The Beast out of the Earth
Posted by Edison Macusi on Monday, June 20, 2011
Under: Word for the week
“Once
you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of
your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical
body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and
free from accusation.” Colossians 1:21-22
In Revelation chapter 13 we see how another beast that will come out of the earth will deceive the whole world by causing the inhabitants of the earth to worship the first beast. In short, this beast will actually be acting on behalf of the first beast by orchestrating all men to worship this beast through deception and lying wonders, “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 13:11-14).
The fact that this will come out of the earth would literally mean that he will be the embodiment of a humanistic religion, one that is conformed to the world. John further explains, “This calls for wisdom. “If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666” (Revelation 13:18). Indeed the number 666 does not have to be hard, but since man was created on the sixth day, the number six is often taken to represent him. Since the tripling of a number indicates or presses an emphasis, it could be taken to mean of a “hardened or fully man”. This beast represents a complete counter to that of Christ who comes down from heaven and the true church, the Bride of Christ who also comes down from heaven, which speaks of her heavenly origin. In contrast, the beast that comes out of the earth, the one who will cause the people to worship the first beast out of fear and reprisal, out of control and manipulation, will embody a religion of works, sacrifices, offerings and self-effort and earthly-mindedness.
If we continue to trust in our minds to discern both good and evil or to understand who is evil and who is not we can get deceived by this. The nature of the beast is rooted in both the good and evil side of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which is why he can do wonderfully good things such as “signs and wonders” so that men will be deceived by this display of his power. Unless we have more than that to examine a person or an event, we are doomed to error. The gift of discernment is exercised by those who have knowledge, experience as well as the leading of the Lord. If we are prone to be good to those who do us good only and then fail to serve the poor who maybe ungrateful, we can also be deceived by this. No wonder because the beast can change himself into an angel of light or a messenger of truth because good has always been more deceptive than evil. Eve was tempted by the devil using the good side of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in his marketing scheme to get Eve to sin.
Because the manifestation of evil during the last days will be intense and increasing, the good side of man will increasingly become more deceptive and could kill the undiscerning. Again this does not have to mean that we refuse those who want to do us good, e.g. if a brother or sister sends us relief goods and clothes when we are in need, then so much the better and we should write them or email them to say thank you. But if another person comes up in front of our doors one day and want to preach the good deeds of a man we do not know, or campaigns for a person we do not really know, we should be wary.
We certainly remember that President Ferdinand Marcos campaigned on the basis of good governance and economic prosperity, even calling for a new society but all of these were just fronts for his base agenda to control the country. During the times of Marcos, many were calling him as their savior because of the many good deeds he has done but eventually, after two decades, they have to concede that he has done more harm than good in the long run and they have to let him go.
The country was in fact even divided whether to take him back or not after his death in Hawaii because so many were aghast of his misdeeds. It could not have taken that long for Marcos, if only the people and the leaders were more discerning that their freedom were being curtailed by a puny dictator. Instead very few raised their voices against Marcos because it was more popular to side with a president and to feed from his good hands. The good that evil can do brings more harm than that of the more obvious conflicts and violence that we can easily discern.
As I have said the beast represents humanism or the thinking that man can do anything in this world apart from God. Even many Christians are affected by this spirit; they claim the name of Christ but they seldom obey Him. These people are hypocrites, they often confess that they go to church every Sunday but on other days they continue to worship their own works and continue sinning. That the beast will one day put a mark on the right hands and foreheads of these men simply means that they succumbed to working for him instead of Christ the Lord. Those who worship the beast will do their works for men, and before men, instead of God and before God. Their minds will also be centered on the earth instead of on the Lord. The only deliverance from such an influence is to do all things for Christ, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
The hallmark of our obedience as a bondservant of Christ will be measured by our daily self-sacrifice for the service of our Lord and Savior, our motto should be, “we follow the Lamb!” In following Him we who have been raised with Christ should set our hearts on things above and not on earthly matters. Our minds should be renewed, empowered by His Word to have a ready answer to those who asks us a question. Unlike non-believers we do not need to fear the enemy or his anti-christ because our life is already hidden in Christ, who is also our life. It is therefore necessary to continue to pursue righteousness and to put to “our earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:5-9).
In Revelation chapter 13 we see how another beast that will come out of the earth will deceive the whole world by causing the inhabitants of the earth to worship the first beast. In short, this beast will actually be acting on behalf of the first beast by orchestrating all men to worship this beast through deception and lying wonders, “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 13:11-14).
The fact that this will come out of the earth would literally mean that he will be the embodiment of a humanistic religion, one that is conformed to the world. John further explains, “This calls for wisdom. “If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666” (Revelation 13:18). Indeed the number 666 does not have to be hard, but since man was created on the sixth day, the number six is often taken to represent him. Since the tripling of a number indicates or presses an emphasis, it could be taken to mean of a “hardened or fully man”. This beast represents a complete counter to that of Christ who comes down from heaven and the true church, the Bride of Christ who also comes down from heaven, which speaks of her heavenly origin. In contrast, the beast that comes out of the earth, the one who will cause the people to worship the first beast out of fear and reprisal, out of control and manipulation, will embody a religion of works, sacrifices, offerings and self-effort and earthly-mindedness.
If we continue to trust in our minds to discern both good and evil or to understand who is evil and who is not we can get deceived by this. The nature of the beast is rooted in both the good and evil side of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which is why he can do wonderfully good things such as “signs and wonders” so that men will be deceived by this display of his power. Unless we have more than that to examine a person or an event, we are doomed to error. The gift of discernment is exercised by those who have knowledge, experience as well as the leading of the Lord. If we are prone to be good to those who do us good only and then fail to serve the poor who maybe ungrateful, we can also be deceived by this. No wonder because the beast can change himself into an angel of light or a messenger of truth because good has always been more deceptive than evil. Eve was tempted by the devil using the good side of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in his marketing scheme to get Eve to sin.
Because the manifestation of evil during the last days will be intense and increasing, the good side of man will increasingly become more deceptive and could kill the undiscerning. Again this does not have to mean that we refuse those who want to do us good, e.g. if a brother or sister sends us relief goods and clothes when we are in need, then so much the better and we should write them or email them to say thank you. But if another person comes up in front of our doors one day and want to preach the good deeds of a man we do not know, or campaigns for a person we do not really know, we should be wary.
We certainly remember that President Ferdinand Marcos campaigned on the basis of good governance and economic prosperity, even calling for a new society but all of these were just fronts for his base agenda to control the country. During the times of Marcos, many were calling him as their savior because of the many good deeds he has done but eventually, after two decades, they have to concede that he has done more harm than good in the long run and they have to let him go.
The country was in fact even divided whether to take him back or not after his death in Hawaii because so many were aghast of his misdeeds. It could not have taken that long for Marcos, if only the people and the leaders were more discerning that their freedom were being curtailed by a puny dictator. Instead very few raised their voices against Marcos because it was more popular to side with a president and to feed from his good hands. The good that evil can do brings more harm than that of the more obvious conflicts and violence that we can easily discern.
As I have said the beast represents humanism or the thinking that man can do anything in this world apart from God. Even many Christians are affected by this spirit; they claim the name of Christ but they seldom obey Him. These people are hypocrites, they often confess that they go to church every Sunday but on other days they continue to worship their own works and continue sinning. That the beast will one day put a mark on the right hands and foreheads of these men simply means that they succumbed to working for him instead of Christ the Lord. Those who worship the beast will do their works for men, and before men, instead of God and before God. Their minds will also be centered on the earth instead of on the Lord. The only deliverance from such an influence is to do all things for Christ, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
The hallmark of our obedience as a bondservant of Christ will be measured by our daily self-sacrifice for the service of our Lord and Savior, our motto should be, “we follow the Lamb!” In following Him we who have been raised with Christ should set our hearts on things above and not on earthly matters. Our minds should be renewed, empowered by His Word to have a ready answer to those who asks us a question. Unlike non-believers we do not need to fear the enemy or his anti-christ because our life is already hidden in Christ, who is also our life. It is therefore necessary to continue to pursue righteousness and to put to “our earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:5-9).
In : Word for the week
Tags: the beast out of the earth
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