Modern Beast
Revelation 13
Michael H. Koplitz
In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, we come to read about two more beasts who will plague the earth. We left chapter 12 with the dragon, who is Satan, being hurled out of heaven and Satan’s vow to attack those who love God and follow the testimony of Jesus Christ.
A new beast comes out of the sea with ten horns, seven heads, and ten crowns on his horns. The description of this beast is a combination of three of the beasts described to us in the book of Daniel, chapter 7:4-6. Satan gives his power to this new beast. The people on the earth start to worship this new beast. Only God deserves our worship, so the beast is helping the people of God to sin. For 42 months, this beast exercises his power over the peoples of the Earth. This is a similar story to the one found in Ezekiel 20:26.
All the people of the earth will worship the beast except those whose names are written in the Book of Life and belong to the Lamb of God belonging to Jesus Christ. However, the names that are written in the Book of Life will not be revealed until the day of judgment. Here I thought that we arrived at our first new idea in the book of the Revelation only to be disappointed to find that the book of life and its opening is told to us in the book of Daniel, the twelfth chapter, first verse.
A second beast comes out of the land. The purpose of this second beast is to cause the people of the earth to worship the first beast. Then we come to the famous number 666. At first, I was considering skipping this symbol, but then I rethought it over and assumed that some of you were just waiting for an answer to this symbol. After all, it is the most famous symbol of Revelation.
Let me tell you why I was thinking about skipping this symbol. The reason is that no one really knows what 666 stands for. There has been a lot of speculation and some pretty good theories over the years however, when you get right down to it, we don’t know. With that said, I will give you the best academically sound theory for the number 666. Numerology was significant to the people of antiquity. They believed that numbers had power. Also, Greek and Hebrew, along with other languages of that day, did not have a separate numbering system. They used the letters of the alphabet to represent numbers.
This part of the theory is an actual fact, while the rest of the chapter is speculative. The first beast, the one from the water, had a fatal wound that was healed. You will have to read the entire chapter to see it. We only read parts of chapter 13 this morning. It is believed that the beast with the fatal wound that was healed may be Emperor Nero. Nero was Emperor when 2/3rds of Rome burned in 66 CE. He blamed the Jews and the Christians for it. All Christians and Jews were expelled from Rome by Nero.
In 68 C.E., Nero was assassinated. The people of the Empire didn’t like him either. There was a widely scattered rumor that Nero had escaped death even though he had a fatal wound and that one day he would return to become Emperor again. You can read about this legend in a book called the “Suetonious Life of Nero.”
The number 666 has fascinated scholars for the past 2000 years. The explanation that is widely accepted today is based on the belief that the tyrant Nero would return. Suppose you take Nero’s name in Greek, which is “Neron Caesar,” and change the Greek letters to their corresponding Hebrew letters. In that case, you have Nero’s name written in Hebrew, then add those letters together, remember that letters represented numbers in ancient Hebrew, then you get 666. Some editions of the Revelation use the number 616. If you take Neron Caesar in Greek and add up the value of the letters, remember in ancient Greek, letters were used as numbers; you get 616.
What are some of the things today that draw us away from God and toward Satan? If you aren’t following and worshiping God, then you are following Satan. So what could draw people to the beast as opposed to the Lamb. At our Sermon Roundtable, we developed a list of things:
1. Money – especially the greed that comes into play with money. If you do anything that is against God’s commandments concerning the acquisition or spending of money, then the beast of money has drawn you away from God.
2. Linked directly into money is possession – especially when we want to keep up with our neighbors.
3. Let’s face it all the wants and desires that we have that are not of God count as beasts. Our genuine want and desire should be to join Christ in Heaven when we die.
4. When leisure activities come before a worship celebration or prioritize doing the ministry of Christ, these things become beasts.
5. Unhealthy habits such as smoking, the use of drugs of any kind to create a new reality, or overeating violate God’s Temple. We are given these flesh bodies as a loan from God. Since everything and everyone belongs to God, we should take care of the body, God’s Temple, that God has given us.
6. When we take pride in our accomplishments and forget that God gives us the gifts, talents, and skills we have, we acknowledge the beast. Or when we consider ourselves as self-made men or women.
7. When we worship heroes like idols, we are allowing ourselves to be removed from God. This kind of behavior is seen with young people, especially teenagers when they worship rock singers, sports figures, or swimsuit models.
8. When we say that we believe in Jesus Christ but we chose to follow our own way rather than God’s way for our lives.
9. When we decide that we don’t want to make sacrifices in our lives for Jesus Christ we are giving honor to the beast.
10. Finally, and I am sure that you can come up with a lot more than we did when we relied on “cheap grace” to save us at the last minute.
We have been looking at God’s message of grace as it is brought to us by the book of Revelation. Many people don’t like this book because it smacks you right between the eyes with its message. There are no punches held back in this book. John of Patmos was quite direct. In Revelation, the concept of death bed conversions or the baptized being allowed to repent for a life of sins at the last minute before judgment day does not exist. Remember that none of us know when we will die. To wait until death to ask God for forgiveness is just plain folly. What happens if you don’t have the chance to ask for forgiveness?
As John Wesley states, we must constantly show God our appreciation for the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. If you come before this altar and confess your faith in Christ, then go out and behave the way you want to, contrary to the Bible, which is God’s Word, you are sending the message to God that you don’t appreciate salvation He offers. According to the book of Revelation, you will be labeled lukewarm for God and will be rejected on judgment day. If you forget everything else that we have been speaking about from this book, I pray that you remember this critical point.
We are placed here on Earth as a test. God is testing us to see if we are worthy to enter into His heaven. God loves us so much that He gave us Jesus to offer us justification, and He gave us His Word, the Bible, to be our manual of life so that we can strive to become like Jesus during our lifetime. When judgment comes to us as individuals, the time for asking for forgiveness is over. Our words, thoughts, and actions will judge us. In the sight of God, we must live as if every day could be our last. Remember, once judgment starts it is too late to change your ways.
