The Antichrist Revelation 13:1-6 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

In Revelation 13, John sees two beasts come up, the first out of the sea [v.1] and the second out of the earth [v.11].  The one out of the sea is the antichrist.  The one out of the earth is the false prophet.  And the dragon [v.2] is the devil.  Thus, you see the Satanic trinity [Revelation 16:13].  Today, of these three, we will study the Antichrist.

v. 1 – the physical appearance of this beast resembles the dragon [12:3] in that he has seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns, yet he is not a dragon but rather a mutation of three other beasts [v. 2].  The seven heads represent the work of antichrists throughout the church age [1 John 2:18].  The name of blasphemy is what the Antichrist calls himself, stating “I am Christ,” [Matthew 24:5].  Compare 1 John 2:22 where the true Christ is Jesus.

v. 2 – The beast is like three other beasts – he has the body of a leopard, the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion [compare Dan 7:3-8, this beast is the fourth beast, an amalgamation of the first three beasts].  What John sees in his vision is a beast but what people during the tribulation will see is a man [Ecclesiastes 3:18].

v. 2 – the dragon gives him his power [Luke 4:5-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:9]; seat [Revelation 2:13]; and his great authority [Ephesians 2:2, 6:12, he is a prince and a ruler].

v.3 – one head is wounded to death [Zechariah 11:15-17] – this wound is a deadly wound which is healed and which looks to the world like a miracle that rivals the resurrection of Jesus.  The entire world wonders because it is such a great marvel.

v. 4 – they worship the dragon – which is exactly what the devil has always wanted [Luke 4:7].  They worship the beast also [Romans 1:23-25] which is the natural consequence of rearing a generation of tree huggers and animal worshippers [Luke 4:8].  They ask, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war with him?”  That is because he proves himself to be invincible like a super hero [Daniel 8:25]

v. 5 – Mouth – Daniel 7:8, 25; Psalms 55:21 – he is the devil’s mouth piece [contrast Moses in Exodus 4:16].  He speaks and rules for 42 months.

v. 6 – he blasphemes against God – against his name [Philippians 2:9-10]; against his tabernacle [2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 11:19] and against them that dwell in heaven [John 15:18-21].

v. 7 – he makes war with the saints [Daniel 7:19-22; Revelation 11:7]. He obtains world-wide power over all the nations.

We left off the study with v. 7 and will finish the rest of this passage in the next lesson.