The Three Beasts and 666 - Revelation Bible Study Lesson 21

The Three Beasts And 666

Lesson Twenty One
Revelation Chapter 13

We have been studying about how Satan was cast out of the second
and third heavens, down to earth, and as he knew he had but a short
time left, he was turning his rage on God's chosen people, the
Israelites. And now John continues to show us what was revealed
to him as he was exiled on the Island of Patmos.

Verses
1 & 2

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast
rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,
and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the
name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like
unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear,
and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon
gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

As we proceed in this chapter, we must refer back to Daniel chapter 2,
where King Nebuchanezzer had a strange dream, which Daniel told him
what the dream was and what it meant - the four world kingdoms to
come and the final revived Roman empire which in the latter days
would rule the world. As we know today from history how exact Daniel
was about Babylon, the first empire followed by the Medes and
Persians, then Alexander the Great's empire of Greece taken over by
the Romans. This fourth empire would dissolve from within, but
would be revived in the latter days. This prophecy was so exact that
there are those that say Daniel never existed and this was written after
the fact, but they have been proven wrong. Today we are seeing the
revived Roman empire coming to life as the European Union.

Notice the beast (AntiChrist) is compared to a leopard, a bear and
a lion. He will combine the ferocity and the characteristics of the three
world powers that have proceeded him. The Greek empire struck
like a leopard, the Media-Persian had the power of a bear, and the
Babylonion Empire was known for its splendor. But all this power and
authority is Given to him by the dragon, Satan, who will control his
every move. Now when we compare this with the beast that Daniel
saw in Daniel 7

1	The first was like a lion	Verse 4
2	The second, like to a bear	Verse 5
3	Like a leopard	Verse 6

Now compare what Daniel saw to what John saw - in order-
first a leopard, then a bear, and finally a lion - just in the opposite
order of what Daniel saw. Why is this? Daniel was looking ahead
in time and John was looking back!

Verses
3 - 7

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;
and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world
wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the
dragon which gave power unto the beast, saying, Who
is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with
him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies; and power was given
unto him to continue forty and two months. And he
opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to
blaspheme His Name, and His tabernacle, and them
that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make
war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power
was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations.

This antichrist will gain fame by performing seemingly impossible
miracles, and when he receives a head wound that should be
absolutely fatal, and then returns to life, the whole world will follow
him and say 'This must be our God'. Then with his supernatural
knowledge and wisdom, he will appear to improve things on earth.
Things like poverty, hunger and war and the world will accept him as
their messiah. But then he shows his true colors and for the next
three and a half years there will be war, poverty, hunger, blasphemy
and God's followers will be persecuted. The antichrist will claim to
be God, the only God, and kill a great number of Tribulation Saints.
In Daniel 12:1 we read, And there shall be a time of trouble, such
as never was since there was a nation even to that same time....
And in Jeremiah 30:7, Alas! For that day is great; it is even the time
of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
And In Matthew 24:21, And then shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor
ever shall be. But the saints of God will not be here to experience
this horrible time of Satan. We will be in Heaven with Jesus,
The Bride of Christ. Who will be there? Will You?
Is your name in the Book of Life?

Verses
8 - 10

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear,
let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into
captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with
the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

In this book are written the names of every person who ever lived.
But when a person rejects Jesus as his Savior, and God is
convinced he will never change his mind, his name is then blotted
out of the Book of Life and these are the ones who will take the
mark of the beast and worship Satan. John emphasizes the
importance of this in verse 9, If any man have an ear,
let him hear. In Galatians 6:7, Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Yes, we definitely will reap what we sow unless we turn to Jesus and
ask for His forgiveness.

So now we have two beasts, Satan, the dragon and the beast with
seven heads and ten horns, the antichrist who is given his power from
the dragon. But there is now a third beast.

Verses
11 - 14

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;
and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a
dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound
was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he
maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in
sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell upon the
earth by the means of those miracles which he had power
to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell
on the earth, that they should make an image to the
beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

This beast completes the Satanic trinity. The first beast was from
the 'Sea', this beast is from the 'Earth'. The sea from which the
first beast was taken means "peoples, multitudes, nations and
tongues" (Rev 17:15). And the second beast is from "The Land".
This could mean the land of Israel, which makes sense because he
will be accepted by the Israelites as the Messiah, and they would
would never accept a gentile as such. Like the first beast, this second
one wears horns, but only two uncrowned horns, as a lamb. This
denotes a religious leader, not political. He will be successful in
uniting all religions into one world religion. He will seek to imitate the
real Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, and millions will fall for this deception.
Here are seven things this false prophet will do:

1.	He will exercise unlimited authority.	Rev. 13:12
2.	He forces people to worship the antichrist.	Rev. 13:12
3.	He performs great miracles.	Rev. 13:13
4.	He deceives the population.	Rev. 13:14
5.	He forces people to worship the image of the antichrist in the temple.	Rev. 13:14
6.	He murders all noncomformists.	Rev. 13:15
7.	He forces people to receive the mark of the beast.	Rev. 13:16

What miracles does he perform? Through the power of Satan
he makes fire streak from the heavens to the earth along with other
signs to make people believe that he is divine, and he will deceive
many. In 2 Thes. 2:9 we read, Even him, whose coming is after the
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.

Verse
15

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast,
that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause
that as many as would not worship the image of the beast
should be killed.

In verse 15 he gives life to the image of the first beast, and then
forces people to worship this image under the penalty of death.
This image will be constructed right in the newly erected temple in
Jerusalem. This is referred to as the Abomination of desolation,
Matthew 24:15 & Mark 13:14
This happened once earlier when Antiochus Epiphanies entered
the second temple, set up an image of a pagan god and sacrificed
a pig on the altar before this god. Read Daniel 9:27 and 12:11.

Verses
16 - 18

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark intheir right hand, or in
their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save
he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number
of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath under-
standing count the number of the beast: for it is the
number of a man; and his number is six hundred three-
score and six.

This false prophet will perfect a way to expose everyone who yet
believes in Jesus, by causing all beast-worshippers to bear a mark
on their right hand or on their forehead, and without this mark you could
not buy, sell or trade. How could this be? What does 666 mean?

The Bible tells us that 6 is the number of a man. Man is body, soul,
and spirit, thus 666.
In this chapter we have learned...

1.	Satan's hatred toward God and His saints.
2.	He tries to imitate God, attempting to make himself Christ, setting himself up as the only god.
3.	Man also desires to be as God.

All the forces of Hell as found in this chapter are at work in the world
today. I read a book on Revelation published in 1935, very
revealing, but left some questions as to how the antichrist could control
and rule the world and everyone in the world. This was written before
today's technology. Now we have computers that can make millions
of calculations per second as well as keep total account of every
person in the world. You can enter a name in a computer and in
seconds have an address and phone number. You can even get
detailed directions to their home. Amazing! With this type of technology,
the antichrist will have no problem in keeping track of all who dwell on
the earth. As for the placing of a mark in the hand or forehead, we
are already doing that with pets! In fact, this could be a benefit in
many ways. Imagine a cashless society. There would be much less
crime, you would not have to worry about your credit cards being
lost or stolen and their would be no cash in banks or stores to steal.
It will be easy to sell this cashless society to the public. But the
drawbacks, of course, will not be mentioned, the loss of freedom.
The technology is already here. This means there is nothing from
an economic or technological standpoint to hinder the Rapture from
occurring at any time! BUT BEWARE! Taking the mark of the beast
will be irreversible! During the tribulation the Holy Spirit will convict
men and warn them of sin and of their need to receive the gospel.
And you can be sure He will be there to protect anyone from making
an inadvertent mistake! The important thing is that anyone reading
this ever has to make such a decision! By accepting Jesus Christ
by faith as your Lord and Savior, you can keep yourself from ever
being put into this horrible situation. That is what the Bible means
when it says, Now is the accepted time; [today] is the day of
salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (emphasis added)

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists;
whereby we know that it is the last time.
1 John 2:18

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