John's prophecy of Revelation Chapter 13 is one of the most interesting of all the prophecies in the Bible. It has received much attention in modern times because it is thought that this prophecy predicts the coming of the much feared "beast," or "antichrist," of the book of Revelation. Before we can even begin to understand this prophecy however, it will first be neccessary for us to learn a few facts about the history of the Bible. Our English Bibles are the result of many transcriptions of the original Old Hebrew texts. The Holy Scriptures were slowly developed over time to include new texts that met the approval of the individuals who first recorded, and then re-recorded, this information over the centuries.
You should also be aware that the chapter and verse divisions you see in our English Bibles never existed in the original texts. They were added much later. There have also been many additions and substractions to the Holy Scriptures over the centuries. For the most part however, the King James 1611 Version of the English Bible probably retains an accuracy of better than 97% to the original Old Hebrew texts. Also, since the Bible's key messages were recorded in different forms and in multiple locations throughout the Scriptures, it is possible for us to clarify the many errors that crept into the texts during their many transcriptions over the centuries.
The prophecy of Revelation Chapter 13 was given to John, who was at the time being held prisoner on the island of Patmos in the eastern Aegean Sea around the second century AD. As John stood on the sands of the sea and gazed out across the great Mediterranean, he received a vision of two beasts, which he describes for us in great detail in this chapter. And now, John's description of the first beast, or first antichrist, of Revelation Chapter 13:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast (the first 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. 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. 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. 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? 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. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints (of the church), and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell on 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. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.
This is John's description of the first beast of Revelation 13. The rest of the verse refers only to the second beast (second antichrist) of Revelation 13. For those of you unaquainted with Bible codes, the word "beasts" means world-conquering empires that hold control over God's people, the word "heads" represents the nations making up those empires. "Crowns" or "horns," are the kings or military leaders of those nations. John tells us that this first beast, or first antichrist, rises up out of the Mediterranean Sea, and has seven heads (his empire consists of seven nations), and ten crowns (the empire is ruled by ten kings). This is a very unusual fact, for it means that this first antichrist adds three extra kings to the thrones of his seven-nation realm. He is also given the power to overcome the people of many nations, and even receives power to overcome the saints of the church, holding control over both Church and State for a period of 42 months. This power to control both church and state was not previously acheived by any known world-conquering empire. John describes this first antichrist as looking like a leopard (a Greek), walking like a bear (a reference to his Persian-like army), and speaking like a lion (spouting Babylonian blasphemies). The army of one of his heads (nations) is completely put down, but then miraculously recovers, causing the world to admire and worship the great military expertise of this powerful antichrist. He is destined to go down in history as a great military hero instead of a villain, and only the people of God will recognize his true identity as the first biblical antichrist. In the time of Christ, the Jews (Jacobites) of Jerusalem were expecting their Messiah to be a great military leader who would come riding into the city of Jerusalem on a white horse, leading a great army. They were disappointed to say the least, when Jesus Christ rode into town on a donkey. It sounds like this first beast of Revelation 13 would come much closer to fulfilling the great expectations of the Jacobites. The last sentence in John's description tells us that this first antichrist places God's people into captivity, and it will thus be his ultimate fate to also be placed into captivity. Will you recognize this first antichrist of Revelation Chapter 13 when he comes riding into town on his white stallion leading a great army, or will you join the rest of the world in admiring him for his great military conquests? Now we'll review John's description of the next beast (or second antichrist) of Revelation Chapter 13:
...he that killeth with sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb (a messiah) and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell within to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. and he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had the 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. And he had the 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. And he causeth all, both small and great,rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or on their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that have understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.
In the second half of Revelation Chapter 13, John tells us about a second antichrist who will kill God's people with a sword (or other hand-held weapon), and reveals to us that it is this second antichrist's destiny to also be killed by such a hand-held weapon. This second beast, or second antichrist, doesn't rise up from the sea like his predecessor the first antichrist, but instead rises from the land. His empire is made up of two heads (nations), and is led by two horns (military leaders). He comes representing himself as a two-horned lamb (messiah), promising to lead his chosen people into a millenium of peace. But he speaks sweet lies like the devil, and he possesses weapons of modern warfare with which he can send down fire from the sky (bombs) onto his enemies in faraway cities. This second antichrist uses an image (a man-made invention) having the power of speech to spread his lies, and causes anyone refusing to listen to this invention to be carried off to certain death. He also numbers the people who buy and sell in the marketplace (the Jews) by placing these numbers on their arms or heads so they are unable to buy or sell without using the numbers. John tells us that the number of this second beast is 666 (the number of doom). Are you one of God's people who will recognize this second antichrist when he comes along?
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