📖 Biblical Definition
In Revelation 13 and 17, the eschatological figures who arise to oppose the Lamb. The first beast (Rev 13:1-10) rises from the sea with seven heads and ten horns, blasphemes God, and makes war with the saints; he is the political-imperial tyranny of the last days. The second beast (Rev 13:11-18) rises from the earth, looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon, performs signs, and enforces worship of the first beast; he is the religious-prophetic deception. Both are cast into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
BEAST, n.
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1. Any four-footed animal which may be used for labor, food, or sport. 2. A brutal man. 3. The beast — in Revelation, a symbol of political and religious tyranny opposed to the Lamb.
📖 Key Scripture
Revelation 13:1 — "I... saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns."
Revelation 13:11 — "I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon."
Revelation 13:18 — "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."
Revelation 19:20 — "The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet... These both were cast alive into a lake of fire."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity skips Revelation; the beast is more concrete and more imminent than soft pulpits admit.
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Revelation 13 is one of the most-debated passages in Scripture. The beast from the sea, with seven heads and ten horns, who blasphemes God and makes war with the saints, has been variously identified across church history with Rome, the medieval papacy, modern political tyrannies, and a future single antichrist figure. The text plainly identifies him as a political-imperial power who demands worship and persecutes the saints.
The second beast is more subtle and more dangerous: he looks like a lamb but speaks as a dragon. He is the religious counterfeit, the false prophet, who uses spiritual authority to enforce political worship. Modern Christianity has produced both kinds of figures — the political messianism that demands allegiance, and the religious veneer that consecrates it. Refuse the worship; refuse the mark; trust the Lamb. Both beasts will end in the same lake.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek therion (G2342).
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G2342 — therion — beast, wild animal
G5480 — charagma — mark, stamp
G5516 — chi-xi-stigma — six hundred sixty-six
Usage
"Modern Christianity skips Revelation; the beast is more concrete and imminent than soft pulpits admit."
"The first beast is political tyranny; the second beast is religious counterfeit; both end in the lake."
"Refuse the worship; refuse the mark; trust the Lamb."