Could Islam Be the Beast of Revelation 13, the Papacy the Antichrist, and the UN the False Prophet? A Scriptural Exploration
In an age of interfaith summits, global governance, and intensifying spiritual conflict, many students of Bible prophecy are re-examining Revelation 13. The chapter describes a satanic counterfeit trinity: the Dragon (Satan), the Beast from the sea (a blasphemous empire), and the False Prophet from the earth (who enforces worship of the Beast). While historicist interpretation long identified the Papacy as the Antichrist and the Beast as papal Rome, a growing number of observers see a powerful hybrid fulfilment: Islam as the Beast, the Papacy as the Antichrist, and the United Nations (functioning as a global “board of peace”) as the False Prophet. This view integrates historicist insights on the Papacy with futurist observations of current geopolitics and interfaith developments. It does not label every Catholic or Muslim as evil, but examines the systems and their alignment with Scripture. Let’s test it against the text.
The First Beast: Islam – The Composite Empire from the Sea (Revelation 13:1-10)
“And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.
And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were 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.” Revelation 13:1-2.
This Beast mirrors the four empires of Daniel 7. Islam erupted from Arabia in the 7th century, swiftly conquering Byzantine (Roman), Persian, and North African territories—absorbing their strengths in a hybrid system unmatched since. The “sea” fits the Mediterranean cradle of its early conquests and the “sea of peoples” (Rev 17:15) from which it surges today through migration and influence.
“I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.” (v. 3, NASB)
The Ottoman Caliphate—the last unified Islamic empire—collapsed in 1924 after World War I, a mortal wound to political Islam. Yet the 20th-21st centuries have seen its “healing”: the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, OPEC influence, mass migration into the West, ISIS’s 2014 Caliphate declaration, and renewed calls for global Islamic governance. The world increasingly accommodates and even admires this resurgence.
“There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.” (vv. 5-6, NASB)
Islam’s foundational texts directly attack core Christian doctrines:
- Denial of the crucifixion: “They neither killed nor crucified him—it was only made to appear so.” (Quran 4:157)
- Denial of Jesus as Son of God: “Those who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have certainly fallen into disbelief.” (Quran 5:72; also 9:30)
Scripture identifies this as antichrist spirit (1 John 2:22; 4:3). The Beast’s mouth—its official voice—blasphemes the finished work of Christ.
“It was also 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.” (v. 7, NASB)
Jihad doctrine and historical/ongoing persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority lands (church burnings, blasphemy laws, forced conversions) fulfil this. Quran 9:29 commands fighting People of the Book “until they pay the jizya, willingly submitting.”
The Antichrist: The Papacy
While the Beast (Islam) provides the military-political muscle, Scripture describes a distinct “man of sin” or Antichrist who “oppose and exalts himself above all that is called God… so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
Historicist interpreters from the Reformation onward (Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Spurgeon) identified this as the Papacy—the office claiming to be “Vicar of Christ,” infallible, and able to change “times and laws” (Daniel 7:25; e.g., moving the Sabbath).
The Roman Catholic Church is a counterfeit Christianity and has never been a Bible-believing Christian Church. It never started as part of the apostolic faith of the New Testament but has always been a separate identity that rose in the 3rd century as a distinct religious-political system. It fused pagan Roman rituals and imperial structures with Christian terminology, elevating papal decrees, traditions, and sacraments above the sole authority of Scripture (sola scriptura). Doctrines such as papal infallibility, the immaculate conception and perpetual virginity of Mary, transubstantiation, indulgences, mandatory priestly celibacy, and the veneration of saints and images have no foundation in the Bible and represent a system distinct from the New Testament church. The true Church of Jesus Christ has always been the invisible body of all believers who hold to the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), trusting in Christ alone by grace through faith—not an institutional hierarchy headquartered in Rome that has historically persecuted Bible-believing Christians (as during the Inquisition and the wars against the Waldenses, Albigenses, and Reformers).
In this combined view, the Papacy functions as the Antichrist who rides the Beast (see Revelation 17’s harlot on the scarlet Beast). Recent developments illustrate the alliance: the 2019 Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, which the UN has cited in promoting “human fraternity” and combating “Islamophobia.” The Papacy thus provides religious legitimacy and global diplomatic cover to the Islamic Beast, exalting a false unity while denying the exclusive claims of Christ.
The Second Beast / False Prophet: The United Nations as Global Board of Peace (Revelation 13:11-18)
“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.” (v. 11, NASB)
The False Prophet arises from the “earth” (stable, established order) rather than chaotic seas—fitting the post-WWII United Nations, founded on ideals of peace and security. Its “two horns like a lamb” evoke a gentle, peace-loving appearance (charter on human rights, sustainable development, interfaith initiatives). Yet it “spake as a dragon”—exercising coercive global power through resolutions, sanctions, climate agendas, and digital governance frameworks that many see as a counterfeit gospel of “peace and safety” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
“And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast.” (vv. 12-14, NASB)
The UN has been the driving force behind the spread of Islam into the West through both legal and illegal immigration, functioning as the engine of an invading Islamic force. Through its UNHCR agency, the UN has orchestrated the legal resettlement of millions of refugees predominantly from Muslim-majority nations—Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and others—into Europe, North America, and beyond, under the banner of humanitarian “durable solutions.” The 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (adopted by most nations) institutionalized this process, committing governments to expand legal migration pathways, combat “xenophobia” and “Islamophobia,” and prioritize migrant rights over strict border controls. At the same time, UN frameworks emphasizing non-discrimination and “safe passages” have enabled and indirectly fueled massive illegal immigration surges, with smuggling networks exploiting these policies to flood Western borders. This engineered demographic shift—echoing the Islamic doctrine of hijra as strategic migration for conquest and submission—pressures nations to accommodate the Beast’s demands: Sharia-compliant zones, blasphemy laws silencing criticism, halal mandates, and cultural concessions. In this way, the UN effectively creates and defends an “image” of the Islamic Beast—pressuring nations to worship its system for the sake of “peace,” while the Papal Antichrist lends religious cover to the unholy alliance.
“And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.” (vv. 15-17, NASB)
Modern parallels include digital IDs, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), social-credit-style systems, and “sustainable development” compliance. Refusal to align with the Beast (e.g., resisting Islamisation or UN globalism) increasingly risks economic exclusion. The number 666 remains a call for wisdom; some note its symbolic tie to human systems (man = 6) enforced globally.
Why This Combined View Matters
This interpretation weaves historicist truth (Papacy as Antichrist) with contemporary signs: an Islamic empire (Beast) that blasphemes Christ and persecutes saints, an Antichrist Papacy that exalts itself and forges false peace with that empire, and a UN-style False Prophet that enforces the unholy alliance through “peace” initiatives, economic coercion, and the demographic invasion of the Beast into formerly Christian lands. The harlot (apostate religious system centred in Rome) rides the Beast (Islam), just as Revelation 17 depicts.
Of course, prophecy can unfold in surprising ways, and sincere believers differ. Yet the pattern—denial of the Son, global submission demanded, false peace enforced, and nations flooded with the Beast’s adherents—warrants sober reflection against the full counsel of Scripture.
Jesus warned of deception in the last days (Matthew 24:4-5, 24). May we test everything by the Word, love our neighbours (Muslim, Catholic, secular) with the true gospel of the crucified and risen Christ, and stand unmovable as the saints who “keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12.
What are your thoughts on this perspective? Share below. Maranatha.
Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). Quran translations are from The Clear Quran.
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