After the dragon, the devil, the serpent of old is cast down from heaven in the previous chapter he has come down to earth in a fury. Here we see a beast rise up from the sea (from the abyss but also out from among the gentile nations). John helps us to see that this is the fourth beast in Daniel's vision in chapter 7. This is when the rock that was not cut by human hands destroys the kingdom of the beast and establishes his kingdom forever, becoming a mountain and filling the earth (Dan. 2:35)
