_THE SECOND AND THIRD GREAT ENEMIES OF THE
CHURCH._
REV. xiii.
We have seen that the main purpose of chap. xii. was to introduce to
our notice the dragon, or Satan, the first great enemy of the Church.
The object of chap. xiii. is to make us acquainted with her second and
third great enemies, and thus to enable us to form a distinct
conception of the powerful foes with which the followers of Christ
have to contend. The two enemies referred to are respectively styled
"a beast" (ver. 1) and "another beast" (ver. 11), or, as they are
generally termed, the first beast and the second beast. To the word
"beast" must be assigned in both cases its fullest and most pregnant
sense. The two "beasts" are not only beasts, but wild beasts, strong,
fierce, rapacious, and cruel, even the apparent softness and
tenderness of the second being associated with those dragon words
which can proceed only from a dragon heart.[336]
The first is thus described:--
And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and
seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads
names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as
the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his
throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as though
it had been slaughtered unto death; and the stroke of his death
was healed: and the whole earth marvelled after the beast. And
they worshipped the dragon because he gave his authority unto the
beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the
beast, and who is able to war with him? And there was given to him
a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given
to him authority to continue forty and two months. And he opened
his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name, and
His tabernacle, even them that tabernacle in the heaven. And it
was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome
them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe, and
people, and tongue, and nation. And all that dwell on the earth
shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from
the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that
hath been slaughtered. If any one hath an ear, let him hear. If
any one leadeth into captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any
one shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints (xiii. 1_b_-10).
The description carries us back to the prophecies of Daniel, and the
language of the prophet helps us to understand that of the Seer. It is
thus that the former speaks: "Daniel spake and said, I saw in my
vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven brake forth
upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea,
diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's
wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted
up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a
man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like
to a bear, and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in
his mouth between his teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour
much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which
had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four
heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night
visions, and behold a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong
exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in
pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet: and it was diverse from
all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered
the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a
little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by
the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man,
and a mouth speaking great things."[337] These particulars embody the
prophet's picture of the world-power in four successive phases of its
manifestation, until it culminates in the "little horn;" and it is not
possible to doubt that the Seer, while modifying them with
characteristic freedom, finds in them the foundation of his figure.
In both cases there is the same origin,--the sea swept by strong winds
from every point of the compass, until the opposing forces rush upon one
another, mingle in wild confusion, send up their spray into the air, and
then, dark with the reflection of the clouds above and turbid with sand,
exhaust themselves with one long, sullen roar upon the beach. In both
cases the same animals are referred to, though in the vision of Daniel
they are separated, in that of St. John combined: the leopard, with his
sudden, cruel spring; the bear, with his slow, relentless brutishness;
and the lion, with his all-conquering power. Finally, in the case of
both mention is made also of "ten horns," which are distinct from the
lineal succession of the heads. So far, therefore, we can have little
hesitation in affirming the conclusion arrived at by most commentators
that in this _beast coming up out of the sea_ we have an emblem of that
power of the world which, under the guidance of "the prince of the
world," opposes and persecutes the Church of Christ. Several particulars
regarding it, however, still demand our notice.
1. The horns are not to be thought of as distributed among the heads,
but rather as a group by themselves, constituting along with the
seventh head a manifestation of the beast distinct from that expressed
by each of the separate heads. In a certain sense the seventh head,
with its ten horns, is thus one of the seven, for in them the beast
expresses himself. In another sense it is like the "fourth beast" of
the prophet Daniel: "diverse from all the beasts that were before it"
and even more terrible than they.
2. The seven heads seem most fittingly to represent seven powers of
the world by which the children of God had been persecuted in the past
or were to be persecuted in the future. The supposition has indeed
been often made that they represent seven forms of Roman government or
seven emperors who successively occupied the imperial throne. But
neither of these sevens can be definitely fixed by the advocates of
the general thought; while the whole strain of the passage suggests
that the beast which, in the form now dealt with, unquestionably
represents a world-power conterminous with the whole earth, grows up
into this form only in his seventh head and ten horns manifestation.
The other heads are rather preparatory to the last than to be ranked
equally along with it. Making a natural beginning, therefore, with the
oldest persecuting power mentioned in that Bible history of which the
Apocalyptist makes such extensive use, and following the line down to
the Seer's time, the seven heads appear to represent the Egyptian,
Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman powers, together
with that power, wider even than the Roman, which St. John saw was
about to rage in the hurried days of "the last time" against the
simplicity, purity, holiness, and unworldliness of Christ's little
flock. Each of these powers is a "head." The last is the concentrated
essence, the most universal, the most penetrating, influence of them
all. Taken together, they supply, as no other interpretation does,
what is absolutely essential to a correct understanding of the
figure,--the idea of completeness.
3. By such a rendering also we gain a natural interpretation of the
head beheld _as though it had been slaughtered unto death; and the
stroke of his death was healed_. Other renderings fail to afford this,
for no successive forms of government at Rome and no successive
emperors furnish a member of their series of which it may be said that
it is first slain and then brought back to a life of greater energy
and more quickened action. Yet without the thought of death and
resurrection it is impossible to fulfil the conditions of the problem.
The head spoken of in ver. 3 had not been merely _wounded_ or
_smitten_: it had been "_slaughtered_ unto death;" and it was not
merely his "deadly wound,"[338] or even "his death-stroke:"[339] it
was the "stroke of his death" that had been healed. There had been
actual death and resurrection from death, the contrast and travesty of
that death and resurrection which had befallen the Lamb slaughtered
and raised again.[340] Such a death and resurrection can only be
fittingly applied to that system of worldly influence, or, in other
words, to that "prince of the world," whose power over His people
Jesus was not simply to modify, but to extinguish. The Redeemer of the
world came, not to wound or weaken only, but to "bring to nought," him
that had the power of death--that is, the devil--and to give perfect
and eternal freedom to all who would allow the chains in which Satan
had bound them to be broken.[341] But the death, if we may so speak,
of Satan in relation to them was accompanied by his resurrection in
relation to the world, over which the great enemy of souls was
thenceforward to exercise a more irresistible sway than ever. The time
is that already spoken of in the previous chapter, when the devil went
down into the earth, "having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a
short season."[342] Nor is there any difficulty in determining to
which of the seven heads of the beast the death and resurrection
spoken of apply, for a comparison of chap. xvii. 8-11 with the present
passage shows that it is to the sixth, or Roman, head that St. John
intends his language to refer.
4. Particular attention must be paid to the fact that it is upon the
beast in his _resurrection state_ that we are to dwell, for the whole
earth marvels after the beast not previously, but subsequently, to the
point of time at which the stroke of his death is healed.[343] In that
condition, too, he is not thought of as raging only in the Roman
empire. His influence is universal. Wherever men are he is: _And there
was given to him authority over every tribe, and people, and tongue,
and nation._[344] The fourfold division indicates absolute
universality; and the _whole earth_--that is, all ungodly
ones--worships the beast, even every one whose name has not been
written in the Lamb's book of life.[345] Thus raging with an extent of
power never possessed by any form of Roman government or any emperor
of Rome, he rages also throughout all time, from the first to the
second coming of the Lord, for he has _authority given to him to
continue forty and two months_,[346] the period so denoted embracing
the whole Christian era from its beginning to its close.[347]
5. Three points more may be noticed before drawing the general
conclusion to which all this leads. In the first place, the beast is
the vicegerent of another power which acts through him and by means of
him. _The dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great
authority._ The dragon himself does not directly act. He has his
representative, or vicar, or substitute, in the beast. In the second
place, the worship paid by "the whole earth" to the beast, when it
cries, _Who is like unto the beast? and who is able to make war with
him?_ is an obvious imitation of the ascriptions of praise to God
contained in not a few passages of the Old Testament: "Who is like
unto the Lord our God, that hath His seat on high?"; "To whom then
will ye liken Me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One;"
"Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house
of Israel.... To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare
Me, that we may be like?"[348] In the third place, the beast opens his
mouth, not only to blaspheme against God, but _against His tabernacle,
even them that tabernacle in the heaven_,[349] expressions in which
the use of the word "tabernacle" leads directly to the thought of
opposition to Him who became flesh and tabernacled among us, and who
now spreads His tabernacle over His saints.[350]
The whole description of the beast is thus, in multiplied particulars,
a travesty of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Head and King, the
Guardian and Protector, of His people. Like the latter, the former is
the representative, the "sent," of an unseen power, by whom all
authority is "given" him; he has his death and his resurrection from
the dead; he has his throngs of marvelling and enthusiastic
worshippers; his authority over those who own his sway is limited by
no national boundaries, but is conterminous with the whole world; he
gathers up and unites in himself all the scattered elements of
darkness and enmity to the truth which had previously existed among
men, and from which the Church of God had suffered.
What then can this first beast be? Not Rome, either pagan or papal;
not any single form of earthly government, however strong; not any
Roman emperor, however vicious or cruel; but the general influence of
the world, in so far as it is opposed to God, substituting the human
for the Divine, the seen for the unseen, the temporal for the eternal.
He is the impersonation of that world of which St. Paul writes, "We
received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of
God,"[351] of which St. James speaks when he says, "Whosoever
therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of
God,"[352] and in regard to which St. John exhorts, "Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
vain-glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."[353]
This beast, in short, is the world viewed in that aspect in which our
Lord Himself could say of it that the devil was its prince, which He
told His disciples He had overcome, and in regard to which He prayed
in His high-priestly prayer, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them out of the evil
one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."[354]
The influence of the beast here spoken of is therefore confined to no
party, or sect, or age. It may be found in the Church and in the State,
in every society, in every family, or even in every heart, for wherever
man is ruled by the seen instead of the unseen or by the material
instead of the spiritual, there "the world" is. "Our wrestling is not
against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the
powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."[355]
Against this foe the true life of the saints will be preserved. Nothing
can harm the life that is hid with Christ in God. But the saints may
nevertheless be troubled, and persecuted, and killed, as were the
witnesses of chap. xi., by the beast that _had given unto him to make
war with them, and to overcome them_. Such is the thought that leads to
the last words of the paragraph with which we are now dealing: _If any
one leadeth into captivity, into captivity he goeth; if any one shall
kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed._ In the great law
of God, the _lex talionis_, consolation is given to the persecuted.
Their enemies would lead them into captivity, but a worse captivity
awaits themselves. They would kill with the sword, but with a sharper
sword than that of human power they shall themselves be killed. Is there
not enough in that to inspire the saints with patience and faith? Well
may they endure with unfainting hearts when they remember who is upon
their side, for "it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
affliction to them that afflict them," and to them that are afflicted
"rest"[356]--rest with Apostles, prophets, martyrs, the whole Church of
God, rest never again to be disturbed either by sin or sorrow. _Here is
the patience and the faith of the saints._
The second enemy of the Church, or the first beast, has been described.
St. John now proceeds to the third enemy, or the second beast:--
And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two
horns like unto a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he
exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight; and
he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the
first beast, the stroke of whose death was healed. And he doeth
great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of
heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth them
that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given
him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on
the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, who hath
the stroke of the sword, and lived. And it was given unto him to
give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, that the image
of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should
not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he
causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor,
and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on
their right hand, or upon their forehead: and that no man should
be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the
name of the beast or the number of his name (xiii. 11-17).
The first beast came up out of "the sea" (ver. 1); the second beast
comes up out of _the earth_: and the contrast, so strongly marked,
between these two sources, makes it necessary to draw a clear and
definite line of distinction between the origin of the one beast and
that of the other. The "sea," however, both in the Old Testament and
in the New, is the symbol of the mass of the Gentile nations, of the
heathen world in its condition of alienation from God and true
religious life. In contrast with this, the "earth," as here used, must
be the symbol of the Jews, among whom, to whatever extent they had
abused their privileges, the Almighty had revealed Himself in a
special manner, showing "His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His
judgments unto Israel."[357] The Jews were an agricultural, not a
commercial, people; and upon that great highway along which the
commerce of the nations poured they looked with suspicion and dislike.
Hence the sea, in its restlessness and barrenness, became to them the
emblem of an irreligious world; the land, in its quiet and
fruitfulness, the emblem of religion with all its blessings. In this
sense the contrast here must be understood; and the statement as to
the different origin of the first and second beasts is of itself
sufficient to determine that, while the former belongs to a secular,
the latter belongs to a religious, sphere. Many other particulars
mentioned in connexion with the second beast confirm this conclusion.
1. _The two horns like unto a lamb_ are unquestionably a travesty of
the "seven horns" of the Lamb, so often spoken of in these visions;
and the description carries us to the thought of Antichrist, of one
who sets himself up as the true Christ, of one who, professing to
imitate the Redeemer, is yet His opposite.
2. The words _And he spoke as a dragon_ remind us of the description
given by our Lord of those false teachers who "come in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly are ravening wolves,"[358] as well as of the language of
St. Paul when he warns the Ephesian elders that after his departing
"grievous wolves shall enter in among them, not sparing the flock."[359]
3. The function to which this beast devotes himself is religious, not
secular. _He maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship
the first beast_; and, having persuaded them to make an image to that
beast, _it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image
of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause
that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be
killed_.[360]
4. The great signs and wonders done by this beast, such as making _fire
to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men_, are a
reminiscence of the prophet Elijah at Carmel; while the _signs_ by which
he successfully deceives the world take us again to the words of Jesus:
"There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show
great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the
elect."[361] St. Paul's words also, when he speaks of the man of sin,
make similar mention of his "signs:" "Whose coming is according to the
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with
all deceit of unrighteousness for them that are perishing; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."[362]
5. Finally, the fact that this beast bears the name of "the false
prophet,"[363] the very term used by St. John when speaking of the
false teachers who had arisen in his day,[364] may surely be accepted
as conclusive that we have here a symbol of the antichrists of the
first Epistle of that Apostle. Of the antichrists, let it be observed,
not of Antichrist as a single individual manifestation. For there is a
characteristic of this beast which leads to the impression that more
than one agent is included under the terms of the symbol. The beast
has _two horns_. Why two? We may be sure that the circumstance is not
without a meaning, and that it is not determined only by the fact that
the animal referred to has in its natural condition the rudiments of
no more than two. In other visions of the Apocalypse we read of a lamb
with "seven horns," and of a head of the beast with "ten horns," the
numbers in both cases being symbolical. The "two horns" now spoken of
must also be symbolical; and thus viewed, the expression leads us to
the thought of the two witnesses, of the two prophets of truth, spoken
of in chap. xi. But these two witnesses represent all faithful
witnesses for Christ; and, in like manner, the two horns represent the
many perverters of the Christian faith beheld by the Seer springing up
around him, who, professing to be Apostles of the Lamb, endeavoured
to overthrow His Gospel.
These considerations lead to a natural and simple interpretation of what
is meant by the second beast. The plausible interpretation suggested by
many of the ablest commentators on this book, that by the second beast
is meant "worldly wisdom, comprehending everything in learning, science
and art which human nature of itself, in its civilized state, can attain
to, the worldly power in its more refined and spiritual elements, its
prophetical or priestly class,"[365] must be unhesitatingly dismissed.
It fails to apprehend the very essence of the symbol. It speaks of a
secular and mundane influence, when the whole point of St. John's words
lies in this,--that the influence of which he speaks is religious. Not
in anything springing out of the world in its ordinary sense, but in
something springing out of the Church and the Church's faith, is the
meaning of the Apostle to be sought.
Was there anything then in St. John's own day that might have
suggested the figure thus employed? Had he ever witnessed any
spectacle that might have burned such thoughts into his soul? Let us
turn to his Gospel and learn from it to look upon the world as it was
when it met his eyes. What had he seen, and seen with an indignation
that penetrates to the core his narrative of his Master's life? He had
seen the Divine institution of Judaism, designed by the God of Israel
to prepare the way for the Light and the Life of men, perverted by its
appointed guardians, and made an instrument for blinding instead of
enlightening the soul. He had seen the Eternal Son, in all the glory
of His "grace" and "truth," coming to the things that were His own,
and yet the men that were His own rejecting Him, under the influence
of their selfish religious guides. He had seen the Temple, which ought
to have been filled with the prayers of a spiritual worship, profaned
by worldly traffic and the love of gain. Nay more, he remembered one
scene so terrible that it could never be forgotten by him, when in the
judgment-hall of Pilate even that unscrupulous representative of Roman
power had again and again endeavoured to set Jesus free, and when the
Jews had only succeeded in accomplishing their plan by the argument,
"If thou release this man, thou art not C?ar's friend."[366] They
C?ar's friends! They attach value to honours bestowed by C?ar! O
vile hypocrisy! O dark extremity of hate! Judaism at the feet of
C?ar! So powerfully had the thought of these things taken possession
of the mind of the beloved disciple, so deeply was he moved by the
narrowness and bigotry and fanaticism which had usurped the place of
generosity and tenderness and love, that, in order to find utterance
for his feelings, he had been compelled to put a new meaning into an
old word, and to concentrate into the term "the Jews" everything most
opposed to Christ and Christianity.
Nor was it only in Judaism that St. John had seen the spirit of religion
so overmastered by the spirit of the world that it became the world's
slave. He had witnessed the same thing in Heathenism. It is by no means
improbable that when he speaks of _the image of the beast_ he may also
think of those images of C?ar the worshipping of which was everywhere
made the test of devotion to the Roman State and of abjuration of the
Christian faith. There again the forms and sanctions of religion had
been used to strengthen the dominion of secular power and worldly force.
Both Judaism and Heathenism, in short, supplied the thoughts which,
translated into the language of symbolism, are expressed in the
conception of the second beast and its relation to the first.
Yet we are not to imagine that, though St. John started from these
things, his vision was confined to them. He thinks not of Jew or
heathen only at a particular era, but of man; not of human nature only
as it appears amidst the special circumstances of his own day, but as
it appears everywhere and throughout all time. He is not satisfied
with dwelling upon existing phenomena alone. He penetrates to the
principles from which they spring. And wherever he sees a spirit
professing to uphold religion, but objecting to all the unpalatable
truths with which it is connected in the Christian faith, wherever he
sees the gate to future glory made wide instead of narrow and the way
broad instead of straitened, there he beholds the dire combination of
the first and second beasts presented in this chapter. The light has
become darkness, and how great is the darkness![367] The salt has lost
its savour, and is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill.[368]
In speaking of the subserviency of the second to the first beast, the
Seer had spoken of _a mark given_ to all the followers of the latter
_on their right hand, or upon their forehead_, and without which no
one was to be admitted to the privileges of their association or of
buying or selling in their city. He had further described this mark
as being either _the name of the beast or the number of his name_. To
explain more fully the nature of this "mark" appears to be the aim of
the last verse of the chapter:--
Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the
number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number
is six hundred and sixty and six (xiii. 18).
To discuss with anything like fulness the difficult questions
connected with these words would require a volume rather than the few
sentences at the close of a chapter that can be here devoted to it.
Referring, therefore, his readers to what he has elsewhere written on
this subject,[369] the writer can only make one or two brief remarks,
in order to point out the path in which the solution of the problems
suggested by the words must be sought.
It is indeed remarkable that the Seer should speak at all of "the
number" of the name of the beast; that is, of the number which would
be gained by adding together the numbers represented by the several
letters of the name. Why not be content with the name itself?
Throughout this book the followers of Christ are never spoken of as
stamped with a number, but either with the name of the Father or the
Son, or with a new name which no one "knoweth" saving he that
receiveth it.[370] Now the principle of Antithesis or Contrast, which
so largely rules the structure of the Apocalypse, might lead us to
expect a similar procedure in the case of the followers of the beast.
Why then is it not resorted to?
1. St. John may not himself have known the name. He may have been
acquainted only with the character of the beast, and with the fact,
too often overlooked by inquirers, that to that character its name,
when made known, must correspond. It is not any name, any designation,
by which the beast may be individualized, that will fulfil the
conditions of his thought. No reader of St. John's writings can have
failed to notice that to him the word "name" is far more than a mere
appellative. It expresses the inner nature of the person to whom it is
applied. The "name" of the Father expresses the character of the
Father, that of the Son the character of the Son. The Seer, therefore,
might be satisfied in the present instance with his conviction that
the name of the beast, whatever it be, must be a name which will
express the inner nature of the beast; and he may have asked no more.
Not only so. When we enter into the style of the Apostle's thought, we
may even inquire whether it was possible for a Christian to know the
_name_ of the beast in the sense which the word "name" demands. No man
could know the new name written upon the white stone given to him that
overcometh "but he that receiveth it."[371] In other words, no one but
a Christian indeed could have that Christian experience which would
enable him to understand the "new name." In like manner now, St. John
may have felt that it was not possible for the followers of Christ to
know the _name_ of Antichrist. Antichristian experience alone could
teach the name of Antichrist, service of the beast the name of the
beast; and such experience no Christian could have. But this need not
hinder him from giving the number. The "number" spoke only of general
character and fate; and knowledge of it did not imply, like knowledge
of the "name," communion of spirit with him to whom the name belonged.
2. From this it follows that not the "name," but the "number" of the
name, is of importance in the Apostle's view. The name no doubt must
have a meaning which, taken even by itself, would be portentous; but,
according to the artificial system of thought here followed, the
"number" is the real portent, the real bearer of the Divine message of
wrath and doom.
3. This is precisely the lesson borne by the number 666. The number
six itself awakened a feeling of dread in the breast of the Jew who
felt the significance of numbers. It fell below the sacred number
seven just as much as eight went beyond it. This last number denoted
more than the simple possession of the Divine. As in the case of
circumcision on the eighth day, of the "great day" of the feast on the
eighth day, or of the resurrection of our Lord on the first day of the
week, following the previous seven days, it expressed a new beginning
in active power. By a similar process the number six was held to
signify inability to reach the sacred point and hopeless falling short
of it. To the Jew there was thus a doom upon the number six even when
it stood alone. Triple it; let there be a multiple of it by ten and
then a second time by ten until you obtain three mysterious _sixes_
following one another, 666; and we have represented a potency of evil
than which there can be none greater, a direfulness of fate than which
there can be none worse. The _number_ then is important, not the
_name_. Putting ourselves into the position of the time, we listen to
the words, _His number is six hundred sixty and six_; and we have
enough to make us tremble. Nay, there is in them a depth of sin and a
weight of punishment which no one can "know" but he who has committed
the sin and shared the punishment.
From all that has been said it would seem that there is no possibility
of finding the name of the beast in the name of any single individual
who has yet appeared upon the stage of history. It may well be that in
Nero, or Domitian, or any other persecutor of the Church, the Seer
beheld a type of the beast; but the whole strain of the chapter
forbids the supposition that the meaning of the name is exhausted in
any single individual. No merely human ruler, no ruler over merely a
portion of the world however large, no ruler who had not died and
risen from the grave, and who after his resurrection had not been
hailed with enthusiasm by "every tribe, and tongue, and people, and
nation," can be the beast referred to. Whether St. John expected such
a ruler in the future; whether this beast, like the "little horn" of
Daniel, which had "eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking
great things,"[372] was not only bestial, but human; or whether in its
individuality it was no more than a personification of antichristian
sin and cruelty, is another and a more difficult question. Yet his
tendency to represent abstract ideas by concrete images would lead to
the latter rather than the former supposition. One thing is clear:
that the bestial principle was already working, although it might not
have reached its full development. The "many antichrists"[373] might
be the precursors of a still more terrible Antichrist, but they worked
in the same spirit and towards the same end. Nor are they to be less
the object of alienation and abhorrence to the Christian now than
when they may be concentrated in "the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus
shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the
manifestation of His coming."[374]
FOOTNOTES:
[336] Ver. 11.
[337] Dan. vii. 2-8.
[338] Chap. xiii. 3, A.V.
[339] Chap. xiii. 3, R.V.
[340] Chap. v. 6.
[341] Heb. ii. 14.
[342] Chap. xii. 12.
[343] Vers. 3, 4.
[344] Ver. 7.
[345] Ver. 8.
[346] Ver. 5.
[347] Comp. p. 175.
[348] Ps. cxiii. 5; Isa. xl. 25, xlvi. 3, 5.
[349] Ver. 6.
[350] John i. 14; Rev. vii. 15.
[351] 1 Cor. ii. 12. Comp. Gal. vi. 14.
[352] James iv. 4.
[353] 1 John ii. 15, 16.
[354] John xiv. 30; xvi. 33; xvii. 15, 16.
[355] Eph. vi. 12.
[356] 2 Thess. i. 6, 7.
[357] Ps. cxlvii. 19.
[358] Matt. vii. 15.
[359] Acts xx. 29.
[360] Vers. 12, 15.
[361] Matt. xxiv. 24.
[362] 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10.
[363] Comp. chaps. xvi. 13; xix. 20; xx. 10.
[364] 1 John iv. 1.
[365] Fairbairn, _On Prophecy_, p. 328.
[366] John xix. 12.
[367] Matt. vi. 23.
[368] Luke xiv. 34, 35.
[369] _The Revelation of St. John: Baird Lectures published by
Macmillan and Co._, second edition, p. 142, etc., 319, etc.
[370] Comp. chaps. iii. 12; xiv. 1; ii. 17.
[371] Chap. ii. 17. Comp. John i. 31; iv. 32.
[372] Dan. vii. 8.
[373] Comp. 1 John ii. 18.
[374] 2 Thess. ii. 8.