As we've seen in previous posts, the remnant of the woman in Revelation 12 foreshadowed the Reformers who fought against the Catholics. Their standing on the sand of the sea to fight was a foreshadowing of the biblical arguments and beliefs that would be fought over in front of a large public audience. But whose victory was theirs? Revelation 13 records the following about their fight.

[ Revelation 13:1~7] And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

In the above account, a beast with seven heads and ten horns comes out of the sea, and it has power for 42 months. This is because the beast coming out of the sea is an extension of the prophecy in Revelation 12 and Daniel 7 that it will fight on the sands of the sea. In Daniel 7 and Revelation 12, the beast foreshadowed the Catholic Church that emerged after the Roman Empire, and because the Catholic Church (the beast) was given authority to fight and overcome the saints, the battle against the Reformers, who were likened to the remnant of the woman, ended with the beast's victory. The Reformers reformed the faith, but like the Pope in Catholicism, they lorded it over the faithful and turned them into servants and slaves. That's why it's degenerated into a beast like Catholicism.

The seven heads and ten horns depict the seven archangels and ten ministering angels who are analogized to Satan, and their appearance in Catholicism was to show that Catholicism was founded by Satan. He also showed that one of the seven heads would be bruised, die, and rise again, indicating that the angel named Lucifer, who ruled Babylon, would be bruised. Lucifer, the head of Satan, was killed by Michael in a heavenly battle, but after descending to earth, he came back to life, founded the Catholic Church, and tormented God's people for forty-two months (1260 years).

However, Satan's forty-two months of activity does not end with Catholicism, but rather with a new religious organization that comes after Catholicism, which the Bible describes as a two-horned beast rising up out of the earth.

[Revelation 13:11] Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

So what does this mean? The beast coming up out of the sea in Revelation 13:1 is an extension of the prophecy of Daniel 7, and the beast coming up out of the earth is an extension of the prophecy of Daniel 8. So in order to know the true nature of this beast, we need to know the prophecy of Daniel 8. But because Daniel 8 is so thoroughly sealed, in order to know it, sealed history must first be unsealed.