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| Chapter 13 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And I stood upon the sand of the sea. And I 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. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw that one of his heads was, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" 5 And there was given unto him a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindred's, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear: 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killed with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 11 ¶ And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 12 And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him; and he caused the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceived them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and lived. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause to be killed as many as would not worship the image of the beast. 16 And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, 17 that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom: Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six. |
v1-10 The First Beast. We return to events on the earth and John saw a beast rise out of the sea, the sea representing the Gentile nations Rev 17:15. From one of these Satan will bring out a super leader, who we call the "Antichrist." This leader has been head of a ten nation European association, now, under Satan’s instruction he is to become a world dictator. The Antichrist began as a "man of peace" Rev 6:2, and had "sorted out" the Arab-Israeli problem by making a seven year protection plan for Israel Dan 9:27. This allows the rebuilding of the temple, restoration of the worship Rev 11:1. However, in the middle of this period he breaks the contract, stops the worship and sets himself up as ‘god’ in the temple. Dan 9:27; 2 Thess 2:1-12. Though this "beast" is a man v18, God reveals him to John as a terrible vicious animal, controlled by Satan. Originally having come out of the pit Rev 11:7; Rev 17:8. The seven heads represent seven mountains Rev 17:9 and seven kings or kingdoms Rev 17:10. Since Rome was the ‘world power’ in the time of John, and was built upon seven hills, the beast will be head of a revived ‘Roman empire.’ The ten horns represent ten nations or kingdoms Dan 7:24; Rev 17:12, the "United States of Europe." v3,v12,v14 The antichrist will receive a fatal wound, but will survive. This will cause the world to wonder who he is and the source of his power. Rev 17:8. v4,5 The people now turn to worship the dragon who gave power to the beast. They think that these two cannot be defeated. Yet Satan can do nothing without the permission of God, (Job 1-2). The power is only given for 42 months, (3 1/2 years) the last half of the tribulation. v6-8 This person will be able to speak great words, mesmerizing the people but is now also making blasphemies against God, the temple and those in heaven. He is also fighting and destroying the saints and having great power over those who were not Christians who have turned to give him worship, just as Satan has always wanted. Matt 4:8-10. The beast came up from the pit and also appears to be one of the seven kings Rev 17:11 who died and went to hell, but also the eighth. Does God allow Satan to bring a person back to life? Satan does seem to have great power as he gives life to an idol. v15. See also Daniel 7:19-28 where Daniel had a similar vision. The saints will be attacked but will have great patience and faith. v11-18 The Second Beast. A second beast comes up from the earth, he has two horns like a lamb. In Rev 16:13; Rev 19:20; Rev 20:10 he is called "the false prophet." We now have the evil version of the Trinity. Satan the counterfeit Father, the first beast the counterfeit Christ and now the false prophet is the counterfeit Holy Spirit. The false prophet will have the character of a lamb but speak like a dragon. The two horns suggests authority, but the lack of a crown suggests that he is not political. The false prophet will encourage worship of the first beast, performing "great wonders" v13,14. He encourages the construction of an image of the first ‘beast’ and gives some sort of life to it, making it able to speak and destroy any who do not worship it. Not satisfied with false religion the false prophet now introduces financial and economic control. Everyone, except believers, will be given a special mark, the name or number of "the beast." The number ‘666.’ Many Bible students have tried to work out the significance of this number. Many languages, old and modern, have numerical numbers used in place of the alphabet. The most obvious modern one is the computer languages which use numbers throughout to represent letters, and today the use of computer systems to control commerce is very common. The number six represents a "human number" just short of perfection. When the above situation occurs it will be obvious to those present. Do not be part of it. |
Easy English Translation
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