Alpha and Omega, Part 38, Revelation Part 15
Satan’s Deadly Political Leader: The Antichrist
Revelation 13:1-10
Introduction
- Been studying Revelation together, to understand God’s plan for creation
-- REM: Redemption of sin has been provided through Jesus; we have a choice
- Last week, we discussed Satan being cast out of Heaven as a judgment of God
-- His position is now on Earth, and he no longer has access to God’s throne
-- This leads to him being vengeful, and taking his rage out against God
-- This time is referred to as the great tribulation (2nd half of 7-year period)
- Today we will cover 1st of 2 characters: Antichrist, False Prophet next time
-- Might seem like Antichrist gets a lot of press – biblically, he sure does!
-- Why? Part of God’s judgment … remember, these are part of the 7th trumpet!
- Read Revelation 13:1-10 / Pray for understanding
- TR: This is the key chapter of Revelation – God’s plan for creation
-- It covers the depth of Satan’s wickedness, his vengeful plan against humanity
-- What it MUST do for us: Serve as a reminder to testify to God’s salvation
Point 1 – A Dangerous Leader Rises: The Antichrist
- In Rev 12, we were given a glimpse of things in the spiritual world
-- Saw a great battle taking place: Satan, the dragon, was cast out of Heaven
-- His response is what we see unfold before us – reign of evil on mankind
- Why? It is all that he (the devil) has left – all he can do to strike back at God
-- Many ask how this will come about – and the answer is clearly given to us
- He will inhabit (means to possess and control) a charismatic world leader
-- This world leader will have gained control of 10 nations on the Earth
-- He will have taken this control during the first 3.5 years of 7 (post-Rapture)
- RE: Millions have vanished, and he rises as the ultimate solution for humanity
-- Mankind, in its desire to be led and for answers, will follow and submit to him
- The rising from the sea (v1) is not that an indication that he is an “ocean monster”
-- It is a metaphor also shown later in Revelation 17:15, “Then the angel said to me, “The waters where the prostitute is ruling represent masses of people of every nation and language.”
- John sees him as a leader who rises from the sea of people on Earth
-- Earth will be ravaged over a 3.5 yr. time period, where chaos will ensue
-- REM: The seal and trumpet judgments have devastated Earth’s population
-- Warfare, world-wide catastrophes, and supernatural occurrences
- APP: People will desire a leader who can provide hope and answers
-- The Antichrist will appear to be one who can be trusted – represents safety
-- KNOW THIS: The trust mankind puts in him will be their (our) undoing
- Everything said about this leader is symbolic of his global power
-- We saw this on Wednesday night, this is the same imagery Daniel saw (v2)
-- His focus is to control, to persuade, and to convince the world to follow Him
-- Let’s examine his rise to power so we can understand his effectiveness:
• He will have enormous abilities – he will be an unusual genius
- The assurance in his abilities is found in the way he garners trust so quickly
-- He will be head and shoulders above any leader before him; politically savvy
• He will have ten horns on his heads (v1)
- This is the same number that the dragon (devil) is shown to have in Ch 12:3
-- It is representative of his embodiment of evil – empowered from Satan
- The horns are a representation of power – GR: keras; horn; symbol of power
-- Meaning: When he is revealed fully, he will be a global leader
-- His ability to force nations to comply is signified by trust in him
-- Note: Horns are good for nothing except hurting others – life mission
• He wears 10 crowns on his heads – these being authority and power
- GR: diadema; crown, signifying royalty or authority to rule
-- This is not the victors crown, but rather, crowns of royalty (actual rule)
-- He will be the physical ruler of 10 of the largest nations on the planet
• He will have 10 blasphemous names on each of his heads
-- GR: blasphémia; abusive or scurrilous language
-- This is a representation of his motive, his actions, shows how he acts
-- His blasphemy of God will be full-on, 100% … and it’ll be welcomed by all
- Never forget: Satan will give the Antichrist his:
• Power of inner strength (a charm about him that draws others in)
• Power of personality (which allows others to trust and exalt to seat of power)
• Power of ability, persuasion, influence (which leads to submission of man)
• Power of force and might (a dictator’s rule demanding obedience)
• He will be the abomination of desolation
-- GR: bdelugma; an abominable thing, an accursed thing
-- GR: erémósis; a desolation, devastation
- He will stand in God’s temple demanding to be worshiped as God
-- He will be the man of sin who opposes all religions except his own worship
-- He will speak slanderous and terrible words against God, the Most High
-- He will demand total and complete worship from everyone
- In gaining power, he will combine three of the world’s most powerful empires
-- REM: Wed evening: empires that would be known in the day this was written
-- Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece – and he will arise from a 4th – rep as Rome
-- but know this – this has not happened yet, we’ve never seen a leader
-- APP: The prophecy is a “checklist”, a road sign marker to watch for
- BIG APP: His rise to power will be unprecedented:
-- Why? The great spiritual force behind him will be Satan
-- Better than any booster club or political ally … and 1,000 times worse
- It is truly a match made in hell –
• The wickedness of man’s depraved spirit & desire for self-exaltation
• Combined with Satan’s pension for destruction of God’s creation
- The bible also tells us, along with his rise comes a supernatural power
-- He will even overcome a mortal wound as a sign to all (“proof of deity”) (v3)
Couple of interpretations for this:
1. The death of the beast refers to the political death of the Roman empire
- The Roman empire is represented as part of Neb. great image (Wed), clay feet
-- It was shown as being doomed to crumble and fall; which would align with OT
-- The Antichrist is spoken of as being one who rises from a fallen kingdom
-- But how does that fit into the timeline of this being a future event? It doesn’t.
-- We’ve already had the Roman empire rise and fall, and these events didn’t occur
2. Or, likely, the wound is the result of an assassination of this leader
- The false prophet (see him next message) may also play into this heavily
-- FACT: False prophet will have great power to perform miracles
-- What if one of his miracles is to resurrects this leader from a mortal wound?
- Surely, this would convince man that they are both some kind of god!
-- Consider: Look at mankind’s response: Re-read v4
- TR: But how can one man, one personality, control so many? Or …
Point 2 – How does the Antichrist rise to power?
- There are 5 things to see here that show us the Antichrist’s ability to rule
-- Not only on the supernatural side – but how he physically controls the Earth
-- If there was ever a blueprint to success (success for evil to rise), here it is …
1. He will secure power because of the Earth’s ungodly people (v4)
- RE: The world will blame God for the hardships, they’ll hate Him for them
-- KEY: Won’t admit the judgments are righteous, they will hate God’s treatment
- APP: Paul understood and revealed this same: 2 Tim 3:1-5, “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”
-- This will cause them to look for rescue, even to worship something else
2. He will secure power through military and economic strength (v4)
- He conquers three nations and absorbs those into his own – other 7 follow
-- Daniel 7:8, “As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.”
-- Three horns (nations) will be torn out, making room for a fourth
-- This one will have the ability of persuasion to take the power of the nations
- Consider, one man who can control all of the military power of the world
-- EX: What would one “person” be able to do with all the world’s power?
-- For starters: he could certainly hunt down and kill those who oppose him!
3. He will secure his power through false hope and blasphemy (v5) How?
- He offers hope to a world that is utterly hopeless (re: God’s judgments)
-- He will appear as the savior of mankind – appear as the “man with a plan”
-- His words of deception will convince others that he is the one to follow
-- And then he is allowed to do whatever he wants for 42 mo., 3.5 years (v5)
-- Same time period we’ve seen before: 1260 days or time, times, and half a time
4. He will speak profanities against God, others will not oppose him (v6)
- Playbook: “What we have experienced is all God’s fault …”
-- The world will fall at his feet because he convinces them of God’s wickedness
-- Then, he will demand worship, and kill those who do not follow him (v7)
5. He will secure power through imperial adoration (v8)
-- Everyone who is alive, and is not a believer, will follow his leadership
-- Those who do not will be considered his enemy and hunted down / killed
- His focus will be the grandeur and pageantry of being “god on Earth”
-- Consider: Worship that focuses on the show, on him, on what he wants
-- Daniel 11:36-38, “The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and claiming to be greater than every god, even blaspheming the God of gods. He will succeed, but only until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined will surely take place. He will have no respect for the gods of his ancestors, or for the god loved by women, or for any other god, for he will boast that he is greater than them all. Instead of these, he will worship the god of fortresses—a god his ancestors never knew—and lavish on him gold, silver, precious stones, and expensive gifts.”
- All of this is why God’s word is so specific – it encourages us right now
-- But it’s also to point out to those who choose Antichrist will be choosing death
-- Those who deny Christ, not found in Lamb’s Book (salvation) will die
- TR: Bible gets very specific and even tells us to pay attention! (re-read v9-10)
-- Here is the message for us, today, as we study these words:
BIG IDEA
- GR: aichmalósia; captivity (prison) – v10
- GR: apokteinó; put to death – v10
- If you choose prison (or captivity) – then you are going to prison
- If you want to die by the sword (or be put to death), you will die by the sword
- The calling is to be faithful, to choose God, to choose Christ, choose His rescue
-- BIG: God is so good that right in the midst of hell on earth He gives us hope
-- He tells us that we do not have to go through this – that we can choose safety
- Even if you are listening to this after Christ’s return, you can still find hope
-- This is the key sentence at the passage (v10b): “This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.”
- The faithfulness we need is to be found in Jesus – He provides eternal rescue
-- It is not a matter of what will happen, but when at this point – we’ve seen it
-- We’ve seen the pieces of things that could easily support this ruler’s rise
- It is God’s encouragement to know that this ruler brings a false hope
-- One that leads to eternal destruction – and one that there is no rescue from
- We have an opportunity to seek rescue now, before it is too late
-- What you will do is a matter of personal choice – follow Christ or not
- Let’s pray together …
