He stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and upon his horns were ten crowns, and upon his heads were names of blasphemy. And the beast was like a leopard, and his feet like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. And one of his heads was as slain unto death, and his mortal wound was healed. And the whole earth marveled after the beast, and worshiped the dragon, because he gave great authority to the beast, and worshiped the beast saying “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?
And it was given to him a mouth to speak great things and blasphemies, and it was given to him to exercise authority for forty-two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, namely, those who dwell in heaven. And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all those who dwell on earth will worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
If anyone has an ear, let him ear: if somebody is to go into captivity, into captivity he goes; if somebody kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints. Revelation 13: 1-10
Frustrated by the woman/church, the dragon stands on the seashore and summons his first ally. It is a beast power through which the dragon can persecute and deceive. From Daniel 7: 17, 23, we know that a beast in prophecy represents a nation or kingdom. The sea beast is a composite beast with body parts from the beasts of Daniel 7, which, as said, are nations: Babylon (lion), Medo-Persia (bear), Greece (leopard). Daniel includes a fourth beast too. It represents pagan Rome (iron). Pagan Rome eventually turns into papal Rome, which incorporates many of the religious and philosophical characteristics as Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.
The sea beast has ten horns. Horns stand for political powers (Rev. 17: 12). These ten horns are related to the ten horns of Daniel’s fourth beast. The ten horns represent the ten Germanic tribes that overran and contributed to the breakup of pagan Rome; a breakup engineered by the dragon for the establishment of papal Rome.
Taking into account that the number seven represents a complete whole; the sea beast’s seven heads, denote all the kingdoms of all ages through which Satan has worked.
As we go through Revelation, it becomes apparent that Satan counterfeits God’s organization and activities. That’s because of Satan’s desire to be like the Most High. In light of that, the sea beast has the same number of heads and horns as the dragon of Rev. 12: 3. The reason for the duplicate number of heads and horns is because the dragon and the sea beast are one, just as the Father and Jesus are one.
In other words, the sea beast is the second member of Satan’s notion of the Trinity (later, in verses 11-18, comes the earth beast, Satan’s idea of the Holy Spirit). The sea beast is the devil’s equivalent of the Son. As Jesus’ ministry began by coming out of the water, the sea beast begins its ministry after coming out of the sea.