Transcript

The Rise of Satan's Servants-Part One

Revelation 13:1-18
Sunday, January 24, 2015
Pastor Randy Smith

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From newspaper editorials to social media posts to college agendas to conversations around the watercooler at work, there is a war going on. Just about everything (actions, conversations, thoughts) falls into the category of whether or not we will honor or dishonor God. Let me change that. I think I can say everything can fall into one of these two camps.

Let's choose a very neutral topic and one, no doubt, that was on our mind last week - The weather. You ask, how can that in any way be an element of this spiritual warfare? The weather itself is neutral, but the way we process it based on our motives, worldview and priorities reveals this cosmic conflict of eternal proportions.

See if you can determine the often unconscious anti-God sentiments in this statement. "I need to go to the store to stock up on food supplies because Mother Nature is sending a "bleep" storm our way that's going to make me have to shovel for hours which I hate doing and put up with my annoying kids who will be home from school all day. With a little luck I'll get through this."

Let's see, we have unbelief, blasphemy, profanity, complaining, anger, ungratefulness and superstition in that order. Minus the profanity, I can hear many Christians talking this way and thinking nothing's wrong with it. In doing so, they've lost the battle for God on the most fundamental level. Their comments reveal a mind that reveals a heart that does not know God.

On the contrary, let's try this on for size. "As God provides for our family through natural means, I plan to pick up a few things from the store in preparation from the storm He is sending our way. By His grace I'll get the driveway shoveled out and then be thankful for the extra time we can have together as a family." Now you might not use those exact words with your neighbor, but I think you get the point.

Begin to see things from this perspective. All humans either honor or dishonor God in every aspect of their lives. It's light verses darkness, truth verses error, God-centered worldview verses man-centered worldview on all occasions. And behind all this is a God verses Satan war. It's not a war that pits two equal forces, but it's one that Satan fights will all his might, yet will be dethroned and defeated and judged in the end. However in the meantime, he works through the unbelieving world and even at times the believing community to oppose God. We learned from chapter 12 that since he can no longer get at Christ (who has ascended to the right hand of the Father - verse 5) he's all out on, 12:17, those "who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."

This morning as the Lord permits we will cover half of chapter 13. This week will be the "first beast" (the antichrist) from verses 1-10. And then next week will be a look at the "second beast" (the false prophet) from verses 11-18. We'll get a behind-the-scenes look as to how Satan uses two of his key servants to accomplish his purposes in an attempt to attack God's people.

Both of these individuals are referred to in Revelation 13 as "beasts." This chapter will chronicle Satan's all-out, last-ditch attempt to defeat God's people, yet we know from 12:11, "And [God's people] overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."

That's the sermon. Now let's fill in the details.

1. The First Beast (verses 1-10)

We begin in verse 1 with the first beast. "And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names."

So we have already learned that the dragon is clearly Satan (Rev. 12:9). And while Satan is seen on the seashore, John records in verse 1 seeing another figure described as a "beast" coming out of the sea that has been called forth by Satan.

Remember, we have learned that the sea is symbolic for evil. Don't impose your love for the beach on this passage! That's why Revelation 21:1 when describing heaven says, "There is no longer any sea." The sea is a symbol of evil, yet this beast is a literal figure. This is Satan's key man. He's grotesque and he's described as having many heads, horns and diadems. Again to keep it brief, these are all symbols for kingdoms and authority. We'll explore this in greater detail when we get to chapter 17. The beast here is known commonly as the antichrist. And he is going to be a world leader.

Verse 2, "And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion."

Alright, this is a good point to see the big picture. In verse 2 John describes the beast, the antichrist by comparing it to a leopard, a bear and a lion. That is clearly a reference to Daniel 7. Keep those animal descriptions in mind as I read from Daniel 7 beginning in verse 3.

"And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, 'Arise, devour much meat!' After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns" (Dan. 7:3-7).

So John in Revelation describes the beast with these animal descriptions as one person, but Daniel in using the same animal descriptions describes the beast as several people with the fourth beast being "dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong," "different from all the other beasts" and having "ten horns" (Dan. 7:7). The terms are all in line with what we read from John's beast in Revelation 13.

Let's put it together. I am led to believe the visions from Daniel and Revelation are the same. Daniel described and predicted four world leaders from his time and going forward: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Think of them as "beast-empires." They are each led by an evil ruler or as Daniel sys in 7:17, "These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth" (cf. Dan. 7:23).

Then Daniel a verse later says, "While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts" (Dan. 7:8).

Now in Daniel this is a reference to the final beast empire, the most evil and anti-God empire of them all, the empire of the antichrist. So John in Revelation 13:2 is simply seeing the final antichrist, using Daniel's descriptions, as the embodiment and culmination of all the other antichrists. Many "small a" antichrists all foreshadowing a "large a" antichrist. Remember his own language from 1 John 2:18? "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour."

I believe this interpretation also helps us to make sense of verse 3. In speaking of the final antichrist, "I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed." Either we take that literally or symbolically. Literally, people see this as an old world leader. Nero and Hitler have been suggested, coming back to life and once again ruling. Yet this interpretation has problems because verse 3 does not say he came to life again, but rather "one of [the beast's] heads" came to life again.

So I see this final beast as a culmination of all the evil empires. As you know, there have been many beast empires that have opposed God's people and based on their brutality, were inspired and empowered by Satan. But as soon as one is put away it seems another is on the scene. Goodbye Nebuchadnezzar, hello Nero. Goodbye Nero, hello Hitler. You get the point. As verse 3 says, the beast (this world leader) keeps dying from a fatal wound, but it seems as if it can never be killed. Just when you think the coast is clear, another beast empire with a beast leader appears.

And that brings us to the final beast empire. Evil is alive and more present than ever now. Verse 3 continues, "And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast." Verse 4, "They worshiped the dragon [Satan] because he gave his authority to the beast [the antichrist - repeated from verse 2]; and they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?'" The final world leader of Satan's beast kingdoms is the antichrist.

So let us set the stage. The world for the most part has rejected the true God. Jesus asks the question regarding His return. "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Lk. 18:8). The world is lost, in chaos and desperate for a unifying leader. They want someone who will unite and especially oppose those who are viewed as the greatest threat to their freedom: Christians.

So the world leader with charisma arises with apparent invincibility. He speaks the world's language as he utters, verse 1, "blasphemous" things against God and His people. The world falls in love with this devil-empowered human leader who will demand allegiance. And in their God-given desire to worship something, verse 4 says, they worship him.

Verse 5, "There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him."

Again, if we interpret this as it would have come to its original readers in the first century; a clear picture would have emerged. The dreadful and terrifying fourth beast of Daniel 7 was known to the church when Revelation was written. If indeed the fourth beast from Daniel 7 was Rome, the early church was presently living out the prophecy. Much of their persecution and the greatest of the church's persecution for the first couple hundreds of years of their existence was from Rome.

You see, Christian doctrine that Jesus is Lord flew in the face of the established Roman religion. The hostility toward Christians fluctuated in the Roman Empire based upon local events or the emperor in office.

The punishment was often death, yet Christians were given a pardon if they would renounce their religion and offer sacrifice to the emperor or to the Roman gods. It was unpatriotic to refuse to honor the gods and goddesses of Rome whom it was believed brought blessings to the empire. Honoring them was considered a civic obligation. Most Christians refused and were daily martyred for their faith. This continued into the fourth century until the time of Constantine I in AD 313. Yet prior to that, the Christians suffered some of their worst persecution under Diocletian.

When the text talks about antichrist, a human figure speaking blasphemies and arrogant words, the early church living in the Roman Empire surely knew a thing about that. Antichrist will demand worship just like the Roman leaders (or antichrists) before him. Augustus Caesar was proclaimed as "One like the gods." Nero was called the "Savior of the World" on coins during his reign. The Roman Senate from Augustus on declared that deceased emperors were divine. And Caligula was the first to insist that he was divine and right after that he divinized his horse. And Domitian (probably John's time) was regularly addressed as "Our Lord and God."

Verse 6, "[Antichrist] opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven."

When antichrist is fully revealed, everyone will see him for the evil egotistical person he is. The whole world will see him for the monster that he is. Inspired by Satan, he hates God and everything related to God. We learned last week that Satan's war is with God and he takes it out on God's people. We shouldn't be surprised that Satan's key figure acts no differently. And what may surprise us is that the world sees this and loves him.

Look at verse 7. "It was also given to him [antichrist] to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him."

A couple thoughts: As in verse 5, we again see the phrase "it was given to him." We saw it in verse 2 and we'll even see it three more times in this chapter alone (verses 14, 15, 16). John wants to make it very clear for the reader that antichrist, though terrifying for the church only has an authority that was given to him. We already learned in verse 2 that his authority was from the dragon. Yet we also know that his permission and authority are given to him by God. John wants the church to know that whatever he does, it's only what God is permitting him to do and all things, as verse 10 teaches are happening under God's sovereign reign.

Second, when John says he will "overcome" the church in verse 7, it can only mean his overcoming is their persecution and possible death. Yet there is a play in words here when we consider John's comments from 12:11 that says we will overcome Satan himself. So who overcomes who? When Christians stand firm in their faith without wavering, there is an appearance of being overcome by God's enemies. Yet Christians overcome the enemy by standing firm in their faith. 12:11 again, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." That's how >we overcome and when we'd accept death over recanting our faith in Jesus, that's proof we have overcome. That's victory because in Satan's last-ditch effort for supremacy, we're showing him who's really supreme in our lives. So catch this - his overcoming us is ultimately the proof that we have overcome him!

Was this not the temptation Christ Himself faced and the overcoming response Christ offered? "Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only''" (Mt. 4:8-10).

Verse 8, "All who dwell on the earth will worship him." John is making his point crystal-clear about the world's love affair with the beast, the antichrist. As a matter of fact, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that he will take "his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. All will worship him. Listen how John describes in verse 8 those who will worship the beast: "Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain."

God's true people will not worship the antichrist. Their allegiance to the Lord is more important than their lives. Their names have been already written in God's "book of life" (Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27). Before Christians were born, God decreed a list of His children (cf. Rev. 17:8). And at a certain point in history, God will call those specific children to Himself. And their faith will be in Jesus Christ, their Savior and Lord, the Lamb that died and rose and paid the price for all of their sins. The One (if we take the grammar I believe correctly) that was slain before the "foundation of the world." In the mind of God, His children were already called and Jesus was already slain. There is a tremendous guarantee and assurance that God's children are redeemed and under the ownership of the Lamb.

So we have it again, another gory chapter that describes the tactics of the devil and the suffering in the church. Yet again, we close with the good news that we belong to the Lamb. We close with the good news that we will overcome and spend all of eternity with our Savior.

Once again it comes down to the question: Whose side are you on? There only two choices. You can follow the antichrist who kills many for his glory or you can follow the real Christ who for His glory saves many by allowing Himself to be killed. You can follow the antichrist who demands total allegiance and enslaves you or you can follow the real Christ who demands total allegiance and sets you free. And you can follow the antichrist who takes you to eternal death with himself or you can follow the real Christ who takes you to eternal life to be with Himself.

Based on your worldview, whose side are you on in this cosmic conflict? There is all of eternity at stake. You can see why John says in verse 9, "If anyone has an ear, let him hear."