Revelation 13:11-14:20
Notes
Transcript
Revelation 13:11-14:20
Revelation 13:11-14:20
Good morning church! Last week we took a deep dive into the first half of chapter 13, or at least the topic of the first half of our chapter, the beast of the sea or antichrist
The Woman = Israel
Great Red Dragon = Satan
The male child = Jesus Christ
The angel Michael, head of the angelic army
The offspring of the woman = Gentile Christians
Beast of the sea = antichrist
Beast of the earth = false prophet
We covered allot of ground last week, and I took you back to the book of Daniel for most of it, we went to Thessalonians, we turned to the Gospel of Matthew. The reason I did all of that was that I don’t think there is any other place in the bible where people get as reckless as they do with the book of Revelation. When we get to sections like the past few chapters and it talks about 4 beasts, oh, let me put this put on the screens as we moved rapidly through most of it last week.
Four Beasts/Kingdoms:
The first beast is Babylon led by King Nebuchadnezzar
Second Beast: represents the Medo-Persian Empire
Third Beast: represents the Grecian empire/Greece
Fourth Beast: Revised Roman empire with a coalition of ten leaders from which antichrist will rise out of.
People get reckless making up their own interpretations about what they think things mean, or what they might represent. So I wanted you to see clearly, why we teach what we teach here. Because these are the interpretations that the bible itself says if we simply look for them.
So, this morning we are going to move on to the Beast of the earth, also referred to as the false prophet and we will see several examples of how in the Greek anti, such as antichrist is a substitute or the instead of. We know the Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus, this false prophet testifies about antichrist. Let’s read through it and then we can dig into it.
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and he was speaking as a dragon.
12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
13 And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which were given to him to do in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, that they be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
17 and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man; and his number is 666.
Let’s pray...
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and he was speaking as a dragon.
So one distinguishable difference right off the bat is that this beast has two horns, the antichrist had 10, if horns are a symbol of power, much less power here than the description at the beginning of the chapter. Many bible teachers believe the two horns indicate that this beast has authority in two different areas such as religious and political. Some teach that because he doesn’t have crowns like the other beast it can’t be political, and honestly from the text it may not mean hear either of those things.
It may simply mean what it says, that he had two horns, like a lamb has two horns, so he looked like a lamb, but his looks and his speech were in great conflict with one another. I think this is such an important point because this is where discernment is found.
We are going to see this morning how much our day and age has prepared us and is continuing to prepare us for this rule of antichrist, this temporary rule of antichrist. I think I mentioned last week that nearly every political candidate that has run for office, especially if they were in the party opposite of you, you probably heard an accusation that they might be antichrist.
So far, all of them have been wrong. But I’ll tell you what we have seen. Last week we read that one of the beasts was given a great mouth and was speaking great boasts. That meets the description of several politicians. But one thing I heard repeatedly about our president elect, from the people that supported him, was don’t listen to the things that he says, just look at the things that he does.
I’m not saying Donald Trump is antichrist, I don’t believe that he is. But that mindset is the mindset that is going to allow for the acceptance of antichrist. A lamb that looks good, maybe even doing not just good things, miraculous things, but if you really listen to the things that he says, he will be speaking like a dragon. Remember, the dragon in revelation is who? Satan, the great deceiver.
If someone were to come into the back of our church this morning and they began doing signs and wonders and many miraculous things, as the pastor here, I want to talk with them. I want to ask them questions and I’m going to be listening to the things that they are saying. Who is being glorified in their speech and what do they have to say about Jesus? I’ve got an OT reference on this taught to the Hebrews in the book of Deuteronomy and a NT reference from one of John’s epistles.
1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us walk after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’
3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you to find out if you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 “You shall walk after Yahweh your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
So the bible doesn’t say that miracles are faked or that there aren’t powers and principalities of this world in operation that can do some strange stuff, no it says we need to test them. Do they confess that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, that defeated sin and death, when He rose from the dead?
Back to the false prophet, verse 12...
12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
this wound that we first read about in verse 3 is brought back up here and will be again....
13 And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which were given to him to do in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
They have great power, supernatural power, but I want you to notice a couple of things from verse 14, look how he deceives, by his signs. Jeff shared with us men at our breakfast yesterday morning and walked us thought much of the book of John how people had heard and then seen the miracles of Jesus, and then they believed. This is just another counterfeit of antichrist, or the substitute christ, the instead of Jesus.
The second thing I want you to see is that he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which were given to him to do…so this was power that they didn’t have or posses in and of themselves, but were given or allowed to have by God....why?
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
this is what is going on here in the tribulation period, as we will see in the next chapter, God makes sure they all hear the truth of the gospel, but instead they chose the one who has already killed nearly half of the population. Imagine the deception to cast your worship towards the one who has killed your friends, your neighbors, members of your family.
You remember don’t you back in chapter 9, stings like scorpions for 5 months of unending pain, a third of the earth killed all at once, yeah but pastor there were signs. True faith doesn’t come from seeing signs.
15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
This will not be a religion of tolerance, and notice that it is a religion…it requires, demand that you worship the image or be killed.
16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, that they be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
17 and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Covid has prepared us for this.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man; and his number is 666.
1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.
3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth.
Some teach heavenly Zion, then what good is the seal of God? This was a song just for them...
4 These are the ones who are not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.
What an incredible thing to be able to say about them…yet is can be said of you and I as well.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”
Mid-heaven highest apex of the sun.
8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.”
Some speculate that Babylon here means the world system as a whole as it does in other areas of the bible. I won’t dig into it hear this morning, but I think when we get to chapter 17 we will see a religious system application to Babylon, and a political or commercial system identity of Babylon in chapter 18.
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 and he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
No this is where a good preacher might try to scare the hell out of you. In this day and age where people are numb to the truth, and they are deceived by lies, I’m not sure how to do that. But rather than scare the hell out of you, I’ll like to have the Holy Spirit awaken you out of Hell. Say for a moment, He wakes you up this morning. You are hearing things that you’ve heard before, maybe even laughed off, but today you are hearing them differently, maybe because the world around you is starting to look more and more like this book.
Or maybe simply because the Lord loves you and He is opening your eyes to the truth, despite you. Let me remind you of a verse I’m sure you have heard.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Let keep going in John for a few more verses...
17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
As I read the rest of chapter 14 in Revelation, I want you to keep in mind what we read at the end of John 3.
35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.
36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The rest of our chapter is a sneak peek at that. The real subject matter is the return of Jesus Christ to judge sin. Have you ever watched a show, or a movie and they show you the end of the movie and then you’ll see something on the screen, like 24 hours earlier, or one year before?
Well Revelation 14 tells us about an event before we get to it on the timeline. Remember we are in one of those interludes in Revelation, where John takes a break from the judgments that we have been seeing since the scroll was opened, kind of zooms out to the big picture, scholars call these interludes or parenthesis in the revelation, my wife calls it a rabbit trail when I do it, but I’m not the Apostle John.
But John takes us to the outpouring of wrath and really the battle of Armageddon that we don’t see until the end of chapter 19. It’s mentioned also in chapter 16. So this is a jump ahead, prior to it actually happening, and then we will walk towards it until we get there on the timeline. The real subject matter is the return of Jesus Christ to judge sin.
12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
Blessed, happy are....
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.
15 And another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sits on the cloud, “Put in Your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
16 Then He who sits on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Over ripe...
17 And another angel came out of the sanctuary which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.
18 Then another angel, the one who has authority over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.”
19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
Revelation 2. The Winepress of God (17–20)
This vivid picture of judgment was the inspiration for The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He is trampling out the vineyard where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on!
Approx 184 miles, some say that is ridiculous. I mean that is basically from here to Kittery trading post. Some say that’s impossible, remember, there are millions on the side of antichrist, think back a few chapters as we read about an army of 200 million men. This final battle will ultimately occur at the Valley of Meggido. If it isn’t referring to distance in length, it could also mean that hole valley could be filled with blood, because if you take 1600 stadia not in distance, but in square miles that is an area just a little bit bigger than the valley of Meggido.
When that great preacher of London, Charles Spurgeon preached on this passage, wanting to stress the urgency that you must either stand with Jesus, or you are against Jesus, he ended his message with these words.
Exalting Jesus in Revelation Conclusion
I beseech you, do not risk that doom for yourselves. Escape for your lives; look not behind you but fly to the only refuge which God has provided. Whoever will entrust his soul to Jesus Christ shall be eternally saved. Look unto him who wore the thorn-crown, and repose your soul’s entire confidence in Him, and then, in that last great day, you shall see Him seated on the white cloud, wearing the golden crown, and you shall be gathered.… But if you reject Him, do not think it wrong that you should be cast with the grapes into the winepress of the wrath of God, and be trodden with the rest of “the clusters of the vine of the earth.” I beg you to take Christ as your Saviour, this very hour lest this night you should die unsaved. Lay hold of Jesus, lest you never hear another gospel invitation or warning. If I have seemed to speak terribly, God knoweth that I have done it out of love to your souls; and, believe me, that I do not speak as strongly as the truth might well permit me to do, for there is something far more terrible about the doom of the lost than language can ever express or thought conceive. God save all of you from ever suffering that doom, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen. (“Harvest”)
Grace and Peace