Power. Gr. exousia, “authority.” This verse is an amplification of the clause, “spake as a dragon” (v. 11). The fulfillment is future (see on v. 11). During the height of its power the first beast, the papacy (see on v. 2), exercised widespread authority in both religious and political matters (see on Dan. 7:8). For the second beast to exercise all the authority of the first beast, it will have to enter the field of religion, and seek to dominate religious worship. For the United States to take this step will mean a complete reversal of its present policy of granting full freedom of religion to its citizens. Such a step is here predicted.
The change in policy will doubtless come in innocently. Repeated attempts have been made to enact stricter laws enforcing Sunday as a rest day—earlier on religious, more recently on so-called social, grounds—penalizing observers of another day. Innocent as it may seem, any attempt to regulate a religious day by law violates the fundamental principle of religious liberty. This prophecy predicts that Sunday, an institution of the papacy (see on Dan. 7:25), will one day be enforced by law under threat of economic sanctions and worse for those who keep the Sabbath (see Rev. 13:12–18; cf. p. 977).
Before him. That is, in his presence. The first beast, who had been fatally wounded, has come back to life, and is once more active in world affairs. His promoter and agent is the second beast.
Causeth the earth. That is, the inhabitants of the earth. The movement here described is more than a national enterprise; it takes on international proportions.
To worship. Prophecy here points to the enactment of some religious measure the observance of which would be regarded as an act of worship, in that the worshiper, by observing it, acknowledges the authority of the first beast in matters of religion. A hint as to the nature of the enactment is found in ch. 14:9–12. These verses contrast the saints with the worshipers of the beast and his image and note that one of the distinguishing characteristics of the saints is the keeping of the commandments of God (v. 12). According to Daniel the power here represented as the beast was to “think to change times and laws” (ch. 7:25). History records a most audacious attempt to change the divine law—in the substitution of Sunday in place of the Sabbath of the Lord (see on Dan. 7:25). It is possible, then, to see a specific application here to a civil decree requiring the observance of Sunday, an institution of the papacy, and forbidding observance of the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments. In such a way men would be led to “worship” the “first beast.” They would heed its command above that of God in the matter of the day of worship. See further on Rev. 13:16, 17.
The matter of the day of worship is, of course, only one feature of the universal homage the “beast” will eventually receive (see on v. 8). What is here envisioned is a universal movement under the leadership of Satan, who is seeking to secure for himself the allegiance of the inhabitants of this earth. He will succeed in uniting the various religious elements and in securing the loyalty of men to the new organization patterned after the old (see on v. 14). He is the power behind the “beast.” It is he, the real antichrist, who is working to make himself as God (see 2 Thess. 2:9, 10).
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