Revelation 13:1-14:5
The Four Beast of Revelation
#1. The Great Red Dragon
#2. The Composite Beast (Continued)
Begin Text:
We concluded our last
segment in Revelation 13. We were investigating
the composite beast, the beast that rises out of
the sea and makes war upon the saints for 42
months.
Let’s review a few
things before we go forward:
First, you should remember
that we are in Revelation’s sixth prophecy
that began with Revelation 12:7. We are studying a
sequence of events that are in chronological
order. This is a crucial point. If the events
given in each apocalyptic prophecy do not occur
in the order given, then who has authority to
declare their order?
How can prophecy be “the
more secure word of prophecy” if
everyone is free to move the elements and parts
around to suit their own conclusions?
If anyone can move a
prophetic element out of its order to suit his
own ideas, then everyone has the same privilege.
This freedom makes prophecy a nose of wax and
this leads to distortion of the intended meaning.
Tampering with the order that God has given robs
the Word of God and its authority, its simplicity
and its power.
The Bible must speak and
will speak for itself. The angel told John:
Revelation 22:19
And if anyone takes words away from this book of
prophecy, God will take away from him his share
in the tree of life and in the holy city, which
described in this book.”
This verse is very
interesting. It indicates that a time is
coming when the book of Revelation will be clearly
understood by those wanting to know Truth. In
other words, during the Great Tribulation, this
warning applies to any person who tries to divert
or deflect the truth that the book of Revelation
proclaims. When God’s 144,000 prophets are
empowered to proclaim His truth, anyone caught
twisting the prophecies of Revelation around to
avoid persecution will be condemned to death.
You may recall that the
first verse in this prophecy, Revelation 12:7,
occurred on Resurrection Sunday. There was war in
Heaven and Lucifer was cast out of Heaven on that
very day. [April 9, A.D. 30] You should recall
that Lucifer then chased the woman to the desert
for 1,260 years. You should also remember that
near the end of the 1,260 years, the Earth
helped the woman.
In 1776, God raised up a
Protestant nation, the United States, to
accomplish a very important global task….
That task was the translation and distribution of
the Bible and the worldwide promotion of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. (Do you remember our
study on seals 1 through 3?)
When the devil saw that he
could not destroy the woman after 1,260 years in
the desert, the devil “went off” to
prepare for war on the remnant of the woman
– “…. Those that keep the
commandments of God and hold to the testimony of
Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17)
Then, in the next verse,
Revelation 13:1, John saw the devil standing on
the shore of the sea, waiting for circumstances
to occur so that the composite beast could arise.
Revelation 13:1 “And
the dragon stood on the shore of the sea…”
When the composite beast
rises out of the sea, the devil will give this
beast its great power, throne and authority.
Revelation 13:1
“…. And I saw a beast coming out of the
sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten
crowns on his horns, and on each head a
blasphemous name.
Revelation 13:2 The
beast I saw resembled a leopard [known for its
swiftness], but had feet like that of a bear [claws
as tough as chrome molybdenum alloy – the
strongest form of steel] and a mouth like that of
a lion [which kills its prey with a single bite].
The dragon gave the [composite] beast his power
and his throne and great authority.”
The composite beast will
serve a duel purpose.
First, from the human
perspective, the composite beast, a crisis
government, will appear to be necessary mediator
between God and all mankind.
Second, from Lucifer’s
point of view, it will enable him to prey upon
the saints of God.
Revelation 13:7 “He
[the composite beast] was given power to make war
against the saints and to conquer them. And he
was given authority over every tribe, people,
language and nation.”
What on Earth could create
such a global monster?
The first four trumpet
judgments described in Revelation 8:2-13 will
produce death and destruction on a Biblical scale
that exceeds human measurement and calculation. I
believe the first four trumpet-judgments will
occur during the first 30 to 60 days of the Great
Tribulation.
Because these judgments will
be global, the whole world will seriously
question whether survival on planet Earth will
continue. Thousands of cities will be destroyed.
Earth’s infrastructures will be in ruin and
twenty-five percent of Earth’s seven billion
people will die as a result of these judgments. [1.75
billion dead]
During these four
calamitous events the inhabitants of Earth will
be traumatized by two painful observations:
First, everyone will tremble
at the reality of Almighty God, the power and
scope of His fierce wrath.
(Actually, Almighty God is
Jesus Christ. Remember, Jesus took over the
throne of God in 1798, but the world does not
know this and mankind will not be made aware of
Jesus’ authority until the 144,000 begin to
proclaim the first angel’s message. (We will
study the three angel’s messages later on.)
Remember the 4th seal – how the
fourth seal reveals the authority of Jesus?)
The second thing that
everyone will notice about the first four
trumpets is that God’s judgments fell on
cities and places that were widely known for
wickedness. When these two observations are
synthesized together, most of the world will
assume that more judgments from God are
imminently forthcoming.
(In other words, four
horrific judgments within the short span of 60
days will suggest that more judgments are
imminently coming unless God is immediately
appeased!)
This fearful anticipation
of more judgments from God will induce panic and
this panic will propel the leaders of the world
to rapidly and radically transform their
governments.
>>>Desperate
situations require desperate
solutions.<<<
During the fourth
trumpet, darkness will cover the “middle
third” of our planet (where most people
live) and during this period of extended darkness
the “crisis government” will form.
This crisis government is the composite beast of
Revelation 13 rising up out of the sea. The need
for one global entity to appease God’s anger
will be obvious to most everyone.
With 1.75 billion people
dead, and thousands of cities lying in ruins,
intelligent people will suddenly “wake up”
to the reality of God and man’s
accountability to Him. And who will be able to
argue against man’s need to immediately appease
God so that His judgments will cease?
Therefore, the religious
and political justification for the
formation of a “crisis government” will
be simple and unanimous. Everyone will agree:
“The whole world has
to change its ways. The nations must unite and
appease God through repentance and worship or
everyone on Earth will soon perish as a
result of His wrath.”
Consider this:
Jesus will turn the
present governance of the world upside down with
His first four trumpets judgments for a very good
reason. Jesus intends to put the religious
leaders of the world on display by catapulting
them into the position of managing this global
crisis for 890 days.
Do you remember how Jesus
elegantly exposed the fraud of Nebucahdnezzar’s
religious leaders? The same will be true in our
day. Jesus wants everyone on Earth to behold the
horrible properties of false religion and there
is no better way to do this in a religiously
diverse world than by putting religious leaders
in charge of government.
Political leaders will
humbly submit to the advice and direction of
religious leaders because religious leaders claim
to be the experts on God. They claim to know
the will and ways of Almighty God (and billions
of people will trust them)!
This will surely prove to
be the case of the blind leading the blind. As I
said earlier, when the fear of God’s wrath
has overtaken this world, and hundreds of
millions of people are dead, the political
leaders of Earth will humbly turn to the experts
on God for instruction and direction. This turning
to religious experts for answers will be a great
opportunity for the Roman Catholic Church. The
pope will invite religious and political leaders
from all over the world to a worldwide council.
Three amazing decisions
will come from the council that would otherwise
be unthinkable.
First discussion: Given
the fact that there is many different religions
but there is one angry God, this council will
unanimously agree that all nations should unite
as one man to appease God. (This is how man’s
religious and political diversity is unified)
This union will only be
possible because everyone will be afraid of God
and everyone will agree, in principle, that
certain standards of righteousness should be imposed
upon the whole world or God will probably destroy
everyone.
Very Important Point:
There are two principles upon which the diverse
religions of the world can agree: God
requires repentance and worship! This council as
the basis for world unity and the means through
which God is to be appeased will accept these two
principles.
Second decision: Because
God’s anger was clearly directed at places
that were well known for wickedness, every nation
will agree to immediately begin legislating
“sin-less” laws so that the wrath of
the Almighty might be appeased. Maybe man’s
efforts to live righteously will cause God to
relent and His judgments will cease.
Further, all nations will
recognize in this meeting that every nation must
participate in appeasing God or God’s wrath
will likely break out against the whole world
once again. Therefore, the political leaders of every
nation on Earth will agree to abide by the
directives of the crisis government that will
manage and mediate the current crisis between God
and man.
Third decision: Every
government requires leadership. This council will
therefore create an executive body of religious
leaders taken from all of the religions of the
world. This supreme council will be something
like the United Nations, except it will be religious
and political in authority and far more
effective.
The pope will be selected
as the leader of this council. He will be given authority
to oversee and direct the process of appeasing
God on a global basis, and rightfully so.
The Roman Catholic Church is uniquely prepared to
serve the world in this role because it is both a
spiritual and a political organization having
diplomatic relations with more than 170 nations
on Earth.
Very Important Point:
>>>The pope will not be elected to
this position for the purpose of imposing
Catholic doctrine on the nations of Earth.
The diversity of the world’s religions will
not permit this. This is why there are ten
crowns on the ten horns!
Revelation 13:1
“…. He had ten horns and seven heads,
with ten crowns on his horns….”
In the Greek language,
these crowns are diadema. A diadema is a
crown of authority, like that of a king. The
point here is that in the short prophecy of
Revelation 12:1-6, there were seven crowns upon
the seven heads. The persecution of the saints
for 1,260 years came through religion.
During the Great
Tribulation, the persecution of the saints will
be a civil matter. Politicians will enact
sin-less laws and civil authorities will punish
lawbreakers. So, the pope will not be imposing Catholic
doctrine on the nations of Earth. Rather, each
nation will be imposing its own laws on its own
citizens. So, the mission of the pope and his
congress of diverse religious leaders will be limited
to overseeing and directing a worldwide effort to
appease God through various forms of repentance
and worship.
Actually, for all the
good mankind intends to do, the crisis government
will be a hand puppet of the devil.
Revelation 13:4
“Men worshiped the dragon because he had
given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped
the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast?
Who can make war against him?’”
Obeying the
demands of the beast equals obeying the devil.
The Greek word used for
“worship” in this text is not talking
about a church service or a “praise service.”
The Greek word means submission and obedience.
When the governments of
the world submit to the demands of the crisis
government by creating sin-less laws, they will
be in effect, worshiping the devil because the
concept of appeasing God through forced obedience
is false theology. <<< A God of love
will not accept forced repentance nor forced worship.
The composite beast will
arrogantly declare the will of God (Blasphemy) and
all who refuse to cooperate will be punished.
Sins of all kinds will be outlawed, sexual
immorality will be condemned, bars and taverns
will be closed, shops and stores will be closed
on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (according to
prevailing religious beliefs), morality will be
legislated, and offenders will be severely
punished by civil authorities all this – to
stop God’s wrath.
The creation and
imposition of sin-less laws in every nation will
be possible because the composite beast will be
directed by a congress of religious leaders from
all religions and the politicians of all nations
will submit to the demands of their experts to
appease God. Some laws will stand in direct
opposition to the law of God. (Blasphemy)
>>>The larger
point here is that the formation of the
composite beast is logical response to the first
four trumpets. The composite beast is man’s
response to God’s wrath. This is how a
worldwide government can rise and be given
authority over the whole world.
I hope you can NOW see
why the first four trumpets are pivotal to
understanding the formation of “Babylon”
– the composite beast. The first four
trumpets will be THE worldwide catalyst that
brings about the formation of a worldwide
government called “Babylon” in the book
of Revelation.
The composite beast will
be a composite government. The composite
beast will not arise out of one nation. It rises
out of “a sea of peoples, multitudes and
nations.” This beast will have seven heads
and ten horns – 17 entities in all.
The composite beast
does not yet exist although all of the
players are present.
Some discussion on timing
…
We know that the
composite beast rises out of the sea after the
French Revolution (1789-1799) because one of the
seven heads of the beast “had been healed”
when this beast rises from the sea. (Revelation
13:3)
1798
Rises
----------x-------------------------------/---------
6th head
6th head
Wounded
Healed
As we will see, the seven
heads of the composite beast are seven religious
systems, and the head that was wounded is the 6th
head, the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church
was seriously wounded during the French
Revolution (1798-1799) and only in recent years (largely
due to the popularity of Pope John Paul II) has
the church regained much of the influence and
respect that it once enjoyed.
The point here is that
the deadly wound was inflicted in 1798 and it is
not healed until the papacy once again has authority
over nations as it did prior to its wounding
in February, 1798. Like the former Taliban
government in Afghanistan, the composite beast will
be a ruthless monster driven by misguided
religious zealots and sustained by false theology.
Because the devil is the
hand inside the glove and the devil is a violent
predator, the composite beast will waste no time
persecuting the saints of God. This persecution
will last for 42 months. (Revelation 13:5)
During these 42 months,
the composite beast will have “authority”
over all nations (Revelation 13:7) and Jesus at
the Second Coming will destroy the composite
beast. (Revelation 19:20,21)
This beast is called
“Babylon” in the book of Revelation (revelation
14:8, 17:5) because it parallels the ancient
world empire of Babylon both in arrogance and
ignorance. Remember how king Nebuchadnezzar
demanded that everyone worship as he dictated or
face death? Daniel 3.
Ironically, the composite
beast will claim to speak for God, but it
actually blasphemes God and misrepresents God and
most of the world will not realize the blasphemy
until the 144,000 points it out.
The devil has been
preparing to make war on the saints for a long
time (Revelation 12:17) and this development will
be his last chance to destroy the woman. “He
(the composite beast) was given power (by the
devil) to make war against the saints and to conquer
them….” (Revelation 13:7)
The devil will appear
to win the war.
7 Heads / 10
Horns
The anatomy of the great
red dragon in Revelation 12 and the anatomy of
the composite beast in Revelation 13 is identical
(both have seven heads and ten horns).
God represented these
matters to John in this way so that we can trace
the devil’s hidden presence and evil
activities as he “enters” the human
glove (the composite beast) to prey upon the
saints. This human glove will be demon possessed
just as Herod was demon possessed. This human
glove will be a violent predator just as Herod
was a violent predator.
This is an interesting
paradox about the Great Tribulation.
While Lord Jesus is doing
everything possible to save mankind from the
curse of sin, the devil will be doing everything
possible to destroy God’s people.
Jesus knows this.
Nevertheless, Jesus will
use His justifiable wrath, man’s blasphemous
theology and the hatred of Lucifer to achieve
glorious results in the end! Wow!!!
Millions of precious
people will be saved. In fact, a God of love
deliberately and carefully designs the Great
Tribulation so that He can save the maximum
number of people! The composite beast will
persecute God’s people for 42 months. But,
Jesus will give His people sufficient grace and
strength to deal with persecution and death.
Remember, God sustained
the woman in the desert for 1,260 years, and He
will also sustain the remnant of the woman to the
very end of the age.
Matthew 28:20
“…. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age.”
Revelation 13:9
He who has an ear, let him hear.
Revelation 13:10
If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity
he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the
sword, with the sword he will be killed. This (level
of submission to God’s will) calls for patient
endurance and faithfulness on the part of the
saints.”
Earlier, I made the
comment that Jesus does a “fruit basket
upset” in order to show common people the
foolishness of religion. The first four trumpets
will prove to be embarrassing to the clergy of
the world’s religions in two ways.
1. Ignorance
exposed: If the “expert’s”
properly understand God’s Word, which also
includes the book of Revelation, they would be
informed and prepared their people for these
things.
What will the clergy
say when their members say, “We paid you
a substantial sum of money to inform us about the
will of God, we paid you well to teach us the
Word of God. But, you said nothing about these
things. You took our money and gave us nothing in
return. We have been defrauded and mislead.”
2. Faulty
doctrines exposed: When the reality of the
Great Tribulation dawns, millions of people are
going to realize they have been mislead by their
experts.
When religious beliefs
have to be abandoned or compromised in order to
align with undeniable realities, laymen smell
a dead rat. : -)
Laymen may not be well
educated in ecclesiastical matters, but they can
be very quick to detect deception. What will the
experts say when their members ask, “Where
is the rapture? Where is the escape from God’s
wrath you promised? Why did you mislead us? How
can we believe anything you have to say?”
Who Are The Seven Heads?
The composite beast has
seven heads. Notice these nine specifications.
Revelation 13 says:
1. Each head
has a blasphemous name. (v.1)
2 One
of the heads had been wounded and healed.
(v.3)
3. The beast
was given a mouth to blaspheme God. (v.6)
Revelation 17 says:
4. The seven
heads are seven hills. (v.9)
5. The seven
heads are seven kings. (v.9)
6. Five have
fallen. (v. 10)
7. One is.
(v. 10)
8. One is yet
to come. (v. 10)
9. The beast
that ascends out of the abyss (the fifth trumpet)
will be the eighth king and is a companion of the
seven (kings) heads. (v. 8, 11)
Ok, seven is a perfect
number, a whole number. Because there are seven
of the same thing; namely, seven heads, each head
must symbolize the same thing. Revelation 13 says
that each head has a blasphemous name on it.
This means the seven
heads are religious in nature that is, they usurp
God’s authority. According to Webster,
blasphemy is defined as assuming the prerogatives
of God. The composite beast will speak
blasphemies against God. (Revelation 13:6)
This means the composite
beast will speak with authority, e.g., it will
demand laws be made that are contrary to God’s
laws. This is blasphemy.
Remember when the
Sanhedrin demanded that the apostles must not
preach the name of Jesus in the streets of
Jerusalem? What did the apostles say?
Acts 5:29 Peter
and the other apostles replied: “We must
obey God rather than men!
God has declared in His
fourth commandment that the seventh day of the
week is His holy day; it is a memorial to His
creation of Earth and all that is in it.
Satan has lead the
religious systems of the world to think that the
fourth commandment has been terminated or worse,
that man has the authority to declare which day
is holy to God. Therefore, laws will be enforced
regarding the sacredness of Friday (Moslem
countries), Saturday (Israel) and Sunday (Catholic
and Protestant countries). These laws will be
imposed on nations according to prevailing
religious traditions.
The problem here is that
(a) God will not accept forced worship, and (b)
God’s Sabbath is holy on the basis of His
authority, not men. God has never forced anyone
to worship on His holy day. So, why should man?
Remember the panic motto?
“We must appease God or He will destroy us
all.”
Does “forced worship”
appease a God of love? Not at all. Forced
worship is demonic theology.
Seven Mountains
Revelation 17 says the
heads are also seven hills (or mountains, KJV).
How can seven religious
systems also be seven hills? In ancient times,
the highest hills and mountains were reserved
places of worship or they were believed to be the
dwelling place of deity. Notice these words
spoken to Israel just before Israel entered
Canaan.
“Destroy completely
all the places on the high mountains and on the
hills and under every spreading tree where the
nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.
Break down their altars, smash their sacred
stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire;
cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out
their names from those places. You must not
worship the Lord your God in their way.”
Ancient temples or
shrines were placed on prominent high above
ordinary terrain because high places were
believed to be the dwelling places of God.
King David wrote, “Lord,
who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on
your holy hill?” (Psalm 15:1)
Israel’s temple
mount is often referred to as “Mt. Zion”
and Bible writers often spoke of the temple mount
as “God’s holy hill.” (See Daniel
9:16,20; and Micah 4.) Here in the United States,
we refer to the official building of the U.S.
Congress as “Capital Hill” because
that building is our nation’s source of
authority.
The point here is that
the seven heads are also seven hills because they
represent the source of authority for each
religion. Seven blasphemous religious systems are
seven “capital” hills. People look up
(respect, depend on) to their religious
authorities for knowledge and instruction on the
will of God. Some authority determines every
person’s view of God.
If your authority is the
Bible only, you are on good ground. If your
authority is anything other than the Bible, you
are on sinking sand.
Matthew 7:26 But
everyone who hears these words of mine and does
not put them into practice is like a foolish man
who built his house on sand.
Matthew 7:27 The
rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds
blew and beat against that house, and it fell
with a great crash.”
Every religious system
has experts, clergy (men and /or women who claim
to speak for God. This is how and why the clergy
is recognized as religious authorities.
Seven Kings
Revelation 17 says these
seven heads are also seven kings; that is, the
seven heads, the seven hills have subjects. Do
religious systems have subjects? Yes! People
submit to the teachings or demands of their
religious authorities thinking they are obeying
God.
Do you remember how
Saul/Paul persecuted the believers thinking all
the time that he was doing God a service? This is
the power of religion!!! When confronted with a
spiritual question or problem, to what authority
do religious people turn to if not their
religious leaders? Billions of people go through
religious rituals every week for no other reason
than their religious leaders think it necessary.
>>>History
proves that religion has sufficient power to
subjugate kings.
Five Are Fallen
Perhaps the most
revealing specification about the seven heads is
timing. The angel said to John, “This calls
for a mind with wisdom…. Five have fallen,
one is, and the other has not yet come; but when
he does come, he must remain for a little while.”
(Revelation 17:10)
This conversation between
John and the angel took place around A.D. 95.
The statement by the
angel, “five heads have fallen” is
stated in the past perfect tense indicating that at
the time of this discussion (A.D. 95), five of
the seven heads had fallen. According to Webster,
the term “fallen” means, “brought
down” or where trust is required, fallen
means “proven false.”
In both cases, one could
say the former televangelist, Jimmy Swaggert, is
“a fallen” man.
He was brought down.
He was proven false.
He violated the trust
many put in him.
The angel said, “Five
heads have fallen.”
The word “fallen”
is also used in Revelation 14:8 where the second
angel says, “Babylon (the crisis government)
is fallen, is fallen.”
So, looking at the end of
the first century A.D., we find a simple
explanation of what the angel meant when he said
that five heads had fallen.
When Jesus became flesh
and dwelt among us, five religious systems fell
– they were brought down, exposed as false.
1. Heathenism
2. Atheism
3. Judaism
4. Eastern
Mysticism
5. Islam*
*Note: “Islam” as
we know it today, came into existence during the
sixth century A.D. as a result of Mohammed’s
influence and the term is used here to identify
the ancient religion of nomadic Arabs. Many
Christians erroneously think that Mohammed is the
father of the Arabic faith. This is not
true.
Mohammed united, expanded
and codified the beliefs of the Arabs. Even
though he is considered by the Moslems to be
the last and therefore the greatest of God’s
messengers, Arabs trace the origin of their faith
back to Abraham through Ishmael’s 12 sons.
(See Genesis 21:13.)
How were these five
religious systems “brought down” by
Jesus?
1. Heathenism is
a religious system that does not have the truth
about the God of Heaven. Heathenism creates its
own gods and religious rules according to
superstition and tradition. Jesus declared this
religion false. (John 10)
2. Atheism
denies the existence and reality of God. Even
though it denies the existence of God, it is a
system of religious thought. Jesus proved that
Atheism was false. (John 17)
3. Judaism
believes in God, but is also believes that
salvation comes through obedience and ceremonial
rituals. Jesus declared that man cannot save
himself through obedience and rituals. (John 3;
Matthew 5:20)
4. Eastern
Mysticism teaches that man can become God. This
is the inverse of truth. God became man to save
us from the penalty of sin. (John 1)
5. Islam denies
that Jesus is deity, the Son of God and the
Savior of mankind. This makes Jesus a liar. (Luke
22:70)
But wait! There’s more!
Keep in mind that the angel
told John that “five heads have fallen, one
is, and one is yet to come.” In John’s
day, five heads had been exposed as false by the
teachings of Christ.
The sixth religious system was
just beginning to develop at the time of this
vision, and according to the angel, a seventh
head or religious system would appear later on
and it would only last for a short time.
The sixth head or religious
system that was developing in John’s day began
as Christianity and today; this religious
system is called Catholicism. (The English word
Catholic is derived from the Greek word “katholicos”
which means universal or inclusive.) John was a
charter member of that new religious system. We
know from church history that Christianity rose
to power and fell from the truth as Satan entered
through the back door and gained control of the
church.
Centuries later, the
Protestant Reformation produced the seventh and
last religious system. The angel said the
seventh head would only last for “a short
time.” This religious system is called Protestantism
today.
Looking back over the
landscape of history, Protestantism is a “newcomer”
to the religious world in terms of existence and
since we are near the end of the world, it can
only last for a short time!
The essential problem with
all seven heads is that all of them are blasphemous.
This means all of them teach things that are
contrary to the will of God! Of course, no honest
hearted person believes that his religion teaches
blasphemy. Everyone thinks that what be
believes is the truth about God and this is
precisely where the problem lies!
The only way to get out of
this global confusion is simple. God will turn
the religious world upside down so that everyone
can hear the 144,000 and give His truth due
consideration. The good news is that the sincere
and honest of heart will receive the gospel of
Jesus. The bad news is that most of the world
will reject it!
During the Great Tribulation
the 144,000 will proclaim the testimony of Jesus.
This will create much
controversy. The will of God as taught by the
144,000 will stand in conflict with the will of
God as demanded by the religious experts who
control the composite beast.
Because there will be severe
penalties on both sides of this controversy, (if
you obey God, you will receive the wrath of the
composite beast, but if obey the composite
beast/devil, you will receive the wrath of God)
this contest will separate the sheep from the
goats in all seven religions!
So, we are forced by the
nine specifications on the seven heads to
conclude that the seven heads of the composite
beast represent the seven religious systems of
the world!
They are:
1. Heathenism
2. Atheism
3. Eastern Mysticism
4. Judaism
5. Islam*
6. Catholicism
7. Protestantism
The composite beast will
have power for 42 months/moons. (29.53 days per
month x 42 = 1,240 actual days) Look
at the timing:
/----------42 moons-----------/
---1-----2--------------------------3-----4---5---6----
/----------1260-----------------
/ 4 /---70----/1
1. Censer cast down
2. 42 moon begin
3. Seventh trumpet
(1260 days end)
4. 1290th
day
5. 42 moons and
(1240 = 60 – 1300)
6. 1,335 Day
Summarizing the composite
beast:
Revelation 13:1
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea
(waiting for his opportunity to persecute the
woman, he knows what Jesus is about to do….).
And now I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.
He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns
on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous
name.
Revelation 13:2
The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet
like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a
lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his
throne and great authority.
Revelation 13:3
One of the heads of the beast seemed to have a
fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.
The whole world was astonished (at the wrath of
God, the formation of the composite beast and
they naturally) and followed the beast.
Revelation 13:4
Men worshiped (obeyed) the dragon because he had
been given authority to the beast, and they also
worshiped (obeyed) the beast and asked, “Who
is like the beast? Who can make war against him (and
survive)?”
Revelation 13:5
The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words
and blasphemies and to exercise his authority (making
laws) for forty-two months.
Revelation 13:6
He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to
slander his name and his dwelling place and those
who live in heaven.
Revelation 13:7
He was given power to make war against the saints
and to conquer them. And he was given authority
over every tribe, people, language and nation.
Revelation 13:8
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the
beast—all whose names have not been written
in the book of life belonging to the lamb that
was slain from the creation of the world.”
For 890 days, the
composite beast will rule over the world and in
spite of all the persecution and trouble for
mankind it produces, it will claim a huge
success. Religious leaders will exclaim,
“We have saved the day! No more judgments
have fallen!!!”
How foolish.
Ironically though, the
longer the composite beast exists, the bigger a
particular problem becomes. This problem will be
one of “religious superiority.”
As time passes, a great
debate will escalate within the leadership of the
composite beast… “Which religion
correctly reflects the will of God? Somebody has
to be wrong.”
But, the leadership of
the composite beast can’t resolve this
question because one man cannot prove the
superiority of his religious faith over that of
another. Yes, all men are created equal: They are
equal in arrogance and ignorance. So, there’s
no way to convince a Muslim that Catholicism is a
superior religion or vise versa.
Diversity of religion always
creates a hate-full environment. Such is the
nature and one of the properties of false
religion.
Consider the setting:
By the end of the 890 days, (2/3
of the 1,335 days allotted for the Great
Tribulation), the composite beast will be
consumed with conflict from internal fighting.
The composite beast will
find itself at a religious impasse and the
political rulers of the Earth will despise the
composite beast. (Yet, they remain submissive for
fear of God’s wrath.)
The composite beast will be
so confused and conflicted from within and its
“sin-less” laws are so stupid that many
compare it to “a mad dog.”
Furthermore, by the end of
890 days, the advance of the gospel by the
144,000 will also be stalled. Most everyone will
have made their decision to worship according to
the demands of Jesus or worship according to the
demands of the composite beast (to avoid
punishment).
At this point in time,
ready or not, the fifth trumpet occurs – the
first of three curses – this is the physical
arrival of Lucifer – who will settle the
question of religious superiority by dissolving
all of the world’s religions and making a
new one-world religion.
Also, to establish “the
kingdom of God” on Earth, he will select and
install ten kings to rule over Earth.
When Lucifer appears, he
will claim that he has come to establish a
kingdom of peace and joy on Earth. He will
proclaim that the kingdom of God will be among
men for the next thousand years.
I have made three remarks
because we now come in our study in this longer
prophecy that begun with Revelation 12:7 to the
arrival of the second beast in Revelation 13:11
– the physical appearing of Lucifer.
Revelation 13:11
Then I saw another beast, coming out of the
earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke
like a dragon.
Revelation 5:6 Then
I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain,
standing in the center of the throne, encircled
by the four living creatures and the elders. He
had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Revelation 12:3 Then
another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red
dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven
crowns on his heads.
Lucifer is the lamblike
beast that ascends out of Earth (actually, he is
released from the abyss).
Revelation 13:12
He exercised all the authority of the first beast
on his behalf, and made the earth and its
inhabitants (obey or suffer indescribable
torture) worship the first beast, whose fatal
wound had been healed.
Revelation 13:13
And he performed great and miraculous signs, even
calling fire to come down from heaven to earth in
full view of men.
Revelation 13:14
Because of the signs he was given power to do on
behalf of the first beast, he deceived the
inhabitants of the earth. (The religious wicked
believed that he was God. Then, at the end of the
five months of torture) He ordered them to set up
an image (a likeness) in honor of the beast that
was wounded by the sword and yet lived (a perfect
union of church and state).
Revelation 13:15
He was given power to give breath to the image of
the first beast, so that it could speak (laws) and
cause all who refused to worship the image to be
killed.
Revelation 13:16
He also forced everyone, small and great, rich
and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on
his right hand or on his forehead,
Revelation 13:17
so that no one could buy or sell unless he had
the mark, which is the name of the beast or the
number of his name.
Revelation 13:18
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let
him calculate the number of the beast, for it is
man’s number. His number is 666.”
When the devil appears,
masquerading as Almighty God, he will perform
incredible miracles such as calling fire down out
of Heaven to destroy rebellious people. Billions
of people will either be intimidated or deceived
into believing that God Himself now lives among
men.
Ultimately, the devil will
demand that all religious diversity be eliminated
and naturally so. The devil will proclaim himself
to be God and having absolute authority, his word
is the law – a law from which there is no
further appeal.
At the end of the fifth
trumpet, the devil will have enough followers to
move forward to accomplish his goal. The Bible
predicts the devil will terminate the seven
religious systems of the world by setting up a
new one-world religion.
This new religion is called
“an image” or likeness of the composite
beast in the book of Revelation. In other words,
the composite beast will be modified so that
there will be “one Lord, one faith, one
baptism” instead of seven opposing religious
claiming to have conflicting truth about God.
The Bible also predicts the
devil will eliminate the governments of Earth.
He will do this to gain absolute
control over mankind.
Consider this scenario:
When the devil first
appears, masquerading as God, he will lead the
world to believe that he is (as God) has come to
establish a thousand years of peace on Earth and
all of the destruction caused by the first four
trumpets must be rebuilt or repaired.
Like Pharaoh of old,
everyone will be forced to work hard to speed
Earth’s recovery. (Of course, the devil
knows there will be no recovery from God’s
destruction, he just uses false hope to “wear
out” and torment the people of Earth.)
The devil will divide Earth
into ten sectors and he will set up ten kings as
“task masters” to oversee Earth’s
reconstruction. Make no mistake. Lucifer will not
be a benevolent king. All who stand in opposition
to the devil’s heavy and harsh demands will
be targeted for elimination.
On the other hand, everyone
who believes the devil is God will be treated as
a slave. By the time the seventh-trumpet sounds,
the great red dragon, eighth king, will reign
over Earth as “King of kings (politics), and
Lord of lords (religion).” The government of
Earth will be upon his shoulders and Lucifer will
“sit in the heart of the seas” an
ancient phrase that means “ruler of all
nations.” (Ezekiel 28:2)
The devil will demand death
for everyone who refuses to participate in his
one-world religion and this decree will force
everyone into one of two camps: worship the devil
and live or worship Jesus and be killed. This
will be the ultimate test of faith.
“He (the devil) was
given power (and authority from God) to give
breath (life) to the image (the one-world
religion) of the first beast (composite beast),
so that it could speak (make laws) and cause all
who refused to worship (according to the demands
of) the image to be killed.” (Revelation
13:15)
It was mentioned earlier
that the Bible predicts the devil will divide the
world into ten sectors and he will place ten
“taskmasters” kings over these sectors.
This may sound strange at first, but I need to
show you three texts:
Look at this verse
describing the Second Coming:
Revelation 6:15 “Then
the kings of the earth, the princes, the
generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave
and every free man hid in caves and among the
rocks of the mountains.”
Now, look at this text:
Revelation 13:16
He also forced everyone, small and great, rich
and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on
his right hand or on his forehead,
Now, look at this third
text:
Revelation 19:17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried
in a loud voice to all the birds flying in
midair, “Come, gather together for the great
supper of God,
Revelation 19:18
so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals,
and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and
the flesh of all people, free and slave, small
and great.”
Here’s my point:
Slavery will exist at the
second coming. The Bible distinguishes between
free and slaves three times! What will cause
slavery during the Great Tribulation?
1. Bankruptcy /
poverty
2. Demonic
opportunity
1. In ancient
times, there was no such thing as bankruptcy
because there was slavery. If you could not pay
your debts, your property was seized and you were
arrested and delivered to your creditor as “his
property.” There was a formula depending on
the amount borrowed as to the number of years you
belonged to your creditor.
I believe this same system
will be implemented during the Great Tribulation.
My advice is that you get out of debt as fast as
you can. If you need help and information on this
topic, you can listen to people like Clark
Howard, Suzie Orman and Dave Ramsey. Again,
I think it is important that we get out of debt
for nonessential things ASAP.
Second, when Lucifer
arrives, he is going to require everyone to work
and participate in the establishment of the
kingdom of God. Hitler was able to extend his
control over a large portion of Europe because he
put everyone to work, and made slaves of everyone
he captured.
I believe the devil will do
the same. Hitler was demon-possessed man and we
well knew his actions. The point here is a
surprising one. Resting on God’s holy day
will be impossible without suffering a penalty.
Thus, the conflict over God’s holy day will
come down to survival for everyone who obeys God’s
law (worships God).
During the sixth trumpet
war, Lucifer will kill 1/3 of mankind.
Revelation 9:14 It
said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
“Release the four angels who are bound at
the great river Euphrates.”
Revelation 9:15 And
the four angels who had been kept ready for this
very hour and day and month and year were
released to kill a third of mankind.
This killing includes
millions of saints and prophets.
Revelation 6:9 When
he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of those who had been slain
because of the word of God and the testimony they
had maintained.” The end result is simple.
The saints will be conquered. A few will not be
captured, but most will be.
The 2/3 that survive will
take the mark of the beast which is the number,
666.
666 = 2/3 of 1,000.
Since the Bible doesn’t
reveal the geographical boundaries of these ten
sectors, they may conform to general geographical
and cultural boundaries. For example, the ten
sectors could be (1) North America (2)
Central and South America (3) Africa (4) Europe
(5) China (6) India (7) Russia (8) Asia and the
Middle East (9) Australia and (10) The Pacific
Nations. Of course, time will tell how the world
is divided.
The bottom line is that the
composite beast and the devil will appear to
succeed. Those who love lies will submit to their
demands. Those who love the truth will be
despised. It’s ironic that the world will
end just like sin began: Believing the devil’s
lies. The ten horns you saw are the ten kings
(these kings are also represented by the toes of
the metal man in Daniel 2) who have not received
a kingdom, but for one hour [Greek syntax: for
one hour does not mean 60 minutes, but at an
appointed hour, they] will receive authority as
kings along with the [great red dragon] beast.
[As the taskmasters of mankind] They have one
purpose and will give their power and authority
to the [great red dragon] beast. [At the Second
Coming] they [the ten kings] will make war
against the Lamb [as did Lucifer and his angels
thousands of years ago], but the Lamb will
overcome them because he is [the true] Lord of
lords and King of kings and [rejoicing] with him
will be his called, chosen and faithful
followers.” (Revelation 17:12-14,
insertions mine)
Revelation 14:1 Then
I looked, and there before me was the Lamb,
standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who
had his name and his Father’s name written
on their foreheads.
Revelation 14:2 And
I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of
rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder.
The sound I heard like that of harpists playing
their harps.
Revelation 14:3 And
they sang a new song before the throne and before
the four living creatures and the elders. No one
could learn the song except the 144,000 who had
been redeemed from the earth.
Revelation 14:4 These
are those who did not defile themselves with
woman, for they kept themselves pure. They follow
the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased
from among men and offered as first fruits to God
and the Lamb.
Revelation 14:5 No
lie was found in their mouths; they are
blameless.
End Text:
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