The
antichrist and the false prophet
Hi good friends out there in
internet land. I have reviewed the first eight chapters in the book of
Revelation in a very detailed way giving the readers many cross references to
each verse but due to time and the fact that I must move on to other writing projects
in the Bible the remaining chapters (Revelation chapters 9-22) will be
completely quoted with some comments at the end of the chapter. I really do
desire to cross reference every verse in these chapters but this would take me
way to long thus leaving out other vital biblical studies that are also needed
and desired to people that are very hungry for the word of God. There will
still be many interesting insights after the chapter is quoted so please enjoy
the rest of the study in this fascinating last book of the Bible.
(1) "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. (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 one of his heads 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 worshipped 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 kindreds, 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 killeth 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 spake as a dragon. (12) And he exercised 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. (13) And he doeth
great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the
sight of men. (14) And deceiveth 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 did live. (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 many as would not worship the image of the beast should be
killed. (16) 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; (17) 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. (18) Here is wisdom. Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of the beast:
for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore
and six." Revelation 13: 1 - 18.
Revelation chapter 13 describes
two individuals that will work in conjunction with each other as dictators
but more specifically with high level deception. World rulers almost never take
over a country by force. They will explain the problems of the country,
gain the trust of the people and then gradually rule from the inside in a
settle way and in time becoming apparent that this individual has taken
over the nation.
I personally do not believe the
antichrist and the false prophet will be resisted all that much when they first
make their appearance. The world is in chaos and looking for an answer. Many
dictators in the past were worshipped and then believed they were God.
Christians and Jews were almost always persecuted. When a remnant of believers
in Christ keep their alliance to the one true God in a setting like this they
will be labeled as traitors. This prophetic scenario will be a one
world government, a one world economy and a one world religion. It will no
longer be limited to one country. These are just some of the names the future
antichrist is named in the Bible. The Little Horn (Daniel 7:8, 8:9), King of
Babylon (Isaiah 14:4), Man of sin/Son of Perdition (1 Thessalonians 2:3), Beast
(Revelation 13:1) and Antichrist (1 John 2:18).
Excessive sin will be the problems
of the world but he will be persuasive in getting the masses to believe he has
the answers. The antichrist is referred to the beast in verse one because he
will be ruthless but initially he will not be seen as heartless. He will be
seen as a benevolent leader. The beast is emerging from the sea because the
ocean is a picture of restless strivings of the nations around the world. The
antichrist will rise out of the chaos and confusion of the countries
around the world.
He had according to this text 10
horns with 10 crowns on his horns. This represents political
power signifying ten regions of the world. The world is now divided into
ten regions. Daniel prophesied four world empires to rise in successive order
(Babylon, Medo - Persia, Greece and Rome). Revelation chapter 13 shows us the
culmination of world history right before the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
The central headcounters of the antichrist will be from the forth empire (Rome)
in the area of Europe because this is the same region as ancient Rome. The
antichrist will be able to accomplish what no other human leader was
trying to accomplish which will be world dominion. He will have help from one
other individual.
The antichrist is compared to a
leopard, bear and lion which were the features of the first three empires of
world history. The beast will get his power and throne from Satan. In
verse three the antichrist will receive a mortal wound and be healed by Satan.
Most people will think it is a miracle from God. Some people believe this will
happen in the beginning of the seven year tribulation and some believe it will
happen in the middle. It all depends on which expositor we are listening to but
I tend to lean to the beginning of the seven year tribulation. According to
verse 10 newly converted believers in Christ will suffer and die for their
faith in Jesus Christ.
I explained the first beast but
the second beast is spoken of in verse eleven. This man will play the role of
enslaving the minds and souls of men. This beast is cut out of the same cloth
as the first beast. They are different people but will be of the same kind of
person. He will have the same satanic powers. The first beast came out of the
sea (antichrist) the second beast will come from the land. Since there are
so many different interpretations on this I am going to choose to remain silent
on this meaning. The second beast has two uncrowned horns which has nothing to
do with political kingdoms. This second beast encourages false religious power.
He is called the False Prophet. He will take all religious systems and put them
into one. His two uncrowned horns means he will try and imitate the real Lamb
who is Jesus Christ. The two beasts will be very convincing in a false way.
According to verse twelve the second
beast exercises unlimited authority and forces people to worship the first
beast (antichrist). According to verse 13 he performs great miracles.
According to verse 14 he deceives the population and forces people to
worship the antichrist's image in the temple. According to verse fifteen he
kills all the people that will not comply. According to verse fifteen he forces
people to receive the mark of the beast. According to verse 13 he makes a fire
streak from the sky to the earth which is nothing more than a satanic miracle.
It might be holographic technology. One way or another people get deceived. In
verse 15 the false prophet gives life to the image of the first beast. He will
force people to worship the image or they will be put to death. Since this is
the abomination of desolation spoken of in Daniel 9:27 the image will be in the
middle of the temple.
There will be a distinguishing way
to figure out who the true believers in Jesus Christ are in this
world. In that day a person will either be a beast worshiper or allegiance
will be given to the one true God who is Jesus Christ. Those who choose
the false way will take the mark of the beast in their right hand or their
forehead. Anyone who refuses this mark will be cut off from buying or selling
anything. In verse fifteen the false prophet gives life to the image of the
first beast so we see the devil is imitating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All Satan can do is imitate but he does not even have the ability to come
up with something new on his own. This is why we have to be discerning in
what the Bible teachers and not just be hearers of the word but doers of the
word. If we understand the real we will never be deceived by the counterfeit.
The mark of the beast is being
perfected at this very moment. Satan knows that if anyone receives this
mark they will not go to heaven. I will delve into this matter much deeper
when I review Revelation chapter fourteen. If you are on this side of the
rapture the first thing you will want to do is get redeemed through the shed
blood of Jesus Christ. Now would be a very good time to accept Jesus Christ as
your Savior and Lord by repenting of all your sins and inviting the Son of God
into your life.
If you just made that decision or if
you are already a Christian consider the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew
25:1 - 13. Five were wise and five were foolish. All ten had their lamps
(salvation) but only five (the wise virgins) had their oil. This is symbolic of
the Holy Spirit. The five foolish virgins just did not do anything. They did
not give their lives over to Jesus Christ daily but the wise virgins did along
with living pure and trying to do the will of God. This allows the Holy Spirit
to work inside their spirit. The wise virgins go up in the rapture but the
foolish virgins get left behind. Choose to be a wise virgin. I know foolish
virgins and their consciences are generally very seared and they tend
to over simplifying the Bible. They are not living for God. The
wise virgins are far more tuned into repentance because when they sin before
God they feel bad. The foolish virgins just kind of move on and live
comfortable with their sins. As you can see there is a vast difference so our
lifestyle has to be truly living for Jesus Christ in an honest way. We need to
make a honest assessment of our heart and bring it to the throne room of
God. To be wise virgins with oil is a life pleasing to God.
God bless you - Bob D.
No comments:
Post a Comment