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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 66

TITLE: THE MYSTERY OF THE BEAST REVEALED

TEXT: REVELATION 17:7-14

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE WORD “MYSTERY” IS USED FOUR TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

* TWO OF THOSE USES ARE FOUND IN REVELATION CHAPTER 17, ONCE IN V. 5 AND ONCE IN V. 7, OUR TEXT TODAY.

** NOW THE GREEK WORD FOR MYSTERY IN REVELATION 17 IS MOOS-TAY-REE-ON WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN.

*** AS YOU CAN SEE THE WORD MEANS A HIDDEN THING, A SECRET, SOMETHING NOT OBVIOUS TO OUR UNDERSTANDING, A HIDDEN PURPOSE.

**** AND BASICALLY THE WORD HAS TO DO WITH SOMETHING PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN, BUT NOW MADE KNOWN, OR TRUTHS WHICH ARE A PART OF GOD’S PLAN THAT CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD AS HE REVEALS THEM THROUGH THE SPIRIT, DIVINE REVELATION THAT CANNOT BE KNOWN BY UNAIDED HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.

1. NOW LET ME AMPLIFY ON THIS. THERE ARE SOME THINGS GOD REVEALS TO NO ONE, READ DEUTERONOMY 29:29.

* THEN THERE ARE THINGS THAT GOD REVEALS ONLY TO CERTAIN PEOPLE, PSALM 25:14A SAYS: “THE SECRET OF THE LORD IS FOR THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.”

** STILL OTHER THINGS WERE HIDDEN IN THE O.T. BUT HAVE NOW BEEN REVEALED IN THE NEW.

*** WE LIKE TO SAY THE O.T. IS THE NEW CONCEALED AND THE N.T. IS THE OLD REVEALED.

**** AND THEN CERTAINLY THE N.T. REVEALS AND CLARIFIES AND FULFILLS O.T. TRUTHS. AND MANY TIMES WE GO FROM SHADOW TO SUBSTANCE.

2. AND SOME OF THOSE O.T. MYSTERIES THAT ARE REVEALED IN THE N.T. ARE: “CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY” IN COLOSSIANS 1:26&27.

* AND THIS MYSTERY IN THE O.T. REVEALED IN THE N.T. IS NOT ONLY WOULD THE MESSIAH COME WHICH WAS CLEARLY PREDICTED IN THE O.T., BUT THAT HE WOULD LIVE AND TAKE UP RESIDENCE IN ALL BELIEVERS, THAT HE LIVES IN HIS REDEEMED CHURCH, JEW AND GENTILE ALIKE.

** BEYOND THAT MYSTERY, THERE IS THE MYSTERY OF ISRAEL’S UNBELIEF IN ROMANS 11:25.

*** THERE IS THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATE GOD, COLOSSIANS 2:2-3, 9.

**** THERE IS THE MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION OF ALL BELIEVERS, I CORINTHIANS 15:51.

3. AND THEN THERE IS THE MYSTERY OF THE UNITY OF JEW AND GENTILE IN THE CHURCH, IN EPHESIANS 3:3-6.

* NOW THESE MYSTERIES CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY TRUE BELIEVERS FOR I CORINTHIANS 2:14 SAYS: (READ IT).

** TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE MYSTERIES REVEALED IN THE N.T. ARE NOT UNCOVERED BY THE GENIUS OF MAN, BUT ARE REVEALED BY THE WILL AND ACT OF GOD THROUGH THE MASTER TEACHER THE HOLY SPIRIT, READ JOHN 14:26.

*** ALSO I JOHN 2:27 SAYS: “AS FOR YOU, THE ANOINTING WHICH YOU RECEIVED FROM HIM ABIDES IN YOU, AND YOU HAVE NO NEED FOR ANYONE TO TEACH YOU; BUT AS HIS ANOINTING TEACHES YOU ABOUT ALL THINGS, AND IS TRUE AND IS NOT A LIE, AND JUST AS IT HAS TAUGHT YOU, YOU ABIDE IN HIM.”

**** NOW THAT ANOINTING IS THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE MASTER TEACHER, AND HE REVEALS THROUGH SCRIPTURE ALL WE NEED TO KNOW.

4. NOW THAT IS NOT TO SAY WE DON’T NEED HUMAN GIFTED TEACHERS TO TEACH US AS EPHESIANS 4:11 AND I CORINTHIANS 12:28 COMMUNICATES.

* BUT JOHN IS COMBATING THE FALSE TEACHERS OF HIS DAY WHO SAID THEY NEEDED THEIR ANOINTING, THEIR SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE THAT WAS ONLY REVEALED TO THEM.

** BELOVED, WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF GOD AS TRUE BELIEVERS THROUGH THE TEACHING MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR OWN STUDY AND THROUGH GIFTED TEACHERS AND PREACHERS OF THE WORD OF GOD, THROUGH GRACE GIFTEDNESS.

*** FOR THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY BOOK IN THE WORLD WHERE THE AUTHOR IS ALWAYS PRESENT AND INDWELLING TRUE BELIEVERS.

**** AND THAT’S WHY I HAVE MADE THE ARGUMENT FOR THE PERPESCUITY OR CLARITY OR INTELLIGIBILITY OF SCRIPTURE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THAT GOD HAS GIVEN US THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND HIS BOOK.

- BELOVED THE BASIC MESSAGE OF SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN CLEARLY REVEALED SO THAT BELIEVERS CAN UNDERSTAND IT.

5. AND IF THE BEGINNING IS CLEAR AND IMPORTANT, SPEAKING OF CREATION, WHY THEN WOULD THE END BY CLOUDY, MURKY, NOT UNDERSTANDABLE AND NOT IMPORTANT, A MYSTERY, SPEAKING OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

* NOW THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT SOME THINGS ARE NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND AS PETER SAID IN II PETER 3:16 –

** AND REVELATION IS THE MOST DIFFICULT BOOK I’VE EVER WORKED THROUGH.

*** BUT, THE MYSTERIES OF IT ARE REVEALED THROUGH CONTEXTUAL, DILIGENT STUDY WITH A PROPER CONSISTENT HERMENEUTIC.

*** AND WE COME TO ONE OF THOSE HARD TEXTS TODAY. BUT AGAIN, THE MYSTERY IS REVEALED.

6. IN FACT, WHAT HAS BEEN HIDDEN ABOUT THE BEAST AND THE WOMAN IS REVEALED IN THE REST OF REVELATION CHAPTER 17.

* AND SPECIFICALLY TODAY IN OUR STUDY OF REVELATION 17:7-14, WE’LL SEE THE MYSTERY OF THE BEAST REVEALED, WHICH IS THE TITLE OF OUR MESSAGE TODAY. (THE MYSTERY OF THE BEAST REVEALED.)

** AND UNDER THAT TITLE AND THEME WE’LL LOOK AT 4 THINGS:

*** NO. 1 THE AMAZEMENT OF JOHN THAT SHOWED THAT THE ANGEL ADDRESSES, V. 7; NO. 2 THE ARRIVAL OF THE BEAST ON THE SCENE AND IN THIS INTERPRETATION, V. 8; NO. 3 THE ANALYSIS, THE BREAKDOWN , THE INTERPRETATION OF THE MEANING OF THE BEAST AND HIS COHORTS, VV. 9-12; AND NO. 4 THE ACTIONS OF THE KINGS, THE COHORTS OF THE BEAST, VV. 13&14.

**** AND WITHOUT ANY MORE INTRODUCTION, LET’S JUMP INTO THE TEXT AND LOOK AT V. 7 AND LOOK AT MY FIRST POINT TODAY, THE AMAZEMENT. LOOK AT REVELATION 17:7 PLEASE.

I. THE AMAZEMENT, (READ V. 7)

A. NOW WE MUST GO BACK TO V. 6 AND SEE JOHN’S RESPONSE TO HELP US UNDERSTAND V. 7.

* AND AT THE END OF V. 6, WHEN JOHN SAW ALL THAT HE SAW IN HIS VISION ABOUT THE WOMAN AND THE BEAST HE WAS AMAZED, HE MARVELED, HE WAS COMPLETELY ASTONISHED.

** AND THE AMAZEMENT THAT JOHN SHOWED AT WHAT HE SAW CAUSES THE ANGEL THAT HAS BEEN SPEAKING TO HIM, (ONE OF THE BOWL JUDGMENT ANGELS), TO ASK HIM A REASON FOR HIS SHOCK.

*** AND THE ANGEL USES THIS QUESTION, “WHY DO YOU WONDER?” TO INTRODUCE TO JOHN AND US THE INTERPRETATION, THE MEANING.

**** FOR YOU SEE THERE WAS NO NEED FOR JOHN TO REMAIN IN THE STATE OF WONDER AND AMAZEMENT.

1. SO THE ANGELS SAY TO JOHN, “I WILL TELL YOU THE MYSTERY OF THE WOMAN AND OF THE BEAST THAT CARRIES HER, WHICH HAS THE SEVEN HEADS AND THE TEN HORNS.”

* AND IN VV. 8-14 THE ANGEL WILL REVEAL THE MYSTERY OF THE BEAST AND HIS HEADS AND HORNS AND IN VV. 15-18 THE MYSTERY OF THE WOMAN IS REVEALED ALONG WITH SOME ADDITIONAL THINGS ABOUT THE BEAST AND HIS HORNS.

** SO IN V. 7 THE ANGEL DEALS WITH JOHN’S AMAZEMENT BY REVEALING TO HIM THE MYSTERY OF THE BEAST AND THE WOMAN, AND FOR OUR STUDY TODAY, THE BEAST.

*** AND IN V. 8, THE ANGEL WILL START SPECIFICALLY WITH THE BEAST WHICH I AM CALLING THE ARRIVAL, OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, LOOK AT V. 8 PLEASE.

II. THE ARRIVAL, (READ V. 8)

A. NOW THE BEAST WHICH IS ANTICHRIST, THE SATANIC RULER OF THE LAST PHYSICAL WORLD EMPIRE AND KINGDOM WHO SERVES AS SATAN’S PUPPET, IS DESCRIBED AS ONE WHO WAS, AND IS NOT AND IS ABOUT TO COME UP AND GO TO.

* AND WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE DESCRIPTION OF THE BEAST, OF ANTICHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM.

** NOW REMEMBER REVELATION 17 IS RETROSPECTIVE, LOOKING BACK TO WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE DURING THE JUDGMENTS OF THE TRIBULATION.

*** AND FOR US LOOKING AT THE BOOK OF REVELATION TODAY MOST OF IT IS FUTURE, FROM CHAPTERS 4-22.

**** BUT FOR JOHN, WHO IS GIVEN PROPHECY OF THINGS TO COME IN A SERIES OF VISIONS, IN CHAPTER 17, LOOKS BACK TO WHAT HAPPENS UNDER THE DIVINE JUDGMENTS OF GOD TO BRING DOWN RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLON.

1. SO REVELATION 17 IS RETROSPECTIVE CHRONOLOGICALLY LOOKING BACK TO THE EFFECT OF GOD’S JUDGMENTS ON BABYLON.

* NOW WITH THAT SETTING IN MIND, “THE BEAST WAS” MAKES REFERENCE TO HIS POLITICAL RISE TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 13:1&2 AND ALLUDED TO IN REVELATION 11:7.

** REVELATION 13:1&2 SAYS:

V. 1 – AND THE DRAGON STOOD ON THE SAND OF THE SEASHORE. THEN I SAW A BEAST COMING UP OUT OF THE SEA, HAVING TEN HORNS AND SEVEN HEADS, AND ON HIS HORNS WERE TEN DIADEMS, AND ON HIS HEADS WERE BLASPHEMOUS NAMES.

V. 2 – AND THE BEAST WHICH I SAW WAS LIKE A LEOPARD, AND HIS FEET WERE LIKE THOSE OF A BEAR, AND HIS MOUTH LIKE THE MOUTH OF A LION. AND THE DRAGON GAVE HIM HIS POWER AND HIS THRONE AND GREAT AUTHORITY.

*** NEXT AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 17:8, “THE BEAST IS NOT” MAKES REFERENCE TO REVELATION 13:3 WHERE IT TALKS ABOUT HIS FAKED DEATH AND RESURRECTION.

**** FOR IF YOU RECALL IN OUR STUDY OF REVELATION 13:3 THIS FALSE CHRIST, THIS PHONY CHRIST – ANTICHRIST WILL TRY TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE HE IS THE CHRIST, COUNTERFEITING HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION.

2. AND WHETHER THIS IS A REAL DEATH OR A FAKE DEATH – A LYING WONDER, THE RESULT WAS THE WHOLE EARTH WAS AMAZED.

* AND THE BEAST OUT OF THE EARTH – THE FALSE PROPHET, THE RELIGIOUS LEADER OF THE WORLD AT THIS TIME WILL USE THIS TO BRING WORSHIP AND POWER TO ANTICHRIST.

** REVELATION 13:3, 12&14 COMMUNICATE THIS TO US:

V. 3 – I SAW ONE OF HIS HEADS AS IF IT HAD BEEN SLAIN, AND HIS FATAL WOUND WAS HEALED. AND THE WHOLE EARTH WAS AMAZED AND FOLLOWED AFTER THE BEAST.

V. 12 – HE EXERCISES ALL THE AUTHORITY OF THE FIRST BEAST IN HIS PRESENCE. AND HE MAKES THE EARTH AND THOSE WHO DWELL IN IT TO WORSHIP THE FIRST BEAST, WHOSE FATAL WOUND WAS HEALED.

V. 14 – AND HE DECEIVES THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH BECAUSE OF THE SIGNS WHICH IT WAS GIVEN HIM TO PERFORM IN THE PRESENCE OF THE BEAST, TELLING THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH TO MAKE AN IMAGE TO THE BEAST WHO HAD THE WOUND OF THE SWORD AND HAS COME TO LIFE.

*** NOW CLEARLY, AT LEAST TO ME, “THE BEAST IS NOT” MAKES REFERENCE TO HIM DYING IN A FAKED OR REAL DEATH.

*** AND IS ABOUT “TO COME UP OUT OF THE ABYSS” AND IN THE LAST PART OF V. 8, “WILL COME” MAKES REFERENCE TO HIS MIRACULOUS RECOVERY.

3. FOR THE SOURCE OF HIS POWER TO QUOTE COME BACK TO LIFE AND BE ENERGIZED IS OUT OF THE ABYSS, THE PLACE WHERE DEMONS ARE INCARCERATED, AND MOST LIKELY COMMUNICATED HOW DEMONS AND SATAN USE HIM AND ENERGIZE HIM, A REFERENCE TO THIS BEAST WHO KILLS GOD’S TWO SPECIAL WITNESSES IN REVELATION 11:7.

* FOR REVELATION 11:7 SAYS: “WHEN THEY HAVE FINISHED THEIR TESTIMONY, THE BEAST THAT COMES UP OUT OF THE ABYSS WILL MAKE WAR WITH THEM, AND OVERCOME THEM AND KILL THEM.”

** NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 17:8, THIS BEAST WILL ULTIMATELY GO TO DESTRUCTION WHICH IS A REFERENCE TO HIS FUTURE JUDGMENT IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AS JESUS RETURNS IN REVELATION 19:20 WHICH SAYS:

*** “AND THE BEAST WAS SEIZED, AND WITH HIM THE FALSE PROPHET WHO PERFORMED THE SIGNS IN HIS PRESENCE, BY WHICH HE DECEIVED THOSE WHO HAD RECEIVED THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND THOSE WHO WORSHIPED HIS IMAGE; THESE TWO WERE THROWN ALIVE INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE WHICH BURNS WITH BRIMSTONE.

**** NOW LET ME ATTEMPT TO TRY TO PUT ALL THIS TOGETHER. THE EXPRESSION “HE WAS AND IS NOT AND WILL COME AND GO TO DESTRUCTION” COMMUNICATES HIS OFFICIAL RISE TO POWER, HIS DEATH, HIS WORSHIP AND MORE POWER AND ULTIMATELY HIS JUDGMENT.

4. TO SAY IT ANOTHER WAY, HIS EXISTENCE, HIS DEATH, HIS LIFE AGAIN AND HIS JUDGMENT. WE HAVE A PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE DESCRIPTION OF THE BEAST WITH THIS PHRASE.

* NOW AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 17:8, UNBELIEVERS – THE EARTH DWELLERS, NON-ELECT PEOPLE, WHO DO NOT HAVE THEIR NAMES IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, ARE DECEIVED AND AMAZED BY HIS RISE, DEATH AND HIS SUPPOSED RESURRECTION.

** NOW THE ELECT, GOD’S CHOSEN ONES FOR SALVATION CANNOT BE DECEIVED, AND THEIR NAMES WERE PUT IN THE BOOK OF LIFE BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

*** BUT THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH, THE EARTH DWELLERS, A REPEATED PHRASE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION THAT TALKS ABOUT UNSAVED PEOPLE WILL BE IN AWE AND WONDER OF THE BEAST.

**** SO THE BEAST RISES AND DIES AND IS RAISED AND PEOPLE ARE IN AWE AND SAY WE MUST FOLLOW THIS GUY, HE’LL LEAD US TO BETTER DAYS, HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN.

5. FOR ANYONE THIS POWERFUL IS A FORCE TO BE FOLLOWED, AND HE WILL BE OUR SAVIOR IN THIS TERRIBLE TIME OF JUDGMENT UPON THE EARTH.

* AND V. 8 GIVES US A SUMMARY OF HIS ARRIVAL, HIS DEATH, HIS RISE AND HIS DESTRUCTION AND WHY PEOPLE ARE IN AWE OF HIM.

** WHICH LEADS US TO OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE ANALYSIS, FURTHER INTERPRETATION OF JOHN’S VISION AND THIS MYSTERY REVEALED. LOOK AT V. 9 PLEASE.

III. THE ANALYSIS, (READ V.9)

A. NOW THE ANGEL COMMUNICATES TO JOHN AT THIS POINT THAT MORE THAN NATURAL UNDERSTANDING IS REQUIRED TO GRASP WHAT HE IS NOW TO EXPLAIN IN WHAT FOLLOWS.

* IT WILL TAKE SPIRITUAL WISDOM TO UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS, NATURAL WISDOM AND INTELLECT WILL NOT GET IT DONE, ONLY A MIND WITH WISDOM CAN UNDERSTAND, SPIRITUAL WISDOM IS NECESSARY TO GRASP THE MEANING, SO ONLY BELIEVERS HAVE THE CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND THE MIND OF GOD, PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE SPIRIT INDWELLING THEM.

** NOW AN EXPLANATION FOLLOWS AS THIS MYSTERY IS REVEALED, “THE SEVEN HEADS ARE SEVEN MOUNTAINS ON WHICH THE WOMAN SITS.”

*** NOW WE MUST GO BACK TO V. 3 TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THE REFERENCE TO SEVEN HEADS COMES FROM, FOR V. 3 SAYS: “AND HE CARRIED ME AWAY IN THE SPIRIT INTO A WILDERNESS; AND I SAW A WOMAN SITTING ON A SCARLET BEAST, FULL OF BLASPHEMOUS NAMES, HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS.”

**** NOW ALL KINDS OF SPECULATIONS COMES FROM THE SEVEN HEADS BEING 7 MOUNTAINS.

1. SOME COMMENTATORS SUGGEST THE 7 MOUNTAINS MAKES REFERENCE TO ROME, FAMOUS FOR BEING BUILT ON 7 MOUNTAINS AND IDENTIFY THE WOMAN AS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

* BUT ALL SUCH SPECULATION IS UNNECESSARY BECAUSE OF THE CLARITY, THE PERSPECTIVE OF V. 10. LOOK AT V. 10 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 10. NOW V. 10 CLEARLY IDENTIFIES THE MOUNTAINS AS WHAT? SEVEN KINGS, NOT ROME.

* AND MOUNTAINS IN SCRIPTURE ARE SOMETIMES USED FIGURATIVELY TO TALK ABOUT KINGDOMS, RULE AND POWER IN PSALM 30:7, JEREMIAH 51:25 AND DANIEL 2:35.

** SO CLEARLY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 7 KINGS AND THEIR KINGDOMS. THEY REPRESENT SEVEN WORLD EMPIRES EMBODIED IN THEIR RULERS.

*** AND HERE WE MUST AGAIN INTERPRET FROM SCRIPTURE, 7 GREAT KINGDOMS IN BIBLICAL HISTORY NOT NECESSARILY WORLD HISTORY.

**** FOR THESE 7 KINGDOMS WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL AS ISRAEL IS A FOCAL POINT OF O.T. HISTORY AND THE FUTURE TRIBULATION AS THE FULFILLMENT OF DANIEL’S 70TH WEEK AND THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE.

1. NOW AS WE MOVE ON IN V. 10, THE ANGEL TELLS JOHN “FIVE HAVE FALLEN, ONE IS, THE OTHER HAS NOT YET COME; AND WHEN HE COMES, HE MUST REMAIN A LITTLE WHILE.”

* AND LOOKING AT BIBLICAL HISTORY WE SEE THE RISE AND FALL OF EGYPT, THE RISE AND FALL OF ASSYRIA, THE RISE AND FALL OF BABYLON, THE RISE AND FALL OF MEDO-PERSIA, AND THE RISE AND FALL OF GREECE.

** SO AT THE TIME OF THE WRITING OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION THOSE 5 KINGS AND THEIR KINGDOMS HAD FALLEN.

** NOW THE ONE THAT IS WAS OBVIOUSLY THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THE WORLD EMPIRE IN POWER AT THE TIME OF THE WRITING OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

*** AND THE OTHER THAT HAS NOT YET COME IS ANTICHRIST’S FINAL WORLD EMPIRE THAT WILL RISE DURING THE TRIBULATION.

**** AND A FEW OTHER DETAILS ARE GIVEN ABOUT THIS KINGDOM AT THE END OF V. 10, “WHEN HE COMES (MAKING REFERENCE TO ANTICHRIST THE LEADER OF THIS EMPIRE OR KINGDOM), HE MUST REMAIN A LITTLE WHILE.”

2. AND BELOVED, WE KNOW FROM REVELATION 13:5, THE ANTICHRIST’S EMPIRE WILL BE SHORT LIVED. THE ADJECTIVE “LITTLE” OR “SHORT TIME” OR “SHORT SPACE” DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE, COMMUNICATES THE IDEA OF BREVITY, A SHORT TIME IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER WORLD EMPIRES.

* AND REVELATION 13:5 COMMUNICATES THAT ANTICHRIST WILL BE GIVEN AUTHORITY TO ACT FOR 42 MONTHS.

** REVELATION 13:5 SAYS: “THERE WAS GIVEN TO HIM A MOUTH SPEAKING ARROGANT WORDS AND BLASPHEMIES, AND AUTHORITY TO ACT FOR FORTY-TWO MONTHS WAS GIVEN TO HIM.”

*** SO ANTICHRIST’S KINGDOM WILL BE A SHORT ONE IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER 6 KINGDOMS.

**** NOW IN V. 11 WE HAVE SOME MORE EXPANSION OF THIS IDEA AND TRUTH AS WE HAVE MORE ANALYSIS. LOOK AT V. 11 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 11. NOW TO UNDERSTAND V. 11 WE MUST GO BACK TO V. 8, WHICH REMINDS US HOW IMPORTANT CONTEXT IS AND COMPARING SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE OR CROSS-REFERENCING.

* IT REMINDS ME OF THE STATEMENT WE SOMETIMES HEAR THAT THE GREATEST COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE IS THE BIBLE, AND THAT’S TRUE. AND IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION CONTEXT AND CROSS-REFERENCING ARE ESSENTIAL.

** NOW WITH THAT SAID, THE 8TH KING IS IDENTICAL TO THE 7TH WHICH GIVES US STILL 7 KINGDOMS OR EMPIRES.

*** AND THE BEAST-ANTICHRIST IS THE MAN OVER THE 7TH KINGDOM OR EMPIRE.

**** FOR THE BEAST IS THE KING WHICH WAS AND IS NOT MAKES REFERENCE TO HIS RISE, FAKE DEATH AND QUOTE RESURRECTION.

1. THIS “BEAST WHICH WAS AND IS NOT, IS HIMSELF ALSO AN EIGHTH AND IS ONE OF THE SEVEN.”

* HE IS THE SEVENTH HEAD AND ALSO AN EIGHTH.

** JOHN MACARTHUR MAKES AN INSIGHTFUL STATEMENT AT THIS POINT IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION 12-22 THAT BRINGS SOME NEEDED CLARIFICATION, HE SAID AND I QUOTE:

*** “ANTICHRIST WILL BE ONE OF THE SEVEN KINGS BEFORE HIS SUPPOSED DEMISE AND RESURRECTION AND AN EIGHTH KING AFTERWARDS DURING THE SECOND PHASE OF HIS RULE. AS NOTED EARLIER IN V. 8, ANTICHRIST WILL GO TO DESTRUCTION – ETERNAL DAMNATION IN THE LAKE OF FIRE (19:20; 20:10). UNLIKE THE FIRST SIX EMPIRES, HIS EMPIRE WILL BE DESTROYED BY A DIRECT ACT OF GOD.” (END QUOTE)

**** NOW ALL I WOULD ADD IS THE OTHER EMPIRES ARE DESTROYED BY AN ACT OF GOD, BUT NOT A DIRECT ACT AS WE WILL SEE IN REVELATION.

2. IN OTHER WORDS KINGDOMS RISE AND FALL BECAUSE OF GOD’S WILL AND PROVIDENCE. BUT THIS FINAL KINGDOM SUFFERS DIRECT JUDGMENT FROM ACTS OF GOD FROM HEAVEN, NOT THROUGH NATURAL CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER GOD’S CONTROL, BUT SUPERNATURAL ONES.

* AND THE BEAST-ANTICHRIST-THE SEVENTH AND 8TH RULER BECAUSE OF HIS SUPPOSED DEATH AND RESURRECTION GOES TO ETERNAL DESTRUCTION IN THE LAKE OF FIRE, NOT ANNIHILATION.

** FOR EARLIER WE READ OF HIS JUDGMENT IN REVELATION 19:20 AT THE RETURN OF CHRIST OF THE BEAST AS HE IS THROWN ALIVE IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.

*** AND HE IS STILL THERE 1,000 YEARS LATER IN REVELATION 20:10 (READ IT AND COMMENT)

**** NOW WITH ALL THAT IN MIND, ONE MORE THING ABOUT THE BEAST IN THIS ANALYSIS OR INTERPRETATION, LOOK AT V. 12 PLEASE.

D. READ V. 12. NOW CLEARLY THE 10 HORNS OF THE BEAST ARE 10 KINGS WHO WERE NOT IN POWER, THAT HAD NOT ASCENDED AT THE WRITING OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION, BUT THAT WOULD IN THIS LAST 3 ½ YEAR PERIOD CALLED THE GREAT TRIBULATION.

* SO THESE 10 KINGS ARE A PART OF ANTICHRIST’S FUTURE EMPIRE AND THEY WILL RECEIVE AUTHORITY AS KINGS WITH THE BEAST FOR ONE HOUR.

** AND THE REFERENCE TO ONE HOUR IS A FIGURE OF SPEECH THAT EMPHASIZES SHORTNESS OF TIME, THE BREVITY OF THEIR RULE OR REIGN.

*** AND THESE 10 KINGS’ TIME OF POWER UNDER THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE SHORT LIVED. WHY? THEIR MASTER’S EMPIRE WILL BE SHORT LIVED – A LITTLE WHILE ACCORDING TO V. 10.

**** AND THE BEAST HAS 10 HORNS IN V. 3 OF THIS CHAPTER AND CHAPTER 13:1 OF REVELATION, WHICH WE’VE ALREADY LOOK AT.

1. AND THE POINT THAT IS EMPHASIZED HERE IS THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BEAST. THEIR POWER COMES FROM HIM. AND THEY HAVE ONE PURPOSE, WHICH IS COMMUNICATED IN THEIR ACTIONS IN VV. 13&14 WHICH IS ONE LAST POINT TODAY, THE ACTIONS. LOOK AT V. 13 PLEASE.

IV. THE ACTIONS, (READ V. 13)

A. NOW THESE 10 KINGS HAVE ONE PURPOSE AND GOAL, THEY GIVE THEIR POWER AND AUTHORITY TO THE BEAST.

* MEANING, THEY DO ANTICHRIST’S WILL AND HIS WILL ALONE. THEY HAVE ONE MIND, THEY ARE UNIFIED IN THEIR EFFORT AND ENERGY FOR ONE PURPOSE, TO GIVE THEIR ALLEGIANCE AND BACKING AND POWER TO THEIR ULTIMATE KING, THEIR KING OF KINGS.

** AND BY THE WAY, THIS IS GOD’S PURPOSE ACCORDING TO V. 17 WHICH COMMUNICATES GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY, FOR V. 17 SAYS: “FOR GOD HAS PUT IT IN THEIR HEARTS TO EXECUTE HIS PURPOSE BY HAVING A COMMON PURPOSE, AND BY GIVING THEIR KINGDOM TO THE BEAST, UNTIL THE WORDS OF GOD WILL BE FULFILLED.”

*** SO THESE 10 KINGS ARE PUPPETS OF GOD AND IN HIS PURPOSE GIVE THEIR POWER AND AUTHORITY TO THE BEAST.

**** AND THAT PURPOSE IS FURTHER CLARIFIED AND CRYSTALLIZED IN V. 14, LOOK AT V. 14 PLEASE AT ONE LAST VERSE TODAY.

B. READ V. 14. NOW THE PURPOSE OR AGENDA OF THESE KINGS, LIKE THAT OF ANTICHRIST, THE FALSE PROPHET AND SATAN, THE UNHOLY TRINITY, WILL BE TO WAGE WAR WITH THE LAMB WHICH IS CHRIST.

* AND FOR THE 10 RULERS, IN THEIR MIND, THEY FOLLOW THE ANTICHRIST AS THEIR KING OF KINGS, AS A LEADER IN THEIR MINDS WHO CAN’T FALL, I MEAN HE APPEARED TO COME BACK TO LIFE.

** SO THEY ARE WILLING TO GO TO WAR WITH HIM AGAINST ANYBODY.

*** BUT UNFORTUNATELY THEY ARE DECEIVED, FOR THEY WILL EVENTUALLY GO UP TO JERUSALEM TO WAGE WAR WITH THE LAMB-THE LORD JESUS, THE TRUE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

**** AND THE TRUE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS WILL OVERCOME THEM, HE WILL DEFEAT THEM, HE WILL DESTROY THEM IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON TALKED ABOUT EARLIER IN REVELATION 16:16 AND WHICH WILL COME ABOUT IN REVELATION 19:16&19 WHICH SAYS:

1. REVELATION 19:16 – AND ON HIS ROBE AND ON HIS THIGH HE HAS A NAME WRITTEN, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

REVELATION 19:19 – AND I SAW THE BEAST AND THE KINGS OF THE EARTH AND THEIR ARMIES ASSEMBLED TO MAKE WAR AGAINST HIM WHO SAT ON THE HORSE AND AGAINST HIS ARMY.

* NOW IN REVELATION 19:19, THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TALKED ABOUT ARE IDENTIFIED IN OUR TEXT IN V. 10 AS 10 KINGS WITH ONE PURPOSE, TO FOLLOW THE BEAST.

** AND THEY WILL FOLLOW THE BEAST TO THEIR PHYSICAL DEATH, WHICH IS A DOOR TO THE 2’D DEATH IN REVELATION 20:14&15. (READ THEM)

*** BUT ONE LAST THING AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 17:14, THERE IS VICTORY FOR SOME IN THIS BATTLE, IT’S FOR THOSE WHO ARE WITH CHRIST AT HIS RETURN, HIS ARMY IDENTIFIED IN REVELATION 19:14 AND JUDE V. 6.

**** AND 3 ADJECTIVES, 3 CHARACTERISTIC WORDS ARE USED TO DESCRIBE THESE SAINTS, WHICH CANNOT BE ANGELS BY THEIR DESCRIPTIONS, WHICH MAKE UP THE ARMY OF GOD.

***** NO. 1 THEY ARE THE CALLED, WHICH TALKS BIBLICALLY ABOUT THE EFFECTUAL INTERNAL CALL THAT ENABLES A PERSON TO BELIEVE, THAT QUICKENS THEM SPIRITUALLY FROM THE DEAD, ROMANS 8:30,

II THESSALONIANS 2:13&14, JOHN 6:44.

2. AND NO. 2 THE CALLED ARE CALLED BECAUSE THEY ARE CHOSEN LIT. ELECTED BY GOD BY SOVEREIGN GRACE ACCORDING TO THE KIND INTENTION OF HIS WILL, BY NOTHING FORESEEN IN THEM, EPHESIANS 1:4.

* AND NO. 3 BECAUSE THE CHOSEN ARE CALLED THEY WILL BE FAITHFUL DEMONSTRATING TRUE SAVING FAITH, WHAT IS CALLED THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. TRUE SAINTS PERSEVERE BECAUSE GOD HAS ELECTED THEM, CALLED THEM, AND WILL KEEP THEM, THEY WILL HAVE THE FRUIT OF FAITHFULNESS AND BE OVERCOMERS, ROMANS 8, I JOHN 5:4&5.

** AND BELOVED WHAT WE HAVE HERE AND IN REVELATION 17:8 WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE THEIR NAMES WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, IS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SALVATION, REPEATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN SCRIPTURE.

IN WRAP UP: (1) I WANT TO FINISH WITH WHAT I STARTED WITH TODAY. AND THAT IS WE AS FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST CAN KNOW THE MEANING OF SCRIPTURE. IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE A MYSTERY.

* AND LET ME ADD, WE MUST KNOW IT TO GROW IN SANCTIFICATION AND CHRISTLIKENESS, READ JOHN 17:17 AND I THESSALONIANS 2:13.

** AND BELOVED THE WORD OF GOD DOES A WORK IN OUR LIVES FROM SALVATION IN HEARING THE WORD TO SANCTIFICATION IN KNOWING AND APPLYING THE WORD.

*** AND FOR THAT TO HAPPEN WE MUST DO 5 THINGS WITH THE WORD AND THINK OF THESE 5 THINGS AS A HAND WITH 4 FINGERS AND A THUMB.

**** AND THE FOUR FINGERS ARE READING THE WORD, MEMORIZING THE WORD, STUDYING THE WORD AND MEDITATE UPON THE WORD.

(2) AND LET ME START WITH THE BASIC ONE, READ THE WORD DAILY. AND WHATEVER PLAN YOU WANT TO USE, BUT READ IT EVERYDAY LIKE MOST OF US EAT EVERYDAY. READ MATTHEW 4:4 AND JOB 23:12.

* NO. 2 MEMORIZE THE WORD. MEMORIZE A VERSE A WEEK OR A VERSE A MONTH, HAVE A PLAN (GO OVER MINE).

** BUT BOTTOM LINE MEMORIZE IT, READ PSALM 119:9&11&16.

*** NO. 3 STUDY IT. II TIMOTHY 2:15 SAYS: (READ IT).

**** AND BELOVED THIS TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT AND IS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING I DO, READ I TIMOTHY 5:17.

3. NO. 4 MEDITATE UPON THE TRUTHS YOU’VE STUDIED, READ AND MEMORIZED, CHEW THEM UP, THINK AND RE-THINK ABOUT THEM EVEN SINGING THEM TO THE LORD. READ JOSHUA 1:8, PSALM 1:1-3 AND I TIMOTHY 4:15.

* BUT LAST OF ALL, NO. 5 THE THUMB, LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THE WORD WHEN IT IS TAUGHT AND PROCLAIMED. LEARN TO BE A DISCIPLINED HEARER.

** LEARN TO CONCENTRATE BY TAKING NOTES, NOT BY WRITING NOTES TO OTHERS, LEARN TO PRAY WHILE LISTENING, TALKING TO GOD RATHER THAN THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU.

*** AND I SAY THIS IN LOVE, LEARN TO PAY ATTENTION, READ HEBREWS 2:1 AND REVELATION 1:3.

**** BELOVED, IF YOU PRACTICE THESE 5 DISCIPLINES ASKING THE HOLY SPIRIT TO TEACH YOU, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN THE TRUTHS OF THIS BOOK BY THE RESIDENT TRUTH TEACHER AND YOU WILL BECOME MORE LIKE OUR SAVIOR AND ULTIMATELY YOU WILL GLORIFY GOD AS YOU ARE A DOER OF THE WORD AND NOT A HEARER ONLY.

4. READ JAMES 1:22-25 IN CLOSING AND PRAY.