The Book of Revelation: Chapters 13-14

Part 1

Tim Moore: You know, we closed last week by focusing on the role of Israel. God chose the Jewish people to be a conduit of His blessing, and an example of what it means to be in a covenant relationship with the Lord. When they were faithful, He poured out blessing, when they strayed, He meted out discipline. But He has promised that a great remnant of them will come to salvation. God’s grace and Israel’s preeminence is what enrages Satan. The incessant malevolence of this infernal enemy of God and His people is our topic today. We’ll focus primarily on Revelation chapters 13 and 14, but we’ll preview the prophesied fate of our evil foe. So how about it, fellas? What is Satan’s eternal fate?

David Bowen: Oh, it’s doom. The loser loses.

Tim Moore: Yeah, the loser, as you say, loses. Well as he should. And as we’ve been looking forward to throughout all time. But even before we get to that point, let’s go back, shall we say, to the beginning. So, Nathan, what is Satan’s agenda? What has always been his agenda?

Nathan Jones: Well, you can go to Isaiah chapter 14 or Ezekiel chapter 28, and then we’ll read here in chapter 13 that Satan was the guardian cherub of the throne of God. He was the worship leader. He could play all these instruments. He might have been dragon looking, like he was encrusted in bright light, like jewels. He was magnificent, he was the greatest, most powerful of all God created. And as he led the worship of God, he’s like, oh, why aren’t they worshiping me? And somehow he convinced a third of the angels in heaven to join him in an attempt to overthrow God and take His throne. He failed, obviously, because God is God and Satan is just a created being. God cast him and the demons, which are what they’re called after the angels rebelled, down to the earth. Some are being kept in the pit for final judgment. And now Satan, if he can’t take over heaven, he will rule the earth. And the first thing he tried to do was take the title deed of the earth from mankind, Adam and Eve, which he succeeded when he tempted them.

Tim Moore: Yeah, I think he is always sought to thwart or stop the will of God, and he does that by sowing confusion and doubt. Some of the questions he asked in Genesis were, “Did God really say?” And so he wanted to make Eve, initially, unsure of, well, what did God say? And then he dramatically contradicted the stated will of God so that he could try to lead both Adam and Eve, and to this day, every individual on this earth, away from God, or at least into a casual straying, if not an open rebellion.

David Bowen: And convinced Eve to add to God’s Word too. Because you go back to that point, you know she could not eat from the tree and she added, “Well, God said, I can’t touch the tree either.” And that’s again deception. That’s what he does throughout the book. And that’s why he thinks he’s being victorious, but he’s not.

Tim Moore: He certainly is not.

Nathan Jones: I love Isaiah 14:12, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations.” You know, we’ve seen Satan ravish humanity for the last 6,000 plus years, and we are finally getting to the point where we’re down to his last three and a half years by the time we reach chapter 12 and 13. This is it. He knows his time is short. He’s got three and a half years. He’s trying to overtake the Lord. He’s trying to defeat Jesus before He comes back. But he knows. I know he’s self-deluded so he probably doesn’t know, but we know through prophecy that he thinks he’s going to defeat Jesus, but he’s not.

David Bowen: And what we have here too is, we have it throughout the book, is contrast. While there is all this terrible chaos happening on earth, in heaven they are rejoicing, they are worshiping. And here, why are they rejoicing here? Because Satan finally gets banned from heaven.

Nathan Jones: I think there’s an application for us. You talk about Satan wanted to be worshiped. I’m reminded in Daniel how Nebuchadnezzar was the great and mighty king. He was the head of gold, representing the kingdom of Babylon, and yet he wanted to be worshiped. And that led to his downfall, even after he had seen the mighty hand of God at work. At one point he thought, I built all this, and it was revealed to him that he would go mad for a season, really kind of putting him in his place. Once he was restored to sanity, he confessed that the Lord God, the Lord Most High, is God. We see this over and over again in Acts we’re told that one of the Herod’s went and the people said, “Oh, a God and not a man.” And he allowed himself to bask in that adoration, and the Lord judged him on the spot, and he was eaten by worms and died. And so, you know, we sometimes in our humanity want to be high and lifted up, and it’s something we have to guard against at all times.

Tim Moore: Right.

Nathan Jones: That’s a good point, because it’s not just Satan and the demons that wish worship. I mean, the demons have been plaguing humanity through animism, all the idol worship is really demon worship. You know, Satan says, he said in his heart, “I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit on the mount of the congregation. He goes on and on and on. But you know what? Every human wants to be their own little god. Doesn’t it? I mean, we’ve got atheism where everybody, humanity has become God. But, you know, we all fall for that sin.

Tim Moore: We certain do.

Nathan Jones: If pride was the sin that caused Satan to fall, humanity is under that same. And we’re also then under the same curse, Hell.

Tim Moore: We certainly are. I used to tell every new legislator, guard your heart, guard your mind, guard your character, because you’ll get in this high and lofty position and people will give you adulation, and if you’re not careful, your pride will grow. And I’ve seen it lead to much downfall. Well, we know that Satan comes before the throne of God to this day, just as he did in the day and age of Job to accuse us. And although God will not hear any accusations against his elect, those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, Satan will then come and try to whisper in our ears and get in our heads by accusing us day to day. Pastor Dave, how do you tell people to guard their hearts against the fiery darts of Satan and his false accusation?

David Bowen: To be in God’s Word, to understand God’s Word. You know, you brought up pride, Nebuchadnezzar. You brought up his profile, Satan profile, Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 12. Do we realize that the word Antichrist is not in the book of Revelation? We don’t get that in the book of Revelation. We get it from 1 John 2:18 is where we get the word Antichrist. Now we know who he is, but we get the word Antichrist. So Satan has this power. He has the Antichrist he has the false prophet. He has these people who he wants to use, these things, I don’t call them people, these things he wants to use, these demonic spirits. But we have to understand the truth. We have to understand, so you get into God’s Word. How do you avoid that? You get into God’s Word.

Tim Moore: Getting into God’s Word is key. Even as we’re reading Revelation, it is so important that you get into all of God’s Word, because if you don’t even in chapter 12, as we discussed last week, when Satan is referred to as the dragon, the great dragon, the red dragon, and the serpent of old, that’s a reference all the way back to the garden. The serpent of old appeared in the garden.

Nathan Jones: And that’s why many believe that you got the four living creatures before the throne of God, and they’re all animalistic in nature, except the one with the human face. That Satan might have been reptilian in nature in his original form, but either way, he’s gorgeous. I mean, he’s the most beautiful thing. People have always pictured this red guy with horns, and he’s got this tail and a pitchfork. You know, that’s a caricature of him to make us underestimate him. He still is the most powerful. Michael the Archangel thinks twice before condemning him. So he is a danger. But when you’ve got God up here in power, and Satan so far down here, he’s not really a threat to God.

Tim Moore: He is not a threat. Well, we know from our account in last week’s episode about the woman, Israel and Satan’s animosity against Israel and the male child, Jesus Christ, that Satan has always been trying to persecute the Jewish people. He’s always been trying to annihilate them. And he is always, as I just said, accusing their brethren in Christ. And that’s exactly what is said. But the next chapter, chapter 13, introduces us to another character, a beast who is coming up out of the sea. So, who is that?

David Bowen: That becomes the Antichrist. Again, that term is not used in Revelation but we’re told that it is. The names of Antichrist he’s called the horned, the ruler who will come, the worthless shepherd, the man doomed for destruction, the lawless one, the beast. Just the way that he’s described in Scripture, tells you what he’s about and what his character is, and what his program is, what he’s trying to do. So, the Antichrist comes out of the sea, and then out of the earth comes the false prophet. And these are the two teammates that we have with Satan in the end times. So we have to have enough knowledge and understanding to stand strong.

Nathan Jones: Now, what’s interesting is this beast that the John sees comes out of the sea, seven heads, in other words, seven empires over history that affected Israel, ten horns, the final form of human government the world under ten rulers. And on his crown are ten crowns, in other words, ten kings. And they all have blasphemous names. This is all an example of the epitome, the apex of human government fallen, rebellious human government is the Antichrist. He will be the final, but the top of all of humanity. He will be in control of the entire world.

Tim Moore: Now I got to ask a question, because it’s more important to understand the why and what is happening. But a lot of people will focus on even the timing of some of these events. And so, we’ve had conversations, others would disagree, and that’s okay. But if we take Revelation completely chronologically, does chapter 13 follow after chapter 12, or is this almost a picture of what has already transpired in the flow of the context of Revelation that the beast, the Antichrist, has already emerged, this ten kingdom alliance has come together and he is, come to prominence within that. What is the chronology of chapter 13?

Nathan Jones: Well, we got to remember that the Antichrist and false prophet were there from the beginning, because the Antichrist is the first seal.

Tim Moore: From the beginning of?

Nathan Jones: The tribulation the seven-year event.

David Bowen: But it begins with the peace pact, begins the Tribulation.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, which Daniel tells us. So we know that the Antichrist was there for all seven years, but he doesn’t really take full power yet, he’s got to build his empire during that time. There’s this one world, ecumenical Babylon religion the first half. And it’s not until the middle of the Tribulation where we’ll learn how he desecrates the Jewish temple, declares himself to be God, he’s like Antiochus Epiphanies all over again. And then Satan indwells him. Once Satan’s kicked out of heaven, does the Antichrist become the real terror, the real threat to the world? Now, obviously he’s killed billions of people, so he’s not a good guy to begin with. But so, chronologically, it’s almost like a chapter where John is stopping and saying, okay, let me explain the personality and characteristics of the unholy trinity: Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.

Tim Moore: And we know that when Satan is kicked out of heaven, as we’ve already discussed and indwells the Antichrist, we’re told in chapter 13, verse 5, that it was given to him authority to act, here again, given authority by who? Who gives him authority? God. And so in the mystery of God, He still is in control, even of this nefarious character, this evil actor for 42 months. And so that becomes the three and a half years of the second half of the Tribulation, referred to by the Jewish people as the Great Tribulation, because the wrath of Satan indwelled into the Antichrist focuses on them, and Christians alike.

David Bowen: Right. Now you brought up just a few minutes ago, and I want to get back to you, you said, what’s the purpose? So when the Antichrist comes in, what he does is he sets up an image in the honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword. It’s the abomination of desolation. And I think a lot of times we know about the abomination. We know about this statue. But do we realize that this is spoken about ten times in the scriptures by five different authors. We see this, Daniel talks about it, Matthew talks about it, Mark talks about it, Paul and John in all those books we have the abomination of desolation. So, ten times God is telling us throughout Scripture, this is going to happen. What does he do? This is what he does. So he desecrates the temple. You went back to the altar, going back to history, in the Maccabean period was a foreshadow, what he did in history, the Antichrist will do it in the future. But we have to understand what he was doing and the power behind it.

Tim Moore: You’ve made the point already as well, Dave, that while some of these things are happening on the earth, they’re worshiping.

David Bowen: Oh, they are worshipping in heaven.

Tim Moore: Are they rejoicing over the outpouring of wrath, or over the tragedies befalling earth, or over the evil that’s being perpetrated by the Antichrist? No, they’re rejoicing because the time of the Lord bringing everything to culmination is coming to an end. I will observe this in chapter 13, verse 10 as John is describing this, he says, “If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” It’s a very matter of fact presentation of some horrible things. And we’ve already talked about the martyrs. That’s horrible. But in the eternal perspective, it’s just a very matter of fact presentation. And the righteous will live by faith. Not by looking around at the circumstances, not for those tribulation saints, by virtue of the circumstances that they are enduring, and the martyrdom they are experiencing, but by faith. And if that’s true for them then, surely it’s true for us today.

David Bowen: Again, that contrast, heaven, seeing things through heaven, seeing things through earthly eyes. Which eyes are going to look at? And when you die, if you’re a believer, and these are believers, you are more alive after death than you are before.

Tim Moore: Amen.

David Bowen: So again when we lose someone we care about, it grieves us because we’re separated. But we know if they’re believer, they’re more alive now than ever before. And that is the perspective we get as we look at the martyrs in the book of Revelation.

Nathan Jones: That’s a good point. There’s just two points about the beast from the sea I’d like to add is the fact that he seems to have a mortal head wound. And so, some theologians have interpreted that he’s going to have a false resurrection. So, people will want to worship him as God, a false Messiah. He also comes out of the sea, which is a Jewish colloquialism for a Gentile. So, we know that the Antichrist will not be Jewish, he is not George Soros, people say, but he will be a Gentile, and Daniel identifies him as coming out of Europe.

Tim Moore: Amen.

David Bowen: Do you think that is the great deception? The resurrection, do you see that as part of the great deception?

Nathan Jones: Well, that’s why he will demand that. Well, when we get to the next beast, where a demand will be for to worship this guy.

David Bowen: Yes.

Tim Moore: Well, we’ve talked about the Antichrist even in previous episodes of Christ in Prophecy. Our viewers can watch those just by going to our website or YouTube channel. Some people like to play the parlor game: Who is the Antichrist? And we don’t get into that because that’s all speculative. Satan’s always had a candidate. But in chapter 13, verse 18, John is very clear in saying, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” What significance is that, just in a very brief explanation?

Nathan Jones: Well, if you look at the logo of the World Economic Forum, the earth goes through the three O’s and makes six, six, six. No. Although it’s pretty blatant that, that they’re trying to push for a one world ruler, a one world leader. But the number of God is sevens, it’s perfection. Trinity, 777. Mankind, though made in the image of God, is fallen. We don’t live up to that. We don’t measure up to God, it’s 666.

David Bowen: Well, Adam was created on the sixth day, so humanity was created on the sixth day. That becomes the number of man.

Tim Moore: But supposedly the people in that time will be able to identify the Antichrist based on this number as well. The Antichrist will actually have his name tattooed on people’s foreheads or hand, number 666 will go on. We’ve heard some wackadoodle cultists put 666 on their hands. But this is actually going to happen to the people during that time when the beast from the earth, the second beast rises, and he will be, what we call the false prophet. He will be the prophet for the Antichrist. He will be the worship leader to get people to worship the Antichrist, it’s Satan worship because Satan indwells the Antichrist.

Nathan Jones: Now we hear from people all the time who are afraid, did I take the mark of the beast? Or is this new credit card system the mark of the beast? The Bible is very clear, you will be making a decision. You will be choosing. You will know what you’re doing, whether you are accepting the mark of the beast, or whether you’re going to be faithful and true to Jesus Christ. It will not be some trick or some just technological whatever. It is going to be a clear choice.

David Bowen: Well, we talked about two witnesses last show, and the two witnesses they say, do not do this. You have God sending, we talked about God sending the angel that looks like an eagle, the angel that goes around the world and talks about that. He warns, do not do this. So people will know exactly what they’re doing with that. There’s going to be a choice that they’re going to make.

Nathan Jones: Well, you bring up an interesting point, Dave, in the last episode, we talked about how the technology, the whole world can see the two witnesses being killed and resurrected. Well, here we see the false prophet forcing people to worship the Antichrist by controlling their finances. Is there a technological connection to that?

David Bowen: Well, we have the mark, well again, we have the technology for that.

Nathan Jones: What e-commerce?

David Bowen: Yeah, we have things that people are putting in them. You can open your car door, you can have your medical equipment, you can have–they have tattoos where you have your medical equipment. So, it can be a it can be something implanted in your hand. It can be a tattoo. We’re talking about technology, not the mark of the beast. But all those things are there. And people say, is this the mark of the beast? No, we’re not there yet. We’re not at that point in the book. But we have the technology, which is the key.

Tim Moore: So, in chapter 14, as we continue into our study of these two chapters today, 13 & 14, we once again see the Lamb and these 144,000 Jewish witnesses. And the Gospel Angel Nathan, that you’ve talked about, who travels around the world, proclaiming the Gospel. But we’re told that, “anyone who receives this mark will drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” And what does it mean when it says, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever, and ever? Is that an everlasting torment? Is there literally a smoke cloud rising from the earth? I mean, what does this mean that they will be tormented forever and ever?

Nathan Jones: Well, there’s a few views of that, but I think what we’re talking about is that their punishment is eternal. Whether they will be in Hell forever, or they will be consumed in Hell and then cease to exist, the smoke of their torment goes up forever.

Tim Moore: The finality.

Nathan Jones: The finality of it. There’s no going back because you got the Gospel Angel telling you, hey, Jesus Christ, gets saved. And they’re saying, okay, well, if I want to live, I’ve got to declare my loyalty to the Antichrist. I’ve got to worship him, worship Satan, and so the Lord says, that’s it, there’s no chance for salvation after you’ve taken the mark of the beast. And that’s why, I think, like you said, people get worried about today. They don’t want to accidentally take it. But this won’t be instituted until halfway into the seven- year Tribulation. And it’s a loyalty mark, people willingly are choosing or rejecting God.

David Bowen: Yes. Yeah. And again, in heaven, when you have that, to bring some hope to this. You know, we have the doom, we understand that, we know what the Antichrist is going to do and the false prophet. “But I heard a sound from heaven,” chapter 14, verse 3, “they sang a new song before the throne.” Can you imagine that? “No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.” The new song is a song of redemption. And someday we will be able to sing that song with them.

Tim Moore: Yeah, you know what, it is a fast forward or a preview of the glory that awaits. Even later as we’ve mentioned, the Gospel Angel coming and proclaiming the Gospel on the entire earth, the doom of worshipers. But then the Lord’s saying, go to the angels and reap from the earth. So, bring in this great harvest. We know what the destination or the destiny of the beast and false prophet and the Antichrist are. What is that? I just made two into three, but the beast being the Antichrist and the false prophet. As a preview of what we’ll discuss in coming weeks. Nathan, what is their eternal fate?

Nathan Jones: Well, you’re giving up the end of the story.

Tim Moore: Yeah, stay tuned, we’ll tell you next week.

Nathan Jones: We know that they’re defeated. We said that the beginning of the program, Satan is defeated. Right, so when Jesus returns, the Antichrist, the false prophet, their armies will be destroyed just by Jesus’ speaking. They will have executioner angels take the beast, the Antichrist and false prophet throw them into the lake of fire. They’re going to be the first humans in the lake of fire. But Satan and his demons are cast into a bottomless pit for a thousand years. So, there’s different punishments that happen at that time.

Tim Moore: There certainly are.

David Bowen: Right, and Babylon’s coming too. If you want to kind of tell the end of the story.

Tim Moore: Babylon too.

David Bowen: Let’s give it all up. Spoiler alert.

Nathan Jones: The destruction of Babylon is coming as well.

Tim Moore: Join us again next week. Well, here’s the thing, if there is condemnation, and judgment awaiting the beast and the false prophet for doing what? For acting evilly. For rejecting the Lord. Being a conduit of wickedness, then what will happen to people who reject the Lord right now? This is the tragic other side of the hope, is that if you have not embraced the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and worship Him as Lord, then the wrath of God abides on you. And you say, well, I haven’t done all those terrible things. You know what? Even our righteous deeds, without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit are as filthy rags. And so none of us can rest on our own merit, or on our righteous deeds, but we must put our trust in Jesus Christ. And I’m reminded that Jesus said if someone were to lead another astray, as these two characters have, it would be better for a millstone, a stone weighing over 100 pounds to be tied around their neck and then cast into the sea.

David Bowen: You know, I know this book has a lot of doom and gloom in it, but I think you can see a lot of hope and glory in it as well.

Tim Moore: Certainly.

David Bowen: So, and I think that’s a message we have really make sure as we go through this, don’t be afraid of this. Don’t look at this and say, I don’t want to read that, because you miss the hope, and you miss the glory of God and what we’re going to experience very soon.

Nathan Jones: And it’s a message of justice because we’ve been praying for thousands of years for God to end evil. And this is what He’s doing. And it’s also a message of grace as again and again, He gives opportunity for the people to repent and get saved.

David Bowen: Yes.

Tim Moore: I think it’s a clear message that God takes very seriously those who actively or passively would lead others astray and would reject the offer of salvation in His Son. And so, what does it mean to give hearty approval as Paul describes in Romans chapter one, to those who practice evil? What does it mean to engage in evil practices yourself? Is it just watching certain TVs or movies or reading books? Or is it remaining silent when others celebrate wickedness, as we see today? Folks, you know there’s a choice each one of you gets to make. And not just in the eternal scheme of things, but this day. And so, as Joshua encouraged, we would tell you, choose this day whom you will serve.

Closing

Tim Moore: We titled this episode Satan’s Rage. In one sense, Satan has to be the most frustrated being ever created. He wins many battles, but will lose the war. And some of his greatest victories turned into ignoble defeats.

David Bowen: Where at the cross, we believe Satan thought he had finally triumphed over God. He had orchestrated the killing of the Messiah and had driven a wedge between His disciples, defeated and demoralized their profession of faith would surely sputter and die. But Jesus resurrected from the dead, upset that scheme and turned Satan’s short-lived victory into everlasting defeat. That is one reason Satan has been raging for the past 2,000 years.

Nathan Jones: And we would argue that he has had it in for the Jews much longer than that. Even after the Church is raptured, Satan will try to eradicate those who put their trust in Jesus and the entire Jewish population of the world. Right now, we’re seeing evidence of Satan stepping up his attempts to undermine God’s plan and to destroy Christians and Jews. Satan’s rage explains the irrational hatred of groups like Hamas, whose name actually means uncontrolled rage.

Tim Moore: You know, years ago, the military trained me in Judo and in some light martial arts. I’ll never forget one key to that training; a master uses an opponent’s own force and momentum against them. Properly executed the master hardly has to move and certainly never breaks a sweat. God is the ultimate martial master. He has been turning Satan’s own force and momentum against him throughout human history. Satan has not, and cannot thwart God’s eternal will. Instead, Satan’s fate is already sealed. Jesus Christ will defeat Satan just as He defeated death.

Nathan Jones: If our dialog today has sparked your interest in learning more, consider getting our new and updated Overview of Revelation Study guide. Use it to study Revelation as you listen to a verse-by-verse audio series recorded by Dr. David Reagan. We’ve also loaded a number of articles, commentaries, and podcasts as corresponds to this series on our website, and you’ll find the link to purchase Dave Bowen’s extensive study on the book of Revelation.

David Bowen: Well, thanks there, Nathan. You know the three of us have received a blessing through this series because we have read and are determined to heed the book of Revelation. We pray that these shows have also been a great blessing to you. Now, on that note, where do we head next week, Tim?

Tim Moore: Well that’s a good question. Next week we will turn our attention back to Jesus and focus on His role on heaven and on earth. Satan may be the power ruling in the world right now, but our Lord, who is worthy to break the seals on the title deed of earth, is coming soon to reign as king on the earth as He is already in heaven. We long for that day and are eager to lift our voices to sing the song of the Lamb, “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!” Come, Lord Jesus, and let it be so. Godspeed.

End of Program