ISB ~ Revelation 13 v11

another beast:A land beast as distinct from the sea beast of 13:1. Because its power is used to promote false worship (13:12), most think that it represents a religious entity subordinate to the secular State embodied in the first beast. It is identified differently by different scholars. (1) Those who date Revelation in the 60s tend to identify this beast with the religious leadership of Israel centered in Jerusalem. This is the priestly and juridical body that rejected the kingship of Christ and pledged its allegiance to Caesar (Jn 19:15). Thereafter it was primarily Jewish leaders who aroused opposition against the early Christians and accused them before Roman authorities (Rev 2:9; 3:9; Acts 14:2; 17:5-7; 18:12-13; 24:9; 25:1-7, 24). Also, the land beast is later called a “false prophet” (Rev 16:13; 19:20; 20:10). This may be significant in light of Jesus’ warning that false prophets would arise to deceive and perform signs in the days before Jerusalem’s doom (compare Rev 13:1314 with Mt 24:11, 24). (2) Those who date the book in the 90s identify the land beast with the custodians of Roman civil religion, specifically, the cult of the emperors. Its basis was the deification of the Roman Caesars, to whom temples were dedicated and whose images were placed throughout the Empire. Loyalty to the divine ruler was expressed by worship, with each citizen making a small offering of wine and incense before the ruler’s statue. Refusal to participate was not only frowned upon but was gradually regarded as a punishable crime. History shows that Christians were faced with this option of religious apostasy or Roman punishment from at least the second century A.D. (Pliny the Younger, Epistles 10, 96).