Hello and welcome to the takeaway, where we teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, to help you understand God's word so that you can have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Hello, and welcome again to the takeaway. I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barons, and in today's episode, we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 13, verses 1 through 10. The rise and rule of the Antichrist. The power and authority given to him is a direct result of what we studied in our last episode, with Satan being cast out of heaven and with him his angels. Satan wants nothing more than to sit on God's throne and proclaim to be God. And as we have seen, he has failed miserably at all attempts to do so. This has infuriated him to no end. And since he is unable to conquer heaven, he focuses his efforts against God's chosen people. We saw that had God not protected them, they would have totally been destroyed, and because he sheltered them, Satan turned his anger towards the offspring of Israel, which we now know are those who accepted Jesus as their Savior during the tribulation. Chapter twelve was the description of things happening behind the scene in heaven. And chapter 13 is the results of those events now happening on earth. Satan will empower the Antichrist and the false prophet to accomplish his will. It's important to remember that these two individuals are nothing more than puppets that Satan manipulates for his purpose. This is also true of anyone who has never expected accepted Jesus as their Savior. If you are not sealed by God's Holy Spirit, then there is nothing stopping Satan's evil influence from manipulating you. The way you see the world and understand it determines how you will react to it. This is why we see all the nonsense in this world today, people calling good evil and evil good. And Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20 says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Paul tells us the outcome of this kind of thinking in Romans chapter one, verses eighteen through thirty-two. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse, for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions, for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women, and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless, though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they are not they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. If this isn't the world we are living in today, then I don't know what is. The reason this world has lost its mind and morality is because of this truth we just read. God is giving them over to their evil thoughts. We are seeing the hardening of man's heart in our society against God and his ways. The result of this will be their end. There is no doubt that with the church out of the way, this world will be ripe for the picking, and Satan will not miss this opportunity as we are about to see. Starting in verse one, we read, Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. This chapter starts off with John back on earth, as he is going to give us a description of what's going to take place as a direct result of what we read about in chapter twelve with Satan being cast out of heaven. In this vision, John sees a beast rising up out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns. Before we go too far, I want to remind you that this is a vision and not a literal interpretation of what John sees. So that picture you have in your mind right now, just take it out. The beast that John sees is the Antichrist that will empower that is empowered by Satan. That's why he seems so similar. If you remember, the dragon in the previous chapter also had seven heads and ten horns, representing power and control. He is going to give this power to the beast, as we will see in a moment. So why is he called a beast and why is he coming out of the sea? The word beast as it is used here and translated from the Greek means something like a wild, dangerous animal, and the strongest concordance goes on to describe it with satanic powers. It also indicates that he is a is he is separate from the dragon and not the same person. He's just influenced and powered by the dragon. The sea represents many peoples, tongues, and nations. Revelation chapter 17, verse 15, says, Then he said to me, The waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The beast will rise to power from amongst the world's desire to have a ruler over the nations. The seven heads are seven nations, and the ten horns are ten kings and rulers. The ten crowns represent the rulers giving authority to the beast. In Revelation chapter 17, verses 9 through 13, an angel gives John the answer so that we don't have to speculate. It says, Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. So now we know that the beast is an individual who rises to power amongst many nations, is empowered by Satan, and is given authority over a coalition of seven nations and ten kings, and speaks blasphemies against God. Daniel gives us a description of this in Daniel 7, 25. He shall speak pompous words against the most high, shall persecute the saints of the most high, and shall intend to change times and law, then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. This is this individual will have no problem speaking out against God. Also notice Daniel said that he would persecute the saints for a time and times and half a time. This is three and a half years, also known as the second half of the tribulation. It seems abundantly clear that the beast will not show his true colors until the midpoint of the tribulation, when he declares himself to be God and continues to blaspheme God out loud from that point forward. So let's move on to verse two. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne and great authority. So we already know that Satan empowers him and gives him his authority. But what are these descriptions that are now being given to us and what do they mean? We have to go back to the prophet Daniel for the answer, so bear with me as I break this down for you. This would be a good point to pause and get a pen and paper, as I'm about to give you a ton of references really fast. The book of Daniel is a phenomenal resource and requires its own in-depth study to get to the answers we need. It is definitely worth reading on your free time and comparing the references I'm going to give you. In Daniel chapter 7, verses 3 through 7, and four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear, it was raised up on one side and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and they said thus to it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong, had huge iron teeth. It was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up from among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words. The description Daniel gives us of these three beasts represent four individual world powers that have risen and fallen. The first is like a lion, which represents the Babylonian Empire, the bear represents the Medo-Persian Empire, and the leopard represents the Greek Empire. The fourth empire is an interesting one. It had teeth like iron and was trampling and devouring. Iron was associated with the Roman Empire, and this is indeed the fourth. However, it has some very interesting characteristics as we see. It had ten horns and a little one coming up from among them. We see that it had eyes like a man and plucked three of the horns out by the root. This is a picture of the Antichrist coming to power and being given authority to rule. So it looks like he comes up from the Roman Empire, which we know doesn't exist anymore. But if we look at Daniel chapter 2, verses 31 through 33, we see that the king, that King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and in it there was a statue made of five parts. Each part represented an empire that would rise and fall. The legs were made of iron, which represented Rome, and the feet were made of clay and iron mixed together. This points to the revived Roman Empire or something that resembles it, but not as stable as it is mixed with clay. This empire will be destroyed by God, and he will set up his kingdom on earth forever. If we read Daniel chapter 2, verses 36 through 45, we will get the detail we need to fit all the pieces together. It says, This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory, and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, he has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold. This is the first kingdom, verse thirty-nine. But after you shall arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth, and the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay, and as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. So as we see, Daniel gives us the answer from the king's dream that there will be five kingdoms from Babylon until the end when Jesus comes to set up his kingdom forever. We know that the four have come and went, and the fifth is yet to come. That fifth kingdom will be like the fourth, but it will be fragile, as it is mixed with clay. The leader of the fifth will have the characteristics of the first three kingdoms, the leopard, bear, and lion, and will be given his power from the nations that make up this empire. Since the fifth is like the fourth, made of iron but mixed with clay, and this rule rises up from the fourth and clearly rules during the fifth, leads us to conclude that this is the revived Roman Empire. However, this requires a little bit of speculation, as it's entirely possible that the fifth kingdom is a unique and just has attributes of the Roman Empire as indicated by the iron and clay mixed together. What's important to take away from all this detail is not the rise of the Antichrist kingdom, it's to reveal our Lord's coming kingdom. All of this sets the stage for his arrival and is given to us so that we can recognize the signs of the time and know that his arrival is approaching. Jesus has given us eyes to see and ears to hear, so that we could be wise and not caught off guard by all these things that will take place. So let's move on to verses three and four. And I saw one of his heads as it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world marveled and followed the beast, so they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worship the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? This is a very controversial, controversial verse and requires a careful study. There are two main views to what it means. One is that this is a reference to the Antichrist himself, and that at some point during his rule he will be fatally wounded and come back to life again, mimicking the resurrection of Jesus and presenting himself as the false Christ. This will cause the world to bow down and worship this false leader. The second popular view is that this is a revived fourth kingdom. The argument for this is that Satan doesn't have the ability to raise anyone from the dead, and therefore this can't be the resurrection of an individual. However, some argue that this is a false resurrection and that it only appears to be fatal. And we can see reference to this in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 8 through 12, which says, And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false. Notice the emphasis on false signs and wonders. It goes on to say that they will be sent a strong delusion from God so that they would even believe these false signs. So it's not hard to imagine with this verse that clearly speaks of the Antichrist and false signs that a fake death and resurrection of this individual to deceive the nations will happen. But I also want to point out something Daniel says in Daniel chapter 2, verse 38. He says, Has he has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold. And in verse 39, he says, But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours. Now we know that each part of the statue, the king saw, represented a kingdom, and yet the king was told he was the head of gold. So what's the deal? Well, throughout the Bible and history, a king and his nation were seen as one and the same. To talk about a king was to talk about talk about a kingdom was to talk about the king, and vice versa. So it's entirely possible that this this verse is referring to the Antichrist kingdom when referring to the beast and its mortal wound, that it will be a kingdom that rises, falls, and comes to life again. Both views present great arguments, and of course, because this is still yet future, the best we could do is speculate. In either case, whatever this particular event turns out to be, it will cause people to worship Satan, which is the ultimate goal. I would like to throw one more thought into this verse to give us something to think about. Worship is almost always directed at a deity or person and not a nation or kingdom. And since Satan himself desires to be worshipped and we have scripture to support it, this will probably be a false sign and wonder that Satan uses to deceive the nations to get them to bow down to him and his puppet. Also notice that in verse 3, John said he saw one of the heads as if it had been mortally wounded. If taken in this context, with this scripture from 2 Thessalonians, we can easily conclude that this will be nothing more than a great deception. The takeaway for us here is not what will happen, but what is happening. Satan is a liar and deceiver, and his tactics never change. He is at work in this world today, right now, and is working over time to deceive us, to trick us into bowing down to him. If you think that being saved and covered in the blood of Jesus prevents this from happening to you, then you are a fool. Jesus himself was tempted by Satan and in the wilderness for forty days and nights, and in Matthew chapter four, verse eight, it says, Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these I will give to you if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. If Satan tried this with Jesus, how much more with us? He knows that we are not as wise as the Lord and is hoping to trip us up and accuse us before the Father. This is why it's so important to stay in the Word of God. In every instance, Jesus refuted Satan, he used Scripture. It's the Word of God that has power, and Jesus is the Word. The more we know and understand the Word of God, the more we will have eyes to see and ears to hear. Then and only then will we know what to do and say to refute Satan and the evil in this world. If you are ignorant of this and you do not know the word of God, then I am sure you are compromising your walk in one way or another. It will not be blatant that you are bowing down to Satan as he presents himself as an angel of light. In 2 Corinthians verse 11, Paul is talking about this very thing that there are false teachers and apostles looking to lead believers away from the truth. On the surface they look genuine, but underneath they are deceivers and lead people to death. Paul says in verse twelve, and what I am doing, I will continue to do in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their Boast boast admission, they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. Now, Paul was continuing to teach the truth to refute these impostors, and that's all I am trying to do for you. It's so easy to be deceived if you don't know the truth. The word of God is truth, and it's all we have to keep us on the straight and narrow path. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 13, enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many, for the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. My hope is that I can help some get off the wide and onto the narrow path, to focus your life on Jesus and the simple truths that we can learn from his word. So moving on to verse five. And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. And again, we are given the key to the time frame of the beast's rise to fame and his wicked kingdom. The forty-two months points again to the last three and a half years of the tribulation. So we know that he stands in the temple at the midpoint of the tribulation, and throughout the last half, he goes out persecuting God's people and killing them. Notice it says he was given authority to continue for 42 months. This indicates two things. One, that he has already been on the scene and causing problems, and now he can continue. Second, that God is the one allowing him to continue. Never think for a second that evil is overcoming God. Evil is evil, and nothing can change that. But God uses the evil intent of the enemy to accomplish his good will. Romans chapter 8, verse 28 says, And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. We may not understand what good is being done, but we can trust that it is. Many people believe that the Holy Cost the Holocaust was one of the most evil things that has ever happened, and many more have lost faith in God because they can't understand how a loving God can allow something so horrible to happen. But if you've been paying attention, then you know that God has been disciplining his people throughout history to get them to repent and turn back to him. They can't see that the calamity that has fallen upon them is because of their sin. But the other interesting thing about Holocaust is that as a result of it, the Jews got their original homeland back, and since then have been flocking back there from all over the globe. This is to fulfill Isaiah chapter 11, verse 11. In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Patros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. With the regathering of Israel, the stage is being set for this fifth and final kingdom before our Lord's return. Make no mistake about it. God used a very evil thing to accomplish his perfect will. He was not the one who performed the evil. He just manipulated it to fit his agenda and not theirs. In the end, evil was dealt with, and Israel got their land back. Since then, the prophetic clock has been ticking again, and we are quickly running out of time to share the good news that Jesus is Lord and He is coming soon. Don't waste what precious time you have worrying about what's happening in this world, but live for Jesus and allow his love to change you and others around you. We can rest when we are with him. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4 7, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. That should be our focus every day of our lives. If you haven't been living for Christ, it's not too late to start. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Moving on to verses six through ten. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb from the foundation of the world. If any one has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity. He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Notice that there has been a recurring theme throughout the description of the Antichrist, and that's the blasphemy against God and his people. This is a dead giveaway that someone is in Satan's clutches and not living for Christ. Blasphemy doesn't always have to be with words either. It's a way of life. What you do speaks louder than words and shows the real intent of the heart. Notice in verse 10 that it ended with, here is the patience and the faith of the saints. We must have patience to wait for God and faith that He will respond. He is the one that overcomes evil, not us. We are to pray for our enemies and love those who hate us. This will infuriate the enemy and might even cause us to receive persecution for it. Have you ever just stood your ground when someone was angry? And I don't mean in a defensive type of way. I mean in a loving type of way. When you just stay calm and look at them with love, speak calmly and gently, encouraging them. One of two things usually happens. Either they calm down and see how ridiculous they are being, or they lose their minds altogether because they can't draw you into their craziness. One results in repentance while the other reveals evil. In either case, how we respond should be consistent with patience and faith. It's not us that calms the person, it's God working in them to convict them. And likewise, it's not us that infuriates that in an individual. It's Satan working in them to destroy them. We are not to worry about what to say, and we don't need to control the situation when things get crazy. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10, verse 19, when they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. And do you trust God? Do you trust that he will empower you with the Holy Spirit when persecution arises, or are you faced with, or when you are faced with some sort of evil? The only way to get to a place of trust is faith. Have faith that God's word is true and what he says he means. Begin to live a life of faith and you will grow in trust. God will continually present you with trials in life that will progressively get harder as time goes on. It's not because he has a desire to see you suffer or struggle, but because he is helping you know him more. He knows we can't just flip a switch and be super saints overnight. It takes time and time spent with him. It's a relationship and not a religion. It's knowing our Father God and seeing that he is the one that conquers and not us. The harder trials get, the more he desires to reveal of himself. When you try to get yourself out of a trial in life, more than not, you will just find yourself digging deeper holes. When you set up camp wherever you are in life and say to God, I'm willing to be here as long as it takes for you to accomplish your will in me, what you will end up figuring out is that you are never in a trial to begin with. When the Father is with you, no one can be against you. In Romans chapter 8, verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies, who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much for allowing us to be conquerors, conquerors in the trials and tribulations of this world. We are not suffering like we think we are suffering, but we are overcoming and conquering. The kingdom of God is so different than our way of thinking in this world. We think to conquer is to go out and to defeat our enemy. When the reality is, when the enemy comes and kills us, we are the ones that are winning. Just as Jesus dying on the cross, he conquered and won in his death, not in his life. And he is our Lord and He is our Savior. We also conquer in death. We conquer in our suffering. We conquer in our trials. We do not conquer when we defeat the enemy. We conquer when we give our lives to Jesus all the way to death. We conquer because when we die, we raise again into heaven, into glory, into his presence. God, I pray that our listeners today hear that and understand that, that their trials and tribulations are not to be fought by them. They're to be fought by you. And they conquer when they give that over to you. Even though they may take the pain of that and the suffering of that and they may die from that, the reality is they gave their lives to you in that moment. You will overcome the enemy, but you take their lives into your hands and bring them into your presence in the kingdom of God. We are yours eternally, Jesus. We win when we die. Thank you for that. That we do not have to fear this life or the trials and tribulations in it. We love you and we praise you and we thank you, Jesus. Amen. I want to thank you for joining us today. I hope this message helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you have a better understanding for just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him. In our next episode, we will be on Revelation chapter 13 again, but we're going to be looking at verses 11 through 18 and looking at the rise of the false prophet. He is the third part to this false trinity that looks to deceive the world. Satan looks to be God. The Antichrist is the false Christ, and this second beast or false prophet is a replacement to the Holy Spirit. This is Satan's false trinity as he looks to mimic and replace God. And just as God seals true believers with the seal of the Holy Spirit and guarantees us a place in heaven, this false prophet will require people to mark to take a mark that guarantees them a place in hell. Once they take this mark, it can never be undone. Just like when we accept Jesus as your as just like when you accept Jesus as your Savior, you receive the Holy Spirit. This also can never be undone. John chapter 10, verse 29. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. And before we go, I want to encourage you to visit us at thetaway. On our website, you can find out more about who we are and sign up to receive emails to get notifications on new episodes and ministry updates. This also makes it easy to share our podcast and allows you to use it as a resource to help others. On our website, you can easily send us a message, a word of encouragement, questions, or comments. And we would love to hear from you and encourage you to send us a message soon. God bless, and we'll see you next time on the takeaway.