Rev.13:3-4," and {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; and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the
beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?"
Rev.13.8 "And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, {everyone} whose name has not been written from the
foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain."
We must recognize this "all" as hyperbole to emphasize the vast
majority of people in the world, and realize that there will still be many
who choose not to identify with the beast and his religious system. This
group will include the Christian church and new converts as well as some
of the cults and "isms" who by virtue of their human dedication
to their system will reject the beast; and orthodox Israel.
SEE ARTICLE: The reign of the beast
Now in order for the beast to promote his new religion, he must shut down the international religio-economic system that sup-ported him
during the 1st half of the week. (Rev.17.1-6, 16-18)
Rev.17:16-17, And the 10 horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and
naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 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 should
be fulfilled.
When this religious giant is shut down and the economic benefits of her existence are discontinued, there will result a world-wide panic and economic
collapse which is represented by the 3rd seal.
Rev. 6:5-6, "And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." And I looked, and
behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard as it were a voice in the
center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and 3 quarts of barley for a denarius;
and do not harm the oil and the wine."
Rev. 18:8-19, For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up
with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong. And the kings of the earth, who committed immoralities
and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a
distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in 1 hour
your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their
cargo any
more; cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, all citron wood, every article
of ivory, every article from very costly wood, bronze, iron, marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume, frankincense,
wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, of horses chariots, slaves and human lives. And the fruit you long for
has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and {men} will no longer
find them. The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of
her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen, purple, scarlet,
adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste! And every ship-
master, every passenger, sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out
as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What {city} is like the great city? And they threw dust on their heads and
were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by
her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!
It is then at this time that the beast will implement his own economic controls through instituting the mark of the beast at
the hand of the false prophet, the beast out of the land. See
The Mark of the Beast
Rev. 13:16-17,
And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a
mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and {provides} that no one should be able to buy or sell, except the
one who has the mark, ie, the name of the beast or the number of his name. (v.18, Here-wisdom. Let him who has
understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and it is 666).
Because of the seriousness of the fall of "Babylon" and the severity
of these economic controls imposed by the beast, those of the world who
choose not to join the system of beast worship, will be put under extreme
hardship conditions such as famine, pestilence and an uncontrolled animal
population so that 1/4 of the world (probably population is in view) will
be killed. The 4th instrument of death during this time is said to be a
sword and refers to the killing of those who refuse to take the mark of
the beast. This is all covered in the 4th seal of Rev. 6.7-8, And when
He broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the the fourth living creature saying, "Come." And
I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. And
authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by
the wild beasts of the earth.
As long as the nations of the world adopt the religious system of the beast through acceptance of the mark, they will be assured of economic
resources (Rev. 13.17). And of course, the beast will have control over
those resources in order to meet the needs of the people. At least until
the Day of the LORD arrives. At that time, God will begin judging the natural
resources of the world and put the kingdom of the beast into great chaos.
When that happens, and the beast is no longer able to meet the economic needs of his followers, the nations of the world will
begin making plans to take matters into their own hands and begin to move against the kingdom of the beast.
This interruption of the religious and economic controls of the beast takes place at the Day of the LORD, which is represented
by the 6th seal. Rev. 6.12-17
POLITICAL DECEPTION
Dan. 8:25, And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by
his influence; & he will magnify {himself} in his heart,
Dan. 9:27, and in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations,
causing horror, even until a completion, and (until) what is decreed is poured out on the one who causes horror.
ECONOMIC CONTROLS
Rev. 6:5-6 And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." And I looked, and behold, a black
horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And heard as it were a voice in the center of the four living
creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and 3 quarts
of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine."
Dan. 11:36-38, And the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and will speak monstrous
things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.
And he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any {other} god;
for he will magnify himself above {them} all. But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he
will honor {him} with gold, silver, costly stones, and treasures.
2Ths. 2:3-4, the man of lawlessness, - who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes
his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
2Th. 2:8-10, and then that lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by
the appearance of His coming;) the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false
wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish - (2 Thes. 2.10-12 -because they did not receive the love of the
truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is
false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.)
THE CHURCH PERSECUTED
During the Apostolic era, the church of course underwent a massive amount
of persecution prior to and after AD 70. And all throughout her history
persecution has been her lot in various degrees. Our nation has enjoyed
a phenomenal religious tolerance and freedom from persecution, even though
it was indeed, persecution that brought the pilgrims here in the first
place. But in most other locations throughout the world, persecution has
been the norm for not only Christians, but various other religions, cults
and philosophies. And yet, there is still to come a massive persecution
campaign directed against Christians and administered by Satan himself
through the use of the oppressive man of lawlessness during the great tribulation.
During the first half of the 70th week of Daniel, when the false covenant
of peace is in place, religious freedom will be honored and the church
will experience no organized religious or political persecution. And yet
the church will continue to maintain its evangelistic impact to the extent
that there will be a worldwide outreach that will parallel if not exceed
the worldwide impact of the apostles in the first century. Mt.24:14. But this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for
a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come.
But once the covenant is broken and the beast begins to make his claims
of deity, no religious body will be safe. And once he finds himself unable
to overcome the orthodox Jews who have fled Judea, he launches a massive
attack on the Christians.
Rev. 12:17, And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to
make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God
and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Rev. 13:6-7, And he (the beast) opened his mouth in blasphemies against
God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, {that is}, those who dwell
in heaven. And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome
them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was
given to him.
This persecution extends throughout the reign of the beast and ends when
the church is delivered by the rapture at the Day of the LORD. It is represented by the 5th seal at Rev. 6.9-11. (NASB)
And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God,
and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried
out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt
Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on
the earth?" And there was given to each of them a white robe; and
they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until {the
number of} their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed
even as they had been, should be completed also.
Matt. 24:9-10, Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill
you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. And at
that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate
one another.
Rev. 12:11, And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and
because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life
even to death.
Matt. 24:22-25 And unless those days had been cut short, no life would
have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut
short. Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or There
{He is,} do not believe {him.} For false christs and false prophets will
arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible,
even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance.
Daniel tells us in several places about this persecution of the saints.
And in those places we must be careful to recognize that Daniel uses the
term "saints" to refer to those who have trusted in the Messiah
as Lord and Savior. There is no special focus on Israel in contrast with
the church. It is just, the saints of the Highest One. Israel had no frame
of reference for the church, but only the context of Isaiah (Is. 65:8-16)
where we see contrasted "my servants" (referring to true believers)
with "you" (referring to the nation of Israel still in unbelief),
so such a distinction in Daniel would be meaningless. The understanding
of who the saints might be, awaited the New Testament revelation noted
above.
Dan. 7:21, I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints
and overpowering them (Dan. 7:22, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in
favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints
took possession of the kingdom.)
Dan. 7:25, And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make
alterations in times and in law; and they (times and law) will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
The violent oppression of the beast on the elect of God (the saints of
the church prior to the rapture) will result in great suffering and death
for a vast number. And were the oppression allowed to continue, their would
be "no flesh" who would escape the affliction. Thus it will be
that the period of "great tribulation" will be actually cut short
and prevented from extending for the entire period of the 2nd half of the
week. The reason given, is so the entire body of the elect will not have
to undergo the massive affliction of the beast's oppression but be pulled
out and delivered by the Day of the LORD arrival of Jesus and the rapture
of the church out from the earth. 1 Thes. 4:14-18; Mat. 24:30-31
Once the Day of the LORD occurs and Jesus begins to pour out the Day of
the LORD judgments on the world, the oppressive reign of the beast and
his persecution of God's people will be interrupted and the beast will
be more restricted on the administration of his religious system via the
mark of the beast.
