TheologyNow

Chapter 15 of Revelation.

The dramatic pause before God’s completes pouring his wrath down on a wicked and unrepentant world.

Revelation 15
15 Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God's wrath will be completed. 2 I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory from the beast, his image, and the number of his name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God. 3 They sang the song of God's servant Moses, and the song of the Lamb:

Great and awe-inspiring are Your works, Lord God, the Almighty;
righteous and true are Your ways, King of the Nations.
4 Lord, who will not fear and glorify Your name?
Because You alone are holy,
because all the nations will come and worship before You,
because Your righteous acts have been revealed.

5 After this I looked, and the heavenly sanctuary—the tabernacle of testimony—was opened. 6 Out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean, bright linen, with gold sashes wrapped around their chests. 7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 8 Then the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God's glory and from His power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

The bowl judgments are coming and with that, God wrath will be completed.  The apostle John, in heaven, sees 7 angles with the last seven plagues. He then see that sea glass that is now mixed with fire.  Again the format takes on angels and people in heaven praising God and then the judgments are poured out.  The Sea of glass could be part of the tabernacle which the priests washed themselves with.  Now its mixed with fire to purify, not just clean.  Jesus himself references a baptism of fire

Matthew 20:23-24
23 He told them, "You will indeed drink My cup. But to sit at My right and left is not Mine to give; instead, it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."

Given the fact that right after the reference of the sea of glass mixed with fire, we see those who had won victory over the beast, so indeed they had purified themselves in the tribulation.  Here these martyred tribulation saints are singing the song of Moses like what happened when God delivered his people through the red sea but when the Egyptians tried to follow the red sea came crashing down on them, killing all of who wanted to harm God’s chosen people.

Given the fact that verse 5-8 are fairly cut and dry, all that can be said is a recap of what the Bible already states but I do like how the Bible knowledge commentary describes the events in a way I could not.

Revelation 15:5-8
15:5-8. As John continued to look at the heavenly vision, he saw the temple described as the tabernacle of Testimony. The allusion to a temple in heaven seems to be the heavenly counterpart of the earthly temple. As it was opened, the seven angels with their plagues exited from it. The clean, shining linen of the angels indicates their purity, and the golden sashes around their chests point to the glory of God.

John saw one of the four living creatures give the seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God to the seven angels. When this was done, smoke filled the temple, making it impossible for anyone to enter it until the seven plagues were poured out on the earth (cf. Exodus 40:34-35). Taken as a whole, Revelation 15:5-8 presents a fearful picture of impending divine judgment on a wicked world. The judgments which are to be poured out (chap. 16) fully justify this ominous introduction.

To summarize, we have a dramatic pause, which provides a picture of heaven, where the martyred tribulation saints sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.  Praising God for who he is and it appears thankful that his wrath will be completed.  God’s reign in the millennial kingdom is around the corner but first for the unbelieving, Christ rejecting world, they must endure the seven bowl judgments and while their fate is sealed if they’ve taken the mark of the beast there still may be some who have not and perhaps through this wrath, they may realize that God wants something better for them, if only they accept his gift of salvation.

God wants fellowship with his creation but he will not force himself on people, so its reasonable to assume that those people who reject God now and choose not to fellowship with him now do not wish to spend eternity with him.  The alternative is scary because they must then pay for their own failings, sins and acts of wickedness on their own instead of leaning on the act of Christ who took on their punishment, if only they’d accept it.  Regardless, people have a choice, God gave us free will and so they are free to go their own way.

Question of the Day

What are things you can do today because of technology that you couldn't do five years ago?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

There's so many answers to this one question but one that quickly comes to mind is how cell phones have evolved over the past 5 years.  With the iPhone, I now can do things that only a desktop computer could do, actually it could do more then what a 5 year old computer was capable.

I can watch a movie on a hand held device that was able to download via wifi in a timely manner, i.e., not wait an eternity.  I have a legal and DRM free music library on the phone.  A capacitive touch screen that allows for a polished but easy to use interface.  Built in GPS, and the availability of all sorts of applications are stuff that were not even remotely possible in a 5 year old phone.

Then there's the new phenomenon of the netbooks.  A small but extremely inexpensive laptop.  It opened the door to people who could not or would not spend over 2,000 dollars for a mobile computer

Doing vs. Being.

I’m taking a break from my Bible of study of the book of Revelation. This passage struck me while reading it to my children one night.

Matthew 13:47-50
47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous, 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus being a great teacher used different parables throughout his ministry to teach about how during the end times, the angels will separate the righteous and the wicked.  Matthew 7:21-23 touches upon this and clearly there will be those in the wicked camp that will cry out to Jesus stating they worked for him.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' 23 Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!'

1 Samuel 15:22
22 Then Samuel said:
Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

Just because people are involved in ministries or are faithful in attending church means they’re guaranteed to go to heaven.  Its not our outward profession that matters but rather what’s in our heart.  How many times have we sat in the pew only to look at the our watch waiting for the service to get over, or inwardly groaning when we see a missionary come up to give the message. We all know that when missionaries talk, the service ALWAYS runs long.  How can our desire to escape church be glorifying to God.  How can we worship the One true God when we’re aching to leave his presence. 

Matthew 22:37-40
37 He said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."

God calls us to love him with ALL of your heart, soul and mind. If we were to practice that with sincerity, we’d look less at our watches and more towards him raising up our hands in worship.  Loving God or the lack of love has been on my heart so much so that Revelation 2:1-7 has been convicting me greatly.

Revelation 2:1-5
2 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
"The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says: 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 You also possess endurance and have tolerated many things because of My name, and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

The church of Ephesus started by the Apostle Paul was a great church and many years later God writes a letter to them, he commends them for being vigilant, rooting out evil, and possessing endurance but yet they lacked the love that should mark a Christian.  God does not want us to be busy on missions boards, or outreach committees.  He wants our total undivided love and attention, its out of our love for God that we should be active in his ministry.

While its important for us to be active in our local churches, the motivation should be out of love. I look in the mirror and I see an Ephesian Christian.  I’m great at being vigilant, rooting out evil, and talking the talk but I’m a weak on my love for God and even weaker on my love for my neighbor. Sometimes its best to get back to basics and what is more basic then

John 3:16
16 "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

His sacrifice on the cross was for my disobedience, my pride, my selfishness. I cannot work myself into heaven Matthew 7:21-23 shows us that as well as Isaiah 64:6

Isaiah 64:6
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

How often have we tried to love God with all of our heart, mind and soul today?  Our busyness should not be our defining character trait to the world but rather our love for God and thanksgiving to him for paying the penalty for our disobedience.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself”

What more can be said then this.

Revelation 14

Chapter 14 of Revelation switches us from what’s occurring on earth back to heaven and we see the 144,000 first introduced revelation 7 is now here in heaven.

Revelation 14:1-5
1 Then I looked, and there on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was also like harpists playing on their harps. 3 They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones not defiled with women, for they have kept their virginity. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed from the human race as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Its possible based on Revelation 12

Revelation 12:6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days.

That the 144,000 were protected supernaturally for 3 1/2 years but after which that protection was lifted and they were martyred.  Revelation 14 depicts that the 144,000 have a special role in heaven. They have a song that no one else can learn and they follow the Messiah where ever he goes.

Revelation 14:6-7
6 Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: "Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."

This is a very interesting passage because for the first time in creation an angel gets to proclaim the gospel.  Up to this time, the building up of the church, the saving of souls were left to us imperfect, and sinful creatures. Now as the time comes for God’s judgment to finish being poured down on mankind, time is running out for people to decide if they want to accept his gift of salvation or suffer the consequences of rejecting his love and companionship.

Revelation 14:8-13
8 A second angel followed, saying: "It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath." 9 And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. 12 Here is the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus."
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."

"Yes," says the Spirit, "let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!"

The prior passages details the destruction of Babylon and its fate being sealed because of  its wickedness and then provides contrasting outcomes between the wicked and the righteous.  Firstly any person who by received the mark of the beast (the antichrist) and worshipped him or his image will be condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire. Make no mistake, while there are denominations, or groups of the Christian church that deny or minimize eternal damnation, they do so not based on the God’s word.  Chapter 14 is exceptionally explicit in detailing the consequences of rejecting God.  While it is difficult to fully fathom eternal damnation, make no mistake that the Bible does teach that those who reject Jesus Christ will suffer that fate and its immaterial whether we agree or understand fully that concept.  In other words just because we cannot fully grasp eternal damnation does not make it any less true.

Revelation14:14-20
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and One like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

17 Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the sanctuary in heaven. 18 Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from earth's vineyard, because its grapes have ripened." 19 So the angel swung his sickle toward earth and gathered the grapes from earth's vineyard, and he threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses' bridles for about 180 miles.

The chapter closes with some very sobering imagery. We have the Messiah sitting on a cloud with a gold crown getting ready to judge the wicked on the earth and the impending judgment is so severe that the blood of men flowed so deep to be almost 5 feet around Jerusalem for 180 miles.  Earlier passages indicate great armies of the world trampling the “city” (Jerusalem) for 3 1/2 years so judgment is now being cast down and those people are bearing the wrath of God because they received the mark of the beast and worshipped the beast.

Chapter 14 finishes up some of the symbolism that is used and filled us in on what’s occurring in heaven during the time of the great tribulation. It shows that God is in control of all events and while we may not fully comprehend the who and why, we do see that he waits for the right time.  An angel  came out of the sanctuary stating in a loud voice that the time to cast judgment is at hand. That shows that creator and savior of the world is waiting and wanting those he created to turn to him.  The time is coming when that opportunity ceases.  Those that receive the mark seal their own fate with that mark.  Chapter 15 closes with the idea that the time to choose sides, For God or against God is coming to a close and anyone who fails to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins must face the consequences.

The Bible

If you were only allowed to own one book, what book would you choose?
Submitted by The Private Library.

 I'd choose the Bible because it details the creation of Mankind, the fall and our sinfulness and God's love and mercy providing an avenue to do what we could not.  Achieve salvation because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. His payment restored our relationship and fellowship with God.

The Beast from the Earth

The second portion of Revelation 13 details the Beast from the earth, he’s different then the first but related. He’s the false prophet.  Together with the dragon, the antichrist he creates an unholy trinity.  Satan cannot create anything as he’s a created being himself, so he copies God’s work and in this case he produces a counterfeit trinity.

Revelation 13:11-18
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth before people. 14 He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound yet lived. 15 He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he requires everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast's name or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom: The one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. His number is 666. 

Its interesting but in the wildly popular left behind series the false prophet is shown to be a bumbling fool incapable of doing anything right, while this makes for a good story line this is the furthest thing from the truth.  He’s as dangerous, cunning and evil as the antichrist and his fate will be exactly as the antichrists

Revelation 19:20
But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed signs on his authority, by which he deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

These two people are the only individuals cast into hell alive and before the great white throne, so clearly the false prophet is not some bumbling boob playing second fiddle to the antichrist.

Revelation 13:11
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.

Unlike the antichrist who came out of the sea (the world or people) this one came out of the land.  What’s the difference, well some theologians think that the false prophet is jewish and out of the earth is a veiled reference to the promised land.  Since this line of thought is difficult to confirm in the Bible, i.e, no further supporting evidence in using this symbolism, I’m not going to say if that’s true or not.  Its seems kind of a reach but there is a distinction of where this beast comes from.  What that means exactly, I’m unsure.

Revelation 13:12-15
12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth before people. 14 He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound yet lived. 15 He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

He receives his authority and power from the antichrist (who gets his power and authority from the dragon) and this isn’t some symbolic position, as verse 13 details, he performs great signs and fire coming down from heaven. So much so he deceives people with those signs.  He also has the power to make some image, talk and kill people. Could this be some sort of robot, or animatronic statue?  Who knows, technology is progressing by leaps and bounds and its conceivable that we’re talking about machine in the image of the antichrist. This also could refer to a statue who has a “spirit” in him to speak and kill those who refuse to worship the beast.  In the end, does it really matter how it was bought about?  The end result is the same, a talking visage of the antichrist capable of killing people.

Revelation 13:16-17
16 And he requires everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast's name or the number of his name.

Here’s one of the more scary passages in Revelations.  Scary because the foundation for such a mark is already in place today. Cash is quickly becoming an arcane method of buying, instead using credit cards. Many of the credit cards have chips in them.  Its not a huge leap to insert a RFID chip under the skin that contains a person’s identity and banking information. They only have to wave their hand to buy stuff. On one hand, (pun intended :) ) it’s a cool idea, because that makes life simpler but on the other hand the Bible is clear that anyone  who receives this will be doomed to hell.  The use of the idea is not the evil part but rather its association to the beast and worshiping the beast. Technology is not good or evil but how we use it is and the application of this is what causes people to choose God or the devil. By choosing the dragon they rejected God’s loving offer of sacrifice and paying for their sins.  They are left dealing with their own sins before a Holy and Righteous God.

Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom: The one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. His number is 666. 

Much also has been discussed about this so much so, I cannot scratch the surface of the meaning.  All I can say is that this refers to the unholy trinity. While there will be people who get the 666 part of the mark the numbering scheme probably won’t be that explicitly. That is the mark as mentioned in the prior verses won’t consist of 3 sixes but rather the computation of it will result of 666. It could be a serial number, like part of a UPC symbol, it could be the name of the beast and the numbers associated with the letters make out the 666 or could be something

The Bible Knowledge Commentary sums up chapter 13 the best and any of my attempts of summarizing would most likely be plagiarism.  So rather then write my own thoughts, the commentary completely states how I feel of what chapter 13 means and how it fits in with the tribulation. 

Chapter 13 is important because it introduces two of the main characters of Revelation: the beast out of the sea, the world dictator; and the beast out of the earth, the false prophet and chief supporter of the political ruler. There is no evidence that either of them is a Jew though some have identified one or the other as an apostate Jew based on the expression "the God of his fathers" (Daniel 11:37, KJV). However, the Hebrew word 'elohim is a general word for god, quite different from Yahweh, and there is no proof that in Daniel it refers to the God of Israel. In recent translations it is "gods" (cf. ASV, NASB, NEB, NIV, AND RSV). Thus while it has been popular to consider either the first or the second ruler of Revelation 13 as an apostate Jew, the supporting evidence is lacking. Both beasts are probably Gentiles inasmuch as this will be the final hour of the time of the Gentiles, when Gentiles will tramp underfoot the city of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24), and both rulers will persecute Jews as well as believing Gentiles.

Revelation 13, however, gives much insight into the character of the Great Tribulation. It will be a time of one world government and one world religion, with one world economic system. Those who will resist the ruler and refuse to worship him will be subject to execution, and the martyrs may outnumber the believers who survive. It will be Satan's final and ultimate attempt to cause the world to worship him and to turn them from the worship of the true God and Jesus Christ as their Savior.

This chapter also makes it clear that the postmillennial dream of a world getting better and better through Christian effort and gospel preaching is not supported in the Bible. Instead the final form of world religion will be apostate, satanic, and blasphemous. There are many indications today that the world is heading in this direction, with the corresponding conclusion that the coming of the Lord may be near. 
(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.)

The Beast from the Sea

Chapter 13 is symbolism rich in its description of the antichrist and the false profit. It adds more information about the antichrist and the false prophet.  There’s so much information in this chapter, I’ll break it into two parts and also do a verse by verse exploration of the chapter as opposed to taking larger swaths of the chapter.

 

Revelation 13:1-4
13:1 And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. He had 10 horns and seven heads. On his horns were 10 diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 The beast I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like a bear's, and his mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 One of his heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but his fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?"

The first verse of chapter 13 details the beast coming out of the sea, not the actual ocean but a symbol of the people of the world. That is he will be a gentile not a Jew.  Many theologians believe that the seven heads refer to the 7 mountains where Rome was settled.  In other words a reformed roman empire.  For cross reference we have Daniel 2 where God details the major world empires, starting with Babylon ending with Rome

Daniel 2:31-35
31 "My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. 34 As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

The Interpretation

Head of Gold - Babylon 

Chest and Arms of Silver - Medo-Persia 

stomach and thighs of Bronze - Greece 

Legs of Iron - Rome 

Feet of Iron and Clay - United Europe (or reformed roman empire)

The Roman army unlike Greece whose weapons were bronze had iron weapons and were swift, i.e., the legs. The feet mixed partly with clay and iron detail a confederation that is both strong like iron but brittle like clay.

Back to revelations 13:1, the 10 horns which had 10 crowns (or diadems) are 10 kings, so the confederation consists of 10 European nations. The Bible Exposition Commentary describes what the symbolism behind the animals that make up the beast better then I can

Revelation 13:2
The three animals named in Revelation 13:2 remind us of the four beasts Daniel saw in his dream (Daniel 7): a lion (Babylon), a bear (Media-Persia), a leopard (Greece), and a "terrible beast" (the Antichrist). John saw these animals, or kingdoms, in reverse order since he was looking back, while Daniel was looking ahead The final world empire will be rooted in all the previous empires and unite in one their evil and power. Added to the ferocity of these beasts will be Satan's own power, throne, and authority!
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)

Basically the final human empire built on man’s corruptible nature will be a combination and compilation of Man’s prior empires. All that worked and terrified people in those empires will be evident in this final confederation.

Revelation 13:3 One of his heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but his fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.

Imagine the following a world leader would have had be been shot, killed and “resurrected” Consider how the world would follow that person who had special powers and abilities. This is probably one avenue in how the antichrist would imitate the true Messiah but also how he would deceive the world.

Revelation 13:4 They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?"

Here’s a verse that could easily be lost amongst the other information, they (the whole earth) worshiped the dragon, that is while the second part of the verse state that the world will also worship the antichrist they worship the dragon (satan) because he gave the authority to the beast.  This is what the devil is after from the day he fell from grace till the time that the tribulation occurs.  He wants to be like God and be worshipped.  Isaiah offers a glimpse of the devil’s motives. 

Isaiah 14:12-15
12 Shining morning star, 
how you have fallen from the heavens! 
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13 You said to yourself:
"I will ascend to the heavens; 
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God. 
I will sit on the mount of the gods' assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North. 
14 I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."
15 But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit. 

He wanted to make himself the most high even though he was only a created being but in his pride he felt he out to take the place of the creator and have the angel’s and God’s creation worship him.  In revelation 13:4 people somehow recognize that the power that miraculously healed the antichrist did not come from God Almighty but rather the devil and they bow down to him and not God.  What’s sad and strange at the same time, we have the Bible detailing who the devil is, who we are as sinners and God’s plan for salvation, and end times. Yet people choose to ignore that and follow a lie.

To summarize, Chapter 13 of the Revelation is rich with details of who the antichrist is, where he gets his power, how the world will follow him and the events that cause people to bow down to him and the dragon.  

Revelation 12 part II - The fall of the devil

Revelation 12 continues, now with satan being cast out of heaven

Revelation 12:7-9
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out--the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

Some people may be surprised that satan was allowed access into heaven but we see in Job that God had allowed him into his presence for a time.

Job 1:6-7
6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, "Where have you come from?"

"From roaming through the earth," Satan answered Him, "and walking around on it."

And verse 10 of revelation 12 shows us why he's in heaven

Revelation 12:10
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

After he is cast out, we hear a loud voice, probably from an angel praising God's salvation, power and kingdom

Revelation 12:10
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not love their lives in the face of death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the earth and the sea,
for the Devil has come down to you with great fury,
because he knows he has a short time.

But along with the praise, there's a warning to the inhabitants of earth. The devil knows his time is coming to an end, and after being cast out of heaven he's going to inflict his anger and fury on God's people, and chosen people so that means Christians and Jews. This is where revelation 12:13-14 picks up

Revelation 12:13-14
13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown to earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent's presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was fed for a time, times, and half a time.

Since this verse is completely in symbolism its difficult to fully discern what exactly is going on. From the my earlier blog we know that the woman is Israel, and the mail is the Messiah. The water that is being spewed out of the serpent is most likely the people of the earth, so it may mean an army is going to march against Israel. I'm not sure what the two wings of a great eagle infer possibly airplanes and many theologians believe the place in the wilderness is the ancient city/fortress Petra. I'm not quite sure why but people hold onto this view. Suffice to say that God is providing a means and a place to save his chosen people. Make no mistake also that while we are currently in the age of the church the jews are still his chosen people. That covenant never ended and he is dealing with their sins here in tribulation.

I like what the IVP Bible commentary has to say about the eagles wings. While it could be airplanes as I stated, we see that in the OT that the wording was used for God's protection.

IVP Bible Background Commentary
12:13-14. When God led his people forth from Egypt and into the wilderness, he "bore them upon eagles' wings" (Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11), and other *Old Testament texts speak of God sheltering his people beneath his wings (Psalms 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:4; cf. Jeremiah 49:22); later Jewish texts speak of God's protecting his people, including converts to Judaism, under "the wings of his presence." "Time, times, and half a time" refer to three and a half years, as in Daniel (7:25; 12:7; cf. 4:32). The miraculous provision in the wilderness also recalls God's provision of manna for Israel of old there. The Old Testament prophets and Judaism looked forward to a new exodus like the first one in which God would ultimately deliver his people from all their oppressors; the early Christians applied this notion to their salvation by *Christ's first coming and entrance into the future era of the *kingdom by his second (see comment on Rom 8:12-17).
(from IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament by Craig S. Keener Copyright © 1993 by Craig S. Keener. Published by InterVarsity Press. All rights reserved.)

As the waters attempt to sweep the woman away we see supernatural intervention by God

Revelation 12:15-17
15 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away in a torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman: the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and left to wage war against the rest of her offspring--those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony about Jesus. 18 He stood on the sand of the sea.

God himself makes sure his chosen people are protected against the wrath and fury of the serpent. While having the earth open up as it did is unusual God has used this before to quall a rebellion. Back in Numbers 16

Numbers 16:28-33
28 Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the Lord sent me to do all these things and that it was not of my own will: 29 If these men die naturally as all people would, and suffer the fate of all, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord brings about something unprecedented, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them along with all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord."

31 Just as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open. 32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah's people, and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.

Korah's rebellion which challenged Moses's leadership ended in disaster, the earth opened up and were swallowed up. So too like Numbers we see God directly intervening in a supernatural way to protect the woman.

This protection does not bode well for Christians. Because the devil is prevented from inflicting harm against the Jews, he directs is fury and vengeance on Christians which In verse 17 is her "offspring" Its clear the supernatural protection that woman enjoys is not extended to her offspring meaning there will be more martyrs

Chapter 12 represents the "swan song" of the serpent. His presence in heaven has ended, he no longer can walk into the presence of Most High and cast accusations against his children - Those that have accepted the Messiah's payment for their sin. He then directs that anger of being cast out and knowledge that his time on earth is drawing to an end by trying to destroy God's people, first God's Chosen people and then The Christians. What does this chapter tell us, well even though there will be great pain and suffering at this time for both Jew and Gentile we see that ultimately God is in control. He allows certain actions to occur for purposes we may not understand it but that I no way suggests that God is not in control. Too often when people don't understand something they disbelieve it. Bad things happen so they thing God hates, them, or is incapable or unwilling to help them through their trials. Our ways are not God's ways and there's currently 6 billion people on this planet and God is using each and everyone of them to fulfill his plan, for some he's piecing their hearts to realize that without him they will be condemned and others who reject him, he's using them to further his plan.

The faith of Isaac

Much as been written (as rightfully so) about the faith of Abraham, but Isaac himself showed that he also had faith in the book of Genesis. Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah and he was the son of promise, as the Messiah would eventually be born from Issac's lineage.

Genesis 22:17-18
I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command."

Genesis 22 is typically used to detail Abraham's faith and obedience and it does indeed show that, but we must not forget about Issac's obedience in this chapter as well.

Genesis 22:1-14
22 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he answered.
2 "Take your son," He said, "your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 So early in the morning Abraham got up, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we'll come back to you." 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.
7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, "My father."
And he replied, "Here I am, my son."
Isaac said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." Then the two of them walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"
He replied, "Here I am."
12 Then He said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me." 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said: "It will be provided on the Lord's mountain."

While we see here that Abraham trusted in God explicitly and believed that God would raise up Isaac we must not lose site of Isaac. Many scholars believe Isaac was in his late teens to early twenties during this passage. This is based on the context of the preceding chapters and the fact he's able to carry the wood that Abraham hoisted upon him. If that was the case, and I believe it so, we can assume Abraham was around 120 years old. Clearly Isaac was quite capable of stopping and overpowering Abraham if he really wanted too. Yet he allowed himself to be tied up, placed on the alter and seemingly let the knife be plunged into his chest.

Another example of Isaac's faith is in Chapter 25 of Genesis

Genesis 25:21-22
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

And also chapter 26 is another example of Isaac obeying God

Genesis 26:1-6
26 There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham's time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3 stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, 5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions." 6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

While all of the attention is directed to Abraham, we would be remiss to note how Abraham's walk of faith inspired his son's obedience and walk of faith. Isaac believed his father that God would provide a sacrifice, and was obedient to the point of death, he also was shown as one who prayed. He was married at age 40 and 30 years had transpired but God had listened to his prayer and Rebekah conceived. Likewise when the Lord spoke to him, he obeyed, and instead of heading down to Egypt, he stayed in the land of Canaan.

He wasn't perfect and he also picked up his father's penchant of lying.He wasn't perfect and he also picked up his father's penchant of lying.

Genesis 26:7-8
7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say "my wife," thinking, "The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman."

Clearly this very act occurred to his father two times beforehand. It also illustrates that while both Abraham and Isaac were righteous, they were not perfect or sinless. It should server as motivation for modern day believers to trust in God and understand that we are a work in progress. We all have short comings but with faith in God we can deal with them.

To summarize, Abraham was faithful to God, and without hesitation about to sacrifice his one and only son. Yet Isaac was not some little child, but rather a young man quite capable of stopping this whole trial, but he didn't. We also see that Isaac demonstrated prayer and faith in the subsequent chapters. While it seems Isaac's life in the book of Genesis is a parenthetical hold over to get from Abraham to Jacob, there's no denying the fact he had faith and trusted in God.

Revelation 12, the dragon, woman and child

Chapter 11 finishes up with the final trumpet blowing. Unlike the other trumpets and judgements that preceded the 7 thrumpet the actual judgment is not immediately foretold but rather we again see the 24 elders who are seated before God fall on their faces and praise God. Additionally we see the temple open up and the ark of the covenant is shown. This of course is the actual ark, not the early ark that was modeled after the heavenly model. Not much else can be written about this passage, other then what was written.

 

Revelation 11:15-19
15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of His Messiah,
and He will reign forever and ever!

16 The 24 elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:

We thank You, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was,
because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come.
The time has come for the dead to be judged,
and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets,
to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great,
and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.

19 God's sanctuary in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His sanctuary. There were lightnings, rumblings, thunders, an earthquake, and severe hail.

Chapter 12 opens up and introduces us to the main characters to the tribulation

Revelation 12:1-6
12 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 4 His tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might devour her child. 5 But she gave birth to a Son--a male who is going to shepherd all nations with an iron scepter--and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days.

I like what the Bible Knowledge Commentary has to say about this passage and it does a better job of explaining these verses then I can

The woman symbolized Israel, as indicated by Genesis 37:9-11, where the sun and the moon referred to Jacob and Rachel, Joseph's parents. The stars in the woman's crown clearly related to the 12 sons of Jacob and identified the woman as Israel fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant. J.B. Smith cites Isaiah 60:1-3,20 as proof that the sun refers to Israel's future glory (A Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 182).

Many commentaries are so intent on attempting to identify Israel as the church that they ignore these plain indications that the woman is Israel. Robert H. Mounce, for instance, makes the woman "the messianic community, the ideal Israel...the church (Revelation 12:17). The people of God are one throughout all redemptive history" (The Book of Revelation, p. 236). While there is a unity of the people of God, this does not wipe out dispensational and racial distinctions.
(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.)

Clearly some commentaries try to state that the woman is the church but that makes no sense, given

verse 5:But she gave birth to a Son--a male who is going to shepherd all nations with an iron scepter--and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

The church did not give birth to the Messiah, but he was born from Israel. The church did not precede the Christ but rather the Christ created the church after his ressurection on the day of pentacost.  Also don't forget about the symbolism of the sun, moon and stars and how that referres back to Joseph's dreams about Israel.  Clearly this is God telling us about Israel and not the church.  Also the book of daniel details the purification of Israel which the 7 year period, called the tibulation is.

Further along the chapeter, we also get see more details about the players of tribulation, such as the devil.  Here he's called the red dragon here and he swept a third of the starts from heaven, that is a third of the angels decided to follow him in his rebellion against God and thus turning from angels into demons. The 10 horns on the dragon's head represent satan control over the world, in fact more is written about the 10 horns, or rather 10 leaders who follow the antichrist in chapter 13 but this starts laying the groundwork of where the antichrist's comes from. 

What's interesting that through ancent mythology, people have represented a seven headed dragon. I'm not sure what's up with that but its consistent.

Revelation 12:4
12:3. Ancient Mesopotamian myths portrayed seven-headed monsters; later Jewish tradition linked the worship of dragons to Babylon (Bel and the Dragon 23-27). The image of a seven-headed serpent or dragon was also part of Canaanite mythology that the Israelites symbolically turned to better purposes: God's parting the Red Sea was now symbolized as a defeat of the primeval serpent Leviathan or Lotan (Psalms 74:13-15; cf. also Psalms 89:9-10; Isaiah 27:1; 30:7; 51:9; Job 9:13; 26:12-13; Ezekiel 29:3; for the principle see Exodus 12:12. Rahab in some of these texts had become a cipher for Egypt -- Psalms 87:4). The Greek hero Heracles also confronted a seven-headed dragon, the Lernean hydra, in Greek mythology, although the number of heads changed quickly! Serpents were also associated with Asclepius; their association with Athena is less relevant in Asia Minor. Serpent veneration is common in many cultures and prevailed in a *Gnostic sect called the Ophites in the second century.

Jewish people had many stories about the great evil reptile Leviathan, that he would even be killed and served up as part of the course at the *messianic banquet (cf. *2 Baruch and later *rabbis). Here the dragon is identified with the serpent of Genesis 3 and the devil (Revelation 12:9).
(from IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament by Craig S. Keener Copyright © 1993 by Craig S. Keener. Published by InterVarsity Press. All rights reserved.)

The beginning verses of chapter 12 is the foundation for detailing some of the characters in the tribulation that will be built upon in coming chapters. The dragon, ie., satan, the woman, Israel and the Christ who satan tried to devour/destroy while he (the Messiah) was on earth. Even in this early chapter we see God's control over everything. While it appears things may be falling apart, he is ordering events according to his will. He foretold the death of Christ but the ultimate victory over death and sin way back in Genesis, he added lots of details in the book of Daniel and now we see how he's ordering events to bring the final fulfillment.

While the end of chapter 11 and 12 offer no details on the forcoming judgements it creates the fondation of how the tribulation is to be, that is the devil through the antichrist will control 10 world governments and it will attempt to destroy God's people, specifically Isreal.God will supernaturally protect them for 3 1/2 years as told in chapter 12:6