The Picture of
Two Beasts
– Revelation
Thirteen
–
We have already seen a war in heaven. Satan
lost in the battle with those fighting for the child that brought redemption.
Nothing Satan did could prevent the church from being established and salvation
being made available to mankind. In fact, the early church grew rapidly as many
became Christians. Having failed in destroying the church as a whole Satan now
turns his attention to "the seed of the woman" or to the individual
Christians.
Revelation Thirteen
looks at what the Devil is doing to hinder Christianity and what God is doing
to insure victory for His faithful people. In this section of Scripture we see
that the Devil used the evil powers of
The Devil had been
given a "great sword" with which he could persecute the people of
God. (Revelation 6:3-4) Now the Devil has the civil persecuting power of
The beast out of
the sea – Revelation 13:1-5:
John pictures a beast coming up out of the sea. "And
I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea,
having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his
heads the name of blasphemy." (Revelation 13:1) This sea beast represents
the civil persecuting power of
In Isaiah
The sea beast had
ten horns. Horn represents powers and ten horns represent complete power.
"And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said,
Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the
Syrians, until thou have consumed them." (I Kings
The
power of the sea beast – Revelation 13:6-10: The sea beast was so
powerful that he had caused many to worship
The sea beast was not
all-powerful. The truth is that God is still the sovereign in His universe. The
Devil will never be able to destroy God's faithful people. (Romans 8:31-39) He
will, however, use many methods to destroy the saints. He will use murders,
massacres, and bloody punishments of all sorts. Those not written in the book
of life will worship him. It is through the sacrifice of the life of Christ
that victory over Satan is possible.
The expression
"If any man have an ear, let him hear" is
found several times in the book of Revelation. Here it has specific reference
to recognizing God's enemy and the followers of this enemy, and avoiding them
completely. The enemies of God must be avoided because they will certainly be
overthrown. If they live by the sword, by the sword they will die. The
essential thing is for God's people to simply hold fast regardless of the
circumstances.
The beast out of
the earth – Revelation 13:11-14:
The beast out of the earth was Emperor worship or false religion. This earth beast had two horns
"like to the Lamb." The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. This is
a picture of one attempting to take His place. The lamb being a picture of
religious sacrifice, therefore the land beast had the outward appearance of
religion. The problem was that it was false religion.
This earth beast spoke
spake as a dragon. His sound was the damning, horrible sound of Satan. The
proud, arrogant tone of this beast gave the appearance of greatness, as from
God. This beast has all the authority of the Roman government. The wicked power
of
The Devil also used
false sings and wonders to deceive the righteous. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 says,
"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with
all power, signs, and lying wonders." The Devil used seemingly great,
lying wonders to draw people to false worship. The Devil even desired that they
would make an image of the beast and worship it.
The
mark of the beast – Revelation 13:15-18: The mark of the beast takes us
back to look at the problem of economic discrimination. The Devil desired to
control the ability of man to make a living and to control his thought process.
Thus the mark was on his right hand and his forehead. God had sealed His people
and the Devil had marked his.
God's number is
seven. Six is a number that promises greatness but always falls short. The
further man moves from God the further he moves from perfection. Man has moved
many steps from His maker. But thankfully the book of Revelation does not end
with such a hopeless picture. Remember God's faithful people win!
God's destructive
power will come against those that do not obey the gospel and serve Him
faithfully. To obey the gospel one must hear God's truth (Romans