Revelation 13

http://www.god.tv/node/2757

Bible study with Dr. Chuck Missler

Revelation 13 is a part of the parathetical chapters between the 6th and 7th Trumpet of Judgment.

Bottom line: THE ANTICHRIST IS THE COMBINATION OF TWO BEASTS

7 PERSONAGES OF REVELATION
1. The Woman
2. The Man-Child
3. Red Dragon
4. Michael
5. The Remnant of Israel
6. The Beast out of the Sea
7. The Beast out of the Earth

THE FIRST BEAST IS A POLITICAL LEADER WHO WILL BE WORSHIPED

Revelation 13:1
Manuscript studies have now concluded that it is not “I stood upon the sand of the sea…” but that “He stood…” That is, John saw the beast standing upon the sand of the sea.

The Greek word for “beast” used here is “therion,” meaning, “beast of prey.” It is different from the Greek word "zoa" of Revelation 4 that is also translated as “beast” in certain translations of Bible.

Again, whenever the English seems ambiguous, always go back to the original text. Clearly, the Greek words therion and zoa have very different meanings, yet certain English translations (e.g., KJV) chose the word “beast” for both translations.

This is why it is pointless to get into a word game when reading English translations. I am not saying we should just all learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, so that we can read the Bible in its original text. I’m also not saying all translations are useless. What I’m saying is that we need to be aware of these nuances. When we study, we must always be aware of misunderstandings that are caused by translations. That is the nature of translated works. There are certain words in one language that cannot be fully represented by words of another language. As long as we are diligent with our studies, we will become more aware and therefore avoid pitfalls of using translated versions while still being able to benefit from them.

What we should not do is to claim the whole Bible to be completely open to interpretation because of the inadequacies of the English language to fully represent Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek texts. The Bible is the Word of our LIVING God. It is not a literary piece of work that is left behind by a dead guy who can no longer defend his work. God says what He means and means what He says. There is no interpretation. God explains Himself through the Bible. God explains Himself through our prayers. It is our duty, as His disciples, to learn what He means. We do not interpret. We do not just "think" that's what God means. We do our homework to find out. And if the English translations are inadequate, then we go back to the original language to gain complete understanding.

Many scholars suspect this beast may be a Gentile, because the Sea usually alludes to Gentile nations (Revelation 17:15; Isaiah 57:20, 21).

This beast has 7 heads and 10 diadems (Daniel 2, 7; Luke 4:6-7).

Revelation 13:2
- Leopard, bear, and lion show up in reverse order compared to Daniel 7:3-8.
- The Lion (Nebuchadnezzar) communicates arrogantly.
- The Bear (Persian empire) controls extensively.
- The Leopard (Greek) conquers swiftly.

Revelation 13:3
Head wound identifies this beast (Revelation 13:3, 12, 14; Zechariah 11:17).

Revelation 13:4
His followers are Satan-worshippers.

Revelation 13:7
The Beast will overcome the saints. That is, Gentile believers will be killed.

Revelation 13:8
Earth-dwellers will worship this Beast.

THE SECOND BEAST IS A FALSE PROPHET

Revelation 13:11
- Horn = power
- Many scholars believe this Beast may be a Jew (Ezekiel 21:25-27; 28:2-10; Daniel 11:36-37; John 5:43, “another” was allos in Greek, not heteros, i.e., "another of the same kind" as Jesus--Jesus was a Jew, so this "another" would also be a Jew)

Revelation 13:12
This Beast will cause the Earth to worship the first beast.

Revelation 13:13-14
Satan will deceive the world by his own miracles, signs and wonders.

Jesus Christ did not rely on miracles to authenticate His Godship. The authentication of His Godship was shown through prophecies spoken about Him.

Missler's words of wisdom: It is dangerous to build one’s acceptance on signs and wonders. When we start to rely solely on experience instead of Word of God, we open ourselves up to deception (because Satan and demons can perform miracles as well) and our never-ending search for more and more wonders.

Revelation 13:15
This parallels Daniel 3: Those who do not worship the image are killed.

Revelation 13:16
The original Greek term for "mark" is “charagma,” which means a brand or a seal.

That is, followers of the Beast will bear the mark of the Beast. People think it’s a number assigned to each person (like a barcode or an identification number), but the point here isn’t the number assigned to each individual. It is a mark representing this beast that his followers will all bear. That is, everyone will bear the same mark—Each person may use this mark to registers for his/her own individual number, but the idea is that everyone who worship the beast will be tied to the Beast’s number.

In the Old Testament, it was prohibited to bear marks (Leviticus 19:28; 21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1; Isaiah 49:16; Ezekiel 9:4; Exodus 13:9, 16).

Revelation 13:18
6 = number of man, which is consistently presented throughout the Bible.

Hebrew and Greek letters have the special characteristics of having numerical values. Because of these characteristics, these two languages can convey meaning beyond just what the words mean. This is studied in the field of Gematria, which contains the various ways of conveying meaning through letters, including Ragil, Kolel, Katan, Hakadmi, Hameruba Haklali, Hameruba Haperati, Miluy.

OLD TESTAMENT ALLUSIONS TO THE ANTICHRIST
Adversary (Psalm 74:8-10; Isaiah 59:19; Lamentations 4:11; Amos 3:11)
Assyrian (Isaiah 10:5, 12; Micah 5:5-6)
Belial (Nahum 1:15)
Bloody and Deceitful Man (Psalm 5:6)
Branch of the Terrible Ones (Isaiah 25:5)
Chief Prince (Exodus 38:2)
Crooked Serpent (Job 26:13; Isaiah 27:1)
Cruel One (Jeremiah 30:14, 23)
Destroyer of the Gentiles (Jeremiah 4:7)
Enemy (Psalm 55:3; Jeremiah 30:14, 23)
Evil Man (Psalm 140:1)
Head over Many Countries (Psalm 110:6)
Head of Northern Army (Joel 2:20)
Idol Shepherd (Zechariah 11:16-17)
King of Princes (Hosea 8:10)
King of Babylon (Isaiah 14:11-20)
Little Horn (Daniel 7:8, 8:9)
Man of the Earth (Psalm 10:18)
Merchant, with balances of deceit (Hosea 12:7)
Mighty Man (Psalm 52:1)
Nail (Isaiah 22:25)
Prince that Shall Come (Daniel 9:26)
Prince of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2-10)
Profane Wicked Prince of Israel (Ezekiel 21:25-27)
Proud Man (Habakkuk 2:5)
Rod of God’s Anger (Isaiah 10:5)
Seed of the Serpent (Genesis 3:15)
Son of the Morning (Isaiah 14:12)
Spoiler, Destroyer (Isaiah 16:4-5)
Vile Person (Daniel 11:21)
Violent Man (Psalm 140:1)
Wicked One (Psalm 9:17; 10:2-4; Isaiah 11:4; Jeremiah 30:14, 23)
Willful King (Daniel 11:36)

NEW TESTAMENT ALLUSIONS OF THE ANTICHRIST
Angel of the Bottomless Pit (Revelation 9:11)
Antichrist (Pseudo-Christ) (1 John 2:22)
Beast (Revelation 11:7; 13)
False Prophet (Revelation 13)
Father of the Lie (John 8:44; 2 Thessalonians 2:11)
Lawless One (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
One Come in His Own Name (John 5:43)
Prince of Darkness (1 Thessalonians 5)
Son of Perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
Star (Revelation 8:10; 9:1)
Unclean Spirit (Matthew 12:43)
Vine of the Earth (Revelation 14:18)

Daniel 9:26 “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

History tells us that the Romans destroyed the city and the sanctuary. Based on this, scholars therefore believe the “ruler,” aka, the Antichrist, will be a Roman. Note that the Roman Empire is not just limited to western Europe. The eastern part of the Roman Empire outlasted its western counterpart by 1000 years.

THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES: Correlation of Daniel 2, Daniel 7, and historical empires
Babylon (606 BC-539 BC): Gold (Daniel 2), Winged Lion (Daniel 7)
Persia (539 BC-332 BC): Silver (Daniel 2), Bear on side (Daniel 7)
Greece (332 BC-68 BC): Brass (Daniel 2), Leopard (Daniel 7)
Rome I (68 BC-?): Iron (Daniel 2), Terrible Beast (Daniel 7)
Rome II: Iron + Clay (Daniel 2), Beast with 10 Heads (Daniel 7)

SATAN’S SEVEN SUPER-KINGDOMS 
- Egypt 
- Assyria 
- Babylon 
- Persia 
- Greece 
- Rome 
- Rome II (10 horns + The 11th horn, aka, the Little Horn) (Daniel 2:31-35, 40-45; 7:7-8, 19-25; Revelation 13:1-2; 17:3, 7, 12-18)

“Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” (Revelation 12:3)

“They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.” (Revelation 17:10)

“The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.” (Revelation 17:11)

“Daniel’s 4+1” = Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome + Rome II (Daniel described Rome + Rome II as one).

When John wrote Revelation, the 5 kingdoms that had fallen were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. The one that ruled during his day was Rome. The “other is not yet come” is then obviously Rome II (for the lack of a better name).
The beast is the eight king, though there would be only 7 kingdoms. How? He is the Little Horn that arises out of the 7th kingdom. He is to come out of the seven previous empires. Which one(s)? Well, which one fits the description, one that “once was, and now is not”? Assyria. This is why some scholars believe the Antichrist will be an Assyrian.

“And he will be their peace. When the Assyrian invades our land and marches through our fortresses, we will raise against him seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men. They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with drawn sword. He will deliver us from the Assyrian when he invades our land and marches into our borders.” (Micah 5:5-6)

Isaiah 10:5, 12, 24 share similar statements.

Iraq and Syria now occupy the land that was once ruled by the Assryians. 

THE COMING WORLD LEADER: By peace he shall destroy many 
- “Big mouth” (Daniel 7:8, 11, 20; 11:36; Psalm 52; 2 Thessalonians 2:4) 
- Son of Satan (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 27:1; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Revelation 13) 
- Intellectual genius (Daniel 7:20; 8:23; Ezekiel 28:3) 
- Oratorical genius (Daniel 7:20; Revelation 13:2) 
- Political genius (Daniel 11:21) 
- Commercial genius (Daniel 8:25; Revelation 13:17; Psalm 52:7; Daniel 11:38, 43; Ezekiel 28:4, 5) 
- Military genius (Daniel 8:24; Revelation 6:2; Revelation 13:4; Isaiah 14:16) 
- Governmental genius (Revelation 13:1, 2; 17:17) 
- Religious genius (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:3, 14, 15) 

SUMMARY OF THE TWO BEASTS

Beast out of the Sea 
- 7 heads, 10 horns 
- Heads with the name of blasphemy 
- One of the heads bears a deadly wound that is healed 
- Powered by the Dragon for 42 months 
- Overcomes the Saints 
- Worshipped by Earth-Dwellers worship (Earth-dwellers = all those whose names are not written in the Book of Life) 

Beast out the Earth (“False Prophet”) 
- Two horns like the Lamb 
- Speaks as the Dragon 
- Causes Earth to worship the 1st Beast 
- Deceives the Earth with miracles 
- Forces worship of an image of the 1st Beast: Worshipers will receive his mark either on their right hands or their foreheads; no man may buy or sell without ht ename or the number of the 1st Beast (666)