The question of just who is killed, or sort of killed, with a mortal wound in the Apostle John’s descriptions of the beast with seven heads in Revelation 13 has given rise to an assumption by some over the years that it is the Anti-Christ.  The idea seems to be that since he comes upon the world in a deceptive mode, presuming to be the true Messiah to the Jews, he must be killed and then rise again to duplicate the resurrection of Christ.  It’s a good presumption and sounds logical, but the question is this:  Does it really have a scriptural basis?

This article is presented with that issue in mind, to search out just what the scriptures are telling us about this victim of the mortal wound who lived.  The three verses in Revelation 13 which mention that matter are verses 3, 12, and 14. Following are verses from Revelation 13 that show the context and verses that present that issue.  [They are quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV), which seems to be close to that of the New American Standard Version of the Bible.]

The Bible Passages from Revelation 13

13:1) And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

2) And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

3) One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound washealed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

4) And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

11) Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.

12) It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose mortal wound was healed.

13) It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,

14) and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

Who Is John Describing?
The breast which rises up out of the sea in Revelation 13 has seven heads and ten horns, and Revelation 17 goes on to amplify the picture for us, showing the spread of the beast’s influence and authority over even the “spiritual” inclinations of the earth.  The passage from Revelation 17, starting with verse 9:

9) “This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;

10) they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.

11)  As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.

12)  And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.

13) These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.”

This passage in Revelation 17 deals with the Beast’s relationship with the prostitute of Babylon, which seems to point to Rome, the city on seven hills.  But for this article, the Beast is also identified as a composite of seven kingdoms existing over the span of many centuries, here represented as kings.

At the time of John’s writing, five were in the past, one existed then, and one had not yet come.  When this seventh one comes, he says, it will not last very long, but will be replaced by an eighth head, which is described in the New King James Version, verse 11, as, “The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.”

The beast with seven heads is a composite of kingdoms over the ages, but that eighth head is now personified in the Anti-Christ, a person, who will be cast into the lake of fire along with the false prophet by the Lord of lords and King of kings, Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:20).

You have noted, no doubt, that there is no mention of any mortal wounds being suffered by this final eighth head, who is now identified as the all-powerful, all-controlling Anti-Christ, who has taken over the whole world.  Somewhere along the way, at least by the time he moves into the holy place and declares himself God, this Anti-Christ is totally indwelt by Satan.  Yet, he remains an individual person, for he is cast into the lake of fire with the false prophet, and Satan remains to be put in chains for a thousand years.

It seems to spin out like this:  The seventh head is the resurrected  sixth head that was in power in John’s day [it was mortally wounded, yet lived (again)], and is the much talked about New World Order so dear to those Tower of Babel descendents whose goal is to build a world utopia that does not include the God of the universe.  As the Anti-Christ works behind the scenes through this organization, he becomes increasingly impatient or egotistical, or both, and thus, the tenure of that head is not long, for he takes complete charge of all authority and ruling.

Daniel Only Sees a Beast of Four Heads
It is interesting that Daniel, looking ahead, sees only a four-headed beast, while John, looking back and forward, identifies a beast with seven heads, then later on, adds the final, eighth head, the one-world government dictator.

Others have identified these kingdoms of the past as that of Assyria, Egypt,Babylon (in Daniel’s day), Medo-Persian, Greek and Rome, up to John’s writing of the Revelation.  And, others have seen the development of the present-day New World Order, arising from the ashes of the old Holy Roman Empire in the form of the European Union.

As the shadow operatives become more emboldened and confident of their successful endeavors to that end goal of global control, we are learning how long-standing and far reaching these visionaries have been at this project.  One is to be reminded that scripture tells us that the driving energy of the beast is of Satan throughout all ages.  He is the god of this world, and it is his occupied territory for the time being.

Daniel’s vision Does Not Go Beyond Six Kingdoms
Daniel, looking ahead, sees only four heads on the beast, there were two that had already reigned before him, so he saw only as far ahead as John’s era.  Yet, the descriptions in Daniel 7 of that fourth head are parallel to the description John gives of the seventh head, the one that breaks into the end-time.  So Daniel does not see a seventh head.  That fourth head in Daniel 7 is the sixth head in Revelation 13, and the angel describes the fourth head just as John describes that seventh head—the final world-wide kingdom of terrifying power and evil.

John sees a beast with a head that is wounded mortally, yet it lives, and a seventh head is included in his vision, a “resurrected kingdom” which carries all the characteristics that Daniel assigned to the fourth head in his vision (same as the sixth head in John’s vision, by count).

Daniel did not see the wounded head, that sixth head, for it was the last one in his vision.  That is the head that was mortally wounded, the Roman Empire.  It appears to have died, cut up (as by a sword) into smaller entities of nation states, to rise again as a unity of nations, represented by the ten horns.

The question of how the great British Empire, on which “the sun never sets”, and now, the United States, fit into the picture, may well be answered in the previous paragraph—they are actually part of the disintegrated Old Holy Roman Empire’s subsequent nation states which are destined to be, again, part of the final Beast of Revelation, which is taken over by the Anti-Christ indwelled by Satan.  That indwelling seems to take place, in Revelation’s descriptive presentation at the end of Chapter 12 when Satan is cast out of heaven, no longer having his peculiar “diplomatic immunity”, and he comes into the earth in raging fury.  Chapter 13 begins to describe the horrific judgments of the last half of the seven years of “Jacob’s trouble”, called the Great Tribulation.

The Anti-Christ does not show himself in full control until he arrives to that place, and then, he does not need to duplicate Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, for he declares himself as God and demands that all worship him.

The Case for Pre-Trib Rapture
In Luke 17:26-35 Jesus links the incidents of Noah and Lot with the coming Day of the Lord, the coming of the Son of Man.  Those passages recording the judgments of Noah’s day and that of Lot are at Genesis 6-8, and Genesis 18-19, respectively.

The passage in Luke reads as follows (NKJV):   “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man; they ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

“Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.  In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away  And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.  Remember Lot’s wife.

“Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you in that night there will be two men in one bed; the one will be taken and the other will be left.  Two women will be grinding together; the one will be taken and the other left.  Two men will be in the field; the one will be taken and the other left.”

To analyze the statements of Jesus under the umbrella of the time-line of events in the last days, I have thought to take them in segments of activities described, as this:

1.   Activities of mankind when God intercedes.

2.   The day “Noah entered the ark and Lot went out of Sodom”.

3.    What happens to individuals “on that day”.

4.  (On that day) judgments came upon those left behind.

A Population Primed for Surprise

The activities of people around the world are the normal, daily activities of people in the normal course of life.  They are eating, drinking, sleeping, buying, selling, building, marrying and giving in marriage.  There is no evidence seen of the judgments of Revelation 6-19, when, if one thinks clearly on it, people will be concentrating on only one main thing—mere survival of life.

For example, Revelation 16:4 tells us that the  waters will be turned to blood, and elsewhere, so will the seas.  Things inhabiting the seas will die.  It is surely reasonable to think that there will be no fishing industry, no market for fishing boats or gear and tackle.

The same situation will occur in all industries and activities around the earth. That should raise a bright flag of warning to those who hold to the deception that the Pre-Trib Rapture will not happen until the end of the seven-year tribulation period.

Don’t count on being able to put off a commitment to Christ until you can see the end approaching.  It will not delay, but will come upon us “as a thief at night”.  That deception of delay is a tool of the enemy.

But, then, some say that it does not get that bad until half-way through the tribulation, or, at least, until the wrath of God kicks in, as we have been told, between the fifth and sixth seals of Revelation 6 (where the word “wrath” is first used).

Just take another look at the accompanying devastation and despair that will be associated with the advent of the four horsemen of Revelation 6.  Will the ship of state be sailing through smooth and still waters during those days?  Natural disasters in our present experiences, alone, have shown that life as normally experienced will not be happening.  Add to that the economic demise we are already enduring, and it will certainly challenge any claim that the coming of our Lord will delay until after the tribulation begins.  Remember?  Jesus did not include “turmoil and despair” as any dominating concern in the activities of those days just before the coming of the Lord’s judgments.

Also notice that it is Jesus who is the one opening the seals of judgment, the only one worthy to do so. Whose wrath, then, is it, which propels these four horsemen forth to do their dirty work?  In God’s eyes it is wrathful judgment; in Satan’s eyes it is the progress of his purpose to conquer the earth. This is the beginning of sorrows.

A Pre-Trib Rapture parallel passage in I Thessalonians 5:2-3 seems to lay out the same pattern, and describes it as a time that will come as a thief in the night:  “for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night, for when they say ‘Peace and safety!’, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.”

The element of sudden surprise is couched in a backdrop of apparent unreadiness and lack of alertness.

Pre-Trib Rapture – In the Twinkling of An Eye
The sudden transformation of believers from mortal to immortal, and “corruption to incorruption”, (Pre-Trib Rapture) as described in I Corinthians 15:50-54 will have no prior notice issued. There will be no time to clean up the mess we are leaving behind, or even say “goodbye” to those around us.  The things of this world that are a part of us—our clothing, eyeglasses, wedding rings, wrist watch, pocket change—these will be left, right where we will have been seated or standing.  What a surprise, too, will it be for those nearby, when believers are caught up to meet the Lord in the air!

God actually put Noah and his family in the ark and closed the door on them, then waited seven days before the rains came.  Perhaps this was to bring the magnitude of sinfulness of those outside to a greater awareness and conviction.  It is unclear, yet judgment came just as surely as proclaimed.

The angels had a struggle with Lot, however; he was reluctant to leave, and the angel said, “Hurry.  Escape there [to a nearby city], for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”  Genesis 19:22.  God would not bring destruction until the believers were out of danger!

Jesus brought this forward as an illustration of how things will fall into place in that day of His coming.  It is a clear validation of the promise in Revelation 3:10, “…I also will keep you from the hour of trial to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

The somewhat controversial passage in II Thessalonians 2:6-7, where Paul writes of the role of the “restrainer” in the time frame of the last days, clearly parallels the accounts of the rapture of believers in I Corinthians 15:50-54 and  I Thessalonians 4:16-17, as well as the illustrations of that event in the accounts of Noah and Lot.

Identitifying the restrainer is not difficult when we realize that entity’s removal is the main point of comment in connection with God’s allowance of the free reign of lawlessness in the world, in preparation for His final judgment.

The only entity that has ever stood in the way of the progress of evil is the church whose head is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He promised His Spirit to the disciples in a special new way in John 14:17, “…for He dwells with you and will be in you”.  That restrainer is the Holy Spirit indwelt body of Christ, the church, and its removal from the path of evil opens up the next step in the plan of God.

Then Judgments Came
The earlier passage in I Thessalonians 5:3 describes the judgments as “a sudden destruction, as birth pangs upon a pregnant woman”, which actually come without reservation, gradually increasing in intensity until the event is culminated.  Just in this way are the judgments of Revelation 6-19 laid out, increasing in intensity until that final great battle when the Lord takes out the enemy by the power of His might. Those days will not be days of normal life as we have known it.  It will be terrible, for there will not be any tolerance for righteousness.  The evilness of man will rise to great heights, beyond all imagination.  Evil will reign supreme…until Jesus comes.

However, the whole of scripture bears out the time-line of events that pinpoints the rapture’s occurrence before the beginning of the seven years of tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s trouble”, (Jeremiah 30:7), not that of the church (Pre-Trib Rapture).

Pre-Trib Rapture – The harvest time of the Great Commission is over.  The church is gone.  God has another plan for the 70th week.