John’s vision of the two beasts provides a fuller commentary on the meaning of the preceding hymn in terms of both the dragon’s earthly activities and the situation of the messianic community. Having been foiled in his efforts to deny Jesus his messianic vocation, and having been exiled from heaven to earth where he can no longer influence the decisions of the Cosmocrater, the dragon turns his malicious attention to God’s people on earth. He is naturally upset over his recent demotion, and his response is to lash out at those who are associated with the one who brought him down. The reader already knows from the flashback (12:6; and repeated in 12:13–14) that the church’s desert home symbolizes its tribulation, made even more difficult by the hostilities of the dragon. Yet, the reader also…