Study inRevelation

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The Persecuting Dragon Part 1

Chap 13v11-14v20Presentation 10

The Beast From The Earth [13:11-18]

A second beast comes up out of the earth. He is far less terrifying than the first but not less dangerous for he is a specialist in deception. He fits into the ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ and ‘angel of light’ motifs of scripture. He is ‘like’ the lamb.

He is the false prophet of 16:13 and 19:20 and represents the false religion and false philosophy to which men have been exposed throughout history. cf. Deu.t 13:1, 2 Cor. 11:14.

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The Beast From The Earth [13:11-18]

The second beast is said to serve the first. This ought not to surprise us. Throughout history we have seen religion used as an instrument of the state.

Think of the way in which the Nazi movement tried to use the church, or, of the way in which both Russian and Chinese communism has sought to exploit the church to their own ends. Both beasts in turn serve Satan - state worship is worship given to Satan!

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The Beast From The Earth [13:11-18]

The second beast’s activity is marked by the miraculous and spectacular [cf. Mark 13:22, 2 Thes. 2:9]. The prophets of Baal confronting Elijah showed themselves impotent in this realm and the magicians of Egypt exercised limited power before Moses, but the end of the age will be marked by Satan’s power [Lk. 22:53].

Satan’s power to deceive is shared by the ‘false prophet’. Those who do not worship the beast are slain. Today the death penalty is pronounced on some who choose Christ rather than follow the religious/state party line - think of some Muslim lands.

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The Beast From The Earth [13:11-18]

The second beast requires all who acknowledge allegiance to him to bear his mark. The number 666 is his identity number. And those without this number are discriminated against in the world of business and commerce. In the ancient world, number codes were employed in order to protect the identity of the user.

A piece of graffiti on a wall in Pompeii reads, ‘I love her whose number is 545’ - was the writer afraid that the girl’s father might not approve of his interest?

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The Beast From The Earth [13:11-18]

The significance of the number 666 is one of the most contentious subjects in Revelation. There is no consensus among Christians as to its meaning. Even the early church, who lived nearer to John’s time, were unsure of its meaning.

Some writers treat the number more as a symbol than a cryptogram, suggesting that the number 666 falls short of perfection in each of its digits, thus representing ‘failure upon failure upon failure’. In other words it points to the fact that the beast continually fails to accomplish his purpose. Torrance writes, ‘This evil trinity 666 apes the Holy Trinity 777, but always falls short and fails’.

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This is the last chapter in this section and again provides relief as we turn away from the persecuting activity of the beasts. We find encouragement for the persecuted church to see through the storms of persecution to the glory that awaits them.

Mount Zion, is the heavenly Jerusalem and there we see the Lamb surrounded by 144,000 followers, the number identified as being sealed by God in 7:2-4 - a seal that stands in sharp contrast to the mark of the beast on his followers.

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The Redeemed Of The Lamb On Mt. Zion [14v1-5]

The context obliges us to see that the 144,000 represents the totality of the redeemed and the significance of the number reappearing here would appear to be to indicate that of all those sealed on earth as God’s not one is lost - ‘no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand’ Jn 10:29.

The voice John hears ‘like the sound of many waters’ is in fact the harmonious song of the redeemed. The greater our understanding of the person and work of Christ, the greater will be the quality of our praise.

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The Redeemed Of The Lamb On Mt. Zion [14v1-5]

The redeemed are described in three different ways;

1. As those ‘who have not defiled themselves with women for they have kept themselves pure/virgins’

2. As ‘followers of the lamb’.

3. As ‘the first fruits purchased from among men’. The first of these has caused considerable difficulty. Is this an elite group of celibate saints? Nowhere does scripture suggest that sexual relationships within marriage are defiling, on the contrary cf. Eph. 5:31-32, where intimacy of husband and wife is used to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church.

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The Redeemed Of The Lamb On Mt. Zion [14v1-5]

We are still dealing with symbolical language. In the OT Israel is spoken of as the ‘virgin daughter of Zion’ [2 Kings 19:21 see also Lam. 2:13 Jer. 18:13, Amos 5:2]. When Israel lapsed into idolatry she is said to have played the harlot [Jer. 3:6 Hos. 2:5]. This picture is carried over into the NT cf. 2 Cor. 11:2.

The redeemed are therefore here pictured as the promised bride of Christ, those who have kept themselves pure from the defiling relationships with the pagan world system and its seduction cf. 17:2.

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The Redeemed Of The Lamb On Mt. Zion [14v1-5]

Secondly, they are ‘followers of the Lamb’ in the sense outlined in Mk. 8.34.

Thirdly, the term 'first fruits' does not focus chronologically in the sense of there being more to follow but in the sense an offering, that which is given over wholly to God. Notice too that their lives are marked by truth and a love for truth - contrast with 22:15 ‘everyone who loves and practices falsehood’ for such have no access into God’s heaven.

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The Redeemed Of The Lamb On Mt. Zion [14v1-5]

Interlude : Impending Judgement Announced [14v6-13] There follows three angelic proclamations that are progressive in nature. The first angel is engaged in gospel proclamation which takes the form of a final appeal to men to recognise the one true God. It is an appeal to the conscience!

The second angel announces the destruction judgement of Babylon the great, i.e. the great citadel of paganism and secular humanism that has attempted to destroy every vestige of true religion. cf. Isa. 21:9 and Jer. 51:17

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Interlude : Impending Judgement Announced [14v6-13] The third angel announces judgement on those who worship the beast. In 13:15,17 we read of the consequences of not worshipping the beast but infinitely more perilous are the consequences of such worship - ‘he shall drink the cup of God’s undiluted wrath...’

This is the response of a righteous and patient God towards those who refuse his love. Their torment is graphically described - ‘fire and brimstone’. The purpose of this language is not merely to startle and shock but to indicate, that the spiritual reality to which it points, is not less but greater than what is humanly imaginable.

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Interlude : Impending Judgement Announced [14v6-13] This punishment is not temporary it is ‘forever and ever’ v11. This is an abrasive truth that many, including some evangelicals, have tried to dilute but it reflects the awful consequence of a continued rebellion against God’s rule. Faithfulness to God in the midst of suffering is costly but enduring that is nothing in comparison to the price of apostasy.

When the sailor goes on board his ship and launches out into the stormy sea he is tossed to and fro by the waves; but the hope of reaching a peaceful haven makes him bear the danger. My voyage is beginning but whatever storms I shall feel my ship will soon reach the port. THOMAS BLINEY

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Interlude : Harvest Of The Earth [14v14-16]

In these verses we have a further picture of judgement. This first harvest reflects the teaching of Jesus in Matt. 13:24-30, 37-39 and of the inevitability of judgement and the separation it effects.

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Interlude : Vintage Of The Earth [14:17:20]

This second harvest picture stresses the awesome and violent nature of God’s wrath Joel 3:13. The treading of grapes was a familiar figure for the execution of divine wrath upon the enemies of God cf. Isa. 63:3.

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