Now, at the time John wrote Revelation, it is reasonable to believe, to understand, I think, that the Holy Spirit, through John, is identifying here that these 1^st Century Christians would have understood what was represented by this sea beast—the Roman Empire. We see in verses 4 and 7 the description that this beast was able to “make war with the saints.” Well, don’t you know that war was being made upon the saints of that day!

Previously, in chapter 12, the dragon has been described as Satan, or the devil. We see here that Satan, the dragon, will turn over his power, his throne, much of his authority, to this beast that has arisen out of the sea. One writer that I read observed, and I thought it was kind of an interesting thought, that the devil is giving to this beast what at one time he offered, in effect, to the Lord Jesus Christ if He would simply fall down and worship him. You recall, that was one of the temptations that the devil brought upon Jesus when He was in the wilderness, Luke, chapter 4 and verses 5-6 [“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’”]. And now, these things—his power, his authority, his dominion—he gives to this ally, this sea beast that is described here.

As the dragon, that is, Satan, is opposed to God, so is the beast is something of an antichrist. That is, he is against Christ and maybe thought of, in a sense—open your minds now a little bit for this one—but in a sense, he may be thought of as though he were “the devil’s Messiah,” opposing Christ. In other words, he is the one who the devil was sending forth, not to be the Savior, but to be the destroyer, to be all things opposed to, all things opposite of, all things “anti-,” Christ. As a composite of Daniel’s vision, this beast combines within it itself the brutality, the ruthlessness, the power, the persecuting, the vigor, ALL of the evil, of the four beasts that were in Daniel’s vision.

Daniel’s vision in the Old Testament was representative of four world kingdoms, or four world powers. We will learn as we go along here in Revelation, when we get over to chapter 17 specifically, that there can be, and no doubt is, an application made here regarding this beast to a connection with the Roman Empire, primarily having to do with its persecution, with its evil dominion, that it brought upon the world in the 1^st Century and even on into the 2^nd and 3^rd Centuries.

As a matter of fact, there are a number of writers, and perhaps you have read some as well, who make some very specific connections here with this beast. For example, who do the seven heads represent? who do the ten horns represent? etc. They can, in fact, make a case for various Roman Emperors all the way from Nero through Domician, etc., and they would suggest that that is exactly what this beast represents. Well, maybe for the 1^st or 2^nd Century application of this that might, in fact, be proper. But it seems like even in those evil empires—in fact even in ALL of the evil empires which have come and gone in world history—none of them exactly embody all of the things which are being spoken of here.

I think what we’re speaking about here, like we have in other places, is something that is broader than just a specific application to a specific emperor or ruler or whatever. Again, there was an empire, there was an evil dominion, that was ongoing in the 1^st Century at the time that John wrote this, and there would be those that would follow in the 2^nd Century, in the 3^rd Century and on beyond, and even into our day today.

Well, one of the heads of this beast is wounded, wounded to death, John says, but the deadly wound is healed, and that makes one wonder, because the head that seemed to have been mortally wounded—given a deadly wound—was, in fact, healed [“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast,” verse 3].

This may have a kind of “mock parallel” to the death and the resurrection of Christ. This beast, who is the tool of the devil, the anti-Christ, the one who is opposed to Christ, receives a death stroke and is healed. This is kind of a cruel parallel that mocks the fact that the Messiah, the Son of God, was, in fact, killed. Christ did receive the death stroke—He was not healed—He died. Now, the great difference, however, is that while this head, this image of the beast, may have been “healed,” he will eventually die; he will eventually be punished eternally, where Christ, even though He died—He received that mortal blow, so to speak, in physical death—He was the first to rise, never to die again [1 Corinthians 15:20-26: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”]. And so, the parallel is not exact there, but that’s what some writers would suggest.

Here’s another idea, as well, that comes from the 1^st Century and is a very popular belief, or understanding, or interpretation, of this. That is, that this head that’s referred to that had the “deadly wound” and “was healed,” had reference specifically to Nero.

Nero, of course, was legendary, notorious, in that day, and remains so to this day, as one of the most evil rulers ever to be in charge of, or, over, any group of people. There was a legend concerning Nero. Of course, when he was deposed by the government in Rome, he…well, he attempted to commit suicide, but he apparently became a coward and had a servant actually complete the task. But there was a rumor, a legend, which existed that he did not die, that he actually went to a neighboring country where the Parthenians, who were the deadly enemies of Rome, gave him sanctuary, and that Nero was there raising a band, or, raising an army, and would eventually lead it back to conquer Rome. So, the suggestion is, based upon that legend, that rumor, that Nero had not died—that he was, in fact, going to come back to conquer Rome. That was one idea about the sea beast with the “deadly wound” which “was healed” that may be in view in this vision by John. Well, as I said, I think that’s much too narrow a view.