“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy” (Rev 13:1). John stood on the shoreline of Judea looking westward across the Mediterranean Sea and saw a beast rise from Rome, “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” (v. 2). And he had told us earlier that the dragon is the devil, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan” (12:9). The devil gave this beast its power, and worship of either is the same, “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast” (v. 4).
John also saw a second beast, “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (v. 11). It’s this second beast that forces the mark, “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: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark” (vs. 16-17).
However, “the name of the beast” and “the number of his name” (v. 17) concerns the first beast. It’s one beast but three—a leopard, a bear, and a lion. It’s a three-part entity or tri-entity. As with one god in three co-equal persons, six hundred and sixty-six is one number in three equal numbers 6=6=6. The number of his name is three or tri- because “Trinity” is his name and this number is in his name.
Later, John saw a woman riding this beast, “I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (17:3-6). Of course many identify this woman as the Roman Catholic Church. She tortured and murdered millions of people to establish the Trinitarian beast carrying her.
Furthermore, she is “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS.” About 500 years ago Martin Luther led the Protestant Reformation which wasn’t a reformation at all but a birth after its own kind—multitudes of Protestant churches playing the harlot just like their mother. All of them worshipping this Trinitarian beast and the dragon.
Israel and Judah both “played the harlot” (Jer 3:1,6,8; Exe 16:28, 23:5,19), and it was for that reason Judah was sent to Babylon. Jeremiah wrote of God’s people, “But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them” (Jer 9:13-14). They were walking after a false god they had been taught for generations, and the pattern has repeated. For hundreds of years we’ve been taught a false Trinitarian god. And as they were carried away captive to Babylon, so it will be in these last days, “great Babylon came in remembrance before God” (16:19), “MYSTERY, BABYLON” (Rev 17:5).
Upon the beast’s heads is “the name of blasphemy [blasphēmia 988]” (v. 1). The Greek noun blasphēmia and verb blasphemō mean “speak against” as Christ Himself used it: “the blasphemy [blasphēmia 988] against the Holy Ghost [breath] shall not be forgiven unto men … but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost [breath], it shall not be forgiven him” (Mat 12:31,32), “And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth [blasphemō 987] against the Holy Ghost [breath] it shall not be forgiven” (Luk 12:10).
The beast’s very name “Trinity” is “the name of blasphemy” (v. 1), because tri- or 3 speaks against what Christ and His apostles taught, that God is one and that God is Christ’s God: “The Lord our God is one Lord” (Mar 12:29); “thee the only true God” (Jhn 17:3); “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34); “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (Jhn 20:17); “Christ is God’s” (1Co 3:23); “But to us there is but one God, the Father” (1Co 8:6); “the head of Christ is God” (1Co 11:3).
The beast is fast, strong, and ferocious. Like a leopard it can’t be outrun, and like a bear it can’t be overcome. Its roar, like that of a lion, is terrifying: denying the Trinity is said to be the blasphemy which will never be forgiven; those leaving the church never were really saved; those outside Trinitarian churches are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and cults. Its roar tests who we fear more—God or the beast.
Understanding Scripture 