As we continue on in this passage (13:5-10), we will learn more about
how these gatekeepers function, how they impact the church, and how the world
responds to them.
The Authority Given To The Mortally Wounded Beast And The
Resultant Actions Further Described. 5-7
There are two parts to what is revealed in these verses.
For The Span Of The New
Covenant Church Age The Beast Blasphemes God, His Works, And His People. 5-6
We read: “And the beast was given a mouth
uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise
authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies
against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in
heaven.”
These two verses reveal an often-repeated theme in Revelation—that
during this age between the first and second comings of Jesus Christ God is
fulfilling what was promised long ago in Daniel.
The reference to the beast expressing his authority through speech
for a three and a half year period in v. 5 is a collective allusion to Dan.
7:6, 8, 11, 20, and 25. Much of the allusion is taken word for word from these
texts in Daniel:
·
A blaspheming mouth:
“And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies”
(found in Dan. 7:6, 8, and 11 in a couple Greek translations of the OT).”
·
An Authorization clause:
“It was given to him” twice in 13:5, and again in 13:7, and the similar phrase
in Dan. 7:25.
·
A decreed period of time
during the end days (“forty-two months”), as in Dan. 7:25.[1]
Additionally, in these two verses we find out that God ordained
that he would allow the beastly gatekeepers to blaspheme him and his people for
the duration of this New Covenant Church era.
Yet, in verse 7 we come to the second part of what we find out
about the beast’s actions.
The Beast Wars Against
The Church, Appearing To Conquer The Saints. 7
We read: “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,…”
“In 7a the focus shifts back again to the prophecy of Daniel 7
(cf. Dan. 7:8, 11, 21) and the persecuting activities of the ‘horn’ in order to
show that the same activity of the beast is beginning its fulfillment.”[2]
Regarding, the first sentence, “Also it was allowed to make war on
the saints and to conquer them,” Beale, Campbell, 274, explain this statement is
almost identical to what is found in Rev. 11:7, both of which are based on Dan.
7:21, which shows the parallel nature of this vision here with Daniel 7 that predicts
a final kingdom on earth which will persecute and defeat Israel, God’s people
physically, but not in the ultimate eternal sense. Afterward, the persecutors
will be judged, and the saints will truly conquer and inherit the kingdom of
the world (so Dan. 7:22-27). John affirms the Daniel prophecy about Israel will
be fulfilled in the world’s persecution of the church, the true end-times
Israel of God, in the latter days, which for him began with Christ’s death and
resurrection.
Regarding the last part of v. 7, “And authority was given it over
every tribe and people and language and nation,” we must first note that this
authority was directly given by the dragon, but ultimately by God ordaining
this (see on vv. 2, 4, 5 above). The fourfold reference to all the world is
based upon Daniel, where it describes worldwide false worship (Dan. 3:7) and
true worship (7:14). What is more, this worldwide worship and authority is a
parody of Christ, who has redeemed people from the same worldwide spectrum (cf.
Rev. 5:9; 7:9 [cf. Dan. 7:14]).
In the next verse we uncover the result of the beast’s activity.
The Result Is That all Who Are Not Saved Worship The Beast. 8
The text says: “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.”
Regarding the first clause, “and all who dwell on earth will
worship it,” it is clear that John in Revelation sees all persons worshiping in
this current age. All are either worshiping governmental or false religion gods
of the gatekeepers (behind which is Satan) or they are worshiping the true God
through the slain lamb. “Worship” in this clause is emphasized in where it is
positioned. Part of the implication is that all people are worshipers. The
question is, “Where is our worship focused?”
Regarding the second half of v. 8, “everyone whose name has not
been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb
who was slain,” we discover a further description of those who worship the
false gods of governmental entities embodied in the beast. We find the
following truths about these worshipers:
·
First, we discover that
the book belongs to the “Lamb who has been slain.” This is contrasted with the
beast who “has been slain” (v. 3). The slain-and-“resurrected” beast who
receives his authority from the dragon is a parody of the
truly-slain-and-resurrected Lamb who receives his authority directly from the
Father.
·
Second, we see that the
Lamb has been slain “from before the foundation of the world,” which means that
before space, time, and history, before the world was created and Satan and/or
man has sinned, God ordained the Lamb would be slain, which also means he
ordained sin, the fall of Satan, and the fall of man, as well as the redemption
of mankind. This same phrase is used in John 17:24 to speak of the
intra-trinitarian love of Father and Son in eternity past, the choosing of
saints unto salvation and holiness (Eph. 1:4), the choosing of the Son for his
special redemptive work (1 Pt. 1:20), and also is found in another reference
regarding those not written in the book of life (Rev. 17:8). Note that the book
that records the sins of the ungodly (cf. Rev. 20:12-13) and the book of life
(here, Rev. 3:5; 21:27) both find their background source in Daniel (7:10;
12:1-2).
·
Third, regarding “in the
book of life,’ since the book of life records those who will be or are saved
and it belongs to the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, the
implication is that those saved are written before the foundation of the world
and so are chosen for salvation. What is more, those not in the book of life
have been left out before space, time, and history and so were passed over—to
receive the just payment of their own sin and rebellion, their rejection of God
and his general revelation in creation.
·
Fourth, the worship of
the false gods takes place among the ungodly because God passes over them and
so allows them to refuse his revelation of himself and to follow their own
choices. It is in keeping with Peter’s words in 1 Peter 2:8 about unbelievers:
“They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”
Revelation 12:17c-13:10 ends with an important challenge given to
believers.
A Call For The Saints To Persevere. 9-10
John writes: “If anyone has an ear, let
him hear: 10 If anyone is to be taken captive, 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.”
Regarding v. 9, we must see that this is a similar statement to
what we find in the messages to the seven churches in chapters 2-3. There we
find seven times, “The one who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.” Here it is merely, “If anyone has ears, let him hear.” We don’t
find another of these statements in Revelation. This is an indication that the
material we are now reading spans the current New Covenant Church age, just as
the messages to the seven churches (which represent the universal church of all
times) in Rev. 2-3.
These statements in Revelation 2-3 and 13:9 are also connected
into the explanation by Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels (e.g. Mt. 13:10-17) as to
why he teaches in parables. In short, the parables blind and deafen that much
more those who don’t have eyes to see and ears to hear. However, for those who
do, they instruct, build up, and encourage them (this explanation harkens back
to Isaiah 6 and God’s recommissioning of Isaiah).
The equivalent of parabolic material is what is found in vv. 1-8
in this text. “But the command to ‘let him hear’ is intended to jolt true
believers caught up in the compromising complacency of the majority. Those shaken
back into spiritual reality will perceive God’s parabolic revelation in the
book and discern the dangerous reality of the Satanic nature of the pagan
institutions to which they may be tempted to accommodate.”[3]
We can say several things on verse 10. To begin this is a
paraphrase of two Old Testament verses:
Jeremiah 15:2: “And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you
shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Those
who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the
sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to
captivity.’”
Jeremiah 43:11: “He shall come and strike the land of Egypt,
giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to
captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are
doomed to the sword.”
Both of these passages say the same thing. Jeremiah prophesies to
Israel that God has destined its people to go into captivity and suffer from
the sword. In Israel’s case, this was a penalty for their unbelief and sin.
Yet several statements from the Old Testament prophets affirm that
a faithful remnant will also suffer the penalty of captivity, as Ezekiel
14:12-23 especially makes clear. This text from Ezekiel has been used in Rev. 6:2-8,
with its original dual idea of punishing unbelievers and refining believers
through suffering. The emphasis here, as in Rev. 6:2-8, 9-11, is more on the
suffering of God’s people than on the punishment of the wicked.
And so, the point seems to be that for many Christians God has
ordained he would allow the evil of their suffering, persecution and, in many
cases, their death (cf. 1 Pt. 4:19). For such ones, they must hear what God’s
Spirit is saying to them in Revelation, namely that God is in control, and he
will watch over them and protect them in the ultimate sense—bringing them home
safely to him. The implication is to take heart, trust, and endure, which is
how verse 10 ends.
Regarding the last clause in v. 10, “Here is a call for the
endurance and faith of the saints,” these things must happen, but believers
must persevere in their faith and not give in. This conclusion is confirmed by
noting that every use of “faith” or “faithful” in Revelation refers to the
faith of Christ or the saints in the face of persecution (1:5; 2:10, 13, 19;
3:14; 14:12; 17:14).
Conclusion
There is still more to say about how the beast operates through his
gatekeepers and seeks to get people to worship this world system and ultimately
Satan, instead of the true God. John will turn to this in the passage we cover
in our next post, Rev. 13:11-18.
In this post and the previous post we have received a healthy warning
to be careful toward and beware of the gatekeepers who call for our allegiance.
This does not mean that we cannot be involved in any of the areas we have
mentioned that are impacted (government, education, social sciences, research,
media, religion). God calls his people to be involved in all these. What makes
the difference, however, is when those who are Christians follow Jesus, love
him, put him first, give him greatest allegiance and love, serve him, and
follow him (5:9-10, 13; 7:9-17; 12:11; 14:1-5). In other words, when we worship
King Jesus, we dethrone everything and everyone else and can then be involved
in those areas of life that otherwise would take their place on the throne and
become our gods.
It is only as we guard against these gatekeeper
gods in this way that we will endure all they throw at us.
[1]
These three points are taken from Greg Beale, David Campbell, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary,
272. They add: “In fact, these three elements, taken together, are unique in
the Old Testament to Daniel.”
[2]
Greg Beale, David Campbell, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary, 274.
[3]
Beale, Campbell, 276. I would argue that for those hardened and without ears to
hear, they have been hardened by their idolatry and have become like their
idols (i.e. deaf: See Is. 6:9-10; 44:9, 18-20).
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