Revelation - Part 15
Notes
Transcript
The First Beast
The First Beast
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:
The First Beast
The First Beast
As we have done with previous characters who have been highly symbolized in this books, let us know carefully list the characteristics of this first beast.
Then, we will look one-by-one at those characteristics
And see if we cannot align them with some other biblical facts.
Characteristics of the 1st Beast
Characteristics of the 1st Beast
Rises out of the sea
Ten horns
Ten Crowns
7 Heads
Blasphemous names on heads
Body like a leopard
Bear’s feet
Lion’s mouth
Power, throne, and great authority from the Dragon
Mortal Wound - but later healed
Whole Earth Follows Him
Whole Earth Worships the Dragon b/c of power given to Beast
Whole Earth Worships the Beast
Mouth utters prideful and blasphemous words
Power exercised for 42 Months
Blasphemes God, his name, and his dwelling
Makes war with the saints, and conquers them
Has power over every tribe, people, and nation.
The First thing that jumps out at me is the similarities between this beast and the great red dragon.
We identified the red dragon as Satan.
Well, John told us plainly that was who it was.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
The Dragon and the 1st Beast
The Dragon and the 1st Beast
What is similar between them?
Both have 7 Heads
Both have 10 horns
We actually see a similar same beast in Dan 7.
That beast had 4 heads and 10 horns though.
It was also really 4 different beasts
Each with a separate body.
One with the body of a Leopard
“ “ Lion with eagles wings
“ “ Bear
“ “ Different than the rest, very dreadful and strong with iron teeth and 10 horns.
Now, an angel tells Daniel what the dream means…
17 ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.
When John sees the first beast, it appears like all 4 beasts that Daniel saw were combined into one.
This is why most people teach about a one world government.
And the leader of that government will be the antichrist and his false prophet.
Where do we get this from?
I’ll show you soon, but let’s keep reading about Daniel’s dream.
19 “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet,
20 and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions.
21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them,
22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
Then the interpretation is give to Daniel concerning the 4th beast in his dream…
23 “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings.
So, we find that the 4th beast is a different kind of kingdom.
And the 10 horns represent 10 kingdoms that come out of the 4th beast’s kingdom.
25 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
So, he speaks words against God…
6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
But he only rules for 3.5 years. according to both Daniel and John.
25 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
Daniel’s Beast and John’s Beast
Daniel’s Beast and John’s Beast
So, what do we see when we compare Daniel’s Beast and John’s?
We see that John’s beast is a combination of all 4 of Daniel’s beasts. This points to a one world government that is ran by Daniel’s 4th beast, the AntiChrist, who will rule for 3.5 years or 42 months.
Secondly, we find that the 10 horns represents 10 kings or rulers that will give their power over to the AntiChrist.
We also see that John’s beast has crowns on the 10 horns as opposed to the 7 heads. What does this mean?
First of all, we must remember that John’s first beast looks so much like the Great Red Dragon… Of course we must realize that Satan is behind the antichrist.
The dragon, or Satan, had 7 crowns on his seven heads.
The crowns then move from the heads to the horns.
We know the horns are kings or rulers.
What are the heads?
7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
So, the heads represent land, and the horns represent rulers.
Normally the rulers rule over specific land.
The United Kingdom has a king, King Charles III.
And King Charles has a Kingdom, the UK.
But this beast John sees takes the crowns from the heads and puts them on the horns.
Instead of power being tied to a kingdom
It is all in the hands of some rulers.
To me, this points to a form of world government that is not tied to any specific land… like the EU, NATO, or the UN.
So, that pretty much sums up the 7 heads and 10 horns for us.
We can’t go further without speculating who the ten kings are, but for this study we will try to stick to things that are not speculatory.
There are 10 kings that will come unite with the AntiChrist. That much I know.
First Beast
First Beast
What else can we tell about this first beast that John Saw?
Power, throne, and great authority from the Dragon
I think this means he will be a manifestation of Satan himself.
If Christ is a manifestation of God
(1 Tim 3:16)
Then the antichrist would naturally be Satan in human form.
Mortal Wound - but later healed
This fact tells me that we will see the antichrist try to resemble the real Christ.
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
Who does that sound like?
Was and is not and is to come.
Sounds like the inverse of Jesus.
Who WAS and IS, and IS to come.
So, there will be some sort of resurrection event.
Probably after the 2 witnesses of God are dead for 3 days, and then resurrected
The AntiChrist will need to respond to that event.
I don’t know if he will fake his death, or truly be resurrected.
But the world will believe it because instead of following the 2 witnesses, the next fact we wrote down is that…
First Beast
First Beast
Whole Earth Follows the Beast.
Not only do they follow him, but the…
Whole Earth Worships the Dragon b/c of power given to Beast
So they worship Satan because of what the Beast does
Just like we worship God because of what He did through the resurrection of the real Christ.
This is what Satan has always wanted
Since the beginning
He wanted to make himself like God.
He wants Omnipotence
Next, we see that the…
Whole Earth Worships the Beast
So, they worship Satan and the AntiChrist
We already talked about the blasphemy of the AntiChrist…
Mouth utters prideful and blasphemous words
Blasphemes God, his name, and his dwelling
Not just God, but also His name, and Heaven.
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
First Beast
First Beast
Makes war with the saints, and conquers them
And the extent of his power is great, as John says he…
Has power over every tribe, people, and nation.
One world government ruled by the AntiChrist
Which I believe is a human manifestation of Satan, trying to do what he has always wanted… be the Omnipresent God.
Warning to the Saints
Warning to the Saints
Before we talk about the second beast, let’s look at this short warning that we didn’t read before, but we will look at now in verse 10.
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.
We talked about endurance some on Sunday.
There is a reward for it
and Revelation warns us that saints will need to endure captivity and/or death during the time of the first Beast.
The Second Beast
The Second Beast
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.
Details of the 2nd Beast
Details of the 2nd Beast
Rising out of the Earth (not sea)
Two Horns LIKE A LAMB
Spoke like the dragon
Has same authority when with 1st beast
Makes everyone worship 1st beast
Performs great signs, including fire from heaven
Can only work those signs in the presence of the beast
Deceives people by these signs
Convinces people to make an idol of the beast
Put breath into the idol (a Spirit)
Causes all to be marked with name or number of the beast
Okay, let’s work through these details:
Rising out of the Earth (not sea)
The first beast came from the sea, but this one come from the Earth.
The sea is a repesentation of the abyss or bottomless pit.
It is the place the swine went when they jumped of the cliff full of demons
So, the first beast came from the sea, but this one comes from earth.
I think the first is a manifestation of Satan in human form
and the second beast is a human being used by Satan.
Two Horns LIKE A LAMB
Spoke like the dragon
Looks like a Lamb, but speaks like the dragon
This tells me he is going to try and look like Jesus in some way
I’m expecting him to be a religious ruler of some sort
Someone that is going to help the AntiChrist be convincing
And later John calls the one with the beast the false prophet
20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
So, to me this moniker of “false prophet” further points to the idea that this second beast if going to be some sort of religious leader.
Has same authority when with 1st beast
So, only in the presence of the 1st beast does the second beast have power.
Seems like he can’t do much without the AntiChrist with him from how I read this.
Makes everyone worship 1st beast
His job is simple. Get everyone to worship the beast.
That is what Satan wants
He wants all worship from us
and all power.
So, the second beast has one job really..
convince people to worship the AntiChrist
And since ALL people have to worship one man, not only do we have one world goverment through the 1st beast,
We now have one world religion through the second beast.
Performs great signs, including fire from heaven
The second beast, or false prophet will be able to do miracles, ones that sound a lot like the two witnesses.
So, this is where the deception will come in.
He will make even the elite start to question
again … he Can only work those signs in the presence of the beast
Convinces people to make an idol of the beast
At some point he gets them to make some idol of the first beast
and then does something to bring that idol to life.
He puts a Spirit in it.
This could be some sort of illusion
or it could be real
But either way it will look real enough to fool many people.
Causes all to be marked with name or number of the beast
Finally, the false prophet is the one in charge of marking people
A mark that is going to be required to buy and sell anything
This will be the one world currency
What is the Mark of the beast?
Christians will be sealed with a mark of Christ.
and non Christians will be seal with the mark of the AntiChrist.
(Mark Morgan’s Sermon)
(Brother Davidson’s Dream)
(Elon’s Nuro Link)
