The first part of Revelation chapter 13 speaks of a dragon and a beast which it gives us the idea of two symbols that points to a spiritual reality.
Symbolically speaking, the dragon is the devil while the beast was the Emperor of Rome. [1]
These two forces alone, one from the heavens and from the earth came together to destroy the saints of God who found themselves on a survival mode simply because they had put their trust in the Lamb who reigned in the midst of His enemies.
In practical terms, it appears that Caesar of Rome was in league with the devil in order to persecute and destroy all the believers in Christ that lived in those days.
The picture of the beast appears as a jungle brute that had 10 horns----symbolizing complete power (Biblically speaking, the number ten is a number of completion). He had 7 heads----symbolizing perfect (human) wisdom or simply great wisdom.
Verse 2 gives us a picture of this beast that looks like a leopard while his feet were like a bear, and his mouth looked like a lion’s.
The vivid picture of the beast character is revealed through the manifestation of three wild animals. The symbolism of the leopard might mean that this tyrant or dictator was moving swiftly to change laws that would benefit his party while at the same time have the ability to oppress the people that were under his thumb of rule providing they didn’t comply with his wicked laws.
The picture of the feet of a bear might have meant that the Caesar had so much strength that all his subjects needed was a word from him in order to take someone’s head off in one formidable swing of raw power and viciousness----or simply crush them under his authoritarian rule.
Having the mouth of a lion might have simply meant that Caesar as the head of Rome was nothing but a mighty beast that could devour anyone who stood up to him in rebellion to his rule. The crushing effect of his fangs was enough to bring terror to those he considered his enemies,
NAU Rev 13:4"Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?"
Notice that his authority was given for only 42 months (V: 5).Noting that the Roman times were similar to ours [2], we can safely state that 42 months were approximately 3.5 years, which links us with the length of time the Lord spent ministering in the flesh.
Providing that was the case and symbolically speaking, we need to recognize that evil lasts only a short time. The Lord was cut off in the middle of His ministry, therefore the devil is also cut off in the middle of his agenda to destroy the church. This means that the devil never gets the chance to fulfill his purposes because the Lord always intervenes to frustrate his plans to destroy the body of Christ.
It is my opinion that the ISIS terrorist group of these days has only one agenda: To destroy the church through their destructive religious views. They may not know it, but they are one with the dragon and will try to fulfill his purposes for as long as they are allowed to exist.
It is my belief that someday not too far from these times, the whole world will come together in unison against the body of Christ. They will also rise up with one purpose in mind only: To get rid of the voice of God on the earth. This false unity of the evil one with the world will signify the end of all things as revealed in 2Thes 2:7-12 and usher the return of the Lord of glory.
As it stands, the book of Revelations was approximately written close to the end of the 1st Century (about 90 to 95 AD) as suggested by the ESVSB (The ESV Study Bible),
““Irenaeus reports, on the basis of earlier sources, that “John received the Revelation almost in our own time, toward the end of the reign of Domitian” (Against Heresies 5.30.3). Since Domitian’s reign ended in a.d. 96, most scholars date the writing of Revelations in the mid-90s.”” [3]
My purpose here is not to give a rounded explanation of what this chapter means in relation to the whole book of Revelations. My aim is rather to get to the second part of verse 8 after having laid some sort of background that at least might explain a little of what was going on in John’s lifetime while he was writing to the 7 churches.
The book of Revelation was meant to give believers of those days a fresh revelation of the Sovereignty of the resurrected Lord over all the powers of hell (and Rome), with the idea of encouraging the suffering church by opening their eyes to realize who was truly the ultimate King of all kings, and the Lord of all the empires of the world, including Rome itself (Rev 17:14, 19:16).
Now, if we want to be technical about it, the book of Revelations is simply a fresh revelation of the supreme authority of Jesus our Messiah over all the powers of darkness. This wonderful book pulls the curtain of revelation to reveal how Jesus rules in the heavens over and against all opposition.
The first verse of Rev 1 gives us a hint: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” (NAU Rev 1:1). This book like the rest of entire bible was primarily written to either reveal the coming of the Messiah (OT), or to reveal the Messiah that had already come (NT). When possible, please take a look at Luke 24:27, 44, John 5:39-40, Ro. 1:2-3, 15:8, 2Ti. 3:15 and appraise it in the light of what’s being said.
The last book of the Bible is primarily the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the revelation of the “last days” as some of us may believe. Now, I’m not trying to be controversial, but I believe the last days began when the Lord rose from the dead three days later, after He died and was buried. The scriptures are clear on this, (1Pe 1:20, Heb. 1:1, 1Jn 2:18).
The resurrection of our Messiah that took place 2,000 years ago marked a complete new beginning for mankind due to the fact that it reveals for the first time in history that a Man of flesh and blood like the rest of us rose from the dead… never to die again.
This most astonishing miracle initiated a brand new era for the world because the power of DEATH was completely broken forever through the resurrection of the Christ. My take on this is that DEATH (with capital “D”) was dashed into little, tiny pieces, making it impossible for the prince of darkness to put it back together again. As far as our Triune God is concerned, the devil and all its evil powers are finished for good.
The work of redemption could be explained in a sentence: “IT IS DONE, IT IS FINISHED, AND IT IS PERFECTLY AND LIMITLESSLY COMPLETE!”
NAU John 19:30“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
The Complete Biblical Library says the following,
“The verb “finished” (Greek τελέω), transliterated asteleō means, to complete, to finish to perform. In the New Testament teleō has three primary meanings according to Thayer (Greek-English Lexicon). The first is “to bring to a close, finish,” which parallels its most common use in classical Greek. It is thus used for completing the Word (Matthew 11:1; 19:1; 26:1) and completing the parable (Matthew 13:53).
Vine points out that the word is used to signify not merely termination but carrying out a thing to its full conclusion (Expository Dictionary, “Finish”). This sense is used especially in Revelation where the word is translated eight times as “finish” (see Rev 15:1, 8). Paul likewise wrote about “finishing” the course (2 Tim. 4:7), and John referred to Scripture being “fulfilled” (John 19:28).
The second meaning of teleō in the New Testament is “to perform, execute, complete.” It is especially used of completing a task or finishing an order. Paul used it several times to refer to performing a command (Ro. 2:27). A variation of this use is in Gal. 5:16 where Paul used it to denote the satisfaction (completion) of fleshly desires.
The final use of teleō in the New Testament is the sense of “paying (completing) an obligation.” While this use is common in the classical writers it appears only twice in the New Testament and is not the usual word for “pay back.” It is used in Mat. 17:24 where the question was asked if Jesus paid the tribute tax. It appears again in Ro. 13:6 where the readers are told they are to “pay tribute” (taxes).” [4]
The extension of the words Jesus used at the cross, “It is finished”, serves to emphasize that creation’s salvation came to an eternal completion, meaning it needs nothing to all to add or to take away. IT IS DONE FOR EVER!
For all practical terms and purposes, this phrase also means that the devil with all his intentions and evil doing was soundly and eternally defeated. This also means that SIN has been paid in full, and God’s love for humanity has been perfectly demonstrated while His justice against sin was perfectly vindicated.
The death of our Messiah gave room for the birth of a brand new creation even while Jesus was asleep on the cross. Unbeknownst to the Roman soldier, when he pierced Jesus’s side with his spear, he was facilitating the initiation of the birth of a new race of believers that would be born out of His bleeding side (blood and water).
Jesus is called the Last Adam, so if we connect both “Adams”, we will see the analogy between the first Adam and the last one. The first Adam became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit (Gen 2:22, John 19:34,1Cor 15:45)
This new creation would be called to be partakers with Him in His victory over sin, death and the devil in order to share His glory (His holy beauty reflected in His love and goodness) even to the point of being called the very own body of Messiah (the body of Christ).
The resurrection of Jesus reveals a greater truth. It means that both the devil, sin and death were defeated at the cross for good. If we can accept that, we could say then that for the last 2,000 years the Lord has been “sweeping” all the junk that evil has been manufacturing into one single pile so that He could pick it up with His divine “dustpan” and then toss it into the Lake of fire where Satan, his angels and all those who made a covenant with him will finally wind up in that dimension forever. I call “hell” the gigantic garbage dump of the universe.
Rev. Ch. 7:13 says that the beast had authority to war against the saints and to overcome them. As I mentioned before, strictly and historically speaking, the beast at that time was the Caesar of Rome who launched out an all-out war and persecution against believers with the purpose of eliminating them once and for all from the face of the earth.
“Emperor Domitian ruled from 81 to 96. He was naturally inclined to cruelty, he first slew his brother, and then raised the second persecution against the Christians. In his rage he put to death some of the Roman senators, some through malice; and others to confiscate their estates. He then commanded all the lineage of David be put to death.” [5]
Emperor Nerva replaced him but only ruled 2 years (96 to 98). Trajan ruled then from 98 to 117.
Verse 8 of chapter 13 starts saying that all that dwell on the earth will worship the beast, but excludes those whose name has been written in the scroll of life. This alone is a very important point because the book of life is also symbolical since the Lord of all creation needs no books to remember whose are His. What we know is that those who are His are those who have the Holy Spirit of promise. Without Him we cannot belong to the Lord (Ro. 8:9).
To belong to the Lord is to automatically become an enemy of this world… That alone makes us all into martyrs…
(To be continued)
[1]Note: I’m looking at Revelations 13 from its historical perspective only. The prophetic understanding as to what it means to us today is not relevant to this theme at this particular time.
PART II
The first part of Revelation chapter 13 speaks of a dragon and a beast which it gives us the idea of two symbols that points to a spiritual reality.
Symbolically speaking, the dragon is the devil while the beast was the Emperor of Rome. [1]
These two forces alone, one from the heavens and from the earth came together to destroy the saints of God who found themselves on a survival mode simply because they had put their trust in the Lamb who reigned in the midst of His enemies.
In practical terms, it appears that Caesar of Rome was in league with the devil in order to persecute and destroy all the believers in Christ that lived in those days.
The picture of the beast appears as a jungle brute that had 10 horns----symbolizing complete power (Biblically speaking, the number ten is a number of completion). He had 7 heads----symbolizing perfect (human) wisdom or simply great wisdom.
Verse 2 gives us a picture of this beast that looks like a leopard while his feet were like a bear, and his mouth looked like a lion’s.
The vivid picture of the beast character is revealed through the manifestation of three wild animals. The symbolism of the leopard might mean that this tyrant or dictator was moving swiftly to change laws that would benefit his party while at the same time have the ability to oppress the people that were under his thumb of rule providing they didn’t comply with his wicked laws.
The picture of the feet of a bear might have meant that the Caesar had so much strength that all his subjects needed was a word from him in order to take someone’s head off in one formidable swing of raw power and viciousness----or simply crush them under his authoritarian rule.
Having the mouth of a lion might have simply meant that Caesar as the head of Rome was nothing but a mighty beast that could devour anyone who stood up to him in rebellion to his rule. The crushing effect of his fangs was enough to bring terror to those he considered his enemies,
NAU Rev 13:4"Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?"
Notice that his authority was given for only 42 months (V: 5).Noting that the Roman times were similar to ours [2], we can safely state that 42 months were approximately 3.5 years, which links us with the length of time the Lord spent ministering in the flesh.
Providing that was the case and symbolically speaking, we need to recognize that evil lasts only a short time. The Lord was cut off in the middle of His ministry, therefore the devil is also cut off in the middle of his agenda to destroy the church. This means that the devil never gets the chance to fulfill his purposes because the Lord always intervenes to frustrate his plans to destroy the body of Christ.
It is my opinion that the ISIS terrorist group of these days has only one agenda: To destroy the church through their destructive religious views. They may not know it, but they are one with the dragon and will try to fulfill his purposes for as long as they are allowed to exist.
It is my belief that someday not too far from these times, the whole world will come together in unison against the body of Christ. They will also rise up with one purpose in mind only: To get rid of the voice of God on the earth. This false unity of the evil one with the world will signify the end of all things as revealed in 2Thes 2:7-12 and usher the return of the Lord of glory.
As it stands, the book of Revelations was approximately written close to the end of the 1st Century (about 90 to 95 AD) as suggested by the ESVSB (The ESV Study Bible),
““Irenaeus reports, on the basis of earlier sources, that “John received the Revelation almost in our own time, toward the end of the reign of Domitian” (Against Heresies 5.30.3). Since Domitian’s reign ended in a.d. 96, most scholars date the writing of Revelations in the mid-90s.”” [3]
My purpose here is not to give a rounded explanation of what this chapter means in relation to the whole book of Revelations. My aim is rather to get to the second part of verse 8 after having laid some sort of background that at least might explain a little of what was going on in John’s lifetime while he was writing to the 7 churches.
The book of Revelation was meant to give believers of those days a fresh revelation of the Sovereignty of the resurrected Lord over all the powers of hell (and Rome), with the idea of encouraging the suffering church by opening their eyes to realize who was truly the ultimate King of all kings, and the Lord of all the empires of the world, including Rome itself (Rev 17:14, 19:16).
Now, if we want to be technical about it, the book of Revelations is simply a fresh revelation of the supreme authority of Jesus our Messiah over all the powers of darkness. This wonderful book pulls the curtain of revelation to reveal how Jesus rules in the heavens over and against all opposition.
The first verse of Rev 1 gives us a hint: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” (NAU Rev 1:1). This book like the rest of entire bible was primarily written to either reveal the coming of the Messiah (OT), or to reveal the Messiah that had already come (NT). When possible, please take a look at Luke 24:27, 44, John 5:39-40, Ro. 1:2-3, 15:8, 2Ti. 3:15 and appraise it in the light of what’s being said.
The last book of the Bible is primarily the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the revelation of the “last days” as some of us may believe. Now, I’m not trying to be controversial, but I believe the last days began when the Lord rose from the dead three days later, after He died and was buried. The scriptures are clear on this, (1Pe 1:20, Heb. 1:1, 1Jn 2:18).
The resurrection of our Messiah that took place 2,000 years ago marked a complete new beginning for mankind due to the fact that it reveals for the first time in history that a Man of flesh and blood like the rest of us rose from the dead… never to die again.
This most astonishing miracle initiated a brand new era for the world because the power of DEATH was completely broken forever through the resurrection of the Christ. My take on this is that DEATH (with capital “D”) was dashed into little, tiny pieces, making it impossible for the prince of darkness to put it back together again. As far as our Triune God is concerned, the devil and all its evil powers are finished for good.
The work of redemption could be explained in a sentence: “IT IS DONE, IT IS FINISHED, AND IT IS PERFECTLY AND LIMITLESSLY COMPLETE!”
NAU John 19:30“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
The Complete Biblical Library says the following,
“The verb “finished” (Greek τελέω), transliterated asteleō means, to complete, to finish to perform. In the New Testament teleō has three primary meanings according to Thayer (Greek-English Lexicon). The first is “to bring to a close, finish,” which parallels its most common use in classical Greek. It is thus used for completing the Word (Matthew 11:1; 19:1; 26:1) and completing the parable (Matthew 13:53).
Vine points out that the word is used to signify not merely termination but carrying out a thing to its full conclusion (Expository Dictionary, “Finish”). This sense is used especially in Revelation where the word is translated eight times as “finish” (see Rev 15:1, 8). Paul likewise wrote about “finishing” the course (2 Tim. 4:7), and John referred to Scripture being “fulfilled” (John 19:28).
The second meaning of teleō in the New Testament is “to perform, execute, complete.” It is especially used of completing a task or finishing an order. Paul used it several times to refer to performing a command (Ro. 2:27). A variation of this use is in Gal. 5:16 where Paul used it to denote the satisfaction (completion) of fleshly desires.
The final use of teleō in the New Testament is the sense of “paying (completing) an obligation.” While this use is common in the classical writers it appears only twice in the New Testament and is not the usual word for “pay back.” It is used in Mat. 17:24 where the question was asked if Jesus paid the tribute tax. It appears again in Ro. 13:6 where the readers are told they are to “pay tribute” (taxes).” [4]
The extension of the words Jesus used at the cross, “It is finished”, serves to emphasize that creation’s salvation came to an eternal completion, meaning it needs nothing to all to add or to take away. IT IS DONE FOR EVER!
For all practical terms and purposes, this phrase also means that the devil with all his intentions and evil doing was soundly and eternally defeated. This also means that SIN has been paid in full, and God’s love for humanity has been perfectly demonstrated while His justice against sin was perfectly vindicated.
The death of our Messiah gave room for the birth of a brand new creation even while Jesus was asleep on the cross. Unbeknownst to the Roman soldier, when he pierced Jesus’s side with his spear, he was facilitating the initiation of the birth of a new race of believers that would be born out of His bleeding side (blood and water).
Jesus is called the Last Adam, so if we connect both “Adams”, we will see the analogy between the first Adam and the last one. The first Adam became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit (Gen 2:22, John 19:34,1Cor 15:45)
This new creation would be called to be partakers with Him in His victory over sin, death and the devil in order to share His glory (His holy beauty reflected in His love and goodness) even to the point of being called the very own body of Messiah (the body of Christ).
The resurrection of Jesus reveals a greater truth. It means that both the devil, sin and death were defeated at the cross for good. If we can accept that, we could say then that for the last 2,000 years the Lord has been “sweeping” all the junk that evil has been manufacturing into one single pile so that He could pick it up with His divine “dustpan” and then toss it into the Lake of fire where Satan, his angels and all those who made a covenant with him will finally wind up in that dimension forever. I call “hell” the gigantic garbage dump of the universe.
Rev. Ch. 7:13 says that the beast had authority to war against the saints and to overcome them. As I mentioned before, strictly and historically speaking, the beast at that time was the Caesar of Rome who launched out an all-out war and persecution against believers with the purpose of eliminating them once and for all from the face of the earth.
“Emperor Domitian ruled from 81 to 96. He was naturally inclined to cruelty, he first slew his brother, and then raised the second persecution against the Christians. In his rage he put to death some of the Roman senators, some through malice; and others to confiscate their estates. He then commanded all the lineage of David be put to death.” [5]
Emperor Nerva replaced him but only ruled 2 years (96 to 98). Trajan ruled then from 98 to 117.
Verse 8 of chapter 13 starts saying that all that dwell on the earth will worship the beast, but excludes those whose name has been written in the scroll of life. This alone is a very important point because the book of life is also symbolical since the Lord of all creation needs no books to remember whose are His. What we know is that those who are His are those who have the Holy Spirit of promise. Without Him we cannot belong to the Lord (Ro. 8:9).
To belong to the Lord is to automatically become an enemy of this world… That alone makes us all into martyrs…
(To be continued)
[1] Note: I’m looking at Revelations 13 from its historical perspective only. The prophetic understanding as to what it means to us today is not relevant to this theme at this particular time.
[2] http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/roman-calendar.html
[3] Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008. Print.
[4]
Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary, The - The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Sigma-Omega. Resource Tools:
Strong <G5055>
Bauer 810-11
Moulton-Milligan 630
Kittel 8:57-61
Liddell-Scott 1771-72
Colin Brown 2:59-65; 3:752-56
[5] http://www.biblestudytools.com/history/foxs-book-of-martyrs/the-second-persecution-under-domitian-a-d-81.html