Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
View These Messages at:
Part 1: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/episodes/145299
Part 2: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/episodes/149278
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” 5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 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. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:1–10 ESV)
We have come to the 13th Chapter of Revelation and we will be taking a look at an unholy trinity that includes: The Dragon (Satan), The Beast (the Antichrist), and the False Prophet. Verses 1-10 describe the Antichrist and we will break those verses down today.
Before we do that, we should understand that the person of the antichrist is not unique to Revelation or apocalyptic Scripture. He appears in the Old Testament, New Testament, the Gospels, and Epistles. It is therefore important for us to understand who this person is and what he is going to do. Those that diminish and dismiss the study of prophecy and end times are subscribing to and presenting a false or incomplete gospel.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3)
We see the signs of the times throughout our world and one of the more obvious foreshadows of the tribulation period is in the next several chapters describing the antichrist’s political, economic, and religious global dominion. In fact these signs were emerging at the time of Christ and continue to grow in intensity as the time of Christ’s return grows closer as a testimony to God’s eternal and victorious plan.
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. (Mark 13:6–8)
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18) Even before Revelation was written they knew the antichrist was coming
As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. 23 “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. 24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. 25 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. (Daniel 7:21–25)
And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24 His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. (Daniel 8:23–24)
And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. (Daniel 9:26)
“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. 37 He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. (Daniel 11:36–37)
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), (Matthew 24:15 ESV)
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:5–8)
It is obvious that in the early church, the coming of the Antichrist was something that was prominently taught by the apostles to the churches. If it was taught by the apostles, then it was taught by Jesus to the apostles. In addition to the Antichrist, he is known as:
The man of sin/ Son of Perdition (2 Thess 2:3) This double appellation is probably the most awful, the most important, and the most revealing title given to the Antichrist in all the Bible. It diagnoses his personality and exposes his awful character. It tells us he will be possessed of a twofold nature: he will be a man, and yet more than a man. He will be Satan's parody of the God-Man. He will be an incarnation of the Devil. The world today is talking of and looking for the Super-man. This is exactly what the Antichrist will be. He will be the Serpent's masterpiece.
The Lawless One (2 Thess 2:8). He is the antitheses of Christ, who is the Righteous One. The Antichrist will oppose all righteous and moral law that the Bible upholds. The Antichrist will set himself up in direct opposition to all authority, both Divine and human.
The Beast (cff. Rev 13) "The Beast" is the title by which he is most frequently designated in the Revelation: there are at least thirty references to him under this name in the last book of the Bible. The Greek word signifies a wild beast. This name "the Beast" contrasts the Antichrist from the true Christ as "the Lamb"; and it is a significant fact that by far the great majority of passages where the Lord Jesus is so designated are also found here in the Apocalypse. The "Lamb" is the Saviour of sinners; the "Beast" is the persecutor and slayer of the saints. The "Lamb" calls attention to the gentleness of Christ; the "Beast" tells of the ferocity of the Antichrist. The "Lamb" reveals Christ as the "harmless" One (Heb. 7:26); the "Beast" manifests the Antichrist as the cruel and heartless one.
The Bloody and Deceitful Man (Psalm 5:6)
The Wicked One (Psalm 10:2, 4)
The Man of the Earth (Psalm 10:18)
The Mighty Man (Psalm 52:1-7) Here again we have mention of his boastfulness (v. 1), his deceitfulness (v. 2), his depravity (v. 3), his egotism (v. 4), his riches (v. 7).
The Enemy (Psalm 55:3)
The Adversary (Psalm 74:8-10, Isaiah 59:19, Lam 4:11-12, Amos 3:11)
The Head Over Many Countries (Psalm 110:6)
The Violent Man (Psalm 140:1)
The King of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4)
Son of the Morning (Isaiah 14:12)
The Spoiler (Isaiah 16:4-5)
The Branch of the Terrible Ones (Isiah 25:5, Zech 6:12)
The Profane and Wicked Prince of Israel (Ezekiel 21:25-27, Zech 6:13)
The Little Horn (Dan 7:8-11, 21-26, 8:9-12, 23-25)
The Prince that Shall Come (Dan 9:26)
The Vile Person (Dan 11:21)
The Wilful King (Dan 11:36)
The Idol Shepherd (Zech 11:16-17)
The Angel of the Bottomless Pit (Rev 9:11)
The coming of the antichrist will be Satan’s last effort to overturn God’s Kingdom and Israel. In Chapter 12 we saw how Satan was cast down from Heaven by Michael and the warrior angels of God. This, I believe, was at the Rapture of the Church and the start of the Tribulation Period. With the rise of the Antichrist, Satan sets up a global kingdom that promises peace and eventually makes war with Israel and the seed of Israel. Chapter 13 now brings the culmination of Satan’s war as the Antichrist is indwelled by Satan himself.
Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. (Luke 22:3)
The fact is many already live under Satan’s influence and power. They are deceived by his schemes and power.
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
Chapter divisions can sometimes interfere with good Bible interpretation because in many cases the text isn’t supposed to be divided where the chapters divide. The division between verse 17 of chapter 12 and verse 1 of chapter 13 is a good example of this.
Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12:17)
We need to remember that the dragon (Satan) is making war with Israel and the Saints of God. The posture of this war is he is standing on the seashore. This helps us better interpret verse 1 of Chapter 13:
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. (Revelation 13:1)
The origin and ancestry of this beast is from Satan himself. In fact, What these two verses tell us is that Satan is planning the antichrist and this world system. Satan is standing on the shore as the mastermind, designer, and inaugurator of this world system. In other words, the antichrist and his world system isn’t something that will just ‘popup’ at the start of the tribulation. Instead, it is something that will be unveiled, fully launch, and be inaugurated at Satan’s command to the beast in the sea. To understand the beast, we must understand his origin, which is described as the sea.
The sea is a representation of earthly origin, as opposed to heavenly, spiritual, or demonic. Christ's origin is the realm of heaven, but the beasts, come from the sea and the earth and is a worldly system of men. The sea, a body of water, symbolizes "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues" (Revelation 17:15). With that we can expect this system to be a man-made, but a demonically inspired system that Satan will empower to world dominance.
The “Beast” is something that is a powerful monster. It is a word used to describe any living creature except humans. This means that we have to examine if the antichrist is a human or a system. I would answer with yes. First, we know that the antichrist is a man but incorporated in him is this world system. We also know that the antichrist is indwelt by Satan himself. Could the antichrist also be some sort of human-AI transhuman? We know that the antichrist will be a powerful, charismatic, genius world leader to whom all other nations will bow down and surrender their power.
Prince Charles refers to a man that could be the antichrist: https://youtu.be/tEeLoyHKHOM
The 10 horns and 7 heads with 10 diadems are a global imperial monarchy. It is the same beast we saw in Revelation 12:3 “3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.”
Horns are a symbol of power and control, 10 is a number of a unified world with all political, military, economic, and religious control unified by the beast.
Many commentators assert that the beast’s seven heads correspond to the seven Roman emperors after Augustus Caesar: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. This interpretation is not certain, since there were others who briefly ruled as emperors. Simon Kistemaker therefore urges us to see the numbers ten and seven as symbolic of “completeness and fullness,” indicating the comprehensive power and authority exercised by the beast.
The Great Reset is likely the emergence and early formation of such a kingdom. In 2020, members of the world’s elite met at the World Economic Forum and launched the Great Reset initiative to transform the world economy. Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive director of the Forum, wrote, “Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”
“The Covid-19 crisis, and the political, economic, and social disruptions it has caused, is fundamentally changing the traditional context for decision-making. The inconsistencies, inadequacies, and contradictions of multiple systems –from health and financial to energy and education – are more exposed than ever amidst a global context of concern for lives, livelihoods, and the planet. Leaders find themselves at a historic crossroads, managing short-term pressures against medium- and long-term uncertainties.”
“As we enter a unique window of opportunity to shape the recovery, this initiative will offer insights to help inform all those determining the future state of global relations, the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, the nature of business models, and the management of a global commons. Drawing from the vision and vast expertise of the leaders engaged across the Forum’s communities, the Great Reset initiative has a set of dimensions to build a new social contract that honours the dignity of every human being.” (https://www.weforum.org/great-reset, accessed 8/17/22)
?And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)
The beast that John sees is a culmination of the beast the prophet Daniel writes about in Daniel 7.
?Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:2–7)
John Walvoord explains the symbolism of the Beast this way: “In Revelation, the beast was seen to gather in the symbolism of the three preceding empires - Greece (leopard, Dan 7:6), Medo-Persia (Bear, Dan 7:5), and Babylon (Lion, Dan 7:4). This symbolism suggests that the Antichrist of the future tribulation will embody the sum total of all the world empires that opposed God and His people throughout history. He will be directly empowered by Satan himself, acting as the ultimate dictator and leading the mother of all empires (Swindoll).
1. Daniel 2, Head of fine Gold; Daniel 7 Like a lion with wings of an eagle - Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar; Rev 13 Like Babylon in its one pagan religion
2. Daniel 2 - Breasts and arms of silver; Daniel 7 - Like a Bear with 3 ribs in its mouth - The Medo-Persian Empire; Rev 13 - Feet like a Bear; Like Medo-Persia, devours its opponents
3. Daniel 2, Belly and thighs of Bronze; Daniel 7 Like a leopard with 4 heads and 4 wings - the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great; Rev 13 - Like a Leopard; Like the Greeks rapidly conquers and unifies the world
4. Daniel 2, Legs of Iron and feed with 10 toes of iron mixed with clay; Daniel 7, Monstrous beast with iron teeth and 10 horns, and a boastful little horn speaking blasphemies - The Roman Empire, fragmented into pieces , but restored under a future dictator; Rev 13, Seven heads and 10 horns, one head having a mortal wound that was healed - Like Rome, unites remote and diverse nations under one dictator, promising peace but bringing war
Interestingly the UN had such a statue erected outside of its headquarters that resembles this statue. The United Nations has placed a giant statue in New York that seems to resemble an end-times "beast" from the New Testament's book of Revelation. The U.N. recently tweeted a photo of the statue. "A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor's Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico."
Another Bible verse that's evoked by this U.N. statute to "peace and security" comes straight out of an End Times warning from 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 “2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
The clear and active character of this system is its mission to exterminate all Biblical Christianity and Christians from the earth. Remember, the dragon is bringing this system about to make war with the saints!
?One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. (Revelation 13:3)
Now we see that one of the heads of this beast has a mortal wound that was healed. This has been a subject of great debate. Some assert it to be a legend about Nero. The language is closely connected to the language used in the gospels to describe Christ’s death and resurrection, which brings a common interpretation that this is a counterfeit sign from the beast to deceive the world of his claim to divine nature.
We know that this beast just appeared from the sea, so it stands to reason that this is a political leader or country that this happened sometime in the past prior to the tribulation and its ‘resurrection’ is a powerful deception. To the point that the world worships Satan just by his mere appearance.
What causes the world to marvel?
Fame
Money
Charisma
The Media/Entertainment Narrative
What we always see is that the world becomes fiercely allegiant to celebrity people, systems, corporations, and entities, and cancel culture will stamp out those who decent from such worship
?And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Revelation 13:4)
The entire world will be deceived. This will be the worship of a world government and its leaders. This leads us to believe this will be a communist or neo-Marxist system. The government has become dressed as the solution for all problems: economic, social, education, environmental, medical, moral, and spiritual. This has become even an even more prominent mindset through COVID. Our entire culture is now at the direction of government beaurocracy. This mindset is in our churches and seminaries too.
Concert of AI Hologram; people worshiping an image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhl5afLEKdo
?And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:5–6)
The Beast’s power is by way of ungodly and slanderous words. In order for that to happen all objective moral truth must be made relative (postmodernism). It must elevate itself in the people’s minds over all authority of God’s Word. Immorality and lawlessness prevail when absolute truth is rejected. This is the message of secularism in groups like LGBTQ, Abortion, BLM/Social Justice, and Climate Activism. The Bible cannot be the inherent authoritative Word of God under these philosophies.
The most dangerous part of this global domination will be religion. I believe this is happening in our schools right now. The social justice movements are infiltrating our schools with anti-god and anti-biblical ideologies. Everything from teaching us that all problems that exist are rooted in racism and racist institutions and therefore white kids should repent of their whiteness, to teaching children that they aren’t the gender God created them. We have lost a generation to socialist ideals that teach our children that the state (statism) is the only solution to our problems and that trusting in the God of the Bible and biblical morals is dangerous, racist, and evil.
The Church has a powerful opportunity for racial unity outside of the unbiblical and destructive movements that are incompatible with the Gospel, which teaches the root of our world’s problems is sin and that the answer to sin is the blood of Jesus Christ. This was the Church’s response to the Roman Government's unbiblical demands 2000 years ago and thousands in the church faced horrific persecution. But remember, the Christians could have avoided these fates. All they had to do was go along with their culture, blending a Roman worldview with Christianity by adding the worship of local deities to their worship of Jesus. However, that would have meant following man’s word (or human-made religion) as the authority above God’s Word, which says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Where culture and Scripture disagreed, many believers in Rome followed God’s Word. Keep that in mind when we come to verses 9 & 10.
?Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. (Revelation 13:7–8)
With that, the Antichrist and his world system will not tolerate allegiance to the Bible. He will go after faithful followers of Christ. It will be permissive violence in the name of world peace, security, and the greater good. The world systems will always be aggressive to Christianity. When Hitler rose to power, there was a response from the allies in the world to stand against this evil. When the entire world rallies around a system that will make the Nazis look mild, there will be no but the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to stop them.
?If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 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. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
God has the victory. Our faith in Him alone is the only thing that can save us. The Church must return to His Word and trust in Him. That will be the only salvation for the saints during the tribulation and it is the only salvation for us today to avoid the tribulation. It is the only hope for the world. True believers will know the difference between the real gospel and an imposter. It is all rooted in biblical literacy. (Revelation 13:9–10)
The Need for a Return to God’s Word
After Diocletian and his co-emperor resigned, one of the new emperors, Constantine, issued the Edict of Milan in AD 313, granting religious freedom.7 The Christianization of Rome soon began, with the church remaining central to much of Europe’s civil and political life long after the decline of the Roman Empire. But as the centuries unfolded, three related veins of compromise corroded the worldview foundation beneath Western culture’s Christianized veneer:
1. Compromise on biblical authority
Instead of accepting God’s Word as their authority for truth, many Christians began viewing human-made teachings and church traditions from outside the Bible as though equal to Scripture. (Part of this problem stemmed from the fact that most Christians could not access God’s Word for themselves—a limitation which Western Christians do not share today, thanks largely to the courage of men, including John Wycliffe and William Tyndale, who translated Scripture in opposition to man’s decrees.)
2. Compromise on biblical doctrine
Tolerating the syncretism of man’s word with God’s Word opened the door for Christians to import more and more unbiblical teachings into their beliefs. For instance, people increasingly viewed salvation as a reward for human efforts rather than accepting the Bible’s revelation that salvation is God’s gift of grace made possible through Jesus alone (Ephesians 2:8–9).
3. Compromise with pagan philosophy
Along the way, many mainstream believers began incorporating secular teachings into their Christianity. For instance, the prominent theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) emphasized the pagan Greek philosopher Aristotle to the point that Aristotle’s teachings became treated as official church doctrine.
Realizing that Western culture’s mainstream religion had drifted alarmingly far from God’s Word, Reformers, including Martin Luther (1483–1546), urged the church to return to its foundation of biblical authority. (Ken Ham)
