The Representation of Satan: The Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns

Revelation 12 describes Satan as a beast with seven heads and ten horns, symbolizing the fallen angelic princes who opposed God. This depiction is not of a literal monster but a continuation of the prophecy found in Daniel 7, where Satan is portrayed as emerging from the sea.

[Daniel 7:3] "Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea."

The four beasts that emerged from the sea—a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a beast with ten horns—represent the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the ten nations that arose from the Roman Empire. By depicting Satan as these beasts, Scripture reveals that the angelic princes ruling these nations embody the essence of Satan. For example, Babylon was ruled by Lucifer, a fallen angel, while Persia and the Greek Empire were governed by evil angelic princes. Thus, from Babylon to the ten nations of Rome, these empires were under the dominion of fallen angelic powers.

[Daniel 10:20-21] "He said, 'Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come. But first, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.'"

The Small Horns of Satan in Daniel’s Prophecy

In Daniel 7 and 8, Satan is symbolized as a "small horn." The first small horn emerges from the beast that comes from the sea, while the second small horn arises from the beast that comes from the earth. These two depictions are further elaborated in Revelation 13, where the first beast emerges from the sea and the second from the earth, illustrating the continuation of Daniel’s prophecy.

[Revelation 13:1] "And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name."

[Revelation 13:11] "Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon."

The Foretelling of Satan’s Emergence in Genesis

God foretold Satan’s appearance from the beginning of creation. The great creatures of the sea and land, created on the fifth day, symbolically predict the emergence of Satan.

[Genesis 1:20-24] "And God said, 'Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.'… (24) And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so."

The Symbolism of the Sea and the Land

What do the sea and the land signify? In the Genesis narrative, before light appeared, the world was in darkness, and before the land emerged, the world was covered by water. This imagery does not merely represent physical phenomena but rather symbolizes Jesus, the light of the world, and the believers who are saved through Him. The land emerging from the sea represents the community of the redeemed.

To fully understand this symbolism, one must revisit the six days of creation. The creation account, the prophecies in Daniel, and Revelation are not separate narratives but interconnected prophecies revealing the same divine truth.