Saturday's Prayer 28FEB26

 

Revelation Friday Night Bible Study 20FEB26 (Revelation 13:4-6)

 

Worship of the Dragon

“So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:4-6).

 

 

Man has always created things that were considered indestructible at the time. From specialized swords to the most infamous ship, the Titanic, were top of the line, with nothing in comparison at least during that time, but they were all replaced by something better or worse, and suffered total destruction. However, as man increases in knowledge, he also increases in pride, thus thinking that he is more knowledgeable than God, and can worship whatever or whomever he pleases.

In John’s vision, he saw the people worshiping the dragon (devil) because he had given authority to the beast. They praised the beast, while he blasphemed God for 42 months (3 ½) and held that there was no equal to the beast. The people claimed that no one could stand up to the beast and defeat him. Yet, they failed to realize that the dragon had already been defeated.

The beast’s worship and the two witnesses’ ministry occur during the same 3 ½ year period of the Great Tribulation. The two witnesses are in direct opposition to the Antichrist (1^st beast) while the world worships the beast. Only after the two witnesses have finished their ministry does the beast rise from the abyss to kill them, yet, he is already on the scene, according to most biblical scholars. The people rejoice after the two witnesses are killed by the beast, indicating that beast worship and hatred of the witnesses coexist.

The seven-year Tribulation, specifically the first 3 ½ years, according to most biblical scholars, involves the Antichrist arising as a global leader, signing a peace covenant with Israel, rising geopolitical turmoil, major natural disasters, and the opening of the first six seals of Revelation, bringing war, famine, and death. The Bible says: “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). Many biblical scholars believe that the church will be raptured before the rise of the antichrist, thus holding to a pre-tribulation belief. If this belief is correct, we may see him on the world stage without recognizing him as the beast, because he will not have received his power from the dragon.

In John’s vision, the beast blasphemed God during this period. He was proud and arrogant against the Most High, just as Lucifer was before getting kicked out of Heaven. His blasphemy consists of a major worldview assault against God, intended to mimic and undermine His authority. The blasphemies the beast speaks against the Most High include: 

• Blaspheming God’s Name: This implies distorting God’s character, attributes, and mighty works and miracles, attempting to turn people away from the Lord as he did with 1/3 of the angels in Heaven.
• Blaspheming His Tabernacle: This is best understood as an attack on those of faith, the church, and those left behind who turn to Christ after the rapture.
• Blaspheming Those Who Dwell in Heaven: This means to slander God’s heavenly host, ministering angels, and the believers cared for by God.
• Self-Exaltation and Counterfeit Divinity: The underlying theme of the beast’s blasphemy is his declaring his own divinity, asserting to be God and demanding to be worshiped, as if he were God.  

 

Such actions are similar to the depiction of the little horn spoken of by the prophet Daniel. The Bible says: “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time” (Daniel 7:25). The beast blasphemy attempts to take God’s glory for himself and have the whole world worship Him.

 

In these last days, we see many people who worship the devil, the dragon. Even though the first beast represents a political power that will reign supreme in these last days, which the whole world will follow, we can see how easily it will be done with no questions asked. Many are following the devil right now and are willingly selling their souls for the sake of fame, prosperity, and popularity, even within the Body of Christ. There are actors, actresses, athletes, and even religious leaders, just to name a few, who have sold their souls and are following after the beast system in the form of money right now and other entrapments that can never save their souls, thus committing blasphemy. Anyone or anything that goes against the laws of God is committing blasphemy. The Bible says: “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies” (Nehemiah 9:26).

            People put individuals on pedestals and worship them rather than worship God. Many may say that they would never do such a thing, but they are already doing it daily. How is this? The world and even some within the church are worshiping celebrities, governments, politicians, and religious leaders over God. Instead of being the light to lead others out of darkness, there is a major compromise that is taking place, causing God’s name to be blasphemed due to total disregard for His laws. The Bible says: “You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written” (Romans 2:23-24). Yet, there is coming a day when the government will tell you to break the law of God, and one will have to choose either to obey God or man. That day is practically here. In many countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, they have already had to make their decision, and it has caused many to lose their lives for Christ. However, they will receive a greater reward in Heaven. The Bible says: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

            John mentioned the world following the beast for a period of 42 months. Whoever this political figure is, as represented by the wounded head, this 3 ½ year period may be during the time that the two witnesses are prophesying to the world. As we studied in the previous lesson, people will rejoice when the two witnesses are finally killed. It could be that the devil has taken over their minds in such a way that they are listening to the beast being led by the dragon (devil), and therefore, they do not wish to hear any

type of truth concerning their spiritual condition. The Bible says: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). The devil will and already does have people in a state where they do not want to hear the truth. They would rather listen to those who teach a doctrine of peace and prosperity when they are about to encounter sudden destruction.

Awesome Testimony by Bro. Marti Breeden

https://cbn.com/article/deliverance/alcohol-almost-destroyed-everything-until-god-stepped 

https://cbn.com/article/deliverance/alcohol-almost-destroyed-everything-until-god-stepped

Saturday's Prayer 21FEB26

 

Jeremiah 5 (part 1)

 

Revelation Friday Night Bible Study 20FEB26 (Revelation 13:1-3)

 

The Beast out of the Sea

 

“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. 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” (Revelation 13:1-3).

 

 

            Both the prophet Daniel and the apostle John described political systems and leaders as beasts. This time, the beast came out of the sea, while the dragon was on the shore. It had ten horns with crowns and seven heads. John called it a beast because it comes up out of the sea of nations, or as some scholars refer to it, an instability of nations. This sea means large numbers of people. The beast in this chapter is the same beast from the previous chapter. Once again, as in the previous chapter, the seven heads with seven crowns represent rulers of government. These seven governments were part of the Roman Empire. They are:

 

1.) Babylon 

2.) Persia 

3.) Greece 

4.) Turkey

5.) Syria

6.) Egypt

7.) Rome

 

There were also ten horns on this beast. During John’s time, the Roman Empire was in power. However, after the breakup of Rome’s dominance, five main parts remained, which are:

 

1.) Britain

2.) France

3.) Spain

4.) Italy

5.) Germany

 

In addition to these five, four kingdoms arose after the reign of Alexander the Great. They are:

 

1.) Greece/Macedonia (Antigonid Kingdom): Founded by Antigonus Monophthalmos, controlling the Macedonian heartland.

2.) Turkey (Western Asia Minor, Attalid Dynasty, Pergamon): Established in Asia Minor, serving as a significant cultural hub.

3.) Syria/Asia ( Seleucid Empire): Founded by Seleucus I, this vast territory stretched from the Mediterranean to India.

4.) Egypt (Ptolemaic Kingdom): Ruled by Ptolemy I, this kingdom was the most stable and centered around the new capital of Alexandria.

 

Now, this makes a total of nine kingdoms. However, the book of Daniel mentions a 10th kingdom and the emergence of an 11th kingdom. The Bible says: “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions” (Daniel 7:19-20).  How does Daniel relate to Revelation, you may ask? The prophet Daniel also received visions of the end times that coincide with those of John. Therefore, when you see references to horns and heads in these two books, they are often used interchangeably. Nevertheless, to avoid confusion, we will stick with what is in Revelation for now, but please join me when we do a spinoff and revisit this in the next Bible lesson series, “Daniel: Discovering the Vision.” For now, the next kingdom is:

 

10.) Iraq

 

This makes a total of 10, but another kingdom emerges in the book of Daniel, which, according to biblical scholars, is the country of Iran, making a total of 11. We will provide more historical information in the Daniel Bible lessons, so you can have a more in-depth look at the historical events and how they relate to Revelation and today’s time.

            John describes the beast as having the look of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. All of the beasts that he described are powerful animals, which shows that they had great strength, but were given more power and authority from the dragon (devil). The countries that are representative of these beasts are as follows:

 

1.) Babylon – Modern-day Iraq is the lion. A metaphor for the ancient Babylonian Empire, which was known for its all-consuming power as it extended its control over other nations. The Bible says: “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it” (Daniel 7:4).

2.) Persia – Modern-day Iran is the bear. A representation of the ancient Medo-Persian Empire, depicting its fierce power and great strength. The Bible says: “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ ” (Daniel 7:5).

3.) Greece – Still the same name is the leopard.  The leopard is a metaphor for ancient Greece, alluding to the Greeks’ swiftness and military prowess as they advanced in conquest, particularly under Alexander the Great. The Bible says: “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule” (Daniel 7:6).

 

The Leopard and subsequent animal symbols were all native wildlife in Palestine, familiar to John’s readers.

These countries, represented by the animals in John and Daniel’s visions, play a major role in end-time events, as do the others mentioned. Again, we will go more in-depth into the historical nature of these countries as they relate to end-time prophecy in the next Bible lesson series, “Daniel: Discovering the Vision.” For now, in Daniel 7, the prophet records a dream in which he saw the rise and fall of 4 world empires, characterized by beasts emerging from the sea. John’s vision depicts a beast rising from the sea, which is the antichrist beast system. This system has an unholy trinity consisting of Satan, the Antichrist (the political beast system), and the false prophet (the false religious system). These heads on the beast symbolize dominion and authority, the horns signify power, and the crowns indicate rulership and dominance.

            Each of the heads had a blasphemous name. These names represent rulers who demanded worship, such as the emperor worship demanded by Rome’s emperors, which challenged God’s authority and led to the early church's persecution. These names also represent intentional defiance and mockery of God and of anything associated with Him. This outright blasphemy is both spiritual and political, thus promoting the antichrist beast system.

            The early church’s persecution began in 64 A.D. under the Emperor Nero and significantly increased in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries. He made Christians scapegoats for all that went wrong in Rome, thus subjecting them to burnings, crucifixions, or being meals for live beasts for refusing to worship Rome’s emperors. The Roman Empire was deeply polytheistic, worshipping various Roman gods. Religion was extremely connected with the Roman state. Public worship, sacrifices, and emperor worship were considered essential to the empire's well-being, but this conflicted with Christians’ belief that they worshiped only the one true God.[1]

            Continuing in John’s vision, one of the heads received a deadly wound, but recovered. Because the heads and horns in both Daniel and Revelation are used interchangeably to represent kingdoms, we can understand that a kingdom or its ruler will have a fatal wound but miraculously recover, like a fake resurrection by Satan to imitate Jesus’ resurrection, causing the whole world to follow the beast. As we know, the devil can also perform false miracles, deceiving many into believing a major deception. Jesus warned that this would take place in the last days. The Bible says: “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). We must be careful not to be deceived in these last days and rely totally on the Word of God.  The purpose of the Antichrist’s deception is to cause people to believe that he is the savior and the one who should be worshiped. However, this will be a fake miracle because he will be judged by Jesus and will be thrown into the lake of fire, for He is the only King of Kings and Lord of Lords who has already defeated the enemy and will reign for eternity.

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[1] Brian O., "Why Did the Romans Persecute Christians?," Global Christian Relief, last modified December 27, 2024, https://globalchristianrelief.org/stories/why-did-the-romans-persecute-christians/.