The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Revelation Chapter 13

The most frequently requested Christ in Prophecy television show episodes on Revelation have been pulled out of the vault and re-released!

Over the six episodes, Dr. David Reagan and guests Don McGee of Crown and Sickle Ministries and Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries go chapter by chapter through the book of Revelation, explaining that the book of Revelation isn’t difficult to understand, rather it is difficult to believe. But, if you will believe it for its plain sense meaning, you will understand it. For anyone who’s been born again and has the Holy Spirit residing within them, Revelation can become very clear.

To summarize what we surveyed, we covered the first half of the Tribulation in Revelation 8-12. In those chapters we learned that one half of humanity will die during the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation as the Antichrist succeeds in conquering the world.

We’ll continue on in our journey through the great book of Revelation by roiling at the world suffering under the oppression of the Antichrist and his False Prophet in Revelation 13. Feel free to watch, listen, or read along by clicking one of the icons below.

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Revelation Revealed: Chapter 13

[Read Chapter 13 in the NASB version via Biblegateway.]

Dr. Reagan: Chapter 13 begins a section from Chapters 13-19 that go from the midpoint of the Tribulation until its end when Jesus returns to this Earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to reign from Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The focus of the Antichrist’s slaughter will shift from the Gentile nations to the Jewish people. He’ll pick up where Hitler left off and attempt to annihilate the Jewish people from the face of the earth.

Chapter 13 tells us how Satan will go about persecuting believers, both Jews and Christians. His agent is the Antichrist, who is introduced to us as a “beast who comes up out of the sea.” That latter phrase is a symbolic reference to the Gentile nations, indicating the Antichrist will be a Gentile. Daniel also infers the Antichrist will be a Gentile when he says that he will come from “the people who will destroy the temple.” The Temple was destroyed by the Romans, so the Antichrist must be a person of Roman descent.

The Beast is empowered by Satan. He immediately begins to blaspheme God just as Daniel prophesies that he will. Satan also gives him his authority. The beast proceeds to use his power and authority to make war with the saints. In the process, dominion is granted to him over every tribe and every people and every tongue and nation. In other words, he becomes history’s first true worldwide dictator. He very quickly accomplishes something that Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Hitler dreamed of and died trying to achieve. Even more important, from Satan’s viewpoint, the Antichrist becomes the object of worldwide worship.

At this point we are introduced to another beast who rises up out of the earth, literally “the land.” Just as the sea is a prophetic symbol for the Gentile nations, the land is a symbol of Israel. Thus, the implication here is that this beast will be a Jew.

This beast is later referred to as the “False Prophet.” This nefarious character serves as the Antichrist’s right hand man. He exercises the authority of the Antichrist, carrying out both political and religious duties. Spiritually, the false prophet serves as the head of a one-world religion, seeing to it that everyone worships the Antichrist. He will dazzle and deceive people with great signs, including giving life to a statue of the Antichrist. His demonic religious system will consist of people drawn from all the world’s religions. The false prophet will argue in the name of “tolerance” that there are many roads to God, that God has revealed himself in religions like Islam, and Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism, and the New Age Movement, to name only a few. He will tell people they can pray to whatever God they please as long as they accept the Antichrist as the messiah of their God.

Politically, the False Prophet is the one responsible for administering the Antichrist’s enforcement system. It is based on the requirement for all of mankind to take the name or the number of the beast, which is 666. No one can buy and no one can sell without the Mark or the name of the Beast on their right hand or on their forehead. And, since no faithful Christian or observing Jew will take this mark, at this point all Christians and Jews will become outlaws. They will have to hide out in the countryside and live off the land. They will be hunted down like animals and most of them will be killed — not all, but most. It will be a horrible period of unparalleled persecution of believers in the true God.

As we move into the second half of the Tribulation, the earth is cursed with the presence of a satanic trinity. The false God is Satan who has been cast down to Earth and cut off from Heaven. The false messiah is the Antichrist who demands the world’s worship. The false counterpart of the Holy Spirit is the False Prophet, whose responsibility is to persuade people to give their allegiance to the Antichrist.

It is no wonder that Isaiah says, “The earth will reel to and fro like a drunkard and totter like a shack.” During the last half of the Tribulation, the havoc that will be wrought by this satanic trio will be so great that the earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled. Jesus emphasized the horrendous nature of this period by stating that if it were not cut short by the Lord, no one would be left alive.

In the next part on this series on Revelation, we’ll get a little more encouragement by Revelation 14.

Resource

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

7 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • Maranatha, hope your computer works soon. Nathan I just want to tell you thank you for all you do for the Lord, and our benefit. I came back to the Lord in a time when I was ready to quit, not just the Lord but life as well. I stumbled onto the tv show, brother Reagan was hosting brother Don Perkins. Speaking on Misconceptions about Prophecy. It ministered to my spirit, I have had the pleasure to meet Don when he came to Mendota in a simple High school cafeteria to teach, He loves the Lord. I was the first there and so we spoke much, and told how the Lord used him and lamb and lion ministries. I hope to converse with him again. So thank you Nathan, thank you David, and thank you Don. Lord expand the ministries of these men, in Jesus name. Maranatha!!!

  • The Bible has always been God's message intended first for the Jews. If you ask a devout follower of Judaism about who destroyed the first and second temples, they will respond that the temples were destroyed because the followers of Judaism / Kabbalah fell spiritually and that the Romans were simply a physical tool of the spiritual realm. Therefore, the Bible's message to the Jews is that the Jews were responsible for the destruction of the Temple. So, the Antichrist will be a person of Jewish descent. A devout follower of Judaism would also tell you that Kabbalah is the very foundation of Judaism. He would further explain that Kabbalah is actually the foundation of all major religions and that those religions have been caused and allowed to exist to help prepare mankind for all of mankind to turn to Kabbalah when the spiritual time is right . . . and that time is now. Thus, only a person that understands the prophecies of Kabbalah can more fully understand the prophesies of the Bible. Remember, the Bible's message is intended first for the Jews. Satan has a great hoax in mind for the Jewish people because he hates them so much. He will lift them to a great height so that he can attempt to slam them down. This is how and why the Third Temple and it's sacrifices will exist in the last days and the Antichrist will actually be asked to control the Temple and he will halt the sacrificial system as he deems it no longer necessary for the new worldwide spiritual system that he will bring into power via Kabbalah. How will the world esteem his so as he does this? Because he will teach the world that through the practice of Kabbalah, not just he, but everyone will be equal to the Creator.

  • Or… since the actual Roman legions who destroyed Jerusalem were from the (Middle)Eastern roman empire, and the wounded beast empire was the Ottoman or perhaps the Ummayad(sp?)Empire, the anti-Messiah may be of Islamic/Arabic descent and in fact is probably one of the current heads of state of one of the Islamic countries,perhaps the sly fox Erdogan…

  • i would like to say that Jesus will return to take his believers before revelation. His believers are christians, referring to the "christ in you" when born again. the born again of uncorruptable seed. the next period of the bible is tribulation and revelation time. there is no availability to be born again, only to serve the God the father of Jesus Christ, and die serving him to be just in going to heaven. there are 2 distinct time periods here, and the administration of GRACE which is now, which is where you can become born again, a son of God, will end with the rapture of the church (church being those who are born again) after the rapture, there will be no christians, no being born again of uncorruptable seed. In the "old testament" and the period of time that Jesus was on earth, there were no christians. there were people who served god and lived by the law. And had the spirit of God upon them. that is a different time under a different set of rules.

  • I think as long as the Holy Spirit leads people into the truth and righteousness as Jesus Christ and him crucified, and accept this truth and repent will become tribulation Christians, sadly coming to accept it after our great departure, but never the less Christ will continue to extend his hand of grace, mercy, maid possible by what he did at the cross. The fact that 144,000 come to accept Jesus as Lord and savior I think shows even during a time of judgement, God will still show his love. Many though will have to give their head for their faith, but will still be reguarded as great in heaven for doing so. But our current so called age of grace/church age is the best time to come to the Lord now, WE MUST PUT OUR LOVED ONE'S AND ENEMY ALIKE AT THE ALTERS; Amen

  • Thank you for those encouraging words, Dennis! So glad to hear the ministry has been a blessing to you.

    LovetheTruth, the whole theory of an Eastern and/or Muslim Antichrist is based on the incorrect historical account of what groups of people made up the Roman legions who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, a full 530 years before Islam came into existence.

    The Roman army that destroyed the Temple is 70 AD were those of the Legio X Fretensis, Legio V Macedonica and Legio XV Apollinaris, under the command of Roman General Titus Vespasianus. The soldiers of Legio X were Italians from the region of the Straits of Messina; Legio XV from the mixed Illyrian-Celtic people of the region of Pannonia along the Danube River, and Legio V were of the Thraco-Illyrian people in the region of the lower Danube formerly known as Moesia. In sum, the "people of the prince" were Europeans and Roman citizens (see Eschatology Today).

    As Dr. David Reagan says, even if the troops were from Australia, who ordered the command to destroy Jerusalem and those who led the invasion were from the European leg of the Roman Empire.

    For the Antichrist to originate from the Middle East and Islam is problematic. If Russia-Iran is wiped out in the Ezekiel 38-39 attack God miraculously delivers Israel from, and Israel’s surrounding nations seem to be non-players in most of the Tribulation, how could Islam dominate the Middle East and the Antichrist be Muslim? It would seem such defeats would dishearten any Muslim. Also, if the Antichrist is supposedly not into women and could be gay (Dan. 11:37), the Muslims would want him dead, right? Also, the Antichrist glorifies himself. Even the Mahdi couldn’t do that, for worship alone is for Allah.

    I’d have to conclude on these and other verses that Islam is just another system that will be wiped out before the Antichrist instills his system and makes a grab for the Middle East riches that Israel will also be claiming, hence a peace treaty and the taking over of all former Roman Empire lands.

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