Friday, September 12, 2008

The BEAST


In Revelation 13, he is called “The Beast” which was a name given to the Antichrist back in Revelation 11:7. This word does not describe a domesticated animal but rather a wild, savage beast on the prey. Revelation 13 begins by calling attention to the Dragon who is standing on the seashore. The dragon is Satan (Revelation 12:9). At the mid-point of the tribulation, Satan calls the Beast out o the Sea (the Anti-Christ) and the Beast out of the Land (the False-Prophet) forming a unholy imitation of the true Trinity. Satan is a counterfeit of God the Father. The Anti-Christ is a counterfeit of God the Son. And the False Prophet is a counterfeit of God the Holy Spirit.

As we continue to learn what the Bible teaches about the Antichrist we first learn that he is a person. Though he has been viewed by some to be a religious system, a political system, a philosophical system, an influence, or even computers, the Bible gives plenty of evidence to show he is a real person. He is always described with personal pronouns. He comes up out of the sea which is speaking of the sea of nations or peoples (13:1; 17:15). He has a mouth and speaks (13:5). He is specifically called a man (13:8). He is also described as a person by both Daniel (Daniel 7:25; 8:24-25; 11:36-45) and Paul (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

Revelation describes him as a beast with ten horns and seven heads. According to Revelation 17 the ten horns represents ten kings leading ten nations during the tribulation period under the Anti-Christ’s control. These kings had no present kingdom at the time of John’s writing but will have a kingdom during the tribulation. Each horn has a diadem showing the rulership of these ten nations during the tribulation period. Many have falsely speculated that the seven heads speaks of Rome due to the city of Rome having seven mountains. This is not the case. These seven heads represent seven world powers. At the time of John’s writing, five of these world powers had come and gone including Egypt; Babylon; Assyria; Persia and Greece. One of these powers, Rome, was in existence at the time of John’s writing. And finally, one was still to come. That speaks of the Revived Roman Empire which will be in power during the tribulation period. Revelation 13 also describes the beast as having names of blasphemy against God (Revelation 13:7).

The power of the Antichrist is seen in Revelation 13:2. This Beast is the fourth Beast of Daniel’s vision and has the power of all the former world powers combined (Daniel 7:1-8). In Daniel’s vision the Leopard represented the Grecian empire (Daniel 7:6); the Bear represented the Medo-Persian empire (Daniel 7:5); and the Lion represented the Babylonian empire (Daniel 7:4). This beast is controlled by Satan himself. Satan is the source of his power, his position, and his popularity. He will be an intellectual genius (Daniel 8:23). He will be an oratorical genius (Daniel 11:36). He will be a political genius (Revelation 17:11, 12). He will be a commercial genius (Daniel 11:43). He will be a military genius (Revelation 6:2; 13:2). And most dangerously, he will also be a religious genius (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

WHEN THE ANTICHRIST COMES.IT WILL NOT BE A MAN...IT WILL BE A BEAUTIFUL LOOKING CHRIST.BUT IS THE DEVIL.HAVE YOUR PEOPLE READY FOR THIS GREAT DECEPTION TALKED ABOUT AT THE END.NO GUESSES..HE WILL COME HERE LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE SEEN.HE WILL ACT LIKE CHRIST.NOT A DEVIL WITH HORNS.
IN REV,WHEN THE REAL CHRIST COMES BACK FOR HIS VIRGIN..HE DOESNT WANT TO FIND ANYONE WITH CHILD.THAT MEANS YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE BED,WITH THE ANTICHRIST.AND IF THAT CHILD IS SUCKING...YOU WILL HAVE NURSED HIS/DEVILS WORK ALONG.PEOPLE WILL WANT THE MOUNTAINS TO FALL ON THEM.
please tell us the truth with looking at the greek and hebrew.

Pastor Scott said...

Dear Anonymous, Thanks for commenting. I do believe that the coming Antichrist is a real person who will be energized by Satan who gives him his power, his throne and his authroity. I do believe that he will set himself up as God and will deceive many. To be honest, I'm not sure I understand your ending comment about nursing so I cannot respoond to that. Because your second comment included links, I could not publish it as I do not publish comments that include links within it to other sites. I did read it, however, and completely disagree with most of what you wrote including the fact that the Bible teaches that Eve's sons, Cain and Able, had different fathers.