The Beasty

It came to my attention recently that the word "Antichrist" does not appear in the book of Revelation. That is, at least not in the King James version. You can find it in I John chapter 4, verse 3:

"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."

In Revelation, we hear about THE BEAST. At risk of repeating myself, may I suggest we look at Revelation 13 again? Verses 1 through 7 give you a good description of the "Antichrist" or Beasty.

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.

(I think we can safely assume that the ten crowns represent nations. That would mean that at the time when this beast rises out of the sea, there are ten nations involved. In fact, he is a part of them.)

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.

He himself is like a leopard. (Fast. Sleek.) His feet are the feet of a bear (Russia?) and his mouth as the mouth of a lion (UK? Maybe he speaks English?) and the dragon gave him his power and authority (Could the dragon be China? Or maybe just the Devil?) Your guess is as good as mine. I think we'll have a better idea when we see who the Beast is.

I believe he will be embodied in a MAN. A human being. Why? Because he can speak. And, apparently, he has a lot to say...

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.

One of his heads will be wounded unto death. Hmmm... could it be the economy of one of his heads? Or, could it be the downfall of one of the nations that he is so attached to? It seems as though it's not talking about the Beast's head but "one of his heads". And, the healing is amazing. It's a miracle.

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?

So, this is a big mistake. We should not worship the Devil or the Beast. I think that's clear. Don't fall for the miraculous recovery of the head that gets healed. Don't be duped into falling down and worshiping the Devil, no matter how great he may appear.

This is the major problem of God's children all throughout the Old Testament. Idol worship. Not good.

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.

So, this guy has a big mouth. He's convincing. He's articulate. (I have to say here that that was my first impression of Obama. But, I'm not saying he's the Beast. I'm also not saying he isn't.)

FORTY AND TWO MONTHS.

He will "continue" (continue to persecute Christians/believers) for forty and two months. How many years is that?

Three and a half years.

Note: The "Tribulation" does not last for 7 years as some have said. It lasts for 3 1/2 years. It begins when the "covenant" is broken midway through the last 7 years of man's history on the earth as we know it.

The other thing is that the earth is not suddenly going to disappear at the end of the seven years. The SAINTS will go UP and in that sense "disappear" but the earth will remain for the next great battle, etc.

It will be the end of the world as we know it. There will be a great change. But, God's not going to destroy the physical earth. (That's another story.)

6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Ooh. Words are real things. Careful what you say.

Remember in the first chapter of John, Jesus IS the Word. Well, the Devil uses his words, too. He's a liar.

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.

WE are the saints. Look no further. Look in the mirror. If you believe in Jesus Christ as your Messiah, then you are one of the saints of God. He makes saints out of believers like you and me. Can you receive it? Who "canonizes" people?

Not man! Only God can canonize someone. Just because a Bishop or Pope says someone is a saint, doesn't necessarily make it so. That's up to God and whether or not that person is covered in the blood. Right?

If you are washed in the blood of the Lamb, you are one of His saints. Did you know that?

Ok, so it says it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, BUT, does he? Does the Beast overcome us? NO. Maybe in HIS mind he thinks he's overcoming us. What a JOKE. NOT!

No, we overcome HIM!

(Revelation 15:2 "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had GOTTEN THE VICTORY OVER THE BEAST, and over his image and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God."

Revelation 12:11 "And they OVERCAME HIM (the Devil and Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.")

That's not to say that all of our senses won't tell us that we are the losers and that the Beast is the victor. It will look like that physically. But, the power of God will rise up on the inside. That's where the real battle takes place. In the hearts and minds of human beings.

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is IN you."

The Fear of God

Psalm 19:9 says "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever..."

Like a kind father, God wants His children to have a clean fear of Him. That does not mean we should be afraid of Him. (Unless, of course, we know we are purposely doing something we know He does not want us to do!) But, like a child, we should know that He knows best. He knows what is best for us and He knows what the best choices are.

I heard a pastor say that fearing God is being afraid to get out of God's presence.

I believe that. I think, more and more, as you get to know Jesus, you will hate leaving that quiet place where you can spend time alone with God. And, sometimes it's difficult to find a balance between spending quality time with God and going out into the world to make connections with people.

Still, we know that God wants us to get out and about because He said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

That seems to mean that we are supposed to treat others the way we would treat God and that our relationship with God should carry over into our relationships with others...

But, what I wanted to point out here is that the fear of God is what is going to SAVE us during times of trials, persecutions, imprisonment and martyrdom.

Now, I know, we don't like to talk about martyrdom. But, I'm just saying, the fear of God is the KEY.

Fearing God means talking to God, talking to Jesus. Right? AND listening. So, fearing God is the key to a healthy relationship with Jesus/God/the Holy Spirit (and these three are One).