啓示錄 13 章 Revelations 13

啓示錄13

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Revalation 13

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每日聖經故事 Podcast連結

各位平安，今天我們繼續來默想《啟示錄》第十三章的經文。

昨天，我們分享了第十二章的內容，談到那場發生在天上的屬靈爭戰——撒但，原本是天使長，卻因為驕傲，想要取代上帝、自己作主。結果戰敗，被摔到地上來，從此轉而攻擊地上的人——那些遵守神誡命、為基督作見證的人。

這就是那惡者，也就是魔鬼撒但。他不斷用各種方式攻擊神的子民。而到了第十三章，我們看到撒但進一步差派牠的“使者”來繼續發動攻擊。

一開始，約翰描述了一個從海中上來的獸。這獸有十角七頭，十個角上戴著十個冠冕，七個頭上則寫著褻瀆的名號。為什麼說是褻瀆呢？因為在當時，每一位羅馬皇帝都有個尊號，自稱是“神聖的”，他們甚至要求人民敬拜他們，把他們當作神來看待。有人為了保住性命或是追求利益，就順從了這樣的制度，甚至在市場、貨幣、神殿裡都充滿了這樣的敬拜皇帝的文化。

可是一旦把人當作神來敬拜，這就不只是驕傲，而是褻瀆——是對真神的侮辱，是對創造主權柄的挑戰。

所以，當我們看到這些皇帝頭上戴著冠冕，寫著褻瀆的名號，就知道這不是單純的政治權力，而是背後有一種屬靈的悖逆——要把人高舉到取代神的位置。

對當時的讀者來說，這個意象其實非常清楚——這就是在指羅馬帝國。

十個角代表十位掌權者，其中七位是皇帝，而三位並非真正掌權。七個頭，則直接代表了那七位實際執政的皇帝。

其中還提到有一個頭似乎受了致命傷，卻又好了起來。當時的人一看到這段話，就會聯想到尼祿皇帝——有關他的傳言甚多，有人說他死後會復活、重回權位，甚至成為終末的敵基督。約翰正是借這個象徵在提醒當時的教會，這頭從海中上來的獸，就是象徵羅馬帝國及其背後的屬靈黑暗權勢。

這裡我們還要特別提一下尼祿這位皇帝。說真的，他的人生可以說是 邪惡又莫名其妙，甚至可以說是歷史上非常誇張的一個人物。

尼祿的父親叫 多米田（Domitian），是位聲名狼藉的貴族，生活放蕩、品格敗壞。母親叫 雅姬皮娜（Agrippina），也是歷史上臭名昭著的女人之一。她一度被丈夫放逐，尼祿由他的嬸嬸照顧長大。

等到克勞狄王登基後，雅姬皮娜重新出現在政壇，但她的心中只有一個目標：讓自己的兒子成為皇帝。

傳說中，有人曾替雅姬皮娜算命，說如果他當上皇帝，將帶來極大的厄運。你猜雅姬皮娜怎麼回答？她說：「只要尼祿能當皇帝，就算他親手殺了我也值得。」

這句話後來真的成了預言——尼祿後來親手把自己的母親殺了。

為了讓兒子登基，雅姬皮娜不惜一切代價，她甚至請來兩位當時赫赫有名的導師來教育尼祿：一位是哲學家塞內卡（Seneca），另一位是軍事將領布魯圖斯（Burrus）。可以說，尼祿的前五年是他「最不像自己」的時期，因為真正掌管國政的，是他的兩位老師。

那五年間，羅馬治理得相當不錯，因為尼祿忙著作畫、雕刻、演奏音樂，享受藝術人生，國家則交給專業人士處理。

但災難，從他開始親政的那一刻起就降臨了。

他的生活混亂至極，婚姻也一團糟，更充滿各種異常與醜聞，甚至包括同性關係。他對建築有著極度狂熱，這也是一場災難的導火線。

公元64年，羅馬城發生了大火——整整燒了一個星期，幾乎整座城市都被燒毀。很多人懷疑這場火是尼祿自己下令放的，因為他想藉此機會重建一個嶄新、美麗、展現他個人藝術品味的羅馬。

為了甩鍋，尼祿將整件事怪罪到 基督徒身上，說是他們引發這場災難。從此，一場極為殘酷的基督徒大迫害爆發。

如果你去查查歷史，就會知道那段時間的基督徒遭遇了多麼慘烈的逼迫。被燒死、被野獸咬死、被釘在十字架上當作街燈照亮羅馬之夜……這些都不是誇張，是歷史事實。

所以，當約翰在《啟示錄》第十三章寫到那個「似乎受了致命傷卻醫好了的頭」時，當時的讀者一看就知道：這說的，就是尼祿。對當時的教會而言，他正是「從海中上來的獸」最具體的化身。

接著，約翰進一步描述這隻獸。他說，這獸被賜給了說誇大、褻瀆話的口，也被賜下權柄，可以任意而行四十二個月——也就是三年半。我們再一次看到這個象徵性的時間——三年半，在啟示錄裡常常出現，代表一段有限的、受容許的逼迫期。

這獸開口褻瀆神、褻瀆神的名、祂的帳幕，以及那些住在天上的。不只是對上帝不敬，甚至是對整個屬靈領域、對教會的存在，都充滿了敵意與攻擊。

不僅如此，經文還提到，這獸被允許與聖徒爭戰，甚至暫時得勝。牠能夠制服各族、各民、各方、各國，這就是當時的羅馬帝國——一個橫跨歐亞非三大洲的超級強權。它不僅是政治上的霸主，也是文化與宗教壓迫的代表。

但關鍵來了——這一切的權柄，是暫時的。

第十節說得很清楚：「擄掠人的必被擄掠；用刀殺人的必被刀殺。」這不是呼籲暴力，而是在強調：上帝是公義的審判者。邪惡雖然暫時得勢，但最終一定會被審判。

而這節經文的最後一句話是對信徒的叮嚀：「聖徒的忍耐和信心就是在此。」這正是約翰寫這段經文的目的——鼓勵當時受逼迫的信徒。讓他們知道，這些權柄雖然是從魔鬼而來，但也都在上帝的掌權之下。

我們繼續來看《啟示錄》第13章第11節開始的經文：

這裡出現了另一個獸，這次是從地上上來的。牠有兩隻角，看起來像羊羔，但說話卻像龍。這表示牠外表柔和、偽裝成像是無害的樣子，實際上卻是來自惡者的權勢。

這個從地上上來的獸，其實是海中獸的手下。因為經文說牠「施行海中那獸一樣的權柄」，並要地上的人去拜那個「曾受死傷卻活過來的獸」。我們前面提到，那就是象徵尼祿皇帝的海中獸。

換句話說，這第二隻獸就是替羅馬皇帝服務的宗教體制與宣傳工具。後來的皇帝繼續推行「皇帝崇拜」——命令所有人都要敬拜羅馬皇帝為神。

經文還提到，這地中獸會行奇事，甚至讓火從天降在人前，看起來就像是神蹟。但我們要記得，就像在摩西時代，法老也有術士能行類似的異能，這些都只是迷惑人心的假象。

牠的目的很明確：迷惑世人。不但要叫人拜獸，還要為那「受過刀傷卻活著的獸」立一個像，逼人敬拜這個獸像，把皇帝當作神來崇拜。

接著約翰說，那些不拜獸像的人，會被殺害。這正是當時羅馬帝國頒布的法令：當皇帝要求被敬拜為神時，不順從的就被視為犯了「欺君之罪」——等同叛國，結局就是斬首處決。

這樣的逼迫還不止如此。第16節提到，所有人——無論大小、貧富、自主或為奴——都要在右手或額上受一個印記。而第17節是關鍵：「除了那有印記、有獸名或獸名數目的人，都不得做買賣。」

這是另一種形式的逼迫。因為在羅馬帝國，「皇帝之印」是一種合約認證工具。只有擁有印記、蓋有皇帝姓名與日期的文件，才算是合法的合約。沒有這個印，就不能經商、不能做買賣，等於是連生活都成問題。所以這不只是宗教上的逼迫，更是經濟上的制裁。即使一個人選擇不拜皇帝，若沒有印記，他也無法生存下去。在今天，經濟制裁也是很有效的一個手段，用於逼迫國家和人都是一樣。

這個印記象徵著海中獸與地中獸所建立的體制 —— 一個控制人民信仰與生存的極權制度。牠們不只是要求人「心裡相信」，更要求「行為順服」，讓人的整個生命都被這獸的體系所掌控。

最後，我們來看第18節：這裡約翰用了一個密碼式的語言，他說：「這裡有智慧，凡有聰明的，可以算計那獸的數目，因為是人的數目；他的數目是六百六十六。」

這，就是著名的「666」——魔鬼數字的由來。

那我們來稍微解讀一下這個神秘的數字，到底代表什麼意思呢？

其實，這個數字的解釋有非常非常多種。其中最著名、也最簡單的一種，就是把尼祿皇帝的名字 “Caesar Neron” 用希伯來文拼音的方式寫出來，然後把每個字母對應的數值加總，總數就是 666。

甚至在一些早期的手抄本中，這個數字不是寫「666」，而是寫成「616」。為什麼？因為把「Neron」中的「n」去掉，也就是另一種拼法的話，加起來就變成616。

也有一些解釋說，在多米田皇帝（Domitian）時期，他的名字被印在羅馬錢幣上，用希臘字母拼出來的數值總和也是666。

所以，根據當時的文化與語境來看，約翰很可能是在用一種象徵的方式，把這個數字對應到當時的皇帝——特別是尼祿或多米田這兩位極具代表性的暴君。前面提到的那個「海中獸」有十角七頭，很可能象徵的是這幾位皇帝。而這個666，可能正是約翰在影射他們。

當然，後來歷代許多神祕學家、末世論者，嘗試用各種方法來解這個數字。他們用電腦（Computer）、紐約（New York）、USB、甚至社會保險號碼（Social Security Number）等詞語來對照，看是不是能湊出三個六……

但我們真的要謹慎。在解讀這類經文時，我們的重點應該是：理解作者的原意，認真讀上下文，而不是硬套各種數字、符號到現代某個人或國家的頭上。這樣做，反而容易曲解經文，甚至失去原本的屬靈意義。

666，重點不是要我們去找出「到底是誰」，而是要提醒我們：這個獸的權柄、這種體制，是來自惡者、模仿神的控制體系，它會試圖奪去人對上帝的敬拜，要求人順服於世界的權勢。

第十三章就以這個666數字作為一個結束。下一講我們繼續默想第十四章的經文。啟示錄中段的經文真得是越來越精彩了。感謝各位的聆聽，願上帝祝福各位。

Peace to you all. Today we continue meditating on Revelation chapter 13.

Yesterday, we reflected on chapter 12, which describes the spiritual battle in heaven—how Satan, once an archangel, became proud and tried to take God's place. As a result, he was cast down to earth, and turned to attack those who obey God's commandments and bear witness to Christ.

This is the adversary—the devil, Satan—who continues to assault God's people through various means. And in chapter 13, we see Satan sending out his “agents” to further carry out his attacks.

At the beginning of the chapter, John describes a beast rising out of the sea. This beast has ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on the horns and blasphemous names written on the heads.

Why are they called blasphemous?

Because in John’s time, Roman emperors often gave themselves divine titles—calling themselves “divine” or “lord,” and demanding to be worshipped as gods. This emperor-worship was embedded in society—from marketplaces to coins to temples.

Worshiping a human as God is not just pride—it’s blasphemy. It is an insult to the one true God and a direct challenge to His sovereign authority.

So when we see emperors wearing crowns with blasphemous names, we know this is not just political power—it reflects a spiritual rebellion where humans try to take God's place.

For John’s original audience, this imagery was clear: this beast symbolized the Roman Empire.

The ten horns represented ten rulers—seven of them were actual emperors, and three held power only briefly. The seven heads directly referred to the seven emperors who had actually ruled.

John also writes that one of the heads appeared to have a fatal wound, but was healed. To early readers, this would instantly bring to mind Emperor Nero. There were many rumors that he would return from the dead, reclaim power, and become the final antichrist. John uses this imagery to warn the church: the beast from the sea represents the Roman Empire, empowered by spiritual darkness.

Let’s talk a bit more about Nero.

He is one of the most infamous and bizarre figures in history—evil and eccentric to the extreme.

His father, Domitius Ahenobarbus, was a disgraced nobleman with a corrupt lifestyle. His mother, Agrippina the Younger, was one of the most notorious women in Roman history. At one point, she was exiled, and young Nero was raised by his aunt.

When Emperor Claudius rose to power, Agrippina returned to political life with one ambition: make her son emperor.

According to legend, a soothsayer once told Agrippina that her son would become emperor, but bring great ruin. Her response? “If Nero becomes emperor, let him kill me—it’s worth it.”

And indeed, Nero later had his own mother killed.

To achieve her goal, Agrippina spared no effort. She hired two famous tutors to educate Nero: the philosopher Seneca and the general Burrus. The first five years of Nero’s reign were considered his “best” because it was actually his teachers running the empire.

During that time, Rome prospered while Nero indulged in the arts—painting, sculpting, music—leaving state affairs to the experts.

But everything changed when he took full control.

Nero’s personal life was chaotic and scandalous—marked by sexual perversion, broken marriages, and bizarre behavior. He had an obsession with architecture, which led to disaster.

In AD 64, a great fire broke out in Rome, lasting a full week. Nearly the entire city was destroyed. Many suspected Nero himself started the fire, wanting to rebuild Rome as a grand city reflecting his personal artistic vision.

To deflect blame, Nero blamed the Christians, claiming they caused the disaster. This triggered one of the most brutal persecutions in history.

Look up the history and you’ll find shocking details:Christians were burned alive, torn apart by wild animals, crucified, and even used as human torches to light Rome’s streets. These are historical facts—not exaggerations.

So when John speaks of a head that was wounded but healed, the early church immediately thought of Nero. To them, he was the very embodiment of the beast from the sea.

John continues: the beast was given a mouth to speak proud and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months—again, three and a half years, a symbolic period of limited but intense persecution.

The beast blasphemed God, His name, His dwelling, and all who live in heaven. It wasn’t just an attack on God—it was an assault on the whole spiritual realm and the Church.

Worse still, the beast was allowed to wage war on the saints and temporarily conquer them. It had power over all tribes, peoples, languages, and nations—just like the Roman Empire, which ruled over three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa. Politically, it was dominant. Religiously, it was oppressive.

But here’s the key: its authority was temporary.

Verse 10 says,“If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity they go; if anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.”This is not a call to violence—but a reminder: God is the righteous judge. Evil may thrive for a season, but judgment will come.

And the final line of that verse is a call to the Church:“This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”That’s John’s purpose: to encourage persecuted believers. These powers may be demonic, but they are still under God’s control.

From verse 11 onward, we meet a second beast, this time rising from the earth.It has two horns like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon. In other words, it appears gentle—like a lamb—but its voice betrays its true nature.

This second beast is actually a servant of the first beast. It exercises the same authority and forces people to worship the beast that was wounded and revived—again, pointing to Emperor worship and Nero.

This second beast symbolizes the religious and propaganda system that promoted emperor worship—declaring the emperor as a god and commanding all to worship him.

It performed great signs, even calling fire down from heaven—mimicking miracles. But we must remember, even Pharaoh’s magicians in Moses’ time could perform fake signs.

Its goal? To deceive.It demanded people worship the beast and even built an image in its honor. Those who refused were killed.

This is exactly what Rome enforced.Refusing to worship the emperor was considered treason—a capital offense punishable by beheading.

But it didn’t stop there.

Verse 16 says everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—was required to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead.

And verse 17 is critical:“No one could buy or sell unless they had the mark—either the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

This was economic persecution.In Rome, the “seal of the emperor” was used for contracts. Only documents bearing the emperor’s name and date were considered valid. Without it, you couldn’t trade—meaning you couldn’t survive.

So this wasn’t just religious oppression—it was economic control. Even if someone refused to worship the emperor, without the mark, they couldn’t make a living.

Today, economic sanctions are still a powerful way to pressure nations and individuals. Back then, it worked the same.

The mark of the beast symbolizes a totalitarian system—one that controls people’s faith, behavior, and survival. It doesn’t just demand inward belief, but outward compliance.

Finally, we reach verse 18:“This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.”

This is the origin of the infamous “666”.

So what does this mysterious number mean?

There are many interpretations, but the most well-known and simplest is this:If you take the name “Caesar Neron” and transliterate it into Hebrew letters, then assign each letter its numerical value and add them up, the total is 666.

In fact, some early manuscripts say “616” instead of 666. Why? Because if you spell “Nero” without the final “n” (a common variation), the total becomes 616.

Others have pointed out that Domitian, another cruel emperor, had his name inscribed on Roman coins, and when calculated using Greek letters, the total also came to 666.

So it’s likely that John was symbolically referring to tyrannical Roman emperors—particularly Nero or Domitian.

The beast with ten horns and seven heads could represent these rulers. And 666 may have been John’s coded way of exposing them.

Over the centuries, many mystics and end-times theorists have tried to match 666 to various modern terms—“computer,” “New York,” “USB,” even social security numbers—trying to force a match.

But we must be careful.

When interpreting Scripture, we must seek the author’s original intent and read in context—not force modern ideas into ancient texts. That only leads to misunderstanding and loss of spiritual meaning.

The point of 666 isn’t to tell us “who” exactly, but to warn us of systems that imitate God’s authority, demand worship, and seek to replace God with worldly power.

Revelation chapter 13 ends here—with the number 666.

Next time, we’ll move into chapter 14.The middle chapters of Revelation are getting more and more intense and exciting.

Thank you for listening.May God bless you all.