Introduction to Chapter 13
Part 2
In
Chapter 12 we see the dragon (Satan) who pursues the women (Israel) standing
on the “sand of the sea”. Out of the sea rises a Beast (kingdom of
Antichrist) which becomes the vehicle used by Satan to subdue the whole
world under his direct power. This kingdom of the Beast will use four realms
of influence to subdue man; politics, military, religious and economic. The
Beast or the “Little horn” of Daniel 7:8 focuses on the military and
political realms. While the second beast, the False Prophet will focus on
the religious and economic means of submission.
In the 13th
chapter, John sheds light on the methods used by this final world government
to cement his universal power. The religious aspect of his kingdom takes a
turn at the midpoint of the tribulation. The first 3.5 years of the 7-year
tribulation the Antichrist and the False Prophet unite the world under a
universal religious system (Revelation 17:1-6). In the 2nd half,
the focus of this religious system becomes the Beast inhabited by Satan. The
False Prophet performs satanic wonders including the “calling down of fire
from heaven” to awe humanity into worshipping the Beast. He points to the
resurrected Beast, the leader of the kingdom also called the Beast, urges
Earth’s inhabitants to worship him. He instructs the world to create and
worship an image of the first Beast. The image through satanic power appears
to come to life and speak. Those refusing to worship the image are subjected
to death. If the military, political and spiritual power did not convince
inhabitants of the Earth, the False Prophet applies economic tools to move
the Earth’s inhabitants to submit.
Those left
alive on the Earth at this point in the 7-year tribulation must choose. They
will have to accept the Antichrist as god on earth and live, or accept
Christ and face death. Those alive and faced with these choices will know
exactly what to do based on the 13th chapter of Revelation.
The False Prophet
11Then
I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a
lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12And he exercises all the
authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those
who dwell in it to worship the first beast, who’s deadly wound, was healed.
Revelation 13:11-12
I saw another beast…
This is the third member of this unholy trinity, Satan’s counterfeit of the
trinity. This beast is a man called the “False prophet” (Rev 19:20). He is
a religious leader who counterfeits the Holy Spirit, by pointing to the
Beast (First Beast) as the object of truth and worship. The false-prophet
and the Antichrist work together from the start. This new world religion
will operate under the false ideal of “Relative truth”, those who insist on
Jesus being the focus of objective truth will be killed during the first
half of the tribulation. (Revelation 6:9-11) Jesus spoke about this
individual and the antichrist in the Olivet discourse,
24For
false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders
to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I have told you
beforehand.
Matthew
24:24
Out of the earth….
(Gr. Ge….arable land, earth as a standing place) Contrasted to the “Beast
out of the Sea” this Beast is out of the earth. Some commentators feel this
reference to the Earth means he will be an apostate religious leader as
opposed to being out of the sea of humanity.
He had two horns like a
lamb…. (Gr.
Arnion…diminutive of areen, affection term lambkin used mainly in
Revelation, 29 out of 30 times) Lambs are used mainly in the scriptures as a
picture of sacrifice; Jesus is called the “Lamb of God”, God’s Passover
lamb. The lamblike nature of this beast demonstrates his religious aspect.
The two horns have significant meaning and can be interpreted in several
ways.
Horns are
clearly spelled out in scripture as representing seats of authority. The ten
horns of the beast represent ten kings (Rev 17:12, Daniel 7:24). In Daniel
8, the horns on the ram and goat represent the King’s of Greece, Persia and
Media. These powers in the conflict, picture Greece as the one-horned goat
and Persia-Media as the two-horned ram. Jesus is also pictured as a horn in
Luke, He is called a “Horn of salvation”, (Luke 1:69).
The two horns on this
lamb can represent two distinct religious systems unified by the false
prophet. There is strong evidence to suggest, this united religious system
will be the adulterous church pictured in three of the seven churches
(Laodicea, Sardis, Thyatira) unified with the remnants of Islam by the False
Prophet.
Four points regarding
this position:
-
Catholicism already
accepts Muslims and Jews as having salvation, without having to believe
Jesus died on the Cross, or that he is the Son of
God.
841The
Church's relationship with the Muslims.
"The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in
the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the
faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God,
mankind's judge on the last day."[330][1]
839 "Those who have not yet
received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways."325
The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she
delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New
Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People,326 "the
first to hear the Word of God."327 The Jewish faith, unlike other
non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the
Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the
patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ",328
"for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."329
[2]
-
Islam as major force
on the scene must be reduced for the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt at
start of the 7-year tribulation period. The “Dome of the Rock” must be
destroyed which is either the cause or the conclusion of a war between
Islam and Israel. A defeated Islam will be ripe for a new religious
system.
-
With the “Rapture”
of the Church, those left behind will look to unify a world filled with
war and chaos, resulting from the Islamic war against Israel, (Ezekiel
38-39), the Rapture and the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. This
church is exemplified by the Jesus’ response to the 5 virgins who missed
the coming of the bridegroom,
11“Afterward
the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12But
he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour
in which the Son of Man is coming. (Matthew 25:11-13)
This same warning to watch is issued to the church of Sardis, which is
warned they will miss his coming if they fail to watch.
Therefore
if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not
know what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:3
-
The adulterous
church is destroyed in the 2nd half of the tribulation period
as this unified faith is turned away from the adulterous women and
toward the Beast. (Revelation 17:16)
Spoke like a dragon….The
source of this world religion will be Satan, whose goal is to destroy those
created in the image of God. Biblical Christianity is exclusive; there is
no room for a competing “Jesus”.
Islam denies Jesus is
the Son of God, and that He died on the cross. The Muslim Jesus is not the
Jesus of the Bible. Judaism today rejects Jesus as Messiah and labels him a
false prophet. Many in the ecumenical movement deny Jesus as the son of God
along with countless heretical beliefs. Here is what the bible says about
those who reject the biblical Jesus.
22Who
is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist
who denies the Father and the Son. 23Whoever denies the Son
does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father
also.
I John 2:22-23.
22Many
will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
Matthew
7:22-23
In the second half
involves the removal of religion’s mask, humanity will worship Satan in the
person of the Antichrist, who will demand worldwide worship. Those who
refuse will be killed. People worldwide will not be able to buy or sell
anything unless they totally submit to the Beast and his false prophet.
Daniel foretold this nature of the Antichrist over 2500 years ago.
"He shall regard neither
the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he
shall exalt himself above them all.
Daniel 11:37
Exercises all the
authority….The
role of this “false prophet” is to help the world accept the claims of the
first beast. The first Beast is Satan manifested, so the second Beast is in
complete union with him and works to bring him credibility.
In his presence…….
As Aaron was the spokesman for Moses before Pharaoh and Egypt. The false
prophet will represent the Beast before the world. In his name and presence
he points people on Earth to the Beast.
Causes the earth….
With signs
and wonders and demonic spirits the Earth is deceived.
11And
for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should
believe the lie, 12that they all may be condemned who did
not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thes
2:11-12
13And
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the
dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet. 14For they are spirits of demons, performing signs,
which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole
world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev
16:13-14
Worship the beast…..
The goal of
the false prophet is for people to accept the deification of the Beast
Whose deadly wound was
healed…. The
death and resurrection of the Beast at the Mid-point will be in conjunction
with the casting out of Satan from Heaven. His death and resurrection will
be highlighted as evidence for the Beast being God on Earth. In the same
way Jesus was crucified and resurrected was evidence of his being the Son of
God, Satan will counterfeit the resurrection.
Satanic Signs & Wonders
13He
performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on
the earth in the sight of men. 14And he deceives those
who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the
sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to
the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
Revelation 13:13-14
He performs great
signs….The
false prophet does the signs as a means of deception. Signs are not limited
to God’s kingdom alone. God allows Satan to also perform signs as a way of
testing people.
1“If
there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you
a sign or a wonder, 2and
the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying,
‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve
them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that
dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know
whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul. 4You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and
keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast
to Him. Deuteronomy 131:1-4
9The
coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with
all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10and with all unrighteous
deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thess 2:9-10
A wicked and adulterous
generation will turn from “Truth” to a “Lie” for the sake of a sign (Matthew
16:4). The psychics who claim to speak to the dead are in fact speaking to
“Familiar Sprits”, demons posing as departed loved ones (Lev 19:31, 20:6,
20:27). The practice is old; Satan has deceived people for thousands of
years using the system. But God allows the deception because those who
choose to follow the practice are being disobedient and in the process
failing a test. Satan’s restrictions on his deceptions will be removed
during the 2nd half of the tribulation.
Makes fire come down….A
impressive sign to those on the Earth who are being deceived, but a clear
identifier to believers who are waiting for the return of Christ. Who will
be able to question such signs without knowing the Truth? This is also
counterfeit of the two witnesses who called down fire on their enemies.
He was granted to do…..Satan
can only do what he is permitted to do as demonstrated in Job. Man is not
being tempted beyond his ability to say no. But the test on earth has
intensified because the time is short.
9So
Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10Have
You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that
he has on every side? Job 1:9
Telling those who
dwell….The
false prophet instructs the inhabitants on the Earth how to worship the
Beast.
The Image of the Beast….
( Gr…eikon...
a likeness, that is,
(literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation,
resemblance:—image., an icon) Those on the will demonstrate their worship by
making an image of the Beast. This is similar to Satan’s deceptions
throughout history. The man’s nature is to be worshipped if ultimate power
can be obtained. Great military leaders eventually viewed themselves as god
on Earth, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the great, and Julius Caesar are 3
memorable ones. The 20th century, has had their share of leader
worship transferred to image veneration. Lenin, Mao, Kim il Sung and Hitler
are recent examples of leader worship turned to image veneration. Man
worship will ultimately be played out as Satan inhabits the body of a man
and demands the world worship him as god.
One of the first acts of
Satan is to immediately have the first 3 of 10 commandments broken.
1.
No god but God.
2.
Do not
make an image.
3.
Do not
worship the image
The resurrection of the
Beast will be the focus of the image for those dwelling on the Earth.
In Daniel 3, the bible
prepares the world for this coming event by the example of Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego. Three Hebrew boys who choose death rather then worship the
image the king of Babylon sets up. The image is 60 cubits high, and 6
cubits wide, (60, 6) everyone was to bow to the image when the music played.
The Hebrews refused and were thrown into a firery furnace, and were not
harmed as one like; the “Son of God” rescued them. (Dan 3:25). The message
in Daniel is to the whole world, if three Hebrew boys could survive a fiery
furnace because the “Son of God” was in their midst, then we can survive
because the “Son of God” has redeemed us, but we must not submit to the
Beast.
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king
made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six
cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
7 So at that time, when
all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in
symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages
fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
17
"If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
18
"But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods,
nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
25"Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the
fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of
God."
Daniel 3:1,7,17-18,25
God
through the book of Daniel demonstrates the way of salvation for those
living in the tribulation period. The picture of Daniel 3 when contrasted
to Revelation 13 is striking.
|
Daniel 3 |
Revelation
13 |
Ruler |
King of
Babylon Daniel 3:1 |
King of final
Babylon (Revelation 17, 18, Isaiah 14) |
Action |
King of
Babylon set up an image |
Antichrist
sets up an image |
Number
associated with image |
60 x 6
(Daniel 3:1) |
666 (Rev.
13:18) |
Involves |
All peoples,
nations and languages (Daniel 3:7) |
All who Those
who dwell on the (Rev. 13:8,14) |
Threat
|
Worship the
image or die |
Worship the
image or die |
Rebels |
Jewish men
refuse to worship |
Jews, Israel
refuses to worship |
Result |
Thrown into a
fiery furnace |
Israel goes
into great tribulation (Revelation 12: |
Rescue |
One like the
son of man |
Son of Man
(Daniel 7:13) |
The image of the Beast
15He
was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the
image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship
the image of the beast to be killed.
Revelation 13:15
He was granted power…..The
image created by men of the Beast seemingly comes to life. This Satanic
miracle is allowed to take place by God. Man is being tested by this part
of the strong delusion that God is allowing to fall on those who refuse to
believe the “Truth”. The “Image” of the Beast comes to life and takes and
further validates the identity of the “Beast”. Those who know the
scriptures will have a clear choice.
The image of the beast….The
satanic powered Beast-Image is then able to reveal all who refuse worship,
those who refuse are executed. Worldwide hunts will begin for those who are
identified by the Beast for refusing to worship. For this reason many will
go into hiding and it will take the Angels at the return of Christ to bring
find them and bring them to meet their Lord.
30Then
the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory. 31And He will send His
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew
24:30-31
The Economic system of
the Beast
16He
causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive
a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17and that no
one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of
the beast, or the number of his name.
18Here
is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast,
for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Revelation 13:16-18
He causes all…..The
False Prophet will implement a system to demand worship from all. The rich
and powerful will not be able to escape the requirements. All people will
need to submit to worshipping of the Beast.
To receive a mark
(Gr…charagma
;
a scratch or etching, that is, stamp (as a badge of servitude), or
sculptured figure (statue):—graven, mark.)
The Greek word
indicates the mark to be an outside mark demonstrating loyalty and
submission to the Beast. The location of the mark is either on the forehead
or on the wrist.
That no one may buy or
sell…The mark
will be a system that allows control of the individual. Without submission
to the Beast there will be no ability to participate in the economic system.
Food, clothing, shelter
and fuel will not available to those who have not submitted to the Beast.
New technologies known
as bio-metrics are being developed to track and control segments of the
population. With the increase in terrorism little resistance to such a
system can be logically justified today. Fear of terrorism has removed many
of our concerns of intrusive government; citizens want to know who is a
threat. One way is to have everybody marked and accounted for. VeriChip is
just one company developing a system that is being used by some countries
today.
Except one….Three
types of identifications are listed.
1.
The mark
2.
Name of the Beast
3.
Number of his Name
Let him who has
understanding…..Here
is another call of understanding to those who are alive at the Midpoint.
This is one more piece of evidence for those who are alive not to accept the
mark.
The number of a man…..The
Antichrist is a Man, and his name or some identifier is listed as a number.
Each letter in a name has a numerical equivalent. When the letters in a
name are added the total numerical value is the number of the name. Most
interpreters of revelation feel this is what is meant by this verse.
Whether the name uses a Greek or Hebrew letter is not known.