The King of
Modern Babylon Appears
We
have already seen that the enormous red dragon is
Lucifer and the lamb-like beast is Lucifer in
human form. Lucifer, the coming Antichrist, will
not be a mere man. He is an extraterrestrial
being who has been alive for thousands of years.
Lucifer’s miracles will dwarf anything that
humans can do. We know from Revelation 9:16 that
200 million angels will accompany the devil
– John heard the number! We know from
Revelation 9:11, Daniel 8:19,23, Revelation
17:11, and 2 Thessalonians 2:6, that the devil is
an evil king who will be released from the
invisible realm at the appointed time. We have
learned from Revelation 13:2 that Lucifer be the
power within Babylon. We also know that Lucifer’s
main objective will be the destruction of the
remnant of the woman. (Revelation 12:17, 13:7)
Several specifications are presented in
Revelation 13:11-18 on the lamb-like beast.
Please consider these seven:
- He has two horns. (These
horns represent his authority over church
and state)
- He will speak. (He will
declare law.)
- He will perform great
miracles and signs, even causing fire to
fall from Heaven. (He will “prove”
his assumed divinity.)
- He will deceive the world
with his miracles.
- He will eventually demand
that an image of Babylon be set up. (The
image will be a theocracy, a one-world
church-state.)
- He will demand death for
everyone refusing to worship the image.
- He will impose his mark
on the right hand or the forehead of all
people so that no one can buy or sell
unless they wear his tattoo.
The
only being that can rise from the Abyss (that is,
having no political or military support) and meet
all these conditions during the last 445 days of
the Great Tribulation is Lucifer.
“Then
I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He
had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke as a
dragon. He exercised all the authority of the
first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and
its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose
fatal wound had been healed. And performed great
and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come
down from heaven to earth in full view of men.”
(Revelation 13:11-13)
Comment:
John’s use of language confuses a lot of
people. Consider the sentence: “He [Lucifer]
exercised all the authority of the first beast
on his behalf [that is, Lucifer masquerading
as God, commends the leaders of Babylon for their
efforts to appease God with “sin-less”
laws. He will tell the world that the leaders of
Babylon have acted appropriately], and [Lucifer]
made the earth and its inhabitants worship the
first beast [obey the “sin-less”
laws of Babylon], whose [sixth head had
received a] fatal wound [but] had been
healed.” When Lucifer first
appears, he will flatter the leaders of Babylon
with much praise. Masquerading as Almighty God,
he will want them to think that he is very
pleased with their harsh laws and the persecution
they have imposed on God’s saints –
ostensibly to reduce immoral behavior. To further
gain their confidence, the devil will demand that
everyone obey the laws of Babylon. Religious
leaders will be very pleased.
The Image of
the Beast
“Because
of the signs he was given power to do on behalf
of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants
of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image
in honor of the beast who was wounded by the
sword and yet lived. He was given power to give
breath to the image of the first beast, so that
it could speak and cause all who refused to
worship the image to be killed.” (Revelation
13:14,15)
Comment:
Jesus will release Lucifer and his angels
from the Abyss at the fifth trumpet and He will
permit Lucifer to use miracle-working powers so
that people will believe his lies. Jesus will
send this powerful delusion because the world
will have rejected truth. “…They
perish because they refused
to love the truth and so be saved.”
(2
Thessalonians 2:10, italics mine) Lucifer and his
angels will descend from the sky in various
places and he will speak favorably of Babylon’s
leaders and of their efforts to reduce rebellious
and sinful behavior. The devil will want the
world to believe that Babylon’s leaders have
been on the right track. The devil will use this
tactic for two reasons.
First,
through flattery and miracles, he will want the
leaders of Babylon to believe that He really is
Almighty God and in turn, their endorsement will
convince their respective followers to believe
the same. This age-old game is called “Follow
the experts, believe your religious leaders.”
Second, Lucifer will want the whole world to
quickly conclude that he truly is Almighty God.
Once the devil has convinced a majority of the
world that he is really God, the devil will
suddenly betray Babylon’s leaders before the
sixth trumpet. He will change course by
abolishing the religions of the world. He will
appoint kings. He will do this for several nasty
reasons, but this is the argument he will use:
There is one God, one faith, and one baptism.
Here
is a scenario to consider: Lucifer will announce
to the world that Babylon needs improvement
because there is no place for religious diversity
when God lives among men. Therefore, Babylon has
to be transformed so that Babylon’s highest
and purest purpose can be achieved, namely, the
establishment of a global church-state. Lucifer
will demand the formation of a theocracy – a
government where he rules over church and state.
John calls Lucifer’s theocracy the “image
of the beast” in Revelation 13:15 and the
“great whore” in Revelation 17:1-4.
Lucifer’s
theocracy is called the “image of the first
beast” because it will be a replica, an
updated and improved version of Babylon that was
also a global church-state – albeit a
conflicted one. Remember, the leopard-like beast
is a composite beast that represents an
amalgamation of seven opposing religions (the
seven heads) under the leadership of the pope. In
contrast, Lucifer’s theocracy will not
suffer from religious diversity. People will not
be allowed views about God because “God”
reigns on Earth! Internal opposition and diverse
views will not be tolerated because there will be
one lord of lords and one king of kings. Do not
forget, the devil will have miracle working
powers to back up his blasphemous claims. This
will be a very impressive delusion!
Lucifer’s
“image to the beast” is also called
“the great whore” in Revelation 17
because the wicked who participate in his
theocracy will have to (a) abandon their religion
– the very thing they refused to abandon in
order to embrace the gospel of Christ, and (b)
violate their consciences in order to survive,
that is, to buy and sell. Millions of people,
including people who claim to be Christians, will
join the demonic organization to avoid obeying
Jesus Christ. How ironic! Moreover, Lucifer will
dissolve the imaginary boundaries that currently
separate nations and cultures. He will divide
Earth into ten geographical sectors and the ten
kings will see that no religion exists throughout
his great empire of Babylon. Everyone refusing to
obey Lucifer’s laws will be put to death.
(Revelation 13:15) Indeed, the Bible reveals that
a third of mankind will die.
(Revelation 9:15)
[top]
|
