Introduction: My honest answer to the question in the title is ‘no’!
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. – Comment: From previous reading particularly in the Prophecy of Daniel and earlier in this book of Revelation the dragon is evil personified, the person of ‘Satan’, the Evil one, Lucifer, the fallen angel!
4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
Comment: We have met the dragon before in this book, when it was seeking to devour the baby (Jesus) whom the pregnant lady (Israel) was about to deliver. (The baby was caught up into the heavens where Jesus is now!). Obviously the beast is a composite image with a complex foretelling of historical things/people/kingdoms who oppose God and seek to destroy God’s plans for history and the future! It is beyond this devotional to discuss all the details of the heads and horns and crowns but certainly starting where this imagery is first given in the Old Testament (e.g. in the Book of Daniel) there have been a series of leaders, nations and kingdoms who have sort to destroy Israel and who have ‘uttered blasphemies against God.’ Even today the media tends to cover up or minimize the slaughter of God’s people in many countries and the altering of laws to legitimize things which God describes as detestable! The phrase ‘and all who dwell on earth will worship it‘ sounds revolting but we must be very careful because sometimes worshipping the beast can make his followers appear very compassionate and even wise and to be doing the ‘right thing’! But the dragon and his beasties can appear as ‘angels of light’ – they can hide their wolfish snarls behind hypocritical sheep’s masks, altering the snarls to ‘oh so nice baa-ing’! Verses 8&9 are very sobering!
Daniel 7: 3-7 – And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings…… another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side…… behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, ……a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong.
Prayer: I don’t understand all that this means but I grasp enough to realize that there are powers seeking to destroy Your authority. Give me the Grace and Courage to go on living in Your Way, please, My God and my Saviour!