The Beast Out of the Earth: Revelations 13:11-18

Episode 3.12: The Number of the Beast is 666

“Then I [John of Patmos] saw a second beast, coming out of the earth.  It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.  It exercised all authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.  And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.  Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of earth. … The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.  It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark… or the number of its name.

“This calls for wisdom.  Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast… That number is 666.”  (New International Version)

The Number of the Beast is 666 by William Blake

Richard Armitage as The Great Red Dragon

In both pictures above, the Dragon displays his glory for the Beast from the Sea.  in the Blake painting, however, the Beast from the Earth joins them in the guise of a sheep-like creature – a lamb but not a lamb – the proverbial “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

As frequently as Will is referred to as a lamb throughout the series, the appearance of the second Beast cannot be dismissed.  There is a dichotomy to Will:  He is kind and he is a killer.  He is dedicated to justice and he’s willing to bend the rules.  Hell, for the second half of Season 2, he’s so dichotomous that even he doesn’t know where his sympathies and loyalties lie.  Will is at once the Christ-figure of the Lamb and the minion of evil, a lamb-beast.

When you boil it all down, you have a lamb with a temper and a beastie that looks nonthreatening.  There really is no better description of the dual aspects of Will.

Anyway… things don’t end so well for this merry band of baddies:  The Dragon gets bound in chains for a thousand years and the Beasts get thrown alive into a fiery lake of burning sulfur.  But at least the beasts go together, I suppose.  To keep one another company in hell.

See: Part 1, The Woman and The Dragon & Part 3, The Beast Out of the Sea

The Woman and The Dragon: Revelations 12:1-17

Episodes:
3.8: The Great Red Dragon
3.9: … and the Woman Clothed with the Sun
3.10: … and the Woman Clothed in Sun

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. … Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads.  Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to earth. …

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun by William Blake

Richard Armitage as The Great Red Dragon

“Then war broke out in heaven.  Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.  But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.  He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. …

“When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman… The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.” (New International Version)

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun by William Blake

Rutina Wesley as Reba McClane

 

The Seven Seals: Revelations 6:1-12 & 8:1

Episode 11(ish): The Number of the Beast is 666

“The seals are being opened…” – Hannibal

Revelations 5 tells of a scroll with seven seals that only the Lamb (Christ) is worthy of opening.  In Revelations 6, a new aspect of the Judgment/Apocalypse is revealed with every broken seal.  The chaos of the Judgment is not actually set into motion by the act of breaking the seals; rather, Revelations 6 serves as a dumbshow of sorts, introducing the cast of characters and each of their roles in the forthcoming chaos.

The First Seal: 1st Horseman – Anti-Christ & Conqueror

“I [John of Patmos] watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. … I looked, and there before me was a white horse!  Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.” (x)(x)

The Second Seal: 2nd Horseman – War, Slaughter & Bloodshed

“… the Lamb opened the second seal…  Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.  Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other.  To him was given a large sword.” (x)

The Third Seal: 3rd Horseman – Famine

“…the Lamb opened the third seal… and there before me was a black horse!  Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.  Then I heard what sounded like a voice… saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages and do not damage the oil and the wine!” (x)(x)

The Fourth Seal: 4th Horseman – Pestilence & Death

“…the Lamb opened the fourth seal… I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!  Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” (x)(x)

Death on a Pale Horse by William Blake

The Fifth Seal: Souls of the Martyrs

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.  They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”  Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.” (x)(x)

The Sixth Seal: Cosmic Signs

“I watched as he opened the sixth seal.  There was a great earthquake.  The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth… The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (x)(x)

from Episode 3.08: The Wrath of the Lamb

“Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains They called to the mountains and the rocks,

‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of his wrath has come, and who can withstand it?’” (x)

The Seventh Seal: Silence

“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”

Then the machinations of the seals and the chaos of Judgment begin.

The Last Judgment by William Blake

(Biblical source)