Revelation 13

Revelation 13

Overview

• To cause as much damage on earth as possible, Satan delegates his power to the two
  beasts.
• They are in essence incarnations of Satan
• Their activities are during the 2^nd half of the Great Tribulation.
• They exercise world-wide control over people in politics, religion and commerce!

13:1-5

A Beast = an Empire (Daniel 7:3-7)

• The “model” for this empire was the Roman Empire of John’s day.
• Seven heads and ten horns:
• There had been 7 main Roman Emperors;
• There had been an extra 3 with very brief reigns (Galba, Otho and Vittellius).
• Fatally wounded head = “Nero redivivus”
• Represents total authority and power
• The beast is exalted in opposition to God
• The blasphemous names
• “Who is like the beast?” – see Exodus 15:11
• “Any Empire founded on brute force and not on moral greatness is anti-God” – HB Swete
• So a great empire arises that exalts itself above any other authority – even God’s
• This Empire is a satanic incarnation.

13:6-9

• The Empire  exalts itself against God
• Blasphemous statements about God and his people (v.6)
• Persecution of the tribulation saints (“God’s holy people”) (v.7a)
• The people of earth worship the Empire (v.8)
• This is a world-wide Empire – not just one region (v.7b)
• The Tribulation saints remain faithful (v.8)

13:8-10 The Book of Life

• The register of God’s people.
• See Rev. 17:8 and Eph 1:4 – we are chosen from before the foundation of the world
• 1 Peter 1:19-20 – Christ’s sacrifice was ordained from before the foundation of the world
• Prison or Violence cannot steal his people away from Jesus (v.9-10) – See Jer 15:2 and Matt 26:52
• The point is patient endurance and faithfulness without fear!!

13:11-12 Second Beast

• The  organisation set up to enforce Empire worship / a global religion!
• Two horns like a lamb – this world religion is a distortion of Christianity.
• Voice of a dragon – speaks deception like the serpent in the garden of Eden.
• The deception is aimed at invoking worship of the Empire (the “resurrected Roman Empire”)

13:13-15  The Deception

• Satan gives the false religion power to:
• Do miracles
• Cause the statue of the beast to speak
• So in the name of the world religion miracles happen and the symbol of the religion supernaturally speaks.
• This leads to a world-wide worship of the beast.
• Refusal to worship leads to death!!

13:16-17 The Mark

• Faithful Empire worshippers will be marked
• The mark is a grim parody of Jewish phylacteries (Deut. 6:4-9; 11:13-21)
• It is a sign of ownership, devotion and faithfulness
• A Christian can only wear this mark by denying his faith.
• This mark and its use shows that the beast has total control of world markets.

13:18      The Number             χξς

• The  important fact is that this is the “imperfect number”.
• Ancient letters had numerical value just as our English letters do today.
• With sufficient ingenuity many names can be said to add up to 666
• The key to this code was lost very early because there is disagreement among the earliest scholars
• In context the best guess is “Neron” (the normal Latin spelling of the English “Nero”)
• N = 50;      E = 6; R = 500; 0 = 60; N = 50
• The name can also be spelt “Nero” in Latin and perhaps this is why some manuscripts give the number as 616
• Nero, the incarnation of evil, is returning!!