So Many Counterfeits!
I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marvelled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast. They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. “Who is as great as the beast?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight against him?” REV. 13:3,4
The devil loves to counterfeit everything, and the closer he can get the counterfeit to the truth the more deceptive it is!
V3 contains a clear allusion to the cross. One of the beast’s heads was as if it had been slaughtered to death, then its deadly wound was healed. The word “slaughtered” is exactly the same word found in v8: “The Lamb slaughtered from the foundation of the world.” The deadly wound of the sea beast is a clear parody of the death of Jesus Christ. Now if the beast is slaughtered to death, what does it mean for the “fatal death” to be healed? A resurrection! The sea beast has a death and a resurrection like that of Jesus.
There is more to this counterfeit. In 13:1 the beast is described as having ten horns and seven heads. It looks just like the dragon! Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). If you’ve seen the sea beast, you have seen the dragon! In verse two it tells us that “the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.” This reminds us of the saying of Jesus in Matthew 28:18: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Jesus received His authority from the Father, the sea beast received his authority from the dragon.
The sea beast also has a ministry. According to v5 that ministry is 42 months long. 3 ½ years! How long was Jesus’ ministry? 3 ½ years long. The length of the sea beast’s ministry is the same as that of Jesus but in prophetic years! That makes the question of v4 quite interesting. “Who is like the beast?” The original readers who knew a little Hebrew would have known that the name Michael (the previous reference to Jesus in Rev 12:7-9) means, “Who is like God?”
The sea beast is a parody of Micheal whom we have shown to be Christ.
Coming up out of the sea was the papal power which was both a combination of political and religious power. In Bible prophecy, most of the beasts rise out of the sea. The reason for this is because in prophecy water represents “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages,” (See Revelation 17:15.) Pagan Rome gave to papal Rome its power, seat, and its authority over all its people and territory.
The papal time to rule was determined by God; it was given authority to continue for 42 months, and this 1,260-year prophecy came to it completion in 1798. Napoleon had come to power and intended to unite Europe but knew he could not accomplish his objective without overthrowing the papacy.
Exactly as foretold, on February 15, 1798, Napoleon’s general, Louis-Alexandre Berthier, marched into Rome and abolished the papal government and established a secular one. The pope was taken to France. The deadly wound had been inflicted. In 1929 Mussolini gave back to the papacy the right to sovereign government. The church purchased the papal states and were given the right to send and receive ambassadors from any country. With the uniting of church and state, the deadly wound was healed.
The sea beast is a clear counterfeit of God the Son, Jesus Christ. He counterfeited the resurrection, it is in the image of its father, it receives all authority from him. Its ministry last 42 prophetic months (3 ½ years,) which was the length of Jesus ministry. Finally comes the cry “who is like the beast” which is an imitation of the title for Christ, Michael. This role was fulfilled in multiple ways by the medieval church. It even claims to be able to forgive sin. When Jesus did this in Mark 2:7 the Pharisees accused him of blasphemy.
The worst counterfeit is the gospel this “sea beast” promulgates. As we will see in Revelation 14 its doctrine of salvation by works stands in direct opposition to the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone.
But there is more; at the end of time, there will be a great worldwide deception where a counterfeit trinity stands in the place of God. The dragon, sea beast, and land beast form the three members of that trinity. In the last days of earth’s history, satan brings in a deception so carefully crafted that people would have difficulty telling which side is the right one. Paul even tells us that satan will have his own messiah (2Thess 2:3-10). Notice here, he is called “the man of lawlessness.” And his opposition to the law is attended by signs wonders and miracles just like here in Revelation 13.
What difference should that make in our lives today? As we approach the end of the world, we should pray and search the scriptures as never before. Satan will seek to distort our understanding of the scriptures by any means possible.