Chapter 13 introduces us to the
picture of the anti-Christian power and its anti-christian kingdom with its anti-christian king in our world ! These are important words. Hear the
exhortation from Jesus through
John : " If anyone has an ear , let him hear" ! ( v.9) The Holy Spirit says that it is of greatest importance , therefore let us hear so that we may understand and receive
strength to stand in the evil day.
A Word of
Clarification:
I have just used the word “anti-christ”. But John in this Revelation never actually uses the term "anti-Christ". He only
uses this term in his epistles (1 Jn.
2:18,22; 4:3 ; 2 Jn. 7). "Anti"
actually means not so
much ‘against‘ as "in
the place of (Christ)", thus introducing the element of deception. [1]
Why are
we then making reference
to the anti-christ?
In Chapter 13 we
are introduced to two
beasts. The first beast (13: 1 - 10)
is said to come out of the sea, and
the second beast (13:11- 18) is said to come out of the earth.
It is to that first beast that I now want to draw your attention, for that
beast closely resembles what the prophet
Daniel speaks about in Daniel 7 - the 4th beast – “terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong”(Dan 7:7) who “shall speak words against the Most High, and shall
wear out the saints of the Most High… and they shall be given into his hand for
a time, times and half a time.” (Dan
7:25). This beast also resembles what the apostle
Paul speaks about in 2 Thess. 2:3 when he speaks about the "man of lawlessness, the son of
destruction , who opposes and exalts himself
against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to
be God" . This same one is also what the apostle John refers to in His letters when he speaks about the anti-Christ, as
indicated earlier.
That first beast out of the sea
bears the marks of the anti-christ, and that is why I am using this term here.
THE BEAST
OUT OF THE SEA : A DESCRIPTION
What does this picture of the beast
tell us ? I remind you once again
that this is highly symbolic language.
a. The sea is said to be the source out of which the beast arises.
What does this mean?
This refers to the sea of people
and of nations as they live on the earth and under the power
and principle of sin. The sea is symbolic of restlessness . We read of the sea in that sense more than
once in scripture:
i. Isa. 57:20 : “But
the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and
dirt.”
ii.
Dan. 7:2,3 : “Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four
winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts
came up out of the sea, different from one another.” The entire context here shows us that the
troubled sea of nations is meant here.
iii.
Rev. 17:15,16
gives us perhaps the clearest clear picture of this fact : “And the angel said to me, “The waters
that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes
and nations and languages. And the 10
horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute…” .
These texts help us to see that this beast finds its origin, source,
birthplace among the peoples, the nations and languages of this world - all which
are under the principle and power of sin.
b. A
description of the beast : This grotesque creature bears a
close resemblance to its father - the
dragon (the devil) who is described in 12:3
. The beast, like his father the devil, has 10
horns and seven heads - and seven diadems on each head. Each head has a blasphemous name. The general
appearance is like a leopard. The
feet resemble that of a bear
and the mouth that of a lion. ( Note: it
combines a all the features of the 4
beasts in Daniel 7:1-8) . The beast is said to
have received “his (the
dragon’s) power and his throne
and great authority” (12:2)."
There is another interesting
detail : “one of its heads seemed to
have a
mortal wound, but its mortal wound
was healed.” (13:3).
As we look at this beast with similar features to the dragon, we might therefore
say that this "anti-christ" is the 'devil - incarnate’ – the son of the devil! The devil
is an evil imitator of all that our God is and does. He tries to stand in the place of Christ!
What about these symbolic details? Once again we must depend on the rest of Scripture to help us:
1. Take note
once again of Daniel 7 and the four
beasts. What is the meaning of the beasts there? The angel who reveals this prophecy to Daniel also
gives him the key. He interprets the beasts as both, kings and kingdoms (cf.
Dan 7:15ff). "The
4 great beasts are four kings /kingdoms… v.17". In v.19 Daniel desired to know the truth about the 4th
beast which was different from all the rest (v.23). It is evident that this
4th beast represents a
great political world power , headed by a great leader. There has always been a
controversy as to whether the anti-Christ is a person or a political system. It is obviously both!
2. Take note that the 10 horns
are, as always in Scripture, symbols of power - finite power - only 10 -
man's number. The 7 heads (7 -
number of perfection) must not fool us. They are Satan's imitations. The
names of blasphemy are written upon them.
This beast will be the
culmination of Satanic beastliness and control when compared to other historical world
powers, kings and kingdoms. This time, it is clear that this anti -christian
king and his kingdom are not limited to
one nation as was the case in
Daniel's time, where the 4 kingdoms would have referred to the Babylonians,
Medo- Persians , the Greek and Roman empires. Rev
13:7 indicates that the beast was “allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer
them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation…". This beast is the sum-total of all incarnate
evil powers and has a world wide
influence!
3. We note that one of the heads had been
mortally wounded - but is now healed (13:3) . What does this mean? One of the
most obvious connections is Genesis 3:15, where the Lord God says to Satan as
he has tempted the man towards sin and disobedience: “He (Messiah) shall bruise your
head, and you shall bruise his heel”. There is however in the immediate context an immediate application . This head
must be one of the kingdoms that had suffered a fatal blow , but from which it
had miraculously recovered. Some
commentators say that this refers to the Roman
empire.[2]
If so, this would have made particular sense to John's
readers . In AD 68 , the cruel Roman emperor Nero, a noted persecutor of the Christians had committed suicide . It was then rumoured that Nero had actually revived - but there is no proven substance to
this. Others say, that although Nero's
death was a deep blow to the Roman
empire (for their Caesars were treated and considered as gods) , the next emperor Domitian continued to persecute Christians as vehemently as did
Nero. It almost seemed as if the Roman empire and their ‘heads’ were
invincible. Rome seemed invincible until
476 AD when the barbarian king
Odoacer overthrew the city of Rome .
We might
also observe that in the time of the
anti-christ (that is for 42 months
(v.5) - the gospel/ church age) he
has received numerous death blows through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Think of it
this way : the gospel plunders and wounds the kingdom of the anti-Christ. All
over the world the gospel is flourishing among the nations, and people from
every tribe, tongue and nations are
being redeemed , plundered from Satan's kingdom by the power of the gospel, and they will find their names written in the
Lamb's book of life. However, we also read
(and have read in Ch. 11:1-10
), that there will be a time, when the gospel witness will be virtually non -
existent, because the 2 witnesses (i.e. true preachers of the gospel and the
true church) will lie slain in the street. Verse
7 affirms this again . It will seem
as if the head fatally wounded would be healed. It seems as if
anti-christ appears to be whole , flourishing and advancing !
THE POWER OF
THE BEAST:
His
power is derived from Satan. "and to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.” (13:2);
"He is given a mouth to
utter proud words and blasphemies" (13:5).
"It was allowed to make war
against the saints, and to conquer them (note there will be Christians on
earth at this time of tribulation !). He
was given authority over every tribe, people , language and nation."
(13:7).
Why does the
dragon do this? You see, the devil is also a spirit. He
cannot establish an earthly throne in person. He needs a human agent. At one time he tried to get the Lord Jesus Christ to become his
spokesman , by offering Him to have dominion over all the kingdoms of this
world , if only He would bow down to Satan. But the Lord Jesus rebuked
Satan (Matt 4:9-11). Now as
we consider chapter 13: 1, the incarnation of this evil son of Satan arrives – probably in the form of a very powerful political systems and rulers.
One's imagination may be tempted to run away at this time. I am simply asking
as we consider this in our own time ,
which is a part of the end times? What
is that organisation , or political
power at this time that would most fulfil the criterion of being a global
power? And isn't globalisation a
key word today? "New world order?" The Human rights movement is fast becoming a
world- wide cover - up for evil minority groups to spread their anti-Christian
bias , as seen is a number of current hot potatoes such as homosexuality , feminism and abortion and
euthanasia etc. . What about the new age religions which are an attempt to make
all religions one ?
The one thing which is very clear
about this beast is this : it is anti-God (v.
6) and anti-saints (v.7)
Furthermore , it is quite clear that the beast enjoys tremendous popularity! (vv. 3b, 4,8). It seems as if
the whole world will be going after this anti-Christ.
THE RESPONSE
OF THE SAINTS
Almost all will worship the beast! All , except those
whose name has been written before the
foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain ! (v.8)
What a wonderful text with which
to come to the Communion table this morning .
It seems that the time of the
anti-christ is unbearably hard for
Christians . Many of us would be asking: “
How then can I stand in my faith?” The
answer is simple and plain : “ you will stand!” Why can
we be so sure of this ? Because of what the Scriptures says here:
Your name is in that book of Life
( which is not an afterthought , but a forethought of God - see also Eph. 1:4!). God
foreknows all His elect people. And from the creation of the world , God
has known you and has
written your name in that
wonderful book of life, and in time He sealed
it through the precious blood of
the Lamb shed on the cross . It is recorded there and sealed with the blood of the lamb. And so
we read Romans 8:35 - 39 to confirm
this !
What then is
left for us to consider?
Just these closing words : vv. 9,10 ,11 !
Yes, these times in which we are living, in which Satan has
been thrown down to the earth ( Rev. 12) are difficult.
Some will go into captivity. The restlessness of the world has caused untold millions of people to become
displaced ; many have been killed in that process . But we must not be unsettled . Patient
endurance and faithfulness are called for. All this must be. But so is the coming day of our
Lord Jesus. Look to Him !
Amen!
[1] Note : In so doing the anti-Christ portrays the nature of the devil
, who is a deceiver and a murderer.
[2] The Roman Empire began whenAugustus Caesar became
the first emperor of Rome (31 BC) and ended, in the west, when the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic King Odoacer (476 AD).
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