Revelation 13:3
3 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.
At the start of Revelation 13, John tells of a grotesque beast rising out of the sea–a seven-headed, ten-horned leopard with bear feet and the mouth of a lion. Biblical scholars believe this monster represents the Roman empire, or in general, the worship and glorification of secular power and authority. This creature echoes Daniel’s vision of four great beasts (Daniel 7:2-7).
In this quoted verse, the creature has taken what appears to be a fatal wound, only to completely recover, which astounds the world. What kind of beast could do this? No wonder the world follows such a beast of power. Yet this beast stands with the great dragon of Revelation 12 and Satan, all allied against God.
What Does the Beast Mean for Us?
How are we to interpret this envisioned creature for our modern times? Rich in symbolism, it is hard to analyze, but my educated guess is that the creature represents not only the glorification of the secular, but the glorification of all man’s efforts–including man’s pride-soaked efforts for the Church.
Why would I say “pride?” Well, pride, after all, is an attribute that seems able to take “fatal wounds” and recover quite easily. We get our chops busted, lick our wounds for a little while, and then go off toward something else, even something remotely Christian, searching for a way to gain more acclaim, more recognition, as if we didn’t learn last time. Any time we boast of “all we’ve done for the church” or “all we’ve given to so-and-so,” we are no longer doing these works for God’s glory, but for our own.
Man’s pride has many forms, too, just like the beast has many heads–for instance, any time we say to someone, “You need to get right with the Lord, like I have,” or “God told me to tell you your sin is an abomination,” we are making statements of self-righteousness, worshipping our own holiness instead of pointing others to God. There are many ways this beast can invade our churches, our families, and our personalities, and the attack does not always come from outside us; it may well come from within us. Speaking as one who has often courted acclaim and praise, it is a sobering thing indeed to realize that one’s own actions have been unChristian.
As humans, we are still prone to sin, even if we’ve been saved. Pride is but one of the sins we have to be careful of, since it can hide itself in even the most holy-looking actions. That’s why I think the beast of Revelation 13 is not only a vision, but a warning–we can too easily forget to worship God and start worshipping ourselves instead.