Satan
Steven Lynch’s version:
http://youtube.com/watch
?v=jf1q3LIH_UQ
Dante (1321) and Milton (1664)
Monstrous and hideous, he is gigantic but
Romantic Hero—sympathetic
immobilized, at the center of the earth,
view of Satan
embedded to the waist in eternal ice.
The Faustian Bargain
Charlie Daniel’s “The Faustian Legends:
Devil Went Down to http://www.pitt.edu/~d
Georgia” ash/faust.html
http://youtube.com/wat
ch?v=3FRtkek-Et4
Satan and
Demonic Animals
Demonic Animals
Bizarre hybrid appearance: partly animal and
human creature or a mixture of several
terrifying, monstrous beasts
Hybrid nature symbolizes tensions between the
different strata of John’s universe
Heaven vs. Hell: earth becomes the arena of conflict
Example: Serpent—originally from heaven, now let
loose on earth and rallies creatures from the
underworld to continue his wily plans to establish
dominion on earth
Trait 1: An odd mixture of human
and animal characteristics
Reflects tensions of heaven vs. hell
Reflects the surprising collaboration that occurs between the two
worlds
Locusts: human faces, hair like women, bodies like horses
7-headed beast from the sea: leopard with bearlike feet, mouth
like a lion, has a human number (13:2, 18),
Contrast with Beast from the earth that has lamblike horns and speaks
like a dragon but it performs functions that humans normally do—
regulating commerce and encouraging religious veneration (13:11, 15-17)
Mutation of human with animal suggests evil has not only a
human persona, but also so entrenched in this realm that only a
stirring act of God can unmask the beastly from its human
appearance
Trait 2: Unnaturalness and Ugliness
Striking perversion of the natural order
Evil turns upside down normal, everyday
activities
Locusts eat human flesh instead of vegetation
Instead of humans feasting on animal sacrifices,
scavenging birds of the Apocalypse feast on human
sacrifices
Primary Trait : Deceptive Natures
Appearance of good
Majority of creatures from the abyss are a
deceptive parody of good
Beast from the earth has lamblike horns but voice
resembles a dragon (13:11)—its activities are a
travesty of divine activities (Lamb has a seal while
beast seals with his mark-666).
Lamb was slain and resurrected while sea beast has a
mortal wound that had been healed
Beast characterized as one who “was, and is not, and
is to come”—a satanic parody of God “who is and
who was and who is to come”
Trait 4: Potent Force
Wanton destructiveness and indomitable strength
Hybrids have characteristics of most ferocious beasts
on earth: leopards, lions, and bears
Locusts have lionlike teeth
Beast from the sea is combination of leopard, bear and lion
Vast size in number and scale: with a flick of his tail
the serpent tumbles 1/3 of the stars downward
Emphasizes a primary truth re: good and evil: evil will
not simply go away—it must be defeated
Trait 5: Surprising Resiliency
Sea beast’s mortal wound
Reincarnates itself in new forms of terror
Demonic Animals
Locusts
Lions
Birds in midheaven
Dragon or serpent
Beast from the sea
Beast from the land
Locusts
5th trumpet ascend from smoke of the bottomless pit to
torment the vulnerable portion of humanity
unprotected from God’s seal (9:4)
Human features: faces with womanlike hair and
crowns of gold on their heads
Teeth like lions’ teeth, scales like iron breastplates, tails
like scorpions
Follow Abaddon or Apollyon, the angel of the
bottomless pit
John uses the divine passive to illustrate that they serve
a sovereign God who desires repentance of those who
align themselves with evil (9:3-5)
Lion
Image of wanton destructiveness, irresistible
strength, and ferocity
Ambiguous symbol:
When destructive and vicious associated with the
demonic (9:4; 9:17)
When irresistibly strong associated with apocalyptic
animals (4:7, 5:5, 10:3)
Ferocity is characteristic of the beast that ascends
from the its sea (13:2)
Birds in Midheaven
Contrasts the eagle which occupies a preeminent place
next to God’s throng in 4:7 and provides safe passage
for the pregnant woman in 12:14
Gorge themselves on the flesh of the mighty and fallen
(19:17-18, 21) who have been slain by the sharp two-
edges sword that protrudes from the mouth of the rider
on a white horse
This “great supper of God” (19:17) is a parody of
another great supper in the Apocalypse—the marriage
feast of the Lamb (19:9)—Evil becomes a victim of its
own designs
Dragon/Serpent
Great red dragon: 7 heads, 10
horns, 7 diadems on his head
Primary role is to make war on the
woman and her child
Foiled by eagle’s rescue
Makes war on woman’s
offspring—”those who keep the
commandments of God and hold
the testimony of Jesus” (12:17)
Serpent/Dragon: Symbol of Evil
Red color accentuates bloodthirsty nature
7 crowned heads represent plenitude of power
and claim of sovereignty over world
10 horns signify seemingly unlimited power
which is demonstrated in 12:4
Diadems pale in contrast to Christ’s unlimited
authority as symbolized by a plethora of crowns
(19:12)
Dragon = Devil and Satan
John identifies dragon as the devil and Satan,
that ancient serpent, “the deceiver of the whole
world”
Chap. 20 locked in a bottomless pit for 1000
years to rid the world of its deception
Satan’s partners are also characterized by their
wiliness
Jezebel deceives the saints at the church in Thyatira
(2:20)
Beast from the earth deceives by performing
miracles
Beast from the Sea
Near replica of the dragon: 7 heads, 10 horns, scarlet
hue (17:3)
Ascends from his spiritual home—the abyss or the sea
Hybrid: several ferocious animals, a composite of
Daniel's 4 beasts (Dan 7:2-8)
Like a leopard but with feet like a bear and mouth like a lion
Parody of Lamb: mortal wound—illustrates his cunningness
On his heads are blasphemous names (13:1; 17:3)
Out of its mouth comes “haughty and blasphemous
words (13:5)
Rule of Beast from the sea
Allowed to exercise authority over the earth but
is limited to 42 months—a symbolic period of
intense and limited persecution
Receives authority from dragon but ultimate
authority comes from God (divine passive)
13:5,7
Role of Beast from the sea
Blaspheme God and those who dwell in heaven
(13:6)
Make war on the saints (13:7)
Direct humankind’s worship to the dragon and
itself
Sea Beast Parodies Christ
Sea Beast Christ
1. Shares power, authority, 1. Shares power, authority,
throne of dragon (13:2) throne of God (12:10)
2. Rules over every tribe, 2. Rules over every tribe,
nation, people and language nation, people and language
(13:7) (5:9)
3. Earth dwellers worship beast 3. Whole creation worships
(13:4, 8) Lamb (5:13)
4. Mortal wound healed (13:3) 4. Slaughtered and risen (5:6)
5. Mark of beast on head or 5. Mark of Lamb on forehead
forehead of followers (13:16) of followers (14:1)
6. Ten diadems (13:1) 6. Many diadems (19:12)
7. Wears blasphemous names 7. Wears name—King of kings
(13:1) and Lord of lords (19:16)
Who is the beast?
Roman Empire
Deification of Roman Emperors from Julius Casar to the
Emperor Domitian
Domitian required that people address him as “our lord and
god”
Nero redivivus myth: Nero would come back after his death
(Elvis myth)
7 heads and cult of the beast are thought to be a reference to
Roman emperors and the imperial cult
Many argue that there are too many literary
incongruities for this identification to be satisfactory
If beast “is not” present at John’s writing then cannot be
Roman Empire
Beast = Satanic Parody of God
John is saying that although the beast is not
currently on the scene at the tme of his writing,
his readers should not be lulled into
complacency and a false hope that the beast has
been destroyed
Number in Rev. are symbolic—therefore, to
force the heads to represent specific Roman
Emperors is an artificial reading
7-headed beast is humankind’s attempt at self-
deification—not just Rome’s attempt to displace
God
Purpose of Parody
Beast’s mortal wound affected whole creature
not just one head
The healing of this wound represents the
resiliency of evil and its deceitful imitation of
good
Beast from the Earth
False prophet (16:13, 19:20, 20:10)
Third member of satanic trinity (dragon=God, beast
from sea=Christ, beast from earth=witnesses)
Imitates Christ with 2 lamblike horns, but dragonlike
speech belies its true nature
Performs great signs which deceives the earth and leads
to worship of first beast
Followers receive a mark on their forehead or right
hand
Gives breath to the image of the sea beast so that it can
speak
Beast from Earth
parodies two witnesses
Diabolical prophetic witness—
mimicry of true prophetic
witnesses of chapter 11
Not the counterpart to the Holy
Spirit, but a demonic parody of
the two witnesses
Primary function: lead people to
worship the dragon and the first
beast
Two Witnesses: Land Beast:
1. Prophets (11:10) 1. False Prophet (16:13;
2. Perform signs (11:6) 19:20; 20:10)
3. Receive authority from 2. Performs signs (13:13;
God (11:3) 14; 19:20)
4. Torment to inhabitants 3. Receives authority from
of earth (11:10) first beast (13:12)
5. Two olive trees; two 4. Deceives inhabitants of
lampstands (11:4) earth (13:14)
6. Receives breath of life 5. Two horns (13:11)
from God (11:11) 6. Breathes life into image
of first beast (13:15)
One Interpretation
If the sea beast represents humanity in its debased
form, then the land beast represents the institutions and
powers that allow humanity to achieve its depravity.
Represents both the economic structures of this world
(13:17) and the religious structures that serve
humankind, not God
Land beast promotes nothing more than the cultural
norms, economic structures, and religious aims of this
world