Satan: Lifting the Veil - Part 19: The Unveiling of the Beast of Rome

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Two Case Studies
Part 3: Serpent = Satan?
Part 4: What is Satan's Real Name?
Part 5: Accuser
Part 6: A Son of God?
Part 7: God's State Prosecutor
Part 8: God’s Sifter
Part 9: Azazel
Part 10: Desert Temptation
Part 11: What Does a Jewish Messiah Look Like?
Part 12: Bow Down to the Domination System
Part 13: Proclaiming Jubilee
Part 14: The Evil One
Part 15: The Angels of the Nations
Part 16: The Gerasene Demoniac
Part 17: Further Lessons on Exorcism in the Bible
Part 18: Driving Satan from Heaven
Part 19: The Unveiling of the Beast of Rome
Part 20: Unveiling the Beast Today
Part 21: Jesus and the Domination System
Part 22: Violence
Part 23: Death
Part 24: The Advocate
Part 25: Conclusions?

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What is a Revelation?

I'd like you to try to imagine a scenario with me.  Let's imagine that you were part of a new religion - one that had started just a few decades ago (as far as religions go, that's pretty new).  Every religion needs a collection of sacred writings, right?  So you've got this collection of writings...but it hasn't quite reached a stage yet where everyone agrees on which ones are sacred or not.  That's still in development.  But it's starting to take shape.

Now imagine, if you will, that a brilliantly creative writer who is also part of this religion has published a new book that very creatively pulls imagery which would be familiar to people from your country and time.  He puts together political images (think: talking donkeys and elephants), images from pop culture (maybe a captain who wears the American flag, an army commander named "Joe", and perhaps we'll throw in some characters from popular works of fiction like...Harry Potter), and works these images in with bits and pieces from many of the books that have already been declared to be sacred by your new religion.  And this author creatively reworks these images - for example, let's imagine that he takes Captain America and depicts him as a stubborn, selfish man who is driven by greed and a desire for world domination, and has a porn addiction while at the same time is obsessed with condemning other people's sex lives. 

Of course you'd understand that the point of the book is not that the author believes that there really are talking donkeys and elephants, or that he believes there really is a man named Captain America.  You'd understand that he's revealing the faults of your society and critiquing them.  You'd understand that his ingenious work of creative fiction is highly symbolic. You'd realize that - rather than predicting an unavoidable future - it functions as a warning for your society: he's saying that the destructive behaviors of your modern time lead only to destruction, and warning of what will happen if you persist while also presenting a message of hope that says that society can change and can find a healthier way of life.

But let's just say that this book made it into the collection of sacred writings - it was canonized.  And let's imagine that two thousand years later, people really thought that the point of the book was that it was predicting things that would happen in the future, and that there was really going to be donkeys and elephants that talked, as well as a literal man who would resemble Captain America very much.  And let's imagine that all the while, this future society was engaging in the very same behaviors that this brilliant work of writing was supposed to function as a warning against!  If you could go into the future and witness this, you'd probably want to take these people by both shoulders, shake them, and shout into their faces: "you're missing the point!"  Right?

It might be quite difficult to convince anyone of this, though - especially if the collection of sacred writings did not include any of the books that this ingenious author had drawn from for his imagery.  But what if it did?  What if you could point to the other books and prove that this author had taken literary images from them in order to creatively rework them and present a message to his audience that critiqued the societal structures of his time?

Parallels With Other Apocalyptic Images
Everything I just described applies to the book of Revelation.  John of Patmos has ingeniously woven images from 24 of the canonized books of the Hebrew Bible (basically the Old Testament minus a few) with familiar political images of his day.  Dr. Merrill C. Tenney has identified 348 allusions (or indirect quotes) to Old Testament scriptures - drawing especially from the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Psalms. 

Let's look at a few examples.  For starters, scholars have noticed a number of parallels between Isaiah 60 and Revelation 21.  To get a picture of how they relate, compare Rev. 21:1 to Isa. 60:5 (also compare this to Rev 21:26), Rev. 21:3 to Isa. 60:16, Rev. 21:4 to Isa. 60:20, Rev. 21:7 to Isa. 60:7, and Rev. 21:8 to Isa 60:12, Rev. 21:23 to Isa. 60:19-20 - and these are just a few of the examples of the parallels between these two chapters.

Then you'll want to compare a few parallels between Revelation and Ezekiel:

1. The Throne-vision (Rev. 4/Ez. 1)
2. The Book (Rev. 5/Ez. 2-3)
3. The Four Plagues (Rev. 6:1-8/Ez. 5)
4. The Slain under the Altar (Rev. 6:9-11/Ez. 6)
5. The Wrath of God (Rev. 6:12-17/Ez. 7)
6. The Seal on the Saint’s Foreheads (Rev. 7/Ez. 9)
7. The Coals from the Altar (Rev. 8/Ez. 10)
8. No More Delay (Rev. 10:1-7/Ez. 12)
9. The Eating of the Book (Rev. 10:8-11/Ez. 2)
10. The Measuring of the Temple (Rev. 11:1-2/Ez. 40-43)
11. Jerusalem and Sodom (Rev. 11:8/Ez. 16)
12. The Cup of Wrath (Rev. 14/Ez. 23)
13. The Vine of the Land (Rev. 14:18-20/Ez. 15)
14. The Great Harlot (Rev. 17-18/Ez. 16, 23)
15. The Lament over the City (Rev. 18/Ez. 27)
16. The Scavengers’ Feast (Rev. 19/Ez. 39)
17. The First Resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6/Ez. 37)
18. The Battle with Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:7-9/Ez. 38-39)
19. The New Jerusalem (Rev. 21/Ez. 40-48)
20. The River of Life (Rev. 22/Ez. 47) 

In addition to these examples, there are many other images that are paralleled in other Old Testament books - the description of the angel in Revelation 1:13-15 derives from Daniel 10:5–6; the four horsemen of Revelation 6 derive from Zechariah 6:1–8; the images in Revelation 1:10-12 and Revelation 11 of the lamp-stands and olive trees derive from Zechariah 4:1–14; the four living beings in Revelation 4 derive from Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10; the edible scroll in Revelation 10 derives from Ezekiel 2:8–3:2; the marking of people on the forehead in Revelation 7:3 derives from Ezekiel 9:3–6; and the locusts that look like horses and have teeth like those of lions in Revelation 9 derive from the book of Joel (see Joel 1:6 and 2:5).

For a more in depth look at Old Testament references in Revelation, you might want to check out this document.

Unveiling the Beast of Rome
In addition to alluding to so much of the Jewish apocalyptic and poetic literature, John's revelation teases at political images.  This is not so obvious to our modern eyes, but you have to keep in mind that it would have been dangerous to speak openly against Rome - so the author had to cloak his subversive ideas within elaborate and elusive imagery.  But he did this by taking images from a long tradition of Jewish apocalyptic writing that had always been used to speak of kings and empires.

The very first vision of Revelation recalls imagery that would have been familiar to John's audience.  As depicted above, a denarius, minted in 88-96 A.D., depicted Emperor Domitian's son sitting on top of the world, reaching out towards seven stars, with the inscription: "Divine Caesar Emperor Domitian's Son".  Revelation 1, verses 16 and 20 subverts this image by depicting the one slain by Rome - the "one like the Son of Man" (Rev. 1:13), using a phrase Jesus often used himself - as the one holding these seven stars.

In Revelation 17:8-13, the writer speaks of seven hills.  Rome was known as the city of seven hills.  The empire of Rome was fond of depicting herself as a goddess holding the globe of the earth in her hand - the goddess Roma. There is to this day a statue of this goddess in the city of Rome.  Another image of the goddess Roma is found on a sestertius (shown above) depicting the goddess sitting on the seven hills of Rome.  But the writer of Revelation subverts this imagery - referring directly to the image of Roma on the seven hills in verse 9 - by depicting Rome as a whore "with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication", and whom is "drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus".

The goddess Roma

Also, the image of the beast in this passage - which is described in more detail in Revelation 13 as terrifying and boastful, it rises out of the ocean, and has many horns which represent kings - is derived from a clever combination of the characteristics of the four beasts which represent four kingdoms described in Daniel 7 (see this link for some commentary on these images).  In addition, the ten horns may have represented emperors of Rome.  Myra Nagels writes that "By John’s time, Jews had often reinterpreted this beast to signify the Roman Empire." 

There is additional evidence to suggest that Daniel 7 was meant to be an indictment against empire - I will provide two more examples for demonstration.  First, in the Antiquities, Josephus writes that "when the book of Daniel was shown to him [Alexander the Great], in which he had declared that one of the Greeks would destroy the empire of the Persians, he believed himself to be the one indicated...."  Secondly, and more importantly, there is reason to believe that Daniel 7 very cleverly used ancient literature that would have been popular in Babylon to subversively criticize Babylon.  Professor John J. Collins writes in his commentary on Daniel:

Many scholars have accepted the view that the imagery of the chapter is derived ultimately from Canaanite mythology, as exemplified in the Ugaritic myth of Baal's struggle with Yamm (Sea).

Scholarship has revealed that in much of the ancient Near Eastern literature, the sea was often used as a symbol of chaos (which helps us to make sense of why Rev. 21:1 would picture the New Heaven and Earth as a place where "there is no longer any sea" - this is not meant to be taken literally, but rather a symbol telling us that there will be no more chaos).  So when Daniel reuses this mythology as a symbol for Babylon, he is subversively turning Babylon into a symbol of chaos.  Revelation makes this connection more explicit when the beast is said to have seven heads, as the Ugaritic texts have Baal, who is often called the "rider on the clouds" (see Daniel 7:13), defeating a seven headed chaos monster named Leviathan:

[F]or all that you smote Leviathan the slippery serpent (and) made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads?

There are references to political complaints throughout the book of Revelation - for one example, in Revelation 6:5-6, one of the creatures speaks of the exorbitant prices on wheat and barley (staples in this time period), but warns the hearer not to damage the oil or wine - this alluded to an issue that had grown within the empire where wealthy land owners would cease the production of staple foods in order to produce more expensive items (such as oil and wine) which would be valued and prized by the wealthy classes.  And the result of this practice is that the prices on the necessities would rise to backbreaking levels due to their scarcity - causing mass starvation throughout the empire.

In Rev. 12:1-7, John has a vision of a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns - once again alluding to the city of seven hills and the succession of its emperors.  And the progression of this vision summarizes Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection - Satan/the Dragon symbolizes the governmental authorities who opposed Jesus’ mission of peace!  Thus Rome is unveiled as an incarnation or embodiment of the Accuser himself!

Note also that the image in Rev. 12 presents the dragon hovering over the woman waiting to devour her child as soon as it is born - this echoes a very familiar myth for the Romans.  The myth of the god Apollo's birth tells the story of Python - a great dragon that spread death and chaos - chasing Zeus' lover Leto so that she could not settle anywhere to give birth.  In "The Lives of the Caesars", Seutonius writes down the myth that Caesar Augustus had descended from Apollo in his own virgin birth tale.  Additionally, Apollo represented the bringer of light or enlightenment.  Thus the image of Rev. 12 functions as a dramatic reversal - a counter-myth that reverses the role of Empire as bringer of light, and reveals it as a false image.  Here, John of Patmos casts empire in the role of the dragon - the bringer of darkness, death, and chaos - trying to devour the bringer of light.

One quick thought before I move on - on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, President George W. Bush spoke of America as the "light shining in the darkness" - is this all that different from Rome's claim to being the light-bringer Apollo?

Now, if you have a problem with the symbolic interpretation of this book after all of this, then I have one question for you: ignoring the scientific problems with the images of stars falling to the earth like figs (Rev. 6:13), how is it that they ended up right back in the sky two chapters later (Rev. 8:12)?  And then we find a third of them being swiped out of the sky by the dragon's tail again in Rev. 12:4!

The symbolism of the chaos within creation in the book of Revelation is a stark contrast to the visions of order in Virgil's Fourth Eclogue where he describes the results of Augustus' reign through earthly images of bounteous harvests - and even the order of the movements of the stars was seen as a sign of Caesar's might!  So the image of the stars falling from the sky is not meant to be taken literally, but rather to make a mockery of Caesar's supposed power - the chaos in these scenes represents a complete nullification of the might of Caesar!  It is as if God is saying "oh really?  You order the stars?  Well, let's see what happens when I give their control to you.  Oh look...they're falling from the sky now.  Nice job.  Would you like me to help with things again?"

Now, a word of caution: perhaps Revelations is the one text that definitively puts a body on Satan, but to take that as proof would be dangerous, as there is so much symbolism within this writing.  However, after our exploration of this character, is it so hard to imagine that the person of Satan is incarnated through the structures of empire - could the Accuser be the personality of the Domination System itself?

We must be careful to realize, however, that people cannot be reduced to society and society cannot be reduced to individuals.  The systems are made by us, but they begin to take on their own personality - how many managers would have to be replaced before a company would take on a new personality?  A new manager need not be greedy - the company is greedy on his/her behalf.  Often the greed of the system is self-sustaining - new advancements that cause better productivity become necessary in order to remain competitive, and the system continues to spiral out of control.  Consider the development of mechanized farming techniques, more effective pesticides, and hybrid corn and how the debt of farmers has increased eighty-fold in the last seventy years as they are forced to adopt these more expensive techniques in order to remain competitive.  And then, ironically, as the price of corn drops as a result of the higher yield, the farmers are not able to pay their debts and the banks foreclose.

Now, it is important to note that volumes could be written about the context of Revelation and how this ingenious book points to events of the time period it is set within.  But as the purpose of this series is to explore the concept of Satan, I must stop here.  If any of my readers are interested in learning more about this book, I would highly recommend "Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now", as well as checking out this three part series by Dr. Greg Boyd:
Is God a Pacifist?  Part I
Is God a Pacifist?  Part II
Is God a Pacifist?  Part III

 
A Few Conclusions on the Beast of Rome
Before we break, I would simply like to note that all throughout this book we find the author engaging in political critique - as well as throughout the entire Bible!  There has been a recent effort within some sects of Christianity to de-politicize Jesus, but to do so would be to ignore verses like Ephesians 6:12, where Paul tells us that our struggle is against rulers, authorities, and world systems within this present darkness.  This verse shows us that the demonic refers to the interior spirituality of earthly institutions and structures.  And we are called to struggle against this inner spiritual dimension when it becomes corrupted - to work towards its redemption.  The gospel is not the story of personal salvation from the powers, but a message of a world transfigured through the redemption of all things - including the powers themselves (Col. 1:20, Acts 3:21, Eph. 1:10, Eph. 1:22, Eph. 3:10, I Cor. 15:24-27, Heb. 10:12-13).  For as we see in the end of the book of Revelation, the nations and kings will bring their glory into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24) and be healed (Rev. 22:2).

The imagery of the New Jerusalem hints at Universalism - this is something that even those who deny Universalism cannot help but pick up on, as N.T. Wright demonstrates in "Surprised By Hope":

Likewise, the majestic but mysterious ending of the Revelation of John leaves us with fascinating and perhaps frustrating hints of future purposes, further work of which the eventual new creation is just the beginning. The description of the New Jerusalem in chapters 21 and 22 is quite clear that some categories of people are “outside”: the dogs, the fornicators, those who speak and make lies. But then, just when we have in our minds a picture of two nice, tidy categories, the insiders and the outsiders, we find that the river of the water of life flows out of the city; that growing on either bank is the tree of life, not a single tree but a great many; and that “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” There is a great mystery here, and all our speaking about God’s eventual future must make room for it. This is not at all to cast doubt on the reality of final judgment for those who have resolutely worshiped and served the idols that dehumanize us and deface God’s world. It is to say that God is always the God of surprises.

In addition to this, Jürgen Moltmann notes an interesting translation issue in "The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology" regarding Rev. 21:3:

In the new Jerusalem, John sees God's covenant with human beings, and uses for the nations the word laos, which otherwise is used only for the people of God. Curiously enough most translators miss this point. But it means: 'Now that the covenant people have fulfilled their role of being a light to the nations, all nations will share in the privileges and promises of the covenant people.'

And one final question I would like to raise - in Rev. 20:10 we find that the devil is being thrown into a lake of fire.  I would ask: could this be the same sea of glass mingled with fire that is in the presence of God in Rev. 4:6 and 15:2?  And Rev. 14:10 declares that Satan "will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb."  What does this mean? 

If we look backwards to from Rev. 20:10 to Rev. 20:3, we see that this was the second attempt to bind Satan - and perhaps here we may find the clue that leads us to the answer.  Because, as we've learned before, trying to repress parts of our humanity - out of sight and out of mind - does not work, but only ends up turning them into gods which possess us and dominate us relentlessly.  Rather, we must bring our Accuser to heel in the presence of perfect love itself so that he may be refined in the fire just as every Christian is (see Ps. 66:10, Mal. 3:3, I Cor. 3:11-15, I Pet. 1:7, Heb. 12:29 for a few examples of this oft used imagery).  Perhaps the only way to truly bind the devil is to bring “him” into the presence of a radically inclusive love?  Perhaps transformation does not come from repressing our dark side, but by naming it, owning up to it, and bringing it to the throne of God?

At this point, I am going to break once more.  In the next section, we will explore the ways in which the Domination System shows its face today.

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Table of Contents:
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Two Case Studies
Part 3: Serpent = Satan?
Part 4: What is Satan's Real Name?
Part 5: Accuser
Part 6: A Son of God?
Part 7: God's State Prosecutor
Part 8: God’s Sifter
Part 9: Azazel
Part 10: Desert Temptation
Part 11: What Does a Jewish Messiah Look Like?
Part 12: Bow Down to the Domination System
Part 13: Proclaiming Jubilee
Part 14: The Evil One
Part 15: The Angels of the Nations
Part 16: The Gerasene Demoniac
Part 17: Further Lessons on Exorcism in the Bible
Part 18: Driving Satan from Heaven
Part 19: The Unveiling of the Beast of Rome
Part 20: Unveiling the Beast Today
Part 21: Jesus and the Domination System
Part 22: Violence
Part 23: Death
Part 24: The Advocate
Part 25: Conclusions?