Beast Archives - Christ Church

Grace & Peace: Revelation 99

Douglas Wilson on June 5, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (Rev. 17:7–11).

So the angel had shown John a vision of the great harlot, riding on the back of the beast. I believe the simplest way to understand this, as previously explained, is to see the harlot as apostate Judaism and the beast as the Roman Empire. Some additional reasons for taking it this way will unfold as we proceed.

John was amazed at the vision, and the angel asked him why. The mystery of the woman, and the beast carrying her, will be fully explained. The beast in question is the same one that was shown to us earlier in the book—he has seven heads and ten horns. The beast was at one time, is not now, and will ascend out of the Abyss on its way to perdition. On its way to perdition, it will make an impressive display—enough to make all the reprobate on earth wonder. If their names were not written down in the book of life (from before the foundation of the world), then they will be the kind of people who are impressed with this kind of thing. The cryptic expression about Rome’s reality (was, is not, etc.) is then repeated again, but this time it concludes with a statement about a contrary appearance. The second time John says the beast “was, and is not, and yet is.” The beast is finished in principle, but is somehow managing to keep up appearances. And yet is.

John then poses us a riddle, using a similar expression to what he used in Chapter 13 when introducing the mystery of 666. There he said here is wisdom, and here he says here is a mind with wisdom. It all amounts to the same thing, and is considering the same object.

Just as New York is the Big Apple, and New Orleans the Big Easy, and Chicago the Windy City, so also to the ancients Rome was the City of Seven Hills. The beast is identified here two ways—the seven heads of the beast represent seven mountains, and the seven heads of the beast also represent seven kings. The first places the identification as Rome geographically, and the second places it in a particular period of Roman history—the times of the caesars.

Out of the seven kings, five were already in the history books at the time this vision was given. They were Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius (“five have fallen”). When John saw this vision, Nero was on the throne (“one is”), and we should also remember that his name can be extracted from John’s 666 riddle. The emperor who came after Nero was Galba, and he reigned for only seven months (“continue a short space”). Alternatively, because the time after Nero’s death was so tumultuous—a year with three emperors—it could be possible to read the one who continues a very short time as the scramble of all three contenders (Galba, Otho, Vitellius), none of whom were actually firmly established.

And this would mean that the indefinite “eighth” would be identified with the Flavian dynasty that followed. Vespasian was the general who was besieging Jerusalem when all this was happening, and he had to turn over military operations to his son Titus in order go back to Rome and establish order. This Flavian line was Vespasian, Titus, and then Domitian. They are distinct from the seven, and yet like them—like enough to be going to perdition also.

So the woman was riding the beast, but as the prophecy of this book establishes, the beast was going to turn on her. Rome was going to destroy the old Jerusalem, making way for the new Jerusalem.

Grace & Peace: Revelation 96

Douglas Wilson on May 2, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon (Rev. 16:12-16).

We come now to the great battle of Armageddon, the symbolic name for the ultimate defeat of the enemies of God. Many commentators have pointed out that this word served the same way that the battle of *Waterloo* serves us. It refers indirectly to a location, but in general application it means catastrophic defeat.

So the sixth angel pours out his bowl of wrath on the river Euphrates, which was the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. On the other side of that river was the Parthian Empire. Josephus tells us that the general Titus brought additional reinforcements to the siege of Jerusalem from the region of the Euphrates.

In this vision the waters of the Euphrates were dried up, which provides us with an important scriptural trope. When Daniel interpreted the famous handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar, it was the night before he was killed. Cyrus conquered Babylon that night through the device of diverting the Euphrates, drying it up, and marching into Babylon on the river bed (536 B.C). In addition, when waters are dried up in Scripture, this indicates a great deliverance for God’s people. We saw this in the Red Sea deliverance (Ex. 14:21-22), and in the initial stages of the attack on Jericho (Josh. 3:9-17; 4:22-24). So here the waters of the Euphrates are dried up, opening the way for the kings of the sunrise to destroy Jerusalem, which has become the new Babylon.

These armies are gathered through the working of an unholy trinity of three demon-like frogs. This brings to mind the plague of frogs that afflicted Egypt (Ex. 8:1-15)and remember that Jerusalem has also become the new Egypt (Rev. 11:8). The fact that the frogs come out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet indicates that the enemies of God who are going to be destroyed are going to be destroyed by the instrumentality of other enemies of God. In other words, the unbelieving Jews were going to be judged through the pagan Roman armies.

The word Armageddon means Mountain of Meggido, and the location referred to is probably Mount Carmel, where Elijah defeated the priests of Baal. This is the nearest mountain to the plain of Meggido. That battlefield was used more than once. Deborah and Barak achieved their great victory there (Judg. 5:19). The godly king Josiah met his Waterloo there, so to speak (2 Chron. 35:20-25). And so the grim reality represented by this convulsive battle is most likely to be understood as the demolition of Jerusalem.

The Lord here announces that He comes as a thief, which need not refer to His Second Coming. The same phrase was used earlier in Revelation to encourage the saints in Sardis to walk circumspectly (Rev. 3:3). The sixth bowl has been poured out. Very little time is left.

Grace & Peace: Revelation 95

Douglas Wilson on April 25, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and the kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds” (Rev. 16:10-11).

The way we are interpreting all these portents, the bulk of them are falling on Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city devoted to utter destruction. But that does not mean that Rome was left unscathed. The center of attention is always Jerusalem, but the pagan nations are not out of view. Earlier in Revelation we read this: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth [land]” (Rev. 3:10). Jerusalem is ground zero, but the rest of the Roman world was not unaffected.

So when the fifth angel pours out his bowl of wrath, he pours it out on the throne of the beast. We have seen earlier that this beast is to be identified with Rome, and not with Jerusalem. When this bowl is poured out, the kingdom was filled with darkness. This echoes the judgment that centuries before had fallen upon Egypt, when the darkness was palpable (Ex. 10:21-22). We see that these bowls are cumulative in their effect because the people here are still affected by the sores delivered by the first bowl of wrath.

In what way was Rome affected during this time? Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D. but Rome was drastically affected during the same period as well. In fact, there is little doubt that the troubles in Rome provided the defenders of Jerusalem with some of their vain hope. In 69 A.D. Nero was forced to commit suicide, and the scramble that followed is called the “year of the four emperors.” Galba, Otho, and Vitellius each successively ruled for a handful of months, and then they were succeeded by Vespasian—who was the general besieging Jerusalem. He returned to Rome, leaving his son Titus to capture the city. These transitions were tumultuous, and in 69 A.D. the great Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill was burned to the ground—the same fate that would come to Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem a very short time later.

And what brings repentance is the grace of God. Affliction by itself will never accomplish it. If pain could bring repentance, then Hell would be filled with penitent. There is a true mystery to lawlessness. These men, afflicted by their sores, covered in darkness, refused to repent. They gnawed their tongues in pain, and yet used those same tongues to blaspheme God.

Grace & Peace: Revelation 87

Douglas Wilson on February 20, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:9–12).

A third angel arrives and delivers his warning in a loud voice. This warning concerns anyone who worships the beast and/or the image of the beast. This would be done by receiving the mark of the beast on the forehead or on the hand. Taking such a mark is an indication of total dedication, total allegiance. That being the case, God’s response to this impudence is total judgment.

We saw earlier that those who refused this mark were denied the privilege of buying and selling (Rev. 13:17). But those who take the mark are given the wine of the wrath of God to drink. It is the wine of wrath (thymos), and it is poured into the cup of wrath (orge), and it is poured in an unmixed form into the cup they must drink from. In this life, the wrath of God is revealed against the ungodliness of men (Rom. 1:18), but in this life it is always mixed with common grace. The ancients used to dilute wine with water in order to “cut” it, and they also used to add spices to their wine in order to increase the kick. The two words used here refer to both practices, one in reverse. This wine is mingled with spices and unmixed with water. It is a hard drink.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 100

“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and the kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds” (Rev. 16:10-11).