Revelation Unlocked #159.

Revelation 13:4 counterfeits the first commandment, vs 5-7 counterfeit the second commandment, vs 14 -14 the third and vs 16 – 17 the fourth. However, the greatest counterfeit is the ultimate blasphemy of counterfeiting the Godhead itself.

Revelation 13:11 had seen another beast called forth from the earth. The place where the woman had fled to and had opened up and swallowed the flood poured out by the dragon. The beast that emerges from the earth is a lamb-like beast – a Jesus look-alike. But it ends up speaking like the dragon and has all the dragon’s power. It is virtually an extension of the first beast and will cause the whole world to return to the worship of the first beast (v15). This third beast is a brilliant camouflage of the second beast!

This is reminiscent of Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit, who would be His spiritual presence after His return to heaven. The lamb like beast is the dragon’s copy of the third person of the Godhead. To prove its point, it even has a miraculous capacity: it sets up an image of the first beast, breathes life into it and forces worship by restricting normally accepted freedoms. These is things we will recognize when the time comes. Covid restrictions were certainly a dry run for these things and should give us some insight into what lies ahead for us. The mark of the beast is the devil’s counterfeit of the seal of God which we will discuss in detail shortly.

Some people are afraid of the term ‘Trinity’ because it is not in the Bible. However, there are many terms that have come down to us through the ages that are not in the Bible. The word ‘Bible’ is not in the Bible, neither is millennium, incarnation, ‘discipleship’, ‘mission’, ‘personal relationship’, Happiness’ is not found, neither is ‘find your joy’, ‘responsibility’, or ‘depression’. Shekinah’ (as in the glory of God) is another example of an Hebraism that entered into Christian vernacular but is not in the Bible; neither is “Holy of Holies”, nor ‘Trinity’ (which comes from theology).

Since we’re at it, the book of Jonah does not mention a ‘whale’, and there is no mention of an ‘apple’ in Eden. Not a single angel wears a ‘halo’, or wings for that matter, nor did ‘three kings’ follow a star to Bethlehem. Though it seems like this could go on forever, ‘this too shall pass’ which is a phrase not in the Bible!

When we speak, it is important to know which words are the words of God and which are substitutes, synonyms, explanations, euphemisms, or completely foreign. While terms like millennium or tri-unity are not used, the concepts certainly are. The divinity of Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit are well taught throughout the Bible – beginning with the discussion in Genesis over man’s creation when THEY said, “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…” Who was talking to who? John 17:5 would indicate it was Jesus talking to the Father.  Jesus we are also told was the creator. Apart from John:1-3 which is clear enough for any sceptic when it declares that the world was made through Him, we have other verses like, “for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16-17 NASB.