Revelation 13: three major players
1)The dragon.
2)The beast of the sea.
3)The beast of the earth.
The “code" that John’s readers would have comprehended:
- Horns: Power and Rulership
Cyclical, Progressive Revelation.
Dragon: Satan
Beast of the Sea: Anti-God and Antichrist Governments.
Beast of the Earth: Anti-Christ religions.
Beast of the Sea
"The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea."
Revelation 13:1 (NIV)
"It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion."
Revelation 13:2a (NIV)
The four beasts in Daniel 7: kingdoms who set themselves up against God and the people of God.
John only sees one beast, but it reads like a combination of Daniel’s four.
"The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."
Revelation 13:2b (NIV)
Dragon: Satan
"One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?'"
Revelation 13:3-4 (NIV)
The beast in Revelation 13: all the kingdoms that have opposed God and the people of God.
"The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation."
Revelation 13:5-7 (NIV)
"All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world."
Revelation 13:8 (NIV)
If Revelation teaches us anything, it’s that those who follow the Lamb must always be ready for the beast.
Beast of the Earth
1)The Beast out of the Sea. Anti-God governments.
2)The Beast of the earth. Anti-God, Anti-Christ Religions
3)The Dragon: Satan himself.
"Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and made the earth, and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed."
Revelation 13:11-12 (NIV)
"And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived."
Revelation 13:13-14 (NIV)
“He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:15-17
There are two groups of people:
One: Those who are marked and sealed with the Holy Spirit as the truth of God impacts what they do and how they think.
Two: Those who have been deceived and whose allegiance is to Anti-god governments who have partnered with anti-Christ religions to require ultimate allegiance and trust.
"This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666."
Revelation 13:18 (NIV)
7 is the number for God’s perfection.
The shocking truth:
Throughout the church age, governments will partner with religion to deceive many and to persecute the people of God.
Not every movement or person who claims to follow Christ follows Christ. Many are deceived and follow the Beast who is empowered by the Dragon to achieve anti-God and anti-Christ objectives!
Islam is currently the most powerful system on earth for the persecution of Christians.
"We call on all Muslim leaders, youths, and soldiers to launch and raid Satan’s U.S. troops and the devil’s supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson. The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it. . ."
-Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, World Islamic Front Statement, Feb. 23, 1998
"Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and made the earth, and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed."
Revelation 13:11-12 (NIV)
"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."
2 Corinthians 11:14 (NIV)
"It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed."
Revelation 13:12 (NIV)
Islam attempts to make Jesus less than He is:
"We believe in God in that which hath been given to Moses and to Jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their lord. No difference do we make between any of them: and to God we are resigned Muslims." -Surah Chapter 2 Verse 130
But Jesus said…
"Very truly I tell you, Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!' At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds."
John 8:58-59 (NIV)
Let’s look at the definition for Anti-Christ again:
"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour."
1 John 2:18 (NIV)
"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son."
1 John 2:22 (NIV)
"This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."
1 John 4:2-3 (NIV)
This is the reason some if not many believe the end is near.
"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been."
Revelation 6:9-11 (NIV)
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare."
2 Peter 3:10 (NIV)
Here is the shocking truth:
Satan, Anti-God governments, and anti-Christ religions are all in cahoots and many will be deceived!
What do we do?
One: Be Careful.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Two: Be Saved.
"Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb."
Revelation 14:1-4 (NIV)
Three: Be Diligent!
“Blessed is the man who does not walk according to the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever it does prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3
Make a Decision