Revelation 13:11 - Meaning and Application

Those who understand the first beast as pagan Rome would take this second beast to mean papal Rome, which promotes idolatry and tyranny, but in a softer, more lamb-like way. Those who understand the first beast as the secular power of the papacy would take the second beast to mean its spiritual and church powers, which work under the disguise of religion and concern for people’s souls. In either case, the point is the same: a false religion that deceives people while pretending to serve God.

Here we should notice the shape and appearance of this second beast. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like the dragon. Everyone agrees this is some great deceiver, one who, under a claim of religion, leads people away from truth. The papists, Roman Catholics who followed this interpretation, said it was Apollonius Tyanaeus, a pagan wonder-worker, but Dr. More rejected that view and applied it to the church powers of the papacy. The pope shows the horns of a lamb by claiming to be Christ’s representative on earth and so to have Christ’s authority, but his speech exposes him. He gives false teaching and cruel commands that show he belongs to the dragon, not to the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Second, notice the power he uses. He exercises all the power of the first beast (Revelation 13:12). That means he serves the same cause and follows the same main purpose, which is to turn people away from worshiping the true God and toward worshiping those who are no gods by nature. He also seeks to put human souls and consciences under human control, against God’s will. This goal is served by popery just as much as by paganism, and by the clever methods of popery just as much as by the public force of the state. Both are tools used for the devil’s purposes, though in different ways.

Third, there are the methods this second beast uses to carry out his plans. They are of three kinds. First are lying wonders, or claimed miracles, by which people are deceived and persuaded to worship the first beast in this new form. He would pretend to bring down fire from heaven, like Elijah did, and God sometimes allows his enemies, as he allowed the magicians of Egypt, to do things that seem very impressive, so that careless people may be fooled. It is well known that the papal kingdom has long been supported by such claimed miracles.

Second are excommunications, that is, church curses and severe bans. These are used as if they cut people off from Christ and hand them over to the devil, but in fact they hand them over to the civil power so that they may be put to death. So, despite all their hypocrisy, they are rightly charged with killing those whom they cannot persuade. Third is disfranchisement, meaning that no one is allowed to enjoy natural, civil, or local rights unless they worship that papal beast, which is the image of the pagan beast. It becomes a requirement for buying and selling, and for holding positions of profit and trust, that people have the mark of the beast in their forehead and in their right hand, and that they bear the name of the beast and the number of his name.

It is likely that the mark, the name, and the number of the beast all mean the same thing. They show an open profession of loyalty and obedience to the papacy, which is like having the mark in the forehead. They also show a person using all his influence, strength, and effort to support papal power, which is like having the mark in the right hand. We are told that Pope Martin V, in a bull added to the Council of Constance, forbade Roman Catholics from allowing any heretics to live in their lands, or to make deals, work at trades, or hold civil offices. That is a very clear fit to this prophecy.

Last, we have the number of the beast, given in a way that shows God’s wisdom and gives enough work to human skill and careful thought. The number is the number of a man, counted in the usual human way, and it is 666. Whether this number refers to the errors and false teachings found in popery, or, as others think, to the number of years from its rise to its fall, is not certain. And it is even less certain what exact time period those prophetic numbers describe. Dr. Potter’s work on this difficult subject is said to be especially admired, and those who are curious may find it useful. To me, this seems to be one of those times that God has kept in his own power. Still, we know this much: God has written “numbered” and “weighed” on all his enemies. He has counted their days, and they will come to an end, but his own kingdom will last forever.