Revelation 13:1-10 The First Monster

Revelation 13:1-10 The First Monster

Last week I asked the question; “Do you believe in monsters?”. I went on to admit that I do believe in monsters. Not the kind that hides in closets or under beds but monsters none the less. If you will remember I told you that in chapter 13 of Revelation we saw the work of three different monsters; the fiery red dragon who represents Satan, the Beast from the sea that we determined represented a false messiah or the Antichrist that John warned us about in 1 John and finally a monster from the earth or land who would cause people to worship the Beast from the sea and we determined that he is the false prophet the Jesus warned His disciples about who would lead the world astray and would even lead the elect astray if it were possible. Today we are going to continue along those lines but we will just be looking at the beast from the sea or the Antichrist and seeing what it is that he is really all about. So let’s pray then we will read our passage for this morning.

Revelation13:1-10 1Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.[1]

Last week I pointed out a textual difficulty in verse 1 where early manuscripts say, instead of “I stood on the sand of the sea” (speaking of John), said “He stood on the sand of the sea”; speaking of the Dragon/Satan calling up his monster from the sea. I told you that I believe that was a better translation. Well we have a couple more of those in this part of the passage that I did not talk about last week but I need to address today and one of them is found in verse 10. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. In the first part of the verse where the difference is found the older manuscripts say: 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. The difference is significant. The first speaks of judgment against the unrighteous and the second speaks of unjust suffering of the righteous of God. In Jeremiah 15:2 God tells Jeremiah to tell the people: Such as are for death, to death; And such as are for the sword, to the sword; And such as are for the famine, to the famine; And such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.” ’[2] What we see is the fact that God’s people will suffer unjust treatment from this Antichrist monster. That is our call for patience and faith during those terrible trials. We have to remember though that this kind of oppression and evil treatment will not be new and Jesus warned us in His Olivette Discourse about it, just like John does here, when He told His disciple in Matthew 24:9-13 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.[3] Some people would call this fatalism but the follower of Christ understands that we will be hated by the world and the world leaders when we stand for Christ, His work of redemption and His resurrection. But more importantly we will be hated when we refuse to bow before a false messiah, which brings us back to the Monster/Antichrist.

Neither this passage nor any parallel passages tells us how this monster comes to rise from the sea but we can be sure that it is at the leadership of Satan. The sea to the ancient peoples was a place of fear and confusion. It was the place from which mysterious evil arose. So that would be a fitting place for this monster to originate. But many people believe that the sea signifies to the Jewish people the world of the Gentile nations. This could be true but since the letters of Revelation was written to the seven churches of Asia Minor, Gentile churches, then I don’t know if this is what the sea symbolizes. The ancients thought of the sea as a place of chaos and upheaval. I believe that this monster is going to come out of chaos. The world will have been going through many natural disasters as we read about in previous chapters, earthquakes, floods, stars falling from the sky, water being polluted and on and on. So the whole world, all of civilization, and every culture will be shaken to its core when this monster arrives on the scene. The world will be looking for a savior. The seven heads, ten horns, ten crowns and the blasphemous name on his heads show that he comes on the scene as a great political leader who will lift everyone out of the despair they have fallen into. The blasphemous names represent his claim to be the savior of humankind.

To wrap this idea up in a bow for us John, in verse 2, sees this beast/monster in the same light that Daniel saw the four beasts coming up out of the sea in Daniel 7 representing the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian and Greek empires. All of these great political powers that came and conquered Judah were monsters as it relates to their vile treatment of God’s people. Then Daniel saw another beast that he has more difficulty describing that is even worse than the other three and I believe this is the monster we are seeing in this passage. You can read about this in Daniel chapter 7. But in John’s description of this monster we see all the monstrous activity of a totalitarian, godless government lumped together in verses 1 and 2.

Let me stop here and tell you why I keep calling this beast a monster. There are three different Greek words used in the New Testament that are translated “beast”. The first is just an animal, the second is something that is alive. The Greek word John used here was ‘therion’. It describes a being that is brutal, savage, ferocious, blood thirsty and even venomous. It is a being that is filled with evil intent and will do anything to accomplish its purposes. And here we have this vicious monster bursting on the scene out of chaos being so powerful that he has appeared to have conquered death according to verse 3. Remember we said last week that Satan is not very original so he is counterfeiting Christ’s resurrection in this beast. We don’t know how this apparent death and resurrection comes about except that verse 14 of this chapter says that he was wounded with a sword yet was still alive. However it happens makes no real difference, his wound and recovery causes people to believe that he is god, he is the savior of the people. Like I said that is most likely the blasphemous name on his heads or his claim of deity.

So what we have seen thus far as it relates to this monster, the Antichrist is that he is the epitome of corrupt, power hungry, blood thirsty government that thinks of itself and conveys to the people of the earth that he is the savior of humanity. Now let’s stop for a moment and go back to Revelation 11:15 where the seventh angel sounded his trumpet and proclaimed: “The £kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Even Isaiah said that Jesus would rule the nations in Isaiah 9:6-7 6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Clearly Jesus Christ is to rule over the world in the everlasting kingdom of God. He will bring, as the angels told the shepherds, peace on earth. This monster that is a counterfeit of our Messiah is going to be promising the same thing. And the world will marvel at him and they will worship the Dragon/Satan and the Beast/Antichrist because he will promise them peace on earth. And he will indeed rule the nations of the earth for a set length of time that John specified as 42 months.

During his time of reign he will do everything in his power, and remember people are worshiping him, to discredit, revile and defame our God, His character, belittling heaven, and the people of God. Daniel describes him in Daniel 7:8 as having a mouth that spoke boastfully. Paul described him this way in 2 Thessalonians 4:3-4 3Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of £sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. This Antichrist political leader who calls himself god is empowered by Satan himself and Satan is enraged against God because he has been kicked out of his position as the accuser and prosecutor of the saints. So he has his Monster turn his wrath towards the people of God. And it is granted him to make war with the saints and to overcome them it says in verse 7. This is where verse 10 comes in that we talked about in the beginning. Some of the redeemed of God will be imprisoned and some will be slaughtered by the sword. He is granted this power from the Dragon/Satan but ultimately all power and authority comes from God and He has called on believers to be patient in persecution and grow in faith during trials. Just so you do not lose heart remember that God is in control and we who are believers may suffer the wrath of the Beast but we will not experience the wrath of God, the wrath of the Lamb.

That is what will happen to the followers of Christ due to the wrath of Satan. But look at what happens to the people of the earth. He has total authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All the people of the earth will bow before him and worship him. He will blame God for all of the natural disasters, all the deaths of people, all the food shortages, all the war and chaos and all the people of the earth will bow down and worship him as god, as their savior. But that is only those whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb. Even though he slays and imprisons the people of God they still do not bow to him because their names are written in the Book of Life of the Lamb. We talked about that last week; if your name is written in the book of life of the Lamb then you will worship Him and Him alone. The false messiah, the Antichrist will not be able to deceive you and the fear of death will not dissuade you because you have life in the Lamb. Although God has allowed evil, yet from the beginning He planned the ultimate remedy for overcoming evil to be the sacrificial death of His son. The monster who counterfeited the death of Christ will only have a limited time to reign on earth. But the slaughtered Lamb’s victory and rule will be for eternity. It was planned and authored in eternity past and it has been and will be consummated in history and His kingdom will endure forever and forever.

Let me go back over this very quickly. There will, in the course of history, come a man who will enter into the world claiming to be god, the savior, and empowered by Satan/Dragon to appear to have died and come back to life. This man will be a literal monster but he will promise peace and protection to those who bow down and worship him as the savior of humanity. He will be a great political and military leader. He will speak pompous words against God, heaven and God’s people. He will be worshiped by all of humanity, all whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb. Those whose names are written in the Book will not worship him and because of Satan’s wrath towards God the Beast/Antichrist will make war against God’s people. And he will overcome them. Some will be imprisoned and some will be killed. But this is a call for God’s people to grow their patience and build their faith. Though God’s people will experience the wrath of the Beast for a time (42 months) they will not experience the wrath of the Lamb, instead we will dwell with Him in His kingdom forever and ever.

We know that this is a future event and we do not know when it will all come to be. So why is it important for us to know it? First is because of what we saw way back in Revelation 1:3 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.[4] We do want to be blessed by God do we not? But besides that why is it important? I have 3 quick reasons. First: We need to be prepared for what is coming. If you believe that the church will be taken out before the tribulation then the only reason all of this is important is because of what we read in Revelation 1:3 a moment ago. But if you believe, as I believe Scripture teaches, that the redeemed of God will be here during this terrible time of tribulation then there is much to be prepared for. Jesus said that the deception will be strong and as believers we should be ready to see the deception and react to it in a godly way, trusting God and letting our patience grow as we experience the attacks by the Beast. The old saying; “to be forewarned is to be forearmed” definitely applies here. Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb will bow and worship a false god and it is incumbent upon us to warn them ahead of time. We are armed with the truth and we must proclaim that truth to them.

Second: Government and even political leaders are intended by God to be a blessing. It is declared in Romans 13 and throughout the Old Testament as well. But with any blessing God provides there is the probability that man will turn that blessing into a curse. God is sovereign over governments large and small, evil and good, long-lasting and short. “He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away” (Job 12:23; Ps. 75:7). While every earthly government will one day come to an end, God’s kingdom alone shall never be destroyed and never end (Dan. 2:44).

Until that day, we who are the people of God are to faithfully fulfill our responsibilities as citizens both of our respective governments and of heaven (Phil. 3:20). Our prayer must be the prayer of Psalm 72:1111Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him.[5] Our message is the gospel message of the kingdom that is to be proclaimed to all nations until the end comes (Matt. 24:14). Whether our behavior is commended by governments (Rom. 13:3) or we are delivered up “to tribulation,” “hated by all nations,” and put “to death” (Matt. 24:9), we persevere with hope. And we eagerly await the Lord’s return, with passion for the global and eternal worship of Christ that we see mirrored in Revelation 7:9–10 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”[6]

Then lastly combining the other two reasons this is important we need to remember that no government or political leader will deliver the world from its problems. No political leader can be our savior, only the Lamb can save. I say this because in our time there are those who believe that the government is the answer to all of our problems. Like I said, government is intended to be a blessing but most of the time government makes things worse, not better. Those on one side of the spectrum of politics basically worship the government as the savior. On the other side some basically have been, for the last 4 years, worshiping a political leader. I’m not going to name names but you know what I am talking about. I’m not calling anyone out for that but what I am doing is pointing out that both of these two extremes are conditioning mankind for the Beast who will arise out of chaos to proclaim himself as the savior. I have no problem with someone having a favorite politician but that man cannot save you and he cannot even save our nation. God raises up leader and brings them down. God raises up nations and countries and brings them down. I will make this as simple as I can. If you give yourself over to any ideology, a philosophy, any politics, whether liberal or conservative then you have turned you back on the Lamb.

This world is somewhat in chaos, not as bad as it will be at the time of the Monstrous Antichrist, but it will come. The world is ripe for a political figure to arise out of the chaos to lead humanity to peace and tranquility and all he will require of man in return is to bow and worship him as god. Folks if the world is foolish enough to believe that a man can be a woman just by saying so or a woman can be a man just by saying so then the world will have no problem worshiping a false messiah. People of God we must be prepared, we must proclaim the Gospel, and we must give ourselves fully to the Lamb as our King. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 13:1–10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Je 15:2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 24:9–13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 1:3). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ps 72:11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[6] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 7:9–10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.