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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
August 31, 2025
◘The Beast from the Sea
Revelation 13:1-10
Introduction
◘ The sounding of the seventh trumpet at the end of Revelation 11 is followed immediately by the proclamation of the victory of Christ’s kingdom over the kingdom of the world. This is stated as if it was already accomplished though the bowls of wrath that bring that about do not begin until chapter 16 with Jesus’ return detailed in chapter 19. The future can be spoken of as already accomplished due to God’s sovereignty. He declares the end from the beginning and will accomplish all of His good pleasure (Isaiah 46:10).
◘ Revelation 12 begins a section of the Apocalypse that steps away from the narrative time sequence of what is revealed to the apostle John about the future in order to explain the background, characters and plot of what is coming in the final stage of God’s judgments that come with the bowls of wrath. The last three sermons have examined Revelation 12 and the two signs that John saw in heaven, the meaning of those symbolic figures he saw, their interaction with each other and where they fit into the time sequence of history and the future.
◘The woman is symbolic of national Israel, the Jewish people. The great red dragon is symbolic of Satan who is also referred to as the serpent and the devil who deceives the whole world. The child born to the woman is the Messiah. ◘Satan has been at war with God since his pride created in him a quest to usurp God. He has sought to hinder and if possible block God’s will and especially His plan of redemption. That is why he has had a special hatred of Israel ever since the establishment of the Abrahamic covenant. ◘Satan failed to prevent the birth of Messiah and kill Him when still a baby. His efforts to kill Jesus before He could accomplish the plan of redemption also failed. Satan was very involved in bringing about the crucifixion, but even then he utterly failed because Jesus’ death was completely under Jesus’ control for no one could take His life from Him. He laid it down on His own initiative and took it up again (John 10:17-18). Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price of man’s sin allowing Him to offer forgiveness to all who will believe in Him and trust His promises. Jesus’ resurrection proved His atoning sacrifice was accepted and that all of His claims and His promises are true. Jesus proved over and over that He would overcome anything Satan tried to do, so Jesus’ ascension to heaven was not to escape Satan. However, it did have the effect of placing Jesus out of reach of any further direct attack by Satan. All of that was past history even when John wrote down the book of Revelation at the end of the 1st Century.
◘Revelation 12:6 then shifts to the future with verses 7-12 explaining a future war in heaven. Blinded by his own pride and rage, Satan will foolishly lead his demonic hoard into a war against Michael the archangel and the good angels. Out numbered 2 to 1, Satan and his forces will be overpowered and there will no longer be any room found for them in heaven. That was a cause of rejoicing in heaven, but a woe to the earth and the sea and those that dwell in them for Satan’s wrath at his defeat would be directed against them and especially at the woman, the nation of Israel. All the evil Satan has brought against the Jewish people over the millennia will be minor by comparison to what he will do during the last half of the seven year tribulation period of the prophecy in Daniel 9. That is the period Jesus called “the great tribulation.” It will be a period of time that will be worse that all that has occurred before it or will occur after it (Matthew 24:21).
◘However, God supernaturally protects and provides for the remnant of Israel that flees to the mountains in the wilderness the abomination of desolation for – a time, times and half a time (Revelation 12:13-16; Matthew 24:15-22). Unable to attack them any longer, Satan’s rage becomes focused on the “rest of her seed who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” In my view, this includes the 144,000 Jewish witnesses that were sealed in Revelation 7 and do not flee to the wilderness, but Satan’s rage during this period of the tribulation is against all who fit this description, both Jew and Gentile. The usage of the term “saints” for this same group in Revelation 13:7 supports this interpretation.
Depending on your translation, Revelation 12 ends or chapter 13 begins with “and he stood on the sand of the sea” with the “he” referring to the dragon, and so translated in some versions. (Translations placing John as the one standing the seashore have weaker textual support and do not fit the context as well. The passage is focused on the actions of the dragon, not John).
Revelation 13 continues this section that is explanatory and it introduces two additional symbolic characters. This week we will look at the first ten verses and the “beast from the sea,” and next week the rest of the chapter and the “beast from the earth.” Let’s read through this first section before we start examining it in detail.
◘Revelation 12:18–13:10 (LSB)
1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain fatally, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth marveled and followed after the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 And there was given to him a mouth speaking great boasts and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 And it was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
◘The Beast’s Description – Revelation 13:1-2a
The dragon did not go to the seashore as a recreational break from his war against God. He went there to await, perhaps summon the means by which he will carry out his next phase in that war which will now focus on “rest of her seed who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus,” these are “the saints” in verse 7.
John’s attention is now drawn to a new scene in his vision in which he sees “a beast coming up out of the sea.” ◘The character and actions of this beast point to it being the same one that came up out of the abyss in Rev. 11:7 to make war on the two witnesses. That would explain the symbolism of the sea which was commonly considered a reservoir of evil in the ancient world and cited as the dwelling place of monstrous creatures in the Scriptures (Psalm 74:13-24; Isa. 27:1). That would also match the description given later in Rev. 17:8 that the beast rises from the abyss, the bottomless pit, which is a holding place of demonic creatures (Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:1-2, 11; 20:1, 3).
◘Since this is a continuation of the symbolism that began in chapter 12, just as the woman is a symbol for Israel and the dragon is a symbol for Satan, the beast is symbolic, in this case, for both an individual and the kingdom he rules. The symbol of a beast is used for this man for the term used, qhriovn / thērion, describes creatures that are dangerous – a venomous snake in Acts 28:4 and the wild animals that kill people as part of the fourth seal judgment in Revelation 6:8. This man will be beastly in his character and actions, and like a beast, will be controlled by his master, the dragon.
◘As a quick aside before I put a specific identify on this beast, I want to point out that Satan and demons being spirit entities work through physical creatures to carry out their plans. That was first seen in Satan speaking through the serpent to deceive Eve into disobeying God and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The demon that held up the angel in delivering an answer to Daniel’s prayer for three weeks was named “the prince of Persia” due to his evil influence upon the Persian royalty. Just one of many demons that influence nations (Daniel 10:20). Jesus had to deal with many people who were demonized and had all sorts of physical and mental maladies because of them. When Jesus cast the demons out, the maladies, both physical and mental also went away (Matt. 9:33; 12:22; 17:15-18; etc.) After the Legion of demons in the Gerasene demonic were cast into the herd of swine that then went crazy and rushed into the sea and drowned, the man was found sitting at Jesus’ feet in his right mind (Luke 8:26-35). Judas did not carry out his betrayal of Jesus until “Satan entered” him (Luke 22:3-4). That is why I said last week that hatred for Jews because they are Jews and the atrocities committed against them over the centuries were demonically inspired and empowered. Though the beast is not himself a demon, he symbolically arises out of the sea, the abyss, because he will be Satanically empowered and controlled.
◘The description of the beast continues in “having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.” This description is similar to that of the dragon in Revelation 12:3 with the difference being having ten diadems on its horns instead of seven diadems on its heads. The symbolic meaning of them are also similar. ◘The horns are symbols of power and the diadems represent a regal state. Together they point to ten kings or kingdoms. The seven heads, as with earlier symbolic use, point to seven successive world kingdoms that controlled the area of the middle east of both the ancient and modern state of Israel. Revelation 17:7,10 identify the heads of the beast as kings, five of which had already passed when John wrote (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece), and one was, Rome, with the final seventh kingdom still future which will be a revived Roman empire. ◘Each of these were blasphemous in the idolatry of their nations. Assyria went farther in their blasphemy in equating Yahweh to all the false gods of the nations they had conquered and therefore could not protect Jerusalem (2 Kings 18). Yahweh answered Hezekiah’s prayer and the angel of Yahweh destroyed 185,000 of the Assyrian army in one night (2 Kings 19). Grecian / Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes was so blasphemous in his actions that he became a type for the future antichrist (Daniel 11).
◘This symbolism is backed up by the further description in verse 2 which points to the prophecies in Daniel 7. 2 “And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.” This is a combining of the beasts in the prophetic dream in Daniel 7 though listed in reverse order since it is looking back in history instead of forward in Daniel’s time. The lion represents the kingdom of Babylon which devoured the nations around it. The bear represents Medo-Persia which trampled Babylon down. The leopard represents Greece and the swiftness in which it conquered the kingdoms that were previous to it. The description of the fourth beast in Daniel 7:7-8 shows the connection between the two visions. Daniel 7:7–8 (LSB), 7 “After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, fearsome and terrifying and extraordinarily strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great boasts.”
◘The beast from the sea matches this fourth beast in Daniel’s prophecy in having ten horns. That speaks of a future revived Roman empire of a ten nation confederacy. ◘The beast is also specifically the little horn that will rise up to subdue three of the other horns and then dominate the rest. This is the man that will be known as antichrist. He and the kingdom he represents, the revived Roman empire, will be blasphemous beyond all the previous nations. He is the one that Daniel 9:27 foretells will make a seven year covenant with Israel but breaks it in the middle of the week to stop the sacrifices made to God and then commit the abomination that make desolate. “He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods” (Daniel 11:36).
◘The beast is a symbol of both the future confederacy of the revived Roman empire, the fourth beast of Daniel 7, and the man who becomes the dictator of it, the antichrist. This is similar to the way in which a reference to a king can also be a reference to the nation over which he reigns. The source of power of the beast is explained next.
◘The Power of the Beast – Revelation 13:2b-3
The end of verse 2 is direct. “And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.” The beast will be a pawn of the dragon for it is from Satan that he is enabled to do all that he will do. He will gain power over freedom, life (13:10) and commerce (13:17). He will become the world’s supreme political leader, and because Satan is the “god this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), his authority will extend worldwide. As already mentioned, demonic forces are at work to direct nations to do Satan’s bidding. If the policies and actions of a government or a particular leader seem demonic, it is because that is the power behind it. This reaches its pinnacle in antichrist who will do what no other person has yet achieved. Empowered by Satan, he will rise to become dictator over the world as we will see shortly.
◘We can safely assume that much of the beast’s rise to his position of power will be obtained though the normal means such evil men have used – ability, intrigue, conspiracies, treaties, murder and war. But people will also willingly give to the beast acclaim and authority due to a supposed miracle described in verse 3. 3 “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain fatally, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth marveled and followed after the beast.”
◘This can be confusing since in verse 1 the beast has seven heads with each head apparently representing an empire, yet here in verse 3 one of the heads is supposedly slain, but that head with the fatal wound is the beast in verses 10 & 12. The use of the personal pronoun, “his fatal wound,” also points to this being an individual king and not an empire. Since the healing of this fatal wound causes the world to marvel, that also points to this being an individual for that would occur in a short amount of time and revival of a kingdom would take much longer and therefore not cause such a worldwide marvel. I take this then to refer to the future Satanically empowered and controlled antichrist who is the subject of this section.
◘There is debate as to whether this wound, which verse 13 reveals is caused by as sword, is actually fatal or only appears to be fatal. The question arises because there is a grammatical and theological issue. There would not be a question if the text did not include the adverbial comparative conjunction, wJV / ōs, translated as “as” or “as if.” That is the difference between the head “having been slain,” which would be a statement of fact, and “as having been slain,” which is a statement of appearance. ◘Theologically, God points out in Deuteronomy 32:39, “See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life.” Jesus points out in John 5:21 His own ability to do this just as the Father. Romans 8:11 points out that the Holy Spirit also has this power being the one that raised Jesus from the dead. Humans who raised the dead (Elijah – 1 Kings 17; Elisha – 2 Kings 4; Paul – Acts 20) did so by the power of God. Attributing to Satan the ability to restore life to someone that had already died is to ascribe to Satan what only belongs to God. Satan is a master deceiver and will in the last days do signs and lying wonders (2 Thess. 2:9) to deceive if possible even the elect (Matthew 24:24). The sword wound the antichrist receives gives all the appearance of being fatal which is then miraculously healed, but it is in reality a counterfeit miracle designed to accomplish just what it will do – the whole earth will be amazed and wonder after the beast.
◘Worship of the Dragon & the Beast – Revelation 13:4
The counterfeit miracle contributes to the worship of the dragon and the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”
This indicates that the Satanic origin of the power of the antichrist will not be a secret. While many cult leaders keep the true source of their abilities hidden in order to fool people into thinking they are godly and receiving power from God, those openly given over demons do not hide it. An African Shaman that spoke to one of Diane’s classes in college did not hesitate to state that the source of his power was demons. ◘ It can be expected that the beast will be the same in giving glory to the dragon which prompts people to worship Satan which is just what he wants. The people will also worship the beast because he has reached a pinnacle of power in which there is no longer a nation left with the ability to wage war with him. He has subdued the world in one way or another. ◘The phrase “who is like the beast?” is a parody of the name “Michael” which means “who is like God?” That makes the very phrase they use to give glory to the beast ironic for it also asserts his weakness, for Michael is the one that defeated Satan and threw him down from heaven.
◘The Blasphemies of the Beast – Revelation 13:5-6
The irony continues in verses 5-6. 5 “And there was given to him a mouth speaking great boasts and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.” ◘Like a fish who thinks he is big because he is in a small pond, the beast boasts and blasphemes against God not realizing that though the world is large, it is not the universe, and his master and source of power, Satan, has already been defeated. He is allowed to do what he does only because it fits within the plan of God to accomplish His own will.
While the boasting, arrogance in saying great things about himself, can rise from his own pride, the blasphemy, saying things to insult and defame God, would have a demonic element, ◘the reality is that the beast will only be able to do those things because God tolerates it. Remember, God is longsuffering. The authority the beast has to act for the last forty two months of the tribulation period also ultimately arises out of God sovereignly allowing it. God has used may ungodly and evil people in the past to accomplish His will. Yahweh’s word to Pharaoh was “for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.” The same truth can be applied to many evil rulers.
◘A theme in the book of Daniel, which is often referred to in Revelation, is the sovereignty of God over the affairs of men. Out of religious conviction Daniel and his friends refused the king’s superior food, yet they were in better health than all the rest. Daniel was given the ability to interpret dreams in contrast to all the Chaldeans in Babylon. Daniel’s friends refused to bow down to an idol and were divinely protected from the fire they were thrown into to execute them. ◘Though warned, Nebuchadnezzar had to spend seven years mentally insane before he acknowledged, blessed, praised and honored the Most High God “who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” ◘The prophecies of Daniel already fulfilled prove God’s sovereignty to “declare the end from the beginning,” and the ones still to be fulfilled concerning the tribulation period and the antichrist are assured because God is sovereign.
◘The antichrist will utter arrogant blasphemies against God, His dwelling place and all those who dwell there. That is the height of arrogance since all of those things are far beyond his reach, and his master, Satan, was already defeated there. God limits the activity of the antichrist to just forty two months, the last half of the tribulation period when God’s wrath will be poured out on him and all that dwell on the earth in the bowl judgments.
◘The Beast’s War on Believers – Revelation 13:7
Verse 7 details the extent of what the beast will be able to do. 7 “”And it was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.” In Revelation 12 the dragon failed to stop God’s plan of redemption, was defeated in his war against Michael and the good angels, and failed to harm the woman, the Jewish remnant that God was protecting and providing for in the mountains in the wilderness. He then goes off to make war with the “rest of her seed.” ◘This verse reveals the dragon is successful in this war through the agency of the beast. It also states that the beast’s authority is worldwide as expressed in the four-fold description of “every tribe and people and tongue and nation.” The same description was used in Rev. 5:9 & 7:9 to describe the worldwide extent of those redeemed by the Lamb that are martyred and awaiting the Lamb’s victory. Many tyrants have desired to have political rule over the world, but the beast will be the first to achieve it.
It is even more important at this point to stress God’s sovereignty lest power and authority be attributed to Satan and the beast and the righteous fall into despair. ◘This victory over the saints and world-wide rule by the beast will only happen because God has so ordained it to allow him to do it. This will actually be the fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel 7:19-25 which includes the little horn of the fourth beast, the antichrist, who will “utter great boasts” and “speak words against the Most High.” He will “wear down the saints of the Highest One,” and in “waging war with the saints and overcoming them,” he will also “devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.” But this will only be for “a time, times, and half a time” “until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the season arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.”
◘Worldwide Worship of the Beast – Revelation 13:8
While the beast wages war on the saints, the world as a whole will more than welcome his rule. Verse 8, 8 “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him . . .” ◘The beast is an individual person as shown in this verse that all that “dwell on the earth worship him,” with the “him” referring to the beast of vs. 4. These earth dwellers that worship the beast are further designated here as “everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” ◘The “Lamb who has been slain” points back to the description used for Jesus Christ in the scene in heaven in Revelation 5. ◘The immediate implication is that only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will refuse to worship the beast. That identifies them as among “rest of her seed” with whom the beast is waging war and targets for persecution by him. ◘God’s sovereignty is further supported in the fact that the names are either written or not written in this book from the foundation of the world which occurred at the beginning of creation.
◘The Exhortation to the Saints – Revelation 13:9-10
The exhortation in verse 9-10 is universal in that it is given to 9“If anyone has an ear, let him hear.” For that reason many take what follows as a warning of God’s future retribution on the unrighteous. God certainly will bring condemnation on the unrighteous, but that is not the context here. These two verses are narrowed in intent by the ending sentence, “Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” These verses are intended to be an encouragement to those with whom the beast is waging war and will overcome in verse 7.
The ESV is a bit better and more understandable translation of verse 10 – 10 “If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain.” ◘That, like the declaration the beast will make war and overcome the saints in verse 8, is not encouraging unless you are in submission to the sovereignty of God. Only in trust of God regardless of circumstances is there perseverance to continue in such faith, and that is what is being called for here just as it was for the church in Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11).
◘Even at that point when it appears that Satan is winning as the beast gains victory over the saints and the world, God is still sovereign and everything is happening as He said it would. That is why the tie back to the prophecies in Daniel 7 are so important in this section. The end is not yet. ◘This lasts for only forty two months which is then followed by the victory already declared when the seventh trumpet was sounded. Jesus returns to utterly defeat Satan, the antichrist and all who sided with him.
◘Conclusions
While these things are set in the future, the principle applies in the here and now. ◘The trust the Christian needs to have in God needs to be the same as Asaph in Psalm 73. He said 2 “But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped.” This was due to envy of the prosperity of the wicked and despair over the manifold troubles he was experiencing (vs. 3, 13-14). This was troublesome to him until he came into the sanctuary of God and perceived their end (Vs. 16-17). Regaining the eternal perspective he recognized that God had taken hold of his right hand and was guiding him and would receive him to glory (vs. 23-24). That enabled him to once again walk with God and make the Lord Yahweh his refuge (vs. 28).
◘You may find yourself in the circumstances of Asaph and you despair at why things are the way they are currently, but God has not changed. He is still sovereign and His plan is moving forward for his glory and the good of all those that love Him even if you do not understand the current circumstances (Romans 8:28). ◘You may even find yourself in the position of Job, yet his faith held in the midst of his despair to say, “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). Your faith needs to grow to be the same. Not because of some kind of theological fatalism, but because you recognize that God is sovereign, He is good, and He proved His love for you at Calvary (Romans 5:8).
Sermon Notes – 8/31/2025
The Beast from the Sea – Revelation 13:1-10
Introduction
The sounding of the 7th trumpet brings the declaration of _____________of Christ’s kingdom over the world
Revelation 12 begins a symbolic & _____________section instead of continuing the chronological narrative
The woman symbolizes Israel, the ______people. The dragon symbolizes Satan, the serpent of old, the devil
Satan has been at _______with God since his fall into sin, and with the Jews since the Abrahamic covenant
Satan is a ______for even his role in Jesus’ crucifixion defeated him for the cross brought man’s redemption
Satan is _________in his future war in heaven, and being thrown down to earth his rage focuses on the Jews
God protects & provides for the ___________________that flee – Satan’s rage turns to “the rest of her seed”
Revelation 12:18 – 13:10
The Beast’s Description – Revelation 13:1-2a
The dragon is on the seashore to await / summon the ________who will carry out the next phase in his war
This beast from the sea is the same as the beast from the _____in Rev. 11:7 that wars against the 2 witnesses
The beast is _______________for an individual & a kingdom and is characterized as a dangerous creature
Satan & demons are spirit beings and so work through _________entities to accomplish their goals on earth
The description of the beast is _______to that of the dragon in Rev. 12:3 with the symbolism being the same
The horns & diadems are symbols of _______or kingdoms, and the heads are symbols of successive empires
The empires that controlled the middle east in the past were __________________as will be the future one
The symbolism in Revelation 13 points to the prophecies of ___________ concerning the 4 beasts / empires
The beast from the sea matches the ____________of Daniel 7 having 10 horns – The revived Roman empire
The beast is also the __________________that subdues & dominates – the antichrist of Daniel 9:27; 11:36f
The beast from the sea is a symbol of both the future revived Roman empire & its leader, ______________
The Power of the Beast – Revelation 13:2b
The power, position & authority of the beast over freedom, life & commerce comes from the dragon, _____
The beast’s rise to power will come by the normal means (ability, intrigue, murder, war) and a ___________
“One of his heads as if slain” refers to the personal beast, _________- vs. 10-11 & use of personal pronoun
The wound only _____________to be fatal – it is “as having been slain” and not “having been slain”
The power of life belongs ________ to God (Deut. 32:39), Jesus (John 5:21), the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11)
Worship of the Dragon & the Beast – Revelation 13:4
The ________________ miracle results in the worship of the dragon and the beast
Antichrist will not hesitate to point to Satan as the _____________ of his power
Who is like the beast? a parody of Michael (Who is like God?), is ironic since Michael ____________Satan
The Blasphemies of the Beast – Revelation 13:5-6?
The beast arrogantly boasts and blasphemes even though his master, Satan, has been _____________
The beast can only act within what God sovereignly ___________- and he is limited to 42 months
A theme throughout the book of Daniel is the ____________of God – Nebuchadnezzar finally recognized it
The _____________prophecies of Daniel prove God’s sovereignty – the future ones are assured because of it
The beast’s blasphemes against God, His tabernacle & those there, but all of those are _________his control
The Beast’s War on Believers – Revelation 13:7
Satan’s war through the agency of the beast against “the rest of her seed” has a _______________success
His victory is only due to God ____________________ in fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 7:19-25
Worldwide Worship of the Beast – Revelation 13:8
The beast is worshiped by “all who dwell on the earth” whose names _________ in the Lamb’s book of life
The “Lamb who has been slain” points back to the description of ____________________in Revelation 5
Those written in the book do not worship the beast and become targets for persecution by him
The foundation of the world refers to the beginning of creation – God is sovereign in the names written
The Exhortation to the Saints – Revelation 13:9-10
The exhortation starts as a universal call, but is narrowed in the last sentence to the saints
The exhortation is not encouraging unless you are in submission to the sovereignty of God to trust Him
Satan appears to be winning with victory over the saints and the beast ruling the world – but it is not the end
Satan & the beast have success for only 42 months, then Jesus comes, defeats them & sets up His kingdom
Conclusions
The Christian must learn to trust God & his sovereignty as did Asaph in Psalm 73
Despair over current circumstances is changed by trusting God is still sovereignly working out His plan
You can trust God even as Job did because He is sovereign, He is good, & His love was proven at Calvary
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children: Draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following:1) Write down all the verses mentioned in the sermon and look them up later. 2) Count how many times “the beast” is mentioned. Talk with your parents about the identity of the beast, his source of power, and the limits to his power
THINK ABOUT IT! – Questions to consider / discuss with others. Outline what happens in Revelation 12 that sets the context for chapter 13? What is the significance of the beast arising from the sea? What is the nature of a beast? Describe some of the ways Satan has exerted his will through physical entities? What do the symbols of horns, diadems and heads represent? What is the relationship between the symbolism in Rev. 13 and that in Daniel 7? What does the beast symbolize? What is the source of the power, throne and authority of the beast? Is the miracle of “as having been slain” the “fatal wound was healed” real or a counterfeit? What does it accomplish? What is ironic about the use of the phrase, Who is like the beast? What is ironic about the beasts boasting and blasphemies? How does the book of Daniel emphasize God’s sovereignty? Why is the beast able to have victory over believers and rule the world? Who worships the beast & who does not? When is a name written into the Lamb’s book of life? How can the exhortation in vs. 9-10 be an encouragement to saints?
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