Hello friends,
We are getting ever closer to the Final Judgment.
In this study we see the dividing lines drawn even more clearly. Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet - the Unholy Trinity - continue to plot (in vain) to overthrow the Almighty, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Also, we see Satan's strategy unfold. He will prop up the Antichrist who will deceive the willing nations, and be worshipped by them. In all, the ungodly fall deeper and deeper into the trap of sin and rebellion.
Let me know what you think or if you have any questions. May God bless you as you read and respond to His Word. - Kirk McCormick
The Revelation
War in Heaven – Part 2
Revelation 12:13-13:18
** We are getting set
for the final battle.
** In our last study,
we are introduced, again, to the key characters: Jesus (i.e.: the Son), Satan (i.e.: The Dragon or the Accuser), and the People of
God (specifically, Israel – the “Woman”)
** Jesus has all
authority in all of Creation and in Heaven to complete the salvation and
redemption plan of the Father. So, the beginning of that plan was to kick Satan
out of heaven, plummeting him to earth and the Pit.
12:13-17 – Satan plots war against God’s People
** Satan’s (i.e.: the Dragon…later called the Serpent) strategy: “If I cannot take over God’s house (i.e.:
heaven) then I’ll destroy his family.”
Application: This attack is proof that persecution of God’s
people is a spiritual matter, not one of the “flesh”.
Ephesians 6:12 – “For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces
of evil in the
heavenly realms.”
“Woman was given two wings” = symbolic of swift flight to
safety and powerful protection of God while in the wilderness
Exodus 19:4 – “You
yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’
wings and brought you to myself.”
Isaiah 40:31 – “Those
who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like
eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
·
Note: This attack and safety lasts half of the
Tribulation. This is the same as
previous teachings in Revelation (11:2, 11:3, 12:6).
“Serpent spewed water like a river” = the chaos and
persecution Satan will bring to the earth… perhaps through natural disaster,
but not necessarily exclusively.
·
Satan is so full of venom that he “spews” it all
over God’s people.
·
Interestingly, the Old Testament uses “floods”
as a metaphor for times of Trouble and Persecution
Psalm 32:6 – “Let everyone who is
godly pray to you while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.”
Isaiah 43:2 – God says, “When you
pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the
rivers, they will not sweep over you.”
·
Note: v.
15 – “…sweep her away…” (from “potamos” =
river)…caught up/swept up like is a whirlwind
** Idea: Satan will flood the earth
with anger, persecution, chaos for the sole purpose of punishing God’s people, regardless
of the collateral damage. But he’ll be
unsuccessful
“Rest of her offspring” = non-Jewish believers (i.e.:
Christians, in our day)
·
“Offspring” = seed…as in Genesis 3:15 – the
woman’s seed will trample on the serpent
Recap: Satan is the chief culprit of the Tribulation.
·
His purpose is to usurp God as ruler of the
earth since he was rejected in heaven.
·
Thus, the more Satan throws at God’s people, the
more frustrated he becomes because God’s people are protected.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew
16:18 – “…and the gates of Hades will
not overcome it.” Here we have a
fulfillment of Jesus’ promise of protection.
Application: From this initial passage on the destructive
work of Satan during the Tribulation we can…:
1.
…expect that some of the devil’s attacks on you
will come as false accusations.
2.
…conquer the devil by the blood of the Lamb and
the word of your testimony.
3.
…not despair when we are persecuted for being
faithful to God and his ways.
Chapter 13 – Satan and the Two Primary
Accomplices:
the Antichrist and the Beast
** The setting for the coming of the Antichrist is world
confusion, decimation, war, poverty…everything that pits one person/nation
against another.
** What the world needs is Jesus…but a pretender, the
Antichrist, will come. He will have answers, charisma, power, and cunning like
no other man. So the people will be
deceived thinking they are following a good man, but they will be following him
to the pit of Hell.
13:1-4 – The Advent of the Antichrist (aka: the
“Beast”)
“Shore of the Sea” = vast multitudes of the people on earth
** The “Beast” (Gk: therion
= wild beast, not domesticated)
His Appearance:
(literal or figurative? Likely
figurative – though given people’s propensity for idol worship… But Kirk
understands this to be figurative/symbolic)
“Ten horns and 7 heads (same as Satan – 12:3), with 10 crowns on his horns (whereas Satan has only 7 crowns on his
heads)” = we cannot say for sure, but it appears that the horns (types of
kings), heads (types of kingdoms), and crowns (claim of sovereignty).
Note: This imagery is not
necessarily to be broken down to be identified with particular
kings/kingdoms/ages…they are meant to say that the Antichrist is an amalgamation
of the strength of all of the power of the past, rolled up into one person.
“…on each head a blasphemous name” = in some way the Antichrist
claims divinity… likely by claiming he is Jesus, having returned as promised.
Note: He even has survived an assassination attempt
(v. 3 – “seemed to have a fatal wound…that had been healed.”
“resembled a leopard, feet of a bear, mouth
like a lion” = likely representing the ancient kingdoms that have opposed
Israel: Greece (leopard), Persia (bear), Babylon (lion)…
…Note: Daniel (c.f.: 7:3-8) lists these same nations in his vision. However, John
leaves out a fourth: the “terrible beast” = Antichrist.
** So this Antichrist is the most
powerful enemy Israel/God’s people has ever faced.
“Men worshipped the dragon…they also worshipped the beast”
(v. 4)
·
Note the rhetorical questions in v. 4 –
o
Who is like the beast?
o
Who can make war against him?
…the response/answer demanded by
these questions is, “No one!”
·
The people of the world will fall for the
deception of the Dragon and Beast (i.e.: Satan and Antichrist) hook, line and
sinker.
Points:
1. The Antichrist will rise from the nations
2. He will be empowered by Satan…stronger than
any human, but inferior to Jesus
3. He will, like Jesus, seem to have been resurrected
from the dead (see v. 3)
4. He will be worshipped, like his “father”
Satan…so they will establish or fool people into believing that he is
God/Jesus.
vs. 5-10 – The Purpose of the Beast
“Given a mouth…”
= even with these multiple “heads”, the Beast has a singular voice from which
blasphemy is spoken.
“…opened his mouth to blaspheme God” = though Satan has lost
the heavenly battle, Antichrist continues the war on earth.
“He was given power to make war…authority over every tribe…”
= that authority comes from Satan…but God allows it.
Note the impact of this Beast (v. 8) – total loyalty by unbelievers
“All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast - all whose
names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was
slain from the creation of the world.”
** Amazingly, Daniel speaks the very same prophecy about the
Beast/Antichrist (Daniel 7:25):
“He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to
change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a
time, times and half a time.”
** Then John speaks a warning (v. 9-10) –
·
“He who has an ear, let him hear”… reminiscent
of Jesus’ warning in the parables.
·
“This calls for patient endurance and
faithfulness on the part of the saints”
o
Note: the saints are still present during this
part of the Tribulation
o
Also note: this is going to be a very difficult
time for the saints…who overcome through endurance and faithfulness – because
they will be tested.
vs. 13-18 – The Second Beast (aka: the False Prophet (e.g.:
16:13, 19:20, 20:10)
** The Antichrist (the Beast) has a protégé/understudy =
“another beast”
Note: In Greek, there are two words
for “another”. One means another of a
different kind (Gk: heteros). The other means, another of the same kind (Gk: allos).
It is the second “another” that is used here, meaning, this second beast,
though lesser, is cut from the same cloth = EVIL!
Note 2: One difference, however, is
that this “another beast” comes out of the earth (v. 11) = he is a resurrected
man who formerly lived on earth…perhaps a former world leader who was respected
or effective.
Point: He looked/acted more like a humble Jesus, but spoke like Satan.
·
This “another beast” is less powerful (only two
horns) but equally authoritative in speech (i.e.: “spoke like a dragon”). Note, however, the absence of a “crown” = the
False Prophet is not a political leader…just a spiritual one.
** This “another beast” is the “hatchet man” for the
Antichrist. As such he…:
·
… “exercised all the authority of the first
beast on his behalf” (v. 12) = did the bidding of the Antichrist
·
… “made the earth and its inhabitants worship
the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed” (v. 12) = fulfilled the
desires of the Antichrist to have people worship him
·
… “performed great and miraculous signs, even
causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men” (v. 13)
·
… “deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (v.
14)
·
…“ordered them to set up an image in honor of
the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived” (v. 14)
·
…“was given power to give breath to the image of
the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship
the image to be killed.” (v. 15)
·
…“forced everyone, small and great, rich and
poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so
that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the
beast or the number of his name.” (v. 17)
o
This mark appears to be a measure by which
Antichrist maintains an economic stranglehold on people…as they can neither
“buy or sell” without it.
** Jesus warns against such False Prophets (see Matthew
24:11, 24)
10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will
betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear
and deceive many people
24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and
perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were
possible.
** Paul reminds us (2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10) - The coming of the lawless one will be in
accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit
miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who
are perishing.”
** The final question arising from the end of this chapter… What about the mark: 666?
·
In the Bible, “6” is the number of man – since
mankind was made on the 6th day of creation
·
Some think this is some designation for some
kind of unholy trinity: 666 = Satan, the
Antichrist, the False Prophet. This is
highly doubtful.
·
Others believe that, using numerology, we can
figure out the name of the Antichrist. The problem is, which alphabet should be
used? Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic,
Latin? This, too, is highly doubtful.
Point: The point is…we don’t have a clue, but at the
time of the Antichrist, a “wise” person will be able to calculate and avoid
taking the mark of the Beast.
Recap: The sides are
drawn…the rulers are established…the parties are divided… all that is left,
now, is for the battle to begin… BUT God is patient, as we will see next week.
