Lesson 36
Revelation
Chapter Thirteen
The Rise and reign of
the Beasts!
Review:
1
Ths
Paul very abruptly shifts from focusing on the
person and work of the lawless one to those who follow him.
How
are they deceived?
- "because they
did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved."
The result is deception! Moving away from truth always leads to self
deception, being deluded.
Literally,
“because the love of the truth they
did not welcome
With the ultimate result being deception! Moving away from truth always leads to self
deception, being deluded. True for believers also!
Mankind then is set up and prepared for the coming
of the beast thru their indifference, apathy, and open rejection of the word of
truth. Its failure to
love the truth.
<
"And for this reason" draws a conclusion from the previous verse,
which shows that God's judgment of the UB'r is not
capricious, or arbitrary; but is the direct result of their own rejection of
the Truth.
"The lie" tw/| yeu,dei not just any lie or false hood but the lie of lies;
- The lie is that man is
his own God and therefore can do whatever he pleases and better himself by his
own human efforts.
** Man is made in the
image of God and today man is making God in his own image.
Again, we are brought face to
face with the root issue of man’s unbelief. It’s man’s
inherent desire to live in unrighteousness. To reject the light given.
*** To have rejected truth brings one to be
defenseless toward error.
<13:3> The Acclaim of
the Beast
- "one of his heads" The beast here is the seventh head;
- Many good expositors
see the empire here that the GWD represents;
They picture the Empire's demise as the result of a
fatal wound; and
the revival of the Empire in the Tribulation as similar to the revival of a
dead person.
- This is neat and tidy but there is a problem with
this.
- look at vs:12; Who is the one being worshiped? The empire or the ruler?
- Let's examine the
statement that is made here Read 13:3
"plague of
death" 15 x's
its used in Revelation; 6 x's in the rest of
N.T. outside of Rev its used of beatings, even of
official flogging; 2 Cor
11:23
In Rev ch
9 (2), 15 (3), 16 (3), 18 (2), 21:9;
All of these are translated plagues; as result of
divinely inflicted judgment!
What's the point??
As powerful as Satan is, still his man mortally
wounded, wounded so severely that it should have ended his rule?
Believe it goes to the impact that this event will
have on the people!
If God empowered the
saints to do so in order to fulfill His purposes,
why couldn't He do the same in allowing Satan to deceive
those who had pleasure in unrighteousness during this time (2Th. 2:11-12)?
"and the
whole earth was amazed and they followed after the beast."
- This event motivates
them in a direction that has been the goal of Satan since his first fall! To be
worshipped!
<13:4> Result of the astonishment! And the wonder!
- Worship of the dragon and of the beast!
#1 of the Dragon;
It has been his objective since his fall to receive
worship, honor and the glory that belongs to God Himself. (Isa
14:14)
The hook, the catch for Satan is that his offer
included a bypass of the cross!
What do these worshipers know?
They know where the beast gets his power and
authority to rule!
#2 They also worshiped the
beast! Satan's man on the scene.
They ascribe worth and value primarily in 2
areas! This is Worship!
a. His uniqueness; "Who is
like the beast"; who has the same character; qhri,on; beast;
Isaiah asks a question in 40:18 "To whom
then will you liken God?
b. His power and strength; "who is able to
wage war with the beast?"
The strong implication is that obviously no one has
the power and ability that this man has! He's invincible!
The answer to the question "Who is able to
wage war with him, to stand against him we will find is given in ch-19.
What we have here in vs:4
also is an indication of the religion of the period. Idolatry taking the form
of worship of man, as the overt, but the reality behind it is Satan!
- behind idolatry is always demon activity, 1 Cor