12-17-2021 Revelation 13
Revelation 13
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. 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. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 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. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 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. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the 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 did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And 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. 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.
Six times a form of the word “given” is used in reference to the Beast. The Beast has no abilities in and of itself but it is empowered by the dragon. If we look back in the context to Revelation 12, that dragon is Satan. The story given in Revelation 12 seems to correlate with other passages in the scripture describing the fall of the angels that followed Satan and Satan’s long standing battle to fight and influence the nation of Israel.
So in chapter 13 we see that the Dragon is drawing a line in the sand with the influence of his tool, the Beast. He is creating a cultic mentality and economic necessity that will cause the unsaved to take the mark of the beast, causing a clear separation between those whose names are in the Lambs book of life and those with mark of the beast 666. So why is it that people blame God for their choices? They are the ones that allow themselves to be deceived and make an allegiance to the beast.
In the next chapter we see the saints gathered in heaven and the charge given to the angels to gather the harvest. God will make it all very clear and there will be no room for excuses. He allows fear to run rampant. He allows the devil his opportunity. But all the time He is preparing for the harvest, the day of judgment, separating the wheat from the tares. Will you stand, or be swayed by the power of the beast? Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of Life? Not Sure? Then click here