This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, The Nature of the Beast.
In the End Times, a man will come who will be the devil in the flesh. The Bible calls him the Beast, the son of perdition, the man of lawlessness, and the Antichrist.
The Apostle John wrote of his vision, “I saw a beast rising up out of the sea…” (Revelation 13:1b) The sea stands for the nations of the world. (See Revelation 17:15.) The Beast will come suddenly in a time when nations are in turmoil.
Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.
The lion, bear, and leopard represent world empires. (Read Daniel 7.) The lion represents Babylon, the bear represents Medo-Persia, and the leopard represents Greece and Alexander the Great’s rapid world conquest.
I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
This same description has been given before in Revelation 12:3—“Another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.”
Who is this dragon? “The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan” (Revelation 12:9a; emphasis added).
So Revelation 13:1 is describing the devil, as well as the Beast. The Beast of Revelation will be the visible expression of the invisible devil.
Jesus said,
I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.
“The dragon”—that is, Satan—“gave him his power, his throne, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2b).
When Satan tempted Jesus, “The devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve”’” (Matthew 4:8-10).
But a Beast is coming who will worship Satan, and Satan will turn over his power to this Beast. (See 2 Thessalonians 2:9.)
John writes,
I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
This will be Satan’s counterfeit resurrection. The devil does not have power to give life, but this Beast who appears to be dead will be “brought back to life,” and the world will greatly admire him.
Doubtless this “Beast” will be handsome, charming, clever. “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). The world will say, “Our messiah has come! There is peace on Earth.”
What are this ungodly individual’s motives?
Notice this: “They worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast” (see Revelation 13:4). Satan has always wanted to be worshiped. (See Isaiah 14:12-15.)
“Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:6). The Beast cannot touch God in Heaven, nor the saints who have already gone to Heaven, so he is reduced to name-calling. With eloquence he will turn people away from belief in the true God and Jesus Christ.
“It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Revelation 13:7a).
There will be people saved during the tribulation. We call these “tribulation saints.” The Antichrist will turn against these people, and his appetite for blood will be sated on the blood of the martyrs.
“And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Revelation 13:7b). The Beast will have global control. He will terrify some but entice others. The whole world will follow the Beast, either by intimidation or bribe.
“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Paul speaks of this Antichrist “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God….For this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:4,12).
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
The holy Trinity is God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Remember: Satan has always wanted to be like God. So, not only is there the anti-God (Satan) and the Antichrist, but also the anti‑Spirit.
The Holy Spirit causes us to worship Christ and give honor to God. The purpose of this second beast, Satan’s false prophet, is to cause people to worship the Beast, and honor the dragon.
How will this false prophet control the masses?
He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
He deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
In the Bible, six is the number of Man. Man was created on the sixth day. (Read Genesis 1.) But three is the number of God. The number of the Beast is three sixes: a man making himself out to be God.
What then should we do?
Keep your children away from devilish, ungodly entertainment that honors Satan. Stand against intrusive big government that is coming to getting us all regimented, packaged, and manipulated.
Be offering up massive praises to Jesus. Teach your children how to protect themselves, by giving them truth. Put a sharp, two-edged sword into their hands. (See Hebrews 4:12.) There is no need for you to be terrified if you know the Word of God.
Revelation 12:3,9, 13:1-18, 17:15; John 5:43; Matthew 4:8-10; 2 Thessalonians 2:4,9,12; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Isaiah 14:12-15; Hebrews 4:12
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us….Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
