Revelation 13:1-10 – The Antichrist
Rev. 13:1-4 - John
saw a beast coming out of the sea. He
had 10 horns, 7 heads, 7 crowns and each head a blasphemous name. He looked like a leopard with feet like a
bear and a mouth like a lion. The red
dragon gave the beast his power, his throne and his authority. One head seemed to have a fatal wound that
had healed. The world was astonished and
followed him. Men worshiped the dragon
because he had given authority to the beast.
They also worshiped the beast.
The
beast is a man. He is the Antichrist rising
up out of the sea. The sea represents
the nations of the world. The Antichrist
is the false messiah we’ve all heard about that will come someday. He will set himself up as ruler and God. He will be the final ruler of the world. He is also known as the little horn in Daniel 7:8. This will be a time of confusion and
uncertainty and people will be looking for a leader. They will get their wish, but he will be much
more than they bargained for. He will
not protect them, but will be a cruel dictator and demand that all worship him. He opposes Christ and God’s people. He is Satan’s answer to Christ, hence the
name Antichrist (1 John 2:18).
The sea
means large numbers of people. The heads
of the beast show dominion. The 10 horns
show power. He looks like a leopard, a
bear and a lion which refers to the 3 beasts in Daniel 7 representing the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, and
Greece. All these empires come out of
the Roman Empire. We see the beast again
in Rev. 17.
Rev.13:5 – God allowed the
dragon to give the beast authority for 42 months (3 ½ years). The beast spoke proud words and blasphemies
to exercise his authority. He blasphemed
God and slandered His name. He is
granted authority to make war with the saints.
This is the beginning of the Great Tribulation Daniel called the
Abomination of Desolation – also in Matt.
24:15.
Satan
has his own false trinity. He acts as a
father, the Antichrist as the son, and the False Prophet as the spirit who attempts
to bring glory to the Antichrist. The Antichrist
will declare himself as God. He will
have Godlike characteristic, perform miracles, and will deceive many people.
The
last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation is called the Great Tribulation. During these last years the Antichrist will
be a man endowed with demonic powers. During that time he will be Satan
himself.
In Matt. 24:15-21 Jesus warned the
Jews. “So when
you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation
spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the
house. Let no one in the field go back
to get his cloak. How dreadful it will
be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in
winter or on the Sabbath. For then there
will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now –
and never to be equaled again.”
When
the Antichrist stands in the holy place (the temple) and proclaims himself to
be God, there will be world-wide persecution of the Jews greater than ever
before. Daniel calls this abomination of desolation. How will God protect them? It is believed they will flee to a city
called Petra, which is about 90 from Jerusalem.
There many Jews will finally believe in Jesus and be saved.
Rev. 13:7-8 – He
will make war with the saints and all the people on the earth whose name is not
written in the book of life will worship him.
The unbelievers will be deceived in believing he is God. Only those whose names are written in the
book of life will refuse to worship the Beast.
“He will oppose and will exalt himself over
everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in
God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” – 2 Thess. 2:4:11. God’s
people must be strong through suffering.
Many will go to prison or be killed.
They must suffer with patience.
God will save them for their eternal home.
If you
are here during the Great Tribulation, how will you be able to deny taking the
mark?
Will
you stand firm in your faith and trust God to help you?
The book of life – There
are some who believe that there are 2 books – the book of life and the Lamb’s
book of life. There are disagreements
about this, but we really don’t know the right answer. I believe they are the same book. I believe God registered the names of
everyone in this book before the world began.
In this book, He knows who will accept Him. The book belongs to the Lamb. Those who are saved never have their names
removed from this book. If you choose
not to believe in Jesus during your lifetime, your name will be blotted out of
the book of life and you will not go to heaven.
“Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out
of my book.” – Ex. 21:33 “He who overcomes
will, like them, be dressed in white. I
will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his
name before my Father and his angels.” – Rev. 3:5
Some look
at this book as having 3 categories of people:
The
unsaved – all names are written in the book, but if they die before believing
in Jesus their names are blotted out.
The
saved or the elect– all names are written in the book and if they believe in
Jesus their names are retained in the book.
The
beast worshipers in Rev. 13:8 –
these people are hardened and are destined to reject Jesus and their names were
never written in the book.
Again,
we really don’t know since there are scriptures that are used to argue all
points. When it comes down to it, all
that should matter to us is that if we believe in Jesus and stand firm in our
faith, our names are in the Lamb’s book and we will go to heaven when we die.
Do you
think your name is in the book? Why or
why not?
If not,
what will do about it?
The
Bible gives us another warning to not let this go in one ear and out the
other. “He who
has an ear, let him hear.” Rev.
13:9. We are called to have patient
endurance and faithfulness. (Rev.
13:10b) John is saying to pay
attention to what he just said.
Revelation 13:11-18 – The False Prophet
Rev. 13:11-17 – John
saw another beast coming out of the earth.
He had 10 horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. He exercised all authority of the first beast
on his behalf and made all inhabitants of earth worship the first beast. He performed great and miraculous signs,
because he, too was given power to deceive people. He ordered an image of the first beast to be
made and caused it to come alive. He
will demand that all people worship the image.
He will force everyone no matter who they are to receive a mark on their
right hand or forehead so no one can buy or sell unless they have the
mark. This mark is the name of the beast
or the number of his name.
How can
Satan give life? Satan
doesn’t have the power to create life.
Only God can create life. I
believe this giving life to the image will probably be done through modern
technology like holograms or robotics.
Or it may be another one of his miraculous signs that he was given the
power by God to do. What about the
mark of the beast? How can that
be done? This can probably be done
through microchips under the skin, like they do for pets. These chips can be easily scanned or maybe
even traced by satellite. So you can see
we are living in the end times. God’s
judgments are not far away. Are you
ready?
This
second beast is the False Prophet. He
will speak the words of Satan. He will
cause people to worship the Antichrist.
Now Satan’s false trinity is complete.
Christ received His power from the Father (Matt. 11:27). The beast
(Antichrist) and the (second beast) False Prophet received their power from
Satan. The Holy Spirit is the agent on
behalf of Christ (John 16:14). The False Prophet is the agent for the
Antichrist (Rev. 13:12).
Those
who do not worship the Antichrist will be killed – beheaded. See Rev. 20:4. Jesus warns us to watch out for false
prophets in Matthew 7:15. Before the Antichrist comes there will be
many antichrists. Some have already come
and are working in the world today. They
are people who oppose Christ. They try
to destroy who Christ is and what He has done.
They are enemies of the church and of Christians. They hate all those who belong to Him.
How are
you equipped against false prophets and false teaching?
How can
you identify false prophets and false teaching?
“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.” – Rev. 13:18. Sometimes people use numbers instead of
letter for a name. There are many views
about this number, but we really don’t know exactly what this mean.
The mark of the beast – DO
NOT TAKE THIS MARK!! People will need
food for their families so the pressures at this time will be very strong. Jesus will help you to stand strong. If anyone accepts this mark during the
Tribulation he is permanently disqualified for heaven. Give your allegiance to God and not the Antichrist
even if it means death. Remember you
will live forever with Christ in heaven.
This earth is not your home.
Can you
take the mark of the beast accidentally? I don’t think so. To accept the mark you would have to willing
renounce God.
Summary:
The
dragon is Satan.
The 1st
beast from the sea is the Antichrist.
The 2nd
beast from the land is the False Prophet.
The
false trinity is Satan, Antichrist and the False Prophet.
The
mark of the beast is a mark that is forced upon people during the last 3 ½
years in order to buy or sell. Those who
take this mark are renouncing God and will not enter heaven.
The
book of life or Lamb’s book of life is a record of all people written before
the foundation of the world. If you choose
not to believe in Jesus during your lifetime, your name will be blotted out and
you will not go to heaven.
Satan
will mock the Holy Trinity by setting up his unholy trinity in order to deceive
the world.
The work
of Holy Trinity is defined by peace, wisdom, gratitude in our hearts to God,
forgiveness, love, humbleness, faithfulness and thankfulness. The false trinity is defined by war, threats,
fear, dictatorship and authority over people.
Wow! This study is really scary. Remember the Bible is telling us all these
things so we will be knowledgeable and know what is going to happen and we
won’t be surprised - that way we will know exactly what to do and not to
do. We will be able to recognized false
teachings and false prophets and especially be aware of the coming Antichrist
and his agenda. God doesn’t want us to
be deceived. He wants us to be assured
that He wins in the end.
If you
want to study more chapters in Revelation, you will find all of them on my
website. I don’t have all the answers,
no one does. I write about what God has
revealed to me and what I believe. Next
week we will study Revelation 14. Hope to see you here.
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