The Beast of Empire

(1) The True Identity of the Beast

1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. (Revelation 13:1-2)

In order to understand this beast it is first necessary to understand what beasts represent in the Bible. For this we go to Daniel chapter 7 where Daniel saw a vision in which four beasts came up out of the sea. After Daniel describes what he saw, he asked an angel to explain it to him. The angel said:

‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth…. 23 He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.” (Daniel 7:17, 23)

It is evident that the beasts represent great nations or empires that will come upon the world, and perhaps have already come and gone. The first beast Daniel saw was like a lion, the second beast like bear, the third beast like a leopard, the fourth had large iron teeth and ten horns. The beast of Revelation 13 is similar to all four beasts in that it is part lion, part bear, part leopard, and has ten horns. This tells us that the beast of Revelation 13 will be a large and powerful kingdom, what we call an empire.

The beast is not an individual man, called the Antichrist, though an individual will be leading the empire beast. Of course, the body of the beast is Satan, as we are told in Revelation 20:2, but the heads on the beast represent his most terrible earthly manifestation, which is through an empire. Empires have the most power to do harm to the greatest number of people, especially God’s people.

(2) The Seven Heads of The Beast

Revelation 17 gives us more details about the seven heads:

9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. (Rev. 17:9-10)

Even though it says wisdom is needed to figure out the meaning, people quickly jump to the most obvious conclusion, which is not the correct answer. The seven heads of the beast do not represent seven of Rome’s emperors; the seven heads represent seven empires that have ruled around the Mediterranean Sea and ruled over Israel and the Middle East during the course of history.

The text says the seven heads have a double meaning; they represent seven mountains (the Greek says mountains, not hills) and seven kings. The fact that five kings are fallen and one is not yet come, tells us that the kings rule in succession; one after the other. The passage does not mean that five had fallen at the time that John saw this vision. This is one of the reasons why it takes wisdom to understand the meaning.

Rev. 7 says, “these are those that came out of the Great Tribulation.” Are we to believe that the Great Tribulation had already taken place when John wrote Revelation? No, just because the past-tense is used does not mean it had already taken place. Likewise, this passage does not refer to five fallen emperors or even empires. The main focus of Revelation is not the first century, but the final events shortly before the return of Christ, but it is not the only focus because we learn about events throughout the past 2,000 years.

If the seven heads referred to Roman Emperors of the first century, it would require that Revelation be written in 68 A.D. The five fallen emperors are supposed to be Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero who committed suicide in 68. The next emperor only ruled a few months, as did the next, both in 68. But by the time John wrote Revelation in about 96 A.D., there had been thirteen past emperors, Domitian being the fourteenth. Those who say it refers to Roman emperors ignore the ones who ruled only a few months, because if they count one that rules a short time then they have to count all of them that ruled a short time and it messes everything up. Stop listening to convoluted, confounded, interpretations.

Assyria could be counted as the first head of the beast, however, no empire before Babylon is mentioned in the book of Daniel, nor is Assyria mentioned anywhere in Revelation. Daniel’s vision of the statue begins with Babylon; so, starting with Babylon, there have been seven empires in the Middle East, N. Africa, and Southern Europe: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, Arabic, Ottoman, and British.

The fourth head of the beast was the Roman Empire that was so large it became divided with two capitals; Rome in the west and Constantinople in the east. When the Roman Empire supposedly fell, it was actually only part of the western half that fell; the eastern capital continued to rule most of the empire but is referred to by historians as the Byzantine Empire even though it was never actually called the Byzantine Empire, but the Roman Empire. It successfully held back the barbarian invasions that sacked Italy; even the Vikings were held back. Constantinople ruled the regions of Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, the islands of the Mediterranean, Asia Minor (Turkey), and part of North Africa. For a time it even ruled most of Italy.

The Roman Empire converted to Christianity in the fourth century and maintained the Justinian laws which became the basis for the laws of most European nations. The Christian Roman Empire “supervised education and maintained hospitals and asylums for the old, the orphaned, the sick, and the destitute, and imperial legislation as a whole reflected the constant concern of the emperor for the welfare of his subjects” (Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia., V.4, p.421). With up to a million inhabitants, Constantinople was the largest and richest city during the Middle Ages and was a major center of trade.

The fifth head of the beast was the Islamic Empire that began in 632 when the followers of Muhammad began their wars of conquest. They invaded Persia and the southern territories of the Eastern Roman Empire, such as Syria. Palestine was taken in 637, Egypt in 642, Cyprus in 649, and North Africa between 670-698.

Whole regions were depopulated and many Christians lost their lives and all their possessions to the invading Muslims who were often called Saracens. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem and witness to the invasions, wrote about it:

That is why the vengeful and God-hating Saracens, the abomination of desolation clearly foretold to us by the prophets, overrun the places which are not allowed to them, plunder cities, devastate fields, burn down villages, set on fire the holy churches, overturn the sacred monasteries, oppose the Byzantine armies arrayed against them, and in fighting raise up the trophies [of war] and add victory to victory. Moreover, they are raised up more and more against us and increase their blasphemy of Christ and the church, and utter wicked blasphemies against God. Those God-fighters boast of prevailing over all, assiduously and unrestrainably imitating their leader, who is the devil, and emulating his vanity . . . (sermon on Holy Baptism. Quoted in Seeing Islam as Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam, by Robert G. Hoyland, 1997. pp. 72-73).

The writers of the 7th and 8th centuries stated that Christian women were being taken captive and sold into prostitution (Ibid, p. 98). Thomas the Presbyter wrote about 640 A.D., but he used a different calendar:

On Friday, 4 February, [February 7, 634] at the ninth hour, there was a battle between the Romans and the Arabs of Muhammad in Palestine twelve miles east of Gaza. The Romans fled, leaving behind the patriarch the Son of YRDN {Syrian, BRYRDN}, whom the Arabs killed. Some 4,000 poor village people of Palestine were killed there, Christians, Jews and Samaritans. The Arabs ravaged the whole region. (quoted in The Seventh Century in the West-Syrian Chronicles, by A. Palmer, S. Brock. Page 18-19)

These horrible events were repeated in region after region. A Lebanese writer said when the Muslims invaded Lebanon they “raped their way through the country,” (Because They Hate, page 14). The Arabs demanded that every city submit to their rule, if a city did not submit the Arabs attacked them, and if the Arabs won the battle, which they almost always did, they would slaughter the males of fighting age and sell the women and children into slavery or divide the women among the troops. Sometimes the Arabs would slaughter every man, woman, and child in a city that resisted them, to teach others a lesson, to get other cities to submit to their rule. Those who did submit were heavily taxed. Whole regions were depopulated by slaughter or the inhabitants fleeing to other areas. An Egyptian, John of Nikiou, wrote about the atrocities committed there:

Then the Muslims arrived in Nikiou. There was not one single soldier to resist them. They seized the town and slaughtered everyone they met in the street and in the churches — men, women, and children, sparing nobody. Then they went to other places, pillaged and killed all the inhabitants they found. . . .

The patriarch Cyrus felt deep grief at the calamities in Egypt, because Amr, who was of barbarian origin, showed no mercy in his treatment of the Egyptians and did not fulfill the covenants which had been agreed with him. . . .

After taking possession of Alexandria, he had the town’s canal drained . . . He raised the tax to as much as twenty-two batr of gold, with the result that the inhabitants, crushed down by the burden and in no position to pay it, went into hiding. . . .

But it is impossible to describe the lamentable position of the inhabitants of this town, who came to the point of offering their children in exchange for the enormous sums that they had to pay each month, finding no one to help them because God had abandoned them and had delivered the Christians into the hands of their enemies. (Legacy of Jihad, Bostom, Spage 590)

Armenia, north of Iran, was invaded many times by Muslim armies because the Armenians refused to convert to Islam over the centuries like the Middle East did, and they occasionally rebelled against their oppressors. Sebeos the historian describes their first invasion in 642:

The ravaging army left Assyria and, by way of Dzor, entered the Taron region, which it seized … they crossed the bridge, and invaded the whole region. After taking a considerable quantity of booty and captives, they camped at the edge of the forest of Khosrovakert.

On the fifth day, they launched an attack on the town of Dvin, and it fell to them; for they had shrouded it in clouds of smoke and, by this means and by arrow shots, they drove back the men who were defending the ramparts. Then, having set up their ladders, they climbed on to the walls, hurled themselves into the square and opened the gates.

The enemy’s army rushed in and butchered the inhabitants of the town by the sword. After gorging itself on booty, it returned to its encampments, outside the town.

After a few days’ rest, the Ishmaelites went back whence they had come, dragging after them a host of captives, numbering thirty-five thousand. (Legacy of Jihad, P. 593. English trans. from Bat Ye’or, The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam, pp. 274-275)

Muslims invaded Spain in 711 slaughtering and enslaving; they burned convents and monasteries, raped and beheaded, and even crucified people. France was invaded in 721, and all of Europe was in danger of being overrun but the Frenchman Charles Martel stopped them at the Battle of Tours (Poitiers) in 732. A hundred years later they tried to invade Europe again through Italy and actually established coastal bases in several places from which they sacked and burned Italian cities, plundering and burning churches and libraries. Thousands of Christian men, women, and children were killed or sold into slavery in these attacks. Now we can understand why the Europeans felt the Crusades were necessary. No incursions were made into Europe during the time of the Crusades.

In Africa Muslims were enslaving large numbers of natives so entire tribes converted to Islam because believers could not be enslaved. In 643 after seven years of siege, the city of Caesarea fell to the Arabs who then slaughtered 7,000 of its citizens. In 650 Cyprus was plundered, and the region of Isauria, “they put to death many inhabitants and returned to Damascus with 5,000 captives as slaves” (Legacy of Jihad, Bostom, p. 390).

The Muslims today would have you believe that the Muslims were welcomed in many areas, and that after the conquests the Christians and Jews lived unmolested as “protected” people under Islamic rulers, but that is far from the truth. There were times when it was true, but there were many times when the Christians and Jews were badly persecuted and even slaughtered, with churches being destroyed, such as when the Arabs suffered defeats by Eastern Roman armies, or when the Muslims were having a civil war:

The systematic persecutions of the first quarter of the eighth century can be understood in the light of the belligerent relations between the Byzantine Empire and the caliphate. Many Christians of Palestine, Syria, and other provinces were converted to Islam either voluntarily or by coercion when the Arabs were engaged in warfare with Constantinople. For example, during the caliphate of Hisham (724-743), Christian populations or prisoners of war in the frontier regions were forced to deny Christianity. . . .

Greek sources of the eighth century speak also of the savagery of Saracen robbers who raided various monasteries, killing and plundering. For example, during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid (786-809), the monasteries of Palestine suffered from numerous raids. Many monks were put to death. The monastery of St. Sabbas was invaded in 786 and several monks were slaughtered. . . .

During the same period, Harun al-Rashid issued a decree (797) ordering the destruction of Christian churches; he also imprisoned several bishops. Harun was not an exception; several caliphs were especially intolerant toward churches and monasteries. When Marwan II fled before the Abbasid troops, he plundered and destroyed many churches and monasteries in Egypt. . . .

Bar Hebraeus relates that Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785) forcefully converted 5,000 Christians of Aleppo. It was not only the caliphs, however, who often resorted to violent means against the hierarchs of the churches. Bar Hebraeus reports that mobs often assailed the Christians whenever the government was week or reluctant to punish the Christians. A certain Christian was caught in adultery with an Arab woman; he was tortured by the mob, all his goods were confiscated and a church he had built was converted into a mosque. When a monk apostatized to Islam, then later repented and fled to Jerusalem, the Christains of Mardin, and especially the monk’s brothers, suffered severe exactions. Mob action became very frequent in the eighth century. (Greek Christian and Other Accounts of the Muslim Conquests of the Near East, by Demetrios Con-stantelos, quoted in Legacy of Jihad, page 392-393, 395)

We can see now just how it is that Islam came to be the dominate religion throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The Muslims were even more ruthless during the invasions of India. In the 13th century, Balban ruled as Ulugh Khan Khan Khan-i-Azam:

During the expedition he proclaimed that a royal soldier would be rewarded with two silver tankahs if he captured a person alive and one tankah if he brought the head of dead one. They brought to his presence 300 to 400 living and dead everyday. (Slave-Taking During Muslim Rule, by K.S. Lal. Quoted in Legacy of Jihad, Bostom, page 542)

Muslims actually took pride in enslaving people. If someone converted to Islam under fear for his life he could not be enslaved, but if he is first enslaved and later converted he did not gain his freedom by converting.

The point to note is that taking of slaves was a matter of routine in every expedition. Only when the numbers were exceptionally large did they receive the notice of the chroniclers. So that in Mahmud’s attack on Ninduna in the Punjab (1014), Utbi says that “slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap; and men of respectability in their native land (India) were degraded by becoming slaves of common shop-keepers (in Ghazni).” His statement finds confirmation in later chronicles including Nizamuddin Ahmad’s Tabqat-i-Akbari, which states that Mahmud “obtained great spoils and a large number of slaves.” Next year from Thanesar, according to Farishtah, “the Muhammadan army brought to Ghaznin 200,000 captives so that the capital appeared like an Indian city, for every soldier of the army had several slaves and slave girls.”. . . (Enslavement of Hindus By Arab and Turkish Invaders, by K.S. Lal. Quoted in Legacy of Jihad, Bostom, p. 551)

The Crusaders (1095-1291) took back a very small part of the Middle East from the Muslims; but the Crusaders were not an empire or even a nation, so they were not one of the heads of the beast. Although they killed more than they should have killed, they did not invade to loot and plunder and sell people as slaves, or to oppress the population like all the empires of the past have done. After the conquest, the Crusaders usually ruled fairly and most people prospered, even Muslims.

. . . the Spanish Muslim Ibn Jubayr (1145-1217), who traversed the Mediterranean on his way to Mecca in the early 1180s, found that Muslims had it better in the lands controlled by the Crusaders than they did in Islamic lands. Those lands were more orderly and better managed than those under Muslim rule, so that even Muslims preferred to live in the Crusader realms. (Spencer, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades, page 131)

One reason the Muslims were better off under Crusader rule was the frequent warfare that took place among the Muslim factions. During the time of Crusader rule, there were no incursions into Western Europe.

Muslims eventually spread their rule from Morocco to India; but because the empire was so large, as time went by the regions began to rule themselves. There were many different dynasties ruling various regions, such as the Fatimids, Abbasids, Umayyads, Samanids, Muamluks, Seljuks, etc.; each of these had to fight other Muslims to stay in power and were often defeated by other Muslims, but if each is thought of as a separate empire there would be a dozen or more heads of the beast, but what they all have in common is Islam, so the fifth head of the beast is political Islam that lasted about 600 years. The word “caliph” literally means successor, and refers to the rulers of Islam after Muhammad.

(3) The Sixth Head of the Beast

The Arabs took much territory from the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Turks took even more. The Ottoman Empire began in Asia Minor, present-day Turkey, about 1300 A.D. Though they were Islamic, the Turks were not Arabic. The Ottomans invaded Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Albania, Cyprus, Greece, and many other regions with the usual burning, raping, and enslaving. The Turks conquered what was left of the Eastern Roman Empire and finally destroyed the city of Constantinople in 1453, which became Istanbul after World War I. The Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the Ottoman Empire:

(The remainder of this chapter and the book will be available in 2010. If you want me to send you an email when the bo0k is published, email me at okmike77 at yahoo.com. )