Who is the Beast of Revelation and Daniel?
Is he on the world scene right now?
Will we as Christians see him and recognize him?
A man God calls the Beast will appear on the world scene soon.
When we look to the pages of sacred Scripture, the Bible, we find the answers to our questions about what the future holds and Who holds the future. Read Daniel. Read Revelation. Better yet, study it.
This is what we are told:
A man will arise out of the masses who are living on the earth in the last days to become the world’s last great dictator.
Already the stage is being set for his appearance.
I believe he is alive and is being groomed to take center stage soon.
This man is a dynamic world leader. He will emerge on the scene and dominate center stage on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, too, probably.
In a matter of weeks, he will gather armies and conquer nations to become the dictator of the world, controlling the media, the military, and the daily lives of millions of people on the face of the globe.
He will be charming, persuasive, and intelligent, able to capture the hearts and minds of the masses with awe, devotion and love. People will absolutely adore him and will flock to him as their redeemer, provider, and messiah.
Power, majesty and glory will rest on his shoulders like a mantle. He will be the combination of Superman, Ironman, and Batman.
In the latest Wonder Woman movie, the supreme bad guy obtained a relic that allows him to grant the wishes of the people of the whole world. This is similar to what the final dictator of the world will promise to those who worship him.
Everything you ever wanted. I can give it to you.
The Beast of Revelation will offer everything people want, and at first, he will deliver the goods. To a fractured, broken world, he offers peace and prosperity, ushering in a world-wide government and religion.
Yet God calls him a BEAST.
Daniel and the Apostle John lived centuries apart, and yet they were chosen by God to see into the distant future.
Both of them saw a man God called the Beast.
This man comes as the world’s greatest and finest king that mankind can produce. He is hailed as the Jewish Messiah. Yet he is actually sub-human, degraded, and totally evil, becoming indwelt by Satan at the middle point of the Tribulation.
This creature is half human, half animal, with godlike characteristics. Daniel was so disturbed by the vision of the Beast that he could not sleep.
We know him from Scripture by different names, but all are the same character. He is the supreme enemy of God and of all goodness, righteousness and holiness.
Daniel was told to “seal up” his vision. John was told to publish it and spread it abroad. The time was not ready when Daniel prophesied. But when John wrote his book, it was. In these last days before the events of Revelation 4-22, we are living in the times when we will know.
We are told that we who live in these last days will understand things even the Old Testament prophets could not understand.
This knowledge helps us keep our eyes in the right place and our hearts from despair. If you are afraid of future events, read my blog: 7 Life-Changing Truths from the book of Revelation.
What does the Bible say about this Beast?
He will dominate the scene during the Great Tribulation, leading the population of the world into the greatest revolt against God that has ever been perpetrated.
I use the word dictator in the extreme sense. Combine Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot into one man, and you will get an idea of what kind of person we are talking about here. Only this man is worse than all the others.
His names tell us a lot about him. Let’s look at them.
1. The Beast.
The perspective of Revelation is that of God’s. God reveals that this man is a beast. He has lost almost all human qualities. He has no natural love, kindness, pity, mercy and gentleness, or any kind of human or natural goodness.
In the book of Revelation, God uses this name for him 37 times!
Yet, even so, from an earthly and human perspective, he will appear charming, attractive, suave and intelligent. A combination of Walt Disney, Tom Cruise, and Johnny Depp with Ronald Reagan thrown in, he will provide the world with the solution to peace in a time of war, safety in a time of disease and death, and security when everything seems to be falling apart.
“He will be wanted, not rejected. He will be appealing, not repulsive. He will be super, not ordinary. He will be a Gentile, not a Jew. (Dan. 7:2-3)” From The End of the Beginning, p. 15-16, a quote from Charles Swindoll.
He rises to power from obscurity on the world scene and will quickly consolidate ten nations under his control. This is the Revived Roman empire (the ten toes of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Dan. 2) and the Beast will be its king. From this coalition, he will proceed to conquer the world.
While he appears as a man of peace, he soon smashes that illusion to smithereens as he persecutes Christians, ruthlessly stamps out any opposition, and, beginning at the 3 1/2 year point in the Tribulation, commits such atrocities that will make Adolf Hitler look like Mickey Mouse in his persecution of the Jewish people.
“Daniel was accustomed to seeing unusual and frightening things in his visions, but this fourth beast was so horrible, he could find no animal to liken it to for its destruction, murders, and strength. In fact, we find that these things disturbed him so much that he couldn’t sleep.” From End of the Beginning, Lesson 2, The Vision of the Four Beasts.
Another name for this man is:
2. Daniel’s “Little Horn”, Dan. 7
He is called the “little horn” because horns in Scripture picture power.
If someone was very powerful, they would have a large horn or many horns.
In a vision that Daniel witnesses, he sees a beast that is “dreadful, terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder (the other kingdoms) with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.” Dan. 7:7-8 (italics mine)
This beast symbolizes the Revived Roman Empire. It is made up of ten nations (probably European). While Daniel was staring with morbid fascination at this beast, he notices that from among the ten horns another horn appears, a little one, that arises from the others.
This little horn, we learn from Dan. 7:23-25 is a man who becomes the world leader. He is known as a “little horn” because he possesses only a little power at the time he appears.
He will subdue three “kings” (or nations) and from this base, control the other seven nations to form the new world government.
We do not know the names of these others nations that form the Revived Roman Empire. One of them may be the United States.
Other things he will do are:
- He will speak out against the Most High God.
We read that this man will blaspheme God like no other. He will take the names of God and of Jesus Christ as his own and declare that he is the Jew’s Messiah. At the middle point of the tribulation, he will declare himself to be God.
In Rev. 13:3-6, we see this man exalted because of being healed from a fatal wound.
All (or most) of the people on the earth will worship him at this point. “And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshipped the dragon (Satan) because he gave his authority to the beast… and they said, “Who is like the beast and who is able to wage war with him?” Rev. 13:3-4
“There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies…. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle.” (italics mine)
- He will “wear down” the saints.
In Rev. 6, after the first four seal judgments, a huge number of people are martyred for their faith and their souls are under the altar in heaven. These people cry out to God for justice for their deaths.
One of the first things the Beast will do is persecute the saints and kill them in huge numbers.
In Rev. 13:7 it says, “It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.”
- He will give a mark to those who worship him, Rev. 13:16-18
This mark is for identification purposes so the Beast in his world government can control the population. There has been much discussion about the mark. I have heard about it all my life, and it is now a hot topic with a new vaccine being made for the Covid virus.
I do not believe the vaccine for Covid-19 is the mark of the Beast. Why? We are not yet in the Tribulation period, for one thing, and also, there is no one-world dictator on the scene, conquering the nations and calling the shots.
I say this with bated breath as we begin 2021, for we may be on the verge of a one-world government. Check out this article on global conferences dealing with the pandemic and climate change that can evolve very quickly into control of the people of the earth.
With the onset of the pandemic, we have arrived in a world that controls us. We are getting used to having someone point a gun-like thing at our forehead and wrist (oh, what my Dad would have said about that!) to take your temperature.
This is a precursor of the mark of the Beast.
We are getting used to being tracked. Watched. Told what to do. We are getting used to being compliant when the government tells us what to do even if it defies logics.
Officials and scientists are talking about implanting a chip in the hand or forehead to monitor everything about the person and record that information at a giant database. These are indications that we are getting very close to the Rapture of the church, and subsequently, the Tribulation.
Many Bible scholars see signs being fulfilled every day in great numbers. This is a good Youtube presentation on that by Steve Wohlberg.
The fact that the precautions against Covid-19 with all the ramifications of them are world-wide tells me we are nearing the end of this age because we see a global government beginning to form.
This is what the Bible tells us about the mark of the beast, Rev. 13:16-18.
- It will be given (or implanted) on the hand or forehead.
- It is to identify those who worship the Beast.
- It is to control behavior and cause all to worship the Beast or else they cannot buy or sell.
As such, there can be no mistake about why you are getting it.
It will be known and acknowledged as the mark of those who worship the Beast. Rev. 19:20 states, “those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.”
If you can lose your eternal soul when you take the mark of the Beast, it will be very clear why you are accepting it. You are literally worshipping the Antichrist (the Beast) and accepting him as your savior.
Knowing this, we do not need to fear getting the mark of the Beast accidentally.
In the first place, I believe the church will be gone by then (during the Tribulation period). Secondly, as I pointed out above, it will be abundantly clear to all what the Mark of the Beast signifies.
In those days, people will worship either the Antichrist or Yahweh God. There will be no fence-walkers!
- No one will be able to buy or sell without the mark.
The mark, I believe, will be visible on either the hand or the forehead and will include all your personal identification numbers. It will be your bank number, social security number, driver’s license number, credit and debit cards numbers rolled into one, three sets of six digits each. You will not be able to be employed, to buy, sell, to own property or to drive a car without this number.
This is a way to control the population of the earth and bring them into subjection.
See Lesson 3 in The End of the Beginning where I discuss in length the characteristics of the Beast from Dan. 7.
Another name that we know this man by is:
3. The Antichrist.
Keep in mind that the Antichrist does not merely denote the fact that he is against Christ. He is a substitute Christ.
He is the best mankind can come up with to save the world and bring in a new world order of peace and prosperity.
This is how Montgomery Boice in The Last Future World, p. 70, puts it, “Antichrist will be a substitute for Christ, as much like Christ as possible for a tool of Satan. He will talk about justice and love, peace and prosperity. He will be brilliant and eloquent. In short, he will appear as an angel of light, as Satan himself often does, and will be hailed by millions as a superman who will save mankind.” (Quote from The End of the Beginning Bible study.)
The last world dictator will be against God, against Christ and all the followers of God.
We have had the “spirit of antichrist” with us from the beginning of the church age. I John 2:18-22 discusses the situation. Many people, even great leaders, have had the “spirit” of the antichrist in the sense that they have opposed God, denied God, and denied Jesus Christ as the Son of God. They persecute and murder Christians even to this day.
“Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour…. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” I Jn. 2:18,22
The spirit of the antichrist is the movement against God, against the Bible, against Christians and the Christian faith. We see that thinking growing in our world today, especially in these last days in America.
The Antichrist of the Great Tribulation period will be indwelt by Satan. He will try to destroy the Jews and Christians above all.
But his end is sure and certain. God has set his time for a specific amount of days. He cannot abide, he cannot succeed, and he cannot endure God’s wrath.
Other names:
4. Man of Lawlessness and Son of Destruction (or Perdition)
These are used in Daniel 7:25, 8:25, 11:36 and II Thess. 2:3-4
II Thess. 2:3-4, “Let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction who opposes the exalts himself above every so-call god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
“Apostasy” in this passage means “falling away,” and it refers to a time just prior and at the beginning of the Great Tribulation in which many, if not most, of the people on the earth will rebel against God and His standards of righteousness and holiness.
They will fall away from God and the truth found in the Bible.
This is a “climate” of revolt against God that will pave the way for the appearance of the man of sin (lawlessness). We see this happening today in the news around the world and in America with the riots, revolts, looting and burning. Lawlessness has invaded our cities and our lives.
The Antichrist is the Man of Lawlessness, rebelling against the laws of God in total revolt.
Sin will rampage throughout the earth. The religion the Antichrist brings to the world at that time is one of unlicensed wickedness.
The Son of Destruction refers to his unsatiated thirst for bloodshed, for murder, for destruction of lives, nations, and cultures. In the end, the Antichrist himself destroys the religion he establishes and sets himself up as God. He enters the Temple in Jerusalem and desecrates it by proclaiming himself as God. It is then that he begins a purge of the Jewish people.
But his end is sure.
“And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image…. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.” Rev. 19:20, 21
Check out the story of the glorious return of Christ to this world when He destroys the wicked and brings in His kingdom in The Beginning of the End Bible study.
If you have not purchased this book, please do so. It is good for personal or group study, and it is excellent for the time in which we live right now.
https://virginiaannwork.com/books/end-of-the-beginning-revelation/
Will Christians living in this age see and recognize the Antichrist, he who is called the Beast by God?
We don’t know.
Some believe Christians will be raptured and taken to Heaven before the Beast of Revelation is revealed to the world. Others think we will see and know him.
From heaven, we will witness the things occurring on the earth and see the Antichrist’s rise and fall from that vantage point. All the inhabitants of heaven will sing and praise God for His righteous and holy justice as He brings all these things to an ending.
We have a wonderful future ahead of us.
God wants us to know about these events, watch for His coming and witness to others about our faith.
He wants us to live without fear. Knowing what He has planned for the future, we can live with faith and peace, aware that He is in control.
He has written to us about these things in the Bible, in the book of Revelation. If you haven’t read this book, now is the time to do so. Read it and study it.
This is not the time to be fearful, sad or cast down. The things of this earth will soon pass away. They will be like a dream forgotten. Our focus should be on Jesus Christ.
He has promised to keep us from all evil.
We will not experience the judgment He pours out on the earth during the days of the Great Tribulation.
We will be in Heaven with Him.
Do you have that hope as a foundation for your faith and joy in these days and for 2021?
If you don’t, then turn to Jesus Christ who can give you peace and joy throughout your life. Ask Him to forgive your sin and save your soul. He loves you very much and wants you to come.
God wants you to KNOW what He has planned.
Fear and panic happen when we are not forewarned and ready for an emergency. God has graciously given us His Word in the books of Daniel and Revelation to help us KNOW and PREPARE for a future with Him. II Tim. 1:7
God is with us and will be faithful to see us through 2021 no matter what it holds.
We have His promise. “I will never never leave you or forsake you so that I may confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?” Heb. 13:5-6
The way we live on this earth in these days determines the kind of person we will be in the Kingdom Age. II Pet. 3:11
It is time to wake up and start living for Jesus Christ with all our hearts, souls, and minds.
Now walk forward into 2021 without fear in the joy of the Lord no matter where the path may lead.
Until He calls us all Home, we need share the hope and joy we have with others. We need to be lights in a dark world, calling all to trust in Him. Maranatha!
One of the first things you said ‘the beast’ would do is to kill the saints. How could this be if the saints are raputured before he is in full power, before the ‘mark of the beast’ is given?
Believers in this age (the Age of Grace) will be raptured, I believe, before the Great Tribulation begins. AFTER the Church is gone from the world, the Antichrist takes power and begins his purges of those who don’t agree with him and his program for the world. There will be millions of people around the globe who believe in Christ as their Savior after the rapture occurs. These people are generally referred to as “Tribulations saints.” They will have to live during the judgments God pours out on the world and many of them will be persecuted and martyred for their faith. See Rev. 6:9-11. Don’t confuse believers in THIS age with those who will become Christians during the days of the Great Tribulation. Thanks for your question. God bless.
very helpful, thank you