth as the Beast-Leviathan in humanity, as in the state and "church".  With the help of humans, Satan will be able to overcome the limitations imposed on him by God! The Beast does not appear overnight - it is a process and evolution. The devil will not cross the border from God himself, no matter how angry he is, but the people will move him across this border and in the people he will cross this border. 

So, we see how to remove the contradictions in the description of the Beast-Leviathan. The Beast is a personality - because he is ruled by the spirit of the personality of Satan-Lucifer. But the Beast is a structure, because it consists of people who surrendered to Lucifer in irreversible slavery. The Beast is a form of religion (“pseudo-church”) - because it is composed according to the church principle, but also it is "worldly", because it is totalitarian and everything that in one way or another concerns human life is subject to it: politics, culture, science, economics. And finally, the Beast is from the sea (the abyss) because it is the abode of the fallen angel Satan, and at the same time it is on earth and from the earth, because his body consists of earthly people.

 

II. Material character of Leviathan. What is the "fuel" of the Beast on the earth?

The serpent, tempting the first men, was punished by God with the limitation by means of matter: “upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:14). The devil is limited by matter, and only by means of the material, he can tempt and enslave a man. Likewise, Behemoth in Job: "look at the beasts (θηρία, Behemoth בְּהֵמוֹת) before you; they eat grass like oxen". The serpent eats dust, Behemoth (pl.) eat grass, under Leviathan is the entire economy, Leviathan is made up of people not as individuals, but as simply flesh, which is synonymous with matter.

In general, Job emphasizes in every possible way the material nature of Leviathan: "His heart is firm as a stone, and it stands like an unyielding anvil" (Job 41:16), "His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is cast iron" (Job 40:13).

Likewise, Daniel writes about the fierce fourth beast: “whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet” (Dan. 7:19). His material ferocity is iron and copper.

How do different members unite in the one Christian body? By the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works in every member, which leads to unity of faith in love. Leviathan has flesh at work. Human material carnal desires bind people into the body of the Leviathan-Beast. Christians are together by the action of the Spirit, who is extra-material. The devil cannot do this and he imitates the union according to the Spirit in the Christ’s Body, by means of the union according to the flesh in the devil's body. The Leviathan Beast is an earthly, materialistic, carnal simulation of the Church (see our work “The Structure of the Biblical History” about the Matrix as the devil’s “materialization” of the spiritual).

This is what Paul writes about spirit and flesh: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal 5: 16-23).

The devil is the prince of matter and at the same time he is bound by matter. And since man, even as a result of sin, received a tendency to dependence on the material, but also received the opportunity in spirit, mind, to resist and reject material temptations from the devil. And this means that the devil is trying to replace a person's spirit, mind with matter, more precisely, with the material Matrix.

The key characteristic of the First Beast is that his “body” is made up of many people, interconnected by various, but all carnal, material ties: power, physical strength, commodity-money relations, and finally an information web. Actually, for these interconnections this Matrix is ​​made. 

 

III. The technological nature of Leviathan is the network

We have defined the general nature of the Leviathan-Beast as a cohesion of people based on matter. But what is the form, the way of this cohesion? It is technology.

In the John's description of the Second Beast - Antichrist, there is: “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Rev.13: 14-15); “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: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" (Rev.13: 16-17).

People may to have made some technology; the False Prophet will apply electronic concentration camp technologies to all people on the earth. In the direct descriptions of the Leviathan Beast, little is said directly about technology, but indirectly one can see that everything there is literally stuffed with technologies, information and network. In general, all wicked entities in the world are always highly dependent on technology. Let’s immediately indicate the general technology of cohesion in Leviathan.

Describing Behemoth, Job says: "his nerves (νεῦρα tendons) are weaved". The tendons of animals and humans are not intertwined, weaved but parallel (thanks to this, people made ropes and bowstrings from them). However, Behemoth's tendons are somehow weaved.

And in his name – Leviathan is laid a lot of sense: Leviathan לִוְיָתָן   “livyatan” - is curly or weaving. It comes from the words לָוָה  "lava" A (qal): 1. to accompany; to borrow. B (ni): join, stick, cleave. לִוְיַת  "livya" wreath, garland.

Jacob's story has an interesting moment: “And she (Leah) conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined לָוָה unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi לֵוִֽי " (Gen. 29:34). That is the word לָוָה  can have a context of adhesion, weaving, binding.

Do you see the tendency? Here is the Tower of Babel with dead bricks as a new humanity, here is the Kabbalistic Babylonian view of the world as an impersonal digital system and matrix, here is the Beast as a global totalitarian kingdom, here is Leviathan as a network. The network connects people in Leviathan.

The devil is often represented in the Bible as a bird-catcher. A bird is the sign of a soul of man, and he catches it with a net. The sea beast also wields its net: “And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? He takes up all of them with the angle, he catches them in their net, and gathers them in their drag: therefore he rejoice and are glad. Therefore he sacrifices unto his net, and burns incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his meat plenteous" (Hab. 1: 14-16).

Let's pay attention to what Habakkuk writes: "he sacrifices unto his net, and burns incense unto his drag". Leviathan produces religious service (sacrifice and incense) to his technological tool with which he catches people. We see the connection between technology and religion. John also writes about this: people make something technological "an image to the Beast" with their own hands and then they worship its.

The devil as an evil spirit, the dragon catches souls in a net by means of temptations. How can this be embodied in the material world? It could be an information network or the Matrix. And it is anchored to a special image of the Beast: for Hobbes as a devil in the form of a system of human souls, for Kurzweil in the form of a transpersonal utopia, or the film "Lucy".

 

IV. Leviathan is impermeable - Leviathan is a very hard and impenetrable. This is manifested in the fact that:

- The inner essence of the Beast, hidden behind its mask and protection, cannot be seen by a man on his own: “Who will open the face of his garment? and who can enter within the fold of his breastplate? Who will open the doors of his face? the round of his teeth is terror" (Job 41: 5-6). That is, who will remove the mask and see the true face, the true essence of this creature? All that we know about the Beast is given to us by God in the Scripture, but a man cannot learn anything by means of an independent research.

- The Beast cannot be frightened, moved to pity. One can't come to an agreement with him:“Will he address thee with a petition? softly, with the voice of a suppliant? And will he make a covenant with thee?" (Job 40: 27-28).

- A man cannot enslave or take control over the Beast-Leviathan: “But wilt thou catch the dragon (Leviathan) with a hook, and put a halter about his nose? Or wilt thou fasten a ring in his nostril, and bore his lip with a clasp? ... And wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or bind him as a sparrow for a child?" (Job 40: 22-24). If you collect all the forces of the earth, then it will still be impossible to defeat the Beast: “And do the nations feed upon him, and the nations of the Phoenicians share him? And all the ships come together would not be able to bear the mere skin of his tail; neither shall they carry his head in fishing-vessels” (Job 40: 25-26). On the contrary, the Beast can easily conquer and enslave a man.

- However, man can resist the Beast on equal terms: “the word of power will have mercy on the one who is equal to him” (Job 41: 4). Man has a weapon against Leviathan - this is mental enmity. If a man is resistant to the temptations the devil, then no beast will forcefully enslave him. The power of Christians is Christ on the Cross. It is not given to man to defeat the Beast, but to confront him on equal terms. Only God can defeat the Beast: “Hast thou not seen him? and hast thou not wondered at the things said of him? Dost thou not fear what has been prepared for Me? for who is there that resists Me? Or who will resist Me, and abide, since the whole world under heaven is Mine?" (Job 41: 1-3).

- Against the Beast, physical, material force is powerless: “If spears come against him, it will effect nothing, either with the spear or the breast-plate. For he considers iron as chaff, and brass as rotten wood. The bow of brass shall not would him, he deems a slinger as grass. Hammers are counted as stubble; and he laughs at a fiery earthquake” (Job 41: 18-21). Well, let us remind you that permanent internal war in the Beast does not weaken the Beast and cannot be used to fight it.

The Holy Spirit cannot penetrate the Beast, which means that those who become part of the Beast are forever deprived of the Holy Spirit and perish. Those who become part of it will not break free. If you have been connect to the network, you cannot disconnect the electrodes, and no one will offer a red pill to exit the Matrix. Therefore, living in the networked world, one must remember that the integration of a man there and the use of networks for Christian purposes is possible only as long as there is a way out of the network, the ability to get out, go back. When the exit begins to block, you need removed yourself from the network. (See more in our work “The Christianity in the technetronic era”).

Now we have a knowledge of ​​what Leviathan is: a high-tech church-state of Satan made up of people. Now we can look with different eyes both at early Renaissance intuitions of him and at his modern ideas in philosophy, technology and art.

 

 

How the Beast acts in the world

The description of the events of the beasts in chapter 13 of the Apocalypse is also non-linear, and chiastic. First comes the general, final conclusion: the world worshipped the Beast: “and all the world wondered after the beast. 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: 3,4).

One can imagine how people will religiously worship the devil as a fallen angel, but what does it mean to worship the First Beast, which, as we learned, is both a community of joined, “cleaved” people, the state and the “church of Satan”? The only answer is that to worship the First Beast means to recognize his political power and join his satanic church.

We have already written that the central event of the whole book of Revelation is chapter 11 with the description of the last sermon of repentance of the two prophets. It was also shown that the structure of the third part of the book from chapter 12 to 19 is chiastic, in the center of which, (and therefore the most important) there is the Beast. The chiastic structure of a story is poetry, not of rhythm, but of meaning. It does not indicate the sound, but the most important. This structure does not allow us to consider the events of the narrative as a reflection of the chronological order. However, there are many indications in the text to present the true chronology as well.

Therefore, for example, in the book of Apocalypse first there is a description of the Beast, and then the Babylonian harlot. This is for the purpose of semantic chiasm. But further in the text it is clearly explained, and more than once, that chronologically in history, first will be the Babylonian harlot, and then the Beast will come out of the sea.

The situation is similar in chapter 13. The sequence of the description of events in the text does not correspond to their historical sequence, however, the text provides hints as to how this sequence will occur.

A. The Beast comes out of the sea, with the strength and spirit of the Dragon, behaves like an equal to God, deceives and frightens with its strength so that people worship him.

          B. The Beast reaches the peak of power and defeats two prophets of God and other saints. But this is not for long, and both beasts will be destroyed.

A'. The Second beast comes out of the earth, with the strength and spirit of the Dragon, behaves like the Messiah (horns like a lamb), deceives with miracles so that people worship the First Beast, scares with death so that people worship.

It is important that chapter 13 contains a brief description of the events of chapter 11. When the apogee and triumph of the First Beast took place in the world - the Beast will behave blasphemously. As a reminder, that the Bible's concept of blasphemy is to make oneself equal to God. Christ was crucified for blasphemy, not for swearing at God, but for the fact that Christ behaved as an equal to God.

“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. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev.13: 5-8).

This passage is the semantic center of chapter 13. Here two chiasms converged in the one center: the main chiasm of Revelation - the events of chapter 11 with the preaching of two prophets and the chiasm of the fragment of the book from chapter 12 to chapter 19, in which the center is the Beast.

Further, John writes: “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints" (Rev.13: 10). In essence, this is a retelling of the phrase "for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Mat.26: 52). John says that he who conquered by force will himself soon be defeated by force. And the saints need to endure. You cannot defeat the power of the Beast. This concludes the central story of chapter 13.

We have opened the main semantic chiasm of chapter 13. But in chapter 13 there is another layer of meaning, presented in the form of parallelism typical of the Bible.

Chapter 13 contains two parallel descriptions of events. Firstly verses 1-10, and then the same description (verses 11-18) of the same events, only from a different point of view. Verses 1-10 describe how people are pushed (by deception and fear) to worship the First Beast. The First Beast is a system, a structure moving towards triumph, but so far, there is no triumph, so far the Beast is just climbing out of the sea. Who is the main enticement and propagandist of the Beast? Verses 11-18 describe in detail who this is and how specifically people will be led to worship the First Beast. These two blocks, verses 1-10 and 11-18, represent a completely parallel narrative. Only the second story is more detailed. We have divided these narratives, each into eight parallel segments of meaning: 

1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea	1. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth
2. having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy	2. he had two horns like a lamb
3. 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	3. he spake as a dragon
4. 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. 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?	4. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed
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. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.	5. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
6. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.	6 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed
7. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.	7 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: 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.
8. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.	8. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Let's look at these parallelisms:

1.      Beasts appear. One is from the sea, this is the Beast as a system, like humanity, and the other is from the earth, as a man.

2.      Horns. For the First Beast, the 10 horns are ten godless kingdoms making themselves equal to God, which at the last moment will transfer power to the Beast. For the Second Beast, two horns are like the Lamb's - this means that the second Beast will imitate Christ the Messiah.

3.      The Beast as humanity acts in the spirit and power of Satan - the fallen angel. The second beast-man is also possessed by the spirit of Satan.

4.      Both stories say that people, astonished at the healed First Beast, will worship him. Moreover, the First and Second beasts are in tandem - the Second Beast acts as a false prophet in order to push people to worship the First Beast, that is, to drive humanity into a state-church called the First Beast or Leviathan.

5.      The First Beast makes himself equal to God. The Second beast, by making false signs, makes himself equal to the Messiah. So fire “come down from heaven on the earth” is an imitation of the coming of Christ: "as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day" (Luke 17:24); "and fire came down from God out of heaven” (Rev.20: 9).

6.      The First Beast conquers the saints, and by fear he finally gains power over the world. The Second Beast makes the image of the First Beast and, like a false prophet, demands to worship it, and kills the saints to cause fear. It is still difficult for us to imagine what this image of the Beast is, into which the devilish spirit also enters, but, obviously, it is something technological.

7.      All who do not have the seal of God and an entry in the Book of Life, then worship the First Beast. God has His own list and His own account. Those who are written in this book have a part in the Kingdom of God, or rather in God Himself. The Second beast imitates God's list of saints and demands that all the people of the world be written down and that those who accept the Beast should be marked. Who will receive this mark - have a fate in the kingdom of the First Beast.

8.      These are verses of consolation. Concerning the First Beast, a call for patience and understanding that this is not for long and the Beast will be defeated. For this, it is enough to have ears to hear this consolation. With regard to the parallel segment, a key is given to understand the meaning and mark of the Beast. However for this one need to have a mind.

 

Finally, we need, based on what is given to us in Scripture, to restore the historical sequence of events associated with the Beast, because, as we have determined, it does not always coincide with the sequence of events in the text of Apocalypse.

The triumph of the world satanic state, "church", civilization, and in general, satanic humanity will be brief. John writes about 42 months.

We already know that even before the events of chapter 13, at first the Beast was in the waters, and on him was the Babylonian Harlot. Then the Harlot will be overthrown by ten kingdoms and for some time they will receive power in the world.

Yes, and the events of chapter 13, and what will happen after (seven plagues) is a long process. The Beast himself will come out of the sea to the earth, to whom ten kingdoms will give power. The Beast will come out of the sea and gain strength in the world gradually only by the fact that more and more people will worship him, serve, become a part of him. Therefore, before the Beast comes, the Second Beast/Antichrist, who prepares the world to accept the First Beast, lures humanity by means of miracles and drives them by means of fear. For this, he even creates a religious cult of the Beast and puts a mark on those who worship the Beast. In the Apocalypse it is impossible to understand exactly when the Second Beast/Antichrist appears - either together with the Beast, before or after him. But this is clearly stated in Job and Daniel.

The fact that the Beast-Antichrist walks before the Beast-kingdom is written in the book of Job - "before him perdition runs (the Leviathan)" (Job 41:14). The running upright beast is the name of the Antichrist in Isaiah. Paul says about the Antichrist: “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; 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 " (2Phs. 2: 3.4). This means that the Third Temple should be rebuilt, where the Antichrist will sit. Similarly, Daniel writes about the first lion-beast, with plucked off eagle wings and with a human heart, indicating by this that the False Prophet/Antichrist must be from the Jews. In the book of Daniel this lion-beast the first came up.

And here is what John says in his epistle about the Antichrist: “…as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us… Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also" (1 John 2: 18-23).

John says that already in the early years of Christianity, even before the writing of Revelation, Christians had an idea of ​​the antichrist. Anyone who rejects Jesus as the Messiah is the antichrist. Who could deny it? Only the Jews who have a common root with Christians, but then turned from the right path: "They went out from us, but they were not of us". From the Jews, even then there were antichrists who rejected Jesus. Finally, John quotes Jesus in the Apocalypse, calling Judaism, which did not accept Jesus as the Messiah, "the synagogue of Satan". But in the Last times a special exalted Antichrist will come.

Once the Antichrist\False prophet will drive everyone into the Beast, and those who refuse will be killed or expelled from society and will be marginalized. The Beast will kill the last two prophets and achieve triumph for a short time, but: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (1 Ths 5: 2,3). God will begin to send plagues to the Beast and those who become part of him. And at the end of the plagues, the Beast and the False Prophet\Antichrist will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. These events will also take a long time.

According to our hypothesis (see “The Biblical Apocalyptic Chronology”), all these events related to the Beast will take about 70 years from the beginning of its ascent to its collapse.

How do the Beast and Antichrist act in the world in relation to humanity? - Carrot and stick, seduction and intimidation.

John sees the Beast gradually emerging from the sea. This is a lengthy process. Everyone sees this and is amazed at him: “Who is like unto the beast?” writes John. “There is nothing upon the earth like to him (Leviathan)” - it is written in the book of Job. In heaven there are similar ones and even higher, but not on the earth. The world did not know this yet - such strength and power. Surely the kingdom of the Beast will have its own positive program of global transformations, overcoming crises, universal happiness and justice. Everyone has always promised this, but at last there is someone who can do it. And it is natural that all nations and people of the world worship the Beast, recognize, and go to serve him, whose hearts have not been touched by the Holy Spirit of God and who are not written in the Book of Life.

The First and Second beasts act together. The Second beast, the Antichrist, the False prophet, goes before the first Beast and deceives first with seductions: miracles, signs, religiously legitimizing the power of the first Beast. And those who are not deceived by the Beasts are waiting for a intimidation: "the round of his teeth is terror" (Job 41: 6).

It should be noted that the total destruction of Christians is probably out of the question. The devil is interested in being worshiped and therefore he will intimidate with death. In addition, the death of people, especially Christians, is not monopolized by the devil. God decides it. John writes that you need to believe and endure, because the devil will not triumph in the world for long.

What are Christians to do? Exit and not enter whether it be the Babylon Harlot or the Beast. But the technical infrastructure can be used temporarily being in Christian interests. How is this possible? God gives Christians to have the opportunity to live in this world, but not be a part of it (the Church has "wings of a great eagle" (Rev. 12:14)).

Another idea of the Apocalypse is an ultimate choice. The Beast, in contrast to all other eras and situations, before everyone, regardless of country and position, will give the choice that cannot be avoided. And then those who will not accept the Beast will only have to endure. There will come a time when instead of the “wings of a great eagle” - the patience of the saints. 

 

 

The evolution of the Beast.

The Beast in the world does not appear suddenly, but has a long history and Revelation reveals it to us.

“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev.17: 8).

This means the history of the Beast in the world: he was already, then he was destroyed, and he will appear in the world from the abyss. "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit" - a grotesque parallel with the Messiah, “which is, and which was, and which is to come” (Rev.1: 4).

 “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.13:3).

“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns" (Rev.17: 3).

“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 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. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev.17: 8-13).

“And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire” (Rev.17: 16).

The beast in the desert is the devil, the one who was at enmity with the Woman-Church. Now the Babylonian Harlot sits on him. John sees her in the wilderness. The desert is an image of a sinful, godless, pagan world. On the other hand, the Harlot sits on the waters. Waters are peoples, water-sea is also the devil's dwelling place. These images indicate that the Beast is still in the water and has not come out on the earth. That is, the Harlot sits on the Beast until the Beast emerges from the water onto dry land.

The angel first explains that the existence of the Beast and his activities are connected with his heads: “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space"

To avoid any confusion, the angel immediately proceeds to explain that the seven hills (the seven heads) on which the woman sits, mean "seven kings" that is a symbol of the world's powers or empires (Dan. 7:17). The seven mountains represent the seven successive world powers that have ruled the world throughout the history and via which Satan has worked to oppress God's people for centuries. Thus, the Great Whore finds the support of the Beast, who appears in history as a succession of wicked kingdoms. The five that fell are the empires that ruled the world before the John's time: probably Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece; the sixth, the one what "is" – Rome Empire in the time of John; the appearance of one that “not yet come” is in the future from the perspective of John.

"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven"

It is said very interestingly. First, we are talking about the six heads of the Beast. These are kingdoms that have already received power. Whereas ten horns (ten kingdoms) will receive it only for a short time at the end, when they throw off their lord - the Babylonian Harlot, and then they will transfer their power to the Beast.

Each of the earthly world empires up to the sixth, Roman, contemporary to John, is a mediator representing the interests of the Beast, personifies his ambitions on the earth. But the Beast himself is still in the sea, on the waters, and cannot go onto dry land.

But then the sixth head, the sixth kingdom of the devil - pagan Rome, was defeated by Christ, creating Christianity. This is not just the death of pagan Rome, it is also a mortal wound to the Beast as such. His most important and successful project on the earth was destroyed. The destruction of pagan Rome and the emergence of Christianity inflicted a mortal wound on the Beast in the abyss and seemingly puts an end to its ambitions to build a world satanocratic state: this Beast was and is not. The devil is like an angel - immortal. It can be fettered, thrown into a lake of fire, but cannot be killed. God defeats the hypostasis of the devil that can be destroyed - the devil as a man or the devil as humanity.

The whole Old Testament tells about this wound. According to the OT, God or Messiah will defeat the devil in general and the beast-Leviathan in particular with a sword in the head. This is stated in the book of Genesis (the story about fall of man). The book of Job, Isaiah, psalms tells about it: “Thou brakest the heads of leviathan” (Psalm.74:14) ; “the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isa.27: 1); "That Behemot ... he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him" (Hebrew Job 40: 14).

Daniel, however, does not specify how the Beast / the Haughty Horn will be defeated, only specifies that before defeat the Horn will be judged by the judges: “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end ” (Dan 7:26). Similarly, in chapter 19 John writes about 24 elders-judges (Rev.19: 4) and about Christ on horseback with a sword, but "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet... both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" ( Rev.19: 20). And where is the blow with the sword, because they were not killed with the sword, but thrown into the lake of fire alive? That is, the Beast had to be hit twice?

But after all, God, the Messiah had already struck the Beast in the head with a sword, as it was promised to Adam! It is happening something incredible. The Beast's wound is healed, and he not only does not die, but also receives the strength to overcome the boundaries and restrictions imposed on him by God, to come on the earth and build his global satanocratic state there. People heal the wound of the Beast. Those who will take him out on the earth, into the world.

What does it mean God's hit, strike in the head of the Beast-Leviathan? This is the fact that a different, non-matrix, non-secular reality is open to people both in the form of knowledge and thinking (the Bible and the biblical language), and a special form of life in the world, without becoming a part of it - the Church.

The devil's Matrix loses its monopoly; and a different life, a different path and other goals are opened to humanity. The presence of Scripture and the Church, led by the Holy Spirit, is that "wound to death" in the head of the Beast-Leviathan. The devil thus loses his monopoly on the interpretation of reality, and hence the monopoly on the human spirit.

But people heal the Leviathan's head. What does it mean? It is the fact that people almost offset the Church and the Bible, making it possible for the devil to claim the monopoly of his Matrix, and to build a global church-state of Satan.

The counteracting of the Bible and the Church occurs through the making and imposition on Christians of a matrix theology, a matrix interpretation of Scripture, a matrix religious worldview and matrix church structure, and church life. This is precisely what is in the overwhelming majority of Christian confessions are today. Today, the need for non-matrix theology and church life of Christians is extremely urgent.

"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven".  

N.B. The story is about the heads of the Beast - the earthly kingdoms, but then the story suddenly goes again about the Beast, which will directly become the seventh and at the same time the eighth kingdom in the world, that is, the very Beast about which John talks so much. Previously, only earthly ordinary pagan kingdoms-empires (from Egypt to Rome) ruled on the earth. They were the “followers” ​​of the Beast on the earth, but now the seventh / eighth kingdom will appear in the world, but it will no longer be just a “governor” or “follower”, but the Beast himself will come out of the abyss on the earth.

Similarly, in the book of Daniel: “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High…" (Dan. 7: 24-25). Daniel says that a special kingdom will appear from the forth beast-kingdom - a special Horn that speaks arrogantly (that is, makes itself equal to God). The sign of this kingdom in John is the Beast (speaking about the heads, he calls it also the last 7-8^th head of the Beast), and Daniel uses the image of the Horn. After ten horns-kingdoms, another eleventh Horn will arise - the Beast of the Apocalypse, which will demand divine worship for itself. It is important not to get confused here. The Biblical signs: the beast, horns, heads are images of kingdoms. Both John and Daniel are talking about the same thing, only using different signs. This complicates the study of Scripture, but the right context makes it clear.

 

 

Let's summarize the process of the Beast's release into the world .

First, the Beast sits in the prison allotted to him by God - the abyss. On the earth he operates with the help of large human kingdoms-empires, called by John “the heads of the Beast”. There were six of them, the sixth - pagan Rome, to which Christianity inflicted a mortal wound.

The Beast sits in the abyss, sending only his heads in turn to the earth. He has suffered a mortal wound, but his people are healing him. Then the Beast begins to appear on the surface of the water: it has seven heads, six of which have already worked their way, and the seventh is the very kingdom of the Beast, which is preparing to take over the world. Ten horns also stick out of the Beast. These are the kingdoms-vassals of the world kingdom of the Beast, who come after the collapse of the sixth head-Rome and rule the world, preparing to transfer power to the Beast.

For a certain period of time, all these ten vassal horns of the Beast are under a unique, first truly global formation - the Babylonian Harlot. It is a global secular world empire based on an economy and a consumer society.

The Beast has not yet emerged on land, but has already surfaced, and at first, New Babylon sits on it. Why did the Beast manage to surface? Because people started to heal him.

The foundation of New Babylon was laid during the Renaissance. It is interesting that during the Renaissance, its adherents constantly tried to emphasize that the Roman Empire came to an end, that it no longer exists, and all those Holy Roman Empires, Byzantium, etc. are a pathetic imitation. Why would Renaissance ideologues stress this? Maybe then, to show that the times of the sixth, Roman head of the Beast have already passed, and the gradual emergence of the Beast from the abyss and his healing begins.

The new Great Babylon developed for a long time and for more than 600 years, by the beginning of the 21st century, reached the peak of its power. What will happen next?

The ten horn-kingdoms will rebel against Babylon and destroy it. These ten kingdoms: “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. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev.17: 12-13). We are already witnessing the crisis of Babylon and the manifestation of new trends in the world - the beginning of the époque of ten kingdoms, or the Age of Aquarius - the era of preparation for the meeting of the Antichrist and the accession of the Beast.

After the collapse of Babylon, the Beast, without any smokescreen of the Babylon harlot, will take power in the world through its ten vassals. But the reign of these kingdoms will be brief. At the end of their brief reign, the False Prophet-Antichrist will come into the world, who will lead humanity, launching a campaign for humanity's acceptance of the Beast. The Beast will come in the world, gain power, and achieve a brief triumph.

Then God will send the last seven plagues on the Beast, after which the Beast and the False Prophet will be annihilated, the devil will be tied and the conditionally Millennial Kingdom of Christ will come in the world.

Instead of an afterword.

David has an amazing psalm that contains almost everything that we wrote about the Beast, his intrigues and his future destruction by God:

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

(Psalm. 124: 1-8)

 

 

nonmatrixtheology@gmail.com

 

https://nonmatrixtheology.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKYEQSP3kD-YHgrmZhguACg/videos