REVELATION 13

There has never been a period of human history as dark as the one John describes in Revelation 13. Indeed, there may be a parallel here between Christ's suffering on the cross and the suffering of the saints at this time. The beast is allowed to wage war on them and to conquer them, they cannot buy or sell without the mark of the beast, and they face death if they refuse to worship the beast, yet they must refuse to do so.

Yet the only instruction for Christians here (in verse 10) is to be patient and faithful. How different this is from the appeal of other religions which want to conquer the world by the sword. No resistance is suggested here, only faith that God is still in charge, and he will shorten these days. Recall from the previous chapter that Christians are to overcome the world by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

We are introduced to two beasts here. The first comes out of the sea and the second comes out of the earth, but I don't know whether or not there is any meaning for that distinction. Certainly there is no practical difference, since both beasts stem from the activity of Satan. The first beast here is apparently the fourth beast described in Daniel 7:7 and Daniel 7:23-25, and it is usually identified with the Roman empire. It is also the beast which murdered the two prophets in chapter 11, and it is allowed to make war on the saints here. Though the Romans certainly persecuted Christians during John's lifetime, it doesn't seem possible to me (given the mark of the beast, for example), that this vision could have been completely fulfilled in the first century. Indeed, the description of the first beast here seems to combine the descriptions of the first three beasts in Daniel 7, which are usually associated with Babylon, Persia and Greece.

I do not know what verse 1 means when it indicates there were blasphemous names on the beast's heads, nor do I know what boastful, blasphemous and slanderous things the beast speaks in verses 5 and 6. However, this chapter seems to make it clear that those who worship the beast are not only deceived, but they are willfully disobedient to God. Their idolatry and their persecution of God's people are so severe that Revelation 14:9-11 specifically tells us those who worship the beast will be tormented forever.

Many commentators cross-reference the mortal wound to one of the first beast's heads with Genesis 3:15, which describes the conflict between Christ and Satan where God says to the serpent, "He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel." Yet that doesn't adequately explain verses 3-4, which say that the beast's mortal wound was healed, and the world followed the beast with amazement and admiration. Certainly nothing in Genesis would encourage them to do so.

Curiously, the term antichrist is not found anywhere in Revelation, though Paul does speak of the antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9. When John speaks of the antichrist in his letters, he always refers to the spirit of antichrist as being present in anyone who denies Jesus Christ (fully God and fully man) has come in the flesh. There are basically two interpretations of what the two beasts here represent. One is that the first beast represents a political empire whose kings want to be worshiped, and the second beast represents a false prophet and the religious system which supports the first beast. This view is of an unholy church/state alliance.

The second view is that what we are dealing with here is a counterfeit Satanic trinity, in which the dragon gives his authority to the first beast, as God has given authority to Christ, and the purpose of the second beast is to perform deceptive and destructive miracles and to cause men to worship the first beast, as the Holy Spirit's purpose is to provide miraculous power on earth and to cause men to worship Christ. Furthermore, the wounding and subsequent healing of one of the heads of the first beast may be analogous to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. I like that as an analogy, and it even help explain why the murder of God's prophets in chapter 11 inspires the giving of anti-christmas presents, and it may even explain something about the significance of the number 666, which, among other things, combines imperfection with imperfection with imperfection and failure upon failure upon failure.

I have heard a great deal about what the two beasts represent. When I became a Christian in the 1970s, it was fashionable to believe that the ten horns of the first beast represented ten nations of the European common market, a notion Americans found comforting and convenient, because the beast would then be a European creation, not ours. But the common market has faded into history, replaced by a European union which has 25 nations in it. Clearly, we can now discard the common market theory, but I don't have a new one. It will become apparent in its time.

As for the second beast, Revelation 19 describes it as "the false prophet". Since it has two horns, it causes men to worship the first beast, and it clearly has a religious significance, some have speculated that it might represent, for example, a union between the Roman Catholic church and the World Council of Churches. But that's purely speculation, and it may turn out to be as inaccurate as the common market theory. However, I suspect the false prophet leads a union of two religions or two religious organizations.

In any event, for one mercifully brief period in human history, Satan will cause his will to be done on earth as never before, but we are told both beasts will be captured and thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 19.

REVELATION 12

When I read this chapter the first time, I assumed the woman who bore the male child was Mary, the mother of Jesus. However, when was Mary clothed with the sun, crowned with twelve stars, with the moon under her feet? Mary and Joseph did flee to Egypt with the baby Jesus, but we don't know for how long. It might well have been for 42 months, but we really don't know.

It is generally accepted that the woman here is Israel. For one thing, Genesis 37:9-11 tells us about a dream Joseph had, in which the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. The sun, the moon and the stars in this dream were Jacob, Rachel and Joseph's brothers. Isaiah 66:7-9 also speak of Zion as giving birth to a male son. Furthermore, Jesus speaks in Matthew 24:15-22 about a time when people will need to flee from Israel. Some may say this was fulfilled in a.d. 70, but Jews were scattered for nearly 2,000 years at that time. Also, though pagan practices were common in the Roman empire, I'm not aware of anything which could be described as "the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel". My view is that the prophecy in this chapter has only been partially fulfilled.

The second sign John sees here is a large red dragon. Later we will see the dragon give his power and authority to the first beast in chapter 13. The imagery here is somewhat confusing. On the one hand, the dragon described here has seven heads and it wears seven crowns, symbolic of kings, and it has ten horns, which symbolize nations. Thus, the dragon would not seem to be Satan himself, but a political power Satan has given his authority to. However, verse 9 indicates the dragon is Satan himself, and it is Satan who has been cast out of heaven. In chapter 13, the dragon gives his authority to the first beast, which has seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns upon its horns. The ancient serpent, the dragon and the first beast of Revelation 13 do not seem to be entirely interchangeable, but this is sort of a meaningless distinction, because the dragon and both of the beasts described in chapter 13 always attempt to carry out Satan's will.

When Israel, figuratively speaking, gave birth to Christ, Satan tried to destroy him, from the time Herod had all the male children under two years old murdered until the crucifixion. He appeared to have finally been successful, until Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.

This chapter could be subtitled "Satan's many failures", because it is really about his rebellion against God and how his defiance always fails. The dragon sweeps a third of the stars out of the sky and hurls them down to earth. This apparently means that a third of the angels join Satan in his rebellion, and these demons become active on earth, as they are today. But verses 7-9 make it clear that they are not on earth by choice, they are here because they have been driven out of heaven, as a result of the redemptive work of Christ. We may look around on earth and feel that Satan is wildly successful with mankind, but it is instructive to compare Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7 with Luke 10:18. In Job, the Lord and Satan converse as if they were heads of opposing political parties. In Luke, Jesus says, "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven." Satan and his demons no longer have a place in heaven and Revelation 12:10-12 states that Satan cannot accuse us in the presence of God day and night, as he did in the time of Job. His activity on earth is precisely due to his failure in heaven, and the kingdom, power and authority of Jesus is fully manifest in heaven.

John 16:33 (NKJV) says "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Revelation 12:11 says God's elect will overcome the world by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, their proclamation of their faith in Christ. This verse also indicates that they loved not their own lives, even unto death. The necessity of being faithful to Christ, even in the face of martyrdom, is one of the arguments against a pre-tribulation rapture, though there are many other factors to consider in that regard.

Having failed to destroy Jesus, Satan next attacks those on the earth, specifically pursuing the woman who gave birth to Jesus. This prophecy may have had a partial fulfillment with Mary, the mother of Jesus, because Luke 2:35 says "a sword will pierce your soul also". That may refer to her seeing Jesus crucified or to other struggles she had during her lifetime. But a better interpretation would be that Satan has come to attack both the physical and the spiritual descendants of Abraham. The 42 months when the woman is protected from the dragon probably only applies to those in Israel who are willing to heed the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:15-22, and it would appear to correspond to the time of the witnessing of the two prophets in chapter 11, as well as to the 42 months in Revelation 13:5 when the beast is allowed to exercise authority on earth. I don't have even a theory about where the place of refuge during this time might be, nor do I know what is meant by the water which comes from the dragon's mouth or how the earth swallows it up. It is possible, though far from certain, that a nation, an army, or an alliance of nations and armies invade the holy land at this time, and the armies are destroyed by an act of God, rather than by human intervention. But my main point here is that I have two reasons for believing verses 13-17 do not just apply to the spiritual Israel Paul speaks of in Galatians 6. First of all, whenever Michael the archangel is mentioned (in Daniel chapters 10-12, in Jude and in this chapter), it always appears he is responsible for the people of Israel (see Daniel 10:21). More importantly, after Satan fails to destroy the woman, he goes off to attack her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus.

All of this is introductory material to chapter 13, where the beast is allowed to make war against the saints and to conquer them for a brief period of time until Christ returns.

REVELATION 11

At the beginning of chapter 11, John is given a measuring instrument, and he is asked to measure the sanctuary of God and the altar, and to count the number of worshipers there. We are not told the results of these measurements or the number of worshipers. Perhaps the results of the measurements were the same as in Ezekiel 40-42. As for the number of worshipers, we are not told whether John was counting the 144,000 who were sealed in Revelation 7:4, or if he was trying to count the multitude in Revelation 7:9, which he has already told us no one could count.

John is told not to measure the outer court of the temple, because it has been given to the gentiles to trample on for 42 months, the same period of time mentioned in both Daniel 7:25 and in Daniel 12:7, perhaps a reference to the second half of the great tribulation, Daniel's seventieth week. This is also the same period of time for which Elijah was allowed to shut the heavens so no rain would fall for three and a half years. Oddly enough, I cannot find a reference to that period of time in 1 Kings 17, but only in Luke 4:25 and James 5:17. The two prophets we are introduced to in verse 3 are also given 42 months to prophesy in Jerusalem before they are killed. They are allowed to prevent it from raining during that period of time, as Elijah was allowed to do, and they are allowed to inflict the earth's inhabitants with plagues as often as they like, plagues which are probably similar to those Moses was given authority to do before the exodus from Egypt. The three and a half days after their deaths are an abbreviated analogy to their times as prophets, and their resurrection similar to the resurrection of Christ, for whom they are witnesses.

I believe Revelation's chapters 11, 12 and 13 are actually three different pictures of events which will happen during the same time period. The witnesses
in chapter 11 are granted power to prophesy and to afflict the earth with plagues for 42 months. In chapter 12, the woman who gave birth to a male child
is given a place of refuge in the wilderness for 42 months. In chapter 13, the beast is given authority to exercise his will for 42 months.

I should add here that some commentators do not take any of the numbers in this book literally. In this case, they claim that interpreting this period as a literal 42 months before Christ's kingdom comes would violate the saying of Jesus in Matthew 24:36 where he said, "But of that exact day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Therefore, they say these references are to the entire church age, not to a literal 42 months or three and a half years.

Their point is well-taken, but if this period of time is not literal, why is it placed in scripture more than half a dozen times, and why is it in both the Old and New Testaments? My preference is to interpret Revelation, and prophetic scriptures in general, in the most straightforward way possible. Certainly God could confuse us all with symbolism forty levels deep, but in Matthew 11:25-26 Jesus says, "I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to babes." Of course, Jesus was not speaking about eschatological events when he said this, but he was indicating revelation comes from God, and it is not the result of human intelligence, which leads me to suspect that some commentators over-analyze prophetic passages, relying on clever analogies, rather than a straightforward interpretation, which can often be clearly understood by someone who is reading scripture for the first time.

There are a wide variety of interpretations of who these prophets are, Moses and Elijah, Peter and Paul, or even the church in general, not two literal individuals. As John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah, but he was not literally Elijah, but an altogether different human being, I believe these are two men who arise at a specific point in history for which God has appointed them.

They are dressed in sackcloth (probably made of goat skin), which is always symbolic of repentance and the acknowledgment of past sins, and it contrasts with the celebration of their deaths by the unrepentant.

They are referred to as olive trees and lampstands in verse 4. This is similar to the passage in Zechariah 4:8-14 where Joshua and Zerubbabel are referred to as two lampstands. Note that Joshua was the high priest and Zerubbabel was a prince. So the two prophets in this chapter may symbolize both spiritual and political authority. Referring to them as lampstands may also indicate they are leaders of two churches, since the seven golden lampstands spoken of in Revelation 1:12 and 1:20 represent the seven churches which were discussed in Revelation 2 and 3.

Until the 42 months are over, these prophets are allowed to kill anyone who attempts to harm them, as Elijah was allowed to do in 2 Kings 1:10-12. They are also allowed to prevent rain, as Elijah was given power to do, and they are allowed to turn water into blood, which Moses was allowed to do in Exodus 7:17-20. This is probably in response to the persecution of God's people, as it was in Egypt. But just as it did not cause Egypt's pharaoh to repent, the plagues these prophets are allowed to initiate only cause earth's inhabitants to want to kill them. Verse 7 tells us that the beast from the abyss, or the bottomless pit, will wage war on them, conquer them and kill them. This is the first reference to the beast, which we will discuss more fully in chapter 13.

The celebration of their deaths seems particularly ironic, because we exchange gifts every Christmas in commemoration of Christ's birth. This event is an anti-Christmas, and though human nature has always been evil since Adam and Eve sinned, many men who are not even Christians have celebrated Christmas in some fashion for two thousand years, but the influence of Satan over this generation of men is so great that they celebrate the murder of prophets in a similar way. Even their resurrection in the sight of their enemies, perhaps shown on television around the world, does not cause repentance, but only great dread and terror.

The earthquake at the time of their resurrection is not only a demonstration of God's power, but it is reminiscent of the earthquake at the time of Christ's death (Matthew 27:51-53) and the earthquake in Acts 4:31 when the disciples prayed for power to continue to be witnesses to Christ's resurrection, though no one perished in those earthquakes.

Verse 14 tells us that the second woe (the sixth trumpet) has passed, and the third woe (the seventh trumpet) is soon to come. Recall that an eagle flying in heaven warned about these three woes at the end of chapter 8, and the second woe in chapter 9 apparently began with a military battle which included an army of 200 million men, an incredibly large army, even by today's standards.

When the seventh angel blows his trumpet in verse 15, the kingdom of the world becomes Christ's kingdom for all eternity. Verses 16-18 describe the worship of God by the 24 elders we have met before, and verse 19 tells us that the sanctuary of God in heaven will be opened, the ark of the covenant will be seen, and there will be thunder, lightning and a large hailstorm, another demonstration of the power of God.

As I said earlier, chapters 11, 12 and 13 appear to be different pictures of concurrent events, meaning that many of the events yet to be described, particularly those in chapter 13, would have to occur before the seventh trumpet is blown. Jesus speaks of the seventh trumpet in Matthew 24:30-31 (AMP), as follows:

30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and beat their breasts and lament in anguish,
and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [in brilliancy and splendor].

31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end
of the universe to the other."

Paul speaks of the seventh trumpet, both in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, as follows:

51 "Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death],
but we shall all be changed (transformed)

52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised
imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed)."

16 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God.
And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.

17Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord!"

REVELATION 10

Chapter 10 and most of chapter 11 provide an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. In this chapter, John sees a mighty angel astride both land and sea, and the angel has a small scroll in his hand. When the angel cries aloud, seven thunders sound, but John is not permitted to write down what the seven thunders said. I would sure like to know what they said, but God has sovereignly hidden some things he could have revealed in this book. This passage reminds me of John 12:27-32 in which a voice from heaven says "I have already glorified my name, and I will glorify it again." My best guess would be that what the seven thunders said was similar, but it may also have included a clue about when God plans to glorify his name, which we are not permitted to know.

Because of the influence of sin, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:33-37 to simply say yes or no, and not to swear by anything. But here, the sinless angel swears by the name and faithfulness of God, who lives forever, that there will be no further delay, but when the seventh trumpet sounds, God's purposes, which he has already announced to the prophets, will be revealed. The key element of his purpose is the return and reign of Christ. However, Revelation 10:5-7 is similar to Daniel 12:7 where Daniel is told that the power of God's holy people will continue to be crushed for another 42 months. So perhaps we are at the midpoint in Daniel's seventieth week. Except for the seventh trumpet, which ushers in the full manifestation of the kingdom of God, perhaps the trumpets and bowls are sequential, with the trumpets applying to the first half of the tribulation and the bowls applying to the last half of it.

Then John is instructed to take the scroll from the angel's hand and to eat it. On the surface, it's a rather odd instruction, since books are not edible, and they are certainly not delicious. John is told that the scroll will be as sweet as honey in his mouth, but it will make his stomach bitter. After he eats the scroll, he is told that he must once again prophesy about many peoples, races, nations, languages and kings. So the scroll may have contained writing about what John prophesies about in the last eleven chapters of this book. In Ezekiel 3:1-3, Ezekiel is also given a scroll to eat, which is as sweet as honey in his mouth, before he prophesies to the people of Israel. So the purpose of these scrolls is for the prophets to absorb the word of the Lord, even as Jesus describes himself as the bread of life (John 6:48-51).

The word of God is sweet, because it brings Christ into our hearts and will ultimately bring Christ's kingdom to earth, but some of its results are also bitter, because it also brings destruction to many men who do not repent. Indeed, this contrast is found throughout the Christian experience. The word of God brings deep inner peace, but it also brings conflict with the world, and even conflict with our own nature. In Mark 10:29-31 Jesus tells us that anyone who is willing to leave houses, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children and lands, will receive a hundred times as much in this life, and ultimately eternal life, but also persecution. In Luke 9:62 Jesus says, "Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God." Matthew 24:13 says, "He who endures to the end will be saved." As we will be told in Revelation 14:12-13, one of the themes and purposes of the book of Revelation is a call for the faith and endurance of the saints. For most of us, being disciples of Christ on earth is a marathon, not a sprint. If the only thing we really gain from the study of the book of Revelation is motivation to finish the race, even though we do not fully comprehend the mysteries of this book, we have done well.