Revelation 13:1-18 (Enduring the Dragon’s Beasts)

Introduction

Who or what are the “beasts” of Revelation 13? Thisis the question before us today. And however I answer this question, I’m sure to have some (maybe many) Christians disagree with me – past and present. Disagreement over different answers to this question is not just a recent phenomenon; it has always been.

During the earliest days of Christianity, many thought that the Roman Emperor Nero was the beast of Revelation and the antichrist of John’s letters. Many Bible commentators today still believe the same. Nero ruled Rome from 54 AD to 68 AD, and his antics were the kind that are too scandalous and too gruesome to say out loud with children in the room. Nero was certainly hostile to Christianity, and his beastly treatment of Christians was legendary.

Emperor Domitian ruled Rome from 81 AD to 96 AD, and he (if possible) ratcheted up the persecution of Christians. During his reign, some Christians thought that he was the beast of Revelation. It was Domitian who exiled John to the island of Patmos, and an ancient Christian named Tertullian (160 AD – 240 AD) claimed that Domitian only exiled John after he tried to boil him in oil (and, as the story goes, John miraculously survived). Domitian’s main persecution against Christians in Rome was motivated by their unwillingness to pay homage to the emperor in an act of worship, saying, “Caesar is Lord,” and offering a pinch of incense to the false deity.

Throughout history, other candidates have been identified as the antichrist and/or the beast. Roman emperor Decius (250-251 AD) formally outlawed Christianity and actively hunted Christians, trying to force them to make public sacrifices to the pagan gods of Rome. Emperor Diocletian(303-324 AD) was the leader of the most thorough and severe Christian persecution, not only seeking out Christians but also their writings for destruction. It was only after Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD that it became legal to be a Christian in Rome.

When Muhammad rose to power (in the 600s) in present-day Saudi Arabia, his opposition and attempts to eradicate Christianity made him a contender for the role of antichrist. And about 500 years later, the Islamic leader known as Saladin also seemed like the embodiment of the antichrist and the beast.

During and after the Protestant Reformation (of the 1500s), most of those who broke from the Roman Catholic Church named the pope (and the papal office itself, whoever held it) as antichrist. Many Protestants even made this part of their confessions of faith. Both the Westminster Confession and the Second London Baptist Confession include the language: “There is no other head of the Church, but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but [he] is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.”

When the first real English Baptist pastor Thomas Helwys was facing cruel persecution from the Protestant leaders in England (in the early 1600s), he named the Roman Catholic Church as the first beast of Revelation 13 and the Church of England as the second beast.[i]

Now, the reason I’m giving this brief history lesson today is to demonstrate the reality that identifying “the beast” or “the antichrist” is not as easy or as obvious as many would try to make it seem today. In fact, I want to argue this morning, that trying to identify “the beast” or “the antichrist” as any particular person(past, present, or future) is to miss the point entirely of Revelation 13.

This vision of two beasts and their cooperative hostility toward Christ and His people is intended to be a call for endurance amid the devil’s fury and a call for wisdom against the devil’s deception… it’s not a portrait sketch of some particular world-leader. The devil himself is our enemy, not Nicolae Carpathia.

For those who might not know, Nicolae is the fictional character who is the antichrist in the Left Behind series (of books and movies), a fantastical story very loosely based on a once popular end-times theory.

Today we are continuing our study through the book of Revelation. Barry took us through chapter 12 last Sunday, where the devil is depicted as a dragon at war with God in every way. Since the devil has been thwarted in his attack against Christ (that promised offspring or child of old who would conquer Satan and rule the nations), the devil has now turned his fury (generally) toward those who dwell on the earth and (more specifically) toward those “who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 12:17)… in other words, Christians.

As Barry explained for us last Sunday, chapter 12 was yet another angle from which to view the broad timeline of history (especially redemptive history). God’s unfolding plan has been from the beginning to bring both salvation for His people and judgment for rebellious and unrepentant sinners. And ch. 12 concluded with a furious dragon standing on a beach, poised to launch his assault against the people of Christ in the world.

What will the dragon do?

How will he do it?

Will anyone join him in his assault?

And what should Christians expect in this age when the devil is defeated but not yet eradicated?

Let’s pick up this ancient vision John saw, and let’s consider what we ought to learn from it.

Scripture Reading

Revelation 13:1–18 (ESV)

1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Main Idea:

The devil is active and powerful in his opposition to Christ and His people, but Christians are called to endure with faith that all God’s promises are sure.

Sermon

1. A Beast Rising from the Sea (v1-8)

Our text this morning introduces the next two characters on this world-stage. Chapter 12 describes a woman, a child, and a dragon, but halfway through the chapter there is a kind of turn. The first half describes what we might understand as the devil’s war against God throughout the OT, and the second half describes Christ’s victory over the devil and the devil’s redoubled fury toward all those who follow Christ… this sets the stage for the devil’s war throughout the NT age (i.e., the present age, the age between Christ’s first coming and His second).

The devil was defeated in his attempt to kill or destroy the promised offspring of Genesis 3, and now he has turned his full attention toward those who share in Christ’s victory (though they remain exposed to the devil’s assaults while they remain on earth).

The whole point of chapter 12, as Barry rightly emphasized last week, was that God Himself is the one overseeing (or ruling over) the unfolding pages of history (including the wicked stuff and the righteous stuff)… and, therefore, Christians can rest assured that they will be victorious in the end (just as Christ was and is victorious).

But the implication (as we have already seen explicitly repeatedly in Revelation) is that those Christians who share in Christ’s victory will also travel the same path as Christ Himself did to get there – the way of suffering, the way of affliction, the way of worldly persecution.

Brothers and sisters, the book of Revelation does noturge Christians to be defeatists or pessimists, but it doesteach us to temper our expectations about what life ought to be like in this world, about who and what to trust in this world, and about how we ought to persevere. As the Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 4, we are not to be “surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon [us] to test [us], as though something strange were happening to [us]. But [we are to] rejoice insofar as [we] share in Christ’s sufferings, [so] that [we] may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pet. 4:12-13).

The Bible does not teach Christians to wage war with swords and bows in order to avoid suffering for our love and obedience toward Christ, but instead it does teach us to “suffer according to God’s will,” entrusting our “souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Pet. 4:19).

As I said earlier, our passage introduces two new symbolic characters, figures that are summoned by the “dragon” of ch. 12… and these are joined with the dragon in his assault on the people of Christ in the world. The first, we are told, “rises” or “ascends” from the “sea” (Rev. 13:1).

Friends, just like the “woman” and the “child” and the “dragon” of Revelation 12 were symbolic images of real people or things, so too our reading eyes ought to be focused to see a lot of symbolism here. And just like the descriptions of these characters did in ch. 12, we are to expect that this vision is describing more than what appears on the surface.

Let me say it directly. The book of Revelation is nottelling us to look to the sea (in the past or in the future) and to expect a monstrous beast to surface there. There has never been and never will be a seven-headed and ten-horned monster rising from the Atlantic or the Pacific. Rather, this description is meant to conjure up in our minds a reality that is far more monstrous and devastating in the world.

And (as with so much of Revelation) this vision we’re reading here is drawing upon OT prophetic images and themes. Of particular prominence in our passage this morning is the backdrop of Daniel 7, where the prophet Daniel sees a vision of not one but four beasts rising from the sea. The first was “like a lion,” the second “like a bear,” the third “like a leopard,” and the fourth with a “different” form than the other three but “ten horns” on its head (Dan. 7:1-8).

In John’s vision in Rev. 13, Daniel’s beasts are combined into one monster. And it is described as utterly and overtly “blasphemous.” Blasphemy is a big word that means “slander” or “profane speech.” And this beast is brazenly profane.

It has “blasphemous names on its heads” (v1). It has “blasphemous words” coming from its mouth (v5). And its “blasphemies” are aimed directly “against God,” against “his name,” and against “his dwelling” [or “tabernacle”] (v6).

Not only is this beast described as a direct assault toward God verbally and visually, but we’re also told that “the dragongave [it] his power and his throne and great authority” (v2). So too, “it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them” (v7); thus, the beast takes up the dragon’s cause.

And the people who “dwell on the earth” are servants of this beast (v7-8). Remember that Revelation divides all humanity into two groups – (1) those who dwell on the earth and (2) those who are the servants of God… or here (1) those who “worship” the beast and (2) those whose names are “written… in the book of life” which belongs to “the Lamb who was slain” (v8).

The picture we get here is of a kind of second personor character in an unholy trinity. The true God is Father, Son, and Spirit (a holy trinity); and the true King and authority over all creation is the Lord’s “Christ” or “Messiah” (God the Son who took on humanity in real history). The Lord Jesus Christ is both the lion of the tribe of Judah and the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

But this unholy trinity is a monstrous and blasphemous inversion. The dragon sets himself against God, even claiming a “throne” and “great authority” (though he is powerless to thwart any of God’s plans or activities in the world). And this first beast (from the sea) is described as a false Christ. It is arrayed with blasphemous crowns, it seemed to survive a mortal wound, and it demands worship from those who dwell on the earth… They shout out, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (v4).

This is a phrase repeatedly proclaimed about the true God when He is worshipped throughout the OT! When God delivered the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, the people cried out, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11). When God sets Himself apart from false gods and worldly kings, He says (through the prophet Isaiah), “Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me… Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen” (Is. 44:7).

Friends, what we have here (in the first half of Revelation 13) is a picture of wicked worldly power that is animated by devilish desires. Civil structures are the second member of this unholy alliance against Christ and His people. That ancient serpent (the dragon) has been at war against God from the beginning, and though he was defeated by Christ at the cross (i.e., there the devil’s head was crushed by the one who suffered in the place of sinners), the devil continues to roam the earth, hell-bent on the destruction of Christ’s people. And one of the levers of worldly power the devil manipulates is that of civil authority.

This is not new; it has been the devil’s tactic from of old. The psalmist lamented long ago, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed [or his “Christ” or his “Messiah”]” (Ps. 2:1-2).

But though this is not new, it is especially true of the time between Christ’s first coming and His second… and the levers of worldly power are set not only against God and His Christ, but also against all those who believe and follow Him.

And we can know that this first beast is representative of worldly power or civil authority because of the weapon with which it “makes war on the saints… to conquer them” (v7)… The weapon is that of the “sword” (v10).

2. A Call for Endurance and Faith (v9-10)

Each description of the beasts in our chapter this morning concludes with a “call” (v10, 18). And this first “call” is for “the endurance and faith of the saints” (v10). But what are they (i.e., the saints, the holy ones, those made holy by believing or trusting in the slain Lamb) … what are they to endure? … and what are they to have faith in or believe?

We see a familiar refrain in v9. This was a phrase to conclude each of the seven letters, one to each of the seven churches (in Revelation 2 and 3). “If anyone has an ear, let him hear…” (v9). And like the “hearing” at the end of each of those letters, here is yet another warning and urging. “If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain” (v10).

This is a near direct citation from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet” because he was commissioned to speak the word of the Lord to the rebellious people of Judah who refused to turn back from their wicked disobedience. Jeremiah warned them, told them God’s judgment was coming, and they hated him for it.

This particular verse comes in the context of Jeremiah’s prophecy about a coming day when God would send a pagan king to “strike the land” with judgment, the foreign land in which the Israelites were trying to take refuge from the Lord’s wrath aimed at them (Jer. 43:11). In John’s vision (in Revelation 13), however, the “captivity” and “sword” are not aimed at rebellious sinners. Instead, they are wielded by godless rulers and aimed at the saints – those who are to endure and remain faithful (v10).

The “sword” is the weapon that symbolizes civil authority in the Bible (Gen. 9:6). God has ordained civil government to preserve life, to punish the wicked, and to reward the good (Rom. 13). But in our upside-down world (since Genesis 3), civil governments often do the opposite. Quite regularly in human history (and still today), those with the power of the sword… they unjustly destroy life, they corruptly reward the wicked, and they blasphemously punish the good.

Revelation 13 teaches us that this is no coincidence. It is not simply a fact of history that civil governments (and those who sit in the seats of civil authority) act in blasphemous ways, speak with blasphemous words, and even take up the cause of the devil himself in making war on the saints to conquer them.

Brothers and sisters, Christians are called (in the face of this worldly opposition) to endure… to remainfaithful to Christ… to bear the sufferings that are often the common experience of Christ’s people in the world.

Friends, are we prepared to do that? Are we prepared to endure captivity for the sake of Christ? Are we prepared to suffer the sword, if need be, in order to remain true to the gospel, true to King Jesus, true to our heavenly allegiance?

I don’t want to suffer. I don’t want the civil government to set itself against me and my church family. I don’t want my sons to endure persecution at the hands of those civil authorities who ought to protect human life and flourishing. But I believe that my expectation should notbe that I (or we) will be able to avoid it.

If you’re like me, then you’ve noticed an unbelievable shift in American culture over the last 15-20 years. Once, Christianity was celebrated in our culture, and for a time it was still respectfully tolerated. But today, basic Christian ethics are mocked and villainized. Christianity is perceived as an obstacle to overcome.

This shift makes me want to fight back. And I think Christians are right to use the political influence we have right now to try to prevent further decline in our society… and even to rebuild societal structures that might better serve future generations… should the Lord’s return be later, rather than sooner.

But the emphasis in our passage this morning… the call we see here is not to fight… but rather to persevere… to endure… to remain faithful.

We may certainly act with wisdom and shrewdness, and we may gain political ground here and there, but I think we must prepare ourselves to endure even if the present trend continues. There is more than political wind against us; there is a dragon on the loose, and the beastly words and actions of civil government are animated by him. This is a spiritual battle that only Christ can ultimately bring to an end.

3. A Beast Rising from the Earth (v11-17)

The second half of Revelation 13 introduces the second beast, or the third person of this unholy trinity. We’ve already done some of front work on the OT backdrop (Daniel 7), and we’ve already been thinking about these “beasts” as symbolic of something far more diabolical than monsters from the earth or the sea, so I think we can get to the application here a bit faster. This second beast is like the first in some ways, but there are some notable differences as well.

The second beast “rises” or “ascends” from the “earth” (v11). It too “exercises all the authority” of the “first beast” (v12), but remember that this “authority” originates in the “dragon” (v2). The second “beast” also demands “worship,” but it makes the “inhabitants” of the “earth” direct their worship toward the “first beast” (v12).

The notable differences between the two beasts can be summarized by saying that the first one is openly hostile and blasphemous, whereas the second is deceptive and manipulative. The second beast looks like “a lamb,” but it speaks “like a dragon” (v11). It “performs great signs,” like the godly prophets of Rev. 11, but the earth-beast uses “signs” or “false miracles” in the service of idolatry (v13-14). Like the magicians who mimicked Moses in Egypt, the beast “deceives those who dwell on the earth” with false miracles and fake signs, so that they oppose God and His people, willingly giving honor to the first beast and the dragon (v14).

The goal and cause of both beasts is exactly the same – they exercise authority in the world to set up an earthly kingdom against God and His people, and they aim to “slay” or “kill” those who refuse idolatry and remain faithful to King Jesus (v15). In other words, their cause is the dragon’s cause. These together form an unholy trinity, symbolizing the spiritual and physical kingdom that is at work in the world to make war against all who are citizens of Christ’s kingdom.

And with the description of this second beast, we learn that “the sword” is not the only weapon used against the saints. It is not onlycivil authority or political rulers that are employed by the dragon to man his weapons of war. This spiritual battle also includes siege tactics; the faithful Christians are excluded from the entire political and economic system – “no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark [of the beast]” on “the right hand or the forehead” (v16-17).

I’ll get to the “mark” of the beast in just a minute, but let’s notice here the religious (or spiritual) and economic emphases of this second beast. Satan’s strategies in his war on Christ and His people in the world include political assaults, but also economic and religious ones too. The devil means to make participation in the system of this world difficult and uncomfortable (even impossible!) for those who remain faithful to Christ. And there is even a religious connotation alongside economics and politics in the world.

Friends, it is a reality that we are going to settle our hope, our trust, our security, and our greatest passions on one kingdom or the other. Over the last few decades, as religious participation has declined rapidly in the Western world, politics and economics have risen to a religious fervor. Voters treat politicians and their parties like gods or devils, and they look to them as divine rulers who will either deliver them or destroythem. Consumers treat their stores and product brands like idols and templeswhere they buy their wares to show their virtue. And this is how it isin a world that is under God’s curse… a world where the dragon roams and his beasts are active.

Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t (as Christians) “know the times” (as they say). We absolutely should! And we are fools if we simply roll over and play dead in hopes that the awful political and economic moment we’re in will just blow on by. We ought to participate as we can in the world as it is, understanding our options and making the best use of the time.

But, if we rest all our greatest aspirations and trust on the kingdom of Christ, then the political wins and losses, the economic gains or deficits we experience in this world… they won’t be insignificant… but they won’t throw us into mania or despair. Our greatest treasure is not diminished in any way by the loss of a job, the plundering of our property, or a catastrophic downturn in our national economy. So too, our King is not weakened at all or troubled in the least by political maneuvers.

The nations may rage, and the kings of the earth may set themselves against the Lord and against His Christ, but “He who sits in heaven laughs; the Lord holds them in derision… [and He] shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps. 2:4-9).

More on this in today’s conclusion… but let’s go ahead and address the “mark” of the beast.

Now, friends, this topic has been so sensationalized and dramatized over the last several decades, that I wonder if some Christians in America today can even hear the phrase “the mark of the beast” without thinking of microchips, barcodes, tattoos, or some other kind of emblem that visiblydistinguishes between the wicked and the righteous.

As I’ve pleaded with you before in our study through Revelation, please don’t jump right to a literalistic interpretation of the visions John saw and heard. When John describes the devil as a “dragon,” we are not to imagine that John is telling us that Satan looks likea big red Godzilla. John isn’t telling us what the devil looks likeat all; he’s telling us what the devil is like.

So too, with this description of a “mark.” We are not to think that John is telling us about a blemish or imprint that is visible to the eye, whereby we can simply look at a person’s hand or head to see if they are among the damned or the saved. No, this “mark” or “sign” on the head and hand imagery comes right out of the OT, and it has already been referenced in the earlier part of Revelation.

When God rescued the people of Israel from bondage and ignorance in Egypt, God brought them into a new land where they were to live as God’s own people with God’s lavish blessings. And just before they went into the promised land, God said to them (through Moses), “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deut. 6:4-8).

God was not interested in commanding His people to mark up their hands and heads, but He was very interested in calling them to think and act in keeping with His commands. The point was to write down God’s word wherever you need in order to remember it and to acton it accordingly.

In a similar way, Jesus promised the saints of the church in Philadelphia (in Rev. 3) that He would “write on [them] the name of my God” because they “kept [His] word and have not denied [His] name” amid the persecution they were facing (Rev. 3:8, 12). And when the seals of God’s judgment are opened in Revelation 6, there is an announcement that no “harm” (i.e., divine judgment) is to come upon those who are “sealed” on their “foreheads” as “the servants of God” (Rev. 7:3).

In all of these places, the “seal” or “mark” is not a visible blemish on the skin, rather it is a spiritual distinction… a moral distinction… a lifestyle distinction… between those who are the servants of God and those who remain rebellious against Him.

The question is not whether we receive some mark on our skin, but the question is, do we bear the name of God on our lives or do we bear the name of the beast and the dragon himself. If we live in pursuit of holiness and Christ-likeness, then we bear the mark of God; but if we live in pursuit of sin, and we rebel against God’s good authority over us, then we bear the mark of the beast.

This is a call for wisdom, and that’s where we will conclude this morning.

4. A Call for Wisdom (v18)

As I said some time ago, there are two “calls” in our passage: one for “endurance and faith” in Christ, and the other for “wisdom.” The two calls are not separate, but they are distinct. Both are necessary together, and Christians are to hear them bothas the overarching call of Revelation 13.

If this chapter has been given to us by God (and I believe it has), and if this chapter is largely describing the strategies of the ancient serpent or dragon (and I believe it does), and if what we’re reading here is a warning that satanic fury toward Christ and His people is the hand within the glove of worldly power and influence, including political, economic, and religious (and I believe that’s exactly what we’re reading here), then what are Christians to do?

Some have agreed with me about the meaning of this chapter, and they’ve decided that the Christian response is to batten down the hatches… escapefrom the world as much as possible to avoid the devilish assault.

I don’t think that’s right. Such a move would neglect some of the most important teachings of the Bible, not the least of which is that Christians are to be faithful witnesses in the world so that some who are now rebels (on the side of the dragon) will hear the gospel and believe it, and become transferred to the kingdom of Christ. So too, Christians are to bear witness for Christ by doing good for those around them, even if unbelievers don’t like it and/or don’t understand it.

No, there is no escapism in this passage.

Some have also thought that the right response to this chapter is to live in despair… expecting that no real good can come from striving to be a public witness for Christ or from working for the advancement of society. They seem to have a defeatist mentality, and they seem to live with a depressing cynicism about where the world is headed.

I don’t think that’s right either. This isn’t the impression I get from any of the seven letters to the churches at the beginning of the book of Revelation. And one of the main themes of the whole book is that Jesus is on His throne, ruling and reining over every moment of unfolding history.

No, there is no defeatism in this passage either.

The chapter closes with a call for wisdom about the “number of the beast,” which the reader is to “understand” (v18). This is not a call to use some mathematical calculation to identify a singular earthly ruler who is the embodiment of the beast. There have been many of them; the Apostle John said there were already many antichrists in the world during his own lifetime; and there will likely be many more. Rather, it is a call to know the tricks of the devil, to understand the devil’s tactics, to beware the tendency we all have to place too much weight on the man-centered and worldly powers that so seem to dominate this present age.

This call at the end of Revelation 13 reminds me of Jesus’s words to His disciples (near the end of John’s Gospel; chs. 14-16) just before Jesus was arrested and crucified. A paraphrase of what Jesus told them is that He was about to go away (in a sense), but He would never truly leave them. He promised to give them peace and to preserve them, even as the devil was coming to make war on them.

And Jesus also told them to love one another, to bear good fruit, to keep His commandments, and to abide in Him. These commands are much the same as what Jesus told the seven churches of Revelation, and these (I think) are the commands that we ought to remember today.

Brothers and sisters, the devil is active and powerful in his opposition to Christ and His people in this world, but Christians are called to endure with faith… trusting that all God’s promises are sure. We are called to endure the evils of our age, even as we continue loving one another, even as we continue bearing good fruit, even as we continue learning and keeping Christ’s commands, and even as we continue abiding in Him.

As the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia, “let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:9-10).

May God help us endure – to remain faithful to Christ and to bear witness of the true king… until he comes.

Endnotes

[i] See this introduction to Thomas Helwys, and why I argue that he (and not John Smyth) was the Baptist original: https://www.marcminter.com/p/thomas-helwys-the-baptist-original