Revelation 13:1-18

Revelation 11:15-12:17 offered up a description of some of the people who will be involved during the tribulation period, which are the seven years following the rapture of the church. This time of tribulation will bring extreme judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. Already we have seen a series of two judgments (7 seal judgments and 7 trumpet judgments) which have left many dead and great amounts of destruction upon the earth. Currently, we are in the midst of the seventh trumpet judgment (11:15) and John has written about the woman (Israel), the Child (Jesus Christ), and the dragon (Satan). Satan has been thrown out of heaven for the final time and in anger he turns his wrath upon Jews, but God sends special protection upon them (12:7-16). In frustration, Satan begins to wreck havoc for all those who believe in Jesus Christ (12:17).

We pick up the storyline in Revelation 13 when the dragon (Satan) gives power and authority to the beast (Antichrist). It appears that Satan stages the death of the Antichrist and then claims that he has been brought back from the dead (13:3). John writes that the people of the earth respond to this so-called miracle through marvelling and following the beast. John also records that the people “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?’” (13:4) The Antichrist will be given great speaking power bringing deception upon mankind and he will speak blasphemies against God for three and a half years (13:5-6). He will also “make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (13:7-8). Even though the Antichrist will murder the saints, they will still be granted eternal life because they have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ. However, those who have rejected Christ will be tormented on earth by the Antichrist whose purpose is to turn people away from God.

Another person arrives on the scene whose goal is to cause people to worship the Antichrist as God. He is often referred to as the false prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). He will deceive many through “great signs” and will cause them to set up an image of the Antichrist which will appear to be given life (13:11-15). Those who refuse to worship this image as God will be killed, but those who are deceived will receive a mark (666) “on their right hand or on their foreheads” (13:16, 18). Many have referred to this mark as the “mark of the beast” because taking this mark will allow a person to engage in daily activities needed for survival such as buying and selling (13:17). Without this mark, an individual will not be able to survive. This will obviously cause many to take the mark of the beast and mean certain death for those who refuse it. John paints a bleak picture for those who dwell on the earth during this future time. May God have mercy on many and may believers be motivated to see the fate of those who reject Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation.

Dear God, place within me a vision of the things to come so that I might warn those who have rejected Jesus Christ. Through Your Holy Spirit, I pray that You would send conviction so that they might turn to You for mercy and grace.