13 The dragon[a] stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
blasphemous-
speaking sacrilegiously about Our Heavenly Father or sacred things, which includes insulting, showing contempt for, or disrespecting Our Heavenly Father, Christ, or the Holy Spirit
2.The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.
Authority-a person or organization having power or control in a particular, typically political or administrative, sphere.
3. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.
Fatal wound- bad enough to cause a trip to the spirit world.
4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.
Utter-to speak
6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
slander-
make false and damaging statements about (someone).
7.It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people.
God’s people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—al
l whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.[b]
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear
10
“If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword,
with the sword they will be killed.”[d]
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
captivity-
Physical captivity refers to being held as a prisoner or an exile by a foreign powerThe Beast out of the Earth.
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.
12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.
14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
image-
humans are created in God’s likeness and form, not just a physical resemblance, but also in their spiritual and moral capacitiesIt also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,
17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.
chapter 13 describes a vision of two “beasts” that are empowered by a dragon (Satan) to deceive and persecute people, challenging them to worship them instead of God. The first beast, from the sea, represents a powerful, global political system with a human leader (sometimes called the Antichrist) who receives authority from Satan. The second beast, from the earth, is often identified as the False Prophet, who uses signs and wonders to force the worship of the first beast and requires people to receive the “mark of the beast” to participate in economic activity.
Closing Prayer: “Heavenly Father, we pray for wisdom to discern thedeceptions described in Revelation 13. Guard our hearts and minds from the influence of those who lead others astray”.
Our lord and savior we pray, please forgive me of my sins against you, please come into my heart. By the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me.
raynettekweissministries@yahoo.com