The agent who inflicted the mortal wound is not mentioned, but the Scriptures relate how God pronounced a curse on the serpent in the Garden of Eden, whereby the seed of the woman would crush his head (Gen 3:15).
The “whole earth” here has to be qualified as the whole “unbelieving world” which marveled, following the beast (worshiping the beast).
The world worships the dragon. This is evident in that people believe the lie instead of the truth; they uphold the death of innocents instead of the sanctity of life; and they practice immorality instead of striving to live a moral and upright life.
John intends to make it clear that the worship of the dragon is the same as the worship of the beast, that is, the beast is the instrument in the hand of the dragon.
Satan, who wants to occupy God’s place, appears in the form of the beast. Audaciously he asks whether there is anyone like the beast. This question expects a negative answer, for with the authority the beast has received there is no one on earth who is able to oppose him.
Does the lie triumph over truth, evil over good, injustice over justice, dishonesty over honesty, vice over virtue? The answer is no, because God is in control. Through his Son, God establishes justice, truth, righteousness, and peace. The beast and ultimately Satan will face the wrath of God and be cast into the eternal lake that burns with fire along with all those who followed them.
Power and Authority 13:5-10
Four times in two verses the phrase was given appears (vv. 5, 7). Satan is the one who gave the beast power and authority, as allowed by God, who, as the sovereign of the universe, has Satan on His leash.To carry out his eternal purposes, God allows the beast to blaspheme, exercise authority, and wage war against the saints.
The beast knows that he is accountable to God, and that his time is short. God allots him a total of forty-two months to rule on the face of this earth. Forty-two months as we have noted is symbolic of Satan’s rule over the nations of this world which began when Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father and will end when Christ returns. The beast represents the antichrist nations and governments of this world who continually try to destroy the church and Christianity from the face of the earth.
Satan, through the ungodly nations of this world, blasphemes God’s name, and attempts to destroy the church but cannot. For every witness he kills another is raised up by God to continue the spread of the gospel of the kingdom until Christ returns.
With the exception of those whose names have been written in the Lambs book of life, all men and women of the world will worship at the foot of secular humanism, which, though tolerant to the religions of this world, has no tolerance for Christ and His followers, who expose sin and call for repentance and faith in Christ alone.
John says, “if anyone has an ear let him hear what is being said.” Things are going to continue to get worse and worse and the persecution of the church is going to become more severe than ever as the day of the Lord approaches.
The Beast from the Land Described 13:11-14
The beast that comes up out of the earth represents all that is worldly as opposed to heavenly. The beast that comes up out of the sea represents the power to kill and destroy those who follow Christ. The beast that comes up out of the earth represents the power to deceive the world from following Christ and to turn professing Christians away from the truth.
The visible church has multitudes who profess to know Christ, but their hearts are far from him. They have a form of godliness but are void of a saving relationship with Christ, and can be swayed away from Christ to the things of this world.
This beast is less fearsome than the first, a fact shown also in that he has but two horns, whereas the first had ten (horns symbolic of power and authority). And where the first beast is like a dragon the second is like a lamb in appearance, though behind the facade is wickedness through and through. Jesus warned believers to beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15).
Satan, in control of the false teachers and false shepherds of the visible church, will lead a great apostasy away from the truth even turning the truth into a lie. Satan will use these false shepherds to teach a distorted view of God, of His Son, the gospel and the church. And at the same time he will turn them against the truth of God’s word and against Christ as the only hope of sinners.
The second beast sways men to worship the first beast (Satan incarnate) and to make an image of him whose mortal wound was healed. As we have already seen Satan was mortally wounded at Christ’s death and resurrection, but God has given him until Christ’s return to raise havoc on the earth and to test (not destroy) the church.
The Mark of the Beast 13:15-18
It is the beast out of the sea that receives all the attention: everything is done on his behalf and for his benefit, for he is the spirit of the Antichrist.
Giving breath to the image of the beast is an attempt by Satan to copy God when he gave the breath of life to Adam (Gen. 2:7; and see Rev. 11:11).
God allows all this imitation and gives the beast permission to kill those who refuse to worship the image of the beast.
The mere fact of being a Christian is sufficient evidence for enforcing the death penalty. And the persecution of God’s people in today’s world testifies to this grim reality. The text does not say that all the followers of Christ will be killed, but that as many as failed to worship might be executed.
The second beast not only executes those who decline to worship the image of the first beast, but he also forces all classes of people to receive a distinguishing mark that sets them apart from Christians.
The mark of the beast is a counterfeit for the seal of God’s name on the saints (Rev. 7:2-8; 14:1; Ezek 9). The beast owns those who are marked and they are his slaves (Rev. 14:9; 19:20; 20:4). Speculation about a visible mark misses the point of the spiritual distinction between the two groups.
The symbol of the right hand means friendship and fellowship (Gal. 2:9); it is a sign of working together in a common cause, namely, to oppose God. The mark on the foreheadimplies that these people are influenced by the same philosophy and thought patterns. In their anti-Christian thinking, they glorify the beast and his achievements and attempt to destroy the work of Christ on earth.
The inability to buy or sell amounts to a boycott by which the food supply is cut off and starvation results for those who do not take the mark of the beast.
The number 666 could symbolize a trinity of imperfection or evil—each digit falling short of seven (the number for perfection or completion). The number may be meant to indicate not an individual, but a persistent falling short. All the more is this likely to be correct if we translate it as the number of man rather than a ‘a man’. John would then be saying that unregenerate man is persistently evil. He bears the mark of the beast in all he does. Civilization without Christ is under the dominion of the evil one.
Although the devil has tried to eliminate all of God’s people from the death of Abel to the present, he has never succeeded. In this age-old conflict God, not Satan, is in charge. In conclusion, the number 666 belongs to Satan and those held captive to do his will and not to one particular individual who did the devil’s work in history.
