Revelation 17:8-13 Who or what is the beast?

Revelation 17:8-13 The woman and the beast are closely intertwined. The woman sits on seven mountains which are also the seven heads of the beast. Five of the kings have fallen. Does this mean that is a description of the status at the time of the events John is seeing prophetically, or of the status as of the time that John is seeing this vision and writing the book? This is key to interpreting the rest of this section.

          One possible interpretation is that the seven hills of Rome are the seven mountains, and the five kings who were represent the five Roman emperors between the resurrection of Christ and the time when John wrote this book.

•    Tiberius 14-37 AD

•    Caligula 37-41

•    Claudius 41-54

•    Nero 54-68

•    Three short-term emperor interlude 68-69

•    Vespasian 69-79

•    Titus 79-81

•    Domitian 81-96

As the above list shows, there were more than 5 emperors between the time of Christ and John's vision, unless the count starts with Caligula and Domitian is reckoned as the sixth, and the three short-timers are not counted. But that would point to Nerva as the seventh, and he only ruled for 16 months before dying of natural causes. If the beast is the eighth, by this theory, that would point to Trajan, who ruled 98-117AD. However, Trajan's reign does not seem to fit the description of the wildbeast of Revelation. Although he did conquer additional land for the Roman Empire, there is no record of requiring a mark on the hand or forehead, nor that he defiled the Jewish temple like Antiochus Epiphanes. In fact Titus, the general who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD during the reign of Vespasian, himself became emperor in 79 AD, the same year that (less than 2 months before) Mt Vesuvius erupted and destroyed Pompeii. This all happened before John wrote this book.

          Failing to find any historical personage who fits the description of the beast, we are led inevitably to the conclusion that these events are still future. Hitler behaved like a beast, but he did not rule the known world (although he might have wanted to). Alexander the Great was ancient history to John writing in 90 AD, and he was the last historical figure to rule the known world.

          Leaving for the moment historical fulfillment of these prophecies, what constitutes the harlot and the beast in our own lives? The harlot evokes images of a loose woman who wears gaudy clothing and jewelry and flaunts her sexuality to exercise influence or control over men. The beast clearly speaks of the world system of economics, business, finance, government, and authority. Both are bent on destroying the soul of man (us, individually and communally) by trying to convince us that life can only be lived by their principles, which are exclusively based on the natural world and human wisdom. The false religion of the harlot is to worship that set of principles. We can claim that Hollywood and Wall Street are the villains in this, but that is trying to pass the blame onto the dupes of Satan. It is sin, pure and simple, that has created these institutions that the harlot and the beast epitomize. It is the work of these institutions that we have allowed into our lives that Jesus will deal with. And His judgment of them will inevitably trash their fruit in our lives. Even the good things that God has given us, if we have allowed the beast and the harlot to corrupt them, will be destroyed. This must be done so that the kingdom of God can be established with authority and implemented in our lives.