Revelation 13
Chapter 13
1. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with
ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names
on its heads.
2. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard;
its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it
the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
3. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal
wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they
followed the beast.
4. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had
given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is
like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5. And the beast was given a mouth uttering
haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for
forty-two months.
6. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies
against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in
heaven.
7. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints
and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and
language and nation,
8. and all who dwell on earth will worship it,
everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in
the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
9. If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10. If anyone is
to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the
sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and
faith of the saints.
The end-time beast
Here we can see that the events of Revelation do not
appear strictly in chronological order. Already in chapter 11 we have been
introduced to the beast, who is now described to us in this chapter, as he
rises out of the ‘sea’. It is essential to study Daniel’s prophecies before
attempting to interpret the book of Revelation, especially as they relate to
the beast and his kingdom. King Nebuchadnezzar saw this same prophecy in a
dream, but in the form of a great image. The final kingdom is seen as the ten
toes on the image.
Daniel saw that “four
great beasts came up out of the sea” (Dn.7:3). The fourth beast “was different from all the beasts that
were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there
came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first
horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the
eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things” (Dn.7:7,8). Compare
Daniel’s account to verse 1, 5 and 6. Daniel questions a heavenly being
standing by and he answered, “These four
great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth” (Dn.7:17).
He also questioned about the horn on the head of the
fourth beast, which replaced three previous horns. This horn made war with the
saints and prevailed over them (v.7 above). Concerning the 10 horns, Daniel
learned, “Out of this kingdom ten kings
shall arise, and another shall arise after them… The great things that this
horn will speak will be “words against
the Most High… (He) shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think
to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time (3 ½ years)” (Dn.7:24,25). It refers to the last
half of Daniel’s 70th Week, which was revealed to him at the end of
chapter 9. Daniel writes again of this king in chapter 11:36-45.
Daniel presents the trans-historic development of world
government, beginning with Egypt and continuing to the last days. We look
carefully at verse one above and see this beast arising from the sea. ‘The sea’
in Scripture represents the populace of the world, the troubled waves of
people, multitudes, nations and tongues. God reveals to John a more detailed
description, which combines the beastly symbols of the three first beasts in
Daniel’s vision. The beast is like a leopard (Greece-Alexander the Great) with
feet like a bear (Persia) and a mouth like a lion (Babylonia).
Notice that the ten horns and seven heads are like those
on the dragon in chapter 12:3. (We will learn more of these symbols later.) They
are the design and scheme of the dragon, which he gives over to the beast. There
is no reverence for God in the dragon or the beast and their plot is
blasphemous. The dragon concentrates his evil purpose in this man, personally
possessing him, as he did the prince of Tyre and the emperor of Babylon
(Ez.28:1-19; Is.14:4-23). The dragon gave to him the same as he offered to
Christ in the temptation in the wilderness… his power, his throne and great
authority (v.2).
Perhaps the mortal wound on the head of the beast is literal, as a human being who will be killed
by a sword and resurrected. In this passage, I considered the head wound on
Eden’s serpent, administered by the Seed of the woman, the incarnate Christ on
the cross, but I must reject that idea, because the enemy cannot recover from
that wound. We are assured of his ultimate and sure defeat, in spite of this
final display of deceptive power. Perhaps the wound is political, the wound of the fallen Roman Empire, which revives in
the last days (v.3).
Since the Garden of Eden the devil has craved worship and,
referring again to the wilderness temptation, he said to Christ, “All these I will give you, if you will
fall down and worship me” (Mt.4:7). Because of his personality, which is
portrayed in the beast, the dragon is worshiped by the whole earth. He is “the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph.2:2). He has
finally brought the world into subjection, because “he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way” (2
Th.2:7), and then he will receive
unhindered worship. All the world emperors sought this worship under the
influence of Satan. This final world dictator is no exception (v.4), having
gained popular admiration through a united world under his deception.
Join verse 5 to Daniel 7:25 and see the unity and single
authorship of Scripture. As all prophecy that pertained to events in the past,
particularly seen in over 300 details of the life of the Messiah, so this will
certainly take place. The Bible is the Word of God! After the revelation of the
man of sin, the personal antichrist, through the Abomination of Desolation, his
government will rule the world for 3 ½ years. Should we fear the events of the
last days, let us remember that we have been redeemed and are under the care of
the Author of Scripture, who sovereignly foretells us, of what will take place.
He rules over all the affairs of the end times.
The antichrist hates God and His Christ, who assured His
disciples that they would likewise be hated in this world: “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than
his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (Jn.15:20).
The beast even speaks against the resurrected and raptured saints (v.6, see
12:12). The wars in the physical world have always been influenced by the
spiritual world. The spiritual influence is clearly seen in the Tribulation
period and through the 3 ½ year-reign of the antichrist, he is particularly
successful against the saints, Jew and Gentile (v.7).
He will be universally worshiped by all, with the
exception of those, who have been converted during the Tribulation (v.8).
Notice that the Book of Life was written by the Lamb and mankind is saved
through the Lamb that was slain. He alone has authority to give life to as many
as are His – from the beginning of time until now. Many believe, quite
reasonably, that all mankind had their names written in the Book before time,
and that the names were erased one by one through unbelief (Rv.3:5). Others see
that only the saved had their names in the Book always. In any case, in the end
the only names that will appear in the Book of Life have been there since the
foundation of the world.
John echoes the command of Jesus, when He appealed to
those among the multitude, who heard His parables. It was given by Him seven
times to the churches, “If anyone has an
ear, let him hear” (v.9). The word goes out again to the seven churches,
and the seven-fold church throughout this age. It is a word of comfort, by
which anyone at any time can gain endurance and faith. It is spiritual
principle: “If anyone is to be taken
captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with
the sword must he be slain” (v.10). Rest assured, no matter how formidable
the opposition, if the Lord has pronounced sentence, that sentence will be
carried out. Persecution and tribulation is only for a while; the blessing and
glory of the Lord are forever!
11. Then I saw
another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it
spoke like a dragon.
12. It exercises
all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and
its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.
13. It performs
great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of
people,
14. and by the
signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceived those
who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was
wounded by the sword and yet lived.
15. And it was
allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the
beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of
the beast to be slain.
16. Also it causes
all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be
marked on the right hand or the forehead,
17. so that no one
can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the
number of its name.
18. This calls for
wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast,
for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
Two
horns like a lamb; a voice like a dragon
We learn that the personal antichrist has an ally, a
personal false prophet. He is the end-time leader over world religion. He is
lamb-like in his leadership, he is a miracle-worker, and he leads the world
into an idolatrous religion (v.11). He is a devil-inspired preacher and his
preaching centers on the antichrist mentality. He dominates the media and exalts
the humanistic and diabolical worldview.
Basically, I already hear the lamb/dragon message
proclaimed today. Give your loyalty and adoration over to the wonderful man,
who is finally bringing peace to the world; to the great leader in Rome, who is
teaching us to worship with Hindus and Muslims. The ‘Christian’ must not be
intolerant of other religions; after all, we are all searching for God, as best
we can. You Christians must learn tolerance towards your fellow man, loving
everyone and excusing and covering his sin. The poor would-be mother must be
lovingly given her rights over the embryo in her womb. If it is an
inconvenience to her, so that she wants to abort, we should all be supportive
of her decision.
The homosexual should enjoy the same rights, which were
given to the black race, when they were freed from slavery, and receive the equality
that woman were given in society. He should feel comfortable and loved among
us; after all, if two men or two women want to marry, do we think we are better
than they are, because we prefer the opposite sex. We need to give murderers
and rapists in prison their equal suffrage allowing them to vote into office
the kind of people they prefer. The only real problem among us are the Bible-thumping,
homo-phobic, racists, who are hindering society from experiencing its utopia
and disturbing peace on earth. We need to harass them wherever and whenever
they appear in society.
We are well down the road towards the acceptance of the
international man of peace and his all-inclusive sidekick. One has a diabolical
political authority and the other an anti-biblical spiritual authority (v.12).
We should be thoroughly convinced that there is no biblical authority allotted to
either of the two and we must stand upon the Scriptures, as the ultimate
authority. It is our only protection against error.
We must also understand that the working of miracles is
not a sure sign of heavenly support. Do not follow preachers because of
supernatural signs. This religious leader does great signs and even duplicates
Elijah in bringing fire from heaven (v.13). The power of the idolatry of the last
days is in another category than that which was known on the earth previously…
more than the idolatry towards Baal. This idol speaks; the idols of history
were dumb. The supernatural healing of the mortal wound on the head of the
beast is not a proof of heavenly support. I stand fast on the need for the
church to function spiritually, heavenly, and supernaturally in these times,
but I warn you that not all that is miraculous comes from God. The world will
be deceived by the false prophet, working on behalf of the antichrist (v.14).
Emperor Nebuchadnezzar received a dream from God, which
he twisted and turned into a new religion. He built an image, a statue,
duplicating the one of his dream, and demanded that the whole world pledge allegiance
to it. This is how fallen man attempts to take the things of God and form his
own way of worship. There will be an image raised during the Great Tribulation,
as well, and this image will breathe and speak. It will persuade mankind to
bring death to those, who refuse to worship it (v.15). Persecution has always
come from the religious realm, and this fanatical, world religion will be the
worst ever to come into existence.
As owners brand their property, the false prophet will
put a mark of submission on all the subjects of the beast (v.16). They will not
be able to function in society without the mark. It will be a marketing
technique and buying and selling without it will be impossible (v.17). There
are many theories about how this might come about, including the involvement of
computer chips under the skin, and I think, they are not far from the truth…
perhaps they are spot-on!
The basis of this last-day system will be the name and
the number of the antichrist. The number is 666. I have heard many theories
that have attempted to turn the number into letters of the alphabet, but I am
not confident that anyone has solved the riddle. I don’t plan on being on the
earth, when the puzzle is resolved. I believe, wisdom and understanding
concerning it will be supplied, when the danger is imminent (v.18).
What we can know, biblically, is that this concerns the
man of sin. The number is a three-digit multiplication of six, which is the
biblical symbol of manpower. It is one short of seven, the number of perfection…
the number of divinity. Man, with his best efforts, always comes short of
perfection. His technologically highest power is six or multiples of six. At
the peak of his achievements, he is at his worst religiously and
governmentally, and is empowered by Satan.
Paul writes of him in 2 Thessalonians and gives warning
about the deception that antichrist will bring. I believe, God’s people must be
aware and taught concerning this important passage. This man of sin and son of
destruction will surely be revealed before the gathering together of the church
unto Christ. “Concerning the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ and our being
gathered together to him… That day will not come, unless… the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” (2 Th.2:1,3).
Let me continue to quote the apostle: “Who opposes and exalts himself against
every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the
temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Th.2:4). This is the
Abomination of Desolation and also concurs with what we have just studied in
Revelation 13. The restraining force that prevents his domination will be
removed, that is, the Holy Spirit, working through the church (2 Th.2:7).
I continue to quote: “The
coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false
signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing,
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Th.2:9-10).
There is nothing so far in the doctrine of Paul that we haven’t already learned
from our chapter in Revelation. However, what follows should alarm us: “Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure
in unrighteousness” (2 Th.2:11-12). God Himself will order a damning
deception upon those, who do not love the truth.
God loves the truth more than He loves people! Jesus
said, “I am the truth!” (Jn.14:6).
He taught that no one comes to gospel light, unless he loves truth and that
person has been led by God: “Whoever
does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his
works have been carried out in God” (Jn.3:21). Jesus said to Pilate: “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my
voice” (Jn.18:37). We must be lovers of the truth and capable of presenting
truth to deceived sinners. That is our duty in evangelism! Look for people, who
are searching for truth, because those are the ones, whom God is drawing to
Christ (Jn.6:44).
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