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Identifying the Opposition Characters
in Revelation
As
discussed previously, in order to understand the
Revelation, we must have a correct understanding of
what the symbolic terms meant to the first readers.
In addition to this, we must also have a clear
understanding of who the opposition characters are.
It is obvious from an overall view of the book that
the forces of evil will be destroyed and the forces
of good will be victorious. There is a conflict
between the forces of evil and of good. A correct
understanding of the Revelation depends on a correct
identification of precisely who the opposition
characters are.
We are going to determine who the opposition
characters are by examining the internal evidence
within scripture and then matching these
characteristics up with the most probable historical
figures based on what we know of them.
The Central Figure of Revelation:
Jesus Christ the Victor
Before we identify the human participants in the
conflict, we must first recognize that Jesus Christ
stands as the central figure of Revelation. From the
opening words, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”
(Revelation 1:1), we learn that the purpose of this
book is to unveil His glory and authority. He is
“the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation
1:5). John’s visions reveal that all power,
judgment, and redemption belong to Him. The Lamb who
was slain (Revelation 5:6) alone is worthy to open
the sealed scroll and to bring God’s plan to its
completion. Through every vision of judgment and
every scene of triumph, Jesus stands at the center,
guiding the events of history to their divinely
appointed end. The Christian’s hope and strength
flow from the assurance that Christ reigns, that His
kingdom cannot be overthrown, and that His victory
is certain.
Jesus first came into the world as the Lamb of God,
offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin.
His mission was to redeem mankind through His death,
burial, and resurrection. That work has been
completed, and His role has now changed. In
Revelation, He is no longer portrayed as the
suffering servant, but as the reigning King. He is
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, possessing all
authority to rule and to judge. The cross revealed
His mercy, and the crown reveals His majesty. He now
sits upon His throne in heaven, reigning over all
creation. When He comes again, He will not come to
be offered, but to execute judgment upon the earth.
Every eye shall see Him, and every tongue shall
confess that He is Lord.
Identifying the Good Characters
We already know that the Good Guys of Revelation are
the Christians. However, just for the sake of proper
scholarship, we are going to examine some of the
internal evidence in the Revelation that positively
identifies this for us.
Revelation was written by the inspired apostle John
(Revelation 1:4) to Christians in the “seven
churches of Asia.” In Revelation 1:6 John wrote:
“And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his
Father.” Of significance is John’s usage of the word
“us,” taken from the Greek word hemas (hay-mas’),
which is a plural form of a primary pronoun of the
first person. It could also mean “we” or “our.” John
has therefore identified himself as being in
association with the recipients of his revelation.
Peter wrote that Christians are “an holy priesthood”
(1 Peter 2:5). Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:12 that “we
shall also reign with him.” To the Romans, Paul
wrote, “they which receive abundance of grace and of
the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by
one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). The kings and
priests that John is associating himself with are
Christians who are priests and who reign in life by
Jesus Christ. John further goes on in the same
context to say, “I John, who also am your
brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the
kingdom” (Revelation 1:9), “of Jesus Christ.” So
we know from the first nine verses of Revelation
that Christians are made (past tense) kings and
priests unto God in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We
know this to be the spiritual kingdom that Jesus
spoke of to Pilate before His crucifixion. “Thou
sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and
for this cause came I into the world” (John
18:37). Jesus also said in the same context, “My
kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
The true strength of the saints comes from their
union with Christ. Their priesthood and kingship
exist only through His blood. They are described as
those who follow “the Lamb wherever He goes”
(Revelation 14:4). They are victorious because they
belong to Him who has overcome. The song of heaven
proclaims, “You were slain, and have redeemed us
to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue
and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). The
faithful are not merely defenders of a cause; they
are the servants of a King who has already conquered
death. Their endurance is a reflection of His power
working in them.
So, John who is the companion of the first readers
of his letter, who were all made kings and priests
and were presently in the kingdom of God, who were
also suffering together in the tribulation and
persecution of the day, are the good guys of
Revelation. In scripture they were called “saints”
(Revelation 11:18), those who “overcome”
(Revelation 21:7), those “that keep the commandments
of God” (Revelation 14:12), “and the faith of Jesus
Christ” (Revelation 14:12). In scripture these same
people were known as “Christians” (Acts
11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). They were Christians
then, and today those who are in the kingdom of God,
who keep the commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus Christ, and reign as priests and kings in His
spiritual kingdom and persevere until the end, are
also called Christians.
The application for us today is that present-day
Christians, just like the first-century Christians,
must, to the degree necessary, do the things they
did, endure the things they endured, and suffer the
things they suffered even at the cost of their
lives. The book of Revelation is nothing short of a
description of how the Christian must live and die
in the face of all opposition. If the saints of the
first century had to faithfully endure the
persecutions of the day, then we can be assured that
Christians today must do the same.
Revelation 3:5
“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in
white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out
of the book of life, but I will confess his name
before my Father, and before his angels.”
Every struggle described in Revelation unfolds
beneath the throne of God. The judgments and visions
express divine justice carried out through the
authority of the Lamb. The wrath poured out upon the
wicked is called “the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation
6:16), a sobering reminder that Jesus who redeems
the faithful also exercises righteous judgment upon
all evil. God’s sovereignty fills the book from
beginning to end. The throne in heaven (Revelation
4) remains unshaken while the powers of the earth
rise and fall. The victory of the saints brings to
completion God’s eternal purpose to glorify His Son
and to preserve His people in righteousness.
Identifying the Bad Characters
We know that the book of Revelation is written to
help the saints overcome the forces of evil. This
much is evident throughout the book. The Christians
must endure, must remain faithful, must persevere,
but against whom? Who are the forces of evil which
are seeking to overthrow the Christians? We know
before we even begin that Satan is at the heart of
the opposition. He is who seeks to do harm to the
children of God. One may ask why Satan wishes to
harm those who are faithful to God? Satan knows his
fate. He is going to spend eternity in Hell and he
knows there is nothing that can save him. Satan is
powerless to hurt God directly. He tried this and it
failed miserably. Satan thought he had won when
Jesus Christ was put to death. He could not have
been more mistaken and it was proven to him when God
raised Jesus from the dead, never to die again.
So then how does one hurt someone they cannot reach
and defeat directly? By attacking those they love.
God so loved the world that He sent His only
begotten Son to die so that whosoever believes in
Him would not perish but have everlasting life (John
3:16). God died for us; He did not die for Satan.
Satan knows how much God loves mankind, so since he
cannot destroy God, he will try and destroy those
who God loves the most. You want to hurt someone?
There is no better way than to go after the ones
they love the most—their children. Satan knows he is
lost and that his fate is sealed. He also knows he
only has just so long in order to wreak vengeance on
mankind (Revelation 12:12).
Revelation teaches us how to overcome Satan. It
describes in detail the horrors of defeat and the
joys of victory. We are locked in the age-old battle
between evil and good. God has given us what we must
know in order to defeat Satan. It is up to us to
choose to overcome and we must do this even at the
cost of our lives or the lives of our loved ones.
It is not necessary to understand every minute
detail of the Revelation in order to understand that
it represents the battle between evil and good. As
long as we realize who the ultimate enemy is and do
what we must do to overcome his evil influence and
persevere to the end, then we know all we really
need to know in order to make the proper application
of this book to our lives today.
So with that said, we are going to positively
identify Satan as the chief bad guy in this study
and then we will try and identify the evil agents
serving under him and his authority, trying to bring
about his goals, which are all aimed at utterly
destroying Christianity from the face of the earth.
Satan
In the individual messages to the
seven churches, Satan is mentioned four times
(Revelation 2:9; 2:13; 2:24; 3:9). So we quickly see
in the Revelation that Satan is the principal
adversary of the Christians. Later in the book, he
is represented as a “great red dragon”
(Revelation 12:3), the “old serpent” (Revelation
20:2), the “devil” (Revelation 12:9), he “that
deceived” (Revelation 20:10), “accused” the
saints before God (Revelation 12:10), has “great
wrath” (Revelation 12:12), was “worshiped”
(Revelation 13:4), “gave power” and “authority”
to his servants (Revelation 13:2, 4), and wages war
with those who “keep the commandments of God and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation
12:17). It is easy to determine from internal
evidence that Satan is the head of all the forces of
evil mentioned within the Revelation.
In Scripture other than Revelation we
see similar characteristics of Satan. It was the “serpent”
that deceived Eve in the garden. John identifies him
as “the devil” (John 8:44). The “tempter”
that came to Jesus was called “the devil” and then
called by the name of “Satan” when rebuked by
Christ (Matthew 4:3-10). Satan had been given the
authority over the nations of earth to give their
“power” to whoever he wanted (Luke 4:6) and offered
it to Jesus if He would “fall down and worship”
him (Matthew 4:9). We see a picture of Satan
accusing or resisting Joshua before the Lord in
Zechariah 3:1-2. So we learn long before the writing
of the Revelation that Satan’s characteristics
identify him as a mortal enemy of any who would be
faithful to God and devoted to their destruction.
The Revelation illustrates Satan’s characteristics
in such a way that any reader with an elementary
knowledge of scripture would undoubtedly know who he
is. In addition, John’s illustrations of Satan
reinforce the thought of just how intense Satan’s
hatred is and to what lengths he is willing to go to
achieve his goals. The student of Revelation needs
to pause and give thoughtful consideration to just
how horrible an enemy we are up against and the
ramifications for falling under his influence.
Revelation is a grim biography of the horrific
nature of Satan and an illustration of the perils
that await those who would choose to serve him.
Having learned that it is Satan who
has the authority to give power to do evil to
whatever nation he chooses (Luke 4:6; Revelation
13:2, 4), we will look at those who were given the
power to be the adversaries of the Christians in the
first century as described in the Revelation. What
are their characteristics and how do they match up
with actual historical figures?
The Persecutors of the Christians
There were two major groups of people
known for severe persecution of the saints in the
first century—the Jews and the Roman Empire. Our
purpose here is to determine which group of
oppressors are in view in the Revelation.
The Jews displayed their disbelief
and hatred of the gospel in the crucifixion of
Christ, the stoning of Stephen, the execution of
James the Elder, the repeated incarceration of Peter
and John, the wild rage against Paul, and the murder
of James. As prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24, the
fearful judgment of God at last resulted in the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
But this event only broke the
national power of the Jews, not their hatred of
Christianity. They caused the death of Symeon,
bishop of Jerusalem (A.D. 107); they were
particularly active in the burning of Polycarp of
Smyrna; and they inflamed the violence of the
Gentiles by eliminating the sect of the Nazarenes.
Severe Jewish persecution of
Christianity continued until about 132–135 A.D. when
a false messiah who called himself Bar-Cochba (“son
of the stars,” Numbers 24:17) placed himself at the
head of a huge Jewish revolt against the Roman
Empire. He caused all the Christians who would not
join him in his revolt to be cruelly murdered. This
resulted in yet another crushing defeat by the
Romans in 135 A.D. More than half a million Jews
were slaughtered in the war, immense numbers sold
into slavery, 985 villages and 50 fortresses leveled
to the ground, nearly all Palestine laid waste,
Jerusalem again destroyed, and a Roman colony, Aelia
Capitolina, erected on its ruins with an image of
Jupiter and a temple of Venus. After this, the Jews
had no opportunity for any further large-scale
organized persecution of the Christians, but they
continued to publish and circulate negative
propaganda for centuries afterwards.
Later in this study we will see that
the evil entities described in Revelation forced the
people to worship idols of a false god. It was
against Jewish law to make an idol of God and
worship it under any circumstances, therefore the
principal forces warring against Christianity cannot
be Jewish in John’s Revelation.
Moreover, it is exceedingly
significant that the Revelation was addressed to
seven churches, none of which were in Jerusalem. If
the Revelation were a letter of triumph and
perseverance over the Jews, then it stands to reason
the letter would have been addressed to the church
in Jerusalem instead of to congregations far
removed. It is obvious from the addressees of the
letter that the scope of the persecution was
considerably more widespread than just one city or
nation. The oppression of the Christians in the
Revelation was on a worldwide scale and the Jews
were incapable of the level of persecution described
therein.
The Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was a melting pot of
hundreds of religions. These religions came into the
empire as a result of the introduction of the
religions of conquered nations into their society.
The empire was somewhat tolerant of these religions
and permitted them to exist in their society so long
as they did not pose a threat. Everything was fine
as long as all the religions tolerated the presence
of each other and everybody paid their taxes and
there was harmony. Christianity was not tolerant of
all these other religions and sought to make
converts of all other nations and peoples, thereby
attracting far greater numbers than the Jews.
Spreading rapidly, Christianity gained the attention
of the Roman State. With Christianity’s claim to be
worshipping the one and only true God with the one
and only true faith and utterly rejecting any form
of idolatry, it quickly grew to pose a threat to the
existence of the Roman State religion.
Christians refused to pay divine
honors to the emperor and his statue and to take
part in any idolatrous ceremonies at public
festivals. Their separation from politics and all
civil affairs in favor of the spiritual and eternal
interests of man and their close brotherly union and
frequent meetings further inflamed the populace
against them. The non-Christian public considered
believers in the one God as atheists and enemies of
their many gods. There began to circulate all kinds
of rumors of horrible abominations, even incest,
cannibalism, and conspiracy against the state,
practiced by the Christians at their frequent
religious assemblies and love feasts. The general
populace regarded the frequent natural and political
calamities of that age as punishment inflicted by
the many angry gods for their tolerance of the
Christian religion. In North Africa arose the
proverb: “If God does not send rain, lay it to the
Christians.” At every flood, drought, famine, or
pestilence, the fanatical populace cried: “Away with
the atheists! To the lions with the Christians!”
The overall negative response from
unbelievers to Christianity combined with the
Christians’ flat refusal to worship the emperor or
his statues resulted in accusations of conspiracy
against the Roman Emperors, which was an
unpardonable crime. Thus, Christianity was outlawed
in the Roman Empire and the stage was set for the
most horrendous persecution of all time against
God’s people. The Jewish people hated the Christians
and frequently reported them to the authorities. The
general population, full of all kinds of false
rumors, likewise distrusted and exposed Christians
to the authorities. They were rounded up and
punished as treasonous enemies of the state. Killed,
tortured, sold as slaves, used in the games,
horribly mistreated and distrusted, Christians were
faced with an almost insurmountable obstacle to
their belief and worship of the one true and living
God.
So with this said, we will now
examine the key characteristics of the opposition
characters to the Christians as described in the
Revelation and try to match them up with the best
historical group of oppressors from that age. The
opposition characters as described are represented
by three major illustrations: the beast arising from
the sea (Revelation 13:1), the lesser beast arising
from the earth (Revelation 13:11), and the scarlet
woman (Revelation 17).
One of the things that positively
identifies the forces of evil is the fact that they
tried to force people to worship the image of the
sea beast. The beast was undoubtedly a malignant
force hostile to the Christians and demanded the
worship of all the people. Revelation 13:15 teaches
us that “as many as would not worship the image of
the beast should be killed.” An “image” to the
first-century Christians simply meant a statue or a
likeness of someone or something. There were two
beasts mentioned in Revelation: the beast from the
sea (Revelation 13:1) and the beast from the earth
(Revelation 13:11). The sea beast got his authority
directly from the dragon (Revelation 13:2), which
was Satan. The earth beast “exercised” or operated
under the authority of the sea beast and required
the people of the earth to worship the images of the
sea beast (Revelation 13:12). This is forced worship
of an evil entity characterized by the building of
physical idols for the people to bow down to.
Revelation 17:18 says, “And the
woman which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth.”
The woman in view here is the one
referred to in Revelation 17:5 as “MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” In this study, she
is referred to as the “Scarlet Woman” in the
commentary for chapter 17. There is considerable
disagreement over whether this woman is
representative of Rome or of Jerusalem. It is the
position of this Bible student that she represents
the city of Rome.
She is depicted as one who is riding
on the seven-headed, ten-horned beast in Revelation
17. This chapter of Revelation goes to great lengths
to identify the forces of evil against the
Christians. Starting in verse 7 of chapter 17, the
angel speaking in John’s vision gives an explanation
of the vision to him. “The seven heads are seven
mountains on which the woman sitteth.” This is a
very significant clue to the identity of the evil
forces. The Roman Empire was built on the seven
hills of Rome. They had a yearly celebration called
the Septimontium which commemorated the enclosure of
the seven hills of Rome within the walls of the
city.
It was common custom in the centuries
before Christ for people in the Roman world to refer
to the City of Rome itself as the “City of Seven
Hills.” The references are numerous and consistent.
And indeed, when Romulus and Remus wanted to build a
city in the area of the Tibur River, it was decided
that the city had to be on “seven hills.” The number
“seven” was a universal symbol that signified
completion or perfection, and the founders of Rome
wanted people to know that this city was destined to
have a world influence and fame.
The seven hills were: Aventine Hill,
Caelian Hill, Capitoline Hill, Esquiline Hill,
Palatine Hill, Quirinal Hill, and Viminal Hill.
The fact that Rome was designated
“The Seven-Hilled City” was significant enough to
render it a suitable candidate for being the city
represented by the mother of harlots, but it does
not automatically mean this is who it represents.
The City of Jerusalem as it existed in the time of
Christ Jesus was also known as a “City of Seven
Hills.” Those seven were typically identified as the
Mount of Olives (with its three summits: Scopus,
Nob, and the central height), Mount Zion, the Ophel,
the Rock around Antonia, and the southwest hill
later called Zion again.
Both Rome and Jerusalem were known as
cities of seven hills, so to identify the “mother of
harlots,” we must look further.
In Revelation 17:4 we see that this
woman is incredibly wealthy. Both Rome and Jerusalem
fit this description; however, in this verse we see
something that points to Rome more so than
Jerusalem: “having in her hand a golden cup full of
abominations, even the unclean things of her
fornication.” Her wealth was a result of ill-gotten
fortune and associated with spiritual fornication,
which we know is idolatry. The mother of harlots was
herself guilty of idolatry. Judah as a nation was
not given over to idolatry. They had rejected Jesus
as the Messiah and were clinging to the law of Moses
instead of the faith of Jesus Christ. They were
worshiping under an abolished system of faith, but
they were worshiping the one true and living God.
The name on her forehead, “MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH,” is also a clue.
Babylon, the mother of harlots, is a reference back
to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who erected a
giant golden statue of himself and forced his people
to bow down and worship it, thus committing
spiritual fornication in the form of idolatry. With
this practice, Babylon spawned and fostered
spiritual harlotry and the abominations of the
earth. With Nebuchadnezzar’s forced king worship, he
literally spawned spiritual harlotry in the form of
idolatry. The Roman Empire, with the enforcement of
the Imperial Cult, did the exact same thing. The
Imperial Cult was charged with the task of promoting
the worship of the emperors as gods. This connection
between Rome and ancient Babylon is too significant
to overlook.
Revelation 17:12 says, “The ten
horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as
kings one hour with the beast.” The Roman Empire
was a provincial government. They conquered a
nation, added it to the empire, and appointed a king
over the province. They could be appointed or
replaced directly by the emperor. Interestingly, it
was required in the Roman Empire for them to have at
least ten imperial provinces.
The woman sitting on the beast in
Revelation was called a great city, and this great
city ruled over the kings of the earth. Jerusalem
was a large city but not in any way comparable in
size to Rome. Moreover, the rulers of Judah did not
rule over the kings of the earth; rather, they were
subject to the Roman Empire themselves. This is yet
another characteristic of the great harlot which
points to Rome but cannot be reconciled with
Jerusalem.
And finally, in Revelation 18:17–19,
we read, “For in an hour so great riches is made
desolate. And every shipmaster, and everyone that
saileth any whither, and mariners, and as many as
gain their living by sea, stood afar off, and cried
out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning,
saying, What city is like the great city? And they
cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and
mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein
all that had their ships in the sea were made rich
by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she
made desolate.”
The great city which reigned over the
kings of the earth was a maritime city. It had
seaports and ships, which is something Jerusalem
never had. The closest seaport to Jerusalem was
Joppa, forty miles away.
Given the evidence from scripture,
there is no city in the first century that matches
these characteristics better than the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire required all people living under
their rule to worship the emperors. They also
persecuted those who refused to do so and often
executed them. The Roman Empire also had a
government-sanctioned organization that was
responsible for enforcing emperor worship among
other things. This organization was called the
Concilia or sometimes the Commune. They went
throughout the empire, constructed temples, and set
up statues of the emperors, forcing the people to
worship these statues. Those who bowed down to
worship were given a certificate which enabled them
to buy, sell, and participate in government
programs. They had great authority from the empire
and worked to promote its interests throughout. This
hierarchical structure within the Roman Empire fits
the description given in John’s Revelation so
closely that there can be no reasonable doubt that
the opposition forces against whom the Christians
were required to resist was the Imperial Roman
Empire itself, with Satan operating in the
background.
So, having examined the meaning of
the figurative language to the first readers of the
Revelation and having established who the opposition
characters are, we are now ready to begin a study of
the visions of Revelation. Keeping in mind that the
basic template for unraveling the mysteries of these
visions is as follows:
-
The visions are symbolized to
protect the innocent.
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The first readers of the
Revelation would be able to understand it.
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What the Revelation meant to them
is what it must mean to us today.
The basic message of the Revelation
is that those who overcome and remain faithful until
death will be victorious over the forces of evil and
will receive the crown of life. The application for
us today is that Christians in the twenty-first
century are the same as Christians in the first
century. The requirements for faithfulness today are
the same as in the first century A.D. Nothing has
changed. If the first-century Christians had to be
willing to die for their faith, we must likewise do
so today if necessary.
If we today want to be assured of
being faithful Christians, we must pattern our lives
after the only approved examples we have of the
original Christians at the beginning. Using only the
Bible, living like the first-century Christians
lived, believing what they believed, teaching what
they taught, doing what they did, and, if necessary,
dying like they were required to die, we will be
confident of being today just what they were then.
Christians.
Lesson 3,
Understanding the Numerical Symbolism in Revelation
Lesson 5,
John's Introduction to Revelation
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The
church of Christ
