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Here John went beyond Daniel. No parallel in Scripture or antiquity seems to exist for the account of the second beast. Two verbs explain the meaning of the lamblike beast. John employs forms of the verb poeio (“to do, make”) four times (13:12a, 12b, 13, 16). The lamblike beast is a doer. He deceived (Gk. planao). John introduces the second beast from the earth as the implementing accomplice of the beast from the sea. The first beast acts against God and believers, but the second beast deceives humans. It functions as the deceptive cohort of the first beast. Thus, if the first beast represents the Roman emperor, then the second beast symbolizes the priests of the imperial cult religion. Later John will speak of a false prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10) who should be understood as the priest of the imperial state religion. Earle agrees with this approach.
The mark of the Beast parodies the sealing of the saints (7:1-8). The sealing protects the saints from the tribulations, and the mark of the Beast grants economic privilege to those who follow the Beast. Sealing brings eternal spiritual protection while the mark brings ephemeral material prosperity.
Diverse, and sometimes bizarre, interpretations of the number 666 exist (see Mounce, 262-65; Earle, 577-78). However, 13:15-18 and the literary device of gematria explain the number. In 13:15-17 the number denotes a power who can divide humanity into supporters and opponents. The authority can even kill resisting opponents. The number appears to refer to a civil authority who makes war on the saints as in 13:1-10. Gematria is the practice of applying numerical values to letters. The Greek letters that spell “Nero Caesar,” when transliterated into Hebrew and added together, equal 666. So 666 could be a symbolic way of speaking of the Roman emperor.
The first beast was Domitian, the Caesar when John wrote. Today the first beast refers to any political ruler who calls Christians to acknowledge the state’s claims to be more authoritative than the claims of Jesus Christ. For instance, when Hitler claimed to be lord of both the church and state in Germany, he was acting as the leopard beast. Any civil religion can produce a political ruler parallel to the first beast. Such rulers have emerged throughout history and will continue to appear.
The lamblike beast represented the priests of Roman state religion. Modern parallels exist in religious leaders who unite the separate kingdoms of the state and God into a civil religion that places one’s allegiance to the flag alongside or above one’s allegiance to the Cross.