Last Week In Revelation...
It often amazes me how much information and doctrine can be packed into a single verse or two of God's Word. Sometimes, I feel like an NFL referee; when I look at a passage of Scripture I form one opinion but "upon further review" I overturn the previous decision! I love God's Word.
When we started in chapter 13, we reviewed how chapter and verse divisions are man made; this makes it most often easier for the reader. That being said, sometimes these divisions of chapter and verse are not correct; God's Word is true, but the divisions are sometimes not. Such is the case with the first sentence in chapter 13; many scholars feel that it should be the end of chapter 12. Also, the manuscripts vary in that some translations state "Then I stood on the sand of the sea" (NKJV, KJV, ESV, HCSB) while the older manuscripts translate as "And he stood on the sand of the seashore" or something similar (NASB1977, NASU). The difference is that it is either John looking on (Then I) or Satan (And he); I lean more toward the latter version as do many scholars.
We then saw a terrifying beast arise out of the sea (summoned by Satan), this beast being a symbol, not literal; this beast symbolizes Antichrist. Each part of this symbolic beast represents a quality or characteristic of the Man of Sin (2 Thess 2:3). Coming up out of the sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea (the region of origin of Antichrist), the ten horns referring to ten kingdom government that Antichrist will rule, and the seven heads being either the seven hills of Rome or seven great kingdoms from antiquity to and including the future kingdom of Antichrist. Each country will be rotten and "antichrist" in nature, and will blaspheme God in word and deed.
The three animal attributes (body of leopard, feet of a bear, mouth of lion) refer to characteristics of Antichrist and his rule. He will come to power quickly, will have brutal strength and his voice and even his name will dominate and strike fear into the hearts of men. He will gain his power, throne and authority from Satan, the "god of this world" and "prince of power of the air".
This week, we will see one of the great deceptions of all time and how the people of the earth--for the most part--will be duped into believing the greatest lie ever told.
And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" Revelation 13:3-4 (NKJV)
The Great Deception
As Christians, we "serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today" (from the hymn "He Lives"). We know what millions of men, women and children have come to believe over the millennia since Jesus Christ: "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. (1 Cor 15:3-8, NKJV). Any other faith is believing "in vain" (1 Cor 15:2).
However, there are many false teachings in the world today. All you have to do is turn on the TV and you will see plenty of them. Although I do believe that God can and does indeed heal people, sometimes miraculously, I do think that many of the supposed healings on TV are fake. In fact, there have been different reports from news agencies and TV network news shows that have exposed some of these men and women for the charlatans that they are: greedy, self centered, power seeking people. If the healing brings glory to the preacher, it's probably bogus.
One of the biggest whoppers I have ever heard was that some evangelist somewhere here in the United States raised someone from the dead. Now let's be clear that an immediate resuscitation is much different than bringing someone back from the dead. An immediate resuscitation is when someone dies from a heart attack, drowning or has quit breathing and is brought back to life by means of CPR, defibrillation or by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; being raised from the dead means that the person was not dead for a few minutes but instead has been dead for hours or days. Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead had been dead for four days (xxx). In fact, when Jesus arrived at his good friend Lazarus' grave, Lazarus' sister said "surely by now he stinketh" (John 11:39KJV) referring to the decomposition of his body. Jesus wept, then brought Lazarus back from the dead. Both are different from resurrection, as only Jesus was truly resurrected from the dead; one whom is resurrected from the dead has a body that is metamorphosed from our current, mortal, fragile body to one that is impervious to injury or death, can go through walls, and more. For someone to make the claim that they have raised someone from the dead is absolutely ludicrous.
In verse three above, we see that Antichrist--the beast--will be raised from the dead. Or will he really?
Head Wound
Like other passages in Revelation, there is a difference of opinion to the meaning of this verse. Some feel that the mortal wound is the defeat of an empire, and that it would be the Roman Empire because it will come back to power during the end times. However, having Scripture interpret Scripture, this head would not be a country but instead the head of a country, a person, the leader of that country.
Three passages--Revelation 13:14, 17:8 and 17:10--all point to this head of the beast being the literal head of the beast himself. Let's look at each.
And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
Revelation 13:14 (NKJV)
The beast is not a government, but a person as we have already studied. Here, we see "Scripture interpret Scripture".
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. Revelation 17:8-10
We will study this passage more in depth when we get to chapter 17, but in short this is a "thumbnail sketch" of the passage. The beast--Antichrist, as previously identified, was--is not--and will ascend out of the abyss. What does that mean? He was in power (was) is not (he will die) and will ascend out of the bottomless pit (will be "resurrected"--we will discuss that on Friday).
So then, Antichrist will, at a particular point, suffer what appears to be a fatal head wound during his reign as the emperor of the world, the "one world ruler".--JH
The Great Deception And Delusion
There have been fake healers and those that have tried to fool people into believing that they have raised someone for the dead since Jesus' days on earth. As we have discovered, there are antichrists (those that present themselves as a substitute for Christ or denying him altogether) since Jesus. (1 John 2:18-19). However, this will be the greatest deception ever put on mankind, and Satan will fool nearly all the people of Planet Earth with the deception.
I take the position that this is a phony resurrection. It's pretty simple for a number of reasons:
1) Only God can raise someone from the dead. There are many scriptures of God raising the dead, either by Jesus or empowered Apostles; Paul told Agrippa "Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?"(Acts 26:8 NKJV) There are, however, no passages in the Word of God that shows anyone other than God can raise someone from the dead.
2) Once you are dead, you are dead. With the exception of immediate resuscitation from the dead as we have spoken of, when you are dead you are dead. And when you die,"t is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27, KJV) and "absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2 Cor 5:8).
One possibility is that God will allow Satan to raise Antichrist from the dead, but that is not likely. This will be the "prestige" of a magic trick that Satan will perform; Antichrist will die but appear to be resurrected.
Now you might ask what all this means. First let's see just what really does happen to Antichrist.
1) Death blow. Jeff Lasseigne makes an interesting point from Zechariah:
"Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded." (Zech 11:17, NKJV) In short, the "worthless shepherd (Antichrist) will receive a head wound that will render him blind in his right eye and cause his arm to be paralyzed. This makes sense, as a head wound to the right side of the head would cause the left arm to go paralyzed and quite likely the whole right side of the body. So then, this wound would be very visible, graphic and because of current technology the people of the world may well see it.
2) Once Antichrist does die, he--like other people who die without Jesus Christ as their Savior--will go to hades. However, I believe that it will indeed be a fatal head wound but Satan will heal him--a lying sign and wonder that will deceive the masses:
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:8-12, NKJV)
This all seems to fit. There will be a great deception put upon the people of earth in the last half (42 months) of the Tribulation. That deception will simply be this: it will appear that Antichrist will be resuscitated from the dead. However, it will be the working of Satan with "with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish". However, when Antichrist dies, his spirit will go to Hades; I believe that a demon from the pit of Hades will instead take possession of the body of Antichrist, and Satan will make it look as though Antichrist was raised from the dead "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come." (Rev 17:8, ESV).
The result? People across the globe will fall for the lie that Antichrist has been resurrected from the dead. The great truth believed by millions for nearly two thousand years, yet denied by the great mass of humanity--the resurrection of Jesus Christ--will be demonically flipped in nature to make people think Antichrist is equal with or is really the Messiah. Satan will finally have what he has always wanted: worship of the mass of humanity, with people saying that Satan is God, and that this demon that inhabits the body of Antichrist will be the Messiah.-JH
