Sermon Tone Analysis

The Beast from the Sea

Two weeks ago we finished looking at the Dragon, the woman, and the child were we seen that the Dragon was Satan or the devil, the woman was Israel and the child was Jesus.

The Dragon was permanently kicked out of heaven after a fight with Michael the Arch Angel, and this has sent Satan into a real furry and he has now went after the Woman, Israel, those that are God’s people to destroy them.

God had provided protection for them, He gave believer’s a three-fold formula for victory which is - Our cleansing through the blood of the lamb, our confession by the words of our testimony, and then our courage to stand against all opposition.

So far in the book of Revelations, and our study of End Times, we have only briefly talked about the Antichrist, he has been standing in the shadows of history up to this point.

Starting in chapter 13 tonight we will see 4 things about the Antichrist, which is referred to as the Beast from the sea, here in the first 10 verses of chapter 13.

I.

The Delivery of the Beast:

In the last verse of chapter 12, we are told that the dragon is standing on the sand of the sea, Satan is waiting on the arrival of his son, of the Antichrist.

Then in verse one, John sees the beast coming up out of the sea.

Sea and water are symbolic of multitudes of wicked people from every tongue and nation.

We see this represented elsewhere in God’s Word.

We also see it later on in the book of Revelation 17:15

The stage is set for the delivery of the beast.

There is a troubled, growling, seething sea of disturbed and evil people.

The Soviet Union has been dissolved, but the former Soviet Republic that were a part of this formidable power are still dangerous to world peace.

Many of them are strongholds of Islamic fundamentalism and launching posts for religious jihad.

The Russian bear, wounded and hungry, is sniffing out morsels to devour.

Think of what is happening in the spiritual vacuum of Europe that is being filled with New Ageism and Occultism.

World financial markets are alarmed as unsustainable debt threatens to collapse the economies of many nations.

Then consider worldwide terrorism.

Because of Islamic fundamentalism and its religious jihad, we are now being faced with the horrendous prospects of biological warfare, chemical warfare, suitcase bombs, hijacking, and who knows what else.

And do not think that I am prejudiced against mild easterners or Islamic people, but as tomorrow is September 1st, 9-11 is on my mind.

It is scary to even send our kids to school these days, with all the wickedness and evil in this world.

And we have yet to mention the famines, natural disasters, and political schemes that are a part of the world events of today.

All of these things tell us that perilous times are here and that the nations of the world are like a seething sea out of which will rise the beast.

II.

The Attributes of the Beast:

A. His Father:

What will this beast be like?

First, let’s notice his father:

We see the dragon standing here on the sand of the sea, but we can also see his father in his attributes.

There are a couple things about the beast here that if we think back to chapter 12, we should be reminded of the dragon.

In verse one of our text for tonight we see that the beast had ten horns and seven heads, and on the heads had seven crowns, and then from chapter 12, we see that the dragon had ten horns, seven heads, and on his heads he had seven crowns.

Like father, like son, isn’t that the old saying.

The beast has the attributes of his father the dragon.

The Bible teaches that when the beast comes, he will posses all the power of Satan:

When Jesus was on earth, He said,

When the devil enters the Antichrist, the Antichrist will be able to say, “The one who has seen me has seen my father.”

All the attributes of Satan will be in this man of sin.

He will be a consummate liar like his father and will perform the works of his father.

B. His Family:

We know his father; now let’s meet the rest of his family - a lion, a bear, and a leopard:

To understand this, we need to look at Daniel 7, where Daniel described the four great empires of the world as beasts.

The first empire the world has ever known was the Babylonian Empire.

Daniel describes it as a lion.

The lion is the royal king of beasts with a ravenous and incredible strength.

He is able to terrify every other animal in the kingdom.

The next world empire was Medo-Persia, and Daniel described it as a bear.

The bear has massive strength and powerful claws to crush its victims - a fitting symbol to describe the way the Medo-Persian kings ruled the world at that time.

Next Daniel characterized the Greek Empire as a leopard because of its rapid movement to conquer the world.

Alexander the Great led the charger and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer.

Daniel saw one more kingdom over which the Antichrist would rule:

When the Antichrist comes, he will come from this lineage of empires.

He will have the royalty of Babylon, the strength of Medo-Persia, and the sophisticated wisdom of Greece.

He will be a combination of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Caesar, Charlemagne, Hitler, and more.

This is family legacy.

C. His Fortune:

Notice the last part of

Revelation 13:2 (CSB)

2 The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.

This man will receive a throne of authority from Satan in which to rule the world.

Does Satan have it to give?

Indeed, he does.

In the Gospels we read that Satan tempted Jesus to follow him and wanted Jesus to bow down to him:

Notice that Jesus did not tell Satan that he didn’t have the kingdoms of the world to give because He knew Satan had taken that dominion from Adam.

The devil offered the kingdoms to Jesus; and Jesus wouldn’t take them.

But a man of sin who is coming so diabolically wicked that he will give his heart, mind, soul and everything to the devil.

Satan will enter into him to give him power and authority.

This is the man Jesus described in John 5:43

Jesus prophesied that one of these days those who would not receive the Lord Jesus Christ will receive the Antichrist.

III.

The Disguises of the Beast:

When the Bible describes the Antichrist as a beast, it is not describing his appearance; it is describing his character.

The beast will be an appealing person in the eyes of the world.

He will be handsome, charming, clever, and intelligent.

The whole world will wonder about the beast.

They will ask, “Who is like him?

Who is able to make war against him?”

One of the ways he will win their affection is through a counterfeit resurrection.

At some time during his world rule, he will be fatally wounded on the head.

The whole world will mourn his death; then dramatically he will come back to life.

His propaganda machine will church out the news of his resuscitation.

It will be the masterstroke of Satan that causes the world to follow after him as never before.

The devil has always wanted to imitate God.

For everything God has, Satan has a counterfeit.

There are counterfeit Christians.

We call them hypocrites.

There is a counterfeit Church.

The Bible calls it the synagogue of Satan.

There is a counterfeit Trinity - the dragon (Satan), the beast from the sea (Antichrist), and the beast from the earth (false-prophet).

They are the false or anti - (the anti-father, anti-christ, and the anti-holy spirit.)

The devil is a counterfeiter.

People will be deceived by the devil.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:24

IV.

That which Drives the Beast:

A. He is coming to Promote Satan:

The beast wants people to worship Satan.

The devil has always wanted to be worshipped.