This section may better be processed by understanding the Satanic Trinity involved. It is Satan's character to be a mocker, imitator, pretender, and counterfeit. He attempts to match the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with his own measures. He errantly levels himself with our Father in heaven. As we mentioned last week, he is not even close to the same rank of our Father. Instead, God appoints the archangel Michael to dispatch Satan and his minions. Happy Father's Day, by the way. Thank You, Lord, for faithfully being our perfect example of fatherhood. May we allow Your character to flow through us dads into our families. Back to the Satanic Trinity: Satan equates himself to our Father, his Beast from the Sea is Antichrist (pretending to be Jesus), and the False Prophet from the land is mocking the job of the Holy Spirit.
It should be noted that the beasts mentioned in Revelation 13 are people, acting like wild beasts. They are real human characters that are to be revealed in the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist comes from the sea, which represents the many peoples from the world's nations. He's a man of the people. Up to now, Antichrist has operated peacefully, as a friend of Israel. In fact, he came in peace, promising the protection of his now united Federation of Europe. He comes disguised as a great humanitarian. He talks of world peace and prosperity for all mankind. He speaks of bettering the world and its societies. He explains guilt away, making men ashamed if others say they aren't broadminded and liberal enough. He is the Little Horn in Daniel's prophesy. He will probably stage a fake death and resurrection to mock Jesus. He becomes the world dictator, in charge of all its kingdoms. Satan finally has what he's always wanted: world dominion and world worship. He revives the Roman Empire to rule. The Beast is Satan's Superman. He's the counterfeit Christ.
He's going to need help to pull this whole charade off. He engages the third member of his trinity, the False Prophet to organize the one-world religion. He comes from the land, symbolic of Israel, so he's going to be a Jew. He possibly will be a Roman Jew, like Paul was. In Dan. 9:26, Antichrist is noted to have Roman citizenship. The False Prophet will have horns like a lamb, but with no crowns of authority. His task is to glorify the Beast and get the world to follow and worship him. He duplicates the miracles of the two witnesses by calling fire down from heaven. He orders the image of the Beast to made. This is the "abomination of desolation" prophesied. He will have it erected in the newly built temple. Here's where it gets a little weird. The idol can actually speak! Scientists will not be able to explain this. The world will be in wonderment. It will inspire worship. This is the magic that seals Satan's deal. The idol will speak great things, boastful words, and nasty blasphemes. He's the ultimate big-talking blowhard.
You can only maintain a lie for so long though, right? Satan's true character comes out. In mid-tribulation, Egypt and Russia invade Palestine or Israel, forcing the Beast to protect the Jews and his fake peace treaty (Ezek. 37-38). When the Beast gets to Israel, he finds God has already defeated Russia by Himself! The Beast loses his self-control and decides to conquer Israel. He destroys the apostate church, known as the harlot in Rev 17 and sets himself up as ruler and god of the world. Satan gives him power to do miracles and wonders. God allows a great delusion so the people of the world believe the big lie (2 Thes. 2:11). People reject Jesus, but accept Antichrist. The Beast blasphemes the church in heaven and persecutes the believing Jewish remnant on Earth. He is the one that slays the two witnesses in Rev 11.
Now, Satan has what he's always wanted: worldwide worship and worldwide control of the economy. He requires all peoples to carry the mark of the Beast on their foreheads or right hands in order to buy or sell or travel or whatever. If you don't take his mark, you will suffer greatly (Rev 20:4). What is this number, 666? There's been much speculation and calculation through the years. There are those that subscribe to various numeric codes to represent letters that spell out certain imbedded mysteries. Indeed, the number 666 could in fact spell out Antichrist's name, but he won't be revealed until the appointed time in the Great Tribulation. What we do know is that 6 is the number of man. I like the idea that 666 represents the highest potential peak of accomplishment that man can achieve apart from Jesus Christ. In our own strength and resources, we can achieve most anything-but at a high price, potentially. Of course, the number 7 is representative of completeness and perfection. It is God's number. It's the number Satan cannot attain, though he will try.
Take a quick look at Jeremiah 17:5-8 for some personal application. These are the Lord's words. Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
I'm guilty of walking out this life on my own two feet at times. Too many times, I've set my own goals to pursue my own desires to satisfy my own pleasures, measuring and judging according to my own strengths and limitations. Admittedly, that has defined my faith too often in life. It's a faith in myself and my own capabilities. I sense a call to faith in Christ. It's as if God is calling His people on the spiritual phone to resurrect their faith in Christ. I don't see a strong faith in Christ in our world today, and it's very concerning, considering we know what the scriptures say about faith. He is looking for it, counting on it, praying for it, and hoping for it. Our faith pleases Him. It's how He designed us to exist. Perhaps we should join this ministry outreach project and run with it. Call up your Christian brothers and sisters and encourage them to kindle their faith in Christ! When He returns, I want Him to find His people living by the power of the Holy Spirit, believing in full, unwavering, and fiery faith with a passion that doesn't burn out. May we be a people that truly trusts the Lord and puts their confidence in Him, not succumbing to worry and fear, sending our life roots deep into good soil with Him as our foundation, and allowing Him to bring fruit as He wills. As mentioned last week, let's be God's fans, as we are with our favorite sports team or player. It should be even greater passion than the awe and mystique of being in close proximity of a celebrity or someone famous. Think of how we follow the popular people and teams. We continually watch their sports. We listen to what they say. We watch how they act. We catch up on their personal news. We wish we could hang out with them. Well, we have the same deal with Christ, only better, since we have the Holy Spirit influencing us and pointing to Him! We also have His Word, the Living Word, which is the greatest personal media we can possess. It's fitting, the verse of the day, is "You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word" (Ps. 119:114).
