JERUSALEM JERUSALEM JER U.S.A. LEM 3 3 3

CHAPTER 13 PART I

Revelation 12 flows into 13. Revelation 12 serves to show … 1. The eternal battle between Satan and God’s People – especially Israel (national and spiritual and the church) 2. Satan’s attempt to destroy Jesus himself – from birth to His ascension. 3. Satan’s continued attempt to wipe the people of Israel off the face of the earth as well as to put down and destroy the church of Jesus Christ. 4. How all of this culminates in Satan working through the “religious” and political powers of the world (Particularly Europe – the Old Roman Empire – and the Middle East) to bring about his own “son” THE ANTICHRIST – who will rule with the spirit and power of Satan with the sole purpose of ruling the earth and subduing and destroying God’s People. – The two Witnesses - Israel and the Church. READ REVELATION 12:17- 13:10

The word – ANTICHRIST appears only in: I John 2:18 18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 4:3 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. II John verse 7 7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

BIBLICAL TITLES OF THE ANTICHRIST The "king of Babylon" the little "horn" “stern faced king – master of intrigue" "the ruler who is to come" “a contemptible person” “the king who exalts himself” "the man of lawlessness," "the man doomed to destruction" "antichrist" "the beast"

REVELATION 13: A widely controversial passage of various interpretations. There are several “mysteries” within it. They are mysteries because they have NOT YET OCCURRED (Remember “wormwood”?) 2. So we can only speculate. We therefore must be very careful and deal mainly with what the Bible CLEARLY SAYS. 3. John sees…. A BEAST COMING OUT OF THE SEA It resembled a Leopard, a Bear and a Lion. But it was different and UNNAMED. It had 10 horns, 10 crowns, 7 heads. How do we interpret this? WITH THE BIBLE!

Daniel 7 A beast coming out of the sea 10 horns It was the fourth, UNNAMED, after a Leopard, Bear and Lion The fourth one in Daniel’s vision became the ROMAN EMPIRE. Daniel 2:31-45 – Again a future ROMAN EMPIRE is described and then… a DIVIDED ROMAN EMPIRE (modern Europe) is described and then Daniel is told that the return of Jesus (“A kingdom that would never be destroyed…the rock cut out of a mountain not by human hands”), would occur in the time of this divided empire (Modern Europe)! Revelation 17:9 – Clearly says that the 7 “heads” of the Beast are SEVEN HILLS upon which the “Woman…The Harlot” (A huge religious system) sits. ROME is known as the “City Upon 7 Hills”! The Vatican is in ROME. It is a HUGE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM that influences all of Europe and much of the rest of the world. (We will explore this in GREAT DETAIL when we come to chapter 17) BUT ISN’T THE ANTICHRIST A MAN…or JUST AN “EMPIRE”?

So… the beast of Revelation 13 – speaks of the divided, revived and revitalized Old Roman Empire – (modern day Europe.) But then… (In our text – Rev. 13:5 ) the beast also takes on a personification (The beast is given a “mouth”) – In other words…there is a MAN who immerges from this beast and represents this beast. Both the beast and the man are empowered by Satan himself in the last days.

WHAT DO OTHER SCRIPTURES SAY ABOUT THIS MAN? Daniel 7: 8-27 – There is a “little horn” who comes from the 10 horns of the great beast – speaking proudly, waging war against God’s People, he will exercise great authority for 3 ½ years. God will destroy him. He is a “King” who comes from the 10. In other words…A LITERAL MAN. Daniel 8: a small horn who becomes great, claims to be as great as the Prince of Hosts (Jesus!) – He prospers and rebellion (terrorism?) rules the day, truth is thrown to the ground, he attacks God’s People and tries to stamp out the “daily sacrifice”. (Christian Worship) Daniel 8: “In the time of the end” – A stern faced king, a master of intrigue, strong by “supernatural” power, causes astounding devastation and has great success in all he does, causes deceit to prosper, attacks God’s people, when all feel SAFE and SECURE (terrorism?) he will stand against the Prince of Hosts (Jesus!) - He will be destroyed by God.

Daniel 9:24-27 – “The 70 weeks of Daniel” He will come from the people who eventually destroy the temple in Jerusalem - (ROMANS!), He will establish a “covenant” with many for 7 years (A peace treaty in the Middle East?) At the 3-½ year mark he will attack God’s People and will erect the “Abomination that Caused Desolation.” (Matthew 24 – Jesus’ words about this) –God will destroy him. Daniel 11:31 - He will put an end to the “daily sacrifice”, he will erect the “abomination that causes desolation.” Revelation 13 tells us that it is an “image” that “comes to life” and the world worships him because of this. Daniel 11:36 –45 – He will exalt himself, he will blaspheme God, he will honor a god of “fortresses” unknown to his “forefathers” and will spend big money on this power. (Nukes, star wars technology, etc?) – He will exalt those who honor him and he will invade ISRAEL! He will rule from Jerusalem! (Remember Revelation 11 – “the Gentiles will trample on the holy city”?) God will destroy him. Daniel 12 “AT THAT TIME” The time of the anti-Christ – a time of GREAT DISTRESS (great tribulation) – at that time….GOD’S PEOPLE DELIVERED! (raptured!)

II Thessalonians 2:3-10 3Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day (The Day of the Lord and the Rapture) will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. … 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

REVELATION 13, DANIEL 7-11, COMMON ELEMENTS 1. He comes from a divided Roman Empire (Europe) 2. Starts small (fatal wound?) but becomes BIG! 3. Boastful and arrogant, haughty 4. Will exercise GREAT AUTHORITY for 3 ½ years (42 months) 5. He will blaspheme God 6. Attack God’s people and outlaw worship of Jesus 7. He will have authority and influence over the nations of the world 8. The world will honor him greatly He is spoken of in Daniel and Revelation as a literal man who comes out of a literal world government power – the two are intimately connected – together ….they are the “BEAST”.

SAINTS = GOD’S PEOPLE - from time of Jesus on…it distinctly and literally means CHRISTIANS (Jews and Gentiles) Patience – Hold on, Jesus is coming, we win! Endurance – Don’t give up – no matter how tough it gets. Faithfulness – Take God at His Word and stay true to God’s Word! CONCLUSIONS Revelation 13:10 - “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.”

II THESSALONIANS – God destroys him! Daniel 7 God will DESTROY HIM! Daniel 8 God will DESTROY HIM! Daniel 9 God will DESTROY HIM! Daniel 11 God will DESTROY HIM! Daniel 12 GOD’S PEOPLE ARE DELIVERED! (RAPTURED and VICTORIOUS!) DID YOU NOTICE?