In the
last post we looked at John’s revelation of when Satan and his armies are cast
to earth and will be banned from heaven forever. That information provides the foundation for
what we see next.
Revelation 13:1-2 “And I stood upon
the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads
and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of
blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was
like unto a leopard, and his feet were as
the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon
gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”
I think
it is interesting to note that we start hearing more about the Antichrist as we
hit the middle of the tribulation period since that is when we start seeing his
true colors. Remember, he arises on the
world stage as a man championing peace with the ability to bring order out of
chaos with his lying wonders. He will
soon show himself to be a wicked tyrant with a hatred for God and all who
choose to follow Him.
The
description of the beast depicts a direction connection to the dragon of
Revelation 12; they both have seven heads and ten horns. There is also a connection to the fourth
beast described by the prophet Daniel. In chapter 7 of Daniel the fourth beast
has 10 horns, then Daniel sees another little horn emerge that uproots 3 of the
10 horns.
Daniel 7:7–8 “After this I saw in
the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong
exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns,
and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there
were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this
horn were eyes like the eyes of
man, and a mouth speaking great things.”
There is
another interesting connection to this beast in Isaiah.
Isaiah 27:1 “In that day the LORD
with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing
serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that
is in the sea.”
In Revelation 13:1 it is the beast that
rises from the sea, and in the verse in Isaiah it is the dragon that is in the
sea. Revelation 12 identifies the dragon as “that old serpent, the Devil,
and Satan.” I think they are so intertwined
with one another at this point, that it is hard to distinguish them. The
beast, the Antichrist, is dependent upon the dragon, Satan, for his power and
authority. When Satan is thrown out of heaven in the middle of the
tribulation, I believe he indwells the Antichrist. They are two
independent beings and will meet their own judgment at different times, but
they operate in the tribulation as an inseparable unit.
Arthur Pink has this to say about “the
sea” in his book The Antichrist: “In scripture, the troubled ‘sea’
is frequently a figure of restless humanity away from God. The Antichrist
will come upon the scene at a time of unprecedented social disturbance and
governmental upheaval. He will appear at a crisis in the history of the
world.”
It’s also interesting to note that John
describes this beast as possessing the characteristics of the same animals that
Daniel saw in his dreams that represented the last four great world powers that
were/will be significant in the history of Israel.
Daniel 7:3–6 “And four great beasts
came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof
were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet
as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up
itself on one side, and it had
three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto
it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the
back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion
was given to it.”
Mark Hitchcock makes a good
observation—John is looking back in history while Daniel is looking forward, so
John sees the beasts in reverse order to Daniel.
I think it is significant
to note that the beasts in Daniel’s vision are identified as representing four
kings. The first three are interpreted in chapters 2&8 of Daniel as
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Cyrus of Medo-Persia and Alexander the Great of
Greece. The fourth kingdom is a reference to Rome, but the fourth king is
in reference to the Antichrist, the most powerful ruler to emerge from that
empire depicted by the legs and feet of the image from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
in Daniel 2.
It indicates to me that the Antichrist
will possess the combined strengths of the rulers represented by the kingdoms
Daniel saw (Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece). Then we are told that the
beast is given his power, seat (his throne, his position), and great
authority (includes ability, privilege, superhuman mastery, jurisdiction) by
the dragon, already identified as Satan.
Yes, the Roman Empire fell
long ago. That is true, but scripture declares that there will be a confederacy
of ten kings or rulers (pictured by the ten toes of the image in
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream) that will once again come to power from the remains of
that fallen empire that will unite under the leadership of the Antichrist to
control the world.
One can’t help but wonder why the other
great kings/kingdoms of the world (e.g., the Ottomans or Mongols) were not
included in Daniel’s and John’s visions. God’s word is intended to tell
His-story as reflected through His dealings with the nation of Israel.
After 70 AD that nation no longer existed. Since it is once again an
active nation on the world scene (as of 1948), we can look for the reemergence
of the fourth kingdom in fulfillment of scripture.
(to be continued…)
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