The Final Triumph

Verse 1: And he stood on the sand of the seashore. And I saw a beast coming up put of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. The sea represents the nations of the world, as we read in Revelation 17:15, "The waters which you saw....re peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues". From among the nations of the world comes forth a beast having ten horns and seven heads. And on his horns were diadems and on his heads were blasphemous names. This beast is the Antichrist, the world ruler, who is going to rule the world for 3½ years immediately before Jesus establishes His kingdom on earth. The seven heads are explained in Revelation 17:9-11, The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come and when he comes, he must remain a little while. And the beast, which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven and he goes to destruction. The city of Rome is built on seven hills. The heads also represent seven kingdoms. When John was writing this book, (around 96 A.D.), five world-empires (mentioned in the Bible) had already come and gone. The first was the kingdom of Egypt that we read about in Exodus. The second was the Assyrian kingdom, that we read of in 2 Kings. The third was the kingdom of Babylon, that we read about in Daniel. The fourth was the Medo-Persian kingdom, also mentioned in Daniel. The fifth was the kingdom of Greece that Daniel prophesied about. The sixth was the Roman empire which was then existing. The seventh kingdom was at that time still to come. And finally the Antichrist would establish the eighth kingdom, which appears to have some link to one of the previous seven kingdoms. The ten horns are also explained in Revelation 17:12, The ten horns are the ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These ten kingdoms are established at the time of the Antichrist. Ten nations will come together in the last days and will become the world's greatest superpower, because of its financial muscle. And the Antichrist will be the ruler of this superpower. John was in the island of Patmos, and the sea from which the beast came out was the Mediterranean Sea. All the six heads of the beast came from near or around the Mediterranean Sea - Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. And so it is most likely that the ten kingdoms will come from there too. Verse 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 power and his throne and great authority. In Daniel 2, we read of a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, of a large statue whose head was made of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Notice that the metals decrease in value as you go down from the head to the feet. This was to show that the human race was continuously degenerating. In Daniel 2:38-42, we see Daniel explaining the meaning of the dream: "You are the head of gold" (Babylon). "After you will arise another kingdom inferior to you" (Medo-Persia). The third kingdom of bronze will be Greece. And then, "the fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron". That will be the Roman empire. After that, the dream skips over 2000 years of the church-age and comes to the end of time when the last kingdom is described thus: In that you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have the toughness of iron , but mixed with common clay (democracy), so that some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. Dictatorship and democracy are common in the last days. How many toes did that statue have? Ten! Those are the ten kingdoms - the ten horns - that we saw in Revelation 13, ruled by the Antichrist. Then Daniel goes on to say, In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed (verse 44). That will be the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. That was pictured in the dream like this: A stone was cut out without hands and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them" (Daniel 2:34). The stone is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This stone does not strike the gold, silver, bronze or iron. Those kingdoms are already past and gone. The stone strikes the feet - when the ten kingdoms are ruling the earth. And finally, the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:35). That is the kingdom of Christ which will fill the whole earth. This dream showed these kingdoms, as seen from man's viewpoint. Later God showed Daniel how He viewed these same kingdoms - not as valuable metals, but as evil beasts. In Daniel 7:2-14, Daniel describes a dream God gave him: I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea (the Mediterranean Sea). Four great beasts were coming up from the sea. The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle". This was Babylon. Then he saw a bear representing Medo-Persia, and then a leopard, representing Greece. This was followed by a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet" (the Roman empire). "....t had ten horns" (the ten kingdoms that will come together in the last days) "While I was looking at the ten horns, another horn, (the Antichrist) a little one, came up from among them and pulled out three of the first horns, and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts". Finally, he saw the Antichrist being killed, and Christ returning and setting up His kingdom on earth: I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat....housands were attending Him....he beast was slain....nd behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming and He came up to the Ancient of Days, and to Him was given dominion, glory and kingdom that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him, His everlasting dominion (verses 9-14). Daniel saw the lion, the bear and the leopard in that order, because these kingdoms were still in the future. John saw a beast having the characteristics of these animals, but in the reverse order, because he was looking back at these kingdoms that had already come and gone - the leopard, the bear and the lion (Revelation 13:2). This indicates that the Antichrist will have the qualities of the past empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia and Rome - the lion, the bear and the leopard. In God's view, all these earthly kingdoms are like beasts. When man does not respond to the call of the Holy Spirit, he degenerates and becomes like a wild animal. God views all the political parties of the world as beasts. One party may be slightly better than the other, but they are all beasts. When you vote, you are choosing between one wild beast and another. That is why I never vote, because I cannot vote for a wild beast. Instead I pray that God will overrule and appoint the one He has chosen to rule a country. The dragon (Satan) gives the Antichrist his power, his throne and great authority. 2000 years ago, Satan had offered all this to Jesus Christ. But Jesus had refused to receive anything from Satan. But the Antichrist will worship Satan and thus receive the kingdoms of the world from him. Satan is willing to give his power to all those who want it, if they are willing to sacrifice their conscience and bow down to him. There are many people in the world today who have who have obtained supernatural power from Satan thus. Many heathen religious leaders have supernatural powers because they have sold themselves to the devil. Verse 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. This appears to be an imitation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Antichrist is going to imitate Christ in every possible way. This will not be an actual resurrection - because no-one can raise the dead other than God. But this will be a very good imitation of it that fools people. It says here "as if it had been slain". This is going to be such a wonder to the whole earth and everyone will follow the Antichrist. Verse 4: And they worshipped the dragon, because he gave authority to the beast; and they worshipped the beast saying, 'Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?' The whole earth now worships Satan. This is what Satan has always wanted from the beginning. In Isaiah 14:14 we read that Lucifer wanted to be like God. God had already given Lucifer many wonderful gifts - wisdom, beauty, ability, and supernatural gifts. What more did he want? He wanted to be worshipped like God was. And that is how he became the devil. Whenever you desire the admiration of people, remember that you too have the same desire as Satan. To seek the honour of men is Satanic. Finally, we see here, that Satan does get the whole world to worship him. Of course, that is happening in a small measure even today. But it is going to be much more widespread. They worshipped the Antichrist too. The worship of the Antichrist - the worship of men - is also becoming widespread today. They worshipped the Antichrist saying, "Who is like the beast?" Just like we worship God today saying, "Who is like unto Thee, Oh God," people worship Satan and the Antichrist saying the same thing. People will not call the Antichrist, "The Antichrist". No. They will call him by a respectable name. In 1 John 2:18, we read, Children, it is the last hour. And just as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us (from the midst of the church)." This teaches us that there were people who had the spirit of the Antichrist right in the midst of the first-century church. Such people are found in Christendom today too. People with the spirit of the antichrist are found in the political world, in the business world, in the heathen religious world, and among so called "Christian churches" too. What is the mark of this spirit of the Antichrist? There are many marks. But one of the chief marks is this: They want others to admire them and exalt them - which is the equivalent of receiving worship from men. A church that does not fight against this seeking of honour from one another will have the spirit of the antichrist ruling in it very soon. The desire for the honour of men is found in our flesh. It starts growing like a little seed, like a baby - just a wee desire for admiration, wanting somebody's approval or praise. It finally ends up as desiring worship. This is the spirit of the Antichrist. Therefore, whenever we see this little serpent's egg inside us we must crush it. Otherwise it will bring forth a serpent one day. If this spirit could manifest itself in the highest of angels, why can't it manifest itself in any of us? He who has ears to hear, let him hear. The whole earth, we are told, will follow after the Antichrist. The world did not follow after Christ. They shouted, "Away with Him. Crucify Him". But they will follow the Antichrist, because he will speak with smooth words to them, like the false prophets of old. The spirit of Christ will bring us reproach, ridicule and opposition from men. When Christians seek popularity in this world, they are on dangerous ground - the ground of the Antichrist. Jesus was not excited when people wanted to crown Him as king. He knew that the opinions of men were only fit for the garbage-bin. So He turned around and told them, You must hate your father and mother, your brother and sister, your wife and children, your possessions and your Self-life, before you can follow Me (Luke 14:26-33). Those were hard words that offended many who heard them. Today, the true church of Jesus Christ preaches those very same words, and they sound just as hard - and they offend people, just as they did in Christ's day. And the reproach of Christ comes upon us thereby. It is thus that we are protected from the spirit of the Antichrist. But Babylonian Christianity will not preach this message and so will be honoured, thus paving the way for the Antichrist to be manifested. Verse 5: And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty two months was given to him. This phrase, "There was given to him" is repeated six times in this chapter (verses 5, 7, 14, 15). It is similar to the phrase we saw in Revelation 6 in connection with the rider on the white horse - the Antichrist. This phrase indicates that God is still in control of everything. He is the One Who allows the Antichrist to have this power for a short time - power even to persecute Christians. Notice also the word 'mouth' occurring a number of times in this chapter - "a mouth like a lion" (verse 2). Man's praise of God is expressed through his mouth. And man's rebellion against God is also expressed through his mouth. It says in Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." When man rebelled at the tower of Babel, God brought confusion among the people through the tongue. This is one reason why, on the day of Pentecost, when God was setting right the confusion caused by the rebellion of man, through the Holy Spirit filling people, they spoke in unknown languages. That was the reverse of Babel. God was bringing people out from the spirit of rebellion by which Satan rules humanity. But in the last days, Satan is going to manifest that rebellion to the maximum through the mouth of the Antichrist. Most believers are not careful about the words they send out from their mouths. Each word we send out from our mouths is like a rocket launched. You may regret what you have spoken and say, "Oh, I would like to take back those words." But it is too late once you have spoken or written them. They have gone out into space. You can only be careful about the next rocket you send out. You cannot do anything about the words that you have already launched. Jesus said, Every idle word that men speak (every careless word they send out from their mouth), they will have to give an account for, in the day of judgment" (Matthew 12:36). The reason is because rebellion is largely centred around the tongue. And we conquer that spirit by the spirit of praise and submission and thanksgiving to God, and by the spirit of grace and goodness coming forth from our tongues when people curse us and speak evil about us. Verse 6: And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Three times the Antichrist's mouth is mentioned (verses 2, 5, 6). In Daniel 7 too, we see much about the speech of the Antichrist. A mouth uttering great boasts....the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking....e will speak out against the Most High" (Daniel 7:8, 11, 25). The spirit of rebellion in man is manifested in its fullness through his mouth, and the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart (Matthew 12:34). If the heart is filled with the Holy Spirit, then words given by the Holy Spirit will come forth from the mouth - whether in an unknown language or a known one. But if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, and some other spirit rules you, then that other spirit will manifest itself - in tongues or in a known language. It is in our hearts that we must crush that spirit of rebellion, if our tongues are to be pure. This is why it says that "a gentle and quiet spirit" is very precious in God's eyes (1 Peter 3:4). In Revelation 13:6, we read a reference to the "heaven-dwellers", which is in contrast to the earth-dwellers, that we had seen earlier. Heaven-dwellers include the disciples of Christ, because we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Here we read that the Antichrist blasphemes all the heaven-dwellers. Verse 7: 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 is another verse that teaches so very clearly that there are going to be saints on the earth during the time of the Antichrist, because he is going to war against them. The word "saints" is used throughout the New Testament to refer to born-again Christians. The Antichrist will overcome them physically - kill them. He cannot overcome their spirits. The devil can only touch our bodies - and that too, only after he has obtained God's permission! In sickness, the devil afflicts our body. But he cannot touch our spirit. We can be conquerors in our spirit at all times. Satan's messenger could afflict Paul's body with a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). But he could not harm Paul himself. Even there, we see that God turned the thorn into a blessing for Paul. We read in Daniel 7:19-25 that Daniel was puzzled when he saw the Antichrist waging war with the saints and overpowering them....e will speak out against (defy) the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One with persecution. And he will make alterations in the laws". We see the beginning of that even today - God's laws being altered to suit man's lusts. And we are told that at that time, "God's people will be helpless in his hands for 3½ years" (verse 25 - TLB). When Daniel asked the angel about this, he was told that this would last only "until the Ancient of Days (the Father) came and judgment was passed in favour of the saints of the Most High" (verse 22). There is a time when God's people are going to be vindicated - when Jesus returns in the glory of His Father. And then He will give His saints authority to rule. The court will sit for judgment and his (the Antichrist's) dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One (verses 26, 27). Verse 8: 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 was slain. That phrase, "from the foundation of the world" could refer to two things. The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The crucifixion of Christ on Calvary was not an afterthought with God. Adam's sin did not take God by surprise, for He knew all along that Adam would sin and He had already made provision for it, before He created the world. Our names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. We read in Ephesians 1:4, "God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world". That means that God knew us by name, before he created even Adam or the angels. Way back in eternity past, He called us to be His own forever. It is very comforting to know that. And because our names are in that book of life, we refuse to bow down to the spirit of the antichrist today and will refuse to do so in the coming days as well. All who are earth-dwellers will worship him. The spirit of the antichrist is already here. If we keep ourselves pure from that spirit today, that will be the best preparation for the days to come. Verse 9: If anyone has an ear to hear, let him hear. This phrase reminds us of what we studied in chapter 2 and 3. There we heard the call to the overcomers, He who overcomes, I will grant....e who has ears to hear, let him hear". What were we to hear there? The call to overcome! The call to overcome the spirit of the Antichrist is now repeated here: Overcome the worship of men. Don't bow down to any man for the sake of material gain or popularity or whatever. Don't sacrifice your principles for any earthly gain. Don't become a compromiser to get the honour of man. Don't give a bribe to anyone to get something unrighteous done. Don't defile your hands in that way. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Of course, not everyone will hear. But a few will. Verse 10: If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. The Antichrist, will one day be taken into captivity himself. He who killed others will be finally killed himself. And here is the "the perseverance and the faith of the saints". All saints must believe that this one who is troubling them will be taken care of by God at the right time. If we are being troubled by some difficult person today, and we cannot believe that God can handle that person, then how are we going to have faith in God in the final day, when persecution intensifies? Do we really believe in the sovereign power of God? Do we believe that the one who captures us will be captured by God Himself one day, and that the one who kills us today will be killed by God Himself one day? Do we really believe that God will treat people in the final day in the same way as they treated us? If we do, then we will never even desire to take revenge on anyone. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. That is why we do not fight back. Instead, we commit our cause to Him who judges righteously in every situation. Here is the trial of our faith. It begins now in small things. It will be tested in big things in the day of the Antichrist. Jesus said, "The one who takes the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52). That sword can be a man's tongue. Those who use their swords (tongues) against others, will find themselves suffering the consequences one day. But if we can leave our swords (tongues) in their scabbards, and leave our vindication to God, He will deal with our enemies righteously one day. If we can trust God, we will be at rest at all times. Can the saints wait for God Himself to deal with the Antichrist? Can they wait for God to deal with that difficult situation? Or do they want to deal with that themselves, saying, "I will settle the matter myself"? We are told in Hebrews 6:12, that it is "by faith and perseverance (or patience) that we inherit the promises". It really requires patience when we are tested in this way. In Luke 21:17-19, we read that we will be hated by all men and betrayed by our parents, brothers, relatives and friends. And when we are betrayed, what are we going to do? Jesus said, "By your perseverance you will win your souls". It is by perseverance that we can win our souls and partake of the Divine nature in our souls. That is one reason why God allows us to be tempted now. If only we could see that the temptations that come our way today are God's training school for greater things in the days to come, we would be eager to avail of every opportunity that comes our way to die to ourselves, to be sheared like lambs, to be slaughtered like sheep, and to keep our mouths shut, because by our perseverance we can win our souls. We read in Hebrews 10:36-38, You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised". What is it that God has promised us? Is it heaven? Not primarily. His promise is that we can partake of His nature and be like Jesus. That is a million times more important than being in heaven. We are not promised freedom from sickness or from problems primarily. Not wealth or health, but the divine nature! (2 Peter 1:4). We need to endure in the trial today. After we have done the will of God - taken up the cross, died to Self, kept our mouths shut and humbled ourselves - we still need patience to wait until we receive what God was promised. In a little while He who is coming will come, and He will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith. But if he shrinks back (for example, if he takes the sword and wants to settle matters himself) then My soul will have no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:37, 38). Verse 11: And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. The first ten verses of this chapter dealt with the Antichrist. Here in this verse, we read of another beast. This one comes out of "the earth". The first beast came up from the sea - which represented the nations of the world. In the Old Testament "the land" always referred to Israel, and "the sea" to the other nations. So if "the earth" here means the same as "the land", then this beast could be a Jew. He will be a religious person because he is a lamb-cum-dragon. He looks like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon. There are many religious people like that, who look like lambs but who speak like dragons. They look like lambs in the church-meetings but speak like dragons at home and in the office. It is by a man's speech and not by his appearance that you can make out which kingdom he belongs to. Jesus warned us about such people, when he said, Beware of false prophets. They will look like lambs, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves(dragons) (Matthew 7:15). So here we see someone who wants to have the testimony of Christ - like a lamb. But he is actually the mouthpiece of Satan. He pretends to be a representative of God, but his mouth is that of a dragon. Verse 12: And 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. This is the false prophet. When Jesus spoke of the last days, He said, False Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders and will try to deceive even the elect, if possible" (Matthew 24:24). The false Christ is the Antichrist. The false prophet is this religious person that we see here. This is politics plus religion. In the Old Testament, we read of King Balak and the false prophet Balaam standing together against God's people. Even today, bishops and political leaders join hands with each other. All this is but the preparation for that final rule by the Antichrist, where religion and politics will go hand in hand. The false prophet is hand in hand with the first beast, the Antichrist. Here you have the Satanic trinity, the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. They rule for the same period that Jesus had a public ministry - 3½ years. The false prophet makes people worship the Antichrist. Verse 13: And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. Satan has got power to send fire. We read in the book of Job that Satan sent fire from heaven and destroyed some of Job's property (Job 1:16). Verse 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. The false prophet is going to deceive people with false signs and miracles. We read in 2 Timothy 3:8 about Pharaoh's magicians, Jannes and Jambres who opposed Moses. Pharaoh there is a type of the Antichrist and his magicians are a type of the false prophet. Those magicians had supernatural powers. When Moses threw down his rod on the ground and it became a snake, those magicians threw down their rods which became snakes too. Moses turned water into blood, and those magicians could turn water into blood. But at a certain point, their magic became powerless. After speaking of Pharaoh's magicians, Paul goes on to say that there will be many magicians in the last days. The Greek word translated as "impostors", in 2 Timothy 3:13 is "go-ace", which means "magicians". What it says there is "Evil men and magicians will increase ....deceiving others and being deceived themselves". Don't imagine that all magic shows are innocent! Some of them are just tricks and sleight of hand. But there is magic that is demonic too. One must be wary and careful of all magic shows. The purpose of the false prophet is to deceive people (Revelation 13:14). He will be some type of magician who deceives the earth-dwellers, and finally sets up the image of the beast which is the "abomination of desolation". Here then is a picture of the last days: We will see politicians and religious leaders working hand in glove with each other, increasingly, dominating and ruling people with Satanic power and soul-power. There will also be tricksters and magicians who lead people away from God, because people tend to believe that anything supernatural must be from God. As Christians we need to be wary. Don't think that anything done in the Name of Jesus Christ supernaturally is necessarily from God. We are commanded to "test the spirits". We must ask these questions: Do they confess with their spirit that Jesus Christ came in the flesh? (1 John 4:1-3). Do they confess with their spirit that Jesus Christ is Lord? (1 Corinthians 12:3). Do they manifest the humble, pure, free-from-the-love-of-money spirit that Jesus had? Only by discerning the spirit of the preachers and leaders we encounter, will we be able to protect ourselves from the spirit of the Antichrist and the spirit of the false prophet. In Acts 8:9 we read of a man called Simon who was practicing magic in Samaria, astonishing the people by the miracles and the signs that he did. And the people of Samaria were taken up with him, calling him "the great power of God." This is how it will be in the last days too: People will be astonished by the signs and wonders that the Antichrist and the false prophet perform. We can ask ourselves why God allows Satan and evil spirits to exercise supernatural powers. Wouldn't the problem be solved if God withdrew all supernatural abilities from the hands of Satan and the evil spirits? We read in Deuteronomy that there is a purpose with which God allows false prophets and agents of Satan to exercise supernatural power. In Deuteronomy 13:1-5, it says that if a prophet arises who does some supernatural miracle, and then teaches things which are contrary to the Word of God, no-one must listen to his words; "because the Lord your God is testing you!" God tests us to see if we will be taken up with wonders and supernatural signs or with His Word. So the thing we need to ask ourselves, whenever we see a supernatural sign or miracle done, even in the name of Jesus, is whether the preacher is leading people to obedience to the Word of God or not. If not, we have to write him off as a false prophet. If we do not develop that sense of discernment now, we will be thoroughly deceived, when the false prophet deceives people by his miracles. This false prophet tells people to make an image to the beast. Just as the Holy Spirit exalts Christ, the false prophet exalts the Antichrist. "An image to the beast" reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar who built a statue of himself in pure gold and got people to bow down to him, under threat of punishment if they disobeyed. But there was a remnant in that day, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who would not bow down. They were a very small number! There will be a few like that in the last days too, who will stand erect and refuse to bow down. Verse 15: And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. This is going to be a supernatural deception that seeks to imitate creation. Man is today in the pursuit of trying to create life in the laboratory. He has cloned animals and is now trying to clone human beings. But he will never be able to create life, because only God can create life. But God will permit people to be deceived. The false prophet was permitted in some way by God "to give breath to the image of the beast" and to make it to speak. This could be a computerised imitation of a human being or it could be Satanic magic and deception. This image will probably be placed in Jerusalem, and could be what Jesus referred to as "the abomination that causes desolation" (Matthew 24:15). Daniel 11 describes something that happened after the Greek empire of Alexander the great had ended, and before the Romans became a world-power. Alexander's kingdom was divided up among his four generals. Two of the most powerful generals ruled over Syria and Egypt. In Daniel 11:31, we read that "forces from him (the northern ruler of Syria) will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation." Around 175 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes the Syrian ruler, came to Jerusalem, stopped the sacrifice in the temple, sacrificed a pig on the altar, and set up the statue of Jupiter in the Most Holy Place. Thus he desecrated the sanctuary. That is the abomination of desolation mentioned in Daniel 11. But Jesus said that there would be a repetition of this in the last days. Antiochus Epiphanes was a type of the Antichrist to come. So the words in Daniel 11:32 could be taken as a picture of what the Antichrist will do: By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong". Those who know God like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, will stand upright in that day. All others will be deceived by the Antichrist's smooth flattering words. At that time, "those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many" (verse 33).Those who have revelation on the Word in those days will explain to people that this is the fulfilment of prophecy. Yet they will fall by the sword, and some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge, and make them pure, until the end time (verse 35). Daniel 11:36-45 refers clearly to the Antichrist, 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....e will honour a god of fortresses (rule by military force)....e will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god (Satan), he will give great honour to those who acknowledge him, and he will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price....e will also enter the beautiful land (Israel) and many countries will fall....et he will come to his end and no-one will help him". In 2 Thessalonians 2, we read of the coming of the Antichrist. There it says in verses 1, 2: We request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure ....to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you for that day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy (falling away from faith) comes first, and the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist) is revealed, the son of destruction". The falling away is from the faith that leads to a godly life (the message that Jesus and the apostles gave to the world) and it has already begun. Jesus called Judas Iscariot, "the son of destruction", because Satan entered into him. The Antichrist is also called the son of destruction, because Satan will enter into him too. He will exalt himself above every so called god or object of worship and take his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God (verses 4, 5). The Antichrist is restrained from manifesting himself before God's time, by the power of the Holy Spirit manifested through overcomers in the church in the last days (verse 6). Then in verse 7 we read, The mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains (the Holy Spirit who restrains Satan's power) will do so until he is taken out of the way". The Holy Spirit will withdraw His restraining influence (through the overcomers) when the time has come for the Antichrist to be manifested. Verses 9, 10 state that the Antichrist's coming will be in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false (deceptive) wonders, with all the deception of wickedness. There will be supernatural signs and wonders in abundance - all meant to lead people astray. Verses 10, 11 state that God will allow people to be deceived because they did not love the truth so as to be saved from their sin. So the supernatural signs and wonders in the last days are going to be means by which God will allow people to be deceived who are not interested in being delivered from sin in their lives. We can be saved from deception only if we love the truth about ourselves and seek with all our hearts to be delivered from all sin. That will be the only protection against deception in the last days. We saw in Revelation 13:15 about an image that speaks that people worship. In television and video-films, we have images that speak. And people all over the world worship the TV, by spending hours in front of it. They have very little or no time for God or for Bible-study or prayer. The worship of television is a preparation for the Antichrist. Many so-called believers in a Christendom that has a form of godliness but no devotion to Christ, are enslaved to this "image that speaks". I am not saying that all television programs are evil. There are programs that are clean. But if we are mastered by anything, we become slaves to it. If we worship anything other than the living God, we have become idolaters. Satan uses many means to prepare the world for the rise of the Antichrist. Verses 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 he provides that no one should be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of the beast. This is "the mark of the beast". All people will be given the option by the Antichrist to receive this mark, either on their right hands or on their foreheads. This means that people will be given the option of being either public followers of the Antichrist (with marks on their forehead just like some non-Christian religious people wear marks on their forehead today) or secret followers (with marks on the palm of their hand). This has an application for us today too: The spirit of the Antichrist is already at work in Christendom. It is possible for people to follow the spirit of the antichrist publicly - living openly in sin (as prostitutes, gamblers, drunkards and many film-actors do). It is also possible to follow that spirit secretly - doing unrighteous things at one's place of work (signing false statements with one's hand to make a little more money, giving bribes with one's hand to get something unrighteous done, etc.,) and then to come to the church-meetings and pretend to be "spiritual". There are "believers" who will not receive the mark of the spirit of the antichrist on their foreheads, because their testimony will thereby be ruined. But they will receive it secretly on their hands, because they can retain their testimony and still make unrighteous profit by worldly methods. Here is where our faith and our devotion to Jesus are going to be tested. We must stay away from the mark of the beast in every form - whether on our foreheads or on our right hands. Instead, like the Apostle Paul we say, "I have the marks of Jesus Christ on my body" (Galatians 6:17). We don't need any other marks. This is going to be a very, severe test in the last days. For example, if you cannot buy food unless you have the mark of the beast, imagine what a test that will be. The test that came to Eve in the garden of Eden was a test of food. And the first temptation that came to Jesus in the wilderness was also a test of food. "Turn these stones into bread", Satan said, "Otherwise you will die of starvation". But Jesus replied saying, "It is not necessary to live. It is only necessary to obey the Word of God". Only believers who have the attitude that survival is not necessary, but obedience to God is, will be overcomers in the last days. If we don't have the attitude that says that it is better to obey God's Word and die rather than to compromise and live, we are going to be drawn away by the falling away that is already taking place in Christendom. Verses 18: Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty six. Since we are encouraged here by the Holy Spirit to calculate, let us do some calculation! The number '6' in the Bible is the number of man. Man was created on the sixth day. '666' ('6' repeated thrice) therefore represents man's attempt to be equal to God (the Trinity). Likewise, the number '8' is the number of the new creation because Jesus rose on the eighth day, the first day of a new week. In music too, every eighth note begins a new octave. In the Greek language (in which the New Testament was written), each alphabet has a numerical value. The name Jesus in Greek is written "IESOUS and its numerical value is 888 (I=10; E=8; S=200; O=70; U=400 and S=200) - the number of the new creation repeated thrice! The Antichrist's number being 666 would therefore mean that the numerical value of his name will add up to 666. This will be confirmed, once we know his name.