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Welcome to lesson 16, the Book of Revelation. We left off in chapter 12 and we are still
off the timeline of what is happening. In chapter 13, well, the story details of what
is going on in the last 3.5-year period of the tribulation. We’re at the tenth seal
and Satan is cast out of heaven for good. He is in power with the world leaders and
he goes into the temple and demands who worshipped as God.
Revelation 13:1, “The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming
out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and each
head a blasphemous name.” This is probably the Mediterranean Sea, which represents the
many people or nations around. The seven heads represent seven hills around it, also known
as Rome. The 10 horns are the 10 kings and the 10 nation confederation.
And another shall rise after that. He shall be different when the first ones in charge
subdue the three kings. They’re going to be three nations that try to rise up against
the antichrists but will be defeated. Verse 2, “The beast I saw resembled a leopard,
but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast
his power and his throne and great authority.”
Satan’s throne is on this earth. Jesus came and he’s coming back to redeem it. One of
the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound but the fatal wound had been
healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. The men worshiped the
dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and
asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against them?”
So the dragon, we know, is Satan. The beast is the man, an antichrist. He gets power too.
They make an image of him and put him in the holy of holies. There is an assassination
attempt who we told in chapter 14. He apparently survives these deadly wounds. In Zachariah
11:17, it talks about this; “What sorrow awaits this worthless shepherd who abandons
the flock. The sword will cut his arm and pierce his right eye. His arm will become
useless, and his right eye completely blind.”
And he will come back. The world will be amazed and rally behind him. He will have tremendous
power and authority. He will subdue three of the most powerful kingdoms that try to
take and rule over him. And he will put to death the two witnesses who have been to this
point invincible.
Verse 5, the beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and exercises
its authority for 42 months. He opened his mouth and blaspheme God, and to slander his
name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. In Daniel 11:36, it speaks
of the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god
and he will say unheard things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the
time of wrath is complete, for what he has been determined must take place.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, it says, “Let no one deceive you by any means, for the day
will not come unless the falling away come first and the man of sin is revealed, the
son of perdition, who poses and exalts himself above all he himself God and to be worshiped
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
Verse 7, he was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was
given authority over every tribe, people, and language.” These saints of the people
have received Christ during this final 7-year period after the church had been taken out.
As a result, of the witness, of the two witnesses, or the 144,000 Jewish people who have received
Jesus Christ the Lord, they have acknowledged Jesus as their Lord. They are killed but it
is better than worshiping antichrist and to be saved and have eternal life in heaven.
Verse 8, all the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast and all whose names
have not been written in the book of life belong to the Lamb that was slain from the
creation of the world. There is a book of life. Hence, that’s the book you want to
be in. People do crazy things to get into the Guinness Book of Records to get their
names somewhere, or they donate something or work their whole life to get a plaque or
a trophy, or their name on the wall, or to be a partner in a firm or a business.
But the book of life is the one book that you want to be in. Now, I have a digging deeper
page on the book of life. Verse 9, he who has an ear let them hear. Whenever Jesus says
this, he means this is important. Verse 10, if anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity
he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.
This calls for the patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of saints.
Words of encouragement for the saints. Sometimes my wife will ask me, do I have any words of
encouragement? Going through the ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, I know it’s harder on
her than me. And she sees changes before. I am usually silent. I could quote some scripture,
but it seems to fall short. And right here, God has words of encouragement for these saints
that they will be saved.
Verse 11, then I saw another beast coming out of the earth. And he had two horns like
a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. When an animal has two thorns, a lamb, but he speaks like
a dragon. This is a counterfeit again. He exercises the whole authority of the first
beast on his behalf and may the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose
fatal wound had been healed. And it performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire
to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of men.
He imitates the two witnesses. He brings us on fire, just like Pharaoh and his men who
were able to duplicate Moses and his plagues. Satan can only counterfeit God and he cannot
do everything, but he does have power. Verse 14, because of the signs he was given power
to do on behalf of the first, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them
to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast so it could speak and cause
all who refused to worship the image to be killed, something that this image that would
be placed is a computer prototype of him, something like a character like Davis from
Star Trek who’s a computer, or other movies and science fiction where robots seem lifelike.
And there is technology today that allows the digging deeper page. Nebuchadnezzar, he
did something similar as he built a statue in pure gold. He’s saying to God I’m going
to stay forever. Now, they’re digging deeper page on that. Verse 16, he also forced everyone
small, great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hands or on
their foreheads so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is a name
of the beast or a number of his name.
We know of bar codes and smart cards. Most purchases of any items at big stores require
bar codes. Some credit cards have computer chips on it that track if you go over your
limit. And these smart cards have been contested in different areas. You have seen speed passes
at gas stations. It’s also being made into an implanted device or a mark that has a computer
chip with all you information to keep track of where you’re whereabouts, medical information,
and your financial information.
Verse 18, these calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number
of the beast, for the man’s number is 666. Most people, whether they’re a Christian
or non-Christian, [Indiscernible] [0:11:56] with that number. And there are numbers in
the bible that have meaning, a biblical significance. Six for man, short of completeness. Seven
is the number of completeness.
In Hebrew and Greek there are numerical values assigned to each letter. For example, in the
English alphabet you might say A equals 1, B equals 2, et cetera. All this means is that
the man’s name in Greek and Hebrew, when you total up the number, it will total to
666. Eight is the number of new beginnings, and all of the names of Jesus, when you add
them up, it comes out to 888. And I’ll have to dig in deeper pages on different numbers
in the bible that has significance.
Revelation chapter 14, the Lamb and the 144,000. Then I looked, and there before me was a lamb,
standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written
on their foreheads. In chapter 7, we see these are marked on their foreheads by an angel
and these were protected and lived through the tribulation period.
Verse 2, I heard a sound from heaven like a roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal
of thunder. Well, who’s that? Remember, this is a description of Jesus in chapter
1. The sound I heard was that of a harpist playing their harps. And they sang a new song
before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn
the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from each group who has a special song, because
they have a different relationship with the Lord.
Many couples have a special song. Mine and Karen’s at our wedding was a Billy Joe’s
song, Just the Way You Are. We saw the church in chapter 5 verse 17 they sang their song.
The 144,000, they had their own song. The martyred saints have their song. The 24 elders
have their parts of their song, and the angels can only sing the chorus.
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure.
They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among man and offered
as first fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Now, does this mean these men and women The church that’s in heaven is described as
the bride of Christ.
During a Jewish wedding, virgins would be there with the bride to be. And these virgins
would vow possession of 144,000, dedicate tribulation, follow the Lamb being the first
fruit to God, the lamb out of the great tribulation period. Verse 5 confirms this, as they are
presented before God as faultless through Jesus Christ.
So these 144,000 that have a new and different relationship with the Lord are compared to
virgins. Now we move on to the angels. Verse 6, then I saw another angel flying in midair,
and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on earth, to every nation,
tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God, give him glory, because
the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens and the earth, and
the sea and the springs of water.”
This angle goes around proclaiming to the whole earth the gospel of the kingdom must
be preaches to all nations. And then, shall the end come. This is in Matthew 24:14. And
this is how it will be achieved. Many churches believe that Jesus Christ cannot return until
we preach in every nation. And they’re very focused on missions. This is not a bad thing,
but this angel will reach any place that the church has not.
Verse 8, a second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which
made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” This is talking about
the false about Babylonian religion that’s been present. And when we get to chapter 17,
I’ll give complete details on the fall of Babylon.
The third angel followed them, in a loud voice, said, “If anyone worships the beast and
its image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he too will drink the wine
of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will
be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. These are
final warnings.
God is going to give every man a chance to join the kingdom. The angel warns men that
get to worshiping the beast for taking his wine. He said, if a man does take the wine
and does worship beast or the image, he is doing it knowingly. He’s doing it willfully
and a rebellion against. In verse 11, and then smoke of their torment raises forever
and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image,
or anyone who receives the mark of its name.” This calls for patient endurance on the part
of the saints who obey God’s commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
He’s talking about the people on earth that have come to know Jesus and will be persecuted
the fourth place of his angels. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write, blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they
will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” The dead or those killed
who are not taking the mark have remained true to God during the harvest of the earth.
Verse 14, I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was
one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was
sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come,
for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over
the earth, and the earth was harvested.
This is Jesus coming back in the clouds. This is then what happened in chapter 20. He wears
a crown of gold of permanence. Remember, when antichrist comes, the crown he wears, the
word is “Stephanos” which is not permanent. It’s like a wreath that withers. It’s
like an olive wreath that people got during the Olympic Games.
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven and he too had a sharp sickle. Still, another
angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him
who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from
the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” The angel swung his sickle on the
earth and gathered its grapes and threw them into a great winepress of God’s wrath. They
were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising
as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia, or about 180 miles.
This is a preview of chapter 19, from Megiddo , and when this judgment comes, the armies
of nations of the world will gather for a final conflict seeking to overthrow the Lord
and his return. In Psalms 2, God said, “Why does heathen rage and people imagine of anything
for they gathered against the Lord…”