Today we will be starting chapter 13 in our ongoing study of the last book in the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chapter 13 will introduce us to two different figures. Today, for sake of time we will focus on the first figure as we break this chapter into two parts. We will then study the second figure tomorrow as we continue the study. The figures or "beasts", simply put, represent an antichrist. I already know what you’re saying, “wait..there’s only one antichrist, right?” That’s a common misperception in our society today, that there will only ever be one antichrist and that he will come during the great tribulation. We will see here in chapter 13 not one, but two major antichrist figures that will both tag-team to do the work of satan in quite the amazing way.
To better understand this chapter lets take a quick look at what an antichrist really is. The word “anti” can have two meanings. It can mean “in place of” or it can mean “against.” So, you can have an antichrist that is 100% against Christ. If you stand against everything Christ stands for, you are an antichrist. Any true atheist out there today would be considered an antichrist. Now, any atheist in the world today that stands against Christ is clearly not the antichrist we will look at here in chapter 13, but they are still an antichrist.
But there’s another type of antichrist. If someone claims to be Christ, that is they claim to be “in place of” Christ, this is also an antichrist. Most of the Roman Emperors claimed to be God in some form or fashion, this qualified them as antichrists. We’ve had many modern day cult leaders that claimed to be Jesus Christ as they led their followers astray. They were antichrists. So, you see there is not just one, not even two, but there is and will be countless antichrists in the world. In 1 John 2:18 it says, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” What we will look at in chapter 13 are two very specific, very powerful antichrist figures that are fully backed by satan. These antichrists will play a very specific role in the great tribulation. One will be a great political leader that will woo the world, and one will be a powerful religious leader, that will wow the world with religion and even be able to do miracles. Let’s look at the first of the two antichrists, the beast of the sea, the great political ruler.
“The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.10 “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”
13:1 – “The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.”
Satan is the dragon mentioned here, we saw him named as such in chapter 12. He stood on the shore of the sea. The imagery of the sands of the seashore represents the nations of the world. Satan knows all the peoples of the world and will be able to appeal to them all. Satan calls the beast from the sea. The sea represents satanic activity in many OT passages (Job 26:12, Psalms 74:13, 89:9-10, Isaiah 27:1) It’s very important to note here that satan calls forth the beast in his power but through the permission and plan of Almighty God. He personally picks the beast and controls him fully. This antichrist will serve satan and all the glory that the antichrist will receive will be glory for satan as well. After all, satan’s ultimate goal is to be worshipped like God and this will allow him a glimpse of that. You’ll notice the physical description of the beast very closely mirrors that of what we saw of the dragon (satan) yesterday in chapter 12. These two will be very similar, but satan will use this beast to be his perfect mouthpiece to the world.
It’s also important to note here that this is not a literal beast but a man. All the horns, heads, and crowns represent what and who he is at the core. They are the makeup of this man. In fact, in appearance the antichrist will be quite the attractive individual. This demon-possessed, tool of satan will be a gifted orator, an intellectual genius, possess great charm and charisma, and have immense leadership power. This antichrist will appeal to all the world and do it with a gleaming smile that melts the hearts of unbelievers. They will not just believe him and trust him, but it will soon turn to worship. The definition of worship is anything that receives your praise, attention, or adoration. If it’s not God you’re worshipping, then you’re worshipping something else and that's simply idol worship. You can worship idols such as: people, money, power, material goods, family, work, education, fame, personal appearance, and we see here, even political figures. (Even today we see people worship political figures)
Horns represent power and strength in the OT and the ten horns represent the ten kingdoms that will be in power during the last half of the great tribulation. (Rev 17:12) The ten kingdoms will be the whole world and the antichrist will rule them all. The seven heads represent the seven kings which are described in Rev 17:9-10. “He had 10 crowns on each horn” represent his power and authority to rule over not one, not two or three, but all kingdoms. Each head had a blasphemous name. There are two ways to blaspheme God. You can make yourself equal to God or you can slander God’s name. This antichrist, this first beast, this demonic tool of satan, will practice both regularly. So much that they are basically tattooed on each of his heads.
13:2 – “The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”
The imagery here is directly from Daniel 7:4-6.
4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.
5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’
6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.
The leopard is thought to be the Greek empire. Under the control of Alexander the Great, Greece enjoyed swift, quick, and destructive conquests. Just as a leopard moves, so did Greece in it's conquering of the known world. The bear is thought to be the Medo-Persian empire. Just as a bear, it was ferocious, strong, and stable. The lion is thought to be Babylon, fierce, and full of consuming power. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and his great authority (during the great tribulation.) Again, it is super important you note here who is really running and ruling the antichrist. Satan hand picked him, empowered him, gave him his throne and power, and on top of all that, great authority. This is satan’s last attempt to defraud the people and derail Jesus’ upcoming claim on His world. God will give satan one last shot at doing things his way and this antichrist is the best that satan has. This character, this antichrist, will be perfectly propped up by satan and will be quite the individual to behold as he charms the world with his message of deception and hidden promise.
13:3-4 – “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
This a tremendously fascinating verse and will be one of satan’s single biggest tools in deceiving the world. Apparently, this antichrist will either be truly resurrected from the dead or it will be the single biggest trick ever played on mankind. If he is indeed resurrected, it would have to be allowed by God because satan does not have the power to give life. It seems much more likely that since the name satan means "deceiver", that this would be an elaborate hoax to fool the entire world. Just imagine if satan could convince the world that this great new world leader had in fact been raised from the dead. Remember how we defined an antichrist earlier? One definition was someone that claimed "to be" Christ. This antichrist will claim to have been raised from the dead just like Jesus of Nazareth. This would literally cause unbelievers to worship him like he was Jesus. No one can duplicate the resurrection of Jesus Christ but satan will imitate it and sell it to the world as real. And the people will believe the lie. “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” (2 Thes 2:11) The result of this lie is worldwide worship of the antichrist. Since the ‘devil’s man’ is receiving this worship, the devil is also indirectly receiving the worship, worship that he so desperately craves. The confidence in the beast is absolute, people put all their faith into him saying, “who could ever defeat this guy, he’s perfect in every way!”
13:5-6 – “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.”
Notice here we have blaspheme used twice and slander once. The message from the antichrist is not just one of self-promotion it is also thoroughly one that is anti-God. The goal here is not to just promote satan, it is to speak evil of God at the same time. True blasphemy is what he will speak, and it will be constant. When the devil gets his day to preach to the world it will not be a message of love, peace and joy, it will be a message of anger, rage, and intolerance towards God. He will use His great power and authority to stir up the people of the world into great anger and resentment towards God. The antichrist will be allowed by God to do this for 42 months which is 3 ½ years, the last half of the 7 year great tribulation.
So, you might be wondering why in the world would God allow this? It seems to me that God wants to, without a doubt, prove to satan that his way will not work. You cannot reign with anger, hate, and intolerance. Even though that is what is in the heart of every human, you cannot rule with those same standards. You see God rules us with love, patience, tolerance, goodness, righteousness, and forgiveness. This is the only way to govern. But God in his ultimate wisdom, before soundly defeating satan, will give him his day. He will allow him to do his best, only to realize it won’t work.
13:7-8 – “It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”
This will be one of the darkest moments in human history. It will be a time of everything that is opposite of God. It will be a time when everything that is taught, preached, and practiced will be the polar opposite of our loving God in Heaven. It will be a world of extreme hatred, anger, murder, war, and mass killing. Especially towards those who believe in God. Remember that the church will be raptured before the tribulation starts, they will be gone. Those that call upon Jesus as Savior during the tribulation and then die will go to heaven, they are gone also. But if you call upon Jesus as Savior and are still alive during this period, you are stuck in this nightmare world. There will be mass genocide during this period as the antichrist stirs up extreme anger towards God and any who believe in Him. It will be open season on Christians as they are killed in the streets with no ramifications. It will be Christian genocide on a global scale.
13:9-10 – “Whoever has ears, let them hear.10 “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”
This is a verse meant to lend comfort and understanding to the believers that will have to endure this period. “Whoever has ears, let them hear” was used by Jesus over 20 times to call his listeners to high attention. Believers will understand the Word of God because the Holy Spirit will bring understanding. That is why some of your lost friends or family do not understand the Bible, their ears are deaf to God’s Word because they do not have the anointing of the Holt Spirit. I was that way personally before I called out to Christ to save me. If a believer is held captive, that’s just the way it is. If you die by the sword, that’s just the way it is. Of course, when believers die during this period they will be spirited away to heaven immediately, but the suffering and death will need to be endured here in this 42 months of pure evil.
God calls for patient endurance and faithfulness. Patience is also called “long-suffering” in God’s Word. It literally means just that, to be able to suffer a long time. We think patience today means waiting 2 minutes at a red light in traffic, but God’s idea of patience is much deeper and much longer. And Jesus finally calls for faithfulness. It might be hard to imagine that God is there in times of suffering in our lives, but He is. There are going to be believers by the millions during this period that will be crying out to God believing that He has forsaken them. But He is there, He is in control, and His plan is perfect. The same is so true for believers in Christ today.
What a tremendous study for us today. The study of the antichrist is not an upbeat, joyful, motivational study for most, but it is an essential one. Many today only want the high points of God’s Word, the verses that make them feel good or encourage them. But folks, you don’t just read the ending of the spy thriller and get the whole story, you have to read the whole book. God gave us 66 books and our job is to study them all. We’re told in Psalms 1, that we should mediate on His law day and night and that is what we should do. All of it. I’m thankful that throughout today’s study, no matter what, God is in control. His plan is perfect, and He will execute it with His perfection. You can rest in the truth and goodness of God’s perfect plan today.
Blessings ~ Dan
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