End Times #7 The Bad Guys (Rev. 12-13)
We are almost ready to answer the question “are we living in the end times?”
The end time—the end of the world as we know it;
the time when God sets all things right.
In times of sweeping change,
In times of great uncertainly,
In times of persecution, pain and suffering,
If death looms at our door,
We want the second coming of Jesus to happen.
We desperately want to return to Eden.
Today we are going to get a close up view of the Bad guys in the book of
Revelation.
Chapters 12, and 13 introduce us to the Dragon,
The Beast from the sea, and the Beast from the earth,
John has acquainted us with the Holy Trinity,
Now John will fully disclose the unholy trinity.
Each one of these chapters really deserves much more time to mine the treasures
of understanding the contain than what I can give it in a single message.
Once again I will touch upon the highlights.
Online at http://hbcc.org/sermons_podcasts.htm,
I will post additional notes explaining in more depth how
I’ve come to the interpretation that I will be
presenting to you today.
And since you are online to read this when you see a bracket [ ] it indicates that extra material that you may find interesting.
I am going to tell you who the Anti-Christ is today.
You will find out who the False Prophet is.
You discover what the mark of the Beast is.
And I’ll remind you of the cost of following Christ.
“John’s vision totally transcends time.
It is not meant to be a foretelling of history but a representation of the
struggle in the spiritual world which lies behind history.” (Ladd, p. 166)
Rather it tells us who Jesus is and how we need to live as disciples.
In Chapter 12 we have the vision of the Woman clothed with the sun and the
Dragon.
Revelation 12:1-2 (MSG)
A great Sign appeared in Heaven: a Woman dressed all in sunlight, standing on the moon, and crowned with Twelve Stars. She was giving birth to a Child and cried out in the pain of childbirth.
Revelation 12:5 (MSG)
The Woman gave birth to a Son who will shepherd all nations with an iron rod. Her Son was seized and placed safely before God on his Throne.
Who is this Woman?
The best clue is the Child she gives birth to.
There is no doubt that her Son is the Messiah,
Shepherd of all nations, ruling with an iron rod is from the Messianic
2nd Psalms verse 9
So the Son is Jesus.
The Lamb whose ferocious love wins the Lion’s
victory.
[Catholicism interprets the woman to be Mary the mother of Jesus.
There idea of Mary the queen of heaven draws on this imagery for
The woman is clothed in sunlight, standing on the moon,
Crowned with 12 stars.
Which is certainly a way of speaking about her beauty
and her divinity.]
We might think this woman to be Mary the actual mother of Jesus,
But this interpretation doesn’t fit the facts of what is revealed later on in the
passage.
This picture of a women about to give birth is a familiar one to people well
acquainted with the Old Testament.
(Isaiah 26:16-2; 54:1-8; 66:7-11; Jeremiah 2:2 Micah 4:10)
She represents Israel.
In the New Testament the Apostle Paul also supports such an understanding.
Galatians 4:26 (NIV)
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
It is out of faithful Israel that the Messiah will come.
Who in this particular sense also becomes the mother of the New Testament
church.
Revelation 12:3-4 (MSG)
And then another Sign alongside the first: a huge and fiery Dragon! It had seven heads and ten horns, a crown on each of the seven heads. With one flick of its tail it knocked a third of the Stars from the sky and dumped them on earth. The Dragon crouched before the Woman in childbirth, poised to eat up the Child when it came.
By verse 9 John tells us that the Dragon is Satan.
(Psalms 74:14, 89:10; Isaiah 27:1, 51:9; Ezekiel 32: 2-10, Matthew 12:24; John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11; 2 Corinthians 6:15.)
[In the Temple of Marduk,
the creating god, in Babylon there was a great image of a "red-gleaming serpent"
who stood for the defeated dragon of chaos. There can be little doubt that that
is where John got his picture. This dragon appears in many forms in the Old
Testament. —Barclay's Daily Study Bible (The chaos dragon is Tiamat. “Tiamat is
the sea, personified as a
goddess,[2]
and a monstrous embodiment of
primordial chaos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat ) Also referred to as Rahab in the Old
Testament. ]
The dragon has seven heads and ten horns.
7 symbolizes completeness, horns symbolize strength, (Daniel 7:7, 24)
10 also stands completeness
So the dragon has great power.
The horns together with the crowns a paints a picture of complete power
over the world.
[How does Satan rule?
1. By deception. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15
2. By creating ignorance. 2 Corinthians 4:4
3. By lies John 8:44 ]
John draws from the book of Daniel (8:10) for his inspiration of the
sweeping tail that knocks a third of the stars from heaven.
It’s here that we speculate that a 1/3, that is to say a great many,
Angels fall into line with the Dragon.
The Dragon positions itself to devour the child.
Satan makes plans to kill God’s Messiah.
We’re tempted to see King Herod here (Matthew 2) but that would
time lock this vision and it is meant to be much more universal.
We have a picture of Satan wanting to destroy God’s plan for bringing
redemption to His creation.
[
Rev 12:5 (MSG)
The Woman gave birth to a Son who will shepherd all nations with an iron rod. Her Son was seized and placed safely before God on his Throne.
That the child is seized speaks of the resurrection of Jesus.
What this tell us is that “when the dragon missed his grab, it was all over.” (Eller p. 126) Satan loses. “The evil designs of Satan were foiled by the successful completion of Christ’s messianic ministry, which culminated in his ascension and exaltation (Philippines 2:5-11). “ (Mounce, p. 239). This is a picture of Jesus’ “triumph over satanic powers” (Hebrews 2:14; Colossians 2:15) (Ladd, p. 170)
Rev 12:6 (MSG)
The Woman herself escaped to the desert to a place of safety prepared by God, all comforts provided her for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Escape to the desert (1 Kings 17:1-7, 19:1-8, Matthew 2:13; 1 Maccabees 2:29 {the book of Maccabees is found in a collection of writings known as the Apocrypha. The references to Enoch is found in a collection of writings known as the Pseudoepigrapha}
3 ½ years “The standard period of distress” (Barclay), “when Satan tries to frustrate the purposes of God” (Ladd, p. 170).
What happens in the wilderness is that God sustains true Israel. (Mounce, p.
239). (Hosea 2:14). It is a place of spiritual refuge.
2 Cor 6:17 (NIV)
Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.
John 17:15 (NIV)
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
Still in the world but not of it.
True Israel does not participate in pagan culture.
We have spoken about John’s fluidity before. How he morphs his imagery. We know from reading the NT that the OT imagery of true Israel is transformed into the AD Church. BC faith becomes AD faith and the metaphors pass on. So true Israel will become the Church.
Rev 12:7-9 (MSG)
War broke out in Heaven. Michael and his Angels fought the Dragon. The Dragon and his Angels fought back, but were no match for Michael. They were cleared out of Heaven, not a sign of them left. The great Dragon—ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray—thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth.
To really grasp an understanding of what is happening here you need to have a working knowledge of the book of Enoch which is part of a group of writings known as the Psuedopigrapha. (http://www.heaven.net.nz/writings/enoch.htm ).
Virtually unknown today the book served as source material for John of Patmos.
This verse seems to draw upon 1 Enoch 90:14 and 2 Enoch 29:4-5.
Michael, the guardian angel of Israel (Dan 10:13, 21, 12:1, Jude verse 9,
Enoch 20:5)
Satan in Hebrew means adversary. Devil in Greek means slanderer
(1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 11:3)
“The single intention of the passage is to assure those who meet satanic evil on earth that it is really a defeated power, however contrary it might seem to human experience.” (Ladd, p. 171)
]
But Satan is defeated.
We need to remember that John in not writing in a linear fashion,
where one event logically follows another.
While there is an inherent logic to what John writes to see it we must
understand the fluidity in which John utilizes time and space.
Here is a critical point that will not come into full view until chapter 19.
Satan is defeated at the cross.
His doom is sealed by the resurrection.
The decisive battle for dominance over the kingdom of
man is settled and Satan is the loser.
[
Things for consideration:
1. Job 1:6-11 and Zechariah 3:1-2 Satan is portrayed as having access to the
throne room of God.
“In the Old Testament Satan was the angel who was the counsel for the prosecution against men in the presence of God, their Adversary.”
—Barclay's Daily Study Bible
2. Revelation 12:8-10 Satan is banished from the throne room of God.
3. Isaiah 14:12 Satan pride was the source of his defeat.
4. Luke 10:18 Jesus reports of Satan fall.
“He can be called the Ruler of this World (Jn 12:31; Jn 14:30; Jn 16:11), for, having been cast out of heaven, he has to exert his evil influence among men.
He comes to be identified with the serpent because of the story of the Fall in Gen 3 .” —Barclay's Daily Study Bible
5. Eph 2:2 and 6:12 identify fallen Satan as the ruler of the kingdom of the
air, “spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient; and the
one believers are fighting against.
“The ancient world believed strenuously in demons. They believed that the air was so crowded with these demons that there was not room to insert a pinpoint between them. Pythagoras said: "The whole air is full of Spirits." Philo said: "There are spirits flying everywhere through the air." "The air is the house of the disembodied spirits." These demons were not all bad, but many were, out to propagate evil, to frustrate the purposes of God and to ruin the souls of men. The man who is under their domination has taken sides against God.”
—Barclay's Daily Study Bible
]
Believer’s take part in this defeat.
Revelation 12:10-11 (MSG)
Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying, Salvation and power are established! Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah! The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out, who accused them day and night before God. They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren't in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.
You take part in Satan’s defeat by two actions.
The first is by going “through the blood of the Lamb”
You go through the blood by identifying with Jesus.
You identify with Jesus in living out the ABC’s of the faith.
Accept the fact that you need a Hero.
Believe that the Hero you need is Jesus.
Commit yourself to following your Hero.
ABC, accept, believe, commit is how you start living a holy life.
The way you live your life,
The choices you make is your witness.
A wimpy witness doesn’t defeat Satan.
You have to be bold.
People need to know where you stand.
Not because you are bullhorn man,
The church lady,
Or some other character that brings mockery
cause of Christ.
But rather by your insistence of bringing the kingdom to others.
Loving people, seeking to meet their need even at the
of a personal sacrifice.
Even your enemies.
(Matthew 5:43;Luke 6:27-30; Romans 12:20)
You have to be bold in your witness,
Not still stuck on your own egoism.
But rather steadfast in your faith.
Not in love with yourself,
But willing to die for the one who died for you.
John 12:25-26 (NIV)
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.
The reason that your commitment may lead you to a physical death is because even
though Satan is defeated,
he knows he has lost, still he is going to go down fighting.
Revelation 12:12 (MSG)
He's wild and raging with anger; he hasn't much time and he knows it.
[
Rev 12:13-17
The Woman stands for God's Chosen People from whom God's Anointed
One came.
The eagle's wings are the symbol of God’s sustaining power to lift one up
and out of harms way. (Exodus 19:4) (Barclay). This is a picture of
divine deliverance and enablement (Mounce , p. 245)
In the OT tribulation and persecution are likened to an overwhelming flood
(Psalm 32:6; 42:7; 124:4; Isaiah 43:2) (Barclay); it is a sign of great
Evil (Mounce, p. 246)
Pictured in these verses is the “assuring of the church of their
ultimate safety even in the face of martyrdom …Even in death, God will preserve
his people; every effort of Satan to destroy them will be in vain.” (Ladd p.
174)
]
Revelation 12:17 (MSG)
Helpless with rage, the Dragon raged at the Woman, then went off to make war with the rest of her children, the children who keep God's commands and hold firm to the witness of Jesus.
The rest of the Woman’s children is the abiding Church,
Hopefully that includes you.
The Dragon in his war against believes now calls in help.
The Dragon calls forth a Beast from the Sea. (Isaiah 57:20)
[
Rev 13:1 (NIV)
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. 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.
Note the resemblance of the Dragon and the Beast.
The Dragon: large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads (Rev 12:3 (NLT).
The Beast: It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns (Rev 13:1 (NLT).
As Jesus has absolute identification with the Father, the one who sits on the throne, so the Beast has absolute identification with the Dragon. Therefore we know that this Beast is the Anti-Christ.
If Jesus’ task was to bring glory and honor to his Father in heaven, the Beast’s task is to bring glory and honor to his father the Dragon.
Recall we identified this Anti-Christ as the Lord of the Abyss (Rev 9:11 and 11:7), the Destroyer, Therion. Once again the Anti-Christ is brought center stage; the original language uses the name Therion, translated the Beast and therefore we can identify them both as the same creature.
Rev 13:2 (NIV)
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.
Once again John draws from the book of Daniel (7:3-7) In Daniels vision he sees world empires. “The beast like a lion with an eagle's wings stands for Babylon; the one like a bear stands for Media; the one like a leopard with four wings stands for Persia; and the fourth stands for the empire of Alexander the Great.—Barclay's Daily Study Bible
What we conclude here is that this Beast is another world empire.
If we accept that interpretation then discovering what the seven heads and
ten horns represent becomes somewhat easy.
“These stand for the rulers and the emperors of Rome. Since Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, there had been seven emperors; Tiberius, A.D. 14-37; Caligula, A.D. 37-41; Claudius, A.D. 41-54; Nero, A.D. 55-68; Vespasian, A.D. 69-79; Titus, A.D. 79-81; Domitian, A.D. 81-96. These seven emperors are the seven heads of the beast. But in addition it is said that the beast had ten horns. The explanation of this second figure lies in this. After the death of Nero there was a short period of almost complete chaos. In eighteen months three different men briefly occupied the imperial power, Galba, Otho and Vitellius. They are not included in John's list of the seven heads but are included in the list of the ten horns.” —Barclay's Daily Study Bible
Loaning support to this interpretation is Rev 17:10, where the heads are identified as kings. (Mounce, p. 250)
So the Beast represents the reigning Cesar at the time of John’s writing.
My leaning is for Domitian, and that places John’s writing sometime
during Domitian’s reign.
There is other evidence that would allow us to interpret this Beast as
being Nero and we will consider that later.
The reason for my determination is that one of the heads is fatally
wounded and then comes back to life.
Revelation 13:3 (NIV)
One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.
After Nero’s assignation the Roman empire goes through a chaotic period.
A fatal wound to one of the heads.
But Vespasian brings order back to the empire, (AD 69-79)
the fatal wound healed. (Mounce, p. 253)
We know from History that the Christian church was intensely persecuted by the Roman Empire.
Nero and subsequent persecutions of the Church by Rome:
http://www.earlychurch.org.uk/persecution-russell.html
Revelation as anti-Roman propaganda:
http://patriot.net/~carey/afa/latinclub/persecution.htm
Nero, Domitian and Trajan persecutions:
http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/early-christian-persecution-faq.htm
Time line of the Roman Empire:
http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/romans.html
“From the beginning of history the pagan state has set itself against the people of God. From the pharaohs of Egypt to the emperors of Rome it had moved steadily forward with determined purpose to devour all who refused it homage.” (Mounce, p. 253)
If we adopt the end of the first century as the times in which John wrote,
Then we can go back to the beginning of Revelation and speculate in greater detail what some of the imagery represents. Remember that the future is foreshadowed in what has already occurred. So we can look to the past and see something that characterizes the future—this is the way things have gone, so one would expect that this is the way things will go. In our study today, that the Women flees to the desert could well refer to Christians fleeing to Pella in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman empire. If we followed a strictly Preteristic understanding of Revelation we would focus on this.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterism )
AD 60: Earthquakes
AD 62: Defeat of Roman army by Parthian Vologeses on eastern frontier.
AD 64: Persecution of Christians by Nero following the fire of Rome.
AD 68: Suicide of Nero
AD 70: Four year war of Jews and Romans ending with Jerusalem in ruins
AD 79: Eruption of Vesuvius
AD 92: Serious grain famine
AD 81-96 Reign of Domitian, institutes emperor worship.
But to follow this interpretive stance removes the universality from the book, and thus it becomes a history book instead of a book the reveals Jesus Christ and the end state. We can surmise that John drew from immediate history, but de-calendarized it, the effect of being that the book can speak to every generation.
]
Revelation 13:5-8 (MSG)
The Beast had a loud mouth, boastful and blasphemous. It could do anything it wanted for forty-two months. It yelled blasphemies against God, blasphemed his Name, blasphemed his Church, especially those already dwelling with God in Heaven. It was permitted to make war on God's holy people and conquer them. It held absolute sway over all tribes and peoples, tongues and races. Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world's foundation in the slaughtered Lamb's Book of Life will worship the Beast.
This Beast is the Anti-Christ.
In the original language Beast is a translation of the word therion.
If you recall from Chapter 5 John introduces Jesus as the arnion.
So this is a word play of sorts,
Arnion verse therion.
Who is the Beast? Who is the Anti-Christ?
[
Believer’s through the centuries have been quick to name the anti-Christ.
http://www.raptureready.com/rr-antichrist.html
Many of those named as the anti-Christ share one thing is common,
They are heads of states, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Dictators, Kings and
Tyrants. Some are the leaders of religious groups, like the Pope.
But John paints a very different picture,
An anti-Christ that fits every generation.
In our detailed discussion of chapter 13 we have already suggested that the Anti-
Christ has something to do with the Roman Empire.
Verse 5-8 specify the Anti-Christ as being Caesar.
“Every emperor was called divus or sebastos (Divine), which means divine. Frequently the very name God or Son of God was given to the emperors; and Nero on his coins called himself The Saviour of the World. For any man to call himself divine was a blasphemous insult to God. Further, the later emperors took as their title the Latin word dominus, or its Greek equivalent kurios (Lord) both of which mean lord, and in the Old Testament are the special title of God and in the New Testament the special title of Jesus Christ.” —Barclay's Daily Study Bible
Also see Daniel 7:8,20,25; 8:10.
The Beast is given world wide authority. This again hints at the historical situation in which John lived. The Roman Empire ruled the world. (This is an overstatement even if modified with “the known world.” There were still unconquered known areas of the world and enemies of Rome. But Rome’s influence was indeed vast.
John is just vague enough to remove the time stamp, unlocking the vision to apply to every generation that faces persecution by the State.
]
In order for the book of Revelations to speak to every generation I am persuaded
that the Anti-Christ is a deification of secular authority.
The Beast from the Sea, the Anti-Christ is secular government that stands in
opposition to God’s rule and ways.
When secular government begins to persecute the people of
God,
The head of state can be considered the Anti-
Christ.
1 John 2:18 (NIV)
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
In John’s day the likely candidate would be the Caesar in power at the time.
The power of government is brought to bear on the Church to wipe it
out.
[
2 Thessalonians 2:4 (NIV)
He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
]
Revelation 13:7 (MSG)
It was permitted to make war on God's holy people and conquer them.
Everyone but the followers of Christ, give their allegiance to the Beast.
As the Beast wages war against the faith in Christ:
Revelation 13:10 (MSG)
God's holy people passionately and faithfully stand their ground.
[
It is an intolerable paradox to defend the gospel of the love of God by using the violence of man. —Barclay's Daily Study Bible
There are weapons which the Christian can use and these are steadfastness and loyalty. The word for steadfastness is hupomone (<G5281>), which does not simply mean passively enduring but courageously accepting the worst that life can do and turning it into glory. The word for loyalty is pistis (<G4102>), which means that fidelity which will never waver in its devotion to its Master. —Barclay's Daily Study Bible
]
John has introduced to us the woman clothed in the sun whom we have understood
to be the Old Testament faithful.
Then John introduced the Dragon, Satan,
The Beast from the Sea, the Anti-Christ.
And now John finishes off his unholy trinity with the beast
from the ground.
Revelation 13:11 (MSG)
I saw another Beast rising out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb but sounded like a dragon when it spoke.
To understand what John means by this second beast we must know something of
his times.
I mentioned previously that the Caesars began claiming divinity.
As early as the writings of the Apostle Paul (40-60AD)
The religious worship of Ceasar was widespread
throughout the Roman Empire.
( http://www.ctinquiry.org/publications/wright.htm )
Nero “demanded worship as well as "secular" obedience;
not just taxes, but sacrifices. … maintaining his vast empire not simply by
force, … but by the development of a flourishing religion.
Caesar, by being a servant of the state,
had provided justice and peace to the whole world.
He was therefore to be hailed as Lord, and trusted as Savior.”
(NT Wright, http://www.ctinquiry.org/publications/wright.htm)
This carries on through the succeeding administrations with the most intense
persecution of Christians under the reigns of Domtian and Trajan.
This second beast is a deceiver;
The Unholy Spirit,
Later in Revelation called the False Prophet,
And best to be understood as state sponsored religion.
Religion used to support the state.
One can’t criticize the state because one would be
criticizing God.
[
Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (NIV)
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
Matthew 7:15 (NIV)
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Mark 13:22-23 (NIV)
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NIV)
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
”As Christ received authority from the Father (Mt 11:27) so Antichrist receives authority from the dragon (Rev 13:4), and as the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ (John 16:14) so the false prophet glorifies the Antichrist (Rev 13:12).”(Mounce, p. 258)
]
Hence in our US Constitution
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
No state churches, but no prohibition on religious beliefs.
This beast from the earth is False Religion.
And by counterfeit signs, wonders, miracles, “economic boycott and threat
of death this Beast forces people to worship the first Beast,
the Antichrist.” (Mounce, p. 259)
Revelation 13:16-18 (MSG)
It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on the right hand or forehead. Without the mark of the name of the Beast or the number of its name, it was impossible to buy or sell anything. Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the Beast. It's a human number: six hundred sixty-six.
[
If a Christian refused to make the act of worship to Caesar, he was liable to death. The death penalty was not always carried out; but, if a Christian had not the mark of the beast, he could not buy or sell. That is to say, if a man refused to worship the emperor, even if his life was spared, he would be economically ruined.—Barclay's Daily Study Bible
Buying and selling is the “big game” of culture; “the world has set up the game, defined its rules, and is running the tables; and never forget, the beast is lord of ‘this world.’ You won’t get very far at these tables, then, John is saying, unless you can show proof that the boss has okayed you. You’ll never win at this game unless you’re willing to play according to the way of the world.” (Eller, p133)
]
The Mark of the beast is 666.
If you make a very detailed study of the scholars you will come to the
conclusion that nobody but John and his original readers has any idea
what 666 actually means.
[
Preterism interpretation of 666 is that it is the number for Caesar Nero.
Historicist interpretation of 666 is the papacy.
http://www.historicism.com/misc/666antichrist.htm
http://www.sermonaudio.com/new_details3.asp?ID=18862
Futurist interpretation of 666 is an actual mark on the hand or forehead of
individual that will occur in the future.
This is the view held by Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, John MacArthur
Idealist believes simply that Revelation does not refer to any historical or future event at all; rather it is a timeless allegory of the conflict between good and evil
(http://www.geocities.com/athens/forum/5951/ntb519a.html)
]
Now having said that I am going to plunge in and tell you what I think the mark of
the beast means.
Recall in chapter 7, Those who abide in Christ are sealed, the 144,000.
I told you that this was a spiritual sealing,
A knowledge of who you are in Christ.
Given John’s use of symmetry, bringing balance in an Apocalyptic story,
666 is also a kind of spiritual sealing.
An attitude of the heart.
“It is received on the forehead meaning their mind
or on the hand meaning their actions.”
(http://www.apocalipsis.org/rev-13.htm)
So were talking belief and action, attitude and behavior,
Now consider what the Apostle Paul wrote:
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Those who bear the mark of the beast are those who conform to the patterns of this
world.
This interpretation speaks to every generation that reads the book of
Revelation.
“Compromise with the culture has always had more potential for annihilating true
faith than …. being thrown to the lions”
(Tony Campolo “Getting out of the World Alive,” Discipleship Journal, no 86 (1995) p. 45)
John as introduced almost all the players now in his great Apocalyptic story.
Father Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity has been introduces as
The One Who sits on the Throne
The Lamb
The 7 Spirit that goes forth.
We have read that those who abide in Christ sealed.
We have also been introduced to the Heavenly Woman, symbolizing God’s
faithful people through whom He accomplishes His purposes,
and the place in which they live Jerusalem the city of God’s
people.
Now we have had an introduction of the Unholy Trinity
The dragon who is Satan
The first Beast who is the Anti-Christ
which I suggest we interpret to mean Satanically influenced civil
power.
The second Beast who is the False Prophet
which I suggest we interpret to mean “religious power employed to
support civil power.” (Ladd, p. 183)
And we have those who abide in the Beast marked.
Which I suggest is a conforming to the ways of those who refuse to
acknowledge and worship God.
Before I tell you what I want you to walk away with today,
I want to consider what the word religion means.
Here is one dictionary definition for the word religion:
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.
Another name for such a “set of beliefs” is a worldview.
A worldview “determines how we look at ourselves, our world and the roles
in the world.” (Paul Borthwick, Six Dangerous Questions, p. 10)
A worldview “determines who we are, what we value, and how we behave.”
(Borthwick, p. 13)
What I am suggesting here is that if you connect the idea of religion with the
idea of worldview all of a sudden false religions take on a much more
familiar face.
Secular Humanism
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r002.html
Capitalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
Scientific Naturalism
"a world strictly organized in accordance with mechanistic principles . . . . implies that there are no inherent moral or ethical laws.” http://jewishmediaresources.com/article/915/%3Cbr%20/%3E
http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/moral-relativism.htm
Materialism
http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/materialism.htm
I think these five “isms” pervade and saturate our culture today.
Each can become a worldview by itself,
What you need to understand is that when these
philosophical / economic / scientific understanding of
how things are,
determine how you live your life,
you’ve got a religion.
When you indiscriminately fall in step with the predominate
culture, You are practicing a false religion.
Have you been seduced by the second Beast by simply going with the
flow?
Questions?
Finally here’s what I want you to take away with you today.
Satan is a defeated enemy.
Satan is defeated but still dangerous.
The way you overcome the Dragon,
the Anti-Christ, and the False Prophet, and their pockets of resistance is
through ferocious love.
Revelation 12:11 (MSG)
They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren't in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.
You defeat the Bad Guys by the bold word of your witness.
If you are a follower of the Lamb,
Then every time you love you defeat the Bad Guys.
To love you have to give a little of your self away.
You die to selfishness, you die to egoism in that action.
To love you may have to suffer,
You may be called upon to surrender your physical life.
Just remember, when you love, you loose nothing.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (MSG)
These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye.
How bold is your witness?
How ferocious is your love?