And I stood upon the sand of the sea... At times in prophecy, God has referred to the Hebrew children as "sand." The following are two such references.

Gen. 22:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Jer. 5:22
Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand [for] the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

Also, as we've already mentioned, the "sea" of prophecy stands for the Gentile world population which is without a covenant with God. This being so, the expression, "I stood upon the sand of the sea..." brings to mind the dispersion of the Hebrew children among the Gentile nations. More specifically, when viewed in its context, this would set the time of the events for this set at the end of the Jew's Disperion — i.e., at the 1st 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week..

...and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns,... This is not the first time that John refers to the beasts of Daniel's prophecies in this manner, nor will it be the last (Also see Rev 12:3, Rev 17:3, 7-12,16.); and as we've already noted in the first parenthetical passage of our study, this expression speaks to the political powers of the end time. However, each reference emphasizes something different that the end-time beast will do; and in this rendering of Daniel's 70th Week, the beast is seen blaspheming the God of Abraham and the Hebrew children — the God of mercy and grace.

2 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 seat, and great authority.

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... Again, John is using language very similar to that which was used by Daniel in his revelations to Israel.

Dan 7:
2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
4 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 stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and [it had] three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
6 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.

So, this end-time beast will have similarities to three Old Testament world powers. In the book of Hosea, God gives us some more insight concerning these three particular world powers. (Remember, as we brought out in our study of the first parenthetical passage of Revelation, the three powers represented by these animals were Grecia [the leopard], Media-Persia [the bear], and Babylon [the lion]. They are included in Bible prophecy because of the relationship they had with Israel.)

This identifies the second beast of Revelation, the one who will rule during the last 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week. The fact that he will have two horns like a lamb suggests that he will again be trying to imitate the Lamb of God. Also, as we will see in the next verse, the devil will be operating with "two beasts" during this last half of Daniel's 70th Week.
...and he spake as a dragon. Although he will try to convince all that he is the Christ, he will still be speaking like a devil.

12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Again, is this speaking of the resurrection of the first beast: i.e., political ruler? or does it speak of the power (nation[s]) that he represented? or is it speaking of both?

13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

This brings to mind Luke 9:54-56. "And when his disciples James and John saw [this], they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save [them]... Again, we see a difference between the "false christ" and the genuine Son of God. Jesus came to seek and save the lost and to show the compassion of God towards His creation. The "false christ will want only to slash, maim, and burn.

14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power 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, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

We should keep in mind that we of the year 2,000 are living at least 1,000 years (the time of the Kingdom Age) on this side of the final 3 1/2 years of Daniel's 70th Week, and that the scientific progress that will be made under King Jesus will probably be of mammoth proportions. Consequently, the understanding of the wording of verses 14 and 15 are restricted by the limits of our experiences and our imaginations. If the resurrected "beast" is a being, will he be actually resurrected? or will he be cloned? or will he be given life by a technology yet to be invented? Whatever the meaning, for our generation, the interpretation of this passage is not that important. For us, it is sufficient that we be able to distinguish between the 1st and 2nd halves of Daniel's 70th Week so that we might understand the things that await man at the end of our age.

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Behind the scenes, Satan has always used the love of money to help achieve his purposes. During the two halves of Daniel's 70th Week, he will "come out of the closet" and use the "mark of the beast" in an open effort to control the activities of man.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.

For our understanding
of the number
of the beast, Click here.

This language brings to mind the following:
Hos. 13:
4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me.
5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe [them]:
8 I will meet them as a bear [that is] bereaved [of her whelps], and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine help.

...and the dragon [Satan] gave him [the end-time beast] his power, and his seat, and great authority. Like these three rulers of the Old Testament, the beast will be a conqueror, but unlike his predecessors, the end-time beast will be totally sold out to Satan; and consequently, he will be given power, position, and authority by Satan in an unprecedented way.

3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

By this point in time, the stage has been set so that the beast of blasphemy will be able to deceive all who want to be deceived.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death... Apparently one of the ten heads / nations (or perhaps the ruler of one of the ten nations) will be destroyed.
...and his deadly wound was healed... ?He with dark understanding (See Dan. 8:23.) will either miraculously restore the nation or raise the ruler from the dead — which would be an imitation of what Jesus did when He walked the earth. Whatever it is that he will do will at least border on the supernatural because as a consequence, ...all the world wondered after the beast.

4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Herein lies the blasphemy on the part of the people.

5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months.

Again we see a Gentile unit of measurement indicating, perhaps, that the blasphemy will not only be aimed at the God of Israel, but at the God of the remaining Gentile church as well. Remember, even though the born-again segment of the New Testament Church will have been raptured before all of this takes place, the organized "religious church" will still be on the earth, and few will be able to look at them without remembering the "why" of the church's existence. For sure, some of its members will be among those that refuse to take the mark of the beast, and perhaps enough of these will be stubbornly clinging to the Word of God to get the devil's attention.

6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

At blaspheming, Satan is an expert; for he has used the mouths of men and women to do so throughout the ages. However, when he blasphemes those who dwell in heaven, he will have a new object for his obscenities: i.e., the glorified Church, the Bride of the Lamb.

7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints... The meaning of the word "saints" as used in this verse has suffered many interpretations, the worst probably being that of the Catholic Church which misuse it — as they do so many concepts in the Bible — to maintain their hold over those born under their rule. A look at the original languages reveals that the root of the word "saint" means those who are holy or righteous; and the Bible is careful to explain that the righteousness of the "saint" is the imputed righteousness of Christ Jesus. Consequently, the saints are simply those of any age that put their trust in God. In the Age of Promise, this was anyone who put their trust in the God of Abraham. In the age of the law, it was those who trusted in the God of Abraham and offered the sacrifices as per the law given to Moses — the sacrifices that pointed forward to Christ Jesus. In our age the saints are those who accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior in their hearts and confess Him with their mouths. But during the first half of Daniel's 70th Week, when the saints of the Church will have been taken up for the marriage ceremonies in heaven, the saints on the earth will once again be those of Abraham's seed. Only at this time, they will not only have put their trust in the God of Abraham, but they will have also heard the trump and seen their sign in the heavens; and they will be looking for King Jesus to come back to the earth to deliver them and to rule the earth from the throne of David. (Given the definition of saints, it's hard to see how the Gentiles during Daniel's 70th Week who refuse the mark of the beast and who are willing to die for their faith, could be considered to be "saints.")

Daniel also wrote about the saints of this time.

Dan 7:
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

(In verse 27 of this passage from Daniel, we are given some prophetic language with peculiar wording. "...and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High..." This doesn't say that the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints, but to the people of the saints. Of course, the saints in Daniel's day were the Hebrews, so this could be simply referring to their posterity, to the end-time generation of the Jew?)

...and to overcome them... Not only will the beast be given power to make war with the saints, but he will be able to overcome them — to a degree. (And by the way, this is only one of the many verses that will not support the erroneous teaching that would have the Jews of this period "sealed" so that the beast cannot touch them.)

...and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

We need to ask ourselves if this means absolute power or limited power. The next verse would seem to indicate that he will have much power; however, he will have limitations for he will not be able to make people worship him whose names are written in the Book of Life. Also, if we consider that the world will already have been at war for some 2 1/2 or 3 years, apparently this great power will not be given to him until sometime near the end of the first 3 1/2 years.

8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him... The key here is the word "shall" indicating that all of this will take place sometime in the future.

...whose names are not written... This verse calls for some speculation; so, let's speculate on just who will not worship the devil. In the next set we'll see where those who refuse the mark of the beast will be martyred. Consequently, they will not be around to worship the devil. We know that the faithful of Israel will have their names written in the Book of Life, so they will not worship the devil. But what about the nations of Mt. 25:31-46 which will be judged when the Lord returns to set up His kingdom? Remember, He will separate the goats from the sheep and send the goats into everlasting punishment, but the sheep will He will use as "seed" for the Kingdom Age. And many of these who go into the Kingdom Age will undoubtedly love and serve the Lord Jesus. Could it be, then, that this is one of those times when God considers something that He knows will come to pass as though it had already happened? Could it be that He will count these "sheep" to already be His and already have their names in his Book of Life?

in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. For our study of the Lambs Book of Life and whose names are not written in it, or whose names can be stricken from it; click here and go to the first chapter of booklet four, (Names in Heaven) of our on-line book, MARK THEM.

9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

This should be self-explanatory.

10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth — the Church will be gone at this time and so will the Age of Grace; so the precepts of the law will hold sway throughout Daniel's 70th Week.

...Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

In other words, the testing of one's faith will reach its zenith during Daniel's 70th Week. During this time those who put their faith in God and His Christ will have their faith tried to the n^th degree.