REVELATION: Will the Real Beast Please Stand Up?

If we had any question about the dragon and its connection to the Roman Empire, we should clear that up in this chapter. To that end, we need to do a little bit of contextual work. We mentioned before that we would return to Ephesus to further our study, and now that time has come. Ephesus is the place I believe John penned the letter of Revelation. We’ve alluded before to the largest gymnasium in the Roman world being constructed by Emperor Domitian. Not only was the size of the structure nearly unbelievable, but the speed at which it was raised is staggering.

The massive ruins of Domitian's gymnasium (from the view from the southern wall)

Of the twenty-two advents Domitian directed for his imperial worship (yes, you read that correctly — twenty-two), one of the largest was in Ephesus and centered around the grand opening of his monstrous gymnasium. The building project, which typically would have taken over a century to complete, was finished in just four years. One of the most famous finds at the site is the bust to a 30-foot statue of Domitian, which many assume once stood in the apse. Historians don’t spend any time making Domitian look good and often referred to him as “the Beast.”

If one would have looked toward the harbor of Ephesus from city center, they would have seen the construction of Domitian’s gymnasium. It was going up so fast that some referred to it as “the Beast rising out of the sea.” In fact, Pliny said Domitian was “the Beast of the Sea, whose teeth drip with the blood of good Romans.”

Having made mistakes in the past, the people of Ephesus were not going to miss the opportunity to support the new emperor and make their own voluntary gesture of worship. To this end, they raised funds and began construction of the Flavian temple to Domitian, which sits just west of the upper agora (toward the other end of the city). They were also trying to complete the construction of this much smaller temple, and it was going up rather quickly. Built on a vaulted platform supported by twenty-four pillars, each depicting one of the legal Roman gods, the image was clear: The Roman gods hold up Domitian, not the other way around.

The vaulted ruins of the Flavian Temple (view from southern wall)

Remaining pillars that held up the platform for the Flavian Temple

Many historians have suggested this is where the people of Revelation received what was often referred to as “the mark of the Beast.” We know from history that during the Domitian reign, citizens were required to swear their allegiance and worship to the divine emperor. After offering incense (possibly at a location like the Flavian temple), you were given a stamp or mark that allowed you to engage in local commerce. Without the mark, you could not buy or sell in either of the Ephesian agoras.

There’s much more that could be unpacked, but for now let’s turn to the Text of Revelation 13:

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The 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. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. People 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 wage war against it?”

As we’ve seen in ancient Jewish apocalyptic literature, beasts with horns on their heads are almost always used to denote kingdoms and their many rulers. Not only does the beast match a description that is full of images for the Empire of Rome, but it even gives the description of one particular head that “seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.” One of the most famous aspects of Emperor Vespasian (an earlier Roman emperor) was his fatal head wound that had been miraculously healed. This reference is obvious and deliberate on John’s part. There is no mistake: The beast is a representation of Rome.

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

Whoever has ears, let them hear.

“If anyone is to go into captivity,
    into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
    with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

Again, the purpose for John writing this letter is stark and clear in context. He pulls no punches and cuts right to the heart of the matter. He knows what life is like under the rule of emperor Domitian; he is not naive to the fact that people all throughout his great city are giving their lives to follow God, and he encourages them to stand firm and hold fast. He continues to say that perseverance is the answer for their struggles.

Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

And again, the context of Revelation and Ephesus helps us hear John’s references with cultural clarity. John writes to them about the temptation to give in and worship the beast. You may remember John’s letter to Ephesus in Revelation where he spoke to them about how they hated the teaching of the Nicolaitans. The believers there were apparently committed and resolute in their ability to resist the demands of imperial worship. John tells them they will have to remain strong in their commitment.

About the number of the beast, it should be noted that we’ve seen this number before. It has been used all throughout the Hebrew Scriptures to denote evil and the adversary. One might remember the reference showing up in the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, as well as David and Goliath. On a very basic level, the number 666 is simply the most fitting number for the beast. But many historians have also pointed out (correctly, I believe) that early writers and theologians would play with numerical values of names. In the Hebrew world, this is called gammatria. If you take the names of multiple Roman emperors and “calculate” the value of their names, you can often create the value of 666. This is not as striking of an accomplishment as it sounds, as you can do it with many, many names (including Santa Claus, but I digress). At any rate, it may have been a common conversation John is playing off of for his own purposes.

In the end, we can invite ourselves to examine our lives and worship patterns. I think it’s helpful to see what the early believers were willing to do in order to stand against idolatry. The danger in a culture like ours is that the temptation is much more subtle, because it’s not accompanied by the threat of death or imprisonment. But I often wonder what my world demands I sell out to. What marks do I carry? May we stand on the shoulders of those early recipients of Revelation and exude the patient endurance and faithfulness John called them to.