29. THE BEAST

Revelation 13:1–10 KJV

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 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? 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.

Introduction

There is coming a man who will step onto the stage of human history unlike any man who has ever lived.

He will be brilliant.

He will be persuasive.

He will be powerful.

He will be admired.

He will appear to have the answers to the world's problems.

He will bring nations together.

He will promise peace.

He will gain the confidence of the world.

And eventually, the world will worship him.

But behind this man will stand the greatest deceiver of all time.

Satan himself.

Revelation 13 pulls back the curtain and allows us to see what is happening behind the scenes.

John sees a beast rising out of the sea.

And this beast is the Antichrist—the coming world ruler who will dominate the earth during the Tribulation.

We have already seen in Scripture that he is called the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, and the Antichrist.

Tonight, Revelation 13 gives us another name:

The Beast.

And as we study this passage, I want us to remember one important truth:

Satan is an imitator.

He cannot create anything equal to God.

So he counterfeits what God has already done.

Jesus Christ is the revelation of God the Father.

The Bible says in John 1:18

John 1:18 KJV

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Jesus came to reveal the Father.

But the Antichrist will come as Satan's counterfeit.

He will be a living revelation of Satan's program.

He will be Satan's man.

And Revelation 13 shows us three things about him.

I. THE BEAST'S APPEARANCE

Revelation 13:1–2 “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea…”

John says:

The sea represents the masses of humanity.

This man will come from among mankind.

He will not be God.

He will be a man empowered by Satan.

That's an important distinction.

Jesus Christ is the God-man.

The Antichrist will be merely a man empowered by the devil.

John sees this beast with:

Seven heads

Ten horns

Ten crowns

Names of blasphemy

These symbols connect Revelation 13 directly with Daniel 7.

The horns represent power and authority.

Revelation 17:12 tells us the ten horns represent ten kings.

Revelation 17:12 KJV

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings…

So the Antichrist will arise in connection with a ten-king confederacy.

This fits the prophetic picture of Daniel's final world empire.

And notice something else.

Revelation 13:2 KJV

“… and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

The dragon is Satan.

Satan gives this man three things.

1. His Power

The ability and strength to accomplish what he wants.

2. His Throne

His position of governmental authority.

3. His Great Authority

The right to exercise tremendous dominion over the earth.

The Antichrist will be incredibly powerful.

But don't misunderstand.

He is powerful—but he is not God.

Satan has power, The Antichrist will have power, But Jesus has all power.

Matthew 28:18 KJV

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

That's the difference.

The Beast receives power.

Jesus possesses power.

The Beast receives authority.

Jesus is the ultimate authority.

II. THE BEAST'S ACHIEVEMENTS

Now we come to one of the most astonishing statements in this chapter.

Verse 3: “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed…”

Somewhere during his reign, the Antichrist will suffer what appears to be a deadly wound.

The world will witness what appears to be his death.

And then something astonishing happens:… The wound is healed.

The world will be amazed.

V3 says: “and all the world wondered after the beast.”

Remember Satan's strategy.

He imitates God.

Jesus died.

Jesus rose again.

And the world largely rejected Him.

But the Antichrist will apparently die and rise again, and the world will be captivated.

Whether this is an actual resurrection or a satanic counterfeit, the result will be the same:

The world will be deceived.

Verse 4 says: “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast.”

Here is what Satan has always wanted.

Worship.

He doesn't merely want political control.

He wants the worship that belongs to God.

The tragedy is that humanity will give Satan through the Antichrist what they refused to give God through Jesus Christ.

The world will say: “Who is like unto the beast?”

But there is only One who deserves that question.

Jesus Christ!

There is none like Him.

There is none beside Him.

There is none above Him.

There is none who can compare with Him.

The Beast will have the worship of the world for a short season.

But Jesus will have the worship of Heaven and earth forever.

III. THE BEAST'S ACTIVITIES

Revelation 13:5 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies…”

Now John shows us what this man will actually do.

A. He will blaspheme God

Verse 5: “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies…”

He will be an incredible communicator.

He will know how to move the masses.

History has demonstrated the power of persuasive speech.

Hitler used his ability to speak to manipulate an entire nation.

The Antichrist will possess an even greater ability to persuade.

He will speak great things.

He will make promises.

He will convince people.

But eventually his mouth will become a weapon against God.

Verse 6: “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God…”

The man who promises to solve humanity's problems will ultimately become humanity's greatest enemy.

B. He will persecute the saints

Verse 7: “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them…”

There will be people saved during the Tribulation.

The 144,000 Jewish witnesses will preach.

The two witnesses will proclaim God's truth.

Multitudes will turn to Christ.

And the Antichrist will hate them.

He will attempt to destroy anyone who refuses to worship him.

Many will be martyred.

But here's something remarkable:

The Antichrist can kill their bodies, but he cannot destroy their souls.

The devil can take your life, He cannot take your salvation.

He can destroy the body, He cannot destroy the eternal soul of a child of God.

That's why Revelation 12:11 says:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony…”

The Beast may win the battle physically.

But he will lose the war spiritually.

C. He will dominate the nations

Verse 7 continues:

“and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”

The Antichrist will become the ultimate world ruler.

His influence will extend across the globe.

Every nation will feel his authority.

But notice those words again:

“Power was given him.”

Satan doesn't give him unlimited authority.

God remains sovereign.

The Antichrist can only go as far as God permits.

Even in the darkest hour of human history, God is still on the throne.

That ought to encourage us.

When everything appears to be falling apart, God has not lost control.

IV. THE BEAST'S WORSHIPERS

Revelation 13:8 “ And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him…”

That's a frightening statement.

But notice the description of these people.

They are called:

“all that dwell upon the earth.”

The idea behind that word is people who have settled down on the earth.

They have made this world their home.

They have no interest in Heaven.

They have no desire for God.

They have placed all their hope in this present world.

And eventually, they will worship the Beast.

So here's the question Revelation 13 puts before us tonight:

Where is your home?

Are you living for this world?

Or are you living for the world to come?

Jesus said:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth…”

Christian, this world is temporary.

The kingdoms of this world are temporary.

The Antichrist is temporary.

Satan is temporary.

But Jesus is eternal.

His kingdom is eternal.

V. THE WARNING TO THE SAINTS

Revelation 13:9 “If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

That sounds familiar.

We've heard those words throughout Revelation 2 and 3.

But here something is different.

The earlier passages said:

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

Here, John simply says:

“If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

The word “churches” is no longer mentioned.

This fits perfectly with the prophetic sequence we've been following.

The Church has been raptured.

The Tribulation has begun.

The Antichrist has risen.

And now the world is experiencing the judgment of God.

Verse 10 ends with a powerful statement:

“Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”

God's people during that terrible time will need patience.

They will need faith.

They will need courage.

And they will need to remember that God wins.

CONCLUSION

Revelation 13 is not primarily given to frighten the Christian.

It is given to warn us, sober us, and remind us that Jesus is coming again.

The Beast will rise.

He will rule.

He will deceive.

He will blaspheme.

He will persecute.

He will be worshiped.

But then Revelation 19 happens.

And Jesus Christ comes riding out of Heaven.

And the Beast's kingdom comes crashing down.

Revelation 19:20 says:

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet…”

The Antichrist has an expiration date.

Satan has an expiration date.

Sin has an expiration date.

This world has an expiration date.

But Jesus has no expiration date!

He is King forever.

So don't get so caught up studying the Beast that you forget about the Lamb.

Don't become so fascinated by 666 that you forget about the cross.

Don't spend all your time wondering who the Antichrist might be.

Make sure you know Jesus Christ.

The Beast is coming.

But the King is coming!

The Antichrist will rule for a season.

Jesus will reign forever.

The Beast will be worshiped by the world.

Jesus will be worshiped by every nation, every tribe, every tongue, and every redeemed saint of God.

And one day, Revelation 7:9 will be fulfilled:

“A great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues… stood before the throne, and before the Lamb.”

That's who I'm looking for.

Not the Beast.

The Lamb.

Not Antichrist.

Jesus Christ.

Not the kingdom of Satan.

The Kingdom of God.

And when everything else is finished, there will still be one name above every name:

JESUS.