Rev 13:1-4 And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4 Men 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 make war against him?" NIV
- Who is the beast? He is the Antichrist, the leader of the new one world government
- The next thing is to gain worldwide religious control. There are three obstacles: Ecclesiastical Babylon, the two witnesses (already discussed the killing of the two witness in chapter 11), and the Jews (already discussed the attack on the Jews in Chapter 12)
- What has happened to the beast? He has a fatal wound but comes back to life which completes the deception (a counterfeit multiplicity of names, a counterfeit virgin birth, a counterfeit god-man, and a counterfeit death and resurrection (Fruchtenbaum, 2003))
- And now, he also gains the worship of the whole world (vs 3-4)
Rev 13:5-8 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. NIV
- This completes the description of his control of the whole world and the worship of Satan by the entire world. This is every maniacal world leader's goal, and Satan is allowed to achieve it
Rev 13:9-10 9 He who has an ear, let him hear. // 10 If anyone is to go into captivity, // into captivity he will go. // If anyone is to be killed with the sword, // with the sword he will be killed. // This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. NIV
- This is a warning to the world and a comfort to the saints about justice. Whatever happens to them, will be returned upon their persecutors
Rev 13:11-18 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 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. 16 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, 17 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.
18 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. NIV
- Where does the second beast come from? The earth, therefore he is human
- His voice betrays his true nature? He speaks like the dragon and is an agent of Satan
- This is the false prophet. What is his mission?
- He operates as a counterfeit Holy Spirit, calling the world the Antichrist and the dragon
- He can perform miracles and gives life to an image of the Antichrist
- And while he cannot indwell each person individually, he forces every person to receive a mark (for the Christian, everyone is sealed with the HS)
- What is this mark?
- It is the name of the beast
- It is the number of his name
- It is the number of the beast
- It is a man's number
- It is 666
- We can't be sure. There are a number of theories. One is that each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet is assigned a number, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 200, 300, 400. If we use the Hebrew version, and the numbers add up to 666, then that should identify the Antichrist
Mid Tribulation Announcements:
Rev 14:6-20 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."
"Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. NIV
- Three last warnings to those who will receive the mark
- God is the one to worship
- The apostate religion is dead
- A warning against receiving the mark
- The final judgment is coming
- Additionally,
- The breaking of the seven year covenant, Dan 9:27
- The abomination that cause desolation
- Dan 12:11
- Matt 24:15-16
- 2 Thess 2:3-4
- Next week: The second half of the tribulation
- APPLICATION: How do we apply this?
- Who do we worship really? Is it a thing, a person, a feeling, …
- Why do we worship, really? Is it our parent's thing or the way we grew up, or …
- How can we change the focus of our worship?
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