Of Created Things

Revelation 13:1-4, 7-8, 10-13

The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.

Here the unholy trinity is revealed. For every action of God's kingdom, there is an opposite spiritual activity in the demonic. The kingdoms of light and darkness are opposed in their structure, function, and purpose. Here is how you can tell a demonic spirit from a righteous one. By their fruits, as seen in Matthew 7:16, you will know them. How to tell what spirit is opposing you can be seen in the result of their actions and the rightness of the actions themselves. This is why David prayed for God to "renew a right spirit" inside him according to Psalm 51:10. David knew how easily the devil and even the human spirit could take the place of God. The devil appears as an angel of light and his servants as the followers of God in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15. This passage says he dresses up as an angel of God and his followers as the people of God. The reason for studying the structure of the demonic kingdom is to know the strategies of your opponents as in Ephesians 6:11. Their original sin as seen in Isaiah 14:13 was taking the place of God. So, in this text we see the devil taking the place of God on the earth. He stood on the shore. His placement is important for we see this mirrored in Christ's creation of the world. Genesis 1:9-10 says the first act of creation was the division of the light from darkness and the boundaries upon the waters. John 1:1 points out that "in the beginning was the Word." Furthermore, "the Word was God." This is why the blasphemous names written on each head is so troubling.

The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

For indeed the dragon, an ancient name for Satan, gave his power and authority unto the beast out of the sea just as Christ got his from the Father. Even though God has granted this power and authority and time to Satan to bring evil and destruction upon the world, he is still in control. His authority is not lessened by the servants of his wrath. These are the instruments of such if you will. Pharoah was an instrument of God's judgement on a disobedient people according to Romans 9:17. There is a Luciferian spirit at work here.

It was given power to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

The messenger of Satan was given power over the people of God by God himself. This is not a whatever happens, happens action on the part of God. It is the cold calculated judgement of a world who has rebelled against God. At Revelation 6:9-11, we see the souls under the altar of God crying out for justice because they had been slain. The cup of God's wrath later in Revelation 8:3 is filled with the prayers of the saints poured out upon the earth. The spirit of the devil is marked by blasphemy against God and his saints.

Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.

The second beast is as of the Spirit of the Lord to this unholy trinity. The signs and wonders that the Spirit of God performs are counterfeit by the devil. Note that in the testing of the false prophets of Baal, they were asked to call down fire from heaven and they could not according to 1 Kings 18:25-29. The beast of the land does, showing his authority is also allowed by God. He calls as though unto God of the Heavens, and he answers. Yet as in the time of Job 1:12, his authority is limited by God himself. It even seems to be allowed by God. We see the mimicry in the suffering of the Spirit of God, like the lamb that had been slain in Revelation 5:6, only with a heart of the dragon. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth" speaks as in Matthew 12:34. The tongue of the dragon marks this one as one with a divided allegiance. This beast of the earth has two natures as of the spirit of man. There is power as with God, a seeming life of Christ, and yet the spirit of the devil who was granted power to fulfill the purposes of God. Note that in all this evil, the Spirit of God still prevails. Above all, he is.

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people.

The response of God's people is patient waiting and endurance on the time of the Lord. The method is clear. The appropriate response is the substitution of the Word of God in place of the spirit of man. Just because the answer is right in front of you does not mean it is of God. Just because it mimics the authority of God does not mean it is of him. The result of this is the loss of life, authority, and autonomy. Every power and authority God gave man from Genesis to John, between the first Adam and the last Adam which is Christ, is taken away here by the devil and his aints in Revelation 13:10. We see the result of the devil's strategies. The book of Revelation is about the unveiling of God's destruction and mercy upon this world. What the devil meant for evil God will turn around for good as in Genesis 50:20. Just because this is chapter thirteen, does not mean the story is done yet. It takes all the way to Revelation 21:1 to see the new heaven and new earth that God promised. Those of you who know the story and the ending sit your fast tails down. God is not done yet. Patient waiting and perseverance on the part of the saints is needed to see the day of the Lord revealed. Do not let the present difficulty diminish your objective of the glory or revelation to follow.