1. The Book of Revelation Chapters 13
May 18, 2016

2. Revelation 13:1-3 The First Beast
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

3. Revelation 13:1-3
This chapter shows us how Satan deceives – it is meant to prepare Christians so that they will NOT be deceived by Satan and his agents
His strategy is simple – act like he is god and kill everyone not fooled by his impression
His beast will try to convince the world he is Jesus
The beast out of the sea is the anti-Christ, he is both a political power and a person
He and a second beast introduced later are “wild beasts” – a literal translation from John – which further highlights both of these beings savagery
Satan stands on the water and the earth so that he can summon the beast from the sea and a later beast from the earth
There is a clear resemblance between Satan and the beast – one that shows their relation to each other

4. Revelation 13:1-3
Both the dragon and the beast are described as having seven heads and ten horns – the dragon has given his power to the beast and will make him seem to be an immortal, all-powerful being but he is not.
The anti-Christ will be the most charming and persuasive human using the powers of Satan to accomplish his deception
There is only guesses as to why he comes out of the sea – it is possibly because of the still great unknown of what the depths of the sea hold and the ages-long feeling that sea storms symbolize evil
The ten horns and seven heads reflect those of Satan – meant to show his wisdom and power; it is different in being more royal shown by the ten crowns it wears
The blasphemous name on each head shows his evil claims to divinity
In Daniel there were four beasts – here each is combined into one. The four represented the empires opposed to Israel but now all together it shows the raw political power and evil of this man

5. Revelation 13:1-3
The Contrast between the Lord Jesus Christ and the anti-Christ
Jesus
Anti - Christ
The full expression of God the Father in human form
The full expression of Satan in human form
The Holy One of God
The lawless one of Satan
The Son of God
The son of perdition
The Man of Sorrows
The man of sin
Came in the Name of the Father
Came to magnify his own name
Came as a Servant
Came to be worshipped
Rejected by the world
Will be worshipped by the world

6. Revelation 13:1-3
Even today Satan is preparing the world for the anti-Christ – he has been persuading people to believe that all religions should cooperate, that all are equal paths to salvation
He has used the notion of world and religious unity leading to an earthly paradise – this is so prevalent and will continue to grow until it is one of the most powerful deceptions that will lead the beast into power
The anti-Christ will preach a message of peace and tolerance and coexistence
The world has been convinced that the only way to love someone is by tolerate and approve their sinful, self-destructive lifestyles – Satan has even been able to get a slogan plastered on bumper stickers, “Coexist”
Authentic Christian love – loving the sinner but hating and speaking against the sin – has been attacked and turned in common view as hateful

7. The anti-Christ and the Islamic Mahdi
There are important parallels between Christian and Islamic end times belief:
Jerusalem – Christianity, Judaism and islam all see things center on and around this city
All believe in signs leading to the final days
All believe in the coming of a Messiah:
Islam believes that this is the Imam Mahdi who will be assisted by Isa (Jesus Christ)
The most striking thing is that Islam’s Mahdi bears a close resemblance to the anti-Christ
The Mahdi will appear when Jesus returns
He will rule for seven years as noted by Islamic scholar Dr. Hassan based on the Koran and the Hadiths

8. The anti-Christ and the Islamic Mahdi
The Mahdi will hold all the power and authority as the anti-Christ
He will be the supreme political and religious authority
Both Mahdi and anti-Christ are worshipped as head of a one-world religion
Both Mahdi and anti-Christ will establish his capital in Jerusalem
Both will make war on the Jews and the Christians
The Hadith speaks of a seven-year covenant the Mahdi will make with the “Romans” – countries of Europe, a covenant with many just as the anti-Christ will do
The seven-year peace agreement will coincide with the seven years of the Mahdi’s rule (both will rule for seven years)

9. The anti-Christ and the Islamic Mahdi
Islamic scholars have recognized and stated that the rider on the white horse seen with the opening of the first seal is their Mahdi
“It is clear that this man is the Mahdi who will ride the white horse and judge by the Qur’an” according to Muhammad Ibn Izzat and Muhammad Arif
When Muslims call for a world-wide Caliphate, they are calling for the coming of the Mahdi – the “final Caliph”
Satan has worked to deceive his false religion to see his anti-Christ as their end-times savior so that he is paving the way for his gaining power

10. Revelation 13:4-6
4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

11. Revelation 13:4-6
When we look back to chapter 5:6 and forward to 13:14 we see that the anti-Christ will appear to die and yet be miraculously healed
This is a false resurrection playing to Satan’s attempts to make him look like Jesus the true Messiah
He will NOT actually die – Satan does not possess the ability to restore life, ONLY God, Jesus has this power
We see the results of his persuasiveness and this “miraculous” event described “they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
It is also clearly stated that worshipping the beast is worshipping his master Satan
The vanity and pride of this man is a reflection of his master – he “utters blasphemies” against God
To blaspheme means – “to revile, defame someone by speech, harm one’s reputation”

12. Revelation 13:4-6
The anti-Christ’s attack on God will last for forty-two months (3 ½ years)
This is the final time reference recorded in Revelation for the final period of suffering at the end
The anti-Christ will seem to rule benevolently the first half of his time but will proclaim himself god and blaspheme greatly in the second half of his rule
The Apostle Paul wrote about the anti-Christ, “He 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” (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

13. Revelation 13:7-10 to captivity he goes;
7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,
8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
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.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

14. Revelation 13:7-10
The beast is noted five time to have been given something from the dragon –
Verse 2 – authority to rule
Verse 5 – a mouth
Verse 5 – authority for forty-two months
Verse 7 – war-making
Verse 7 – authority over people
Who gave him this authority? The intermediary is Satan, the dragon
BUT the ultimate source is God – Whatever we do not believe, we have to know that God’s justice and sovereignty rule and even from evil God brings His ultimate and perfect good forth
This scene is the fulfillment of Jesus’ teaching, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible” Matthew 24:24

15. Revelation 13:7-10
We see that the beast is given world-wide, universal reign “authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation”
God gives us the brutal facts so we can prepare ourselves to deal with what is coming – “if anyone has an ear, let him hear: 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 endurance…”
This affirms God’s sovereignty and His justice – while we may not understand, it is God’s will and He will ensure all good comes from it
These verses crown the description of Satan’s war on the woman and her child and His followers
Satan will imitate God, he will send his “son” to imitate Jesus, and he will make war on all true believers who refuse to worship him

16. Revelation 13:11-12 The Second Beast
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.
12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

17. Revelation 13:11-13
13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,
14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

18. Revelation 13:11-13
We are now introduced to a second beast – one called from the earth
This is the “false prophet” who will serve Satan and the anti-Christ
This completes Satan’s efforts to complete a phony trinity – further working his efforts to both imitate God and to mock Him
The false prophet points people to the anti-Christ while the true Holy Spirit points people to Jesus
As Jesus points to the Father and the Spirit points to Jesus, the false trinity does the same
The fact that the beast and the false prophet come from earth – the sea and the earth itself – mark their phony status
God’s Holy creations came from Heaven – Jesus came down from Heaven

19. Revelation 13:11-13
The false prophet looks like Jesus – “It had two horns like a lamb” but it “spoke like a dragon” – spreading Satan’s word and his hatred and evil
Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:34, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”
This may indicate that he arises from within the apostate church
In Islamic eschatology Isa (Jesus) assists the Mahdi – just as the false prophet assists the beast
The false prophet works in three steps and we see the first in verse 13
First, he does signs that look like the work of God
Second, he uses the signs to deceive people
Third, he enforces the idolatry with the death penalty

20. Revelation 13:11-13
Just as we see how the Islamic Mahdi closely parallels the anti-Christ, the second beast, the false prophet also closely parallels the Islamic Isa (Jesus)
The Islamic belief is that their “Jesus” will return to earth at a mosque near Damascus (false prophet rises from the earth)
He will pledge his loyalty and subservience to the Mahdi (anti-Christ)
He will act as the chief enforcer of the religion and the chief executioner of all those who do not worship the Mahdi (beast / anti-Christ)
He will seek to destroy ALL other religions
This “Jesus” will arrive and will be human – NOT our Lord Jesus Christ – and he will be an obedient Muslim in his behavior
He will be an enormous deceiver bringing Christians and Jews to believe in him and Islam by his imitation and deception
This false prophet, false “Jesus” will be the antithesis of our Lord Jesus – he will be a mass-murderer and evil in all respects

21. Revelation 13:11-13
This beast is described – “It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon”
The appearance “like a lamb” is no accident – in Islamic terms and to much of the world, the false prophet will look like Jesus
He will appear to be gentle and mild as a lamb, as the true Lamb, Jesus
BUT his behavior will clearly show him as a servant of the dragon – he will speak the lies of Satan and he will blaspheme Yahweh and Jesus Christ
Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:4-5, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.”

22. Revelation 13:15-16
15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,

23. Revelation 13:17-18
17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

24. Revelation 13:15-18
The false prophet has been thought throughout history as likely being a religious figure – one of the most prevalent views has been that he will be a pope
Another possibility is that his coming from the “earth” symbolizes his coming out of Palestine/Israel or the immediate geographical area– he will be seen by the Jews as the Messiah and this facilitates their following him and obedience to him
This also agrees with the Islamic view and provides a dangerous possibility for the unification of many under this evil man who commands the worship of the anti-Christ.
This false prophet is a worker of miracles and signs and will use all of these to deceive as many as possible

25. Revelation 13:15-18
This seems to make particular sense – the false prophet deceives Israel masquerading as the Messiah, also masquerading as Jesus (Isa) for the Muslims and using this to further influence the apostate church into a Unitarian false faith which will be pointed to the worship of the anti-Christ
It is notable that the works of the false prophet in worship of the beast will include an image to be worshipped. In every temple of the ancient world a statue of some deity was a focal point
The actual word translated as “breath” better translates as “spirit” – an evil spirit in this case. Using demons to speak and do supernatural acts is a tactic the devil has used throughout history.
This demon will do what demons seek – it will demand to be worshipped and death for those who don’t worship it
This shows the progression of the beast’s move to power – first he is followed, then he is worshipped and finally he has those who will not give in and worship him killed

26. Revelation 13:15-18
As the beast and devil have attempted to mock God in all their actions, so they will do again – God’s people have been marked, sealed, as His own. Now the beast will require all people, his people, to be marked with his sign.
This mark deliberately contrasts the mark of God on His people
The number is, in itself, significant. The number of God – representing His total perfection would be represented in 3 (for the Trinity) perfect numbers – 777.
The devil uses his number – the number of total imperfection and for the 3 individuals in the false trinity – 666
This is “the number of a man” showing that in spite of his mockery of Jesus, anti-Christ will fall short in all ways – he is human and not divine as much as he may try to deceive everyone to think

27. The Satanic Parody of God
Eternal Truth
Satanic Parody
Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Dragon, Beast, False Prophet
Jesus Christ (Lamb)
Anti-Christ (water monster)
Holy Spirit
False Prophet (earth monster)
Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection
Anti-Christ’s fatal wound and healing
“Who is like the Lord?”
“Who is like the beast?”
Worshipers in the Book of Life
Worshipers deceived
True Miracles (fire from heaven)
False Miracles (fire from heaven)
Sealed with the Lamb’s name
Marked with the beast’s name