Questions to ask in Revelation Thirteen: Part One
The Beast from the Sea
13 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
The Beast from the Earth
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform kin the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about Jesus? – There are still hits that Jesus is in charge when we are told that Satan will be given authority. Given by who? By the One who has all authority over heaven and earth. Do note that this kind of evil has built into it its own destruction.
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the church? That even though the tribulation period is terrible, God is guarding over His saints in verse 8, where He says those whose name is written in the Book of Life will not worship the beast.
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the world? They will be deceived, most likely because they have a need to find redemption or peace in something, in this case, just a lessor thing and inevitably, the wrong thing.
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the Evil One? He remains a powerful, deception force even when things are horribly difficult. Used to be that people cried out to God when things got bad, but at this point in humanity, they look to the anti-Christ. Also, note that he will be able to do something no one could, broker peace in the Middle East. Notice also what Satan gives (There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.)
- Can you see Christ’s Mercy towards humanity in the passage? He is protecting the saints from being deceived, even if their lives are in danger.
- Can you see Christ’s judgment of disobedience? He seems willing to let it mature and handle it when the time is right.
Thoughts: Verse one is better linked with Chapter 12 than Chapter 13.
• These two beasts (one from the sea, the other from earth) are thought to be the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet.
• We seek peace in the Middle East, the anti-Christ will find a solution and will be hailed a leader because of this solution. Most of the presidents our lifetime have sought to do this, and maybe this is showing everyone how hard it is. Jimmy Carter thought he could bring peace to the Middle East. Ronald Reagan tried. Bill Clinton tried as well. The Bush administration tried and yet, it ended with missiles flying through the air above Gaza. Obama, don’t remember him trying unless it was just something presidents do. Trump is willing to add his efforts to the list but unless the time is right and the person is Satan’s leaders, I’m not sure it will happen. At least not while the church remains here on this planet.
• The difference between the Anti-Christ, and the spirit of the Anti-Christ. The apostle John wrote that the spirit of antichrist was already at work – in the first century (I John 2:18). The spirit of antichrist has been alive in every century since. The spirit of antichrist – that is, the Satanically engineered systems of our world that blaspheme the name of God, that oppose the work of Christ and His church, that attempt to drown out the truth of God’s word – is here.
• What is it in the heart of mankind that wants to unify the nations of the world? Not thought about that much. But remember the tower of Babel?
Outline:
- The Beast from the Sea – the compelling driving issue of Satan is to be above God, so when he gets kicked out of heaven, he determines to get all of the earth to worship him. In order to accomplish this, he must find a person to work through, hence the anti-Christ.
- He comes from the sea
- Dressed with Ten horns and Seven Heads – this refers to the ten kingdoms that will make up the ruling kingdom of the last times. (Rev 17:12-13)
- What was it like?
- Like a Leopard
- Feet like a Bear
- Mouth like a lion
- Empowered by the Dragon with power and authority
- How are people deceived?
- One the heads is slain and then healed (same word that was used for the Lamb in Rev 5, that was slain) –scholars are divided btw real or faked death.
- The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast
- They worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast
- The beast blasphemies God – In this case, the act of blaspheme is demanding worship of Satan over God.
- The beast makes war with the saints.
- He has authority over them – but only for 42 months. Which implies it was God that permitted the authority. God must also then, give him a mouth to blaspheme.
- The world falls in step with worshipping him, except those who are believers in Christ
- The Beast from the Earth –
- It comes from the Earth
- Exercises all the authority of the first beast.
- Makes all the earth worship the first beast
- Performs great signs, even fire come from heaven
- He is the deceiver of those on the earth
- He gives breath to the image of the beast
- Causes all to take the mark of the beast on their forehead.
- Restricts commerce without the mark
- The number of the beast is 666