VI. CONFLICT BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND THE POWERS OF EVIL (12:1–14:5)

Chapter 12 marks a major division in the book of Revelation. Before the seven last plagues of chapter 16, in which the wrath of God is finished (15:1), John turns aside to explain the underlying cause for the hostility about to break upon the church. During his earthly ministry Jesus had warned, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). It is the age-long conflict between God and Satan that accounts for the persecution the church is to experience. Although the crucial battle was won when Christ arose victorious over death and the grave, the adversary continues his struggle. Cast down from heaven and knowing that his time is short (12:12), Satan turns in rage against the faithful who “obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (12:17). By laying bare the root cause of persecution John would encourage believers to hold fast in the coming tribulation. The death struggle of a defeated foe will bring severe tribulation, but the outcome is certain—God will come in judgment to destroy his enemies (chaps. 15–19) and reward his own (chaps. 20–22).

The stage is thus set for the final confrontation. Chapters 12–14 introduce the actors who play the major roles. Some writers identify the seven main characters as the radiant woman, the dragon, the man-child, Michael, the seed of the woman, and the two beasts.1 Others who organize the chapters around the number “seven” find seven oracles depicting the supernatural conflict between the forces of light and the forces of darkness,2 or seven signs connected with the troubles of the church.3 The chapter consists of three scenes: the woman, the dragon, and the male child (vv. 1–6), Satan defeated and cast out of heaven (vv. 7–12), and the persecution of the woman and her offspring (vv. 13–17). While the third scene is a continuation and expansion of the first, the second scene serves to explain Satan’s violent opposition to the church. Together they reveal to the believing community the ultimate cause for the increased opposition and hostility they will meet in the last days. Beyond that the visions in chapter 12 form the theological heart of the entire book. In Christ God engaged Satan in the ultimate battle of the Holy War. The redemptive triumph of Christ in his death and resurrection was the crucial defeat of Satan and the forces of evil. Yet for a time the dragon vigorously pursues the people of God. Hence there is great suffering in the final days (which extend from Pentecost to the return of Christ).4

A. THE WOMAN, DRAGON, AND MALE CHILD (12:1–6)

1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

1–2 The pageant opens with the display of a wondrous sign in the sky.1 A woman appears who is clothed with the sun, crowned with twelve stars, with the moon under her feet. As in 12:3 and 15:1, the word “sign” is to be understood as a great spectacle that points to the consummation (cf. Luke 21:11, 25; Acts 2:19). Elsewhere in Revelation the word is used of the deceptive miracles performed by the representatives of Satan (13:13, 14; 16:14; 19:20). Although the woman gives birth to the Messiah, she is not to be understood as Mary the mother of Jesus2 but the messianic community, the ideal Israel.3 Zion as the mother of the people of God is a common theme in Jewish writings (Isa 54:1; 2 Esdr 10:7; cf. Gal 4:26). It is out of faithful Israel that the Messiah will come. It should cause no trouble that within the same chapter the woman comes to signify the church (v. 17). The people of God are one throughout all redemptive history. The early church did not view itself as discontinuous with faithful Israel.4 As God covers himself “in light as with a garment” (Ps 104:2), so the woman is clothed with the sun. The world may despise the true Israel and hold it in lowest esteem, but from God’s point of view she is a radiant bride (cf. Jer 2:2). She stands as an obvious contrast to the scarlet whore of chapter 17. The moon beneath her feet (perhaps as a footstool) speaks of dominion, and the crown of twelve stars5 depicts royalty.

The radiant woman is about to give birth to a child. She cries out in pain as she is about to deliver.6 The OT frequently pictured Israel as a woman in travail. Isaiah speaks of Israel in bondage as “a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain” (Isa 26:17; cf. 66:7; Mic 4:10). In John’s vision the woman in travail is “the true Israel in her premessianic agony of expectation.”7

3 A second sign now appears in the sky—an enormous red dragon with seven heads. John does not leave us in doubt as to the identity of this monster: he is “that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan” (v. 9; cf. 20:2). Ancient mythology is replete with references to dragons. In Canaanitish lore the great monster of the deep was known as Leviathan. Closely associated was Rahab (alias Tiamat?), the female monster of chaos.8 Allusions to these dragons are not uncommon in the OT. More often than not they refer metaphorically to Israel’s enemies. In Ps 74:14 Leviathan is Egypt. In Isaiah 27:1 he is Assyria and Babylon. Elsewhere we read of Pharaoh as the “great monster lying among [his] streams” (Ezek 29:3) and of Behemoth, a great beast whose limbs are like rods of iron (Job 40:18). Against this background the dragon of John’s vision would immediately be understood as the archenemy of God and his people.

The red color of the dragon (which may be a part of tradition)9 symbolizes the murderous character of Satan. Jesus had told the Jews, “You belong to your father, the devil.… He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). The several heads of Leviathan are mentioned in Ps 74:14 and attested in Ugaritic texts.10 John’s fondness for the number “seven” as a symbol of completeness suggests that the seven heads of the dragon depict the universality of his power. The ten horns recall the fourth beast of Daniel 7, awesome and powerful with its great iron teeth and ten horns (Dan 7:7, 24). That the beast out of the sea has ten horns and seven heads (13:1; cf. 17:12) indicates that Satan’s earthly emissaries are like him in their destructive power. The crowns (diadems} are not wreaths of victory but “crowns of arrogated authority.”11 They are Satan’s presumptuous claim of royal power over against the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” upon whose head are many diadems (19:12, 16).

4 The scene in the sky continues as the dragon gathers a third of the stars with his great tail and hurls them down to the earth. One is reminded of Dan 8:10, where the little horn (Antiochus Epiphanes) casts to the ground some of the stars and tramples them underfoot. The cataclysmic action emphasizes the tremendous size and awesome power of the dragon. That he hurls down a third of the stars indicates no more than that he does so to a very great number. John is not teaching a theology of fallen angels12 but reporting a great pageant enacted in the sky.

The dragon stands in readiness before the woman with child so that when the child is born he can devour it. This explains the violent antagonism with which the child of the messianic community was met during the years of his life on earth. It began with the determination of King Herod to murder the Christ-child (Matt 2), continued throughout the dangers and temptations of his earthly life, and culminated in the crucifixion. As Nebuchadrezzar devoured Israel (“he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies,” Jer 51:34), so Satan has determined to devour the child. He has taken his position13 and awaits his victim.

5 The radiant woman gives birth to a son, a male child,14 who is destined to rule all the nations with an iron scepter.15 In Psalm 2 the messianic Son is to receive the nations as an inheritance and “rule [“shepherd”; cf. comm. on 7:17] them with an iron scepter” (v. 9). As a shepherd defends his flock against the wild beasts of prey, so Christ will strike the nations that oppress and persecute his church (cf. 19:15; in 2:27 the overcomers at Thyatira are promised a part in this rule).

Without mention of any intervening events John moves directly from the birth of Christ to his ascension. Apparently the essential truths of the vision could best be served by brevity. The significant point is that the evil designs of Satan were foiled by the successful completion of Christ’s messianic ministry, which culminated in his ascension and exaltation (cf. Phil 2:5–11). The child is snatched up to God and his throne.

6 The woman flees into the wilderness to be taken care of there by God for 1,260 days. The flight of the woman may in part reflect the escape of the Palestinian church to Pella at the outbreak of the Jewish war in A.D. 66.16 The intent of the verse, however, is not so much the flight of the church as the provision of God for her sustenance. To the Jewish people the wilderness spoke of divine provision and intimate fellowship. It was in the wilderness that God had rained down bread from heaven (Exod 16:4ff.) and nourished his people for forty years. Of Israel God said, “I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her” (Hos 2:14; cf. 1 Kgs 17:2–3; 19:3–4). For John’s readers the wilderness in this context would not suggests a desert waste inhabited by evil spirits and unclean beasts, but a place of spiritual refuge. The purpose of the vision is to assure those facing martyrdom that God has prepared for them a place of spiritual refuge and will enable them to stand fast against the devil. The duration of divine nourishment (1,260 days) corresponds to the period of persecution (cf. 11:2; 13:5). The place is one set in readiness17 by God himself.

B. WAR IN HEAVEN (12:7–12)

7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom

of our God,

and the authority of his Christ.

For the accuser of our brothers,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down.

11They overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much

as to shrink from death.

12Therefore rejoice, you heavens

and you who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

because the devil has gone down to you!

He is filled with fury,

because he knows that his time is short.”

The Seer now reports a war in heaven between Michael and his angels and the dragon with his angels. This conflict is not a spectacle taking place in the sky (as in vv.1–6), but a warfare in heaven itself. It is an all-out attempt on the part of Satan to regain his position in the presence of God. It does not refer back to the original expulsion of Satan from heaven (more a product of Paradise Lost than Scripture) but is the cosmic prelude to the consummation, an “end-time event.”1 At the same time it is the heavenly counterpart to the victory of Christ in his death and resurrection (cf. John 12:31).2 The triumph of the Messiah (v. 5) is now expressed in terms of the Holy War.

It is helpful to remember that from the very beginning the church was an eschatological community. John knows no “gap” between Christ and the End. His resurrection and the gift of the Spirit are eschatological events. It is the defeat of Satan (whether described in terms of Christ’s redemptive work or the battle in heaven) that explains the intense hostility to be poured out upon the church in the days of final tribulation. It is precisely because Satan has lost the crucial battle that he now launches one last assault on the church. Cast down to earth and knowing that his time is short (v. 12), he turns his fierce anger on the church of John’s day. Details of sequence and time should not be pressed in apocalyptic.3 The final outpouring of Satanic wrath is the result of his defeat in heavenly battle.

7 The war in heaven is waged between Michael and his angels on the one side and the dragon (Satan) and his angels on the other. According to Jewish thought, Satan was once an angel who attempted to achieve equality with God. Whereupon, according to Enoch, he was cast out of heaven with his angels and flies continuously in the air (2 Enoch 29:4–5).4 The Babylonian account of the expulsion of Ishtar, goddess of the morning star, is parallel. Allusions to this fall may occur in Isa 14:12 (“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!”) and 1 Tim 3:6 (“Or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil”).5 Yet elsewhere Satan is depicted as having access to heaven (Job 1:6–9; 2:1–6; Zech 3:1ff.).6 This may have led to the expectation of a final celestial battle that would precede the consummation (cf. Sib. Or. 3:796–808; also 2 Macc. 5:1–4; Josephus, Bell. 6.5).

It is the archangel Michael, not the Messiah, who wars against Satan in this final struggle. In Dan 12:1 Michael is presented as the guardian of Israel who in the last days will deliver them from tribulation (cf. 1 Enoch 90:14). Somewhat later he is pictured as “a mediator between God and man” who will “stand up against the kingdom of the enemy” (T. Dan 6:2). He is the angelic intercessor who contended with the devil about the body of Moses (Jude 9). It is he who will go forth in victory against Satan and his host. Satan lays claim to the rank of archangel on the basis that he has angels7 under him who do his bidding.

8 Satan and his forces are defeated in battle and must forfeit their place in heaven. Until this time Satan, in some sense, had a place in heaven. It is the irretrievable loss of any further opportunity to fulfill his wicked plan that sends Satan out in such great anger against the church.

9 The dragon and his angels are hurled down to the earth. It is the beginning of the end. Lilje notes that “what Jesus saw ahead in a vision—‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven!’ (Luke 10:18)—is fulfilled in these mighty conflicts at the end of history” (172). The dragon is identified as the ancient serpent (a reference to Gen 3:1ff.), the one who is called the devil or Satan. The word ś’ṭ’n was not originally a proper name. It simply meant adversary. In Num 22:22 the angel of the Lord who placed himself in Balaam’s path is called ś’ṭ’n, an adversary (cf. also 1 Sam 29:4; 1 Kgs 5:4; 11:14, 23). In time, however, it became a proper name. Satan is the Adversary, the prosecutor who accuses people before God in the heavenly court. In the prologue to Job, when the sons of God presented themselves before the Lord, Satan was there to accuse Job of honoring God for personal advantage (Job 1:6–11). In the vision of Zechariah (3:1–10) Satan stands at the right hand of Joshua the high priest to level accusation against him.8

Satan is also known as the devil, that is, the Slanderer.9 It is a thin line that divides accusation and slander. He is also the deceiver of the whole world. Later in Revelation (20:8) he comes forth after the thousand years of imprisonment to deceive the nations and lead them to destruction. He put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ (John 13:2), and was out to undermine the faith of Peter (Luke 22:31). Paul warns of his evil devices (2 Cor 2:11) and says that he deceived Eve by his cunning (2 Cor 11:3; cf. 1 Tim 2:14). His false prophets would “deceive even the elect—if that were possible” (Matt 24:24; cf. Rev 13:11–15). The twin evils of deception and accusation are brought together in the book of Jubilees (“Let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before thee, and to ensnare them,” 1:20). It is a momentous event when this prince of evil is defeated in battle and cast forever from the court of heaven.

10 By now the readers of Revelation will be accustomed to the sudden outbursts of praise that meet them in the book.10 The voice from heaven that John hears is not that of the martyrs of 6:9–11. Their cry for vindication is distinct from the adulation we now hear. The voice could be that of one of the twenty-four elders (note the repeated emphasis on power: 4:11; 7:12; 11:17; 12:10) or of some undesignated heavenly being. The argument that the designation “our brothers” rules out an angel overlooks 19:10, in which an angel declares himself a fellow servant with John and his brothers.

It is unnecessary to determine whether or not vv. 10–12 are to be taken proleptically. From John’s perspective, the great tribulation about to break upon the church was a direct result of the defeat of Satan in heavenly conflict. The salvation, power, and kingdom of God are present realities. Although defeated, Satan is still a powerful foe. It is true that history has shown that “what must soon take place” (1:1) has waited longer to take place than John expected, but the point of the passage is not to establish a chronology but to reveal the supernatural cause behind Satan’s opposition to the church whenever and wherever it occurs. It should be no surprise that as the end draws near, this hostility will increase in intensity.

The phrase “of our God” modifies all three of the preceding nouns. It is not only the sovereign reign of God that has come, but also the deliverance that he effects and the authority by which he rules. Christ the Son shares in this authority11 because it is by his death that Satan has been defeated (5:9; 12:11).12 The sovereign rule of God becomes a present reality in that “the accuser13 of our brothers … has been hurled down.” Satan’s role as the greater accuser, as we have seen, finds classic expression in the book of Job (1:6–12; 2:1–5; cf. 1 Enoch 40:7). His accusations against the righteous continue night and day. But by virtue of the death of Christ he is unable successfully to lodge a charge against God’s elect (Rom 8:33–34). The accuser is hurled down to earth. Although John depicts the battle between Michael and Satan in military terms, it is essentially a legal battle between opposing counsel in which the loser is disbarred.14

11 Not only does Satan suffer defeat at the hands of the archangel, but he is overcome by faithful believers as well.15 The primary cause16 of their victory is the blood of the Lamb. The great redemptive act that freed them from their sins (1:5) and established their right to reign (5:9) is the basis for their victory. Their share in the conquest stems from the testimony they have faithfully borne (cf. 6:9; 11:7). Their willingness to proclaim the message overcame even the natural fear of death: “In their love of life they shrank not from death” (TCNT).

12 Verse 12 refers back to v. 10—the heavens17 are to rejoice because the accuser is cast down. The call for rejoicing echoes such exclamations as Isa 49:13 (“Shout for joy, O heavens”)18 and Ps 96:11 (“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad”). Those that dwell in heaven are angelic beings. That they “tabernacle”19 there does not indicate a temporary residence, but emphasizes the presence of God (cf. 7:15; 21:3). While the casting out of Satan brings rejoicing in heaven, it is cause for woe upon the earth and the sea.20 Some writers identify this as the third Woe (see 8:13; 9:12; 11:14). In that the first two Woes are plagues unleashed upon unbelievers while the verses that follow in chapter 12 (vv. 13–17) describe the hostility of Satan toward Christians, it is unlikely that this should be considered the final Woe. The reason for the great wrath of Satan is the relatively short period of time between his defeat in heaven and the final judgment.21 This short (i.e., limited) time is not “the whole course of human history”22 but the period of Satan’s final and desperate struggle. It is the time of unprecedented peril into which the church is entering and during which John desires to encourage the believers faithfully to endure.

C. WAR ON EARTH (12:13–17)

13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

13 The narrative, which for a few verses gave way to a hymn of praise (vv. 10–12), is once again resumed. Failing to destroy the child and defeated in heavenly conflict, the dragon now turns with persecuting zeal1 against the mother. Verses 13–17 expand v. 6. The woman is the true Israel. Earlier (v. 5) she gave birth to the Messiah; now she shares with her Son the hostility of Satan. On the Damascus road the young rabbi Saul was asked, “Why do you persecute me?” He learned that in persecuting the church he was persecuting Jesus (Acts 9:4–5). From the very first, Christ has been inseparably united with those who have received him by faith (cf. Matt 25:45).

Exodus typology is woven throughout this entire episode. The pursuit of the woman is similar to Pharaoh’s pursuit of the children of Israel as they fled from Egypt (Exod 14:8). The two wings of the great eagle that made possible her escape echo the words of God from Sinai, “I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Exod 19:4). The river of water that flows from the dragon’s mouth may reflect Pharaoh’s charge to drown the male children of the Israelites in the Nile (Exod 1:22). The opening of the earth is reminiscent of the destruction of the men of Korah when in the wilderness they were swallowed by the earth and went down alive into Sheol (Num 16:31–33).

The major theme of the paragraph is the persecution of the woman and her seed. It is important to note that the antagonism directed against the church has its origin in the hatred of Satan for Christ. Jesus taught his disciples that they would receive the same hostile treatment from the world that he had received. “They will treat you this way because of my name” (John 15:21).

14 The woman is given the two wings of the great eagle,2 symbolizing divine deliverance and enablement. In the Song of Moses we read of God finding Jacob in the wilderness and caring for him as an eagle that “stirs up its nest and hovers over its young.” It “spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions” (Deut 32:10–11; cf. Exod 19:4). Elsewhere the prophet writes that those who wait upon the Lord “will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles” (Isa 40:31). The wings enable the woman to fly into the desert, a place of spiritual refuge (cf. comm. on 12:6). In time of persecution God protects his own.3 It is there that the woman is nourished (or perhaps trained) for three and a half years.4 This period of time corresponds to the forty-two months of Jewish oppression under the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan 7:25).5 “Out of the serpent’s reach” completes the earlier clause, “that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert.”

15–16 As the woman flies to the wilderness, the serpent opens its mouth and sends forth a great flood of water to overtake her. The earth comes to her rescue by opening up and swallowing the torrent. The flood is a common metaphor in the OT for overwhelming evil (“The floods of ungodliness,” Ps 18:4, NKJ) and tribulation (“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,” Isa 43:2). But Jewish literature supplies no parallels to v. 15. It could refer to some event in the war of A.D. 66–73 that threatened to cut off the escape of the church from Jerusalem, or, less likely, to a literal flood such as the one that prevented the Jews of Gadara from escaping across the Jordan from the Romans in March, A.D. 68.6 In any case, John is never restricted by the sources for his imagery. Historically the episode could refer to the attempt on the part of the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem to stamp out the early church (Acts 8:1–3).7 Or it could refer to the river of lies that will threaten even the elect (2 Thess 2:9–11; Rev 13:14; Matt 24:24) in the last days.8 This river of deceit (cf. 2:9; 3:9) has as its counterpart the “river of the water of life” that flows bright as crystal from the heavenly throne (22:1).

The opening of the earth to swallow the men of Korah (Num 16:30) may have suggested the imagery of v. 16, but it sheds little light on its meaning.9 Commentators note various references to rivers or streams in Asia that disappear into the earth.10 The entire scene illustrates Jesus’ promise that he will build his church and that “the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt 16:18). While nature is somehow involved with the consequences of human sin (Rom 8:19–22),11 it is unlikely that the present verse is teaching that nature is on God’s side in the moral struggle between right and wrong.

17 Angered by his failure to harm the woman, the dragon goes off “to make war against the rest of her offspring.”12 Those who understand the pursuit of the woman by the dragon as Satan’s attempt to destroy the Palestinian church will interpret “the rest of her offspring” to be Gentile believers throughout the empire.13 It is more probable that the phrase refers to believers in general as distinguished from the male child of vv. 5 and 13. They are the brothers and sisters of Christ (cf. Rom 8:29; Heb 2:11). The faithful are described as those who “obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” The testimony of Jesus (cf. 1:2, 9; 19:10; 20:4) is not their witness to him,14 but the testimony that he bore. It may intend to make more explicit “God’s commandments,” which could be taken in a general sense (as in 1 Cor 7:19).15

D. THE BEAST FROM THE SEA (13:1–10)

1And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”

5The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

9He who has an ear, let him hear.

10If anyone is to go into captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed with the sword,

with the sword he will be killed.

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.

The last verse of chapter 121 pictured Satan standing by the sea as if to summon his henchmen from its troubled waters. Unable to reach the woman, he calls upon his wicked cohorts to destroy her offspring. In chapter 13 we are introduced to the two agents through whom Satan carries out his war against believers (see 12:17).2 In the language of apocalyptic they are beasts. The first comes out of the sea, a grotesque, seven-headed monster (one head mutilated by the slash of a sword; 13:3, 12, 14) who combines characteristics of leopard, bear, and lion. The unbelieving world worships both the beast and the dragon who gave him authority. The beast is allowed to blaspheme God and exercise his authority for forty-two months. He is permitted to make war against the saints and conquer them. Those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life worship the beast.

The second beast comes out of the earth. He is less terrifying in appearance but able to deceive people by his power to work miracles. He orders the inhabitants of the earth to set up an image of the first beast and then gives it the power to speak. People are forced to receive the mark of the beast on the right hand and on the forehead, without which no one is allowed to buy or sell. Those who do not worship image of the beast are put to death. The number of the beast is 666. Together with the dragon the two beasts constitute an unholy trinity of malicious evil. The two beasts represent the power of Rome and the willingness of local religious authorities to cooperate in carrying out the sinister plans of Satan himself.

1 The first beast to appear rises up “out of the sea.” The order in which the various parts of his body are mentioned (horns, head, body, feet) has led some to find here an eyewitness account of the beast’s actual emergence from the waters.3 The same expression, however, is used of the second beast who comes up “out of the earth.” Consistent interpretation would make such an interpretation highly unlikely. John’s figure was undoubtedly suggested by Daniel’s vision of the four great beasts that came up from the sea (Dan 7:3).4 While the sea may suggest the “disturbed and stormy social and political conditions out of which tyrannies commonly arise,”5 it is doubtful whether the Seer intended to load the term with such theological significance. Yet the ancient world commonly associated the sea with evil,6 and for the last great enemy of God’s people to arise from the reservoir of chaos would be entirely appropriate. In 11:7 and 17:8 the beast is said to come up out of the Abyss. Any contradiction is only apparent: in both cases the reference is to the source of all evil.

The beast has ten horns and seven heads. On the horns are diadems, and on each head is a “blasphemous name.”7 Extended discussion of the horns and heads will be reserved for chapter 17, where an angel of judgment supplies a detailed interpretation of the beast and his rider. The ten horns are like those of Daniel’s fourth beast (Dan 7:7). There they are the ten kings that rise out of the fourth kingdom.8 In Revelation 17 the seven heads are also seven kings (17:10), In the present vision we learn only that on each horn there is a diadem, the insignia of royal authority (cf. 19:12). There are a number of suggestions as to why the diadems are placed on the horns rather than on the heads of the beast. The most plausible is that his claim to authority rests on brute force. It is hardly necessary in apocalyptic to shift the diadems to the horns in order to have sufficient room to stamp the heads with blasphemous names.9 The Seer does not intend us to visualize the beast with such precision.10 That the horns are mentioned before the heads (elsewhere the order is reversed; 17:3, 7; cf. 12:3) has no special significance. John is given to variation.

That the beast has seven heads stresses its relationship to the seven-headed dragon of 12:3.11 The power and authority of the beast come from the dragon (13:4). It is unlikely that John arrived at the number seven by adding the total number of heads on Daniel’s four beasts (four beasts, one of which had four heads, for a total of seven). In apocalyptic the number seven carries the idea of completeness. A seven-headed beast would be an appropriate symbol for the ultimate enemy of the believing church. The names of blasphemy upon the seven heads reflect the increasing tendency of the Roman emperors to assume titles of deity. During his lifetime Augustus had allowed his eastern subjects to pay him divine honors, and at his death the Romans proclaimed him divus (one like the gods). On his coins Nero was referred to as Savior of the World. The Roman senate regularly declared its deceased emperors divine. Domitian was addressed as Dominus et Deus noster, Our Lord and God.12 To all who held a high view of God and his sovereignty such pretentious claims were sheer blasphemy. “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only” (Luke 4:8). For a human being to assume the titles of divinity was arrogant blasphemy.

But who is the beast of John’s vision? From the verses that follow we learn that he possessed the authority of Satan (v. 4), blasphemed the name of God (vv. 5–6), warred victoriously against the saints (v. 7), and received the worship of the pagan world (vv. 4, 8). There is little doubt that for John the beast was the Roman Empire as persecutor of the church.13 It comes onto the land from the sea, just as the Roman troops did when they invaded the eastern Mediterranean. The beast is that spirit of imperial power which claims a religious sanction for its gross injustices.14 Yet the beast is more than the Roman Empire. John’s vision grew out of the details of his own historical situation, but its complete fulfillment awaits the final denouement of human history. The beast has always been, and will be in a final intensified manifestation, the deification of secular authority. It is a “counterfeit power” that is self-centered, behaves as if it were fully autonomous, and demands total allegiance and excessive praise.15

2 The beast out of the sea combines characteristics of the four beasts of Daniel 7. The prophet saw in succession a winged lion standing upright as a man (7:4), a bear with three ribs between its teeth (7:5), a four-headed leopard with wings (7:6), and a fourth beast, terrible and strong with great iron teeth and many horns (7:7–8). In combining these beasts, which in Daniel represented four historic kingdoms hostile to the people of God (Dan 7:17, 23), John sets forth the Antichrist as the epitome of bestial opposition to the seed of the woman.16 Some writers see a special significance in each beast: the fierce cruelty of the leopard,17 the slow, crushing power of the bear, the dreaded roar of the lion.18 In any case, the main purpose of the Seer is to describe a monster great and terrifying who utters blasphemies against God and persecutes the faithful. It is of crucial importance to note that the beast receives his power, dominion,19 and authority from the dragon. The tremendous impact of the Roman Empire stemmed from its unholy alliance with Satan himself. Through it Satan would carry out his plan to devastate and devour the church.

It should be noted that the attitude toward the state in Revelation differs decidedly from that reflected in such passages as Rom 13:1–6; 1 Tim 2:1–2; and 1 Pet 2:13–17. This is not because John differed from the other apostles regarding church and state. It is because in the developing historical situation of the first century the existing truce between church and empire had given way to conflict in which an aggressive program of emperor worship was being forced upon the populace, supported by active persecution. In the clash of loyalties between God and emperor, the Christian had no choice but to obey the One who is the source of all authority.20 Only when the state continues to act within the limitations of its delegated authority can the believer freely submit to its regulations.

3 One of the beast’s seven heads has been dealt a mortal wound21 (according to 13:14, by a stroke of the sword). But the beast survives the death stroke and draws the whole world after him in amazement. Many commentators take the slaughtered head as standing for one of the Roman emperors. Caligula is a likely candidate in that he was taken with a serious illness and recovered.22 His attempt to set up his statue in the temple could give rise to v. 6 (“He opened his mouth to blaspheme God … and his dwelling place”), and the many altars erected to him throughout the empire23 would encourage the kind of universal worship reflected in v. 8 (“All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast”). Most writers, however, who take the slain head as a Roman emperor choose Nero.24 This tyrant, who gained the throne by the treachery of a scheming mother (banished by Caligula but brought back by her uncle, Claudius, whom she married and later poisoned), instituted in A.D. 64 a savage persecution of the Christian church. In order to escape the ignominious death prescribed for a public enemy, Nero took his own life in June of 68. So evil was he that many (especially in the eastern provinces) thought his death in a private villa outside Rome could not possibly be true. Although he was given a public funeral, the rumor persisted for a number of years that he had not died but had gone to Parthia where he remained in hiding to return someday at the head of a mighty army to regain his lost dominion. During the next two decades several pretenders arose claiming to be Nero,25 two of whom were well received in Parthia. By the end of the century the belief that he was still alive had faded. It was replaced with the expectation that he would rise from the dead and return to seize power.

A basic problem with identifying the slain head as Nero (or any specific emperor) is that the text does not say that the head was restored. It was the beast who recovered from the death stroke upon one of his heads. Later in the same chapter we read of “the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived” (13:14).26 The interpretation of the seven heads as seven kings is a development of chapter 17 (note that in 17:19 they are also seven mountains) and does not belong to the immediate vision. Since the beast is the Roman Empire in its persecution of the church, its recovery from a mortal wound could refer to the reestablishment of order under Vespasian (A.D. 69–79) following the chaotic and bloody revolution that had begun less than two years before with the death of Nero and extended through the abortive reigns of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. Or perhaps no historical allusion is intended and the purpose of the figure is to underscore the tremendous vitality of the beast. Though wounded, he returns with increased might. From the beginning of history the pagan state has set itself against the people of God. From the pharaohs of Egypt to the emperors of Rome it had moved steadily forward with determined purpose to devour all who refused it homage. It had survived every assault and recovered from every deadly blow. Little wonder that in the last days the whole world will be drawn after27 the beast in wonder and amazement.28

4 The inhabitants of the earth worship not only the beast but the dragon as well—the one who has given his authority to the beast. Deification of secular power is in fact the worship of Satan.29 The rhetoric of praise ascribed to the beast parodies such OT passages as Exod 15:11 (“Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?” Cf. Mic 7:18; Isa 44:7; Ps 89:8). Who is like the beast and who can make war against him? The power of the parody lies in the fact that the readers know the beast is tethered (a wild cur on a leash!) and that his end is sure. Thus it is only God of whom it can be truly said, “Who is like him? Who can make war against him?” The motivation for worship is not the beast’s moral greatness but the awesome power of his might. The authority he wields is the authority of Satan himself.

5 The beast is allowed to speak arrogantly and blaspheme for a period of forty-two months. Once again the model is the little horn of Daniel 7 with its “mouth that spoke boastfully” (Dan 7:8; cf. 7:20), who is to “speak against the Most High” (Dan 7:25) and “magnify himself above every god, and … say unheard-of things against the God of gods” (Dan 11:36). The “proud words” spoken by the beast are explained by the phrase that follows (“even blasphemies”)30 and expanded in v. 6. In addition to a mouth, the beast is given authority. Four times in the Greek text of vv. 5 through 7 we read the passive edothē (“was given”), emphasizing the subordinate role of the beast. Although in vv. 2 and 4 it was the dragon who gave power and authority to the beast, John’s readers would understand in these later verses a reference to God, the ultimate source of all power. The reign of the beast is by divine permission. He operates within the limitations determined by God. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short (12:12). The time of his blasphemy is forty-two months, the traditional period for religious persecution (cf. comm. on 11:2). The NKJ translation, “to continue for forty-two months,” is weak. During the forty-two months the beast actively carries out the will of the dragon.31

6 The beast opens his mouth to blaspheme God. This activity of the Antichrist is clearly portrayed in 2 Thess 2:4: “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God … proclaiming himself to be God.”32 The blasphemy of Antiochus (Dan 7:25; 11:36) and the use of divine titles by the Roman emperors would for John identify the Antichrist as the one in whom secular authority had assumed the mantle of deity. The expression, “to open the mouth,” is frequently used at the beginning of a prolonged discourse (cf. Matt 5:2; Acts 8:35) and suggests that the blasphemies of the beast against God were sustained.

The relationship among the several clauses in v. 6 is variously understood. If “and” is read as the first word of the last clause,33 there are three objects of blasphemy: the name of God, his dwelling place, and those that dwell in heaven. It is more likely that the final clause is appositional and develops more specifically what is intended by the previous expression. To slander the name of God is to speak evil of all that he is and stands for. The name sums up the person. His dwelling place is his “tabernacle” (NKJ and others). In 21:3 a loud voice from the throne declares, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.”

Some understand the blaspheming of God’s dwelling place (i.e., his temple) as a reference to Caligula’s attempt to set up his statue in the Holy of Holies,34 but it is doubtful whether any historical allusion is intended. Those who dwell in heaven are either angelic beings, or, possibly, the church viewed ideally as seated in heavenly places (cf. Eph 2:6; Col 3:1).

7 Having described “the proud words and blasphemies” (v. 5) in the preceding verse, John now goes on to describe his “exercising authority.” The authority is described in two ways: first by his making war against the saints, and second by his demanding universal worship. To the beast was given35 power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. The first part of v. 7 builds on Dan 7:21. Swete comments that “like the … loyal defenders of Jerusalem against Antiochus, the citizens of the new Jerusalem must expect to fall before the persecuting Emperor.”36 Universal authority is given to the beast. It extends over every tribe, people, language, and nation.37 Although the saints are to be conquered (i.e., put to death) by the beast, the real victory belongs to them. They are those who are “victorious over the beast” (15:2). In the crucial test of faith they relinquish their lives rather than their confidence in God. In 12:11 we learned that they overcame the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and loved not their lives to death! This is true victory! The twice-repeated “he was given” stresses the subordinate role of the beast. He is the dragon’s instrument for revenge and operates at his bidding. Yet the reference goes beyond the dragon, and we are to understand that even this unholy alliance is under the control of the One in whom resides all authority and might.

8 John now describes the results of the work of the beast to whom such awesome power has been given. The whole world (apart from those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life) will join in worship of the beast. Jesus had foretold the coming of false Christs who with displays of signs and wonders would “deceive even the elect—if that were possible” (Matt 24:24). Once the Roman state had taken on a religious significance it was only natural that it should begin to demand worship. The worship of a satanically inspired perversion of secular authority is the ultimate offense against the one true God. The temptation rejected by Jesus at the outset of his public ministry (Matt 4:8–10) reappears at the end of history in its most persuasive form and gains the allegiance of all but the elect.

The NRSV translation “every one” represents an unexpected change in the Greek text from the plural to the singular.38 The shift is perhaps intended to emphasize the individual responsibility of each one who worships the beast. They are the ones whose names have not been written in the book of life. The idea of a divine register is found as far back as Moses’ encounter with God on Mt. Sinai (Deut 32:32–33). In the NT Paul speaks of his fellow workers as those “whose names are in the book of life” (Phil 4:3). In Revelation the designation occurs six times (3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27) and refers to a register of the names of all those who belong to God. Here and in 21:27 the book of life is said to belong to the Lamb. It is through his sacrifice that life is possible (5:9–10).

The “creation of the world” refers to the creation of the visible order. It is mentioned ten times in the NT. Jesus speaks of a kingdom prepared since the creation of the world (Matt 25:34), and Paul of the believers’ election before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4). The problem in the immediate verse is not the meaning of the phrase but its place in the sentence. Was it the writing of believers’ names or the death of the Lamb that dates from the creation of the world? The RSV and many of the newer translations follow the first alternative. The faithful are guarded by their election (the writing of their names in the Lamb’s book of life) from being deceived by the pretensions of the Antichrist. This is said to have taken place at the creation of the world. Rev 17:8, a parallel verse, would support this interpretation. However, the premise that John must be absolutely consistent in his literary expression is questionable. There is no particular reason why he should be denied the freedom to use a given phrase in several ways. It is better in this case to follow the order of the Greek syntax and read, “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”39 That is, the death of Christ was a redemptive sacrifice decreed in the counsels of eternity. It is worth noting that names may be blotted out of the book of life (3:5); hence having one’s name in the register at the beginning of creation would offer something less than complete security in the time of trial.

9–10 The contemporary equivalent of v. 9 would be the military command, “Now hear this!” It occurs in each of the seven letters (2:7, 11, 17, 19; 3:6, 13, 22) and recalls the familiar expression of Jesus, “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matt 11:15; cf. Mark 4:9). The idiom could point in either direction, but what it primarily does is to alert the reader to the importance of the proverbial statement that follows.

The epigrammatic style of v. 10 has resulted in a number of scribal attempts to clarify the meaning by altering the text.40 The reading that best accounts for the origin of the others (when translated literally into English) is:

If anyone into captivity,

into captivity this one goes.

If anyone by a sword to be killed,

this one by a sword to be killed.

Such terseness is not immediately clear, especially to the later reader of Revelation. At issue is, Who is taken captive and killed; and by whom? The NIV correctly interprets the text in context to refer to those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (v. 8). In view of the impending persecution at the hand of the beast it is certain that captivity and death by the sword await those who faithfully follow the Lamb. There is a certain grim reality that lies ahead for believers. They will be taken into captivity, and many will be put to death by the sword. As their Master met death at the hands of a hostile secular power, so also they will meet the same fate.41 This reading of the Greek text stresses the inevitability of persecution and death for the faithful. This appeal to loyal endurance suits the context and tone of the entire Apocalypse and, further, is supported by Jer 15:2 and 43:11.42

Two other less probable readings warrant our attention. One refers both couplets to the persecutors of the church by adding a verb that makes the first line read, “If any person leads43 [a believer] into captivity, into captivity that person [himself/herself] will go.” Thus the verse would be stressing that the enemies of God’s people would be requited for their persecution of believers in the same form they had employed (captivity for captivity, sword for sword).

The other reading is that of the Sinaiticus (followed by the NKJ)—“He who kills with the sword, must be killed with the sword.”44 This corresponds to the words of Jesus in Matt 26:52, “All who draw the sword will die by the sword.” The first couplet would teach that the believer must accept what God has ordained, and the second would warn against any attempt on the part of the church to defend itself by the use of force. Barclay writes, “It is an intolerable paradox to defend the gospel of the love of God by using the violence of man.”45

The conclusion, therefore, is that “there is need for endurance and faith on the part of Christ’s people” (TCNT). When the impending persecution breaks upon the church, believers will need to meet it with steadfast endurance and an unwavering faith. John’s warnings about the perils that faced God’s people served to prepare them for the difficult days that lay ahead. At the close of the age it will be to the church’s advantage to be fully informed of the increased activity of Satan (12:12, 17). The view that God will remove his people from the suffering of those days creates a faulty expectation that will work against their need for “patient endurance and faithfulness.”

E. THE BEAST FROM THE EARTH (13:11–18)

11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.

We come now to the second vision of chapter 13. In contrast to the first beast who came up out of the sea, this one comes out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but when he spoke he roared like a dragon. By performing great and miraculous signs he set out to deceive the inhabitants of the earth. He set up an image in honor of the first beast and was given the power to bring it to life so it could speak. Everyone was required to receive the mark of this beast or forfeit the right to buy and sell. Those who did not honor the first beast were put to death. His name transferred into numbers is 666.

It is clear that John’s vision must first be understood against the sociopolitical situation of his own day. If the first beast was the power of Rome whose insistence on worshiping the emperor was beginning to threaten the early church, the second beast most certainly represents the imperial priesthood that assisted Rome in propagating the imperial cult. John’s divinely revealed insights understood the end to be imminent. Although nearly 2,000 years have passed since he wrote Revelation, his understanding of the forces that will bring history to a close remains true. In the end Satan by means of his control over secular society will demand ultimate allegiance and deceitfully use every method available to gain the worship of the inhabitants of the world.

11 Ancient tradition spoke of two primeval monsters, which inhabited the ocean depths and the dry land. According to 1 Enoch 60:7–10 Leviathan (a female monster) lived “in the abysses of the ocean,” and Behemoth (the male) occupied a “waste wilderness named Duidain.”1 Since such “mythology” was already known to the authors of the OT, there is no particular reason why John may not have reflected on it. To borrow images known to common culture is not the same as saying that they are authentic and real. Some writers think that since the first beast may have been suggested by Dan 7:3 (the four great beasts came up from the sea), the second beast could well have been suggested by the interpretation of this passage a few verses later (Dan 7:17 says that the beasts are kings that arise out of the earth). A simpler solution is that as the first beast came from across the sea (hence appearing to come “out of the sea”), the second beast rose within Asia Minor itself. In any case, the evil triumvirate is now complete. As Christ received authority from the Father (Matt 11:27), so Antichrist receives authority from the dragon (Rev 13:4); and as the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ (John 16:14), so the false prophet glorifies the Antichrist (Rev 13:12).2

The beast out of the earth is a deceiver (cf. v. 14). Elsewhere he is uniformly called the false prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). His two horns like a lamb represent his attempt to convey the impression of gentle harmlessness. This passage recalls the warning of Jesus, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matt 7:15). The horns like a lamb may refer to the seductive inducements (considerations of loyalty, patriotism, self-interest, etc.) held out to Christians by the beast.3 It is unlikely that the two horns are intended to contrast with the two witnesses of chapter 11. Neither do they allude to the seven-horned Lamb of 5:6.4 In the parody that runs throughout this section it is the first, not the second, beast who corresponds to the Lamb. That the beast spoke like a dragon may mean either that he spoke with the roar of a dragon or that, as the serpent in Eden (cf. 12:9), his speech was deceitful and beguiling.5

The role of the second beast is to cause people to worship the first beast. To achieve this end he is empowered to work miracles. By economic boycott and the threat of death he intends to make everyone worship the image of the beast. This priestly role identifies the second beast as a religious power. In John’s day the reference would be either to the local priests of the imperial cult6 or to the provincial council responsible for enforcing emperor worship throughout Asia.7 John clearly saw Rome and emperor worship as the primary cause for the churches’ suffering. Pergamum was one of the primary centers for the emperor cult, and already Antipas had been put to death there (2:13).

Wilcock is representative of those interpreters who take the figures in this section of Revelation in a general and timeless sense. He writes that the second beast is “in modern parlance, the ideology—whether religious, philosophical, or political—which ‘gives breath to’ any human social structure organized independently of God.”8 In the final days of Antichrist the false prophet stands for the role of false religion in effecting the capitulation of society to the worship of secular power. It is the universal victory of humanism. Peterson, in his self-styled and highly readable “pastoral midrash,” writes that “dragon, sea beast, and land beast are a satanic trinity9 that infiltrates the political world in order to deflect our worship from the God whom we cannot see to the authorities that we can see, and to deceive us into buying into a religion or belief-system that has visible results in self-gratification.”10

12 As the dragon gave his authority to the first beast (13:4), so the second beast exercises the authority of the first. He carries out the desires of the first beast as a prophet who stands in readiness before his god (cf. 1 Kgs 17:1). His purpose is to cause everyone11 to worship the beast whose fatal wound has been healed. Writers who interpret the fatal wound that had been healed as a reference to the Nero Redivivus legend find it necessary to point out that here and in v. 14 the beast is to be identified with the head impersonating him. It is simpler to understand that the beast himself recovered rather than one of his heads that was mortally wounded (see comm. on v. 3).

13 In keeping with a long biblical tradition understood as a parody of Elijah, John goes on to offer the reason for the false prophet’s ability to perform spectacular signs. Deut 13:1 warns of the false prophet who would lead people to worship other gods by means of signs and wonders. The second beast imitates the miracles of the true prophets to deceive the people into worshiping the beast. Like Elijah he calls down fire out of heaven in the sight of everyone.12 As a false Elijah he prepares the way for a false Messiah. It was widely expected that the appearance of the Antichrist would be marked by numerous miracles. Jesus predicted the rise of false Christs who would lead astray, if possible, even the elect (Mark 13:22). Paul speaks of the lawless one whose coming “will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders” (2 Thess 2:9). According to the Asc. Isa. 4:10 the Antichrist will make the sun rise at night and the moon appear at the sixth hour.13 The second beast carries out his task of deception in fulfillment of these expectations.

14 The power of Satan to deceive (12:9; 20:3, 8) is shared by the false prophet (cf. 19:20). He is the Antichrist’s Minister of Propaganda.14 “The inhabitants of the earth” is a semitechnical designation for the entire body of unregenerated humanity.15 They are deceived by16 the miracles that the false prophet is empowered to perform in the presence of the beast. Some writers see a parody on the two witnesses who stand “before the Lord of the earth” (11:4) and devour their enemies with fire from their mouths (11:5). The second beast instructs the people to make an image of the beast who17 survived the stroke of the sword. The translation “who had the stroke of the sword and came to life” is permissible,18 but in view of the parallel passages (13:3, 12), which say that he was healed, it is better to take the Greek verb in its normal sense. The image would probably be a bust or statue of the emperor rather than his image stamped on a coin.19 According to Asc. Isa. 4:11 the Antichrist is to set up his image in every city. Only the death of Caligula prevented his intention of erecting his statue in the Jewish temple.

15 The second beast is given the power to animate the image of the first beast. He gives to it the breath of life,20 and the image speaks. Belief in statues that spoke and performed miracles is widely attested in ancient literature. Simon Magus is reputed to have brought statues to life.21 Andreas, the sixth-century commentator, reminds us that it was the age of Apollonius of Tyana, whose trickery was held to come from the powers of evil. Ventriloquism was practiced by the priests of Oriental cults, and sorcery had found a place in the official circles of Rome.22 Apelles of Ascalon was at home in the court of Caligula, and Apollonius was a friend of several Roman emperors. The sorcerer and false prophet Elymas on the island of Cyprus sought (perhaps by devious methods) to prevent Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, from accepting the faith as preached by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:6–8; see also 16:16).

The syntax of the verse suggests that the image not only spoke but also passed the death sentence upon all23 who would not worship it. There may be a change of subject in the final clause so that it is the second beast who enforces worship of the image.24 In either case the result is the same. In the last days there is to be a great division in the human race. Some will remain true to the faith even in the face of death; others will turn in worship to the Antichrist. It is this decision which accounts for the apostasy that is to precede the return of Christ (2 Thess 2:1–3). Half-hearted Christians do not surrender their lives for a cause in which they do not really believe. The view that John was speaking of the legal status of Christians rather than their actual fate25 is strange in view of the fact that at least by Trajan’s day failure to worship the emperor was a capital offense.26

16 The second beast requires all people to receive the mark of the first beast on their right hand or forehead. The coupling of opposites (small, great; rich, poor; free, slave) is a rhetorical way of stressing the totality of human society (cf. 11:18; 19:5, 18; 20:12). No one who would carry on the normal pursuits of everyday life (v. 17) is exempt. The origin of the mark is variously explained. It could derive from the practice of branding disobedient slaves27 or soldiers defeated in battle.28 Religious tattooing was widespread in the ancient world, and devotees of a particular god were often branded to indicate their loyal devotion.29 Ptolemy Philopator branded Jews who submitted to registration with the ivy leaf, the mark of Dionysiac worship (3 Macc 2:29). The word translated “mark” was also used for the likeness or name of the emperor on Roman coins. This may be the reason why in the present verse the mark is placed on the hand as well as on the forehead.30 The word was also a technical designation for the seals that were attached to commercial documents and stamped with the name and date of the emperor.31 Some writers see a reference to the Jewish custom of wearing phylacteries (little leather boxes containing portions of the law) on the left hand and on the forehead (Deut 6:8).32 Others take the passage as an apocalyptic description of certificates issued to those who had fulfilled the ceremonial obligations of emperor worship.33 Still others see a reference to the X of Christ’s name (in Greek) and suggest that the mark of the beast was a parody of the practice of making the sign of the cross on the forehead of the new Christian.34

Whatever the background of the word, its significance in the present passage is to parody the sealing of the servants of God in chapter 7. As the elect are sealed upon their foreheads to escape the destruction about to fall upon the earth, so the followers of the beast are to escape his wrath against the church by bearing his mark. In the apocalyptic vision of John the mark is obviously visible. It symbolizes unqualified allegiance to the demands of the imperial cult.35 In the final days of Antichrist it will represent the ultimate test of religious loyalty. Only those who would rather die than compromise their faith will resist the mark of Antichrist.

17 Not only does the mark serve to identify those who worship the beast, but36 it allows them to engage in the simple commercial transactions of the day.37 An economic boycott is raised against all who refuse to fall into line. Its purpose seems to be to harass believers rather than the method by which they are to be put to death (v. 15). The mark is identified as the name of the beast written in its numerical equivalent. It is not the name of the beast or the number of his name that is stamped on his followers. The mark is the number of the name.38

In ancient times, letters of the alphabet served as numbers. The first nine letters stood for the numbers one through nine, the next nine for the numbers ten through ninety, and so on. As there were not enough letters in the then current Greek alphabet, certain obsolete letters and signs were brought into the system. Thus, every name yielded a number. To decipher a number presented a rather fascinating riddle. An often quoted graffito from Pompeii reads, “I love her whose number is 545.”39 Among the Jews the practice was known as gematria. Rabbis delighted in discovering esoteric meanings in the numbers found in Scripture. For example, in Gen 14:14 the 318 trained men who accompanied Abram to recover Lot from his captors turn out to be Eliezer, the chief servant. A striking example is found in Sib. Or. 1:324ff., where the name of Jesus in Greek is given as 888.40 In the following verse in Revelation we learn that the number of the beast stamped upon his followers was 666. But just who is referred to by this cryptogram is another story!

18 No verse in Revelation has received more attention than this one with its cryptic reference to the number of the beast. Although the verse opens with the declaration, “This calls for wisdom,” the history of interpretation demonstrates that no consensus has been reached on whom or what John had in mind.41 The person who has understanding is called upon to calculate42 the number of the beast. This is an invitation to work backward from the number 666 to the name for which it is the numerical equivalent. Gematria was widely used in apocalyptic because of its symbolic and enigmatic quality. It served as a precaution against the charge of sedition.

The number of the beast is the number of a certain man.43 Some writers feel that the clause should be read, “for it is a human [rather than a supernatural] number.” But exactly what a nonhuman number would be or why it should enter this context is not at all clear. The reference is to some definite historical person (the NRSV translates the final clause, “for it is the number of a person”).

The beast’s number is 666. Already by the second century the solution to this riddle had escaped so prominent a theologian as Irenaeus, a native of Asia Minor and a disciple of Polycarp. In his work, Against Heresies (5.30) he mentions as possible interpretations Euanthas (a name no longer identifiable), Lateinos (the Roman Empire), and Teitan (the Titans of Greek mythology who rebelled against the gods). Another early conjecture was arnoumē, a form of the Greek verb meaning “to deny.” Recent suggestions are equally ingenious and similarly unconvincing. Giet finds that the initials of the Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Vespasian add up to 666,44 but he has to omit Otho and Vitellius to make it work out. Stauffer suggests that John was counting up an abbreviated form in Greek of the full Latin title of Domitian (Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus), which appeared in part on his coinage.45 A rather different solution has been offered by G. A. van den Bergh van Eysinga,46 who shows that 666 is the triangular number of 36 (1 plus 2 plus 3 etc. up to 36), and 36 is the triangular number of 8—the number of the Antichrist (cf. 17:11).

The solution most commonly accepted today is that 666 is the numerical equivalent of Nero Caesar.47 It is held to be supported by the variant reading 616, which also yields the name of Nero when the Latinized spelling is followed.48 What is not generally stressed is that this solution asks us to calculate a Hebrew transliteration of the Greek form of a Latin name,49 and that with a defective spelling.50 A shift to Hebrew letters is unlikely in that Revelation is written in Greek and there is no indication that the riddle is to be solved by transposing it into another language. Further, the name of Nero was apparently never suggested by the ancient commentators even though his persecuting zeal made him a model of the Antichrist.

Some writers take the number more as a symbol than a cryptogram. 666 is the number that falls short of perfection in each of its digits. For Hendriksen it represents “failure upon failure upon failure.”51 It is symbolic of the beast’s continuing failure to accomplish his purpose. It is the trinity of imperfection.52

In view of the widely divergent and highly speculative solutions to the riddle it seems best to conclude that John intended only his intimate associates to be able to decipher the number. So successful were his precautions that even Irenaeus some one hundred years later was unable to identify the person intended. An additional 1,800 years of conjecture have not brought us any closer to a definitive answer.

Chapter 12 introduced us to the great dragon, the primary adversary of God. In chapter 13 we met the two great forces used by Satan to accomplish his nefarious plans. The stage is being set for the final encounter. What is crucial at this point is to recognize the true nature of the struggle. While the Lamb was victorious on the cross, the full and public acknowledgment of that victory awaits a final moment. Believers live in the already/not yet tension of a battle won but not quite over. While victory has been achieved, the defeated enemy must still be permanently removed from the field of battle. That will take place when the conquering Messiah returns to establish his eternal rule.

F. THE REDEEMED AND THE LAMB ON MOUNT ZION (14:1–5)

1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

In order to keep before his readers the ultimate reward for their endurance, the author of Revelation intersperses glimpses of final blessedness among his presentations of judgment. The detailed description of the beast and the false prophet in the preceding chapter was a somber reminder of what lay in the immediate future, suffering and death, with a call to steadfastness. A note of encouragement is in order. John moves quickly beyond the storm about to break to the bright morning of eternity when the Lamb and his followers stand on the heavenly Mount Zion with the anthem of redemption everywhere resounding like the roar of a mighty waterfall and the echo of thunder. Verses 1–5 are often referred to as in some respects the most enigmatic in the book. The major difficulty is the description of the 144,000 as “virgins” (AV, ASV, NKJ, etc.) who have not “defile[d] themselves with women” (v. 4). Yet even this “violent and paradoxical metaphor”1 yields an intelligible interpretation when proper consideration is given to John’s highly figurative literary style.2

In chapter 7 we learned that the servants of God were sealed on the forehead to protect them from the coming judgments (vv. 2–4). In chapter 13 we discovered another kind of mark—the mark of the beast (v. 16). Without this mark on the right hand or forehead no one would be able to buy or sell (v. 17; cf. also 14:11; 16:2; 19:20). In each case the “mark” is the name of the one to whom ultimate loyalty is given (13:17; 14:1). The 144,000 on Mount Zion bear the name of God; the unbelieving world carries the name (or its number) of the Satanic beast. The destiny of every person is determined by the mark that person bears. When judgment comes there will be no room for ambiguity; people will have by their “mark” declared their master. For the believer it will be a time of joy and celebration as before the throne of heaven they sing the new song of their redemption.

1 The striking quality of the vision is stressed by the opening words, “I looked, and there before me.”3 Suddenly John sees the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, accompanied by the 144,000 who bear his name (and the name of his Father) on their foreheads. The scene is in obvious contrast to the beast of chapter 13, whose followers are stamped with his mark (666) on the right hand or forehead (vv. 16–17). The Lamb who in chapter 5 was counted worthy to unloose the seals of the scroll of destiny, and in chapter 7 to receive the adulation of the innumerable multitude of heaven, now stands victorious with his followers.4

It is fitting that the Lamb should be standing5 on Mount Zion, for this sacred place had long been associated with divine deliverance. The prophet Joel foretold that those on Mount Zion would escape the great and terrible day of the Lord (Joel 2:32).6 The mountain in John’s vision, however, is not on earth. It is the heavenly Mount Zion (cf. Heb 12:22), the Jerusalem that is above (Gal 4:26).7 Some writers take it as the earthly site of a millennial reign,8 but the entire scene is one of praise before the throne of heaven.

The identity of the 144,000 (and their relation to a group of the same number in chapter 7) has been variously interpreted. Verse 4 seems to set them apart as a select group of supersaints. As firstfruits they would be consecrated to God in a special way, and as celibates they would enjoy a privileged relationship. The absence of any article before 144,000 is argued in support of this interpretation. But, as will be argued below (vv. 3–5), they are better understood as the entire body of the redeemed. In chapter 7, 144,000 were sealed against the woes that lay ahead (7:4–8). Now the same number stands secure beyond that final ordeal. The repetition of the number is not to ensure an exact identification between the two groups but to point out that not one has been lost. John’s symbols are fluid, and, in fact, the number 144,000 of chapter 14 corresponds with the innumerable multitude found in the second vision of chapter 7. Both portray the full complement of the redeemed throughout history. On their foreheads are written the name of the Lamb and the name of his Father.9 In this context the mark is primarily a symbol of basic allegiance. Those who bear the mark have committed themselves to the Lamb and to the path of self-sacrificing love. They are the overcomers upon whom the risen Christ has written his own new name (3:12).

2–3 As elsewhere in John’s visions this one includes both seeing (v. 1) and hearing (vv. 2–3). What is heard is the (very loud) new song sung by the redeemed. It is not only loud but melodic as well, as the unfolding similes make clear. The sound that John hears from heaven is like the roar of a mighty cataract (or the roar of the ocean; NJB). Ezekiel uses the same figure for the sound of the winged cherubim in flight as they accompany the chariot throne of God (Ezek 1:24). It is like the voice of God approaching in his glory (Ezek 43:2). Apparently the Seer was greatly impressed by the sound, for he adds two more descriptive similes: it is like the sound of thunder (cf. 6:1; 19:6), and it is like the swelling refrain of an ensemble of harpists. The sound is not that of an angelic choir (as in 5:11–12 and 7:11–12), but is the anthem of redemption sung by the 144,000. They alone, having experienced deliverance, are able to sing its praise (cf. v. 4). Many commentators see the angels as teaching this new song to the redeemed, a concept that is theologically inappropriate and by no means necessitated by the text.

That the sound is actually a chorus of many voices is indicated by the plural, “they sing.”10 It is the “new song” of 5:9, but now it is sung by the very ones who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb and made a kingdom of priests before the heavenly throne. As in so many of the “new songs” spoken of in the Psalms (96:1; 98:1; 144:9; etc.), the theme is deliverance. Only those who have paid the full price of endurance in the faith are equipped by experience to give voice to the subsequent anthem of victory. They sing before the throne of God, with the angelic orders of heaven (the living creatures and the elders) as audience. That they have been redeemed from the earth does not mean that they were removed bodily from the earth (cf. John 17:15) but that they were separated from the evil ways of the world and the tyranny of its pernicious philosophies.

4 The 144,000 are now described under three figures intended to reveal both who they are and what characterizes them: they are virgins who have not defiled themselves with women; they are followers of the Lamb; and they are firstfruits purchased from among men.

The first figure has occasioned considerable discussion. A number of commentators understand John to be describing the 144,000 as an elite group of saints who have attained the utmost in spirituality by renouncing marriage with its detracting sexual relationships.11 They are celibates and virgins.12 That certain segments of the early church came to exalt celibacy is perfectly true. Jesus had spoken with approval of eunuchs (Matt 19:12), and Paul wished that all people possessed the gift of continence so as to serve without hindrance the cause of Christ (1 Cor 7:1; 7:32). As early as the second century, Marcion had established a church solely for celibates. Origen, the great theologian and apologist, was said to have castrated himself to insure chastity.

The major difficulty with this interpretation, however, is that it implies that sexual relationships within marriage are defiling. This is contrary to the clear teaching of the NT. From the beginning, God made male and female for one another (Gen 2:18–24), and what he has joined in holy wedlock no one is to separate (Matt 19:4–6). 1 Corinthians 7 notwithstanding, Paul held marriage in such high esteem that he could use it as an illustration of the intimate relationship between Christ and his church (Eph 5:31–32).13

Another interpretation takes the words in a more figurative sense and understands the 144,000 to be those who have kept themselves from adultery and fornication.14 They are virgins in the sense of having never entered into immoral relations with the other sex.15 While chastity was a highly regarded virtue in the Christian community, it should not be elevated to the distinctive mark of the redeemed in heaven.

There is a symbolism in the description of the church as virgins that must not be overlooked. On many occasions throughout the OT, Israel is spoken of as a virgin. She is the “Virgin Daughter of Zion” (2 Kgs 19:21; Lam 2:13), “Virgin Israel” (Jer 18:13; Amos 5:2). When she lapsed into idolatry, she is said to have played the harlot (Jer 3:6; Hos 2:5). The figure is carried over into the NT when Paul writes to the Corinthians, “I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him” (2 Cor 11:2). The 144,000 are here pictured as the promised bride of Christ (cf. 21:9) who, as they await the day of marriage, have kept themselves pure from all defiling relationships with the pagan world system. They have resisted the seductions of the great harlot Rome with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication (17:2).16 The apparent confusion of the sexes is of no moment since the entire figure is to be understood symbolically.

The redeemed are next described as those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.17 They do not follow the Lamb as he strolls around heaven, but they follow his life and instructions while he was still on earth. The statement echoes the words of Jesus in such passages as Mark 8:34 (“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”), Matt 19:21, and others. While the language does not require a specific reference to martyrdom, a significant number of those who enter the final tribulation may in fact follow him to death.

If the first figure stressed the fidelity of the redeemed and the second their discipleship, the third speaks of the sacrificial offering of themselves to God. Although the Greek word translated “firstfruits” originally meant a token offering to God that released the harvest that followed for secular use, it had come to signify more often than not in the LXX no more than an offering or gift.18 The point is that by offering themselves to God they were set free from human entanglements to belong solely to him. Purchased by the blood of the Lamb (5:9),19 they are an offering to God.

5 In contrast to those who will forever be excluded from the eternal city—evil people of every sort and “everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (22:15; cf. 21:27)—it can be said of the redeemed that “no lie was found in their mouths.” Unlike the pagan world that “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (Rom 1:25; cf. also 2 Thess 2:11), they made no compromise with the heretical claims of Antichrist. Zephaniah had prophesied that the remnant of Israel would speak no lies, nor would deceit be found in their mouths (Zeph 3:13).20

The 144,000 are also “beyond the reach of blame” (TCNT).21 When used of NT believers, the Greek word uniformly means ethically blameless.22 Since the theme of sacrifice is present in the immediate context (cf. v. 4c), a number of writers are of the opinion that the word should here be taken in the ritual sense of sacrificially acceptable. This is the meaning of the word when used of Christ the Paschal Lamb in 1 Pet 1:19 (cf. Heb 9:14).

The vision of the Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion, following as it does the distressing visions of the two Satanic beasts, brings a surge of spirited expectation. As difficult as the future may be, there remains the joyful prospect of soon standing beyond this sphere of suffering on the mountain of the Lord and singing with the innumerable multitude of the redeemed the new song of salvation. Visions of what will be strengthen the believer to endure the reality of what for the present must be.

INTERLUDE: VISIONS OF FINAL JUDGMENT (14:6–20)

Between the sixth and seventh seal we encountered an interlude in which the 144,000 were sealed and protected in the coming judgments (7:1–8). The second half of the chapter, looking ahead, portrayed the innumerable multitude in heaven serving God and enjoying the blessings of the eternal state (7:9–17). Between the sixth and seventh trumpet we found another interlude, this time telling of the little scroll that the seer is to eat and laying out the prophetic role of the two witnesses (10:1–11:14). In chapter 14 (vv. 6–20) we once again encounter an interlude—this time, not (as in the first interlude) of safety and joy but of judgment. Following as it does the heavenly vision of the 144,000 on Mount Zion, it reminds the reader that the redeemed will be vindicated when judgment falls on the unbelieving world. It is a way of assuring the martyrs under the altar (6:9–11) that God has not forgotten that violent death was the price they paid for their convictions

1. Impending Judgment Announced (14:6–13)

The tableau of the Lamb and his followers standing victorious on the heavenly Mount Zion is followed by a series of three angel proclamations (vv. 6–11). These three are interrelated and progressive. The summons to worship the Creator (vv. 6–7) leads to a prediction of the downfall of the great citadel of paganism (v. 8) and then to a vivid portrayal of the torment awaiting all who worship the beast (vv. 9–11). The unit is then brought to a close with a voice from heaven pronouncing blessed those who die in the Lord.

6Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

8A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

9A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

13Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

6 That the angel flying in midair is called “another angel” has no particular significance. The seventh angel of 11:15 is too far removed for an intended contrast. If the designation involves any contrast at all, it would probably be with angels in general who have appeared throughout the book to this point.1 Like the eagle of woe in 8:13, it flies in midair to be seen and heard by all. The proclamation goes out over2 those who living3 on earth. The angel’s message is called “the eternal gospel.” It is not the gospel of God’s redeeming grace in Christ Jesus4 but, as the following verse shows, a summons to fear, honor, and worship the Creator.5 It is an eternal gospel in that it sets forth the eternal purpose of God for people. It relates to judgment and salvation in the coming eternal age. Those who dwell on the earth are further specified as every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.6

7 The angel speaks with a loud voice so that all can hear. The eternal gospel calls on people to fear and honor the Creator, for the hour of judgment is at hand. God has revealed himself in nature so that people are without excuse (Rom 1:19–20).7 To fear God is to reverence him; to give him glory is to pay him the respect and honor that is his due. Paul wrote of the moral retrogression of paganism that began with people’s failure to glorify God (Rom 1:21). Now we hear one last call for civilization to repent and give him glory. The proclamation is couched in the language of natural theology. People are called upon to worship the God who made the heaven, the earth, and the waters, both salt and fresh (cf. 10:6). An interesting parallel is the message of Barnabas and Paul to the multitudes at Lystra: “Turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them” (Acts 14:15).

8 A second8 angel now appears (apparently flying in midair as the first) and announces the fall of Babylon the Great. The introduction of this symbolic reference without explanation assumes that the readers would understand the allusion. The ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon had become the political and religious capital of a world empire. It was renowned for its luxury and moral corruption. Above all it was the great enemy of the people of God. For the early church the city of Rome was a contemporary Babylon.9 The designation “Babylon the Great” (used consistently throughout Revelation: e.g., 14:8; 16:9; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21) goes back to Dan 4:30 and emphasizes, “the Nebuchadnezzar-like self-importance of the rulers of Rome rather than the actual size or true greatness of the city.”10 It is a symbol of the spirit of godlessness that in every age lures people away from the worship of the Creator. It is “the dark counterpart of Jerusalem,”11 the final manifestation of “secular humanism” in its attempt to destroy the remaining vestiges of true religion. Society set free from God is its own worst enemy.

The angel announces the destruction of this center of pagan power and corruption in the very words used by Isaiah when prophesying of Babylon on the Euphrates: “Babylon has fallen, has fallen!” (Isa 21:9). Drawing upon Jer 51:7 (“Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad”), the angel describes the doomed city as having “made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (NRSV). It is the word “wrath” that makes this compound phrase difficult to interpret. Since a basic meaning of the Greek word is “passion,” it could be translated, “the wine of her passionate immorality.”12 On the other hand, the “wrath” of v. 10 could be the final, irrevocable judgment of God.13

Most likely the awkwardness of the phrase comes from the blending of two somewhat distinct ideas. In 17:2 we learn that the great harlot has made the kings of the earth drunk with “the wine of her adulteries.” This pictures Rome the prostitute seducing the world by the intoxicating influence of her corrupt practices. The other concept is that of the cup of God’s wrath as divine punishment (a figure used elsewhere in Rev: 14:10; 16:19; 19:15). By joining the two symbols, the angel may be pointing out that the heady potion of Rome’s seductive practices inevitably involves the wrath of God.14 In any case, the wrath of God is falling upon the pagan city, and judgment is determined.

9–10 Verses 9–11 form a counter-proclamation to that of the image in chapter 13. There it was decreed that those who would not worship the image should be killed and that those without the mark of the beast should be able neither to buy nor to sell (13:15, 17). Now the third angel of chapter 14 pronounces a much worse fate for those who do worship the beast and bear his mark.15 They are to drink the wine of God’s fury and endure eternal torment in burning sulfur. This fierce warning is directed both to the pagan population (cf. v. 6) and to those within the Christian community tempted to deny their faith in view of the coming persecution. That the warning is directed at apostate Christians as well, follows from John’s added comments in vv. 12 and 13, which speak of the coming trial and promised blessedness for those who die in the Lord.

Those who worship16 the beast will also17 suffer the wrath of God. This wrath is often pictured in the OT as a draught of wine (Job 21:20; Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15–38). The nations to whom the cup of God’s wrath is given shall “stagger and go mad … get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more” (Jer 25:16, 27). God’s wrath is not merely the outworking of impersonal laws of retribution built into the structure of reality, but the response of a righteous God to people’s adamant refusal to accept his love. The Greek word refers to anger that is passionate and vehement.18 The wine of God’s fury is said to be “poured full strength into the cup of his wrath.” The participle (which literally means “mixed”) was used of the preparation of wine by the addition of various spices. In Ps 75:8 the mixture is apparently poisonous. The adjective (“unmixed”) refers to the practice of diluting the wine with water. When taken in a literal sense, the clause says that the wrath of God is “mixed [so as to increase its strength] unmixed [not diluted with water].” The participle “mixed,” however, had come to mean “properly prepared” and then “poured out.” The angel is saying that those who defect to emperor worship will drink the wine of God’s wrath poured out in full strength, untempered by the mercy and grace of God.

The torment of those who worship the beast is to be with burning sulfur19—a figure taken from God’s judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:28; cf. Luke 17:29) and used repeatedly in the final chapters of Revelation (19:20; 20:10; 21:8). That we are dealing with a rather obvious apocalyptic symbol20 should not lead us to take it lightly. The intention of the proclamation is to startle readers into the realization of the eternal consequences of denying their faith in Christ and worshiping the beast. It is not the appropriate time to discuss the semantics of symbol and hyperbole! This torment takes place in the very presence of the Lamb and his holy angels. In Luke 12:9 Jesus says that those who disown him before others will be disowned before the angels of God. To suffer in the presence of the hosts of heaven is not to lessen the fierceness of the judgment but to make it more grievous. Christians had borne the shame of public derision and opposition; soon their antagonists will suffer before a more august gathering. It was a common idea in Jewish apocalyptic that the suffering of the damned is increased by beholding the bliss of the righteous. 2 Esdras compares “the place of refreshment” with “the pit of torment” and the “Paradise of delight” with the “furnace of Gehenna,” calling upon those who have been raised for judgment to look and consider whom they have denied and to view fire and torment in comparison with delight and refreshment (2 Esdr 7:35–38). The book of Enoch speaks of the kings of the earth burning “as the straw in the fire … before the face of the holy” (1 Enoch 48:9; also 27:2, 3; cf. 2 Bar. 30:4). In Revelation there is no suggestion that the suffering of the damned takes place in the presence of martyred believers who now rejoice to see their oppressors burning in hell.21 It is the holy angels,22 and even the Lamb, who witness divine retribution upon the wicked.

11 The punishment of the damned is not a temporary measure. The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever (cf. 20:10).23 Without hope of acquittal, they pay the eternal price of having chosen evil over righteousness. A number of modern writers point out that the doctrine of hell is offensive to modern people.24 Yet the teaching of the NT on the eternal consequences of willfully rejecting the love of God as manifested in the death of Christ for our sins does not allow us to put the doctrine aside as sub-Christian or reinterpret it in such a way as to remove the abrasive truth of eternal punishment. It was Jesus more than anyone else who spoke of the fires of hell. Better to enter life maimed, he said, than having two hands “to go to hell, where the fire never goes out” (Mark 9:44). The story of the rich man tormented in the fires of hell who begged to have Lazarus dip his finger in water to cool his tongue (Luke 16:9–31) was narrated by none other than the gentle Jesus. After due allowance is made for the place of symbolism in apocalyptic, what remains in these verses is still the terrifying reality of divine wrath poured out upon those who persist in following Antichrist. What the angel has proclaimed so vividly must not be undermined by well-intentioned euphemisms.

12 This verse is a comment by the Seer appended to the angel’s proclamation of divine wrath.25 The trials and sufferings that are the lot of the faithful as a result of the enforcement of emperor worship call for patient endurance. The demands of the imperial cult accompanied by the threat of capital punishment (13:15) would be a crucial test of the believer’s loyalty. Steadfast allegiance to Christ involved the rejection of the claims of Caesar and could result in widespread martyrdom. But the price of apostasy (eternal torment, vv. 9–11) would be far greater than the temporary suffering of fidelity. The saints are described in terms of their obedience to divine revelation (“who obey God’s commandments”) and their continuing reliance on Jesus (“remain faithful to Jesus”).26

13 The Seer’s comment is followed by a voice from heaven that declares, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.” The connection with v. 12 is clear: faithfulness to Christ may issue in martyrdom, but the faithful dead are blessed in that they have entered victoriously into their rest.27 If v. 12 was negative encouragement, v. 13 is positive. The voice from heaven is not specifically identified. It is probably not the Spirit in that in the latter portion of the verse the Spirit is pictured as responding to the voice. More important is the fact that a proclamation from heaven carries divine authority (cf. 10:4, 8; 11:12). The command to write emphasizes the importance of the message that follows.28 The beatitude is the second of seven to be found in Revelation (cf. 1:3; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). It pronounces blessed those who meet death in a state of spiritual union with Christ Jesus (“who … die as Christians,” Goodspeed). They stand in sharp contrast to the apostates who have denied their faith and the pagans who have never accepted it. For the latter, death leads to judgment and eternal loss.29

Most commentators connect “from now on” with the preceding clause. Those who die in the Lord from that time on are blessed. But this seems to imply that from that point on a special blessedness is connected with the death of the faithful that sets them apart from believers who have died previously. Others connect the phrase with the following clause: “Henceforth, says the Spirit, they may rest from their labors” (NEB). This requires the omission of the word “yes.”30 The apparent implication that gave rise to these alternatives, however, is more imaginary than real. To assure those facing the prospect of martyrdom that to die in the Lord is to enter into eternal blessedness is not to deny the same reward to those saints who previously died in less trying circumstances. “From now on” marks the transition into the more active persecution of those who hold unswervingly to their faith.

To this pronouncement of blessedness, the Spirit adds the emphatic affirmation, Yes indeed! The blessedness consists in the cessation of all the trials and sufferings brought upon the faithful by the demands of emperor worship. The labors from which they rest are not those of normal toil, but the troubles that have arisen from their steadfastness in faith. Their supreme labor is faithfulness unto death.31 They are blessed because their deeds follow after them. God will not forget all they have endured in loyalty to the faith. Their deeds are acts of steadfast resistance to the demands of Antichrist. There is no need to interpret deeds as spiritual attitudes or inward character. Nor are we to think of them in the Jewish sense of accompanying the righteous to judgment to win for them divine approval.32 The faithfulness of the martyrs unto death is not a legalistic work that merits eternal bliss, but a manifestation of their devotion to Christ. These deeds follow them in the sense that there can be no separation between what a person is and what that person does.

2. HARVEST OF THE EARTH (14:14–16)

14I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

Two visions of judgment bring the chapter to its close. Verses 14–16 picture the advent of divine judgment in the familiar figure of a grain harvest. Verses 17–20 emphasize the violent nature of the wrath of God as the treading of a winepress into which the grape clusters of the earth have been cast. These visions serve to remind those who were suffering for their refusal to honor the emperor by taking part in the imperial cult that their faith in God and their reliance upon the saving efficacy of the sacrificial death of the Lamb will most certainly be vindicated.

14 John looks, and there appears a white cloud with “one ‘like a son of man’ ” sitting upon it. This is none other than the risen Christ (cf. 1:13). The background is Dan 7:13–14, in which “one like a son of man” comes with the clouds of heaven to receive universal and everlasting dominion. The golden wreath33 designates the Messiah as one who has conquered and thereby won the right to act in judgment. The sharp sickle is the instrument of harvest and portrays the son of man prepared to reap the harvest of earth in righteous retribution.

A few commentators identify the reaper as an angel rather than Christ. They argue that it would be strange for the exalted Christ to be commanded by an angel (as he is in v. 15), and unlikely that he would not know that the end had arrived. But the angel is no more than a messenger from God whose purpose is not to reveal the time of the end, but to deliver the divine command to begin the harvest. Rather than taking the one “like a son of man” as an angel so as to have yet another series of seven (14:6, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18),34 the very title sets him apart from the six angels. While the designation may be used in apocalyptic as a normal reference to angelic beings, the context in Revelation indicates that he is the Messiah returning in judgment.

15 The angel that delivers the divine command to commence the harvest comes out from the temple, that most holy place of the presence of God (cf. 7:15). Judgment upon sin is a necessary function of righteousness. He cries out in a loud voice (appropriate to his role in the vision; cf. vv. 7, 9, 18) to the one sitting on the cloud that he should take his sickle and reap, for the hour is come, and the harvest of the earth is ripe. The command follows the language of Joel 3:13 (“Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe”). There is a difference of opinion about the identity of those who will be harvested. Some understand this scene (vv. 14–16) as the gathering of the righteous at the return of Christ and interpret the next unit (vv. 17–20) as the judgment of the wicked.35 Supporting this position is the fact that in the NT the figure of the harvest is normally used of the gathering of people into the kingdom of God (Matt 9:37–38; Mark 4:29; Luke 10:2; John 4:35–38). The idea of an eschatological harvest, however, is not limited to the gathering of the elect. In the parable of the Wheat and Tares, it involves the gathering of the wicked for burning as well (Matt 13:30, 40–42). In the OT the harvest was a regular symbol of divine judgment (Jer 51:33; Hos 6:11; cf. 2 Esdr 4:35; 2 Bar. 70:2). The harvest of vv. 14–16 is likewise a general picture of the coming judgment.36

The time to reap is the precise moment determined by God. As in the hymn of the twenty-four elders in chapter 11 (v. 18), the time for judgment and reward has come. The harvest of the earth is fully ripe.

16 In an interesting display of brevity, John does no more than state that the One who was seated37 on the cloud now swings his sickle over the earth and the earth is harvested. Details are left to the reader’s imagination.

3. VINTAGE OF THE EARTH (14:17–20)

17Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

Verses 14–16 portrayed judgment under the general figure of the harvest. Now, by means of the more vivid figure of the vintage, John stresses the violent carnage of that judgment. There are a number of structural similarities between the two visions (vv. 14–16 and vv. 17–20). Each vision involves an agent of God’s wrath bearing a sickle. In each vision the command to carry out God’s judgment is given by another angel. At the same time there are differences. The harvest was reaped by Christ himself while the vintage is gathered by an angel from the temple in heaven. The two visions present the same judgment from slightly different perspectives. The harvest served as a more general presentation of final judgment, while the vintage draws the reader’s attention to the violent nature of the carnage.

17 If the harvest scene intended a separation of wheat and tares (cf. Matt 13:30) or wheat and chaff (cf. Luke 3:17), the vintage envisions nothing but unmitigated judgment. That the angel who is to reap the vintage of the earth comes out from the temple indicates that he is God’s agent for this awesome event. Like the son of man, he also has a sharp sickle.38

18 Yet another angel (the sixth in vv. 6–20)39 enters John’s vision, this one from the altar. As the altar is elsewhere connected with the prayers of the righteous (6:9; 8:3–5), we are probably to understand here that the prayers of the faithful play a definite part in bringing about God’s judgment upon the wicked. The angel is further identified as the one in charge of the fire. In the developed angelology of the intertestamental period, angels are assigned to the various elements of nature. Enoch speaks of the angels of thunder, sea, hail, snow, rain, and so on. (1 Enoch 60:11–21; cf. Jub. 2:2). But John undoubtedly has in mind the angel of 8:3–5 who filled a censer with fire from the altar and cast it upon the earth. Fire is commonly associated with judgment in the NT (Matt 18:8; Luke 9:54; 2 Thess 1:7). The angel who had charge of the fire commands the angel with the sharp sickle to gather the vintage. This follows closely the parallel command in the previous vision to reap the harvest of the earth. Joel 3:14 is the model for both. Like the grain that has turned golden and must be harvested immediately, the grapes are fully ripe.40 The time for judgment is now!

19 Without delay the angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered its vintage. We are not to think of the sickle as reaping on its own, but as active in the hand of the angel. 1 Enoch 53 speaks of “angels of punishment” who prepare the instruments that destroy the kings and mighty of the earth (vv. 3–5; cf. 56:1). The angel is God’s agent to execute wrath upon the unrighteous. Those who interpret the two scenes as the gathering of the elect and the judgment of the wicked usually point out that this grisly work is left to an angel rather than to the Son.41 However, in chapter 19 it is Christ himself who treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, supplying the vultures with a great feast of human flesh (19:15, 17–18). John is not squeamish about the Son entering into the execution of judgment.

The vintage is now thrown into the great winepress42 of the wrath of God. In biblical days grapes were trampled by foot in a trough that had a duct leading to a lower basin where the juice collected. The treading of grapes was a familiar figure for the execution of divine wrath upon the enemies of God. In Isa 63:3 God the warrior returns from Edom with his garments stained as one who has been treading in the winevat. He says, “I have trodden the winepress alone.… I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments” (RSV; cf. Lam 1:15; Joel 3:13; Rev 19:15). The vintage of the earth is a collective expression for all who by their obstinate refusal to embrace righteousness have made themselves the enemies of God.

20 The city outside of which the winepress was trodden is probably Jerusalem. The judgment of the nations in Joel 3:12–14 (which supplies the dual figures of harvest and vintage) takes place in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which tradition links with the Kidron valley lying between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Zech 14:1–4 places the final battle on the outskirts of Jerusalem. 1 Enoch 53:1 speaks of judgment in a deep valley near the valley of Hinnom. Judgment “outside the city” must certainly be an allusion to the One who suffered for the sins of the human race “outside the city gate” (Heb 13:12; cf. John 19:20). Those who refuse the first judgment must take part in the second.

As a winepress yields the red juice of the grape, so the judgment of God issues in a blood bath that flows as high as the bridles of the horses and extends the length and breadth of the land.43 1 Enoch 100:3 speaks of a carnage in which “the horse shall walk up to the breast in the blood of sinners.” The distance, 1,600 stadia44 (some 184 miles), has been variously interpreted. Geographically it is the approximate length of Palestine.45 Symbolically it squares the number four (the number of the earth: “four corners of the earth,” 20:8; “four winds of the earth,” 7:1) and multiplies it by the square of ten (the number of completeness; cf. 5:11; 20:6).46 The judgment of God, portrayed ideally as taking place outside the holy city, extends to all people everywhere who find themselves beyond the pale of divine protection.

Judgment is certain. The followers of the Lamb are made to realize by means of the visions of chapter 14 that not only will they ultimately enjoy the immediate presence of God and the Lamb but that their faith will be vindicated by the judgment brought upon their oppressors. The beasts of chapter 13 employ every method at their disposal to gain the allegiance of the entire world, but those who belong not to this world but to the heavenly realm yet to be fully manifested successfully resist both the deceptive ploys of the Satanic beasts and all their attempts to bring about allegiance by force.