Again I want to thank you for the wonderful site. It is regularly visited by myself and others that I have been directing to it. Recently I read an article claiming that the first beast of Rev. 13 is a kingdom and the second beast is both the anti-Christ and the False Prophet.
Over the years as I have studied these things there has been something within me that seems to say they are one and the same, too. What I’ve read regarding them being two separate individuals has always had problems washing with my own studying of God’s Word. What’s your opinion?
In the Greek language the word for king and kingdom are the same. You have to look at the context to find out which is in view. The abundance of personal pronouns in Rev. 13:1-10 has led scholars to conclude that the first beast is a person, not a kingdom. Also the Greek word translated beast, although symbolic, points toward a living being, not an inanimate entity.
Beginning in Rev. 13:11 John wrote about another beast, referred to by many as the false prophet. There are two Greek words that can be translated “another”. One is allos and means another of the same kind, and the other is heteros and means another of a different kind. In Rev. 13:11 the Greek word he used is allos, meaning the 2nd beast is another of the same kind as the 1st one. Therefore if the first beast was a kingdom, the second beast would have to be a kingdom as well.