Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Th false prophet comes on the scene which completes Satan’s trinity. We have Satan as God, the Antichrist as Jesus, and the false prophet as the Holy Spirit. The false prophet is believed to be a Jew that was on the scene in the first 3 and 1/2 years only working behind the scenes and rises up when the Antichrist is restored to life. The purpose of the prophet is to promote the Antichrist and make all the people worship him. He is able to do this because he has the power to perform miracles that was given to him by Satan. He can even perform some of miracles performed by Elijah by calling fire down from heaven. Just as before the the rapture the Holy Spirit drew people to the saving grace of Jesus the prophet will have the power and ability to draw people to worship the Antichrist. Again the deception will be so strong it will be hard to resist it even if you have to this point stayed true to your belief in Jesus Christ.
Revelation 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Now Satan begins his 3 and 1/2 year reign by blaspheming God, His tabernacle, and the saints in heaven. He blasphemes God by saying he is God, just what Satan has always wanted. The Antichrist here is empowered by all the power that Satan has, he will make war with all the saints remaining all over the world. The one that have never accepted Christ will now worship the Antichrist because of the power and miracles he performs. Again we are warned to listen to this word of God because the next verse basically says what soever we reap we will sow and punishment will come to those who hurt God’s people. And even in this time of persecution of the saints on the earth God will still protect and take care of His people. It is time for people to quit playing religion and find a God fearing church that teaches the true word of God and come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, you do not want ot wait for tribulation period to get saved.
Psalm 23 (one of my favorites)
1 A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
I’ve read this psalm and read about it several times: I’d never thought a lot about the ‘still’ waters; I know that sheep don’t like to drink from fast-running waters, because of the danger. The shepherd wouldn’t want them drinking from stagnant water, though- not healthy for them. So ‘still’… according to Strong’s that word translates as ‘resting place, rest, quietness’. it’s a feminine noun which can also mean ‘repose’ or ‘peacefully’; also ‘consolation’.
so when Jesus leads us beside still waters, He’s looking out for our safety and health as we drink, but He’s also looking out for our comfort and consolation; this week has started out with more ‘excitement’ than I care for, so I’m glad to be able to rest beside His still waters, to catch my breath and get my strength back.
Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
4 And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Now the last 3 and 1/2 years begins with Satan coming up out of what John says is the sea, which is actually a sea of people and nations mostly gentiles. Again we see the seven heads and ten horns which represent world power and the crowns the authority to use that power. The symbolism of the animals is the different world powers that have existed The sixth beast represents Rome which will play a big part in the tribulation. The Antichrist at this time is empowered totally by Satan and we see where the Antichrist was wounded as unto death, but not dead, and Satan it seems brings him back to life and this amazes the people. The first deception of Satan to gain the peoples trust.At this time the Antichrist is actually Satan himself and he begins speaking blasphemes against God and saying all the things the people want to hear because they are looking for a great leader to get them past the tribulation they have already been through. Again the deception of Satan just as he is deceiving people today by simply telling you do not have to to church that much or go to the church that makes you feel good, and some of these people will be the some of the same people deceived in the tribulation.
A pastor was confronted by a person who was talking with all kinds of vulgarity, including taking God’s name in vain.
He looked at the pastor and recognized that he was a man of God. The man then said that he had been looking for God for a while; even to the point of doubting His existence.
The pastor then said, “Well, you’re certainly not going to find Him as long as you keep damning Him.”
Revelation 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
As this chapter comes to close Satan is mad, so he tries to take his anger out on God’s chosen people. But God had a plan for that to.He used His mighty power to to swiftly remove His people to place He had prepared for them, most people agree this is Petra. So Satan says I will drown them before they can get away. God has answer for that, I believe as the children of Israel crossed over into Petra God caused a great earthquake to come and swallow up the water. This just made Satan even madder so now he is going to come after the Christians that are still on the earth, which could made up of Jews and Gentiles. These will give their life instead of taking the mark of the beast. Also we see that the ones that made it safety will be there for 3 and 1/2 years. I have to ask if we today want to make Satan mad enough that he wants to destroy us so we can show him our God is stronger than him.
Randy and I really enjoyed God Speed Ministries church this morning. Bro. Mark always has a good word from God and this morning was no different.
Part of what he talked about was forgiving others. He told a story about a young man who went to his master and said he needed help because so many people had hurt his feelings, or were working against him. He asked the master what to do.
The master told him to take some potatoes; on each potato, carve the name of one of the people who had hurt his feelings; put them all in a sack and carry the sack everywhere he went for 30 days. From the time he got up, until he went to bed at night, he was to tote the bag of potatoes.
In his mind he thought, “Fifteen pounds of potatoes isn’t going to be too bad. I can do this.” So he did what the master told him to do.
At the end of the 30 days, he came back to the master and told him he was tired of carrying the sack of potatoes. The master asked him had he learned anything. The young man said, “Yes, I’ve learned I need to get rid of all this hate and unforgiveness I have towards people in my life!”
I told Randy, not only were those potatoes heavy, but you know they had started to stink- they were rotting; probably ‘gooey’ in some spots from rolling around against one another in that sack; bumping against the young man’s back or legs.
Randy and I have decided it’s time for us to put that stinkin’ bag of potatoes down.
Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Now we are getting down to the to the facts of who is rally in charge. Satan has always had access to Heaven to accuse the Christians but now he is taking his access to heaven a little to far by trying to conquer God. But Michael and his angels show Satan who really has the power and defeats him and casts him and his angels , demons, to earth never to enter heaven again. We have to remember Satan may have been cast out of Heaven but he still has his power. The Christians though can rejoice for their salvation has come through the blood of Lamb and the words of their testimony and the believed to the point of giving their life for their faith. Remember what a deceiver Satan has been from the beginning beginning of time with Adam & Eve and even today as he gets Pastors to water down the gospel and give feel good messages. This is his way today to deceive people. Now the people of Heaven can rejoice because the know Satan’s time is short and Jesus reign is close. But the people of the earth need to get ready because Satan is going to unleash his full power to still stop God from destroying him even though he only has a short time ,3 and 1/2 years.
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Now we begin a look at the second half of the tribulation by looking at things that happen kind of from Satan’s viewpoint. The woman is Israel, the sun is Israel’s glory as God’s chosen nation, the moon under her feet signifies her domination, the 12 stars the 12 tribes of Israel. The child is of course Jesus . Then the dragon appears, or Satan, with seven heads , or governments, with crowns to signify power, and ten horns to signify world power. We know from hearing of the rebellion of Satan that he convinced 1/3rd of the angles of heaven to come with him.Satan also to take the of Jesus and thought he had succeeded at the cross but that was just the beginning of the end of Satan’s rule. Now Jesus will come back, after being at the right hand of God till God’s plan is fulfilled in the millennium reign, where Jesus will reign with a rod of iron, which shows the strength of Christ reign. But for last 3 and 1/2 years of the tribulation God will hide His people from Satan in a place God has prepared, which most teach that this place is Petra.
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." I John 5:7
