Bob Allen

Revelation 13-b

Questions to ask in Revelation Thirteen: Part Two

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 in 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.

 

 

 

  1. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about Jesus? – This passage is setting the stage for the next section of the book, but it shows us who Jesus will be defeating in the final battle.  If we look ahead at this battle, we can see that this one who claims to be god will have not a whisper of hope for victory when he is confronted by Jesus.  We will join Jesus in the clouds but we are there just as observers.  No reason to bring your sword Peter, this battle belongs to God.
  2. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the church?  At this time, the church is in heaven and only the tribulation saints are on the earth, along with the 144,000 witnesses.  If you consider the tribulation saints, consider how they will be able to resist the Dragons of Chapter 13.
  3. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the world? The world is obviously ripe for a single leader who will bring all the nations of the earth together and under a single religious banner.  We are usually attracted by the things we want, they have desired anyone but God for years.
  4. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the Evil One?   He is deceptive and he has a plan to undermine the worship of God during this time when humanity is particularly susceptible to deception.  Satan also longs to make a mockery of the things that God does.  Not only is Satan a deceiver, he is not very real creative, in that he often copies something or someone that God has already used.
  5. Can you see Christ’s Mercy towards humanity in the passage? There is a case to be made that since man was created, Satan has tried to deceive.  The fact that any of us know Christ should strike us as remarkable.
  6. Can you see Christ’s judgment of disobedience? It’s coming.  But not in this passage.

Thoughts:  Verse one is better linked with Chapter 12 than Chapter 13.
• Notice the differences between the description of the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet.  One comes that looks very fierce but the other comes with the appearance of a lamb.   One comes with power, the other with a softer voice, but no less persuasive.  It is the difference between the beast who is described as a Leopard, Bear and Lion and the beast who is described as a lamb. There appears to be a difference in their methods but conformity in their message.  And the world will be deceived by the manner in which the message is delivered.  No one seems capable of discerning truth through the lens of the Bible during this time.  If you don’t believe we are approaching this time, you might be related to Rip Van Winkle. (He slept for 20 years, maybe you prefer Sleeping Beauty for 100 years.)
• There is clearly a distinction between these two beasts.  And these are the two that will be cast into the pit.  These are not systems, but people who will be used by Satan for his purposes.
• The Antichrist is primarily a political and military leader, the false prophet is a religious leader, and together they create a united unholy union whose goal is to deceive everyone on the planet.

Outline:

  1. 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.   See previous notes.
  2. The Beast from the Earth – In Rev. 16:13 he is called the false prophet, Rev. 19:20 and Rev. 20:10
    1. It comes from the Earth – and has the appearance of a lamb but the voice of the dragon.
    2. Exercises all the authority of the first beast. There is a tendency to evaluate things from their origins or from their looks.  Both would be an error in this case, because the False Prophet might appear as a lamb but his words are dragon inspired.
    3. Makes all the earth worship the first beast – this will be his passion, to demand those who dwell on the earth worship the first beast, or the anti-Christ.
    4. Performs great signs, even fire come from heaven –
      1. There is a lot of reflection about what are they imitating? Some say Elijah, others Pentecost.  But this idea comes from people who are familiar with the Bible.  In the most recent past from this time perspective, the world has seen the two witnesses.  I think it makes more sense to see this as an imitation of the two witnesses.
    5. He is the deceiver of those on the earth – appears like a lamb but speaks the message of Satan. Scary stuff for those who are easily deceived.  At this time in history people will desperately need hope.  Satan will be the only one who has it, even if his is a false hope.
    6. He gives breath to the image of the beast – through trickery or through actual demonic empowered magic, the False Prophet gets the created image of the beast to come to life. He breaths and speaks.  Not only that, but this image pronounces a death sentence on all who will not worship the anti-Christ.  I find it interesting the world’s sense of values, that in this case, they will kill believers who will not worship the beast but even now, many non-believers find it horrible that there anything that is punishable by death.  Not only will they carry out those death sentences to believers but they are taking orders from a statue.
    7. Causes all to take the mark of the beast on their forehead. I am told, through preachers and commentaries, that this mark of the beast is something like a badge of honor among the “earth dwellers” of the tribulation.  In other words, people will want to have the mark.  They aren’t going to hold people down and force it upon them, but it will be act of volition.  By choice.  Maybe out of convenience?  But everyone will have a choice and only believers will resist the “honor” of getting the mark of the beast.
      1. Notice the scope of his reach – the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves. Said to cover the importance of all, the range of all economical classes, and the range of all social classes
    8. Restricts commerce without the mark – can you imagine how much has to be given up to avoid this mark? The best known image I have is what the Jews went through after Nazi invasions of various countries.  They had to smuggle and find what they needed to survive.  How do you find medicine, money, gasoline, food?  In Rev 14:9, Rev 15:2 and Rev 16:2, we read about traits of those with the mark.
    9. The number of the beast is 666 – there are so many theories about this. Just the other day (Monday Feb 5) the stock market dropped 666 pts.  Whenever I hear about a secret understanding about or around this number, I tend to close my ears.   Remember 2 Thess 2:1-12.  You don’t want to be around when the anti-Christ is finally revealed.  You should be planning to be a part of the church in heaven.  So stop trying to figure it out – because if you get your answer, you’re in need of some quick repentance and you have a tough road ahead. Meaning, you are in the tribulation.