Revelation Chapter 13 Part 2.
Tonight we look at the second half of Revelation chapter 13.
Last fortnight we were introduced to the 6th person of the Great Tribulation... the wild Beast out of the sea... who is both a political power and a person.
Tonight we meet up with the 7th person who is the wild Beast out of the earth... this one is a religious leader.
Both are Antichrist.
Remember...
"Anti" in antichrist can mean either... "over against" or... "instead of... in place of."
We can see both characteristics in the two Antichrist of the Great Tribulation.
They are both against Christ and... both imitate Christ.
What identifies an antichrist?
□ he that denies that Jesus is the Christ.
□ he that denies the deity of Christ.
□ he that denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
Jesus tells us the following in His Olivet chat with His disciples...
☆ Matthew 24:24...
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders... insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
There will come false Christs who will be able to perform miracles.
The second Beast is a miracle worker... he is an Antichrist.
▪ This makes the first Beast the political Antichrist.
▪ The second Beast is the religious Antichrist.
That is, there are 2 persons, 2 Beasts who are Antichrist.
Let's continue on...
☆ Revelation 13:5...
"And there was given unto him (the first Beast) a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months."
The Beast is given a mouth... a big mouth!
He is given the ability to speak great things as well as blasphemies.
Blasphemies?
Speaking profanities against God.
Who gives him this mouth?
The one who has put him in power... the Dragon.
This dictator will be one very convincing charismatic speaker... keeping the people of the world mesmerised with his smooth oratory... making promises left right and centre.
Christian...be careful when listening to someone speaking on the radio, television, YouTube or from the pulpit at Church.
Be ready to test everything you hear.
Ask the Spirit of God for discernment.
☆ Revelation 13:6...
"And he (the Beast) opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His Name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."
Like his master Satan, the Beast blasphemes God, Jesus Christ and His Church which are in Heaven.
Thank God that the Church is no longer on the earth!
I can not see how anyone who studies Revelation can believe that the Bride of Christ is going to go through this period of the Great Tribulation.
Christ the Bridegroom would never let His Bride the Church go through this absolute hell on earth.
☆ 1 Thessalonians 5:9...
"For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ... "
☆ Revelation 13:7-8...
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
Satan gives more to the Beast... to make war with the saints.
These are the Tribulation saints... those who become Christians during the Tribulation.
These saints will be overcome by the brutal Beast, who is given power over all kindreds, tongues and nations.
In the will of God many believers, both Jew and Gentile, will suffer martyrdom.
All that dwell on the earth, whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world... will worship the Beast.
Christians will never worship the Antichrist... the Beast.
This will be the darkest hour in the history of the world.
I am so thankful I am not going through the Great Tribulation Period.
I will not be under Antichrist... I am under Christ.
I am not looking for Antichrist... I am looking for Christ to come. Hallelujah!
"... whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
This I find a very interesting statement.
Names not written in the Lamb's Book of Life?
From the foundation of the world?
Therefore there must be names that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life... from the foundation of the world.
My conclusion?...
God knew right from the beginning, even before the creation of the world... who will be saved and not saved... whose names are and aren't written in the Book of Life.
God is not willing that any should perish. But then... man still has free choice in the matter. God foresaw the choices made.
Predestination? ☆ Romans 8:29-30?
There are different schools of thought on predestination.... each one having Scriptures to back their argument.
☆ Revelation 13:9-10...
"If any man have an ear, let him hear."
"If any man... " means anybody... man, woman, boy or girl...
"If any man has an ear... let him hear."
We all have two of them... ears that is.
They are to be used for hearing... "Let him hear."
Listening, hearing is very important in God's economy.
Why? How?
☆ Romans 10:17...
"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
"If any man has an ear... let him hear"... is an invitation by God to hear the Word of God in every and any age.
However, we choose to listen or not.
☆ Revelation 13:10...
"He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."
What is being said here?
There will be a payback time (retribution) for the Beast, the false prophet, for Satan and for all those involved in working to destroy the saints in the Great Tribulation.
Satan and his cohorts are not going to get away with executing all their diabolical plans (placing people in captivity and killing them).
"Vengeance is mine!" says the Lord.
"Here is the patience and the faith of the saints,"...
Those who do get saved during this dreadful Tribulation time, will need to be patient and will need to hold firmly onto their faith, because retribution time is coming upon those responsible for this very dark time on the earth.
God is the God of justice and all evil, wickedness and evil doers will receive their just desserts.
Saints of God... hang in there!
7 ■■ WILD BEAST out of the earth... a religious power and a person.
☆ Revelation 13:11...
"And I beheld another Beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a Dragon."
John sees another Beast and this one comes out of the earth.
Remember the first one came out of the sea... the sea representing the peoples of the world.
The "great mob of mankind" today is like the surging and restless sea...
That has always been true.
The earth from which the second Beast comes, is symbolic of Palestine.
It is naturally assumed that that the second Beast will come from Israel. The thought being that he is a messiah, and Israel would not accept him unless he had come from their land and was one of them.
There is a hint in Daniel about this Beast possibly being a Jew...
☆ Daniel 11:37...
"Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
Note, he has two horns like a lamb. This suggests he is an imitation of Christ.
The first Beast is opposed to Christ... he is Antichrist.
The second Beast imitates Christ... he also is Antichrist.
Having two horns he imitates "the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world."
This pretend lamb does not take away the sin of the world... he actually multiplies it in the world.
He comes to do the will of the first Beast.
He is a counterfeit Christ.
Jesus warns us...
☆ Matthew 7:15...
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
This second Beast is the epitome of all false prophets, and he is an Antichrist.
Another warning that Jesus gives...
☆ Matthew 24:24...
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
Dear Christian, be careful not to allow yourself to get over excited with miracles, signs and wonders.
Don't become "followers" of them.
Your faith and your walk with God is not dependent upon them.
Our walk is by faith... not by sight nor by feelings.
Yes, God can and will perform signs and wonders and He will use them for His glory.
We can expect miracles, signs and wonders to follow the preaching of the Gospel. ☆ Mark 16:20...
The warning is that... false prophets and false christs will also use them... and Jesus warns us that if it were possible the very elect can be deceived by them.
The "unholy trinity" is now complete...
□ Satan the Dragon,
□ the Beast out of the sea (political Antichrist) and...
□ the Beast out of the earth (religious Antichrist).
They are unified in death and destruction.
"... and he spoke as a Dragon"...
This Beast is the mouthpiece of Satan.
Pretty scary really... he spoke as a dragon.
Satan is the ventriloquist, the second Beast is the dummy (a very dangerous one at that) and the world is the "sucked in audience."
☆ Revelation 13:12...
"And he exercises all the power of the first Beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first Beast, whose deadly wound was healed."
This terrible second Beast too... is powerful like the first Beast.
He has delegated authority from the first Beast.
He is subservient to him but at the same time is on an equal footing with him.
This Beast is also a charismatic, cunning, calculated smooth talker and is easily able to convince (make) the earth dwellers to worship and idolise the first Beast, that Man of Sin, the last world dictator... capitalising on the deadly wound that was healed.
☆ Revelation 13:13-14...
"And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the Beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the Beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."
This second Beast or the false prophet does amazing whiz bang stuff... great wonders... miracles.
He is able to make fire come down from heaven to the earth in the sight of men.
What he is capable of doing, will make "America's Got Talent" look like kindergarten stuff. Of course the power he has to do these things comes from the Pit itself.
The thing is... he is out to deceive... and he successfully deceives the earth dwellers by means of the miracles that he performs in the sight of the first Beast. These two illusionists (that's my term) work together like a "side show act."
This will be "deadly entertainment" that will suck in the gullible masses.
And people today are ripe for the picking. People today are enthralled (are being conditioned) with TV programmes and movies that are bright, showy, glitzy, noisy, colourful, exciting... whizz bang!
We live in an age where our senses need to be drenched.
The two Beasts will capitalise on this.
His next big announcement will be to make an image of the first Beast... obviously with the intention to make people worship the first Beast.
And note again the mention of the deadly wound that was healed.
He will use this fake restoration-resurrection act as a key point to cause and convince the people to believe him.
And sadly, they will.
It is very likely that this will be the image placed in the holy Temple at Jerusalem... and become what Jesus termed the "abomination of desolation."
☆ Matthew 24:15...
"When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand... "
☆ Daniel 12:11...
"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days."
☆ Revelation 13:15-17...
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the Beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed.
And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
Things continue to get tougher and rougher.
This false prophet, the second Beast, has power to give life to the image of the first Beast.
What he does here will be a very clever "illusion-delusion."
He cannot give true life - real life.
Only God can.
I believe that a combination of very clever technology and media manipulation will be used here to seduce the people.
[Remember the movie "Forest Gump?"]
The earth dwellers will get "sucked in" hook line and sinker.
He can cause the image to speak and... cause those who do not worship the image of the Beast to be put to death.
How diabolical is that?
Tribulation saints watch out!
Where did something similar happen in history back in the past? Remember Nebuchadnezzar and his golden image? ☆ Daniel 3.
Now look at the further fiendish control and power this diabolical second Beast exercises.
He causes ALL people to receive "the" mark "in their right hand" or "in their foreheads"... and... that only these are allowed to buy and sell.
Sound far fetched? Don't think so.
Compulsory Covid vaccinations (2021) has accomplished the same.
No vaccination... no flying, no travel, no visiting etc etc.
Dictators want absolute control.
How do they get it?
Simple: They create a problem. Stir up fear. They give the solution. People accept it. They get the control.
Personally I reckon Covid with all its "trimmings" to be part of a humongous social experiment in fear and control... "preparing" the future earth dwellers to receive the mark of the Beast.
During the Great Tribulation the people who want to buy or sell (food, commodities etc), will need either the mark, the name or the number of the Beast's name.
What mark? What number?
☆ Revelation 13:18...
"Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the Beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."
Many people have had and are still having a field day with this mystical number in this Bible verse...
666!
All we know is that... it is the number of a man... the Beast.
How does this work?
No idea really... there has been much speculation and conjecture about this number... with no real concrete answers.
What it exactly is... won't be fully known until that time in the Tribulation.
I won't be there so it is of no concern to me.
Christian... all the stuff that we have just read and looked at is extremely interesting... but we should not become obsessed with it. And don't fret if you don't understand it all.
The Church is in heaven... not on earth at that time.
However... it should jolt us into telling the unsaved, the lost, about Jesus the Saviour and seeing them get saved so they won't be found on the earth when this terrible judgement time comes to this planet.
As Christians we must always keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our salvation. ☆ Hebrews 12:1-2.
Our focus should never be the Beast, the Antichrist, the number 666, the Tribulation etc etc.
☆ John 10:10...
"The thief (Satan) comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am (Jesus) come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
This is my stance...
☆ 2 Timothy 1:12...
"... for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
Do you know Jesus?
Why is it so important to know Jesus?
Where will you be during the Great Tribulation?
In Heaven or on the earth?
Selah!
So... there we have the 7 main personalities of the Great Tribulation.
Some very interesting information hey?
Next fortnight we look at Revelation chapter 14.
This chapter is a quick preview of what is to come, in which...
▪ we see the Lamb on Mount Zion.
▪ we hear the proclamation of the everlasting Gospel.
▪ we have the pronouncement of judgement upon Babylon.
▪ we have the pronouncement of judgement on those who receive the mark of the Beast.
▪ hear the praise for those who die in the Lord.
▪ we have a preview of Armageddon.