REVELATION LESSON 28
We will begin this lesson with Revelation 13:1 "And I stood upon
the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having
seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his
heads the name of blasphemy."
This "sea" means large numbers of people. One writer says,
unstable nations of peoples. This beast has to do with the powers of
this earth opposed to Christendom.
These "heads" show dominion. We have said before that "ten" has
to do with world government and "horns" show power. We know then that
this has something to do with the world government and rulers of that.
"Crowns" show dominion. This "blasphemy" denies the true God. It
doesn't matter who the "I" is here, but it is probably John.
We see a terrible vicious world power. I believe this "ten" here
is the ten common market nations which were formed from the old Roman
empire. The old Roman empire has been reestablished in the ten common
market nations. The sad thing is, that it appears, the power that this
group has is from the evil one. One of these things that shocks me
about these ten nations is that their merchandise is numbered with the
prefix 666. Many shoes from these nations have this number inside
the sole of the shoe. Shirt collars bear this prefix. It is as if it
is the common number of this group of European nations.
It is not difficult to understand where their power comes from.
"...Upon his heads the name of blasphemy". This beast has the ten
horns of power. This is the personification of what Satan does with
this world power. The personification of evil when it takes over
governments and people who are heads of these government.
Revelation 13:2 "And the beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as
the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat,
and great authority."
Many writers believe the "leopard" here, indicates swiftness and
its blood thirsty nature, the "bear" indicates crushing force, the
"lion" denotes lordly dominion. The "dragon", of course is Satan.
We see by this that this beast is blood thirsty, forceful to
crushing of others. and has world dominion. We see also, that the
beast's power comes from Satan himself. The devil goes through the
earth as a lion seeking whom he may devour, I Peter 5:8. This beast
has great power and has great authority.
I might as well tell you right here, that I believe this beast is
the master computer in Brussells. This computer, which takes up a city
block, is named the beast. How much more power and authority could you
have, than to control everyone in the world with the master computer?
Did you know if you ever had a passport, or ever paid income tax, you
are already in this master computer? This is the age of information.
There is no privacy at all any more. There really is nothing more
vicious and unreasonable to deal with than a computer.
Once the information gets in the machine, It is near impossible
to get it out. The information in the U.S. goes through the computer
in Missouri and then to Brussels.
Revelation 13:3 "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to
death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered
after the beast."
This terrible system of numbers (which God has always opposed)
does have two heads. There is another back up computer in another
location in Europe. If one of them goes down, it wouldn't take over
three days to have the other one in operation. Of course, the back up
unit contains the same information as the original one. Someone might
get ambitious enough to destroy one of them. And it would truly appear
as dead until the other could be put into operation.
Satan (the dragon) set this whole thing up. God does not like his
people being numbered without His permission. His beloved David
numbered his people without God telling him to, and God punished him
by killing several thousand of his people. 2nd Samuel 24.
You see, God does not like us being numbered and grouped. To Him
we are individuals, and He has a special name for each of us. This
master computer is the 8th wonder of the world. Nearly everyone has a
card. We decided a few years back to destroy all of our cards. We do
not believe it is evil to have one now, but it is leading to something
terrible; so we cut ours up and sent them back.
Revelation 13:4 "And they worshipped the dragon which gave power
unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like
unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"
If you have ever done battle with a computer, you know that there
is no way to win. Once the information is computed, You may as well
forget ever getting it changed, People have nearly gone crazy over
computers. Really the thing is amazing; the things it can do. This
dragon they worshipped was Satan.
Revelation 13:5 "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue
forty [and] two months."
Here we see that this is not a human. Humans already have mouths.
This is an inanimate object which acquires the power to speak. When
the first commercially used computer was put on the market in 1948,
they could not talk, but now they speak to us as if they were another
person. As I said, they are amazing with what they can do.
This beast computer is already in operation, I believe, for 3 1/2
years of the wrath of God I believe it will operate with the numbers
of the mark of the beast; but I am getting ahead of myself. No one
will be able to buy or sell without the number.
Revelation 13:6 "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against
God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in
heaven."
This I believe is an attack against God and His people, the
"blasphemy against God" here could be the numbering of the people.
That would be in direct opposition to God's plan. Blaspheming was
punishable by stoning to death.
This "...Tabernacle..." is the church, and these "...That dwell
in heaven..." are the believers in Jesus Christ. These believers dwell
in Heaven 3 1/2 years while the wrath of God is poured out upon the
earth.
Revelation 13:7 "And it was given unto him to make war with the
saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all
kindreds, and tongues, and nations."
The Christians for the first 3 1/2 years of the seven year period
are already going to be doing battle with the enemy of God. There will
be tribulation even for the believers. These will be required of God
to stand against this evil. Christians, I say again, will not be
spared tribulation.
I believe when the mark of the beast occurs, the Christians will
have to make a decision not to receive this mark. We will be tempted
to take it for, perhaps forty days (time of testing). At this point,
those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will be
carried away into heaven to be protected by God
The wrath begins immediately after the rapture of the church. I
have mentioned before and will state again, here, that the word
"rapture" is not found in the Bible. It is just a short way of saying
the catching away of the believers into heaven.
You see, this beast has enough power given that it could wear the
believers down in defeat, but for the sake of the elect, Matt.24:22
God shortens this time of testing. Notice here, the power that this
beast has, stretches to all nations. this is not localized; this is
world power at its greatest magnitude, subject only to God. God is the
only power greater.
Revelation 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world."
Not only does this Scripture mean that God planned this from the
beginning of the world, but it also means God had foreknowledge of who
would be saved and wrote their name down in the Lamb's Book then. He
did not predestinate. He foreknew that we would choose to follow
Jesus. Those who rejected Jesus, fall for this system and are defeated
and they actually worship this evil system.
This system of credit that we have in our country today is very
dangerous. The Bible teaches the borrower is servant to the lender.
How true this is. You are not your own boss, if you owe someone. You
are servant to that person until you pay them. The Bible tells us not
to owe anyone anything, except the debt of love. Romans 13:8 "Owe no
man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another
hath fulfilled the law." If we would practice this Scripture, we would
not be servant to the beast. If we owe money through the computer,
then we will be servant to this computer.
Easy credit is an enemy to our society. Young marriages are
destroyed by debt. The number one cause of divorce in America today is
debt. We have become a society who pampers ourselves. We buy things
that we really can't afford. We must get off this merry-go-round. The
enemy is getting us just where he wants us; in debt to him. Our
indebtedness causes us to be his servant.
This is a covetous society. We covet things our neighbors have.
We are making little gods of ourselves. Our wants far exceed our
needs. Secular humanism tries to make us believe we are the center of
everything. Our egos are making us want to he like God. We are ripe to
fall into sin and out of fellowship with God. Only those, who turn
their complete will over to God and make Jesus Lord of their lives,
have their names written in the lamb's book of life.
My only plea to everyone I see, "is trade in this temporary life
of worldliness for an eternity of godliness" Make Jesus Lord and
master today before this Scripture comes into fact.
Revelation 13:9 "If any man have an ear, let him hear."
You see, this again, is a warning not to let this go in one ear
and out the other, but to take heed to this warning.
Extra scriptures to read and study: Daniel 7:6. Deuteronomy
33:17, Psalms 132:17, Jeremiah 48:25, Psalms 33:2, Acts 12:22, Daniel
7, Acts 2:41 and 47, Exodus 15:11, Micah 7:18, Leviticus 24:16,
Philippians 4:3, Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:20, Matthew 11:15, and
2 Samuel 24.
Memorize 1 Peter 5:8 and Revelation 13:9.
Revelation Questions 28
1. When he was standing upon the sand of the sea, what did he see
rising out of the sea?
2. Describe him.
3. What was on his heads?
4. What does this sea mean?
5. What is this in opposition to Christendom?
6. What do these horns show?
7. When you put it with the number ten, what does it mean?
8. What do crowns show?
9. What does this blasphemy deny?
10. What modern group does the author believe this ten is?
11. Where does their power originate?
12. What number do you find in their manufactured goods?
13. This is the personification of _______?
14. In V-2, this beast was like unto a _______.
15. His feet were as the feet of a _________.
16. His mouth was a ________.
17. Who gave him power?
18. Who do all these names describing the beast show us?
19. What does the author believe the beast is?
20. This is the age of what?
21. What state in the US feeds information to this master computer in
Europe?
22. What happened to the beast that caused the world to wonder?
23. What system has God always opposed when he did not direct it?
24. Who is the dragon?
25. What did David do that caused God to kill several thousand of his
people.
26. Who did the people Worship?
27. What was given to the beast?
28. What does this show us about the beast?
29. How long was this beast to reign?
30. Who did this beast blaspheme?
31. What was the punishment for blaspheming?
32. What is this Tabernacle?
33. Who would he make war with?
34. How do we know this covered the whole earth?
35. What does forty mean?
36. When does the wrath of God begin?
37. Who will worship this evil one?
38. Who is the borrower servant to?
39. What is the number one cause of divorce today?
40. Who are the only ones who will have their names written in the
Lambs Book?
41. Write 1 Peter 5:8.
42. Write Revelation 13:9.
43. Give your opinion of the lesson learned from lesson 28.
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