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Thanks, John, for your help.

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That's good for an old man.

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John turned 40 this last week.

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We congratulate you and wish you happy birthday.

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And is there cake and ice cream after the service, John?

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Robert Murray McShane, by the way, died before he was 30 years of age.

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And he died on a trip to the Holy Land.

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Let that be a lesson to some of you who are going there in a couple of weeks.

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No, we wish you well as you go to visit the land where Jesus lived.

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McShane was weakened, as John indicated, and died of a fever in Egypt before he got there.

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His purpose in going was not to go as a tourist, but to be on a mission to the Jews, to seek

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to win Jews to Christ who were living at that time in Palestine.

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A dear man of God.

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Well this evening we come to Revelation, the 13th chapter.

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This is actually a continuation of chapter 12 where we begin to be introduced to some

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actors who will come across the stage of world history in the tribulation period.

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That is the last days of this age.

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We have seen in the previous chapter that Satan, the dragon, has been cast out of heaven.

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And following that he initiates the greatest anti-Semitic campaign ever conceived.

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God supernaturally protects at least a remnant of the Jewish nation, although many will be

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killed.

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Chapter 13 begins by saying, and he stood on the sand of the sea.

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Some translations say, and I stood on the sand of the sea.

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There's a variation in the ancient manuscripts as to which it ought to be.

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It could be either, but it seems to flow as well if we simply say, and he, that is the

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dragon spoken of in chapter 12.

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He stood on the sand of the sea.

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And I saw a beast arising out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his

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horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.

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And so it seems that the beast goes to the sea and they're standing on the beach.

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He calls forth from the sea, the dragon rather, calls forth from the sea, the beast that is

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described in chapter 13.

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This beast is the dragon's ultimate creation.

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It is the consummation of his desires to rule the world.

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The beast is his crowning achievement, his masterpiece of deception.

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Admittedly, the language in chapter 13 is highly symbolic.

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However it causes some differences of understanding among equally godly and skillful scholars.

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There are some who see the beast as theological in nature.

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In other words, they say the beast represents the false teachers and the heresies throughout

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this age.

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However, it seems to me that a better understanding of this beast is that it represents a political,

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primarily a political entity that will come together and arise as a great power on the

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earth in the tribulation period.

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If you look at chapter 13, you notice there is a beast that comes out of the sea first,

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and then in verse 11 there is a beast that comes out of the earth.

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Two different beasts, though they are aligned and work together.

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The first beast is the antichrist.

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That is, it represents both a person and a system which is against the Lord Jesus Christ

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or in place of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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I think the best understanding of this first part of the chapter is that this beast is

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a political leader that will put together a coalition of powers in the tribulation period

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which will seek to dominate the world and persecute the saints of God and which will

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in fact be the puppet system of Satan.

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It will help us understand chapter 13 if we first go back to the Old Testament and look

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at a key chapter there that relates symbolically to chapter 13 of Revelation.

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I'm speaking about Daniel, the seventh chapter.

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In this chapter, Daniel is given a vision.

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You will notice immediately some of the same language used in Daniel 7 as Revelation 13.

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In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of

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his head while on his bed.

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Then he wrote down the dream telling the main facts.

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I'm reading from the New King James Version.

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Daniel spoke saying, I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of the heaven

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were stirring up the great sea.

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So here you have this allusion to the sea once more.

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And Daniel sees four winds or we might say also four spirits of heaven stirring up that

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great sea.

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What does this mean?

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Well the sea in Daniel 7 and certainly the sea in Revelation 13, both seas represent

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the Gentile world.

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That interpretation is given in Revelation chapter 17.

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The sea represents the vast masses of humanity that are Gentile.

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And what Daniel sees is a stirring up of the Gentile world.

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The four winds or the four spirits, however that may be understood in verse 1, are probably

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the movement of God in the nations of the world bringing to pass what Daniel sees take

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place.

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The four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.

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The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings.

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I watched till its wings were plucked off and it was lifted up from the earth and made

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to stand on two feet like a man and a man's heart was given to it.

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And suddenly another beast, a second like a bear, it was raised up on one side and had

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three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.

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And they said thus to it, Arise devour much flesh.

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After this I looked and there was another like a leopard which had on its back four

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wings of a bird.

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The beast also had four heads and dominion was given to it.

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After this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible,

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exceedingly strong.

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It had huge iron teeth.

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It was devouring, breaking in pieces and trampling the residue with its feet.

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It was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had ten horns.

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I was considering the horns and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among

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them before whom three of the first horns were plucked up or plucked out by the roots.

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And there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous

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words or great things.

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Daniel's vision then takes him to a courtroom scene where a judge sits upon the throne whose

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name is the Ancient of Days.

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The judge is attended by thousands upon thousands of attendants.

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It is a holy scene.

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It is God sitting on His throne over these beasts bringing judgment to them from His

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throne.

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And again in verse 13 Daniel sees a vision.

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It is a vision that skips even into our future.

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It is a vision of the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth and the establishment of His

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kingdom, the final kingdom, which will be forever and forever.

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Well Daniel was grieved by what he had seen.

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He was troubled.

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He asked for an interpretation.

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And so in verse 23 the interpretation is given.

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I skipped over the first three beasts.

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Perhaps we ought to go back and cover that as well because we do talk about that in Revelation

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13.

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Verse 17 says, Those great beasts which are four are four kings which arise out of the

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earth, or four kingdoms it might say.

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But the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever,

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even forever and ever.

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I wish to know the truth about the fourth beast which was dreadful from all the others

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and so on.

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And so he said, The fourth beast, verse 23 now, shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which

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shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample

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it and break it in pieces.

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The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom, and another shall arise

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after them.

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He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.

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He shall speak pompous words against the most high, shall persecute the saints of the most

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high, and shall intend to change the times and law.

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Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.

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Let's just stop there for a moment.

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Let me remind you that the first three beasts represent three kingdoms.

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The first one is the kingdom of Babylon.

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It is described in terms of royalty and power.

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Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of Babylon, is probably one of the most powerful kings

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who has ever ruled in the Gentile world.

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He was a ruthless man, and yet, as you recall from the record of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar

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was humbled by God.

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He was given a heart of a man, as this beast was in Daniel's vision.

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Following Babylon, there came another kingdom.

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It was the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.

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It was not a balanced coalition.

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The Persians were more powerful, thus the bearer seemed there off balance.

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A fierce and ferocious kingdom.

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The Medes and the Persians aligned themselves together and overcame Babylon.

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That happened in Daniel's day.

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He lived in part of that kingdom.

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That kingdom, too, eventually passed away and was overcome by Alexander the Great as

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he extended the kingdom of Greece through the Middle East and all the way over to the

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borders of India.

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This is all a review of material that we've studied a couple of years ago in our study

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of Daniel.

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The kingdom of Greece lasted for a couple of hundred years, but it, too, finally fell

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to the power that arose out of Rome.

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The Roman Empire is the fourth exceedingly fearsome and terrible beast that Daniel saw.

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The Roman Empire, as you know, was never actually overthrown militarily.

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It simply decayed morally from within and fell apart.

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Thus the Roman Empire, prophetically speaking, actually has two periods of history.

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One period is past to us.

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Of course, to Daniel it was future as he wrote these words.

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But to us it is past.

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It was that period that occurred at the conclusion of Greece's reign up through about 400 AD.

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Rome of course was in power when the Lord Jesus was on the earth.

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The establishment of the church came during the Roman Empire, but that empire fell apart.

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There is, according to Scripture, to be, in the last days, a revival of the Roman Empire.

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If not by that name, at least that territory, that geographical area, the area that we today

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call Europe, will come together and coalesce and form a federation of nations, as it were

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a United States of Europe.

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And as Daniel sees the ten horns, the ten kings that will arise from this kingdom, he

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is actually looking into what is yet future to us.

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Now this is where Revelation 13 picks up the story.

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Daniel sees an eleventh king come up out of the ten.

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He overthrows three of them, establishes himself, and becomes the leader of this empire.

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And that little horn that is seen in this vision in Daniel 7 is the same as the beast

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of Revelation 13, verses 1 through 10.

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It is the one, the personage that we call the Antichrist.

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Now let's go back to Revelation 13 with that all together, to brief a background from Daniel

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7.

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And notice again that John sees the dragon stand upon the shores and call out from this

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sea a beast who has seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads

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a blasphemous name.

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The word beast here refers to a wild beast.

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This is not a domesticated beast.

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It is one that is ruthless.

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It is wild.

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It represents, as I have said, both a man and his empire.

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You cannot separate a dictator from his dominion.

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The seven heads, the ten horns, the ten crowns will be explained later in chapter 17.

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But perhaps we ought just to skip over there for the moment to look at briefly at what

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is said there regarding these figures.

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First let's look in chapter 17 and verse 12.

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And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they

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receive authority for one hour as kings with the beasts.

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These are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast.

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And so we see here the ten horns interpreted again as Daniel saw them as ten kings or ten

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kingdoms.

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And they will be aligned in some sense with the beast who will eventually be over them

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and will give them power and they in turn will give their power and authority to the

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beast.

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Now let's back up to verse 9.

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Here is the mind which has wisdom, the seven heads, are seven mountains on which the woman

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sits.

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Now we are not going to go into detail about the woman because we will get there eventually.

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But what we have here is a reference to a geographical location, seven mountains, a

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city of seven mountains.

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There are few Bible scholars who would understand this any differently than that this is an

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allusion to Rome which was the world power of John's day.

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John is seeing this prostitute, this wicked harlot who is riding upon the beast in chapter

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17 and he describes the seven heads of the beast as being the seven mountains where the

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woman sits.

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And so John is describing a city, it is the city of Rome, which is the power base for

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the beast.

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But he also says in verse 10, there are also seven kings, five have fallen, one is and

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the other has not yet come.

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There are several interpretations of this and I am not going into it tonight except

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to point out that the seven heads that he describes here have a couple of different

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symbolic meanings as he points out.

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The ten crowns represent the authority and the power, the dominion of the ten rulers

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which are the ten horns.

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Now going back to Revelation chapter 13, he says that on the heads of this beast were

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a blasphemous name, that immediately tells us that this beast stands against God.

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That everything about it is anti-God and anti-Christ, it is intended to be slanderous against God

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and to blaspheme him.

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And he says the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of

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a bear and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.

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Now immediately you think of what we read in Daniel 7, these are the figures of speech

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describing the three first kingdoms, that is Babylon, Medial Persia and Greece.

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They're in reverse order you notice from what Daniel saw because John is standing on the

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other side of them chronologically.

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Daniel was looking at them this way, John is looking back at them this way.

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There is something of Greece, something of the Medes and the Persians and something of

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Babylon that come together as part of this terrible beast that is seen here.

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And we see that the dragon gave him his power, his throne and his great authority.

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And so we have the appearance of the beast.

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It is wild, in its picture it is a composite of the characteristics of the three empires

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that preceded Rome.

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Perhaps John is pointing out the leopard's swiftness, it moves very quickly, it is known

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for its stealth and so perhaps the kingdom that is described here by this beast will

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be that same way.

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The bear is known for his strength, his raw power, his tenacity and so will the kingdom

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of the beast.

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The lion representing Babylon pictures the absolute control of a monarch and the regal

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splendor that goes with one who is an absolute dictator and sovereign and so the beast likewise

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will be characterized in such a way.

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What seems to happen in these last days is that the nations will be in turmoil, particularly

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the nations that comprise what was the Roman Empire.

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And out of that turmoil there will be a voice, there will be a cry for order, for someone

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who can bring things under control and these kingdoms then will come together under the

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authority of a powerful and charismatic ruler who will seem to be the answer to everyone's

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wishes and prayers.

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And of course he will be the Antichrist.

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It is very interesting to see what is happening in Europe this very week and this very year.

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Just two years ago everyone was proclaiming peace at last in the world.

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We were going to enjoy a peace dividend, crying peace, peace when there is no peace and we

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have seen ethnic and religious wars break out in the heart of Europe and there is no

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way to control them.

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Centuries of hatred are boiling over into cruelty and to murder and atrocities that

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rival those of Hitler 50 and 60 years ago.

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And there really isn't an innocent party, all sides are guilty.

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And the only superpower left in the world today is unable for a number of reasons to

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intervene and to put a stop to it.

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That means that it is going to continue and it means that the turmoil and unrest that

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is now in the eastern part of Europe is likely to spread.

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In the Star Tribune today there was an article regarding the fears of the people in Macedonia,

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the northern state of Greece.

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They are quite afraid that the civil war on their border in the former Yugoslavia is going

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to spread down into Macedonia and into Greece.

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No one has an answer for what is taking place in Europe.

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And if they did they would have presented it by now.

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But eventually in the midst of all the chaos and all of the murder and all of the wretchedness

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and all of the economic collapse in Europe there is going to be a powerful man who will

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arise with the answers.

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He will arise with supernatural abilities to bring things under control and he will

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be looked upon as the Savior when in fact the source of his power is not God, the source

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of his power is the dragon.

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And as we see here it is the Satan, this dragon who gives him his power, his throne and his

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great authority.

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This beast will be a formidable power.

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There will be no one like him in the history of the world.

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You will hear statements like this undoubtedly in that day.

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The streets of our country are in turmoil.

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The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting.

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Communists are seeking to destroy our country and the republic is in danger.

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Yes, danger from within and without.

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We need law and order.

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Without law and order our nation cannot survive.

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Is that Spiro Agnew?

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Most of you don't remember him.

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Is that Rush Limbaugh?

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No, I'll tell you who it was that said that.

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Adolf Hitler.

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And again today's Star Tribune there is a recounting of Hitler's rise to power and

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how that he did it, quotes, through the democratic process.

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But underneath were intrigue and manipulation and blackmail until the time that he had the

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power that he wanted in Germany.

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And there will be a Hitler-like individual who will make statements compelling and inviting

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and attractive like he did to the Germans in the early 1930s and people will follow

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him.

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There will be Satan working through him and deceiving the nations.

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Second Thessalonians 2, 9 says regarding the antichrist that he is the one who's coming

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is after the working of Satan.

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Well in verse 3 we read, and one of his heads, I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally

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wounded and his deadly wound was healed.

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So we have a further description of the appearance of this beast.

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There are seven heads.

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One of them looks as though it has had a mortal wound.

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Actually the Greek says as having been slain and it's the same word used of Jesus back

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in chapter 5 and verse 6.

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In other words there's every indication that there's death and at least the appearance

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of resurrection in that head.

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Now the early Christians interpreted this that Nero would be raised from the dead.

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Nero was one of the great persecutors of Christians and killed himself in 68 AD as I recall.

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He had been basically voted out of power by the Roman Senate and they were going to execute

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him and so to avoid the disgrace of all of that he killed himself with a sword.

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But the rumor was that he didn't really die and that he was going to come back to power.

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Then when that became obviously a false rumor there were those who said well he's going

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to be resurrected from the dead and he is the one that is spoken of here.

315
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:27,600
Now in our day we've heard similar comments made regarding Hitler or regarding John F.

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Kennedy.

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Is that the meaning of this?

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Well it perhaps does refer to an individual who is resurrected or apparently resurrected

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from a deadly wound.

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If that in fact is the case it would complete his claim to be the Christ, the Messiah.

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For as Christ was raised from the dead so this counterfeit Christ would have every appearance

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of having been raised from the dead.

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It would be one way in which the false prophet whom we will see in our next study of chapter

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13 would be able to point to this man as being supernatural, as being not of this world in

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some sense.

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There are others who take this whole imagery here as being different and they say that

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it refers to a revival of the imperial form of government.

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That the head represents the imperial form that the Romans used as having died, having

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faded away but it's not really dead.

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That it's going to come back and be the mode of government in the revived Roman Empire

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which the beast will use.

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My preference is to lean toward the first interpretation that it refers to an individual,

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the antichrist who will go through this wounding and apparent resurrection.

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Well we come then to the attitude toward the beast.

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It immediately begins, the world marveled and followed the beast.

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I think partly because of what happens here in the first part of verse 3.

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There is worship.

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By the way there is no one who promotes religious worship any more fervently than Satan.

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He loves religion as long as he is the object of it.

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He has very cleverly devised many different kinds of religion in the world that somewhat

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satisfy the desire of man to be religious in his flesh.

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But in each of those religions Satan has put himself at the center so that though people

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may not recognize or realize that when they are worshiping in their religion they are

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worshiping demons, the power of Satan.

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And that will certainly be the case of the religion of the revived Roman Empire.

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Notice what they say, they worship the dragon who gave authority to the beast.

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They worship the beast saying who is like the beast?

348
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Who is able to make war with him?

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These statements, these accolades, these acclamations of praise to the beast are a

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parody, a blasphemous parody of the worship of the true God.

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For example in Isaiah 40 verse 25 it says, To whom then will you liken me or shall I

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be equal, saith the Holy One.

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Or Psalm 113 verse 5, Who is like the Lord our God who dwells on high?

354
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So you see there is a parody, a cheapening of those ideas and those words and an application

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of them to this beast.

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Vernon McGee said, The religions of the world are marching toward the dark day of total

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devil worship.

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I agree with him.

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All of this ties together with what is said in 2 Thessalonians again, chapter 2.

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By the way, there really are three key texts in the Bible regarding the Antichrist.

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One is Daniel 7, another is Revelation 13 up through chapter 18, and the other, the

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third is 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

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And there it says that this man of lawlessness, this man of sin will show himself that he

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is God.

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Remember who is the power behind him.

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The power broker is the dragon.

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Satan loves religion as long as he is back behind there pulling the strings and receiving

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the worship through the object or the philosophy or whatever it is that people are bowing to.

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In this case it is an idol in the temple in Jerusalem that Antichrist puts there.

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And he shows himself that he is God and he actually performs signs, wonders, and miracles

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according to 2 Thessalonians 2.

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But they are all deceptive and they are all by the power of Satan.

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Just as the priests who were in the court of Pharaoh and who sought to duplicate the

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miracles of Moses, so Antichrist by deception and by satanic power will be one who will

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do miracles and show himself that he is God.

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And the attitude of the world will be wonderful.

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Praise the beast.

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He will be a most attractive and bewitching personality.

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00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:06,440
In verses 5 through 7 we have the actions of the beast.

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He was given a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies and was given authority to

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00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:22,800
continue for 42 months equals a time, times, and half a time from Daniel chapter 7 that

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we read earlier.

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This is speaking about the last half of the tribulation period when he will reveal his

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00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:32,800
true character.

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The first half of the tribulation he comes off as a nice guy.

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The last half of the tribulation his beastly, his wild beastly nature is exposed.

387
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And his proud boasting, his slander will be directed against God.

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You notice it says he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name,

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his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.

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So the beast is attacking God.

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He is attacking the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God, and he is attacking God's people.

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And he is given authority to do this for three and one half years.

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That is to make war with the saints as verse 7 says.

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It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.

395
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Now when it says war you shouldn't necessarily get in your mind the picture of a military

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campaign.

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It is talking about persecution.

398
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It may be some military, but it is talking about persecution, seeking to put to death

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00:36:43,620 --> 00:36:48,000
people who will not cooperate with his system.

400
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:56,400
And for three and one half years it will be granted to him to overcome the saints.

401
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:58,040
To kill them that is.

402
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:02,360
Daniel 7, 21 says exactly the same thing.

403
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:07,760
These will be the darkest hours in the history of the world apart from the cross of Jesus

404
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,780
Christ on the day he was crucified.

405
00:37:11,780 --> 00:37:18,480
And it will have every appearance that the antichrist will have conquered the people of God.

406
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:26,480
It was granted to him also to have authority over every tribe and tongue and nation.

407
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:32,980
He will extend his power far beyond the borders of Europe.

408
00:37:32,980 --> 00:37:36,500
And in some sense will be worldwide.

409
00:37:36,500 --> 00:37:39,320
This will be Satan's day.

410
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:44,880
His dictator will be on the throne.

411
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:48,280
His Christ will be reigning in the world.

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00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,760
He will be receiving worship.

413
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:57,600
He will finally have gotten what he has wanted or so he will think.

414
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:03,480
And the saints of God will have the appearance of having been defeated.

415
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A dark, dark hour.

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00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:17,440
But he goes on to say, all who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not

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been written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

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But if anyone has an ear let him hear.

419
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:32,380
He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity.

420
00:38:32,380 --> 00:38:36,800
He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.

421
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,040
There is the patience and the faith of the saints.

422
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,560
So we come finally to the announcement regarding the beast.

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00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,760
There are a couple of ways to look at this.

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00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:55,400
The way the New King James translates it would suggest that these couplets form a principle

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00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:59,740
of retribution as Charles Ryrie calls it.

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00:38:59,740 --> 00:39:05,280
That is that the judgment of antichrist will be equal to his crime.

427
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:09,800
If he leads into captivity others and he himself will go into captivity.

428
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:16,920
He kills by the sword, he himself will be killed by the sword in a matter of speaking.

429
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:21,620
But this couplet can also be translated this way.

430
00:39:21,620 --> 00:39:26,800
If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go.

431
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:33,100
If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.

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00:39:33,100 --> 00:39:37,920
If it is to be understood that way it simply means that God's sovereignty is in control.

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00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,040
Yes?

434
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:43,160
The saints of God, many of them, will die at his hand.

435
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,740
He will seem to have overcome them.

436
00:39:46,740 --> 00:39:51,720
By captivity and by the sword they will be decimated.

437
00:39:51,720 --> 00:39:55,360
God however is allowing all of this.

438
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,840
God has not lost the battle.

439
00:39:57,840 --> 00:39:59,920
God is still on the throne.

440
00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:05,600
Rebellion is inevitable but God is still in control.

441
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:09,200
Now frankly I don't have a preference as to which way to read it.

442
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:13,640
I don't think it makes a lot of difference because either way you look at it, what is

443
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:20,960
said there then forms a basis, a foundation for the endurance of God's people.

444
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:26,240
If on the one hand it means that the one who is taking them captive will be judged, that

445
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:29,440
gives encouragement to the people of God.

446
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:35,080
If on the other hand it simply means that yes there will be persecution but God is in

447
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:43,360
control of it all still that it forms a foundation for encouragement for the people of God.

448
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:49,440
Maybe there is something that we can't even see at this point in this text which the tribulation

449
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:54,880
saints will see clearly because they will live in those very days.

450
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:59,760
I think that is often the case with the Word of God that things that are mysterious to

451
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:06,480
us, living when we do, will be much more clear to the people living in those days when these

452
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:09,560
things are coming to pass.

453
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:15,080
But the point is here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

454
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:18,560
God has not lost power.

455
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:23,760
In the darkest hour in the history of the world except for the cross, the people of

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00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:28,840
God will still have their faith to hang on to.

457
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:35,080
Their faith will still be their victory and they will endure through those dark hours

458
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,760
and represent their Savior.

459
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:45,200
And though they lay down their lives and their blood be shed, the victory is still theirs

460
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:54,320
in Jesus Christ and He will come and will reign with them on the earth.

461
00:41:54,320 --> 00:42:00,200
We are not living in these days but we are living in days that I believe are leading

462
00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:02,920
to them.

463
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:10,520
We are not in the tribulation but I don't think, my opinion is that we can't be far

464
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:11,520
from the tribulation.

465
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,800
I don't think we are far from it.

466
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,160
I am not a prophet and I am not a seer.

467
00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:25,840
I cannot put together any more than anybody else can the complex events that are taking

468
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:26,840
place in our world.

469
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:27,840
But I will tell you something.

470
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:30,120
Something is happening.

471
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:34,440
I have talked to a number of people in the last few weeks who have said they have never

472
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:43,560
had such uneasiness as they sense right now in the events of the world including the new

473
00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:51,440
administration of the government of the United States of America.

474
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:58,440
We are not living in these darkest of hours but we are living in dark hours.

475
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:12,680
The values that we derive from the word of God are under attack in this nation.

476
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:17,280
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

477
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:19,720
God is still in control.

478
00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:23,080
God is still on His throne.

479
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:25,360
Let us not be discouraged.

480
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:32,680
Though we may have a sense humanly speaking that is uneasy, that we are uncertain about

481
00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:39,600
what is taking place, we need not be afraid because God is in control and what He is doing

482
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:45,800
we may not know but we know that His hand is in it, that He is in control and all of

483
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:50,880
it is going to lead exactly where He wants it to.

484
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:54,240
Because of that we can rejoice.

485
00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:56,320
We can be unwavering in our trust.

486
00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:04,320
We too can be steadfast in our day as will the tribulation saints in this future day.

487
00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:08,680
Would you take your hymnal and turn with me to a hymn to sing?

488
00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:15,720
It is 486 and it says, Faith is the Victory.

489
00:44:15,720 --> 00:44:20,120
It is not just faith in itself but it is the object of the faith and that is what the song

490
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:21,120
really means.

491
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,200
That is the victory.

492
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:30,640
Our faith rests in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the true Messiah and the

493
00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:33,280
true Savior of the world.

494
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:38,800
And He has already won the battle because that is our faith.

495
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:39,800
There is victory.

496
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:40,800
Let's stand together.

497
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:54,320
I would like for us to sing that first verse.