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Revelation Chapter Thirteen

 

I. Content of the Chapter

 

A Beast Rising up out of the Sea And Another Beast Coming up out of the Earth

I. A beast rising up out of the sea (v.1-10)

  A. having seven heads and ten horns and one of his heads had been mortally wounded (v.1-3)

  B. receiving authority from the dragon, blaspheming God, overcoming the saints and having authority over those who dwell on the earth (v.4-10)

II. Another beast coming up out of the earth (v.11-18)

  A. having two horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon (v.11)

  B. performing great signs and making men worship the first beast (v.12-15)

  C. causing men to receive its mark; the number of the name of the beast is 666 (v.16-18)

 

II. Verse by Verse commentary

 

Rev. 13:1 “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.

   YLT: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw out of the sea a beast coming up, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon its horns ten diadems, and upon its heads a name of evil speaking,”

   Meaning of Words: “then”: and, also; “beast”: a wild animal, monster; “blasphemous”: evil speaking, blasphemy.

   Spiritual Meaning: in some versions of the Bible, then I stood on the sand of the sea” was put at the end of the twelfth chapter, showing that this sentence connects both the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth chapter. In the Bible, the sea symbolizes the Gentiles (See Rev. 17:15) and the land symbolizes the Jews. “Standing on the sand of the sea” symbolizes that Satan paints a picture with two brushes at the same time: on one hand it is angry with the Gentile believers and on the other, it is angry with the Jews. “The sand of the sea” is the place between the sea and the land, showing that: 1) Satan which is typified by the dragon is hostile to the Gentile believers and the Jews; 2) the dragon is related to the beast rising up out of the sea and the beast coming up out of the earth. They three ones are the triune Satan.

And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea,” a “beast” rising up out of the sea symbolizes the antichrist and he comes out of the Gentiles.

“Having seven heads and ten horns,” symbolizes that it had the royal power. “Ten horns” symbolizes the smaller royal power and “seven heads” symbolizes the greater power.

“And on his horns ten crowns,” “crowns” are the royal crowns.

“And on his heads a blasphemous name.” “A blasphemous name” refers to showing himself that he is God.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) Satan copied the true God and it also has the triune person. We should never hold that certain sayings and ways are of God for their similarity to the Bible.

2) He whoever exalts himself above that which is written in the Bible and causes others to regard him as God or the representative of God blasphemes God.

 

Rev. 13:2 “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

   YLT: “and the beast that I saw was like to a leopard, and its feet as of a bear, and its mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon did give to it his power, and his throne, and great authority.”

   Meaning of Words: “was like”: similar in appearance; “like”: as.

   Literal Meaning: “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard,” the feature of “leopard” is that it acts quickly and ferociously.

“His feet were like the feet of a bear,” the feature of “the feet of a bear” is its great destructive power.

“And his mouth like the mouth of a lion.” The feature of “the mouth of a lion” is its being able to tear and devour.

The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.” It means that antichrist is the embodiment of Satan. “Power” refers to being able to perform great signs. “Throne” refers to the throne in the kingdom. “Great authority” represents Satan itself.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) The features of antichrist are that it acts quickly and wherever it arrives it destroys completely and tears and devours without stint.

2) Many cruel and ferocious regimes in the history of men could be regarded that they were of Satan the devil. It is Satan that caused them to play the bully. 

 

Rev. 13:3 “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

   YLT: “And I saw one of its heads as slain to death, and its deadly stroke was healed, and all the earth did wonder after the beast,”

   Meaning of Words: “been wounded”: be killed, slain to death; “mortally”: death; “wound”: slay.

   Literal Meaning: “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed.” It means that one of the seven kings had died and now was alive. It does not mean that it had the power of resurrection but that Satan utilized its body and played the game of reincarnating in else’s body, that the world may misunderstand that it had the power of resurrection like the Lord Jesus.

“And all the world marveled and followed the beast” because death and resurrection is the greatest sign sine ancient times. 

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) What a pity! Men would rather believe the false death and resurrection of the antichrist than believe the true death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 

2) Actually, every Christian who has been truly saved has the experience of dying and living with Christ (See Rom. 6:5, 8). If we can manifest the spiritual experience before the world, many people will naturally be attracted to turn to the Lord (See John. 12:1-2).

 

Rev. 13:4 “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him’”

   YLT: “and they did bow before the dragon who did give authority to the beast, and they did bow before the beast, saying, `Who like to the beast? who is able to war with it?'”

   Meaning of Words: “worship”: do reverence to, adore; “make war”: be engaged in warfare, fight.

   Literal Meaning: “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying,” it means that men worship Satan and also worship antichrist because they are jackals from the same liar and are of the same kind.

“‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him’” it indicates that its status cannot be matched by men.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) Worshipping the beast is equal to worshipping the dragon. When men worship idols, they are equally worshipping the devil behind the idols. The deceit of the devil is to usurp men’s worship to the true God that He deserves behind many invisible idols (idols of stars, the spiritual idols, the idols of things and etc)

2) From ancient times, men like adoring heroes. The one who has good status or fame or great ability will have a group of people who are hell-bent on following and exalting him. There is no exception in the church of Christ. However, it is equal to worshipping idols in principle.

 

Rev. 13:5And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.”

   YLT: “And there was given to it a mouth speaking great things, and evil-speakings, and there was given to it authority to make war forty-two months,”

   Literal Meaning: And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies,” “great” refers to exalting oneself. “Blasphemies” refers to defaming and belittling the true God.

“And he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.” “Forty-two months” refers to half a week (See Dan. 9:27), i.e. three and a half years (See 12:14) and a thousand two hundred and sixty days (See 11:3; 12:6). In the final week, the antichrist shall make a covenant with the country of Israel, however, after three and a half years, the antichrist shall break the covenant and tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months (See 11:2). And it is the so-called period of the great tribulation (See Matt. 24:21).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) Proud ones ignore God in their hearts and they like exalting themselves on one hand and looking down upon the works of God on the other. He whoever shows arrogance in the church has fallen into the way of antichrist.

2) That Day, the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (See 2Thess. 2:3-4). Today some ones in the church have the spirit of antichrist and advocate for “men becoming God”. They have been utilized by Satan unconsciously.

 

Rev. 13:6Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.”

   YLT: “and it did open its mouth for evil-speaking toward God, to speak evil of His name, and of His tabernacle, and of those who in the heaven tabernacle,”

   Meaning of Words: “tabernacle”: tent, habitation; “dwell”: tenting.

   Literal Meaning: Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,” the antichrist is arrogant and exalts itself and calls itself that it is God (See 2Thess. 2:4), certainly it cannot bear men to fear the true God. And therefore it blasphemed against God the moment it opened its mouth.

“To blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.” “His name” represents God Himself. And His person, disposition, power and authority are included in His name. “His tabernacle” refers to the place where He dwells, i.e. the temple of God, and it refers to the church of God. “Those who dwell in heaven” refers to the good angels and the people who are of God, including believers and the pious Jews.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things (See Matt. 12:34-35).

2) God’s church and saints are predestined to be supplanted and persecuted, however well they abide by the law and do their duties in the world. The Lord Jesus said that, blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (See Matt. 5:11-12).

 

Rev. 13:7 “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.

   YLT: “and there was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and there was given to it authority over every tribe, and tongue, and nation.”

   Meaning of Words: “overcome”: prevail, conquer; “over”: above, upon.

   Literal Meaning: “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.” “Saints” refers to the Jews who keep the commandment of God and believers who bear witness to Jesus (See 12:17). “Make war…overcome” indicates that in the period of the great tribulation the power of the antichrist expands into various places of the world and no one can match him.

And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” “Over” refers to the higher powers (See Rom. 13:1), i.e. reigning. “Every tribe, tongue, and nation” refers to men in every tribe, tongue, and nation.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) In the period of the great tribulation, there are believers whose names are listed in the book of life among those who are alive on the earth (See v.8). And it shows that it is the wishful and traditional idea that the whole church will be raptured before the tribulation and it is not trustworthy. If believers have not been raptured when they are alive, they shall be left on the earth and be bullied enough by antichrist and suffer tribulation.

2) In the last time, the power of antichrist shall spread over the whole world and various kinds of men shall be under his control and listen to his directions. At that time, the antichrist shall treat Christians harshly. These things are in accordance with expectation and therefore we should not trust to luck to hold that we will be kept by God in the great tribulation.

 

Rev. 13:8 “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

   YLT: “And bow before it shall all who are dwelling upon the land, whose names have not been written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;”

   Meaning of Words: “dwell”: reside; “him”: (the masculine pronoun of the third person and it usually refers to men).

   Literal Meaning: “from the foundation of the world” refers to since the beginning of mankind. “The Lamb slain” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ who crucified and died for all men. “The Book of Life” indicates that all those who believe in the Lord and receive eternal life (See John. 3:16) have their names recorded in this Book of Life. If one’s name is not recorded in this book, he is the one who shall perish.

“Whose nameshave been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” It implies that men who were in the generation of the Old Testament can still be saved through believing the promise of God because in God’s promise there is the type of the coming Christ. And therefore their faith can still be acknowledged by God and He will record their names in the Book of Life (See Heb. 11).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) According to the flesh, we are those who “dwell on the earth”, however, we are citizens in heaven (See Phil. 3:20) because our names have been recorded in the Book of Life.

2) Those whose names have not been recorded in the Book of Life have to worship antichrist, however, we believers cannot worship him absolutely because it is a thing that sins against God the most.

 

Rev. 13:9 “If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

   YLT: “if any one hath an ear -- let him hear:”

   Literal Meaning: it implies that though many people have ears, they cannot hear. Even though they have heard, they cannot understand (See Matt. 13:13-16).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) May we all have our ears be opened, that we can hear His voice----all the word of God in the Scriptures, especially the words in the Book of Revelation (See Is. 50:4-5).

2) Many believers have ears which can hear, but unfortunately, they always hear for others or hold that many words are said for others and the words are unrelated to themselves. And therefore they miss many chances of being blessed by the Lord.

 

Rev. 13:10 “He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

   YLT: “if any one a captivity doth gather, into captivity he doth go away; if any one by sword doth kill, it behoveth him by sword to be killed; here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.”

   Meaning of Words: “captivity”: capture, taking forcible possession of; “patience”: endurance, tolerance.

   Literal Meaning: “He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.” The whole meaning of this sentence is that whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (See Gal. 6:7). To non-Christians, they lead others into captivity and shall be led into captivity themselves. They kill others with the sword and shall be killed with the sword themselves. To us Christians, if we haven’t been raptured and are left on the earth to suffer the great tribulation, God’s predestination is that: all those who deserve to be led into captivity shall be led into captivity; all those who deserve to be killed with the sword shall be killed with the sword. The consequence is quite terrible.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” The world can only resign themselves to their fate, however, Christians need to hold fast to patience and faith because only when we hold fast to faith will we have patience and he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (See Matt. 24:13).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) God will give to each one of us according to our works (See 2:23). Since we believers trust that God is righteous, we must be responsible for our behavior after we have believed in the Lord and confess our sins and repent as early as possible, that we shall be forgiven by God (See 1John. 1:9).

2) Before the coming of the great tribulation, we should have “the patience and the faith” and probably we can avoid suffering the great tribulation because of them. However, if we cannot overcome and be raptured and are left on the earth to suffer the great tribulation by ourselves, we need to have “the patience and the faith” more because they are the key to deal with sufferings (See 2Thess. 1:4).

 

Rev. 13:11 “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.

   YLT: “And I saw another beast coming up out of the land, and it had two horns, like a lamb, and it was speaking as a dragon,”

   Meaning of Words: “coming up”: climb, arise; “like”: similar; “like”: as.

   Spiritual Meaning: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth,” the “beast” coming up out of the earth symbolizes the false prophet (See 16:3; 19:20; 20:10) and it comes out of the Jews.

“And he had two horns like a lamb” symbolizes that the false prophet was full of the power of the evil spirit (See 5:6).

“And spoke like a dragon” symbolizes that the false prophet spoke with the power of the evil spirit.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) The words and walking of the false teacher make men discern that he is false hardly because he has the supernatural power like the true prophet (See 11:5) and speaks with the tone full of authority. And common ones are deceived by him submissively and always follow their advice.

2) There is the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit in the world. Heretical teachers always speak and walk by the evil spirit to deceive the hearts of the simple (See Rom. 16:18). And therefore Christians should not judge whether one is true or false merely by appearance and we must discern.

 

Rev. 13:12 “And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

   YLT: “and all the authority of the first beast doth it do before it, and it maketh the land and those dwelling in it that they shall bow before the first beast, whose deadly stroke was healed,”

   Meaning of Words: “exercise”: make, do; “heal”: cure, be fully recovered.

   Literal Meaning: “And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence,” it means that the false prophet walked according to the order of antichrist.

“And causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” The main task of the false prophet is to deceive men who dwell on the earth to worship the image of antichrist (See v.14-15).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) Satan authorizes antichrist (See v.4) and antichrist authorizes the false prophet. The source of the false prophet is Satan the devil. If we Christians believe the words of the false prophet, we indeed are deceived by Satan. What a serious thing!

2) The final aim of the devil is to make men worship it. Those who like worshiping men apparently worship men, but actually they worship the devil.

 

Rev. 13:13 “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.

   YLT: “and it doth great signs, that fire also it may make to come down from the heaven to the earth before men,”

   Meaning of Words: “sign”: miracle, indication, token, wonder.

   Literal Meaning: “He performs great signs,” the false prophet has the power of the evil spirit and he can perform supernatural signs and miracles.

“So that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” “Making fire come down from heaven on the earth” is similar to what the two witnesses had done (See 11:5) and it is hard for men to discern the true or false.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) The greatest feature of the false charisma is performing “in the sight of men”. They heal men by miracles and speak with a tongue in order to make men see and hear, that men may regard the false as true.

2) Performing signs is natural, however, today in the church, many ones attract men to follow them through performing signs and their ways make men hardly believe that they are of the Holy Spirit.

 

Rev. 13:14 “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.

   YLT: “and it leadeth astray those dwelling on the land, because of the signs that were given it to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling upon the land to make an image to the beast that hath the stroke of the sword and did live,”

   Meaning of Words: “deceive”: lead astray, seduce; “lived”: to live, alive.

   Literal Meaning: “by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast” It indicates that the false prophet’s power to perform signs is from antichrist.

And he deceives those who dwell on the earth, telling those who dwell on the earth” it indicates that the false prophet’s motive to perform signs is to deceive those who dwell on the earth.

“To make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.” It indicates that the false prophet’s aim to deceive men is to make men make an idol for antichrist and worship it (See v.15).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) It is the fault of common ones to like seeing signs and wonders and even many Christians are no exception. Satan seizes hold of this weakness of men to deceive us through performing great signs and wonders (See Matt. 24:24).

2) The scheme of the false signs and wonders makes men make idols and worship idols unconsciously. Today various kinds of “movements of making gods” are carried out in the church and unfortunately the majority of believers cannot see through the scheme.

 

Rev. 13:15 “He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

   YLT: “and there was given to it to give a spirit to the image of the beast, that also the image of the beast may speak, and it may cause as many as shall not bow before the image of the beast, that they may be killed.”

   Meaning of Words: “breath”: spirit; “should”: appearance, likeness.

   Literal Meaning: “He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak” the idols made by the hands of men can neither speak nor have breath in their mouths (See Ps. 135:16-17), however, the idol of antichrist has breath and can speak unusually and attracts the simple to worship it.

“And cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” It shows that in the period of the great tribulation, the so-called “freedom of faith” no longer exists and the false prophet condemns those who are unwilling to worship the image of beast on the excuse of “the union of religions” to death for their destroying the peace of mankind.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) In future the idol of antichrist is not usual: it has breath and can speak and it seems to be the height of deification of creatures. If we think seriously, actually today there are many “invisible idols” which have breath and can speak and they are the embodiment of the coming idol. They are deceiving thousands upon thousands men and they also deceive the people of God.

2) Christians should be careful: if you and I face this choice of life and death, we should remember the sentence said by the Lord Jesus that “fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28) and not love their lives to the death (See 12:11). And we can be overcomers in the last time at least.

 

Rev. 13:16 “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,

   YLT: “And it maketh all, the small, and the great, and the rich, and the poor, and the freemen, and the servants, that it may give to them a mark upon their right hand or upon their foreheads,”

   Meaning of Words: “all”: every, the whole; “mark”: stamp, graven.

   Literal Meaning: “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave” “small and great” refers to the status in the society. “Rich and poor” refers to the degree of the material wealth. “Free and slave” refers to the motive for volition (active or passive). The above-mentioned three conditions include all the people in the world.

“To receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,” “mark” shows that only those who are of antichrist can enjoy the right of existence (See v.17).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) Today men always desire to hide their ideas and behavior and are unwilling to declare on the excuse of “the right of privacy”, however, in future Satan won’t let anyone “hide himself and be unwilling to declare”. If you want to live, you have to declare your attitude. Our Lord never forces us and He always waits us to please (See S. of Sol 2:7; 3:5; 8:4).      

2) Believers should “bind the words of God for a sign upon our hand, and they shall be as frontlets between our eyes” (Deut. 6:8) and remind ourselves and men around us that we are men of God. And we should also mediate the words of God day and night and let the words be manifested in our walkings, that men can see that we bear in our body the marks of the Lord Jesus and they won’t trouble us (See Gal. 6:17).

 

Rev. 13:17 “and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

   YLT: “and that no one may be able to buy, or to sell, except he who is having the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

   Meaning of Words: “buy”: properties, purchase; “sell”: sell off.

   Literal Meaning: “except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” “The beast” and “the name of the beast” have the same meaning. The former is the plain text and the latter is the signal and both of them refer to the beast. Originally every Greek and Hebrew letter represents a number. Add all the numbers that the letters represent together and we have the number of the name. It is like ID and the credit card in the present generation and on which there are different card numbers and secret codes respectively except the names of each one for the identification.

“That no one may buy or sell” “Buying” and “selling” is the essential means for existence and therefore “no one may buy or sell” is equal to depriving the right of life and one cannot live if he does not worship it.

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) God knows whether one believes in the Lord or worships the devil and so does the devil (See Acts. 19:5). Originally the mark is not needed, however, the false prophet uses the mark to show the difference with the purpose of utilizing the sanction of the society----if one desires to live, he has to identify with the society----and forces believers to follow the bad examples of others that they have to worship it.

2) The aim of “the mark” is to make camps between believers and those who worship the devil by utilizing “ideology”. And those who are faithful to the Lord are few and therefore the pressure is great and probably few ones are able to keep unyielding by “patience and faith” (See v.10).

3) Today some leaders of the church use the way of “isolation” frequently to deal with believers who are unwilling to obey them unconditionally and make them lose the normal communion in the church, as the false prophet does not allow men who do not have the mark to buy or sell.

 

Rev. 13:18 “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

   YLT: “Here is the wisdom! He who is having the understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for the number of a man it is, and its number 666.”

   Meaning of Words: “wisdom”: knowledge, discernment; “understanding”: reason, mind, intellect.

   Literal Meaning: “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast,” “wisdom” refers to having the outstanding sight. “Having understanding” refers to having the ability to think. “Calculate the number of the beast” refers to figuring out who the antichrist is.

“For it is the number of a man:” the number of the beast now becomes the number of a man, it means that the beast refers to a man. 

His number is 666.” Many Bible exegetes tried to figure out and guess who the antichrist was over the years. And some ones figured out that Caesar Nile, Hitler, Mussolini and many tyrants and dictators and the number of their names was 666. Some said that a certain pope or certain presidents or politicians conformed to the number. Opinions were widely divided. What’s the closest to the conditions recorded in the Bible among them was Caesar Nile the Roman Emperor who was fierce and cruel and had killed the innocent. And he probably will find reincarnation in another’s corpse as one of the seven heads of the beast which was mortally wounded. However, some Bible exegetes held that the Hebrew translation of Caesar Nile did not conform to the convention and it was not admissible. And probably nobody will know who he is until the period of the great tribulation.

  One saying is provided here for the readers’ reference: 666 is made by three six. 3 represents God, 6 represents a man and therefore 666 is a man who shows himself that he is “God”. The greatest feature of antichrist is “showing himself that he is God” (See 2Thess. 2:4).

   Enlightenment in the Word:

1) Christ is our wisdom (See 1Cor. 1:30). The true wisdom is Christ Himself and only Him is the source of our understanding and wisdom. We have no way to have understanding and wisdom without Him.

2) Many believers are keen on figuring out what 666 represents and want to find out who the antichrist is, however, they ignore Christ Himself in their daily life. And it is not the normal understanding or wisdom.

3) All those who advocate the theory of “men becoming God” are from one source----the antichrist who shows himself that he is God and have fallen into the trap of 666 and are deceived by the evil spirit of antichrist unconsciously.

 

III. Outlines of the Spiritual Lessons

 

The Triune Satan

I. Standing on the sand of the sea (13:1)----Satan

II. A beast rising up out of the sea (1-10, 18)----antichrist

  A. its origin----out of the sea (v.1)----out of the Gentiles

  B. its position----seven heads and ten horns (v.1)----seven greater royal power and ten smaller royal power

  C. its nature----like a leopard, a bear and a lion (v.2)----being ferocious and cruel

  D. its authority----the dragon (v.2)----out of Satan

  E. its features----having been mortally wounded (v.3)----reincarnating in else’s body

  F. its power----no one can match it (v.4, 7)----overcoming all men

  G. its words----speaking great things and blasphemies (v.5-6)----looking down upon God and everything of God

  H. its days----continuing for forty-two months (v.5)----three and a half years

  I. its ambition----making those who dwell on the earth worship it (v.8-10)----the saints need the patience and the faith

  J. its status----His number is 666 (v.18)----showing himself that he is God

III. Another beast coming up out of the earth (v.11-17)----the false prophet

  A. its origin----out of the earth (v.11)----out of the Jews

  B. its power----having two horns like a lamb (v.11)----full of the power of the evil spirit

  C. its language----speaking like a dragon (v.11)----with the evil power

  D. its authority----exercising all the authority of the first beast (v.12)----from antichrist

  E. its task----causing men to worship the first beast (v.12)----making men worship antichrist

  F. its ways----performing great signs (v.13-14)----deceiving men who dwell on the earth

  G. its work----telling men to make an image to the beast, giving breath and can speak (v.14-15)----making idols

  H. its evil----killing those who do not worship the image of the beast (v.15)----extremely vicious

  I. its means----causing men to receive the mark of the beast (v.16)----in order to separate

  J. its influence----no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the beast, or the number of his name (v.17)----isolating the saints

 

── Caleb HuangChristian Digest Bible Commentary Series

   Translated by Sharon Ren