The Beast From The Earth And The Sea

INTRO

It has been a full week. It feels like one ongoing lesson. All of Revelation is John’s revelation of I AM. Revelation is the restoration of the Garden. It’s a beautiful picture. Yesterday’s text was the battle between Satan and The Seed, which we see over and over again. We already know that the dragon in chapter 12 was Satan. Now we see Satan standing at the sea ready for battle.

TEACHING

Revelation 13:1: The very beginning of this chapter transitions from Satan standing on a beach to Satan encountering a different beast, which symbolizes the Antichrist. We are unpacking Satan’s plan to use the Antichrist. The word beast means monster.

Revelation 13:2: Satan gave the Antichrist power and authority. This is like a movie. God became flesh through Jesus Christ, and Satan gave authority for flesh called the Antichrist. We are going to break down all the animals listed in the description of the Antichrist. MacArthur wrote that the leopard is “a metaphor for ancient Greece.” The bear is “a metaphor for the ancient Medo-Persian Empire.” The lion is “a metaphor for the ancient Babylonian Empire.”¹ The spirit of the Antichrist could have been present in all of these nations that have tried to conquer the Seed. I do believe that there will be an actual person who is the Antichrist.

When we talk about the spirit of the Antichrist, we see it described throughout Scripture. In Scripture, the Antichrist is described as a man of sin and lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4) and is a prince who is to come (Daniel 9:26). The Antichrist is also described as the little horn (Daniel 7:8), a beast (Revelation 13:2–10,18), and the son of perdition/destruction (John 17:12). He will reign over the Great Tribulation (Daniel 7:25).

MacArthur compared the parallels of Christ and the Antichrist:

I want to show you that the Antichrist is present in Scripture. You will see different titles and descriptions used throughout. So when you see the dragon and the beast, we begin to see the battle with the woman and all Christ followers.

Revelation 13:3–4: One of the beast’s heads appeared dead and then was healed. Many would say this was not a real death. The whole goal of the Antichrist is to parade around as light, tricking people to believing in him. When the Antichrist appears to be healed from a fatal wound, the whole earth will be amazed and begin to follow him. When they follow the beast, they worship the dragon, which is Satan. The world will worship Satan and the beast. They will believe that they are protected by the beast and the dragon.

Revelation 13:5–6: MacArthur wrote, “God will allow him to utter his blasphemies, to bring the reign of Satan to its culmination on earth for three and a half years.”³

Revelation 13:7: When John wrote “wage war against the saints”, there are many opinions on who “the saints” are. Those who take the pretribulation view would argue that the saints are the people who have come to know Christ in the tribulation. No matter what view is taken, there are clearly believers around to wage war against Satan. MacArthur wrote, “The Antichrist will be allowed to massacre those who are God’s children.”⁴ I’d love to tell you we’re going to be pain free and out of here. What if these saints are us? I want us to still be ready. What if we are called to be martyred?

Revelation 13:8–9: Everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life will be slaughtered. MacArthur explains that the Book of Life is “a divine journal that records the names of all those whom God has chosen to save and who, therefore, are to possess eternal life.”⁵ Everyone who worshipped the Antichrist will not find their name in the Book of Life.

Revelation 13:10: You have to have a bigger picture here. This is the language of the saints. Are these the believers during the tribulation? Those not raptured? No one can be sure. What if the saints are us? This could be God’s plan. Those who are persecuted in the name of Christ are rewarded in heaven (Matthew 5:8). The point is persecution could be coming. I want to see us waiting and prepared.

Revelation 13:11–14: There is the dragon, Satan, and the beast, the Antichrist. And here we see they need help from another beast, who represents the false prophet. His authority will be less than the Antichrist. He is essentially a talking puppet, convincing people to worship the Antichrist. He will attempt to duplicate the signs and miracles of the Messiah and other great prophets.

Revelation 13:15–18: If a person does not worship the Antichrist, they will die. A person has to have the mark of the beast in order to survive. The number will be 666. People have tried to speculate why 666. The only thing I can conclude is that the number six is incomplete. The number six is one number short of God’s perfect number seven, thus falling short of perfection. Whether that’s accurate, we can’t be sure. All we can know is that the number 6 implies not perfect.

CLOSING

The enemy might have his mark, but praise God, we have ours. It might not be seen on us physically, but it is seen in the physical marks form the crucifixion on Christ. It doesn’t matter what all is going down during this time, we know where we are going to be, and we have hope in Him. It is through His death and resurrection that we have the ultimate mark, which is life.