How do you know whether the beast in Revelation refers to the Antichrist or to his empire?
The beast in Revelation can refer either to the man Antichrist or to the empire he rules; context determines which. In Revelation 19:19, the context points to the emperor, the man Antichrist, because the kings and armies gather to make war against him, not merely against an empire.
Les explains that throughout Revelation, the beast can mean the man Antichrist or the empire he ruled, and the reader must take it according to the context. At this point, he says the context is not the empire but the emperor—the man Antichrist. John writes that he saw the beast, the man Antichrist, and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against the one who sat on the horse and against his army. Les also connects this last great battle before the return of Christ to Zechariah 14, where God says He will gather all nations against Jerusalem.