If the Beast has 81 identifications, then the image to the beast is a replica with identical attributes.
“And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” – Revelation. 13:15.
Have you ever heard people say that you look just like your mother, or that one of your brothers or sisters looks just like your father? People who sit around looking at baby books often exclaim over the similarity between one generation and another.
Look-alikes are basic to the movie industry, and the Internet is full of advertisements for celebrity doubles and impersonators to cover any occasion. Saddam Hussein was known to have many doubles for security. The comedy film Dave explores what might happen if the president quietly had a stroke in the back room while a security look-alike was waving to the crowd. Power-hungry subordinates keep up the sham that the president is fine, all the while finding the look-alike hilariously uncontrollable! This is nothing new. Charlie Chaplin look-alike contests were popular as far back as 1915, but even Charlie himself failed to make the finals in one of them! How’s that for an identity crisis!
The image to the beast is a puzzling symbol of an entity who at the end of time will powerfully impersonate the sea beast of Revelation 13. Part of a pattern of deception, this image of the beast comes to life and seeks to convince the world that the beast is alive and well, even though out of sight (Rev 13:12). The key to the deception is likeness, if the image did not look like the beast, the deception could not occur.
The image to the beast is a look alike. As already noted, there are 81 ways of identifying who the sea beast is. An image of the medieval church (the beast) would be, as it was then, the union of church and state, where the church controls the state and brings the whole world (in its dominion) under its control – on pain of death!
Who do you look like? If you are not proud of your image, ponder how you spend your time. By beholding we all become changed. If the major focus of the day is to follow the hottest celebrity, or download the latest hit song, or see the latest show, you are becoming a “look-alike” whether you know it or not. But here’s the good news: While we had no control over our appearance in baby pictures, in the spiritual realm we get to decide who we look like.
The beast of the Middle Ages (the papacy) combined religious and civil powers. The church controlled the state!
The union of church and state is what the beast was and what the image will become. When the lamb like beast seeks the aid of civil power to enforce their dogmas then the image to the beast has been formed and dissenters will be dealt with as of old. Revelation 13:15 indicates that this will take the form of a death decree.
Many there have been, through the ages, who have been exterminated for reverence and obedience to God. As was Jesus, crucified for His absolute obedience to the Father. He too was handed over to the secular powers for His trial and execution. Falsely accused in a farce of a trial and condemned for His fidelity. The body of Christ will be treated no different to the head. Our text for today reminds us of Daniel 3 where worship was legislated on pain of death. The theme there was deliverance from the fiery furnace. The same theme is evident in Revelation – God’s people will be delivered.