Striking Facts: Rev_13:8. Salvation in the great Tribulation is still based on the blood of Jesus Christ. Those who are then saved, however, must boldly confess their faith before a world of hostile witnesses, which will mean nothing short of martyrdom, except to those few sealed in Israel. May God help every reader of these words to make sure their calling and election while the days of grace are still lasting!
This chapter is introduced with an account of a beast arising from the sea, to whom the Dragon gives his power. The beast from the sea is Satan’s final and greatest masterpiece – The Antichrist – and it will tower above all the tyrants and dictators of world history. The world will worship him as a god, but heaven sees him as a vile beast (see Daniel 7). It is true that in every age throughout history God’s people have had to battle some satanically inspired beast. Another beast arises also at the same time upon the earth. This latter one causes the earth to worship the image of the former, and to receive his mark. We have seen that the main purpose of chapter 12 was to introduce to our notice the first great enemy of the Church, the dragon, or Satan. The object of this chapter is to introduce to our notice her second and third great enemies, and thereby enable us to form a distinct conception of the powerful foes with which the followers of the Christ must contend.

The First Beast
A beast rises up out of the sea.
Daniel chapter 7 gives us an interpretation of the last of Daniel’s four beasts where an angel interprets the vision: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise,” etc. in this Scripture it is declared that the 4th beast should be the 4th kingdom upon earth. 4th Reich?
The domain of antichrist
I. It has a manifold development. In the commerce of the world, in the government of the world, in the campaigns of the world, in the literature of the world, in the religions of the world, in all these, antichrist appears in aspects as hideous, and in a spirit as savage and blasphemous as the monsters depicted in this vision.
II. It has one master-spirit.

1. He is endowed with tremendous power.
2. His primary pursuit is moral mischief. He promotes—
   (1) Blasphemy;
   (2) Deception;
   (3) Destruction. He has no fight with the left, but with the right.
3. His sphere is co-extensive with the world. Wherever falsehood, dishonesty, impurity, revenge are, there he is.
4. However great his influence, he is under a restraining law.
5. His mission will ultimately prove self-ruinous. In every act the devil performs, he is forming a link in that adamantine chain that shall bind him, not merely for a thousand years, but for ever. –D. Thomas, D. D.)

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
The antichristian world answers to the first of the wild beasts. It has continually raged against the people of God as a wild beast. Under all its forms it has hated the people of God. From Pharaoh even to the last of the persecutors it has always been the same. It blasphemes by claiming Divine power and authority.

Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard – This similitude of the beast to a leopard appears to be an allusion to the third beast of Daniel, which is well known to represent the empire of the Greeks. The Latin empire greatly resembled the modern empire of the Greeks; for that the power of the Greeks was still said to be like a leopard, even after its subjugation by the Romans, is evident from Dan_7:12 : “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” The Latin empire was, in the first place, like to its contemporary, because both adhered to an idolatrous system of worship, professedly Christian, but really antichristian; and it is well known that the Greek and Latin Churches abound in monstrous absurdities. Secondly, Both empires were similar in their opposition to the spread of pure Christianity; though it must be allowed that the Latins far outstripped the Greeks in this particular. Thirdly, Both empires were similar in respect to the civil authority being powerfully depressed by the ecclesiastical; though it must be granted the authority of the Latin Church was more strongly marked, and of much longer continuance. The excommunication of the Greek emperor by the Patriarch Arsenius, and the consequences of that excommunication, afford a remarkable example of the great power of the Greek clergy. But the beast of St. John, though in its general appearance it resembles a leopard, yet differs from it in having feet like those of a bear. The second beast of Daniel was likened to a bear, and there can be no doubt that the kingdom of the Medes and Persians was intended; and it is very properly likened to this animal, because it was one of the most inhuman governments that ever existed, and a bear is the well known Scripture emblem of cruelty. See 2Sa_17:8, and Hos_13:8. Is not cruelty a striking characteristic of the papal Latin empire? Have not the subjects of this empire literally trampled to death all those in their power who would not obey their idolatrous requisitions? In Fox’s Book of Martyrs, and other works which treat upon this subject, will be found a melancholy catalogue of the horrid tortures and most lingering deaths which they have obliged great numbers of Christians to suffer. In this sense the feet of the beast were as the feet of a bear. Another particular in which the beast differed from a leopard was, in having a mouth like a lion. “It is,” says Dr. More, “like the Babylonish kingdom (the first beast of Daniel, which is likened to a lion) in its cruel decrees against such as will not obey their idolatrous edicts, nor worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Their stubbornness must be punished by a hot fiery furnace; fire and fagot must be prepared for them that will not submit to this new Roman idolatry.” – Adam Clarke, early 19th Century Theologian and Biblical scholar and commentator
In our day the left, if they remember it at all, uses that which DR. Clarke spoke of to attack the Christian Church (Catholic – not Roman Catholic) in general and say that is why the Church must never be allowed to have political power. Unfortunately, the left will embrace the beast because he will seem to give them what they want and then blame the right, as well as God, for all the negative consequences that come upon them. But they will be without excuse because God has already forewarned all of us through His written word.

Rev_13:2. The description of the beast is not yet finished. John has more to tell. In this beast he recognizes characteristics of three different animals. He mentions “a leopard”, “a bear” and “a lion”. If you put Daniel 7:4-6 (Dan_7:4-6) next to it for a moment, then you will notice that Daniel sees the same animals. Only, he sees them in reverse order. Daniel sees a lion first, then a bear and thirdly he sees a panther or leopard. That’s because Daniel looks ahead, while John looks back.
These animals represent empires. Daniel lived in the time of the Babylonian empire, represented by a lion. That empire was destroyed because the Medes and the Persians conquered the empire. Due to the brutality with which they operated, that empire is represented by a bear. But also their government came to an end. Greece, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, conquered the empire of the Medes and Persians with a stunning speed. Therefore the leopard is a suitable symbol for it.
Daniel also speaks about a fourth beast. He says of it that it is a “dreadful and terrible and extremely strong” beast (Dan_7:7-8). Historically this beast represents the Roman empire that conquered the empire of the Greeks. Prophetically we see this empire back of the beast that John is seeing here. The beast is both the restored Roman empire and the head of that empire. This empire and this head possess all cruel characteristics of the fourth animal, in which John sees all cruel characteristics of the three animals mentioned.
Can you imagine? The beast rises up from the sea, which means that the dictator floats to the surface. The ten kings, the rulers of different countries that together form the Western Roman empire, are inseparably connected to him. This dictator has power over them, which he exercises from Rome as his center of power. He manifests himself blasphemously and with a cruelty that is represented metaphorically by the three tearing animals, which are described.
And who is hiding behind this, who makes sure that he becomes that mighty? The dragon, which is the devil (Rev_12:9). Here the devil grants direct authority to someone who indeed takes this out of his hand. Of course these things can only happen, because God allows them to. And He allows them to happen because they fit into His overall plan. But the point is that the dragon is the inspirer of the beast. The beast has power, he reigns and has great authority because the devil has given this to him.
Here you see a huge contrast between the beast and the Lord Jesus. Once satan offered the Lord Jesus all kingdoms to take them out of his hand (Mat_4:8-9). But the Lord refused it. He did not want to run ahead of God’s time to become King of kings. He wanted to receive the kingdom and the power in the proper way, out of God’s hand (Dan_7:13-14; Psa_2:8). That implied for Him humiliation and the death on the cross. It is important for you and I, also, to not seek any favor in the world that runs counter to God’s way. Satan loves to give that to you. In that way you can escape the suffering which is generated by him and his agents.

Unfortunately, the left will embrace the beast because he will seem to give them what they want and then blame the right, as well as God, for all the negative consequences that occur as a result. But they will be without excuse because God has already forewarned all of us through His written word. Therefore, when satan approaches you with such seductions, you are to respond like the Lord Jesus did (Mat_4:10). There are, after all, eternal consequences involved with our choices

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev_13:3. Then John sees that one of the heads of the beast was as it had been slain. This is to indicate that the Roman empire has perished and disappeared. From history we know that in the year 476 the Western Roman empire at that time was inflicted with a fatal blow. Rome was then conquered by the Teutons. What John saw at the moment he was watching (he saw it around the end of the first century) was still to come to pass. It was going to happen after some centuries. {the Jean Dixon effect is often used to try to denigrate Bible prophecy}

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Jean Dixon was a person who had a dozen or so “uncanny” predictions come true. It was done through vague predictions, many of which contradicted each other, and then relied on people to only remember the ones that were close to correct and then embellish them into better accuracy than what they really were in order to fool people into thinking that she really could predict future events when she actually had an extremely poor tack record. Showman P. T. Barnum, of “there’s a sucker born every minute” fame, would have been proud.

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But to God the future has no secrets. He informs us about things happening in the future as far as He considers them to be important for us to know. He does not do that to satisfy our curiosity, but that we may live accordingly (2Pe_3:11-12). Therefore God shows to John (and to you) what more is going to happen.
Then John sees that the fatal wound was healed. To John that did not lie in the nearby future, but in the far future, for him. It is, however, what we see to be happening in our day! To us, then, that is the nearby future. A restoration of the Western Roman empire is taking place before our eyes. But watch carefully: this happens by the power of satan! This restoration does not happen through a new conquest with violence, but through diabolic inspiration and deliberation. John sees how this restoration stirs up admiration and adoration from the world; the left and the opposers of God. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is very likely the tool. Joe bar Cosba appears to have a role in it as well … we shall soon see.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev_13:4. The people will probably be very aware that the dragon, which is satan, has given his power to this empire but they won’t really care. They hate God that much, they have been alienated from Him in such a way that they worship the dragon as their god in an open, general and limitless admiration. They will also worship the beast. They provoke and blaspheme God by crying out statements about the beast that apply to God alone (cf. Exo_15:11; Mic_7:18). To them the beast is not to be compared to anyone else and nobody can compete with him to defeat him. That will be the result when Europe becomes one whole.
In case you may be excited about that one Europe, then I hope, due to what God’s Word is saying here, that will turn into a shivering going down your spine. You will then be very well aware that satan is the origin of it and that it ends up in worshiping satan! That with the referendum about the European constitution on 1 June 2005 many Christians in the Netherlands had voted ‘against’, does not necessarily reflect their opinion of Europe. The argument that mattered most to vote ‘against’ was that in that constitution no reference to God and the Jewish Christian roots of the European Union had been written down. In case that had happened, then the Christians probably would have plainly voted ‘for’! That is staggering.
Now read Revelation 13:1-4 again.
Before God can deliver us, we must undeceive ourselves. – St Augustine
Reflection: What is astonishing about the beast?

Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Mouth and Deeds of the Beast Out of the Sea
Rev_13:5. Like satan has given ‘his power and his throne and great power’ (Rev_13:2) to the beast, he also gives him “a mouth”. He, so to speak, makes the beast to be his voice. Therefore what the beast has to say is only bragging and blasphemous language. His bragging language has no limit. He brags about himself to the people and prides himself that all improvement is because of him. To God he clenches his fists and scolds and curses Him.
But a limit is imposed to the performance of the beast. He is given “forty-two months”. That is the period that you have already come across earlier (Rev_11:2) and that you have learned to know as the period of the great tribulation of three and a half years. In that time he will uncontrollably rage (cf. Dan_8:24) against God and those who dwell in heaven and to the saints on earth as well.

Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev_13:6. It is not only that the beast lacks the appropriate reverence to God. Whenever the beast opens his mouth against God, he does that to rage against Him and to express his disregard towards Him. He can only insult and sneer about the Name of God. He despises God to the deepest of his being. The words he uses are not mentioned. I think that the words you sometimes hear around you and which fill you with disgust will pale to nothing, compared to what the beast will spit out.
And not only God and the Name of God are the target of his blasphemous language. He addresses his evil mudslinging against “His tabernacle” too. The church is meant by this, wherein God as in a tabernacle will dwell among people on earth forever (Rev_21:2-3).
Finally he addresses his slander against the rest of the citizens of heaven.
And don’t assume that the beast speaks out this blasphemous dialog in a backroom. His blasphemous expressions which he slings at God and the citizens of heaven will happen publicly and serve as an entertainment. The people will watch his performance and his audacious language with great pleasure on television and on the internet. Everything he says and does is to propagandize his program. The purpose of this program is nothing more than setting people against God, in order to punch God from His throne. Time will show that his propaganda will succeed within certain limits, and yet his program will have a dramatic and disastrous end.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev_13:7. The beast, inspired by satan, can do nothing but to open his mouth in order to vomit out his hatred against everyone who dwells in heaven. But there are still some “saints” on earth. He is allowed to unleash his diabolical lust on them to murder after he has aired all his bottled-up feelings of hatred by slinging them out to heaven. He is given the opportunity to wage war against those who out of faithfulness towards God did not participate as in a carnival parade with the apostate mass. Do not forget Easter Sunday 2024 and that blasphemous display at the White House nor the thing the Biden White House did at Christmastime in 2023; the Bible warned us that evil men and seducers would get worse and worse. We must push back on that vile stuff or we will make ourselves candidates for punishment along with them. We are supposed to be imitators of the Holy One of God.
The saints are not only saints by name, but also in practice. Holy means set apart for God. That there is mention of ‘making war’, means that he takes this fight very seriously, as if the faithful saints are the most dangerous enemies of the nation that have great power. He uses everything that he has at his disposal, because he wants to eliminate them root and branch, to the last man. And he seems to be successful. He conquers over them. This victory grants him international authority. Countries outside the restored Roman empire, i.e. the united Europe, will open themselves for his ideas and advices.
In his blind madness he does not know that this victory regards only the body. The saints were strengthened by the words of the Lord Jesus concerning that. He told them that they did not need to fear (for the beast), for only the body can be killed (Mat_10:28). In chapter 20 you see them back. They sit on thrones and reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev_20:4). In that way you will certainly be encouraged by the words of the Lord Jesus and by what you will share in the future, in order to endure the suffering that you experience sometimes.

:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them – “Who can make any computation,” says Bishop Newton, “or even frame any conception, of the numbers of pious Christians who have fallen a sacrifice to the bigotry and cruelty of Rome? [Another scholar] upon the place hath observed, from good authorities, that in the war with the Albigenses and Waldenses there perished of these poor creatures in France alone a million. From the first institution of the Jesuits to the year 1580, that is, in little more than thirty years, nine hundred thousand orthodox Christians were slain, and these all by the common executioner. In the space of scarce thirty years the inquisition destroyed, by various kinds of torture, a hundred and fifty thousand Christians. Sanders himself confesses that an innumerable multitude of Lollards and Sacramentarians were burnt throughout all Europe, who yet, he says, were not put to death by the pope and bishops, but by the civil magistrates.” The dragon in a new shape, or Roman empire of Germany, acted a very conspicuous part in this nefarious warfare against the remnant of the woman’s seed, who kept the commandments of God, and had the testimony of Jesus Christ. See the imperial edict of Frederic II. against heretics, in Limborch’s History of the Inquisition. – Adam Clarke
Then the Third Reich attempted to exceed the First Reich’s atrocities; if Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum (WEF), as well as those joining forces with them, have put in place plans to become the Fourth Reich and, if they succeed, it will be the most evil and vile of them all.
Conclusion: In the midst of the Tribulation period there shall rise up two great world leaders, one a political leader inspired by Satan himself (Klaus Schwab?), the other a religious leader (the Pope? 12th Imam?) to deceive the people with strong delusions and either lead them or force them to worship the anti-christ as the long-expected world-ruler. These two Satanic deceivers shall prevail upon all except those who risk all to boldly acknowledge their belief in the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev_13:8. Due to all his achievements all who dwell on the earth will worship him. The admiration for the beast will have no limits. The expression “who dwell on the earth”, indicates that it regards people who consciously have disconnected themselves from heaven. Their lives have, like the lives of animals and the beast, no broader horizon than the earth and is totally and exclusively connected to the earth.
Of these people some more detailed qualification is mentioned. Their names are not written “in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain”. The absence of their name in that book has dramatic consequences. The short time of them praising the beast will be followed by an everlasting weeping and gnashing of the teeth because of the pains caused by the flames of the eternal fire.
Remarkable though, is the expression “from the foundation of the world”. You may remember the expression “before the foundation of the world” (Eph_1:4). That expression is used for those who belong to the church. They were elected even before the creation of the world. Actually the church is of heavenly and eternal origin. But there are also believers who do not belong to the church. Those are the believers from Israel and the nations in the periods before and after the residence of the church on earth. They are in relation with the earth and in that way with God’s plans from creation (Mat_13:35; Mat_25:34).
There is a great contrast between those who dwell on earth and the book of life. Those who live on earth are attached to the earth with heart and soul. The earth is their life. With them there isn’t any thought of God and heaven. That makes them dead while they are alive (Eph_2:1-2). If they do not repent they will remain in the second death for ever (Rev_21:8).
The opposite is the book of life. That book is related to the Lamb That was slain, which indicates that the Lamb has been into death. The Lamb had entered into death in order to give life to all who believe in Him. The Lamb writes the name down of each who believes in Him in the book of life. The book is His, He keeps the records. The names of all worshipers of the Lamb are written in it, not one is missing. The names of all worshipers of the beast are missing, not one appears in the book.

Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev_13:9. I hope that you have an ear to hear and that you allow yourself to be warned. Just now you saw together with John the beast rising up. You have heard his blasphemous language and seen his murderous occupations. The mass hysteria that will be caused by his appearance and performance among all people that will be dwelling on earth has been clearly presented to you. You have been a witness of the rise of the world government and the world religion. It is not about something that could possibly happen at a time in the far future, but about an event that is getting more and more recognizable. You wouldn’t say that this is something that is ‘far outside your scope’, would you? Indeed, it is extremely topical for you. Do not let yourself be deceived.

Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Rev_13:10. The description of this beast concludes with pointing at the principle of retribution (cf. 2Th_1:6-7). This should serve as a consolation for the saints and stimulate them to persevere. They may know that the one who throws them in prison will end up in the prison himself; and he who kills them with the sword will be killed by the sword also (Jer_15:2; Jer_43:11). God will make sure that every crime that has been done to His saints will be repaid righteously. Up until that moment the saints must persevere in their faith. They can be sure that God, Who has not intervened visibly yet, will do that soon.
The faith sees the good end for itself and the retribution of the oppressors. They cannot respond violently to the brutal violence of the beast. By themselves they are defenseless and helpless. But they have a source of power that works totally differently. The source of their power is the faith in God that He will make an end to the power of the beast. In that awareness they persevere in their faithfulness to God, even if it may cost them their freedom or even more their life. Their life is not in the hand of the beast, but in the hand of the almighty and faithful God. That goes also for you when you face resistance in your witness to the Lord. When you have that trust you will not give up, but you will persevere.
Reflection: What aspects of the beast do you recognize now already in society?

The Second Beast
Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
The beast from the earth. With the appearance of this beast, who is identified as the false prophet (16:13; 19:20), the trinity of evil is complete. As the true Christ received His authority from the Father, so the and antichrist receives his authority from satan (the father of lies), see 13:2b. As the Holy Spirit gives glory to the true Christ, so the false Prophet gives glory to the antichrist.
The spirit of the false prophet is always can the world, for it represents fake religion or whatever philosophy People use in place of religion (Matt 24:24; 2nd Peter 2:1.)
This we see, by the Scripture, that the false peoplet will try to make himself look as harmless as A lamb, but his speech shows that he belongs to satan. He will have the same satanic Power as the antichrist and cooperates with him. The meaning seems to be that “religious ” power (represented by the fake prophet) joins with the secular Power (represented by the antichrist) to stablish Anti-God rule throughout the world. The false Prophet gains Worldwide worship for the antichrist and builds a seemingly living image of him. false religions support the ungodly system that controls human society. Any who refuse to give their support face death.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Ordering that those that do not Worship the beast should be killed. Not unlike certain elected democrats calling for the killing of D J Trump. Joe Biden saying in some of his speeches to put Trump in a bulls eye and then after the failed assassination attempt, When questioned about his rhetoric, saying ” I didn’t say Crosshairs.” As if that somehow exonerated him from all his hateful rhetoric against Patriots who want to make America great once again.
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Since God marks His people with His seal (see 7:13), the antichrist marks his people. If any refuse to follow the antichristian system, they will suffer social and economic discrimination. They will not be able to buy even the basic necessities for living. We have already seen a dry – run and precursor of that with the covid thing, even though this will be for, for worse. But whereas the seal placed on the ungodly is that of the human rebel who fights against God.
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
That number, 6 6 6, is that of a man, not God. It is a human number for it falls short of the Perfect divine number,777. The antichrist wants to be God, but he will fail because he is only a man (see also 2nd Thess 2:3 – 4 ).
In the fist letter of John, we read ” you have heard that the Antichrist is coming. even now Many antichrist have come. 1st John 2:18.