WORSHIP OF THE BEAST or SATAN’S MESSIAH STRATEGY
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 supported him during the 1st half
of the week. (Rev.17.1-6, 16-18). That system is called Babylon the great and
refers to the perpetuation of Babylonian evil through the Roman church.
There are two factors involved with the FALL of Babylon the great.
(1) The neutralization of
Babylonian evil as it exists throughout the world at the time that the beast
begins his reign. Although, in actuality, the beast simply perpetuates the
essence of Babylonian evil through his own reign and Satan’s Messiah Strategy.
However, THIS event is not in view by this proclamation.
(2) The actual physical destruction of the city that has been the
organizational headquarters of Babylonian evil for the last 2000 years and
will be at the time of the end – Rome.
The physical destruction of the city will occur just prior
to Armageddon, and through a massive earthquake. Prior to that destruction of
the city, the beast will take possession of the city, destroy the religious
and political system that ruled in that city, and then use the city to extend
his influence throughout the world.
Although it is the entity of
Babylonian evil that has had the greatest influence on the world throughout
history, it is the CITY that is the organizational headquarters and the SYMBOL
of that influence. That city will still hold its symbolic sway over the world
at the time that the world-ruler (man of lawlessness) comes on the scene. For
the last 2000 years that entity has been the Roman Church and the city has
been
Rome. It alone of all religious entities fulfills the details of the language
used to describe the Babylonian harlot in Revelation chapters 17 and 18.
The existence of any ONE city
does not promote or hinder the influence of the beast when he begins his
reign. But it is the existence of a religious influence that has indeed
reached to the ends of the earth and affected every nation, both socially and
politically that will hinder the advance of beast worship. In order for Satan
to implement the next stage (The Messiah Strategy) of his personal salvation
plan, he will have to first utilize this entity of international influence and
power, and then neutralize it.
When the world ruler first
comes on the scene of international politics, he will NEED the influence and
power of the
Babylon harlot in order to begin the Covenant Experiment. Thus, according to
Revelation 17, the beast will “ride on the harlot” for the first 3 ˝ years of
The Covenant Experiment, and then after he terminates The Experiment at its
mid-term point, he will destroy the religious entity that assisted him in
advancing The Experiment.
It is at that point that
Satan’s Messiah Strategy will be fully implemented, and beast worship will
begin.
Although it is the beast and
his associates who neutralize Babylon
the harlot, it is actually engineered by God, Who uses the beast and his
minions (Rev. 17:16-18) to carry out this judgment.
“And the ten 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.”
However, in order to neutralize
the ENTITY, the organizational center will need to be “confiscated.” Thus, at
the mid-point of the Covenant Experiment, the beast will take possession of
the city and use it to promote Satan’s Messiah Strategy to the rest of the
world. From the perspective of the last 2000 years, that city has been
Rome, Italy.
In actuality, Satan’s Messiah
Strategy is a perpetuation of Babylonian evil that started with the religion
of Nimrod. Thus, Rome
will remain the center of evil and the center of international economic
prosperity, for apart from beast worship, “no one will be able to buy or sell”
(Rev. 13:17).
The beast will use his control
of
Jerusalem to influence the Jews and Muslims, and his control of Rome to
influence the rest of the world. It is the control of THIS city that thus
effectively removes the influence and power that the “harlot” entity has over
the “peoples and multitudes and nations and languages” (Rev. 17:15), and “over
the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18).
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 Babylonian harlot is shut down, the beast will take over control of
its economic power and influence. This will enable the beast’s false prophet
to institute operation MARK, apart from which no one will be able to buy or
sell; that is, no one will be able to engage in normal economic activity
unless they have shown proper allegiance to the beast.
See
The Mark of the Beast
The beast’s control of most of the world’s resources is
represented by the 3rd seal of Revelation 6.
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. 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 severity of these economic controls imposed by the beast, those
parts of the world where the beast's economic system has not reached, will be put
under extreme hardship conditions such as famine, pestilence and an
uncontrolled animal population. 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,
which indicates that about 1/4 of the earth, that is, 1/4 of the GEOGRAPHY
of the earth, will come under these death-producing effects.
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.
Although the beast will be given authority over EVERY "tribe, language, nation
and people," it seems he will not be able to fully reach every corner of the
globe. In fact, it seems that 1/4 of the earth's geography will not come
under the beast's jurisdiction. It is the people of these areas that will
suffer the afflictions of the 4th seal.
But for the people of the
nations that come under the authority of the beast, for them to be assured
of economic peace and security, they must adopt the religious system of the beast
through acceptance of the mark (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 Satan’s Covenant
Experiment 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 Experiment is interrupted and 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. This persecution 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, there would be "no
flesh" who would escape the affliction. That means that EVERYONE would be a
beast worshipper and have the mark of the beast. There would be no ELECT
(saints, believers) to go alive into Messiah’s earthly kingdom.
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 “for the sake of the elect.” This has
often been understood to indicate that 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).
However, it might be better understood as a preservation of
non-beast worshippers, who will become believers (elect) after the rapture. It
is necessary to have a large number of believers from among both Jew and
Gentile to go alive into Messiah’s earthly kingdom. But if Satan’s Messiah
Strategy is allowed to run its FULL course, then ALL who do not worship the
beast will be killed, and there will be no on left alive to become The Elect
(believers) and populate the Messiah’s earthly kingdom after Armageddon.
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. However, he will not be totally shut down, for there will still be
martyrs out from among those who believe in Jesus after the rapture. Rev.
14:13; 20:4.
