"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 tens crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And 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, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world... 16 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: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six" Revelation 13: 1-8, 16-18.

We need to allow the Bible to interpret its own symbols. We should expect that God, for our benefit, revealed within the Bible the meaning of these symbols. Therefore, what we need is some diligence in study to find their interpretation in the Bible. By such a method, we avoid all human conjecture and speculation.

The Bible actually condemns human conjecture and speculation because "no prophecy... is of any private interpretation" 2 Peter 1:20. The Bible defines its own symbols. For example, the book of Revelation contains 404 verses. Out of these 404 verses, 278 are found almost word for word in other books in the Bible, where their meaning is expounded.

Therefore, we encourage you to do as the Bible Bereans (see Acts 17:10, 11) and bring every teaching to the test of the Scripture. As, whoever will prayerfully study the Bible, desiring to know the truth, that he may obey it, will understand the Scriptures. "If any man will do His will, he shall know...whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. "John 7:17.

There are many prophetic symbols associated with the beast: nevertheless, we will suffice ourselves with those which will help us to readily identify the beast. These prophetic symbols are: 'beast', 'dragon', 'sea', 'forty-two months', and 'blasphemy'.

Beast: In Bible prophecy, a beast is a symbol of a king or kingdom. "These great beasts , which are four, are four kings ... the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom ..." Daniel 7:17, 23. With this beast, we are studying a unique kingdom for it is not only a political power but a religious one as well, because people "worshiped the beast" Rev. 13:4.

Dragon: According to the Bible, the dragon is another name for Satan, the father of lies and deceptions, "the great dragon ...called the Devil , and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."This would mean that when Satan gave"his power, and his seat, and great authority"to the beast, we can expect the beast to behave in the same deceptively evil ways of Satan. Thus, a great deal of deception will be found in the affairs of the beast. Rev. 12:9; 13:2

Sea: In Bible prophecy, sea is symbol of a multitude of many different people."...The waters ...are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues"Rev. 17:15. Accordingly, this unique kingdom or power rose out of the sea, signifying that it came out of a location in the world that was densely populated with different nationalities of people.

Forty-two months: This period is equivalent to three and half years (42 divided by 12 months). And the Bible was written based on the Jewish calendar where every Jewish year is 360 days (30 days for each month). So, three and half years and forty-two months are both equal to 1260 days. The reason why we are changing the months to their equivalent in days is that when God gave time prophecies, He often equated a day for a year "...even forty days , each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years..." "I have appointed thee each day for a year "Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6.

Therefore, the forty-two prophetic months imply a period of 1260 years during which the beast was given, a "mouth speaking great things and blasphemies"and would"make war with the saints and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations"Rev. 13:5, 7.. Meaning that during this period the beast would blaspheme, persecute Christians, and have great authority.

Blasphemy: In the Bible, blasphemy is defined in two ways. The first is when a person claims to be God or His representative. "...for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God "John 10:33So the beast, this religio-political power and kingdom, has blasphemed God by pretending to be in the place of God on earth. The second way of committing blasphemy is by granting absolutions (claiming the power to forgive the sins of others). "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins but God only?"Mark 2:7.

The beast, this religio-political power and kingdom, has blasphemed God not only by taking His place on earth, but also by claiming the rite of absolution. No wonder the beast has the "name of blasphemy" and speaks "blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name"; this is because the beast claims powers that are the sole prerogative of God. Rev. 13:1, 6..