NOTE: This article is about the False Prophet. You may also be looking for the related figure of the Antichrist.
The Beast is a prophetic monster (or, more accurately, a demon) that appears in the Abrahamic religions.
Appearance[]
Not much is said about the False Prophet's appearance in Book of Revelation, except that he has two lamb horns and the voice of a dragon.
Biography[]
Christianity[]
The Beast appears in the Biblical scripture of Revelations, and although its name is often believed to be one and the same with Satan and the Antichrist, this creature is a different entity. Known as the False Prophet, which is also referred to as the "Beast of the Earth". However, much like the Holy Trinity, these three demons are sometimes considered three parts of a negative higher-power known as the Unholy Trinity, which together shall oppose the armies of God during Armageddon and bring great misery to humanity until their ultimate destruction on Judgement Day.
The Beast is symbolized as an apocalyptic monster that shall rise from the sea with seven heads, one of which shall be mortally wounded via trickery. The Beast shall heal its wounds and be worshiped as a god amongst people, performing many miracles and leading many astray in a similar manner to the Antichrist himself. At the height of evil's power during the Apocalypse, all humanity will be forced by the False Prophet into receiving The Beast's number etched onto their right hand or forehead in order to purchase food or contribute to society, and traditionally, this number has been noted as 666. The False Prophet will also make an image resembling the Beast of the Sea, and breathe life into it, so that it may speak and order to kill anyone who doesn't worship it.
The Beast, alongside the Antichrist and Satan, will have the power to decimate the world and bring calamity to humanity - those who put their faith in God shall be spared the suffering of the others (according to some traditions) while others will have to live through the End Times.
The scarlet dragon (the Devil), the beast of sea (the Antichrist), and the beast of the earth (the False Prophet).
However, after an undisclosed period of time, the world shall be saved from this tyranny when God personally intervenes, casting the Beast alongside the Antichrist into a pit of eternal fire, where Satan and all other evils will be thrown as well a thousand years later, destroying them forever and bringing peace to the world for eternity.
Islam[]
The Dabbat al-Ardḍ
The Beast of the Earth is the name of the Dabbat al-Ardḍ (in Arabic: دابة الأرض), also knoen as The Dabbah is Islamic verison of The Beast, and it will be one of the signs of the coming of the Last Day. This creature will appear after the sun arises in the west. The phrase appears in the Qur'an, in Sura An-Naml. The term also appears in the hadith, which expands upon the activities of the beast. The Qur'an mentions that the Beast will address the unbelievers and admonish them for their lack of attention towards God. The following is the purport of the Qur'anic verse that has been discussed:
| “ | And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), we shall produce from the earth a beast to (face) them: He will speak to them, for that mankind did not believe with assurance in Our Signs. | „ |
| ~ Qur'an, sura 27 (An-Naml), ayat 82. |
The Beast is mentioned to have the Staff of Moses and the Seal of Solomon. It will strike the face of the disbelievers with the staff, "He is destined for Hell" will be written on his forehead, and his face will blacken and it will brighten the face of the believer with the Ring of Solomon and "He is destined for Paradise" will be written on his forehead.
As it is seen, when the Beast emerges, people will start to believe, but belief will not be accepted anymore because of the emergence of the major signs.
Ibn Jurayj reported that Ibn al-Zubayr described the beast and said, "Its head is like the head of a bull, its eyes are like the eyes of a pig, its ears are like the ears of an elephant, its horns are like the horns of a stag, its neck is like the neck of an ostrich, its chest is like the chest of a lion, its colour is like the colour of a tiger, its haunches are like the haunches of a cat, its tail is like the tail of a ram, and its legs are like the legs of a camel. Between each pair of its joints is a distance of twelve cubits."
In Popular Culture[]
- Left Behind - Leon Fortunato takes this role, as he calls down fire and even lightning from the sky as a way to punish his enemies. He, alongside Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia, requires for all people in the world to take the Mark of the Beast or get executed via guillotine. The mark is depicted as a mathematical equation involving three sixes which make up 666, from each of the ten governing districts.
- Middle-earth - Sauron is quite simply a literal False Prophet. Morgoth is Satan and Ar-Pharazôn could be seen as the Antichrist. Sauron performs many of the acts of the False Prophet, in that he opposes and murders many Elves, Eru Ilúvatar/God's chosen people, which provokes Eru to send the Istari wizards to Earth to defeat him. Sauron is very deceptive, like the False Prophet, and he also performs dark magic which he would later use in the creation of the One Ring. His banner is an eye with a slit pupil, engulfed in flames, which is significant as the False Prophet calls fire down from heaven in the book of Revelation.
- Tales of Arcadia - Skrael is the closest character in the series to the False Prophet, in which he uses magic and works with the Satan stand-in, Bellroc, to destroy the universe and remake the world. He and Bellroc also use King Arthur as their Green Knight, or Antichrist-equivalent, so he can help them both in their plans.
- The Chronicles of Narnia - Shift can be interpreted as this, using a donkey named Puzzle as a fake Aslan (equivalent to Jesus) to give rise to a false belief in "Tashlan", who he claimed was a deity who could become both Aslan and Tash. Tash can be interpreted as Satan in his Narnian form while Rishda the Tarkaan can be interpreted as the Antichrist.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- The Beast likely represents the Roman Empire and the bigotry early Christians faced from it.
- To this end, the "mark of the Beast" or "666" is in truth code for the name of Emperor Nero (an emperor who was well-known for his persecution of Christians, who was demonized in later centuries because of this), as the name of "Nero Caesar" can be translated into it using Hebrew gematria. This is further validated by the fact that in the fragments of the Book of Revelation found in Papyrus 115 and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, the number of the beast is 616 instead of 666. 616 in Latin also translates to "Nero Caesar" using Hebrew gematria, leaving little to no doubt that it's Nero and that the "Mark" are Roman coins, although it may also be referring to the belief at the time that Nero would return.
- The 7 heads likely represent the first 7 emperors of Rome, the five fallen (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius) the one who is (Nero) and the one who has not yet come (Galba). It could also be referring to the 7 world empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Perisa, Greece, Rome, and the future Roman Empire), although the former reading is much more likely.
