America in Bible Prophecy

Revelation 13:11 introduces a beast that has been identified as the United States of America. Notice five identifying details:

1. It is a “beast”

Daniel 7:17 tells us that a beast in symbolic Bible prophecy represents a king or political nation.

2. It is “another” beast

It is not identical to the first beast of Chapter 13.

3. “Coming up”

The context of verse 10 is the period of time when the first beast was taken into captivity. So this nation would be gaining power just as the first beast of Revelation 13 was facing the end of its 1260 years of supremacy.

4. “Out of the earth”

This is in contrast with the beasts of Daniel 7 and the first beast of Revelation 13, all of which came up out of the “sea.” Sea is the gathering together of the waters, and waters in Bible prophecy represent “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15). So this nation would arise in an area that was not crowded with many peoples and nations. In Revelation 10:2 the terms “sea” and “earth” refer to the lands of the eastern and western hemispheres, respectively.

John Wesley, in his note on Revelation 13:11, written in 1754, says of this beast, “He is not yet come: tho’ he cannot be far off. For he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast.” (Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, 1791 ed., vol. 3, p. 299)

As the first beast went into “captivity,” the United States, located in the western hemisphere, was the only great world power then coming into prominence in territory not previously occupied by peoples, multitudes, and nations.

“Is it reasonable to suppose that God would leave out from the prophecies of his Book this whole Western Hemisphere? No, No!” (De Witt Talmage, Selected Sermons, Vol. 2, p. 9, 1900)

5. “Like a lamb”

The nations depicted in Daniel 7 (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, Rome) were pictured as ferocious beasts of prey. They were characterized by intolerance, persecution, and oppression. The United States, by contrast, is pictured as a docile, domestic lamb, founded on principles of liberty, equality, and tolerance.

The Voice of a Dragon

It is clear from the text that the United States would not always remain as innocent as it began.

1. “Spake as a dragon”

A nation “speaks” through its decrees and legislative enactments. The dragon is identified in Revelation 12:9.

2. “Exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.”

“The first beast before him” is the power symbolized in Revelation 13:1-10. The United States will cause “the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” In so doing, the nation will repudiate its principles of religious liberty.

3. “Doeth great wonders”

Verses 13 and 14 tell us that there will be supernatural signs that will deceive the world.

4. “Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live”

An image of something is a likeness to it, a duplicate of it. So the characteristics of the first beast will be duplicated in the United States. The first beast was distinguished as a combination of religious and civil power. When the United States begins to employ its civil power to enforce the decrees of religious leaders who are even now clamoring for such enforcement, the United States will have formed an image of the beast.

5. “Cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed”

Verse 15 predicts legislative decrees to enforce religious duty, with the death penalty for dissenters. Forced religion, such as was practiced during the Middle Ages, is totally contrary to the principles of God.

6. “Causeth all…to receive a mark”

Verse 16 tells us that it will be the United States that initiates the enforcement of the beast’s mark. The mark of the beast must be some sign or evidence of the beast’s authority in opposition to the sign of the Creator’s authority.

7. “That no man might buy or sell”

Verse 17 makes it clear that those who obey God, refusing to give their allegiance to the beast and his image, will be prohibited by law from performing any financial transactions. With every earthly support cut off, they will be totally dependent upon God for their sustenance. And the promise is given, “His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure” (Isaiah 33:16).