At the middle of the seven years the Antichrist kills the two witnesses, and his forty-two months of rule begin. Revelation 13 describes him and the powers that serve him.
The beast from the sea
…saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
— Revelation 13:1
The sea stands for peoples, multitudes, nations and languages (Revelation 17:15), so the beast is a power built from many nations. Daniel's fourth, terrible beast is Rome, which took over the lands of Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. So this beast has a leopard's body, a bear's feet and a lion's mouth (Revelation 13:2), the marks of the three earlier empires.
The heads are kings, and their names are blasphemies. Roman emperors took titles such as "Divus", divine, and Nero demanded to be called Saviour of the World. The Antichrist will take such titles again.
The dragon, who is Satan (Revelation 12:9), gave the beast his power, his throne and great authority. So a man from Rome will receive Satan's power, as Satan entered Judas. Who he is, we do not know today; he will be revealed at the right time.
The wound that is healed
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
— Revelation 13:3
Rome's empire broke into ten kingdoms, yet a small state arose within Rome itself, Vatican City, where the Pope has sovereignty. Revelation 17:10–11 speaks of seven kings and an eighth who is "of the seven". Emperors once held religious and political power together. About 602 the emperor Phocas gave the bishop of Rome all religious authority, and under Charlemagne the king kept political power while the Pope kept religious power. King and Pope shared one head, so the Pope is an eighth, yet of the seven.
This power was wounded twice. Around 1520 Martin Luther taught that sins are forgiven by faith, not by buying indulgences, and many left the Roman church. Then Napoleon Bonaparte seized the Pope and carried him to France. Separate churches arose in Germany, England and elsewhere.
The wound heals as the churches come together again under the Pope. The steps so far are the council at Edinburgh in 1910, the World Council of Churches in 1948, and the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which aimed at unity among churches and among all religions. The covenant made after the war that ends the age of grace will also give the Pope an important place and political authority. For three and a half years he does not use it. When the two witnesses speak against him and the covenant, he kills them, and Satan enters him. Whoever holds the office then becomes the Antichrist.
This is no charge against those who hold the office today, who mean to do good in their own way. Judas, too, seemed good until Satan entered him.
…Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
— Revelation 13:4
The United Nations' Secretary-General has no army and must borrow troops. A body like it, or the same body changed, will have its own army, and its head will be this man. No one will be able to fight him.
Forty-two months
He is given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and forty-two months to act (Revelation 13:5–6). He sits in God's temple as if he were God, as Satan once wished to be like the Most High and was cast out. He makes war on the saints and rules over every people and nation, and all whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life will worship him (13:7–8).
With the armies of the world under him, he can send troops into any country. Those who kill by the sword will be killed by the sword. Here is the test of the saints' patience and faith: resisting him will cost lives, but he is against God, and those written in the book of life will resist.
The beast from the earth
A second beast rises from the earth, not the sea. This pictures a newly found land, America, where a great nation grew. Its two horns like a lamb's picture religious and political power, as the Lamb holds both; America has political power, and so many laws about religion that a religious life there can be hard. Yet it speaks like a dragon (Revelation 13:11).
It exercises all the first beast's authority and makes the earth worship him (13:12). The man in the Pope's office will head the new world body, and America will carry out his authority. It makes fire fall from heaven (13:13), an imitation of the witnesses' fire, perhaps by bombs or missiles. It leads people to make an image of the beast, that is, of whoever is Pope then, gives it a spirit so that it speaks, and has those who will not worship it killed (13:14–15). Whether the image is literal or symbolic we do not know; it may be an institution or a statue.
The mark and the number
All, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, must take a mark on the right hand or forehead, and no one may buy or sell without the beast's name or number (13:16–17). His number is 666. The title Vicarius Filii Dei, "in the place of the Son of God", is used of the Pope, and its letters that are Roman numerals add up to 666.
Those who take his name and number show that their names are not in the book of life. Those whose names are there will refuse, and will be killed. This is why these three and a half years are the great tribulation.
I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
— John 5:43
The Lord gave this warning. The Antichrist will come under his own name, not the Father's, and the world will receive him.
Takeaway
Revelation 13 calls for patience and faith. Resisting the Antichrist will cost lives, but those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will not bow to him.