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Revelation 13
The Mark of the Beast
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And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
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And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
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If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
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Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of[ the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
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In the last chapter, we saw 2 signs in heaven; the sign of a woman clothed with the sun, and a sign of a great red dragon. The great red dragon is clearly identified as Satan. The woman is not clearly identified in the text of the chapter. The best possibility is that it is the bride of Christ, the totality of all the saints, both Old Testament saints, and New Testament saints.
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Now the great red dragon first tries to kill the Messiah child, but that does not work. Then he tries to kill the woman, but that does not work. Then he goes after the tribulation saints and is standing on the sand of the sea.
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In chapter 13, the first thing that happens is that a beast rises out of the sea. This beast has ten horns, and seven heads, and 10 diadems on its horns, just like the great red dragon had. Only instead of being a dragon, this beast is like a leopard, with bear’s feet, and a mouth like a lion’s mouth. Now, the dragon gives to this beast it’s power, throne and authority. So, the dragon, Satan, seems to have taken a similar form in the manifestation of this beast.
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One of the heads seemed to have a mortal wound, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. Perhaps, this wounded head represents a ruler that had a mortal wound, yet lived, and that is why people are marveling. The people are worshiping the dragon and the beast. Why are they worshiping them?
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Because no one can fight against the beast. The beast seems to be all powerful.
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So, there you have it. People in the great tribulation will be worshiping Satan. Will they know that they are worshiping Satan?
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If people don’t know they are worshipping Satan, is it possible that Christians might make the mistake of worshiping Satan?
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“And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.”
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Well, we get a clue here. The beast will utter blasphemies against God. It even has blasphemous names on his heads. That would give Christians a big clue not to worship it.
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What do you think the beast will do when the Christians refuse to worship it?
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“Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”
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So, Satan and the beast will make war on the saints conquer them. It will be given authority over the whole earth, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, except those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world.
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Why won’t those whose name are written in the Lamb’s book of life worship the beast?
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(Because they know better)
(Because their names are in the book of life)
(Because God’s plan is to foil the beast and Satan at every turn)
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Who knows what Agenda 21 is?
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Agenda 21 is a voluntary action plan that offers suggestions for sustainable ways local, state and national governments can combat poverty and pollution and conserve natural resources in the 21st century. (That’s where the '21’ comes from. Get it?) 178 governments—including the U.S. led by then-President George H.W. Bush—voted to adopt the program which is, again, not legally binding in any way, at the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. It was named Agenda 21 because it was to be the agenda for the 21st century.
It has 17 goals:
Goal 1: No poverty
Goal 2: Zero hunger
Goal 3: Good health and well-being for people
Goal 4: Quality education
Goal 5: Gender equality
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Goal 10: Reducing inequalities
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
Goal 13: Climate action
Goal 14: Life below water
Goal 15: Life on land
Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
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(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/outcomedocuments/agenda21)
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All sounds good, right? What is missing is human rights, democracy, and basic freedoms like freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Not only that, but the goals are conflicting. It proposes to raise people out of poverty using industrialization, but that causes pollution. Some goals are impossible. For instance, climate control is impossible. There are forces out of our control that affect the climate.
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Agenda 21 has been renamed agenda 2030. Why do you think that is? Maybe they have a goal of accomplishing all this by 2030?
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Now what would happen if the U.N. decided that all this was now mandatory? How would they enforce it?
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Recently, the U.N. demanded that the United States take in a caravan coming from Central America.
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The U.N. has a program of refugee resettlement that requires – not just voluntary, but requires that nations that sign onto the agreement take refugees as assigned by them. It has been discovered that many of these refugees are not refugees at all, but just people that want a better life.
What would happen if the U.N. started requiring this of all nations, without volunteering for it?
According to the United Nations, Agenda 21 "is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment." It is the result of a June 1992 conference in Rio de Janeiro, called the Earth Summit, and it was originally adopted by 178 countries, including the United States. The preamble to the document makes plain what its signatory nations thought was at stake 20 years ago:
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“Humanity stands at a defining moment in history. We are confronted with a perpetuation of disparities between and within nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the continuing deterioration of the ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being. However, integration of environment and development concerns and greater attention to them will lead to the fulfillment of basic needs, improved living standards for all, better protected and managed ecosystems and a safer, more prosperous future. No nation can achieve this on its own; but together we can -- in a global partnership for sustainable development.
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Ten years later, in September 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell reminded the world of President George W. Bush's commitment to "the great moral challenge" of including the world's poor in "the expanding circle of development." Then, less than one year following the terror attacks on America, and less than nine months before America went to war in Iraq, Secretary Powell said this:
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“Here in Johannesburg, we have recommitted ourselves to achieving, by 2015, the development goals set forth in the Millennium Declaration. We further dedicated ourselves to improve sanitation, rejuvenate fisheries, promote biodiversity, and encourage renewable energy. We have reaffirmed the principle that sound economic management, investment in people, and responsible stewardship of our environment are crucial for development.
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The United States is taking action to meet environmental challenges, including global climate change, not just rhetoric. We are committed to a multi-billion dollar program to develop and deploy advanced technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.”
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It all seems like worthy goals. But why does it seem to keep popping up in ways that require enforcement and cooperation? Why does the U.N. keep acting like they have the right to tell other countries what to do?
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Why are people like Colin Powell announcing that they are meeting the goals of the “Millennium Declaration?”
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Why did George H. W. Bush keep saying that there is “A New World Order?”
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Now, if the authority over the whole world comes to one entity, how might they deal with dissidents?
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Verses 9-10:
“If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”
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Now there is a second beast we have to deal with in this passage.
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The second beast has two horns and speaks like a dragon. It exercises the authority of the first beast on its behalf and it makes everyone worship the first beast. The second beast is allowed to perform great signs, even making fire come down from heaven right in front of people. Using the signs it performs, it deceives the people of the earth and makes an image of the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. It makes the image of the first beast to breath and speak.
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How might the fire coming out of heaven be accomplished?
How might the image of the beast coming to life be accomplished?
(Virtual Reality)
With people believing everything they see on the news & the corruption of the news, this could be how the beast deceives the people.
It also causes those that will not worship the beast to be slain. Who is that going to be?
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(Those whose names are written in the Book of life.)
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The second beast also causes all people to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark of the beast. The mark of the beast is the name of the beast, or the number of his name, which is 666.
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Now, how might something like a mark on someone’s forehead or right hand affect buying and selling?
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Getting chipped along with the mark?
Now the last mystery in this passage is the name of the beast, and the number of his name is 666. Many speculations of this has been made, including Ronald Wilson Reagan. There are six letters in each of his 3 names. But there are many ways to come up with a number out of a name, so it is better not to speculate. We will know who it is when it happens because he will require that everyone take his mark or not be able to buy or sell.
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What will happen to those that take the mark of the beast?
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What will happen to those whose names are written in the book of life?
Star in the Book of Life - Big Tent Revival