REVELATION 13.1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. 13.2 The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 13.3 One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast. -WEB Bible.
REVELATION 13.11 I saw another beast coming up out of
the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon.
13.12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence.
He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose
fatal wound was healed. -WEB Bible.
The dragon, who is called Satan, calls for two of his
cronies to come help him. The one who comes from the sea is commonly known as
the Antichrist. The one who rises from the land is known as the False
Prophet. These two entities are portrayed
as beasts or monsters, which in fact they are. They are evil to the core.
The heads and the horns on the beasts represent human rulers
who align themselves with the Antichrist and give him backing.
Satan will give all his power to the two beasts. Never
before has there been such a mighty collaboration between demonic powers and
mankind. Together, they will forcibly establish a new world order, and destroy
all opposition to it. For more
information about the two beasts, read Revelation 13.
The book of Revelation doesn’t discuss specific politics of the End Times very much, but the book of Daniel and other Old Testament prophets do.
- Daniel described the resurrection of the Roman empire, which has been fulfilled with the formation of the European Union. Rome needed to be reunited in order to fulfill prophecies of Christ’s return.
- Daniel described the rise of the Antichrist, the atrocities that he would commit, and the kingdoms that would support him.
- The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted the destruction of Damascus, which hasn’t happened yet: but the civil war in Syria bears watching. Damascus is the oldest continually-occupied city on earth.
These prophetic clues – and many others – are further
evidence that we need to be observant of the “signs of the times.” Jesus told his disciples that people should
take notice of the times they live in, and pay attention. Jesus wanted his
disciples to be spiritually awake and aware. In fact, Jesus seemed to think
that such “signs” should be obvious to anybody. He had sharp words for the
religious leaders:
Luke 12:56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the
appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don't interpret
this time? WEB
Matthew 16:3-4 In the morning, 'It will be foul weather
today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern
the appearance of the sky, but you can't discern the signs of the times! An
evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given
unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed. WEB
If we want to avoid the end times deceptions that Jesus
warned us about, we must be aware of what the Bible says. The Bible is our only
guidebook through the perils that will finish this world.
IMAGE CREDITS: the image of Satan is from a mid-1900’s Bible school illustration
by Robert Ayres. The images of the two beasts are from the Bamberger
Apocalypse, which is an 11th-century richly illuminated manuscript.