18.12 | Empire
Revelation 13
‘And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bears, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.’
Revelation 13:1-2
In apocalyptic prophecy, having more than one head is never a good thing.
Multiple heads speaks of divided thoughts and divided intentions. Multiple heads speaks of multiple rulers, competing and vying for power. Multiple heads speaks of competing visions and narratives. Multiple heads leads to chaos. The dragon that we met yesterday had seven heads. A similar dragon-like creature in Psalm 74 had multiple heads.1 And this first beast that we meet first today—like the dragon that calls it out of the sea—has seven heads. It is described as being like a leopard, with feet like a bear, and the mouth of a lion.
We’re getting into the swing of this now. For the imagery of this prophecy has roots in a past prophecy—this time in the prophet Daniel. And that prophecy helps us to interpret this one, because in Daniel, we’re given the exact interpretation of what he sees.
Daniel, in a dream and vision of the night, saw four beasts that came out of the sea.2 One was like a lion, another like a bear, and the third (with four heads) was like a leopard. All of these preceded a ‘terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong’ fourth beast. And the interpretation was clearly given.
These beasts were symbolic of the Empires of the ancient world. They symbolised the superpower of Babylon (lion), which was to be later supplanted by the Medo-Persian empire (bear). This, in turn, was conquered by the empire of Greece, which was later split into four parts (under four rulers, or ‘heads’). And the Greek empire gave way to the Roman Empire (the fourth beast). If you track the geopolitics of the Ancient Near East from about 500BC to the birth of Jesus, this is exactly what we see unfolding.
And yet, in Daniel’s vision, there was more. For in the days of the fourth beast, a heavenly Kingdom, led by one called a ‘Son of Man’ was established—an everlasting Kingdom, that would never be destroyed. The juxtaposition was clear. Empires of the world—mighty and corrupt—will arise, but they will also all be temporary. Only one Kingdom will endure: the Kingdom of God.
The biblical richness Revelation 13 is extraordinary. The Empire produces another beast—a human ruler (or rulers) who wields the authority of the Empire and leads to distraction and destruction the people of the world. 666 is the number of talents of gold earned annually by King Solomon—the currencies of the world which (in part) led him astray.3 666 was marked on the hands and foreheads of the people of the Empire, as a direct counter-move the famous prayer in the Law of God, which God said was to be written on the head (symbolising the mind) and the hands (symbolising the actions) of His people.4 And 666, when decoded through the Hebraic coding system called gematria, can be translated as either Beast or as Caesar Nero.5
This is what was understood by these words then. You follow the beast, or you follow the Lamb. Your thoughts and acts are marked by the ways of the Empire, or are marked by the things of God’s own Law and the name of Jesus.6
Is it possible there will be a coming, literal, fulfilment of these words? Of course. We hold such words with great humility. It is the wisdom and will of God that will guide history to its fulfilment. And yet, friends, these words are not simply for future predictions. They are there to cleave the distinction into our own hearts, that all of our values, all of our thoughts, all of our acts and ways and aspirations and vision become clearly and endlessly and exclusively transferred from all the values of the broken world and broken society and broken leaders, unto the beauty and peace of the Lamb. For the Lamb has one head.7 And His Kingdom is perfect power, perfect truth, perfect wholeness, and perfect unity.
Reflect:
Where do I see a departure, in the Empires of our age, from the values of the Kingdom of God? With such things in mind, what do endurance and faith look like?
King Jesus,
Teach me a mind of wisdom, to see these days as they are.
Teach me the discernment to know the difference
Between Your Kingdom and the Empires of the age.
Teach me the endurance to stand for that which is eternal and good
Teach me the faith to perceive that the coming age is surpassingly greater
King Jesus,
I give you my allegiance again today,
That I may stand in purity and power and peace amidst the turmoil of this age,
Unto the coming glory of your coming reign.
In Your mighty Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
Micah 6-7 | Psalm 145:14-21
Psalm 74:14: ‘You crushed the heads [plural] of Leviathan….’
You can read the vision and interpretation in Daniel 7
1 Kings 10:14
This prayer is called The Shema, and can be found in Deuteronomy 6:4-8. The mark is an ‘anti-Shema’, countering the law of God in the minds and hands of humankind.
Gematria is a system of numerical coding that is used in the Bible. It gives each letter of the Hebrew alphabet a number, and then adds these together to give each individual word a specific number. It is the only form of numerical coding that the Scriptures gives us, and so is the obvious place to begin here.
See Revelation 14:1
As we read in Revelation 5.