The Case Of Who Died
Of A Mortal wound,
Yet Lived
By
Gene Lawley
The question of just
who is killed, or
sort of killed, with
a mortal wound in
the Apostle John’s
descriptions of the
beast with seven
heads in Revelation
13 has given rise to
an assumption by
some over the years
that it is the
Anti-Christ.
The idea
seems to be that
since he comes upon
the world in a
deceptive mode,
presuming to be the
true Messiah to the
Jews, he must be
killed and then rise
again to duplicate
the resurrection of
Christ.
It’s a good
presumption and
sounds logical, but
the question is
this:
Does it
really have a
scriptural basis?
This article is
presented with that
issue in mind, to
search out just what
the scriptures are
telling us about
this victim of the
mortal wound who
lived.
The three
verses in Revelation
13 which mention
that matter are
verses 3, 12, and
14.
Following are
verses from
Revelation 13 that
show the context and
verses that present
that issue.
[They are
quoted from the
English Standard
Version (ESV), which
seems to be close to
that of the New
American Standard
Version of the
Bible.]
The Bible Passages
from Revelation 13
13:1) And
I saw a beast rising
out of the sea, with
ten horns and seven
heads, with ten
diadems on its horns
and blasphemous
names on its heads.
2) And
the beast that I saw
was like a leopard;
its feet were like a
bear's, and its
mouth was like a
lion's mouth. And to
it the dragon gave
his power and his
throne and great
authority.
3) One
of its heads
seemed to have a
mortal wound, but
its mortal wound was
healed,
and the whole earth
marveled as they
followed the beast.
4) And
they worshiped the
dragon, for he had
given his authority
to the beast, and
they worshiped the
beast, saying, “Who
is like the beast,
and who can fight
against it?”
****************************************************
11) Then
I saw another beast
rising out of the
earth. It had two
horns like a lamb
and it spoke like a
dragon.
12) It
exercises all the
authority of the
first beast in its
presence, and
makes the earth and
its inhabitants
worship the first
beast whose
mortal wound was
healed.
13) It
performs great
signs, even making
fire come down from
heaven to earth in
front of people,
14) and
by the signs that it
is allowed to work
in the presence of the
beast it deceives
those who dwell on
earth, telling them
to make an image for
the beast that
was wounded by the
sword and yet lived.
Who Is John
Describing?
The breast which
rises up out of the
sea in Revelation 13
has seven heads and
ten horns, and
Revelation 17 goes
on to amplify the
picture for us,
showing the spread
of the beast’s
influence and
authority over even
the “spiritual”
inclinations of the
earth.
The passage
from Revelation 17,
starting with verse
9:
9) “This
calls for a mind
with wisdom: the
seven heads are
seven mountains on
which the woman is
seated;
10)
they are also seven
kings, five of whom
have fallen, one is,
the other has not
yet come, and when
he does come he must
remain only a little
while.
11) As
for the beast that
was and is not, it
is an eighth but it
belongs to the
seven, and it goes
to destruction.
12) And
the ten horns that
you saw are ten
kings who have not
yet received royal
power, but they are
to receive authority
as kings for one
hour, together with
the beast.
13 These
are of one mind, and
they hand over their
power and authority
to the beast.”
This passage in
Revelation 17 deals
with the Beast’s
relationship with
the prostitute of Babylon, which seems to point to Rome, the city on seven hills.
But for this
article, the Beast
is also identified
as a composite of
seven kingdoms
existing over the
span of many
centuries, here
represented as
kings.
At the time of
John’s writing, five
were in the past,
one existed then,
and one had not yet
come.
When this
seventh one comes,
he says, it will not
last very long, but
will be replaced by
an eighth head,
which is described
in the New King
James Version, verse
11, as, “The beast
that was, and is
not, is himself
also the eighth, and
is of the seven, and
is going to
perdition.”
The beast with seven
heads is a composite
of kingdoms over the
ages, but that
eighth head is now
personified in the
Anti-Christ, a
person, who will be
cast into the lake
of fire along with
the false prophet by
the Lord of lords
and King of kings,
Jesus Christ
(Revelation 19:20).
You have noted, no
doubt, that there is
no mention of any
mortal wounds being
suffered by this
final eighth head,
who is now
identified as the
all-powerful,
all-controlling
Anti-Christ, who has
taken over the whole
world.
Somewhere
along the way, at
least by the time he
moves into the holy
place and declares
himself God, this
Anti-Christ is
totally indwelt by
Satan.
Yet, he
remains an
individual person,
for he is cast into
the lake of fire
with the false
prophet, and Satan
remains to be put in
chains for a
thousand years.
It seems to spin out
like this:
The seventh
head is the
resurrected
sixth head
that was in power in
John’s day [it was
mortally wounded,
yet lived (again)],
and is the much
talked about New
World Order so dear
to those Tower of
Babel descendents
whose goal is
to build a world
utopia that does not
include the God of
the universe.
As the
Anti-Christ works
behind the scenes
through this
organization, he
becomes increasingly
impatient or
egotistical, or
both, and thus, the
tenure of that head
is not long, for he
takes complete
charge of all
authority and
ruling.
Daniel Only Sees a
Beast of Four Heads
It is interesting
that Daniel, looking
ahead, sees only a
four-headed beast,
while John, looking
back and forward,
identifies a beast
with seven heads,
then later on, adds
the final, eighth
head, the one-world
government dictator.
Others have
identified these
kingdoms of the past
as that of
Assyria,
Egypt,
Babylon
(in Daniel’s day),
Medo-Persian, Greek
and Rome, up to John’s writing of the Revelation.
And, others
have seen the
development of the
present-day New
World Order, arising
from the ashes of
the old
Holy Roman Empire
in the form of the
European Union.
As the shadow
operatives become
more emboldened and
confident of their
successful endeavors
to that end goal of
global control, we
are learning how
long-standing and
far reaching these
visionaries have
been at this
project.
One is to
be reminded that
scripture tells us
that the driving
energy of the beast
is of Satan
throughout all ages.
He is the god
of this world, and
it is his occupied
territory for the
time being.
Daniel’s vision Does
Not Go Beyond Six
Kingdoms
Daniel, looking
ahead, sees only
four heads on the
beast, there were
two that had already
reigned before him,
so he saw only as
far ahead as John’s
era.
Yet, the
descriptions in
Daniel 7 of that
fourth head are
parallel to the
description John
gives of the seventh
head, the one that
breaks into the
end-time.
So Daniel
does not see a
seventh head.
That fourth
head in Daniel 7 is
the sixth head in
Revelation 13, and
the angel describes
the fourth head just
as John describes
that seventh
head—the final
world-wide kingdom
of terrifying power
and evil.
John sees a beast
with a head that is
wounded mortally,
yet it lives, and a
seventh head is
included in his
vision, a
“resurrected
kingdom” which
carries all the
characteristics that
Daniel assigned to
the fourth head in
his vision (same as
the sixth head in
John’s vision, by
count).
Daniel did not see
the wounded head,
that sixth head, for
it was the last one
in his vision.
That is the
head that was
mortally wounded,
the
Roman Empire.
It appears to
have died, cut up
(as by a sword) into
smaller entities of
nation states, to
rise again as a
unity of nations,
represented by the
ten horns.
The question of how
the great British
Empire, on which
“the sun never
sets”, and now, the
United States, fit
into the picture,
may well be answered
in the previous
paragraph—they are
actually part of the
disintegrated Old
Holy Roman Empire’s
subsequent nation
states which are
destined to be,
again, part of the
final Beast of
Revelation, which is
taken over by the
Anti-Christ
indwelled by Satan.
That
indwelling seems to
take place, in
Revelation’s
descriptive
presentation at the
end of Chapter 12
when Satan is cast
out of heaven, no
longer having his
peculiar “diplomatic
immunity”, and he
comes into the earth
in raging fury.
Chapter 13
begins to describe
the horrific
judgments of the
last half of the
seven years of
“Jacob’s trouble”,
called the Great
Tribulation.
The Anti-Christ does
not show himself in
full control until
he arrives to that
place, and then, he
does not need to
duplicate Jesus
Christ’s death and
resurrection, for he
declares himself as
God and demands that
all worship him.