The Beast out of the sea
Posted by Edison Macusi on Thursday, June 2, 2011
Under: Word for the week
And I
saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads,
with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 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. 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. 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 him?”
Revelation 13:1-4
Part of the difficulty of understanding the last book of the Bible, Revelation, is the unfamiliarity with which we have to grapple with its language that describes kingdoms and systems in symbols. Another is that this book is a Revelation of Jesus Christ given to John and to us, even John himself must have grappled with great difficulty how to precisely write what he had seen with the vision as well as his trance. Because this is a Revelation of Jesus Christ, no one can exactly comprehend all the revelations about Him. This is to teach us to remain humble so that we can receive His grace to understand these things.
For more than two thousand years, this book remains the most difficult to interpret in the Bible because it condenses, compacts what could be volumes of history and prophecy, with many still to be fulfilled. As Peter said, we must understand that above all, “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation” and that no prophecy originated in the will of man but “men spoke from God as they were carried along (moved) by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:20-21 insert mine). In short, no one owns the whole interpretation of prophecy, which means we can only see dimly through a mirror. With our minds and hearts set on the Lord, many of the things inscribed within this book describe issues that are still to come and we can only have full understanding of them when we look back or when we see these things fulfilled already. Our comprehension is therefore limited and we only know partly.
In Revelation chapter 13, we are introduced by John to two beasts, one that will come out of the sea and another one that will come out of the earth. The first beast will ultimately exercise political and governmental authority over the whole world and gain adherents through the good things he will do to the people. It will be during the time of the greatest trouble, destruction and unprecedented hardships from wars, famine, droughts and disasters that this man of lawlessness will appear and sway the whole world with his wagging tongue.
He will present himself as a savior to a much ravaged world. It would be during these crises that people will be looking for a leader and turn to the antichrist for solution because they have rejected the cross preached to them. They would rather look for the rational explanation of things and because they could not judge the signs in the moon, sun and stars (heavenly) and on earth—famines, earthquakes, roaring and tossing seas (natural), they will be deceived and turn to a trap. As their anguish and perplexity increase and melt their hearts, panic, fear and chaos will leap on them because of the sight and anticipation of destruction. “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now — and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect (Christians) those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect (Christians) — if that were possible”(Matthew 24:21-24 inserts mine).
Some doctrines that have been promulgated in the church in the last decades concerning the end times have not actually helped her to prepare for what is coming. Instead of making us strong and prepare for what is ahead, many have nonchalantly ignored the warnings of the Lord because they shall “escape” these things. But the Lord is clear when He was speaking about these terrible things that will happen on earth, “See I have warned you ahead.” Even at this time, the things that we are going through requires that we are to be dependent on Him for provision and wisdom so that our hearts will not dissipate as we hear of rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and roaring seas. There is simply no name under heaven by which we could be saved, delivered and sheltered during times of great ravage and pestilence, our only refuge is the Ark of God, Jesus Christ.
The Lord knows just exactly how to take of His people. In Matthew 24:37-44, the Lord warns us further that these days are treacherous and requires us to be in full alert, As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
The beast will rise up among those people who have rejected Christ and then make a move to consolidate his power by possessing an empire or kingdom so that he will be an absolute ruler. Out of fear and the ensuing chaos, the world will quickly vote and give their power and authority to the beast, this is the meaning of the dragon giving his power and authority to the beast. The dragon who is satan currently rules this world and when he tempted the Lord in the wilderness, he vowed to give the kingdoms of this world to Him, if only He will bow before satan. John writes that the devil holds sway of the whole world (I John 5:19). Indeed the devil in his last gamble to try to defeat God’s purpose and will on earth, for His Kingdom that is coming, he will give his power, throne and authority to this antichrist that will come out of the sea (Revelation 13:2) and lead a mighty rebellion to try to pre-empt the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. He will then set-up his government to rule over “every tribe, people, language and nation” (Revelation 13:7) and deceive many whose names were not written in the book of life.
He will appear to have great powers so that the whole world will be astonished with this and follow him. The world will not only admire the beast for his leadership skills, but will readily adore him for his display of power that seem to bring peace and order to the then chaotic world. They will follow his orders and worship the dragon, out of this stunning display of power, they will sing their hymns to the devil “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?” The people however who know their God will display strength and shine. They will resist him firm to the end and though overpowered by the beast with his mouth that utter proud words and blasphemies, they will be unafraid to die but go on to make disciples and proclaim God’s coming Kingdom to the nations.
Their victory is assured because the cross has cancelled all the powers of the enemy over their lives and their debts nailed to the cross. Death no longer holds sting upon them. They will not fear the enemy nor be intimidated by him. They will walk in unprecedented light, power, courage, and glory so that the Gospel they will proclaim is filled with the breath of life. Many will turn to the Lord because of their love and testimony so that this would prompt their persecution causing the beast to make war against them and to conquer them.
He will oppose everything that is called God and is worshipped so that he sets himself up as a God in the temple of God, among those who are self-willed Christians and unbelievers. But just as soon as many of these martyrs die in the Lord, many others will rise up to take their place and give life to many. They will continue to harvest souls for the Kingdom even when the world is like a marching hell around them. They will not love their lives but give it so that many more will come to the Kingdom. This will be the devotion of the church in the coming days, this should be our devotion now.
The persecution of the church will again become a reality in many areas that enjoy freedom. The saints who will be awakened in these places will start gathering together and pray. They will become a bulwark during the times ahead as the great difficulties will come to the world. The Lord will be so near to His people that He will be directing us all to know whom to send reliefs, books, bibles, food, aids, medical supplies and water. Teams will be hastily trained that would be sent in areas where disasters and conflicts will strike so that people in these places are forewarned of any impending disasters and those who are ‘man of peace’ will come to know the Lord.
The natural church, those who are apostate and remain apostate because they deny the reality of the Lord will be judged. However those who repent, have a change of heart and learn to know the voice of the Lord, draw near to Him will be given grace. What we know now as denominations will soon dissolve in the heat of trials and persecutions. Only the real church, those who are born again and have given their lives to knowing Jesus Christ will be able to discern the times, prepare and then take action. Indeed these days will be the greatest opportunity for everyone in the Lord to show their devotion to Him and be used by Him.
As we keep watch for His coming, we also keep on proclaiming His Kingdom on earth for it shall surely come and it would come. People need the Lord more than bread and water. To preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth should be our greatest ambition whether we are janitors working in the lowliest office or the governor of the greatest province. One does not have to be a pastor to preach Jesus to others, we simply need to stand for truth, integrity, righteousness and when it is time to open our mouths and share Jesus to a comrade in need, then we must be ready even to share our lives to them.
Part of the difficulty of understanding the last book of the Bible, Revelation, is the unfamiliarity with which we have to grapple with its language that describes kingdoms and systems in symbols. Another is that this book is a Revelation of Jesus Christ given to John and to us, even John himself must have grappled with great difficulty how to precisely write what he had seen with the vision as well as his trance. Because this is a Revelation of Jesus Christ, no one can exactly comprehend all the revelations about Him. This is to teach us to remain humble so that we can receive His grace to understand these things.
For more than two thousand years, this book remains the most difficult to interpret in the Bible because it condenses, compacts what could be volumes of history and prophecy, with many still to be fulfilled. As Peter said, we must understand that above all, “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation” and that no prophecy originated in the will of man but “men spoke from God as they were carried along (moved) by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:20-21 insert mine). In short, no one owns the whole interpretation of prophecy, which means we can only see dimly through a mirror. With our minds and hearts set on the Lord, many of the things inscribed within this book describe issues that are still to come and we can only have full understanding of them when we look back or when we see these things fulfilled already. Our comprehension is therefore limited and we only know partly.
In Revelation chapter 13, we are introduced by John to two beasts, one that will come out of the sea and another one that will come out of the earth. The first beast will ultimately exercise political and governmental authority over the whole world and gain adherents through the good things he will do to the people. It will be during the time of the greatest trouble, destruction and unprecedented hardships from wars, famine, droughts and disasters that this man of lawlessness will appear and sway the whole world with his wagging tongue.
He will present himself as a savior to a much ravaged world. It would be during these crises that people will be looking for a leader and turn to the antichrist for solution because they have rejected the cross preached to them. They would rather look for the rational explanation of things and because they could not judge the signs in the moon, sun and stars (heavenly) and on earth—famines, earthquakes, roaring and tossing seas (natural), they will be deceived and turn to a trap. As their anguish and perplexity increase and melt their hearts, panic, fear and chaos will leap on them because of the sight and anticipation of destruction. “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now — and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect (Christians) those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect (Christians) — if that were possible”(Matthew 24:21-24 inserts mine).
Some doctrines that have been promulgated in the church in the last decades concerning the end times have not actually helped her to prepare for what is coming. Instead of making us strong and prepare for what is ahead, many have nonchalantly ignored the warnings of the Lord because they shall “escape” these things. But the Lord is clear when He was speaking about these terrible things that will happen on earth, “See I have warned you ahead.” Even at this time, the things that we are going through requires that we are to be dependent on Him for provision and wisdom so that our hearts will not dissipate as we hear of rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and roaring seas. There is simply no name under heaven by which we could be saved, delivered and sheltered during times of great ravage and pestilence, our only refuge is the Ark of God, Jesus Christ.
The Lord knows just exactly how to take of His people. In Matthew 24:37-44, the Lord warns us further that these days are treacherous and requires us to be in full alert, As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
The beast will rise up among those people who have rejected Christ and then make a move to consolidate his power by possessing an empire or kingdom so that he will be an absolute ruler. Out of fear and the ensuing chaos, the world will quickly vote and give their power and authority to the beast, this is the meaning of the dragon giving his power and authority to the beast. The dragon who is satan currently rules this world and when he tempted the Lord in the wilderness, he vowed to give the kingdoms of this world to Him, if only He will bow before satan. John writes that the devil holds sway of the whole world (I John 5:19). Indeed the devil in his last gamble to try to defeat God’s purpose and will on earth, for His Kingdom that is coming, he will give his power, throne and authority to this antichrist that will come out of the sea (Revelation 13:2) and lead a mighty rebellion to try to pre-empt the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. He will then set-up his government to rule over “every tribe, people, language and nation” (Revelation 13:7) and deceive many whose names were not written in the book of life.
He will appear to have great powers so that the whole world will be astonished with this and follow him. The world will not only admire the beast for his leadership skills, but will readily adore him for his display of power that seem to bring peace and order to the then chaotic world. They will follow his orders and worship the dragon, out of this stunning display of power, they will sing their hymns to the devil “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?” The people however who know their God will display strength and shine. They will resist him firm to the end and though overpowered by the beast with his mouth that utter proud words and blasphemies, they will be unafraid to die but go on to make disciples and proclaim God’s coming Kingdom to the nations.
Their victory is assured because the cross has cancelled all the powers of the enemy over their lives and their debts nailed to the cross. Death no longer holds sting upon them. They will not fear the enemy nor be intimidated by him. They will walk in unprecedented light, power, courage, and glory so that the Gospel they will proclaim is filled with the breath of life. Many will turn to the Lord because of their love and testimony so that this would prompt their persecution causing the beast to make war against them and to conquer them.
He will oppose everything that is called God and is worshipped so that he sets himself up as a God in the temple of God, among those who are self-willed Christians and unbelievers. But just as soon as many of these martyrs die in the Lord, many others will rise up to take their place and give life to many. They will continue to harvest souls for the Kingdom even when the world is like a marching hell around them. They will not love their lives but give it so that many more will come to the Kingdom. This will be the devotion of the church in the coming days, this should be our devotion now.
The persecution of the church will again become a reality in many areas that enjoy freedom. The saints who will be awakened in these places will start gathering together and pray. They will become a bulwark during the times ahead as the great difficulties will come to the world. The Lord will be so near to His people that He will be directing us all to know whom to send reliefs, books, bibles, food, aids, medical supplies and water. Teams will be hastily trained that would be sent in areas where disasters and conflicts will strike so that people in these places are forewarned of any impending disasters and those who are ‘man of peace’ will come to know the Lord.
The natural church, those who are apostate and remain apostate because they deny the reality of the Lord will be judged. However those who repent, have a change of heart and learn to know the voice of the Lord, draw near to Him will be given grace. What we know now as denominations will soon dissolve in the heat of trials and persecutions. Only the real church, those who are born again and have given their lives to knowing Jesus Christ will be able to discern the times, prepare and then take action. Indeed these days will be the greatest opportunity for everyone in the Lord to show their devotion to Him and be used by Him.
As we keep watch for His coming, we also keep on proclaiming His Kingdom on earth for it shall surely come and it would come. People need the Lord more than bread and water. To preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth should be our greatest ambition whether we are janitors working in the lowliest office or the governor of the greatest province. One does not have to be a pastor to preach Jesus to others, we simply need to stand for truth, integrity, righteousness and when it is time to open our mouths and share Jesus to a comrade in need, then we must be ready even to share our lives to them.
In : Word for the week
Tags: the beast out of the sea
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