July 26 2026
Revelation 13
On the Fourth of July, Jennifer and I found ourselves in Ragersville to watch the fireworks. My Mom and Dad had heard that they put on a pretty good show so we all piled in the car and off we went. Well, we got to Ragersville around a little early, so we decided to enjoy the ice cream sundaes that the historical society were giving out. While we sat at our table, some old friends stopped by that we had not seen in awhile and we enjoyed catching up with them. One of these friends was someone a had been in 4-H with, and I had a long chat with him. As we talked, he remembered that I was now a pastor, which seems to always catch him off guard. Well, now that he had the full attention of someone who ought to know his Bible, my friend decided to ask some really important questions, like: In Revelation, it says there will come a time when the beast will come, who do you think that is? And, it also says that the people who follow this beast will be given a mark on their forehead and their hand, in order to buy and sell stuff, do you think this is some kind of computer chip? And who do you think the number 666 refers to? All I kept thinking is that I finally get a Sunday off so that I don’t have the book of Revelation on my mind, and I still couldn’t be free from being confronted by it. Yet, I also knew that my friend is just like a lot of people who when given a Bible full of all kinds of good news still just want to fixate on one chapter of Revelation.
Well, the biggest problem with questions like the ones my friend asked me, is that people tend to see the book of Revelation as being in the same category as crystal balls and tarot cards, just one more means of seeing what the future holds. Yet Biblical prophecy is not a means of peering into the future. If this were the case then this book would have little to say to us today. You see, scripture must be able to speak to the truth about our human nature, a nature which does not change with the passing of time. So instead of understanding this book of Revelation as holding some hidden meaning pointing to a future prediction we should instead know this book as holding out for us an always present possibility.
So keeping that in mind we come to one of the most disturbing and confusing chapter in the book of Revelation. As always we need to understand the context of this chapter which means we must first, see what has happened just before the events we see in the thirteenth chapter. Well, at the end of the twelfth chapter we find that the dragon, who is a depiction of Satan, is furious because the long awaited Messiah has arrived and now reigns in heaven. So, the dragon decides to make war on those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the witness of Jesus. So in chapter thirteen, we discover that the way that Satan makes war against those faithful to Jesus is that he is going to raise up a beast. Now, just as Satan is not an actual dragon, the beast is not an actual scary monster. The description we are given is merely describing in a artistic manner, the power and strength of a king. The audience who first read this account would have understood that horns are a common Biblical means of stating how strong a person might be, because a bull ox that has horns is a visible image of strength. Likewise, saying that this king had feet like a bear might indicate that this king is capable of great destruction. The leopard would mean that this king could move his army with incredible speed. And saying that his mouth was like the mouth of a lion would possibly mean that his appetite was insatiable, always wanting more.
Now if we remember that what John records is to speak to our human condition, then what we hear at the end of the third verse should make us perk up our ears. There we hear that the whole world was filled with wonder and amazement as they followed this powerful king. Now if this were not alarming on its own, what we hear next is even worse. In the fourth verse, we hear that because of this king that the whole world had exulted to such a great honor, now the whole world worshipped the dragon, Satan, himself. This is quite an astonishing claim, to state that the world has become a place where all people who dwell here are Satan worshippers. John tells us that the reason why this worship of Satan had happened is solely because the world figured out that it was Satan who had given the king his authority to rule. This we must remember, is the way that Satan is making war against the those faithful few who still obey the commandment of God and the witness of Jesus. The battle is to live in a world where the vast majority of people worship the king who rules over them, those who wonder aloud, “Who is like this king?”, and “Who is able to make war against a king such as this?”.
In this section of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation we find one of the most concentrated uses of the word, “blasphemes”, in all of scripture. John tells us that the beast, this king who finds his authority in Satan rather than God, speaks arrogantly, defying the ultimate rule of God. This is the very definition of the word, “blaspheme”. To say that this all powerful king blasphemes means that this king speaks evil, slanderous language against God, obviously holding God in contempt. Now while this might seem to be something that will only happen in the future, the truth is scripture has many instances of kings who become so arrogant that they begin to defy the ultimate authority of God. In the book of Exodus, we are told that the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had a hard heart when confronted by God who ordered him to release the Israelite slaves. And in the fourth chapter of the book of Daniel, we hear of how the king of Babylon had become exceedingly arrogant before God. Through the prophet Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar found out that his arrogant days were coming to an end through the superior power of God.
Now as we consider the examples from scripture, what we discover in every case where a king was found to hold God in contempt, speaking evil about God, what accompanies this blasphemous speech is unrighteous behavior toward those these kings were to rule over. Instead of being a guardian for the poor and powerless to keep them from being used and abused by wrong doers, the kings themselves were found to be guilty of using and abusing the vulnerable people they rule over. The Pharaoh of Egypt enslaved the people of Israel who had come to live among them. And when the people of Israel grew to be a great nation themselves, the Pharaoh decided to kill the male children to keep the people of Israel from growing any larger. King Nebuchadnezzar acted in an unrighteous manner by refusing to offer mercy to the poor. These examples help understand what John means when he tells us that the beast, this all powerful king, held in contempt not just God, but this king spoke evil against the very character of God, the holiness and righteousness of God. Not only that but the king even spoke against the holy dwelling of God in heaven. So it just makes sense that those who bear the characteristics of God, those who live righteous and holy lives would become a target for the evil hatred of this king.
John then gives us an understanding of the difference between this king and those who worship him and those who worship the true king named Jesus. He writes that the beast, this all powerful king was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. In other words, these who live in the common way of dividing up the world, these are the ones who will be alright living under the authority of this so called all-powerful king. Those who are living holy lives though, will be persecuted for going against the authority of such a king. Those who come under the authority of the king will be those who curse others, seeking to do evil and harm to others while those who live holy lives will continue to bless others no matter what the cost. So it is no surprise then that those who live under the authority of the king are the ones John implies are walking on the wide road, seeking the honor and glory of others especially the king, Those who find their honor only by living before the face of God are the ones who walk on the narrow road with Jesus. These are the ones who will have their names written in the book of Life. John says that this is the very book of the Lamb, the one who was slain from the very beginning of the world.
Now why John is speaking about our walk on the narrow way is found in what John writes next. He writes, “If one is taken into captivity, then into captivity they will go. If one is killed by the sword, then by the sword they will be killed.” What John is reminding his readers of is that the narrow way is the very way of suffering. In such a world where the ruling authorities find their authority not from God but instead from Satan himself, the possibility is great that those who live holy righteous, lives will be hunted down, persecuted for their allegiance to Jesus alone. So as Jesus is the Lamb who knew he would suffer and die from the moment of creation, so too those who follow him must also be prepared to experience loss on account of being united with him. Now if we consider that this persecution is a result of Satan waging war against the people of God, we are right to wonder has Satan won now that we find ourselves conquered? The answer is a firm, “no”! We cannot forget that when we die a death like Christ this is when the life of Christ is most clearly seen to be living in us. Satan may have won the battle but never forget he has not won the war.
Well, as if one beast were not enough, John goes on to reveal that there will come yet another beast. This beast as will later be revealed, is a false prophet who speaks like Satan himself, which means that he speaks only lies. He calls the whole world to come and worship the great king whose authority is Satan. As he speaks only lies, it is no surprise to find out that the whole world becomes deceived by him. This false prophet goes so far as to make an image of the king, an idol, so that no matter how far people were from the king they might know that his rule was over all the world. The worship of the king thus becomes mandatory so that those who would not worship the king or the image of the king, they would be killed. So we can see that where once authorities were permitted to use the fear of death to deter people from wrong doing, now the fear of death has become a means to insure absolute allegiance to a king. So it could now be said that if one desired to live that they had better become united with the king and his cause.
This understanding assists in figuring out the great mystery found in what is known by many as being, the mark of the beast. If we look at the original Greek, what we find is that this word for, “mark”, is actually the sound made when a chisel hits a piece of stone. This sound is where the word, “character”, comes, the sound being, “charac”. Thus a persons character is that their life bears a certain mark, an unchangeable quality. So the people living under a king who believes he is all powerful will become so influenced by this king they worship that their lives will be marked by his characteristics. This characteristic of the king according to John will be seen most clearly on the foreheads and the hands of the people who worship this king. The mark upon the forehead is most likely the haughty attitude of those who judge others to be something less than they are. This smug attitude justifies their need to look down on others. So when they interact with others, they will determine who are the people who are less than they are, and so it follows, less than human. This justifies the mark upon their hand, the characteristic of the closed fist, the very symbol of violence. Unlike the act of blessing where the stranger is treated with respect, and a longing to know them, now violence merely seeks to eliminate those believed to be in some way, inferior. The blasphemy of the king, their evil contempt toward God, now influences those who worship him. They now hold in contempt those who bear the very image of God , doing evil against them. So it follows that those who refuse to bear the characteristics of the king will not be allowed to buy and sell as they are considered barely justified to even exist. In such a world, those who come under such cruel wrath are justifiably those who get used and abused.
You see, the tragedy that occurs when such a king comes forth from the pits of hell is not just his contempt and defiance of God. No, the terrible outcome of such a reign is that those under his rule become like him, justifying their cruel and inhumane treatment of others because this is the way of the one who rules over them. At last we understand why in this account this king is identified as being a beast. When he severs himself from the goodness of God this human being becomes something less than human, nothing more than a terrifying beast. And those who worship such a king also become less than human as well. In such a world the people of God will be greatly tempted to respond to the terrible suffering imposed by this king and his followers with hatred, lashing out at those who persecute them with judgment and violence. If they do so, this is when Satan will have truly won the war.
Well all is not lost for the people of God. They will be able to overcome this temptation to respond with violence by instead, patiently enduring through abiding in Christ. You see, what the most powerful king in the world cannot give to those who worship him is hinted at in this strange number which has piqued the curiosity of many a reader of the book of Revelation. Just what or who is it that bears this number, this six, six, six? Well, my take is that it is a number that is very close to the number seven, seven, seven.The number seven causes us to remember the beginning of creation. There we read that God, after he created humans, rested on the seventh day. So a complete state of rest, comfort, contentment could be stated by using the number seven, seven, seven. So, the number six, six, six, implies to us that the people who live under such a number never can find the rest that they seek. These arrogant, evil people never know the comfort found in the life that only God can provide. In their violent struggle for life, there is never any hope of experiencing true contentment because they always must be on guard to never be judged by someone else as being inferior. So there is a constant need to always portray themselves as being, strong and dominant people, something that is a wearisome pursuit. They are left with a restless, discontented life, the terrible plight for those who become enamored by the greatness of those who govern over them.
So in times of great evil God calls us to do what the world cannot do and that is that we must rest and not react. In the fourth chapter of the book of Philippians, Paul teaches us the how we are able to rest even in an evil age.. There Paul tells us that the secret of being contented, of experiencing peace in a world at war, no matter if one has nothing or plenty. The answer is this: we must find the strength we need to endure the times we are face solely in the one who empowers us, the one who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the one named Jesus. It is when we allow Jesus to be our source of strength, this is when we are able to find rest and contentment even in times when it seems that earthly rulers are all powerful. It is only through Jesus that we can find a peace beyond our understanding even when Satan wars against us. This is our true victory!To God be the glory! Amen!
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