Revelation. Chapter 13 - The Two Beasts

Transcription

1 Revelation Chapter 13 - The Two Beasts

2 Week Date Topic 1 09 Sep 15 Review and Chapter 11: Two Witnesses and the Seventh 2 16 Sep 15 Trumpet Chapter 12: The Woman and the Dragon 3 23 Sep 15 Chapter 13: The Two Beasts 4 30 Sep 15 Chapter 14: The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion 5 07 Oct 15 Chapter 15: A Scene in Heaven 6 14 Oct 15 Chapter 16: The Seven Bowls of Wrath 7 21 Oct 15 Chapter 17: The Doom of Babylon 8 28 Oct 15 Chapter 18: Babylon is Fallen 9 04 Nov 15 Chapter 19: The Lord Almighty Reigns Nov 15 Chapter 20: The Second Death Nov 15 Chapter 21: A New Heaven and a New Earth Nov 15 Chapter 22: Final Admonitions

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5 Revelation 12 - Review Chapter 12 is of crucial importance in the overall message of Revelation It introduces the second half of Revelation The first half (Ch 1-11) focuses on the struggle between Rome and the church The second half (Ch 12-22) focuses on the spiritual war going on behind the scenes the war between Christ and Satan The primary purpose of chapter 12 is to introduce the God s archenemy the devil Keep in mind that it was not so much Rome that hated the Christians but the devil; however, he gladly used Rome as a tool to persecute Christians We learn that the devil is synonymous with that which is evil and runs counter to the message of Christ

6 A Voice In Heaven (Revelation 12:10-12) Verses 10 through 12 celebrate the devil s defeat The voice (12:10) Most likely coming from heavenly chorus since the word our is used. It first announces the fruits of victory Announces the defeat of the devil - "the accuser" The source of the victory (12:11) The victory was won and the faithful overcame because of the blood shed by the Lamb's sacrifice A secondary source of victory as well Man's willing desire to submit to God and follow through in faith, each individual will decide whether they will take advantage of the gift of salvation Two aspects of a faithful Christian's life are mentioned as well Victory over satan because of the word of their testimony They faithfully preached Jesus and the Gospel message to all! Double message (12:12) Victory over satan is cause for rejoicing, but beware!

7 Dragon and Woman at War (Rev 12:13-17) The devil is engaged in a battle he can never win (12:13) Remember, the woman represents the church Here we see the devil going about persecuting the church Wings of an eagle - God's protection (12:14) Ex. 19:4; Is 40:31 Wilderness represented many things (not easy, freedom, way to the promised land) But the serpent was not about to give up even though the woman (the church) was protected by God! (12:15) Even when things look bleak for the church, that God s protection is there...sometimes in the most unexpected ways and places (12:16) In having failed at destroying the church, the devil goes off to destroy the members (the offspring) of the church he is now enraged! (12:17) We know the church itself is indestructible, but the members are not

8 Chapter 13 Overview The primary purpose of Chapter 13 is to introduce two creatures Both are allies of the dragon, otherwise known as the devil Chapter 12 ends with a clear indication that the devil intended to make war with the woman s children (the church) Chapter 13 gives details as to how he plans to do this Agents who he could manipulate for his purposes The sea beast vs 1-10 The land beast vs We know this is true of Satan through history: The snake in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3) The Roman Empire in the days of John and the Revelation Today, it is no different governments, courts, friends, family even us sometimes when we allow it!

9 The Beast From The Sea (Rev 13:1-10) A beast emerges from the sea (vs 1) This is the same beast that is briefly mentioned in Rev. 11:7 Came forth from the abyss Killed the two witnesses Appears again in Chapter 17 In the rest of Revelation, the sea beast is referred to as simply the beast while the land beast, his partner, is called the false prophet He appears to be able to blaspheme God without consequence at first The beast s description is similar to the four beasts depicted in Daniel s vision in Daniel 7:2-27 The fours beasts in Daniel represented the current and future powers of the world: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome For the Christians of the 1st century church and of today, the beast represents anti-christian political power

10 The Beast From The Sea (Rev 13:1-10) The wound on the best symbolically meant that the anti-christian powers sometimes appeared on their death bed, but revived and came back even stronger - Rome is the example (vs. 3) The acceptance of the beast (and thereby the dragon/satan) by the world made it even more difficult for Christians who resisted (vs. 4) The beast was given a voice and power to wage war against the Christians (vs. 5-7) Blasphemies against God most likely the lies that were spread about the church during the first century even today! The Book of Life (vs. 8-9) The record of the faithful, a reminder to faithful Christians that God would not forget This verse reminds us of a very important fact: There are spiritually only two classes of people on the earth Those that are in the Book of Life (believer) Those that aren t in the Book of Life (unbeliever) Ref: Ps 69:28, Dan 12:1-4 and Rev 3:5 No matter what comes or what happens, holy people must endure and be faithful. (vs. 10) Following the beast does not require perseverance following Christ does!

11 The Beast From The Earth (Rev 13:11-18) When the creature comes onto the scene, he looks surprisingly harmless even innocent (vs 11-12) He had two horns like a lamb However, his appearance was deceptive as when he speaks he gives away his true nature Elsewhere in Revelation, this beast is called the false prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10) The second beast s primary function was to persuade everyone to worship the first beast (i.e. Roman Empire in the 1st century) In John's day, who was the first beast and who was the second beast? Rome and its' leaders Today? Force that oppose Christ and its' leaders While the second beast could coerce, his greatest strength appeared to be his ability to deceive (vs 13)

12 The Beast From The Earth (Rev 13:11-18) The beast from the land land was only able to deceive those who dwell on the earth or the non-believers (vs. 14) While Revelation as a whole (not to mention the Bible as a whole) does not rule out that Christians can even be deceived if they allow their minds to be set on things below and not things above, this passage seems to emphasize that the strongest grip is on those who are most easily persuaded those whose hearts are focused on the things of the earth and not on God Another of the second beasts signs would be giving breath to the image of the [first] beast so that the image of the beast would even speak. (vs 15) He also appeared to have the power to cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed" The "Mark" has been interpreted in many ways (vs 16) In the context of Revelation, the mark is the counterpart a counterfeit of the seal of God (revisit Chapter 7) The seal indicated that the saved belonged to God and were protected by Him; the mark indicated those who (still) belonged to the beast and looked to him for protection.

13 The Beast From The Earth (Rev 13:11-18) Those that followed and worshipped the beast (Rome) would be rewarded financially and socially, those that did not would suffer (persecution) (vs. 17) Those who chose God and refused the Empire would be made to suffer for their choice It was a bleak economic life for Christians and their families Applications abound in the world today The call to action is to pay close attention as those who would wisely discern the truth of the message would be comforted by what was to come next (vs 18) The number of the beast, 666 Many opinions, no one is for certain Most likely, it designations imperfection or deception, 6 not being 7, repeated three times, meaning imperfection or deception to the highest degree Think of the three "woes" or its converse "holy, holy, holy"

14 Chapter 13 Summary The primary purpose of Chapter 13 is to introduce two creatures, one from the sea and one from the land Both are allies of the dragon, otherwise known as the devil Chapter 12 ends with a clear indication that the devil intended to make war with the woman s children (the church) Chapter 13 gives details as to how he plans to do this Agents who he could manipulate for his purposes The sea beast vs 1-10 The land beast vs We know this is true of Satan through history: The snake in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3) The Roman Empire in the days of John and the Revelation Today, it is no different governments, courts, friends, family even us sometimes when we allow it! As Christians, we must avoid the temptations and allure of the message of the two beasts - we do this by focusing upon God