In the Scriptures ten is a symbol of completeness, and horns, of power. (Zech. 1:21) The ten horns of this dragon would therefore represent that he had complete power as the mighty one or “god of this system of things.” His seven diademed heads show that he has the headship over the seven demon princes, which are over the seven world powers of Bible prophecy: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the Anglo-American world power of modern times. That these world powers have demon princes over them is seen from the fact that Persia did; as the Bible records, the demon “prince of the royal realm of Persia” interfered with one of God’s angelic messengers in the days of Daniel.—2 Cor. 4:4; Dan. 10:13.

The dragon is said to have pulled down “a third of the stars of heaven.” In the Scriptures angels are referred to as stars, “morning stars.” The dragon’s pulling down these stars would well picture that he succeeded in drawing a number of faithful angels from Jehovah’s service and causing them to become demons. However, we are not to take the expression “a third” literally, as this is an expression used in both the book of Revelation and the rest of the Scriptures in a general sense, meaning a part.—Job 38:7; Zech. 13:8, 9; Rev. 8:7-9; 9:15.

This dragon is shown as awaiting the birth of a male child, from God’s heavenly wifelike organization, so that he might devour him. This male child is a symbol representing God’s kingdom with his Son Jesus Christ as King, as seen by the fact that it is to “shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” (Rev. 12:5) This prophecy calls to mind the words of Jehovah God directed to his Son at Psalm 2:7-9: “You are my son . . . Ask of me, that I may give nations as your inheritance . . . You will break them with an iron scepter.” There can be no question about Satan the Devil being opposed to God’s kingdom, nor of his waging war upon God’s faithful servants, as noted at Revelation 12:17.

As for the time of the fulfillment of the events noted in Revelation chapter twelve, the words of the context give us a clue: “The nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came.” When did the nations become wrathful as never before? Surely it was in 1914. That year would therefore mark the time for these events to begin to occur.—Rev. 11:18.

Should any wonder at Satan the Devil’s having access to heaven, let them note that at Job 1:6 and Job 2:1 Satan is shown as appearing in heaven along with the angelic sons of God. Nor does Jesus’ model prayer contradict Satan’s having been in heaven at times. Why not? Because what Jesus told us to pray for was not that God’s will be done on earth as it was then being done in heaven, but rather that God’s will be done in both heaven and earth: “Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.”—Matt. 6:10.

This fiery-colored dragon, having been cast out of heaven, now has “great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.” At the rapidly approaching battle of Armageddon he will be abyssed for a thousand years. Thereafter he will be loosed for a little season so as to test mankind, after which he will suffer eternal annihilation in the lake of fire, the second death.—Rev. 12:12; 16:14, 16; 20:1-3, 7-10; 21:8.

The Wild Beast Out of the Sea

REGARDING the wild beast out of the sea the apostle John wrote: “I saw a wild beast ascending out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, and upon its horns ten diadems, but upon its heads blasphemous names. Now the wild beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were as those of a bear, and its mouth was as a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave the beast its power and its throne and great authority. And I saw one of its heads as though slaughtered to death, but its deathstroke got healed, and all the earth followed the wild beast with admiration.”—Rev. 13:1-3.

The Greek word for beast here is theríon, meaning a dangerous wild animal. Interestingly one of the definitions for “beast” is “a wild mammal, fierce by nature.” The description of this wild beast calls to mind Daniel’s prophecy about certain wild beasts, one like a lion, another like a bear, a third like a leopard, and so forth, which he himself later identifies as representing certain world powers, governments such as those of Medo-Persia and Greece. This wild beast coming out of the sea or the abyss is in keeping with this, for the sea is used to represent “peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.”—Rev. 17:15; Dan. 7:1-8; 8:1-22.

Obviously, this wild beast would represent earthly, human, visible governments. Its having seven heads and ten horns, symbols of completeness, would therefore well picture that all the nations of the world have been under Satan’s control, especially the seven world governments that have exercised complete power from Egypt until today. These have been and are beastly from God’s standpoint, regardless of how they may appear to themselves or their peoples. In fact, it might be said that they tacitly admit they are beastly by choosing such symbols as the Russian bear, the British lion and the American eagle.

Note that the dragon Satan is said to have given this beast its power, throne and authority. It therefore must belong to him and do his bidding. This is in keeping with Satan’s offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship Satan. That is why Jesus referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world”; why Paul termed him “the god of this system of things,” “the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience”; and why John said that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” It being Satan’s visible organization, his instrument or tool, we can well understand why its seven heads are said to contain blasphemies or blasphemous names.—John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19.

What about the head that received the death-stroke and yet was healed? This head was the sixth, represented