Revelation 12:17c-13:18 - A Call for Endurance and Faith

They say there are two subjects you should never discuss in conversation: politics and religion. Why is that?

Because of disagreement, yes. People have their opinions. But also because of how much these two subjects affect our lives. Who we are governed by and how we are governed determines our freedoms, our finances, and our futures. Government affects our safety and our well-being in the world. And what you believe about God and how you practice those beliefs is central to who you are and to the life that you lead not only now, but for eternity.

Every person has a political and religious point-of-view, even if they try to stay out of both.

In Revelation 12, we learned that Satan will steadily attack the church in the last days. And a natural question follows: how, exactly, does the enemy attack the people of God? Well, politics and religion affect us all, so Satan does his best to affect politics and religion.

First of all, it’s important to recognize that Satan is not not all-knowing, all-powerful, nor is he able to be everywhere at once. He’s not equal to God. Yes, he has many demons at his command, but even as a group he and his army are nowhere near equal in power to the triune God.

However, Satan does attempt to mimic God’s power, as we’ll see here shortly. Satan cannot have control over a believer. A demon cannot possess a born-again person. But the devil and his minions can influence and affect the lives of Christians. Revelation 12 was clear about that.

Satan does, however, have a great measure of control over non-believers, which God allows. And because he has that control, the enemy is able to exert significant influence in two major aspects of life and world history: politics and religion.

When those with political or religious authority – as well as those who support them or put them  in authority – are controlled by the devil, this is often harmful to the church. In fact, in every generation,Satan has attacked God’s people by manipulating governments, religions, and philosophies or belief systems. That is the overall message of Revelation 13.

Some of the details of the visions in this chapter are not quite clear, even for the best Bible scholars. But the main point is this: until Christ returns, man-centered religious institutions and other man-centered systems of belief prop up man-centered governments, and Satan is at work behind it in his attempts to harm the church. That’s the big picture in Revelation 13.

Now I could probably turn you loose with that and you could look at the world we live in and study the Scriptures and you could begin to draw your own conclusions about the world out there. Our world today is similar to the world in which the apostle John lives. When he received this vision from Christ, faithful Christians were being attacked by man-centered governments and religion, and today, that still goes on. That’s not a profound or even a provocative statement.

But here's one problem for Christians that might be less obvious. Because we still possess a sinful nature, man-centered government and religion actually appeals to us. Christians are not above becoming enamored with man-centeredness. And so Satan’s schemes within government and religion might not result in your outright persecution, instead may result in what the apostle Peter called “being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Man-centered politics and religion can draw us in. But Christ has set His people free from sin’s control, and so we can resist. Therefore, we need to be on guard. And Revelation 13 is a call to be on guard.

How do that as Satan attacks? Notice the outline on page 6. Two points of focus today. Hold fast to the object of your worship, and stand firm in the content of your beliefs.

So notice the first sentence of this Scripture passage. “And he stood on the sand of the sea.” “He” is the dragon of Revelation 12, the serpent, who is Satan. John then sees “a beast rising out of the sea.” Who is this?

We should use Scripture to interpret. The OT prophet Daniel also had a vision of beasts emerging from the sea. One like a lion, one like a bear, one like a leopard, and one that was terrifying, with iron teeth. Daniel saw four beasts representing four world powers. What John sees is very similar to what Daniel saw; in fact, it seems to be a combination of the beasts in Daniel’s vision. John also sees the features of a leopard, a bear, and a lion.

The fourth beast Daniel saw had 10 horns, and this beast in John’s vision does as well. But notice the rest of verse 1, “with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems (crowns) on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.” These are names that slander the one true God.

Again, we have numbers. 10s and 7s. These are biblical numbers of completeness or perfection normally describing God in the Bible, but Revelation 12 changed our view of those numbers. We learned that they can also apply to Satan. He’s completely evil. He’s perfectly wicked.

This beast rising from the sea in John’s vision represents not just one worldly nation but all nations who blaspheme God — all governments who position themselves against Christ and who attack and harm His church. Look at the last part of verse 2, “And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.” Satan empowers these nations.

Verse [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.” Who was mortally or fatally wounded but then returned to life everlasting? Who rose from the dead and later showed His disciples the scars of His wounds? It was the Lord Jesus Christ.

This first beast mimics the true Savior. It poses as a savior and the whole earth marvels.

Look at verse [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?” To worship means to give of one’s whole heart, all of one’s reverence, bowing down in devotion. Biblically speaking, this is devotion that humans can only rightly give to the one true God.

But their object of worship is not God. In fact, what they worship is anti-God, notice verse [5], “And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.” We’ve seen that time frame already. It’s the gospel age – the last days, in which we now live. This beast slanders and mocks God until Christ returns.

Verse [6] “It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name.” Throughout Scripture, we learn various names of God, and through them, we learn different aspects of God’s character and His ways and His plans. This first beast aims to detract from all that God is and all He has done and will do.

Also, the beast blasphemes God’s “dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.” This seems to refer to God’s holy throne room – the place of His holy, eternal presence – where He’s glorified and His heavenly authority over all creation is recognized unceasingly. Why would a government slander or be against God? Because it wants to be God. It wants that place of sovereignty and power. That’s what Satan wanted, so he manipulates others to want the same.

Verse [7] “Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.” This beast wars against God’s people, which has happened throughout the ages as evil nations persecute and harm believers. “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.” These are the unsaved who worship man-centered governments and leaders.

Now, notice verse [9] and 10. John says, “If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 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.” The apostle John received this vision and wrote these things down while he was on the island of Patmos having been exiled for preaching the gospel. Verse 10 is John’s way of saying, “It is what it is.” This is how it will be for the church.

He was speaking, first of all, about the government at that time, which was Roman government. The Roman empire viciously persecuted Christians. The Roman emperor wanted the people to call him “god,” not this man named Jesus Christ. Those who did not bow to the emperor were persecuted, and John understood that Satan was behind the persecution, but it is all part of God’s plan. And so John urges the church to remain strong in Christ.

In 1854, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in which he talked about the legitimate role of government. And he said, “In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, the government ought not to interfere.” Government is a God-ordained thing. But it’s not everything. The role of government should be limited, because at the end of the day, it’s just people governing other people. Those in power can quickly begin to abuse that power.

And continually, what history has shown is that governments become man-centered, they become idolatrous, and they veer from God’s moral law.

We don’t need the government to tell us who our God is or how to worship Him. We have God’s Word and His Spirit to tell us those things.

We don’t need government to redefine morality for us. We have God’s moral law.

This passage of Scripture has differing applications even throughout the world today. In some countries, believers must worship in secret. Their government won’t allow them to worship freely. In other countries, believers may worship, but religious freedom is slowly being threatened as governments pass laws that stand in stark contrast to the truth found in God’s Word.

How can believers remain strong in Him? By giving our heart’s greatest devotion to Him alone.

How do Christian endure the enemy’s attacks? By drawing our strength from Him alone.

How do the saints keep the faith? By looking to the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ.

Satan wants to steer your worship away from God. But if you desire to remain faithful to God, you must hold fast to the object of your worship.

Satan is saying, “Bow down to this. Trust in this. Hope in this.” In Revelation 13, “this” is anti-Christian government. Satan wants to use man-centered government to make you suffer for faithfulness to Christ, and in many countries today, Christians are doing that. But if the devil cannot use government to make you suffer for your faithfulness to Christ, he’ll try to use government to make you ineffective and unfruitful in your knowledge of Christ.

Well, then John sees another beast. This one “rising out of the earth.” This one is not so fierce. “It had two horns like a lamb.” So, this creature appears harmless. But notice the rest of the verse. “It spoke like a dragon.” This same word is used in Revelation 12 and 13 to refer to Satan. This seemingly harmless creature speaks like the devil. Satan’s speech is characterized by lies, accusations, deception, and manipulation.

If the first beast is anti-Christian government, who is this second beast? Bible scholar Simon Kistemaker states, “He personifies secular philosophies, that is, the worldly theories of knowledge that influence the thinking and actions of the masses.” This includes worldly religion – anything not centered-upon and founded-on the one true God. The second beast is not threatening, like the first beast, and therefore more easily accepted.

But look at verse [12] It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.” The second beast is in lockstep with the first, cooperating with it and endorsing it. Another scholar, Joel Beeke, notes, “These two beasts have appeared together in human history in many places and times as nation after nation arises to fight against God and His Christ. Very often, the state has enlisted the help of religion in waging war against Christ and His people.”

Notice verse [13] “It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people.” Remember this is still a symbolic vision. So much of what we see is illustrating a point about what takes place in world history. This second beast appears to have divine power on its side.

Verse [14] “and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.” The second beast promotes the worship of the first.

Verse [15] “And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.” Again, more symbolism, but clearly the theme is idol worship. False religion. And this second beast inspires so much zeal for this false worship of the first beast that the worshippers want to kill those who won’t bow down and worship what they worship.

You can draw clear connections between these visions and what has happened in the world since Christ ascended to heaven. This is still happening today. The anti-Christian “church” props up the anti-Christian government. Man-centered systems of beliefs endorse man-centered world leadership. This is a primary scheme of Satan – if not the primary one – in his attempts to attack the church. Satan wants to affect what you believe so he can influence what you worship.

Now look at verse [16] “Also it (the second beast) causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead.” In Revelation 7, the people of God are described as having been sealed on the forehead by Christ. It is as if we have “I am a Christian” stamped above our eyes.

Non-Christians – those who remain dead in sins – have an identification as well. They are marked, just as Christians are, to signify to whom they belong.

On the right hand, symbolic of what they do, and on the forehead, symbolic of how they think. Worldly religions and philosophies install thinking that is anti-Christ. It is against the person and work of Jesus. And because Satan has control of these people, they live a life of relative ease while those sealed or marked by Christ have trouble in life.

Look at verse [17], “no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” God’s people can’t do these basic things – they can’t live – if they don’t support the first beast.

Verse [18] “This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast (that is, the first beast), for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” So here it is, finally – the mark of the beast! Does this refer to some specific person?

Well, throughout history, people have tried various methods to determine what this number means. What is the significance of the number 6? Why are three 6s?

Again, we should use Scripture to interpret Scripture. So think about it like this. Based on what we’ve seen in Revelation already, what might the number 7-7-7 mean? 7 is a biblical number of perfection. 6 falls short of seven. And we’ve actually seen many sixes. The sixth seal, the sixth trumpet. Later we’ll learn about the sixth bowl. Only with the seventh is there completion.

Imagine you have to take a test with seven questions. And to pass, you have to get all seven right. So you try, but you only get six. That means you failed. So, you try again, but again, you only get six. That’s your second failure. So you try one more time. But again, only 6, so again, you fail.

You scored 6-6-6 on your test – failure, failure, failure. You fell short again, and again, and again.

That is the mark of mankind on his own, apart from God’s grace in the work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, that is the mark of Satan and all who belong to him. That is the identification for all who ascribe to man-centeredness, for you see, all man-centeredness is anti-Christ.

Satan is attacking. To endure and remain faithful to God, you must stand firm in the content of your beliefs. If you don’t, first your beliefs will shift, and then your worship will shift. There are false prophets all around us. These aren’t necessarily religious figures, but they do spew a man-centered religion. Look just at our own nation. We have widespread unbiblical media spewing anti-Christian propaganda at us daily.

We need discernment. Take to heart the words of the apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5. He said, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

Here at the Lord’s table today, we have a clear picture of what God has done to give us eyes to see and hearts to receive the truth. At this table, we learn about who we are and who we need. Those who receive this bread and this cup have received Jesus.

They have put our hope in Christ.

They have received His seal – His mark – and they desire to leave sin.

Have you trusted in Christ and determined to follow His way? His way won’t always be easy, but it’s good. It’s the way of abundant life, and life everlasting.

Let’s bow together in prayer.