Today we are going to conclude the portion of Chapter 13 that describes the "beast out of the sea" known as the Antichrist.
"The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months." (Revelation 13:5) In Revelation we find the final three and a half years of the Great Tribulation referred to over and over again because the second half of the Great Tribulation is going to be the worst half. During the first half, this man is going to seem like the greatest political leader the world has ever known, but later on he's going to show his true colors. Some experts on Biblical prophecy think that when he first comes on the scene he is just a man with a wicked heart who dabbles in the occult and who has hidden motives. Then it's at the halfway point of the Great Tribulation when he actually becomes possessed by Satan. That would explain why it's at this point he is "given a mouth" because the things that come out of his mouth are the things the devil wants to say. It would also explain why we are told about the wickedness of the Antichrist at this point in Revelation. The description of him occurs right after Satan and his angels are cast out of heaven for good. They can no longer attempt to stir up trouble for the saints on earth by accusing them before their God, so Satan unleashes his fury on the inhabitants of the earth, and he does it through a man whom he literally inhabits.
"It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His name and His dwelling place and those who live in heaven." (Revelation 13:6) We don't know when Satan originally rebelled against God but it was somewhere far back in the past, for at the very beginning of the Bible we find him already going about his work of tempting human beings to sin against God. Since then he's tried to entice every human on the face of the earth to disobey God, or to renounce God, or to blaspheme God. He especially wants to tempt Christians to sin against God. But the Lord Jesus Christ took the church out of the world before the Great Tribulation began, and this is why we find Satan (with the Antichrist's mouth) slandering "those who live in heaven". They're out of his reach now. In his rage he uses the man he's possessed to utter the worst blasphemies ever spoken.
After having a major unholy meltdown, he remembers that not all the Christians are out of his reach. A number of the world's citizens have turned to Christ since the church was taken from the earth. He now turns his attention to persecuting them by the man he possesses. "It was given power to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation." (Revelation 13:7) He won't be able to conquer these Christians spiritually, only physically. He will be able to order them put to death if he so chooses, but he can't do a thing about their souls. He's already lost the battle for their souls. The most he can do is take their lives so they can't witness to their fellow man about Christ.
We know this man will have far-reaching power and will be a world dictator since the Bible tells us he will have authority "over every tribe, people, language and nation". The prophet Daniel foresaw the blasphemies and the power of the Antichrist, saying, "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place." (Daniel 11:36)
The Antichrist will achieve world domination that enables him to force people to either bow to him or suffer the consequences. A great number of the world's citizens will bow to him. "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast---all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world." (Revelation 13:8) The only people who don't swear their allegiance to the Antichrist are those who have already become Christians during the end times and those who haven't yet given their hearts to Christ but who will before the Great Tribulation is over. This is why their names are in the Lamb's book of life. The Lord knows the name of every person who will ever give his or her heart to Him, and their names are in His book.
John speaks of the Lord as "the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world". The plan of salvation was in place before God ever formed Adam out of the dust of the ground. As soon as God began His creation work and spoke light into the darkness, Jesus was condemned to death. God was going to create man, man was going to sin, man was going to need a sacrifice great enough to pay for all his sin, and the Lamb would have to be slain. Because the death of the Lamb was certain from the moment God initiated the creation, the Bible speaks of Him as slain before the world began. In the same way, because the Lord knows the name of every person who will ever give Him their heart, the name of each of these persons has been written in His book way back in eternity past, long before each of these persons was even born.
Our portion of Scripture ends today with these words: "Whoever has ears, let them hear. 'If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed by the sword, with the sword they will be killed.' This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people." (Revelation 13:9-10) The quote in verse 10 comes from Jeremiah 15:2 and these were words spoken during the final days leading up to the Babylonian invasion of the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered by Assyria because of their idolatry, but a period of about a hundred years elapsed before the Lord allowed Judah to be conquered. It took longer for Judah to achieve the level of idolatry that Israel had fallen into, at least in part because the city of Jerusalem and the temple lay within the kingdom of Judah. But during the hundred years between the fall of Israel and the fall of Judah, the Lord commissioned prophets to implore the people to fully turn their hearts back to Him. The were sliding down a slippery slope already, but they still had time to correct their fall and make things right with God. Eventually though, faced with their continuing rebellion, the Lord had to say, "Have it your way. You've made your choice. Some of you have destined yourselves to die, so you will die. Some of you have destined yourselves to go into captivity, so into captivity you will go. Some of you have destined yourselves to perish from the famine that will occur during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, so perish you will."
When the Great Tribulation takes place, it's taking place at the end of all the ages in which God has pleaded with mankind to turn to Him. God has given the world every opportunity possible to give their hearts to Christ and be saved. To those who continue to refuse His offer of salvation of mercy, He says, "You've made your choice. You've reached a level of rebellion from which there is no turning back. The destiny you've chosen for yourself is soon to come."
Those who do come to Christ during the Great Tribulation must stand firm in their faith, so the Lord encourages them to maintain "patient endurance and faithfulness". Some of them will manage to stay alive til the end; some will lose their lives for their faith. While they are on the earth they are going to witness natural disasters on a scale never before seen. They are going to witness cruelty and perversion taken to a whole new level by the man who is literally indwelt by Satan. The wicked of the earth will do as they please in those days, which means lawlessness is going to reach new heights. Patience and faith are what will enable the Christians of those days to stand firm no matter what comes.
I am reminded of a time when the kingdom of Judah was under threat of invasion by an alliance between the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Aram. This occurred long before Judah was defeated by Babylon, for Israel had not yet been conquered by Assyria. The leaders of the alliance against Judah said, "Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it." (Isaiah 7:6) These two kingdoms intended to take over Judah and put their own man in place over it. In the end times Satan will put his own man over the world in an attempt to take over everything and everyone in the world. But the Lord says the same thing to the people who belong to Him in the end times that He said to the nation of Judah, "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." (Isaiah 7:9b) It wasn't military might that protected Judah from invasion from Israel and Aram; Judah's troops were vastly outnumbered. They knew they couldn't win a war with Israel and Aram. But they could be victorious through the strength of their God. Because of their trust in Him, the Lord thwarted the plans of Israel and Aram by bringing the Assyrians into the picture. Judah couldn't defeat her enemies, but the powerful armies of Assyria could. The people who come to faith in the Lord during the end times will draw their strength from Him. The Lord is going to thwart the plans the devil has for their souls. Even if the Antichrist manages to take their physical lives, he can do nothing to souls that have been given to the Lord. Even if the Antichrist manages to bring hell on earth, he can't bring hell into hearts that belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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