Revelation 13:1-10 The Antichrist

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1 Revelation 13:1-10 The Antichrist Parkdale Grace Fellowship Sunday PM, July 15, 2012 Chapter 13 is one of the great prophetic chapters of the Bible and is the only passage which clearly presents the two primary evil characters of the Tribulation who form, together with Satan, an unholy trinity. Chapter 13 clearly reveals that the leader of the revived Roman Empire, referred to as the first beast, ultimately becomes the ruler of the entire world. Under Satan s control this world ruler functions as a substitute for Christ known as the Antichrist. The events of this chapter are a continuation of chapter 12 which detail some of the fury of the dragon (Satan) who was cast out of heaven at the midway point of the tribulation and went to war against all followers of Christ. Vs. 1, "Then 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." John saw a beast rising up out of the sea. According to Revelation 11:7 and 17:8, the beast came up out of the bottomless pit or the abyss. Therefore the sea seems to be used to symbolize the abyss also known as the deep, which was considered in Bible times to be the source of demonic powers opposed to God. In the Old Testament the sea was often identified as the source of satanic sea monsters (c.f. Ps. 74:13-14; 87:4; 89:9-10; Isa. 27:1; 51:9-10). (Robert Thomas, p. 151) The beast described in the first ten verses is representative of both a human leader (the Antichrist) and the empire that he rules. (Robert Thomas, p. 154) So there will be times when this prophetic vision is referring to the Antichrist as the beast and times when this vision portrays the political empire that he leads as the beast and times when the beast refers to both. Notice the similarities between John s description of this beast and the beast described in the vision of Daniel in Daniel 7:7-8. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. This passage in Daniel refers to the Roman Empire (vs. 7) and the revived Roman Empire (vs. 8) during the tribulation under the leadership of the little horn, who is the future world ruler the antichrist. The beast rising out of the sea in Revelation 13 is believed to be describing the same thing as that in Daniel 7. The seven heads represent seven successive world empires, five had fallen at the time of this revelation: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. One still existed in John s time,

2 2 Rome, and the other has not yet come the revived Roman Empire which will initially be led by the ten simultaneous kings before being taken over by the Antichrist. Revelation 17:10, "There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time." Following the pattern of Daniel s visions we interpret the heads to generally represent the empires and the horns to represent kings who rises up to lead the empire (Dan. 7:24; 8:5, 8, 9, 21). The ten horns probably refer to a confederacy of ten kings who will aid the Antichrist to formed a revived Roman Empire in the beginning of the tribulation. Revelation 17:12, "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast." (cf. Daniel 2:42-46 ten toes; Daniel 7:8, ten horns) The fact that all of these seven great world empires of human history are portrayed as heads on one beast indicates that all these empires have had the same satanic influence at work behind them. Satan has always sought to be like god and to bring all of god s people together under his rule and authority. Vs. 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." This beast (the revived Roman Empire of the Tribulation under the leadership of the Antichrist) has the combined strength and brutality of the entire historic beast kingdoms, the Leopard (Greece), the Bear (Persia) and the Lion (Babylon) brought into one to make the Beast of chapter 13. The feet of a bear are tremendously powerful and can tear the body of an opponent wide open with a single swipe of their claws. Lions have very large and powerful mouths which are easily able to crush the skulls of their opponents. All of the preceding world empires have been motivated by satanic ambition to bring the world under one ruler. The dragon, Satan, is here described as the source of the beast s power and authority, meaning Satan will work through the Antichrist, who will be a man. This is all part of Satan s attempt in a perverted way to mimic the relationship between the Heavenly Father and His Son. As the God-man Jesus is one with the Father and shares His throne (3:21), so the man Antichrist shares the throne of Satan (2:13). Vs. 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. An incident occurs prior to the exaltation and worship of the beast in which one of the beast s heads is wounded with a deadly wound and then is revived. The wording indicates that the Antichrist will be violently killed (mortally wounded), and then restored to life again (healed). This is all part of the dragon s (Satan s) attempt to counterfeit the death and resurrection of Christ. (Robert Thomas, p ) In light of the fact that this first beast represents both the final

3 3 world empire of the Tribulation and the Antichrist who leads this empire, verse three is likely referring to both the last days revival of the old once dead Roman Empire, and the bringing back to life of the Antichrist. This revival, particularly of the Antichrist, causes great amazement and men follow and worship him (vs. 4). This counterfeit of Christ s death and resurrection, unlike the resurrection of the true Christ, makes a huge impact immediately upon the world and the majority of mankind believes the counterfeit follows the beast and worships him. Only God has the power to give life. Satan does not have the power to restore a dead person to life so either this is a counterfeit death and resurrection or God gives Satan the power on this occasion to raise the Antichrist (as God has given humans like Elijah, Elisha and the disciples power to raise the dead on occasion). But this begs the question, would God ever give this kind of power to Satan and if so why would He do so? 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, "The coming of the lawless one [Antichrist] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth [the resurrection of Christ] but had pleasure in unrighteousness." [Bracketed comments added] Vs. 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? " Here we have the blasphemous worship of Satan and of the Beast prompted by the misleading sign and lying wonder of the Antichrist being restored to life. This is a successful diversion turning the attention of the world away from the true God, the Creator, to the worship of the creature. It reveals the stubborn, hard-hearted rebellion of mankind in their refusal to worship the one true God. Vs. 5-8, "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. In verses 5-8 we see the work of the Beast/ Antichrist summarized by two main activities: insolent blasphemy toward God and almost irresistible powers of seduction over men. The beast is given a supernatural gift of being able to speak with seductive and persuasive power. In modern history we saw a similar oratory power exercised by Adolf Hitler in his failed attempt to bring the world under his control. Though the Lord has given Satan much authority and freedom to carry out his evil during the tribulation, God still maintains sovereign control and limits the Antichrist s abilities and influence to only forty-two months (3 ½ years); the last half of the tribulation.

4 4 The Antichrist speaks with much blasphemy, apparently applying to himself the name and attributes of God. Verse seven tells us It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. Obviously this ability to overcome the saints of God was granted to the Antichrist by God. Those saints who are overcome does not include the Jewish remnant whom God is protecting and sustaining in the wilderness during this time. The Antichrist will at this time exercise universal authority (vs. 7-8). Because of God s withdrawing of a measure of His sustaining grace and allowing Satan to have unprecedented freedom to act, the Antichrist will accomplish what every leader of every major empire has ever dreamed about total world domination. Not only is the Antichrist s authority political but also religious. He brings the entire world together under one government with one leader and one religion the worship of the Antichrist. The beast s God-permitted authority extends to every tribe, tongue and nation (including every language group and racial group) on the face of the earth. In every tribe, tongue and nation, all people, with apparently few exceptions, follow after the counterfeit Christ they all believe the lie they all bow their knee before Satan s representative. Jesus Christ died to demonstrate His love and to save these same groups of people who instead choose to follow Satan s fake Christ. Revelation 5:9, "And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation." Vs. 9-10, 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." The call of verse 9 is very similar to the call that was repeated often in chapters two and three, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (2:7, 11, 17, 21, etc.) However note the significant difference here the Church is not mentioned in this call to hear. The Church is gone up there is no church on the earth at this time. The ESV has a more accurate translation of verse 10 which makes it clear that it is the believers who God is declaring will go into captivity and be killed with the sword. "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." This call to hear is addressing those who do not follow the Antichrist but who have come to faith in Jesus Christ during the tribulation and are still alive. Through persecution and mass pressure the Anti-Christ will compel people to worship him. Thousands, perhaps millions, who refuse will die for their faith as verse 7 says the Antichrist will make war with the saints.

5 5 Verses 9 and 10 are a call for the true believers during this last half of the Truth to persevere in their faith and to not give in under the tremendous pressure and persecution that is coming upon them. (Thomas, p. 168) It is a warning of great persecution and death that will come upon the faithful but they are to recognize that the actions of the false Christ have been decreed and permitted by God. God is sovereign over all that is happening and Satan and the beast have only a very short time. God promises that He will reward the patience and faith of the saints who remain faithful, even unto death. Copyright 2012 by Parkdale Grace Fellowship Permission: You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.