John describes two beasts in Revelation chapter 13, which are referred to as the First Beast and the Second Beast in this text. John describes the image and activities of the First Beast in Revelation 13:1-10. The First Beast symbolizes Satan's power in the Roman Empire which makes war on the remnant of saints in Christ's ancient church after 70 AD.¹ Nephi had a similar vision in 1 Nephi 13,² where he described Satan's power in the same time period as a great and abominable church.³ Both images symbolize⁴ any and all political, philosophical, educational, economic, social, fraternal, civic, or religious organizations that led people away from, or fought against, the church of Jesus Christ anciently.⁵ These same man-made institutions⁶ and kingdoms⁷ cross the annals of time,⁸ and extend far beyond the traditional definition of church.⁹ In this broader sense,¹⁰ the First Beast in Revelation chapter 13 and the abominable church in 1 Nephi 13 are not any single individual, entity, or organization.¹¹

The First Beast in Revelation chapter 13 is generally synonymous with the abominable church in 1 Nephi 13.¹² Satan laid the foundation for this abominable church¹³ to wage war against the remnant of Christ's ancient church after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.¹⁴ Apostate members of Christ's ancient church were some of the earliest adherents to the doctrines of Satan's abominable church.¹⁵ That is, members of Christ's ancient church built an apostate church¹⁶ within Christ's ancient church,¹⁷ which contributed to the Great Apostasy.¹⁸ Apostate members of the abominable church corrupted the scriptures of Christ's ancient church¹⁹ soon after the apostles died.²⁰ These apostates included, among others, the Gnostics,²¹ whose name is derived from the Greek word gnosis or knowledge.²² The Gnostics intentionally removed the plain and precious parts of the scriptures to distort the truth and purity of church doctrines so they would conform to the apostate views²³ and worldly practices of the Gnostics²⁴

The First Beast and the abominable church collectively symbolize apostate Christians of the first century AD,²⁵ as well as evil elements within the Roman Empire²⁶ that began to persecute and kill Christians in the same period. John recorded these persecutions and killings as part of the Fifth Seal in Revelation 6:9-11.²⁷

In Nephi's account, the formation of the abominable church coincides in time with the death of the ancient apostles²⁸ and the rise of the First Beast from the sea in 70 AD.²⁹ In 1 Nephi 13:5, Nephi said that from the time of its formation, the abominable church "slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity."³⁰ His description matches perfectly the persecution and killing of Christians from the first to fourth centuries AD on the eastern hemisphere.³¹ Roman persecutions continued until the Roman emperor Constantine adopted Christianity (in its corrupt and false form)³² as the state religion of the Roman Empire in about 325 AD.³³ He used the sword to compel people in the empire to accept this false religion,³⁴ which became the antithesis of the true church of Jesus Christ.³⁵ The Roman church established by Constantine exercised great power and dominion for at least a thousand years in the period called the Dark Ages.³⁶

The Dark Ages were a significant part of the larger period of time called the Great Apostasy.³⁷ Daniel described the Great Apostasy as a flood of spiritual darkness that began in 70 AD with the Abomination of Desolation upon the Jews and Jerusalem.³⁸ According to Daniel, the floodwaters of spiritual darkness burst upon the scene in 70 AD and then continued to rise for 1290 years until 1360 AD.³⁹ In 1360 AD, the earth reached a high point of spiritual darkness,⁴⁰ which finally began to recede as the faint glow of spiritual light emerged during the Italian Renaissance.⁴¹ The Renaissance was a precursor to the increasing light of the Reformation⁴² when people stumbled to find the truth, and built up many Protestant churches, as Nephi foretold in 1 Nephi 13:29.⁴³

The Reformation paved the way for the full light⁴⁴ of the restored gospel in 1830.⁴⁵ According to John, in Revelation 13:5, the restoration occurred 1260 years after the Great Apostasy began.⁴⁶ John identified the Great Apostasy as the period of time when there were no mortal administrators of God's priesthood on earth.⁴⁷ This leads to the necessary conclusion that 1260 years before 1830‒in other words in 570 AD‒the priesthood was taken from the earth when the Lost Ten Tribes were translated and received into heaven.⁴⁸ The translation of the Lost Ten Tribes corresponds in time with Revelation 13:7-8, where John said that power "was given unto [the First Beast] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him."⁴⁹

John's vision of the Great Apostasy is followed by his vision of the Second Beast in Revelation 13:11-18. These verses reflect the period of time from the restoration of the gospel in 1830 to the Second Coming.⁵⁰ Nephi's corresponding vision of the latter-day church of the devil in the same time period is recorded in 1 Nephi 14.⁵¹ The restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April 1830⁵² fulfilled the prophecy in 1 Nephi 14:10, which states: "Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil."⁵³ This prophetic statement could not be made until The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was actually restored on earth as the church of the Lamb of God.⁵⁴

The church of the devil represented by the Second Beast in Revelation chapter 13, includes man-made governments⁵⁵ and Satan-inspired organizations of every kind,⁵⁶ including any false churches⁵⁷ in the traditional sense.⁵⁸ The church of the devil also includes any false doctrine, creed, teaching, or philosophy of any kind that leads people away from the one true church of the Lamb⁵⁹ where salvation can be found.⁶⁰ In 1 Nephi 14:10, Nephi collectively called these latter-day man-made organizations and their false doctrines the "mother of abominations and whore of all the earth."⁶¹ The names portray the image of an enticing prostitute that offers the temporary pleasures of the world,⁶² but nothing of lasting value in the form of salvation.⁶³ John similarly describes the Second Beast in Revelation 13:11 as a deceptive lamb that looks harmless and inviting, but speaks like a deadly dragon.⁶⁴

John and Nephi both saw and described the modern institutions that serve Satan, which they called the Second Beast and the church of the devil, respectively. These names describe latter-day organizations of all kinds that have existed since the time the gospel was restored in 1830, and will continue to exist until the Second Coming.⁶⁵ John describes their destruction in great detail as the fall of Modern Babylon at the Second Coming in Revelation chapters 17 and 18.⁶⁶ In 1 Nephi 14:24-25, the Lord told Nephi not to write about the destruction of the church of the devil at the Second Coming because John was foreordained to do so in the Book of Revelation.⁶⁷ Moroni prophesied in Ether 4:16 that in the last days "my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John [shall] be unfolded in the eyes of all the people."