Big Idea: Christians are called to faithful endurance when confronted by the beast from the sea, an evil force empowered by the dragon and determined to deceive the world, blaspheme God, and persecute believers.

Understanding the Text

As we continue through the interlude of 12:1–14:20, chapter 12 closes with Satan standing on the shore of the sea (12:18 in the Greek text but moved to 13:1 by some translations). Chapters 12 and 13 must be seen together. Having been prevented from reaching the woman, the dragon now calls forth two evil agents to continue his mission of blaspheming God, warring against believers, and deceiving the world: the beast from the sea (13:1–10) and the beast from the earth (13:11–18). The dragon, the beast from the sea (antichrist), and the beast from the earth (…