The Role of the Anti-Christ

Transcript

GR 1544
10/25/09
The Role of the Antichrist
Revelation 13:1-4
Gil Rugh

Reminder, God's plans and purposes for this world, the people of this world focus in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the One that will ultimately come and establish a kingdom over which He will rule forever, an eternal kingdom on the earth. Satan as we've seen in previous studies desires to be like God. His original fall involved his desire to be like the Most High. And that desire continues and so what he desires to do is usurp the place of God and usurp the plan of God for himself. He's not opposed to a kingdom, he's opposed to a kingdom over which God and His Son have authority. And so as we move to the climax of the age, prior to the return of Christ to the earth we find Satan raising up a counterfeit christ. There have been many of these down through history but this will be the ultimate counterfeit christ that Satan will present to the world as his ruler, as he attempts to establish a kingdom to usurp the place of Christ.

This will take place during the last 3½ years of the seven-year tribulation. That's where we are as we come to Revelation 13. We are in the middle of the seven years, looking at what will be taking place over the last 3½ years. That will be brought to an end with the return of Christ visibly for all the world to see, to this earth to establish His kingdom.

This man that we're going to be talking about in Revelation 13 plays a prominent part in scripture, both Old Testament scriptures and New Testament scriptures. You're going to talk about prophetic matters, this man is a key player. He's given a number of names and titles. And on your sheet on the right hand side as you open it up, I've given you a number of the names and titles that are given to him in scripture. And I'd like you to turn back to Daniel 7. I've just included several portions outside of Revelation. These are not all the names that are given to him, but these are prominent names we use often. Look in Daniel 7:8, the little horn. While I was contemplating the horns, we'll be talking about those horns in Revelation 13 shortly, behold another horn, a little one came up among them. That's the man we're talking about who will rule the world during the last 3½ years. He'll be a dominant player for the seven-year tribulation, but he will rule the world as the devil's king for the last 3½ years. That's where the name little horn comes from. So when we talk about the little horn of Daniel, he comes while I was contemplating the horns, behold another horn, a little one, came up among them. That's that individual, the little horn. Over in Daniel 9:26, then after 62 weeks which were after 7 prior weeks, a total of 69 weeks, 483 years, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come. And that's an expression we'll refer to. The prince who is to come, that's the same man called the little horn in chapter 7. And while we're here I noted that I believe he'll be a Roman because here we're told the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. That's referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. We know that was done by the Romans. And the prince who is to come will be of the same people who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. So we call him the prince who is to come because of Daniel 9:26. Turn over to Daniel 11:36, we talk about the willful king. It comes from the statement in Daniel 11:36, then the king will do as he pleases. The king we're talking about there is the same one referred to as the prince who is to come or the little horn. We call him the willful king because this is the king who will do as he pleases.

You come over to the New Testament, and we're just limiting ourselves to II Thessalonians 2. And you'll note a difference in your New American Standard Bible in verse 3. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed. But we refer to him as the man of sin because the King James calls him the man of sin and there is a difference in some Greek manuscripts. Some use the word sin and some use the word lawlessness. The man of sin, I think the better translation is as we have it, the man of lawlessness. But since I John 3:4 tells us sin is lawlessness, it's not a big difference. Often referred to and you read books and commentaries that refer to the man of sin of II Thessalonians 2. That's because some Greek manuscripts have the word sin here instead of the word lawlessness. He's the man of sin or the man of lawlessness. Look at verse 3, he's also called the son of perdition or the son of destruction. Again, perdition was what the King James called him, perdition meaning absolute destruction. He's the son of destruction, the son of perdition. Down in verse 8 he is the lawless one. Same individual, all these titles are of the same individual.

Then we come over to Revelation 11:7, we've already seen this individual, when they had finished their testimony the beast that comes out of the abyss. So a name for him several times in the book of Revelation is the beast, he is the beast that comes out of the abyss. In chapter 13 verse 1 where we will be picking up in a moment, then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. A beast, same individual. Over in chapter 17 verse 11, the beast which was and is not. We'll look at this verse as well in a little bit. That title, the beast. So you just get an idea. You can look at some books on prophecy and some of them will give you an extensive list, including other names and titles given to this individual in various prophetic passages.

He is prominent because he becomes the key individual in Satan's program and plan as he attempts to frustrate the plan of God and establish a kingdom on the earth with his king on the throne. Remember what he offered Jesus in Matthew 4 at the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry, the time of temptation? He showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said I will give you them all if you fall down and worship me. You see he wants to usurp the place of God the Father, and you can reign without going to the cross if you worship me. But of course Christ would not do that.

The name antichrist, I have a note on the bottom. Back up to I John 2, this is where we get the name Antichrist, which is perhaps the most common title among people of the world—movies have used the title, books without maybe understanding, but they do pick it up from biblical prophecy. In I John 2:18, children it is the last hour, and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come or appeared. So you understand Antichrist is coming but I tell you there are already antichrists. And what is characteristic of them? Verse 22, who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Over in I John 4:3, every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming and it is now already in the world. John will make clear at the end of this letter that the whole world lies in the evil one. So this spirit of Antichrist and this rejection of Christ and opposition to Christ is not new, but it will reach its climax in that one individual we call Antichrist.

II John 7, for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver, the Antichrist. So you see all of Satan's followers and particularly those who provide leadership in opposing Christ and rejecting the true Christ, the Savior, partake of that satanic character of Antichrist. And that will culminate in one individual and he will be a frightening person.

Come over to Revelation 13. We have done this because this is the man that is the subject as we begin Revelation 13. As we found at the end of chapter 12, Satan was beginning to wage a fierce battle against the Jews. He has lost his access to heaven, he has been cast to earth, he knows he has a short time. He begins to persecute, do all he can to destroy Israel because remember the kingdom focuses in the Jews. And if the Jews can be destroyed, the plan of God cannot be accomplished. You say, we're saved, we're redeemed, but we're Gentiles. We will be part of the kingdom but you understand the kingdom according to Old Testament prophecy has to have as its focus and center, the Jews. And so Satan turns his destruction. Revelation 12:17, the dragon was enraged with the woman and the woman coming out of Revelation 12:1ff referring to Israel. And went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God, who hold them in the testimony of Jesus. And in the Greek text that first statement in chapter 13 is really verse 18 of chapter 12. And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore, and the new vision begins with the statement, then I saw, as new visions do in Revelation.

Now what chapter 13 is going to do is show the key role in Satan's plan that the Antichrist, the beast has in trying to defeat the plan of God and destroy the people of God. Now as we've had to do before, to understand Revelation13 we have to go back to Old Testament prophecy. And we'll cover some ground we've covered, but if we don't have that in our minds, Revelation 13 becomes confusion. Remember additional revelation from God does not nullify or change the previous revelation. What God has promised through the Old Testament prophets must come about. Now he may add to that revelation, he may clarify it. But he will not change it. What He has promised, He will do. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. We talked about this with the Abrahamic Covenant and the promises particularly to Israel included in that.

So I'd like to take you back to Daniel 7. If we understand Daniel 7, Revelation 13 just falls into place. As we've talked about a number of times as we've gone through Revelation, the real problem people have with understanding the book of Revelation is they are basically ignorant of the Old Testament background of that. But we jump into a book that is building on what God prophesied in the Old Testament, but His people don't understand or don't believe what the Old Testament prophets have said and the book of Revelation is just confusion. So they end up making it mean what they would like it to mean, rather than what is clear in God's revelation.

Come back to Daniel 2. We have the same information recorded in Daniel 2 as in Daniel 7. We're going to spend our time in chapter 7 but with a different image. In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar saw an image of a man. That image of a man with the various metals, starting with a head of gold and going down to the iron and iron mixed with clay in the feet and toes, represents different empires of the world. We'll just pick up with the last empire, Daniel 2:40. There will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron. That's the Roman Empire. We'll talk more about that as we move along. Inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so like iron that breaks in pieces it will crush and break all these in pieces. In that you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom. It will have in it the toughness of iron, as much as you saw the iron mixed with common clay, but it's going to have the brittleness of clay. So tremendous strength and yet great weakness. Now you'll note we are in the toes and this image is an image of a man and you have the legs, you have the feet, you have the toes. How many toes? Ten. It doesn't say ten here but it has toes, plural.

Verse 43, in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men but they will not adhere to one another. Even as iron does not combine with pottery. That's why earlier I read you an article and even with the European Union they talk about the strength and power, but it's going to have weakness. It may be the forerunner of the very thing we are talking about. Note verse 44, in the days of those kings. What kings? That will become clearer in chapter 7, those toes represent kings. Ten of them. In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed. Now understand as you've moved through the kingdoms here, we're just jumped into the end of it, we're talking about literal earthly kingdoms—Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. Now we're told about the God of heaven setting up a kingdom. We're not talking about a spiritual kingdom, it's a kingdom that replaces these earthly kingdoms on the earth. That kingdom will not be left for another people, it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. We know that is yet future. Now true of Old Testament prophecies, it did not see the period of time between the first coming and Second Coming of Christ. God chose not to reveal that. So it's just like the Roman Empire continues and there is nothing in between. So some take this and say, well, the ten toes must represent so many Roman Empires, emperors or something in John's day. But we haven't had the kingdom established on the earth that has replaced all earthly kingdoms. Unless they spiritualize it and you have a so-called spiritual kingdom with believers. Well, all of a sudden you have changed. Kings of the earth haven't been crushed, turn on the new. I read you an article from the newspaper talking about the kingdoms of the earth. They haven't been crushed and destroyed and replaced. They still operate as they always have. There is coming a time when they won't.

You come over to chapter 7, the same information is communicated to Daniel, but different symbols. Instead of a man with splendor as Nebuchadnezzar, the unregenerate man saw the kingdoms of the world, now you see them from God's perspective, revealed to Daniel as wild, ravenous beasts. And so in the first year of Belshazzar, verse 1, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind. And so he writes this down. Verse 2, Daniel said, I was looking in my vision by night. I saw, behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. And the great sea often symbolizes the nations of the world. Jot down Isaiah 17:12-13 as an example of the sea and the waters representing the nations of the world, the peoples of the nations.

Now here come four great beasts, verse 3, coming up from the sea. And what they will represent as you have on your sheet is Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. He only sees the empires beginning with the one in place when he is speaking. When we go to look at Revelation we'll see John goes back before that, but Daniel picks up where he is. And we're only concerned with empires that impact Israel because Israel is the focal point of what God is doing in the world. So it picks up and you have these four beasts you have to see because what is done to describe them here will be carried over into Revelation. The first was like a lion, had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until the wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man. A human mind was given to it. The lion here represents Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is king, he was the head of gold, for example, in the image in chapter 2. So we start the same place. The Babylonian army, they had the wings of an eagle, they were characterized by this great speed as the armies were moved rapidly and surprised their enemies and so on. Then this transformation here where this beast is made to stand like a man and a human mind was given to it probably refers to Nebuchadnezzar's conversion because the king of the empire and the empire are used interchangeably, and remember the remarkable conversion of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 after himself becoming like a wild beast. His mind is restored to him and he experiences a dramatic conversion. But the lion represents Babylon, has the wings of an eagle. Keep in mind these pictures when we move to Revelation.

Move on to verse 5, another beast, a second one resembling a bear, was raised up on one side, three ribs were in its mouth and teeth. And they said to it arise, devour much meat. The bear represents the Medo-Persian Empire. Sometimes we just call it the Persian Empire, but important to understand it was the Medo-Persian Empire. At the beginning the Medes dominated, the Persians were the weaker side. Well with time passing the Persians became the overwhelming presence. Sometimes we refer to it as the Persian Empire. It's listed as the Medo-Persian Empire because you have this bear lifted up on one side and the preciseness of prophecy. The Medes dominate the beginning and then the Persians will dominate. The bear here picturing the power of this empire. They weren't as swift as the Babylonians, but they got the job done just by the power of their armies. The three ribs in the mouth probably refer to the three great conquests under Cyrus and Cambyses—Lydia, Babylon and Egypt were the three empires that were conquered by the bear. So you have the bear. Now it's going to come up in Revelation 13 and the feet or paws of the bear.

Then in verse 6 you have the leopard. The leopard represents Greece. And one like a leopard had on its back four wings of a bird. And the beast had four heads and dominion was given to it. And Alexander's armies had lightning speed. I mean, nothing prior was like his ability to move his armies and turn up in places where it had not been expected that he would have been because it was thought that it would take much longer. By the time he died at 33 years of age he had conquered the entire Medo-Persian Empire. And then what happened? He dies at 33, then you have four heads at the end of verse 6 because upon his death his empire was divided into four major divisions under his military men. That was in 323 B.C.

You know the details here are so great, those who do not believe that God inspired the scriptures, that's why they say the book of Daniel must have been written much later. It had to have been written after these events because they couldn't have known how specific. But you understand, God knew and He communicated. It's inconceivable that the Jews would have accepted the book of Daniel as part of the Old Testament scriptures if it was written as late as unbelieving scholars say it had to have been written.

The fourth beast, verse 7, this is the one that is like iron in Daniel 2. It's a fourth beast dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong. It's not even identified with one particular animal. It's just a beast of such character it crushes everything. Any of the empires preceding it would have been no match for it. It devoured, crushed, trampled down the remainder with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had ten horns. Where did we go in chapter 2? Ten toes. Where are we in chapter 7? Ten horns. So here you have Rome and you have this beast symbolizing Rome with ten horns. And a horn in the Old Testament represents power. Was used to portray strength. We think of that in certain animals, the ox with power in the horns and so on. And we won't take time to go through various passages that show how horns are used—I Kings 22:11, Psalm 75:10, Psalm 132:17, Zechariah 1:18.

Look at verse 8, while I was contemplating the horns behold another horn, a little one, came up among them. Three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots before it. This horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. Now we have additional revelation. In chapter 2 we just had the ten toes and then the establishing of God's kingdom on the earth. Now we're told that there is an addition to those ten horns. One is going to come up among those ten, it's going to displace three of them and it's going to become the dominant figure and force. Now that doesn't change anything that was in chapter 2, but now we have additional information. Because as we'll see in Revelation 17 the ten are still present but they have agreed to give all their power to the little horn as the result of his rise to power, as we'll see as we proceed in our study. This man is brilliant, the picture of the eyes like a man. And he is also arrogant, he utters great boasts.

Then where do we go immediately? I kept looking until thrones were set up, the Ancient of Days took His seat. And we see the court of heaven with thousands upon thousands attending him and ten thousands upon ten thousands standing before him, verse 10. And you have the destruction, verse 11, of the beast or the little horn. And verse 13-14 you have Christ taking possession of the kingdoms of the world, they become His kingdom. So you flow to the same point. Now again there is no indication of a break here. I mean, these earthly empires followed one another—Babylon followed by Medo-Persia followed by Greece followed by Rome. But now things are going to get spread out because there is something going to take place in here that is not revealed in Old Testament prophecy. That's the period of time in which we live. But we have to complete Old Testament prophecy, we have to get the toes, we have to get the horns. And how can you be sure they haven't happened? Because God's kingdom is not ruling over all the nations of the earth, they have not all been brought into subjection to Him. And just like the first part of these visions was fulfilled literally, there was a literal Babylon, a literal Persia, a literal Greece, a literal Rome. Then all of a sudden people go to la-la land and say it's just a spiritual kingdom in the heart. I'm sorry, that doesn't fit it, doesn't happen. I mean, if you do that with the scripture you lose your way. So in the days of those ten kings Jesus Christ will establish a kingdom. He comes before the Father, verses 13-14, and establishes a kingdom. The ten horns will be dominant during the first half of the seven years, the little horn will be dominant during the last half, which is where we are in Revelation 13.

Now with all that are you ready for Revelation 13, let's come to Revelation 13 because a lot of our interpretation now has been done because we'll see now as we move through Revelation 13 that what John sees here is drawn from primarily Daniel 7. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea having ten horns and seven heads. Well pretty much where I was, I recognize this. Right? I recognize the context. This is not something out of the blue because as I go back to Daniel I know what we're talking about, we're talking about successive world empires. So it begins to make sense. It's a beast coming up out of the sea. Similar to what Daniel saw in Daniel 7. Now what does the sea represent? There we said it could represent the mass of humanity as it does in Old Testament prophecy. It may have a little different significance here, if it represents the mass of humanity that's not a problem. But back in Revelation 11:7 we are told, when they had finished their testimony the beast that comes up out of the abyss. Same beast, here it says to come out of the abyss. Over in Revelation 17:8, the beast that you saw was and is not and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. So we see there is reason to think in light of the context of Revelation that the sea here represents the abyss. And that would fit with Isaiah 17:12-13, and would fit with other portions of Revelation. And you see Satan's power behind him, where he is going to be cast into the abyss himself, Satan will at a future time. So the satanic power behind this man seems to be the indication.

Satan was seen at the beginning of chapter 13, the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea having ten horns and seven heads. A beast. I take it the beast here represents the revived Roman Empire and more, the individual that will rule over that empire in its final phase. Let's look at that a little bit in detail. As you look at the description here, it has ten horns and seven heads. Now remember back in Revelation 7 Rome, that final beast, it had ten horns. Now here you have the beast coming up, it has ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten diadems. The diadems are crowns, identifies them as kings. Remember the expression in Daniel 2 with the ten toes? We're told in the days of those kings, those ten kings, ten toes, representing the ten kings. Then the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. Here we have diadems, the crown of a ruler, sometimes distinguished from a stephanos crown which sometimes could be used of a ruler but often used of a victor's crown. The diadem is a crown of a ruler. So you have kings or kingdoms here with the ten horns, and you have the seven heads.

Daniel saw the empires of the world, beginning with where he was. He was in Babylon, Babylon ruled the world. So he picked up from where he was, that's where God's vision to him started on this, Babylon, so you had four empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. But we go back to the beginning of the empires that impact Israel. Now where did Israel become a nation? During its 400 years in bondage, right? They went down into Egypt as a family of 70, they came out as a nation of some 2 million people. So he goes back in the revelations that are given to him to the beginning of these empires—Egypt, Assyria (following Egypt and preceding Babylon). Then you pick up with Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. But he's going to give us more detail. So you have six nations, then you have the ten nations, the ten kings, the ten horns, and then you have the antichrist, so here we'll have a total of eight all together.

Come over to Revelation 17:9, here is the mind which has wisdom. So we want to have that mind. The seven heads are seven mountain on which the woman sits. Some people go all haywire here because they say, that's Rome because of Rome, the city of seven hills. I don't think so because he says the seven head are seven mountains and the seven heads are seven kingdoms, as we've noted. There are seven mountains and verse 10 there are seven kings. So the heads, the mountains and the kings all refer to the same thing. They all refer to earthly empires. Look how this goes on. Five have fallen. So Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece are past. As John writes he's in the sixth, Rome, five have fallen. One is, that's #6 Rome. The other has not yet come. When he comes he must remain a little while. That would be the ten-nation confederacy. How do we know that? Well the next verse, the beast which was and is not is himself and eighth. So you have the ten-nation confederacy and remember Daniel 7, out of that ten-nation confederacy comes the little horn that dominates. The eighth is one of the seven and he goes to destruction. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom. As John writes, that's a yet-future event. But they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour, a short period of time. They have one purpose, they give their power and authority to the beast. So really we could talk about eight, but the last three are all part of Rome because remember in the picture you had the four beasts. And then on the head of that fourth beast you had ten horns. It wasn't now a fifth beast. So these last three are all part of Rome. In Daniel 2 you had Rome pictured by iron and that iron comes down into the toes that end up being iron, that's Rome, but also clay mixed in. So the scripture is very clear. So as we are unfolded here, that's how we get eight. Rome is broken down and that's not arbitrary because Revelation 17 does that clearly for us and tells us that five have fallen, one is, Rome, then those coming, he elaborates that then in verse 12, the ten horns are ten kings. And then they are going to give their power to the beast. And so verse 11 told us the beast will make an eighth. If you really want to follow for the power because the first 3½ years the ten-nation confederacy is the power. And then the last half all ten nations agree and we know from Daniel 7 that part of that reason is the dominance that the little horn asserted by replacing three. Doesn't mean they no longer exist, but he is the power over three. Just like nations that have been conquered, now they may still exist but they exist under the authority of the power that has overruled them.

Come back to Revelation 13. You'll note, ten horns, seven heads. On his horns were ten diadems. So these horns represent kings and kingdoms, a king and a kingdom gets interchanged, as we talk about it. We go back to World War II, we talk about Germany and we talk about Hitler. What Hitler did or what Germany did, we interchange them because the ruler and his country become interchangeable. So here the horns represents a kingdom and they represent the king. That's true of the beast.

They have blasphemous names on the heads. These various empires of the world have blasphemous names. Keep in mind they are all satanically driven. I mean, they were all under the domination, the power, the influence of the devil. They have blasphemous names on them, all seven. They are characterized by satanic influence and satanic power. Back in Revelation 12:3, another sign appeared in heaven. Behold a great red dragon, that's the devil. What did he have? Seven heads and ten horns. And on his heads were seven diadems. There you saw diadems on the seven heads which represented the empires we saw. Here the diadems are on the horns and you'll note a reversal here that is interesting. In verse 3, the great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on the seven heads seven diadems. When you get to chapter 13 verse 1, the beast coming out of the sea has ten horns and seven heads, they put the ten horns before the seven heads. Satan is behind all these empires, including the ten-nation confederation that makes the seventh. But when you get to chapter 13 verse 1 the ten horns are prominent because that's where we are. So they are put before the seven heads, even though they come out of the seventh head. But we're at the ten horns here and what's going on now as the beast arises to become the dominant power among these ten. And blasphemous names on it all. The trick of the devil to try to turn the people of God to the empires of the world as a solution, as a help, as a hope. The hope of this world is not in the United States of America and it's a travesty that people claim to be believers and believe the Bible and they are wringing their hands. What's going to happen to the United States? What are we going to do? The plan of God will be accomplished, the plan of God never was for the United States of America to rule the world and be God's kingdom. The Puritans got into terrible trouble in New England, they thought they were establishing God's kingdom on the earth. I mean, and New England was the focal point. No wonder they had trouble, that's just not it. All the kingdoms of the world are driven by Satan. Now we get to the end and we have Satan's great masterpiece. It won't get better it will get worse.

All right we have to come to Revelation 13:2. Now you see what happens, this final kingdom is a composite of all the empires that have gone before. The beast which I saw was like a leopard. Well remember Daniel 7, the different empires? The leopard, was Greece; feet like a bear, that was Medo-Persia; the mouth like a lion, that was Babylon. You see taking parts of these animals because all these empires of Satan, worldly empires, come to their fullness in this one final empire, that one final man. And just like God's kingdom on this earth will be a worldwide kingdom but it will center in one man, His Son. So Satan is ultimately trying to drive toward a world kingdom with one man. And the kingdom and the man become completely identified. So you have these parts of these former empires brought together. So if you're familiar with Daniel 7 and you say, like a leopard, like a bear, like a lion. You say that was Babylon, Persia, Greece and we're in Rome because Rome's empire continues, remember. And these last parts are all part of Rome. That's why we call it the revived Roman Empire, because the empire that seems to have ceased to exist has not. And it will come back to fuller and greater power.

The end of verse 2 tells us, the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. And the beast and his empire become interchangeable here. And it can be confusing. But you see the power behind this beast, it's the dragon. So don't think there is any limit here, we think humanly what could he do? The devil has greater power and will have greater opportunity than he has had before. And now he presents the man with the greatest potential to rule the world we've ever seen.

I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain and his fatal wound was healed. Now this is where it can seem confusing. The head represented the empire, the seven heads, the seven different empires. But this final form of empire which is the Roman Empire centers in a man. And so the man and the empire become interchangeable. Some would take it that the head is slain here, it is one of his heads has been slain would be like the Roman Empire ceased to exist as we would look at it. And it has been slain. And yet it's going to come back into power and the world will be amazed, we have the Roman Empire again. That's going to happen. But I think here we're probably talking about the man who becomes identified with this final form of the Roman Empire, the little horn who will rule and reign the last 3½ years, the Antichrist. It says his fatal wound was healed. It was as though he had been slain but he is healed. When it says one of his heads as it had been slain.

Back up to Revelation 5:6. And I saw between the throne, and this is the throne room scene in heaven, and the elders a Lamb standing as if slain. That's the same exact expression as if slain as we have over in Revelation 13:3, I saw one of his heads as if slain. Same word, same form—as if slain. I think what we have here is Satan's counterfeit, because you'll note what happens. The whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast. They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast saying, who is like the beast, who is able to make war with him?

Down in verse 8, all who dwell on the earth will worship him. Down in verse 12, he exercises all the authority of the first beast. We come to a second beast, we'll talk about that in a future study. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it worship the first beast. You see the second beast is an individual, I think the first beast and the empire becomes identified with this man because he is the king. And it is his empire under satanic domination. And what seems to happen is that we have a counterfeit. And as Christ died and was raised, here we have one of his heads as if slain and his fatal wound was healed. And the question comes, if he had died, could Satan raise him back to life? I don't know. Does it just look like he died? I don't know. And quite frankly it doesn't matter. As far as the world is concerned, this man was dead and now he is alive. What kind of impact will that make? I mean, it's amazing. What power would Satan have in this realm? I don't know. But I know whether this master deception is an actual death and resurrection to life or just appears that way to the world, the impact will be the same. I just read in one of the articles just a change of the world's opinion, how quickly it sways and influence a person and a man can have. What would you think if a person the world looks at was killed, maybe assassinated. All the TVs all over the world see it and he stands up and comes to life. Who could this be but God in the flesh, the ruler we all have been waiting for, the one who is the fulfillment of all the hopes. And all the world worships him. And he has the power and his false prophet.

You see what Satan is doing here in chapter 13 is building a satanic trinity with himself replacing God the Father, with the Antichrist replacing Christ, and when we get to the second beast, he will take the role of the Holy Spirit in directing all worship in the world to the Antichrist, which the Holy Spirit does. When the Holy Spirit comes, Jesus said, He'll testify of Me. And what does the second beast do? Directs the worship of the world to the Antichrist. So you see what Satan has done, he has his satanic trinity to replace the true and living God, the triune God.

So the whole earth was amazed, they followed the beast, they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. You know I Corinthians 10 tells us that all false worship is the worship of the devil. And this is a perfect parallel to Christ, right? Who are we worshiping when we worship Christ? We are also worshiping His Father, right? And we worship the Father through the Son. And what is Satan setting up in his final plan? The worship of himself through his counterfeit christ. I mean, there is a brilliance to this plan in its awfulness. It comes from the supernatural being that has a power and is evidently second only to the power of God Himself. As we saw even Michael defers to him as far as authority is concerned. Remarkable.

What does Satan want to do? Come back to Genesis 11. We're going back to the beginning after we have the flood of Noah. Genesis 11, now the whole earth used the same language and the same words and they journeyed east. They found a plain in the land of Shinar. Babylon becomes significant in biblical prophecy. Revelation 17-18 will have significant things to say about Babylon. Here we are back at the beginning after the flood. What do they say? Let's make bricks, burn them. Verse 4, let's build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach heaven. Let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we'll be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. What are we going to do? Let's make a center of worship and we will have an earthly empire. Satan is right at the beginning is good. You have false worship to build the empire. It has been the counterfeit from the beginning. It's where we start here in Shinar and where we'll be in Babylon in Revelation 17-18. What does Satan do? What is God going to do? He's going to have the center of worship in His Son and the kingdom on the earth. What is Satan trying to do? Have a kingdom on the earth and it has to have at its center the worship of him. Nothing has changed in that sense. The plan and purpose of God is fixed and the opposition of Satan to the plan and purposes of God is fixed. What happens when Christ comes to earth? Fall down and worship me and I'll give you the kingdom. You talk about supernatural power, he takes Christ on to a mountain and is able to show Him all the kingdoms of the world. That is supernatural power. Even if you go onto the highest mountain and look around you don't see all the kingdoms of the world. When Satan takes you up to a high mountain and shows you, he can show you all the kingdoms of the world in one glance and offer them. But it's under his authority.

So that's where we are in Revelation 13. Amazing days. And we as believers ought to be alert in the days in which we live and thrilled to know that God is sovereignly bringing all things ultimately to His appointed conclusion.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for your truth. Lord, thank you for opening our blind eyes to see and believe the truth concerning your Son, to experience the power of your salvation, to now have your Holy Spirit to enable us to understand your truth. And Lord as we hear these words, as we study this book, we remember that you have promised blessings on those who hear and those who obey. May we be careful to live our lives in light of what you have unfolded to us regarding your purposes and plans for future days. This is not truth revealed to satisfy curiosity, but it is truth revealed to shape the way we live. May that be true of us in our service for you in the days ahead. We pray in Christ's name, amen.