The Beast of Revelation

If you received one of these One million Grand - the Beast of Revelation - money tracts and you want more information on the end times and Bible prophecy, this is where you will find it.

The Beast of Revelation is what those people who have rejected Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation will have to look forward to in the very near future. If you thought Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot were bad, the beast will be all of them rolled into one - just more powerful and more evil! 

The book of Revelation is one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible as most Pastors have not been taught Bible prophecy at seminary. Yes, the enemy has been busy infiltrating governments, the media, educational institutions, including seminaries, as well as churches. (Bible prophecy accounts for 27% of the Bible and about 80% of the prophecies have been fulfilled as the Bible said they would.)

The whole Bible is important as it is one inspired story of man’s creation, fall and redemption but Satan attacks certain books more than others, such as the books of Genesis (by saying God did not create everything, instead, we evolved from nothing), Daniel (by saying Daniel could not have been written the book in 530BC as his predictions of the world empires were too accurate!), and Revelation (by saying the book is far too hard to understand so it’s predictions are made allegorical and not literal).

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The following explanation of the chapters of Revelation are from two of Pastor Skip Heitzig's books, namely

The Bible from 30,000 Feet: Soaring Through the Scriptures in One Year from Genesis to Revelation

You Can Understand the Book of Revelation: Exploring Its Mystery and Message 

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In order to understand the Beast of Revelation, you need to understand the outline of the book of Revelation and then you will see how the predictions are literal.

A simple outline for Revelation is found in Revelation 1:19, where Jesus told John, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later”.

So basically, Revelation has three parts:

• Part 1: The Vision—What You Have Seen (Revelation 1). John has seen the risen Christ in all His glory.

• Part 2: The Churches—What Is Now (Revelation 2–3). After Christ’s death and resurrection, the Church was formed, and we are shown 7 literal churches that existed in Turkey. Jesus commends and/or criticizes each one. These 7 churches also represent church periods, and we are currently in the last period - the Laodicean church. 

• Part 3: The Future—What Will Take Place Later (Revelation 4–22)

·      Adoration: Jesus Glorified in Heaven (Revelation 4–5). In Revelation 4:1 John experienced a prophetic picture of what we call the rapture when he heard the words “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this”.

·      Tribulation: Judgment on Earth (Revelation 6–18)

·      Judgment, Phase I: Seven Seals (Revelation 6)

·      Parenthesis 1: 144,000 Jews and Many Gentiles Saved (Revelation 7)

·      Judgment, Phase II: Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8–9)

·      Parenthesis 2: Two Witnesses, Cosmic War, the Antichrist and False Prophet, and Angelic Announcements (Revelation 10–15)

·      Judgment, Phase III: Seven Bowls (Revelation 16)

·      Parenthesis 3: The Fall of Babylon (Revelation 17–18)

·      Second Coming: From Heaven to Earth (Revelation 19)

·      Millennium: Heaven on Earth (Revelation 20)

·      Eternal State: The New Heaven and Earth (Revelation 21–22)

The bulk of the book covers what Jesus called the tribulation (Matthew 24:21), a seven-year period that includes various judgments: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wrath. Once these increasingly devastating judgments begin, they will happen quickly (Matthew 24:22), and then Jesus will return.

In between chronicling these phases of judgment, John recorded parenthetical sidebars that give us further insight into specific tribulation events and people.

Judgment, Phase I—Seven Seals (Revelation 6)

There are three sets of judgements – 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 bowls. The seven seals start with the four horsemen representing natural calamities of a wicked and deceitful leader promising peace but bringing wars, famine, death and plagues. 

In addition, there will be a worldwide earthquake, accompanied by celestial signs: the blackening of the sun, the moon turning blood red, and stars falling from heaven like ripe fruit.     

Revelation 6:7-8 tells us that 1/4 of mankind will die – that’s around 2 billion people!!

People everywhere, from the mighty to the powerless, ran and hid, and everyone cried out, “The great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (v. 17).

Parenthesis 1: 144,000 Jews & Many Gentiles Saved (Rev7)

Before the opening of the seventh seal, we have a break in the action, the first parenthesis. The answer to the question on everyone’s lips is revealed, as we read of two groups who will be “able to stand.” The first is a special group of 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 7:4-8), and the second is an enormous group of Gentiles, “a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” (v. 9).

The first group, the messianic Jews, will come to saving faith in Christ through the testimony of the two witnesses, whom we’ll see in Revelation 11. One hundred and forty-four thousand Jews will respond and be used by God to witness to people during the tribulation. Enabled by Spirit-empowered lives and words, they will conduct the greatest season of effective evangelism in history, and huge numbers of people will come to Christ. History’s greatest revival is coming!

Judgment, Phase II—Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8–9)

The seventh seal reveals the seven trumpets.

As each of the first four angels blew their trumpets, a natural disaster followed:

• burning hail torched a third of earth’s trees and consumed all the grass (Revelation 8:7);
• a huge mountain-like object fell and turned a third of all the seas to blood, killing a third of the creatures in them (vv. 8-9);
• a giant star named Wormwood fell and poisoned a third of the world’s fresh water supply—rivers and springs (vv. 10-11); and
• the sun, moon, and stars were partially darkened, struck so that they produced a third less light than before (v. 12).

As awful as all that sounds, worse was still to come—three woes coming with the remaining trumpet blasts (Revelation 8:13).

The fifth blast of the trumpet unleashed demonic scorpion-locusts from the abyss, creatures who tormented people for five months (Revelation 9:4-6). They didn’t kill anyone—death took a merciless five-month break—they just stung and made people miserable.

The next woe—the sixth trumpet judgment—released angels of mass destruction upon the earth, four angels “prepared for the hour and day and month and year… to kill a third of mankind” (Revelation 9:15). These fallen angels, chained for millennia, led an army of 200 million horsemen on lion-headed horses that breathed fire, smoke, and brimstone, with stinging serpent-like tails; “and with them they do harm” (v. 19). 

The carnage John saw was mind-blowing.

So far, 2 billion people have perished in Revelation 6:7-8 and now we see that 1/3 of mankind will die – that’s another 2 billion people!! 4 billion people dead in just a few years.

Parenthesis 2: Two Witnesses, Cosmic War, the Antichrist &
False Prophet, & Angels (Rev 10–15)

Two Witnesses

The angel then informed John of God’s plan to provide a unique pair of prophets in Jerusalem: “I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:3). Using the prophetic Old Testament calendar,

1260 days is three-and-a-half years—exactly half of the time allotted for the tribulation. Some bible prophecy teachers have surmised that these two witnesses may be Moses (who represents the law) and Elijah (who represents the prophets).

When they’ve finished their job, the Antichrist — “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit” (v. 7)—will attack and kill them. Then after three-and-a-half days God will raise them from the dead and call them home to heaven (vv. 8-12). People will be paying attention — especially the 144,000 Jews who will have converted to faith in Jesus as Messiah.

Cosmic War

The second parenthesis continues with a warning about the blowing of the seventh trumpet: “The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded” (Revelation 11:14-15), announcing the last set of judgments, which we’ll see in Revelation 15.

Before that, however, the vision shifts to a rare behind-the-scenes look at the age-old struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God.

John saw symbols of the combatants in this cosmic war: a woman who would give birth to a Son (Revelation 12:1-2), and a fiery red dragon—none other than Satan himself (v. 9). This woman, clothed with the sun, moon, and stars, is decoded for us in Genesis as representing the nation of Israel (Genesis 37:9).

The dragon’s strength and authority are also symbolically shown: he has seven heads, which speaks of completeness—his massive intelligence. He has ten horns; a horn is always a biblical symbol of might. His crowns indicate his dominion over the world.

Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has done his best to wreck God’s creation, destroy His people, and keep His Messiah from reversing the effects of sin. Joined by a rebellious third of the angels (symbolized in Revelation 12:4 as a third of the stars falling from heaven), Satan’s original plan was to prevent the Messiah’s coming. He failed there, and he will fail to destroy the world before Jesus returns to reclaim the earth and establish His reign.

That doesn’t mean he won’t keep trying. While God sheltered the woman (Israel) from the dragon for the second half of the tribulation (Revelation 12:6, 14-16), “war broke out in heaven” (v. 7). God didn’t attack Satan one-on-one but sent Michael to defeat him, another indicator that Satan is no match for God. Satan and his minions will be dismissed from heaven once and for all (vv. 7-8), and he will turn his full attention to earth.

While rejoicing broke out in heaven for the victory of God’s salvation, it will be “woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea” (Revelation 12:12). Satan will unleash his fury against the nation of Israel during the tribulation period. That will require the Israelis to flee and to hide, and the signal for them to run will be what Jesus called “the abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15), the midpoint of the tribulation, when the Antichrist sets himself up as God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

The Beast of Revelation

The Antichrist and False Prophet

John’s vision then turned to Satan’s agent in this persecution. “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; 

its feet were like a bear's, 

and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. 

And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.” (Revelation 13:1-2).

Just like with Satan being depicted as a dragon, the Antichrist's strength and authority are also symbolically shown as being a combination of all the previous world kingdom's strengths  - Babylon (the lion), Persia (the bear), Greece (the leopard) all rolled into one as the revived Roman empire.

This future global world leader will be stronger, swifter and more ruthless than all previous world leaders.

This is the man whom Paul called “the man of sin” and “the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), whom John identified by his best-known name: the Antichrist (1 John 2:18; 4:3). All the heads and horns and crowns link him directly to the dragon, and Satan will “give him his power, his throne, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2).

The world is going to fall for him hook, line, and sinker. “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?’” (v. 4). Only believers, those who come to faith during the tribulation, will resist following him: “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” (v. 8).

Put in play after the breaking of the first seal of judgment (Revelation 6:2), the Antichrist will come as a peacemaker, winning the world over with eloquence and charisma—but God revealed his true nature: He is the beast of Revelation.

To complete his unholy trinity, Satan will add to his Antichrist a False Prophet— “another beast coming up out of the earth” (Revelation 13:11).

This will be a dragon in sheep's clothing - the world will be deceived by his religious promises.

This evil sidekick will institute the Antichrist’s worship, which will be tied closely to his economic plan—a malevolent and narcissistic uniting of a false church and an authoritarian state:

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 (vv. 16-18).

Angelic Announcements

The grand parenthesis continues with a parade of various announcements delivered by angels. Of particular interest is God’s final worldwide offer of salvation, proclaimed in the heavens: “I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6). God will be putting His salvation on display at the most unexpected time.

No matter where people live or what language they speak, they will hear and understand this last warning: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (v. 7). No more excuses.

Judgment, Phase III—Seven Bowls (Revelation 16)

John then saw God’s final judgment. Imagine all the times people have wondered when or if God would ever judge evil, from the Psalms to the martyrs under the altar in Revelation 6 and everyone in between whoever prayed, “How long, Lord?” Multiply that over millions of people over thousands of years; that’s a lot of crying out for holy justice, isn’t it?

But all of that desire for reprisal and reparation will be nothing compared to the wrath our holy God has stored up for the wicked in the last days. “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth’” (Revelation 16:1). Here’s a rundown:

The first bowl: “A foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image” (Revelation 16:2). This one is pretty self-explanatory.

The second bowl: The sea “became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died” (v. 3). This could be a mega-form of a red tide, when toxic red dinoflagellates discolour the ocean for miles, killing most fish in the affected area.

The third bowl: Rivers and springs “became blood” (v. 4). Whatever causes this will affect every living thing, but, as an angel said, particularly those who “have shed the blood of saints and prophets… You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due” (v. 6)—ironic justice on top of killing thirst.

The fourth bowl: “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory” (vv. 8-9). This could be radiation burns resulting from the depleted ozone layer or solar flares—but the worst sunburn ever will only harden people’s hearts at this point.

The fifth bowl: Wrath came down on “the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness” (v. 10). Since the Antichrist’s kingdom was already as spiritually dark as it gets, this must be tangible darkness—more than just the loss of light, a darkness that causes physical suffering, because the beast’s subjects “gnawed their tongues because of the pain” (v.10). Spooky, right?

The sixth bowl: The river Euphrates “was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared” (v. 12). This refers to the impending Battle of Armageddon (v. 16), with the dried riverbed creating a convenient path for an army of a couple hundred million who will march across toward Israel.

The seventh bowl: “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’” (v. 17). In other words, God’s judgment is over; the days have been cut short. “And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” (v. 18).

That’s quite a punctuation mark on earth’s judgment, and then God will turn His attention to Satan’s capital city, Babylon.

Parenthesis 3: The Fall of Babylon (Revelation 17–18)

The third pause in the action focuses on one aspect of the bowl judgments, the destruction of the Antichrist’s ruling system, here called Babylon. Though Babylon was an actual city, the capital of one of the world’s earliest empires, the Bible regularly uses the term to describe the world system—the spiritual kingdom and powers aligned against God.

Revelation 17 details religious Babylon, using the image of a wicked, perverse woman “sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy” (Revelation 17:3).

Karl Marx was right when he called religion the opiate of the masses.

He discovered the truth that man is incurably driven to worship something, somewhere. If humans do not bow before the holy and true God, then they will devise their own method, their own system, their own god, and they will worship their own creation.

While the coming world religious system in some ways resembles Christianity, John calls it “Babylon the great”—a monstrous, ecumenical combination of everything that people consider “spiritual.” And the world will buy into it.

Its Representation as a Prostitute (17:1-2)

John sees a woman whom the angel calls “the great harlot” (v. 1). In fact, John calls her a harlot four times, even “the mother of harlots” (v. 5).

Her sin is fornication. In the Bible, harlotry consistently stands for one thing: idolatry. Whenever God’s people turned from the true and living God, or when any group of people worshiped anything other than God, the Bible consistently labelled it harlotry.

For example, at one point in Israel’s history God asked Jeremiah, “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot” (Jeremiah 3:6). The wayward people of Israel made it a habit to visit groves of false worship, where out of tree trunks they would carve statues to worship. And so God said, just a few verses later, “So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees” (v. 9).

The entire book of Hosea is built upon this metaphor of an unfaithful wife who plays the harlot. Just as Hosea repeatedly tried to reach his wayward wife, so God tried again and again to draw His people back to Himself; and yet Israel was consistently unfaithful to Him. She played the harlot by following after other gods.

This is not the first time in Revelation that John has used the figure of a woman to symbolize a religious system. In chapter 2, Jezebel represents the false religious system at Thyatira (v. 2). In Revelation 12 we see a woman clothed with the sun, representing Israel, both nationally and spiritually.

Then in Revelation 19, we will see the church represented as the virgin bride of Christ, a faithful woman. I find it interesting that Jesus would choose to use the metaphor of a woman for His church. As the British novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon asked in the late 1800s, “How are our churches beautified, our sick tended, our poor fed, our children taught and cared for and civilized? Women are the church’s strong rock. As they were the last at the foot of the cross, so they have become first at the altar.”

So here in Revelation 17 we have a deeply unfaithful woman whom an angel calls “the great harlot.” She represents a religious system that claims to be joined to God but, like a prostitute, is unfaithful to God. Her sin is spiritual fornication, the sin of turning from God and refusing to remain spiritually faithful to Him. James had the same imagery in mind when he wrote to some church people, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4).

James rebuked them because they lusted after and coveted illicit pleasures, which sparked a series of church fights. They had allowed worldly things to replace God in their hearts. So James admonishes them, saying, “Listen, you simply can’t have an affair with the world. That’s adultery, and God won’t stand for it.”

God will always judge adultery and fornication, whether literal or spiritual. And He has a special judgment in store for the great harlot of Revelation 17.

When John sees the woman “drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus,” he marvels “with great amazement” (v.6). The angel who is talking with John at this time immediately challenges him on this and begins to explain the true meaning of the woman and the beast she rides (v. 7).

Now, John isn’t marvelling because of what he sees here; he has already seen the whole world worshiping the beast. What causes him to marvel, rather, is the fact the woman is controlling the beast.

The Beast consists of the strongest parts of a leopard, bear, and lion. Unarguably, these three animals are vicious, wild beasts, and each is a very powerful animal that a woman on her own would ordinarily be no match for.

Obviously, a human woman would approach life and its events differently than an animal. Yet, the Woman is riding the seemingly super-powerful Beast. She, at this juncture in the prophecy, is the one in the position of strength and therefore is superior, greater, more powerful, and more influential than the Beast.

How is this possible?

The angel goes on to identify the beast as one who “was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit” (v. 8). That’s probably a reference to the beast having a fatal head wound and yet continuing to live. This beast also has seven heads and ten horns (v. 3). Verse 9 tells us the seven heads stand for seven “mountains,” and verse 18 speaks of “that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Historically, the city set on seven hills has always been identified as Rome. We know that in the last days the Roman Empire will be revived, as Daniel foresaw (Daniel 2:40-45). And the beast at the head of this revived Roman Empire will lead a ten-power confederacy, as depicted here by the ten horns (v. 7).

Verse 10 provides some additional details. The angel mentions seven kings, five of whom had “fallen,” one who “is,” and the last king, who “has not yet come.” From John’s perspective, there had been five major world powers that had exerted a major impact on Israel: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. At the time John wrote this, the sixth world empire was then in power: Rome.

John had been exiled to Patmos by the Roman government. And John tells us that there is yet another empire to come, one that Daniel foresaw as well. Daniel saw it represented by the feet and toes of a grand statue, and the ten toes were made of an unstable mixture of iron and clay. John sees seven heads and ten horns, which we’re told represent nations. So the visions of Daniel and John are essentially the same. The last worldwide kingdom to oppress Israel will be the kingdom of the Antichrist, the revived Roman Empire.

The angel tells John that the final king “must continue a short time” (v.10). In fact, the Antichrist will rule for just forty-two months, or three-and-a-half years, the last half of the Tribulation period. That’s not long!

But what can the angel mean when he says, “The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition”? (v. 11). Let’s consider this verse in light of what we already know. What will happen to the Antichrist? He will receive what seems to be a fatal head wound, and he will supposedly die and then be resurrected.

When he “dies,” his kingdom will die with him. That’s the seventh kingdom. And when he is “revived,” his kingdom will undergo a resurgence, and so the seventh kingdom will become the eighth.

At no point does John identify the ten kings who will yield their sovereignty to the Antichrist (v. 13). But interestingly enough, certain groups and world leaders already have documented plans to divide the world into ten geographical zones for ease of rule. It may be that the Antichrist will take advantage of just such schemes.

You can see a map of these ten zones, and other information on Bible prophecy here. 

Replacement of the System (17:16-17)

The beast will have no interest in allowing the great harlot to ride him forever. When she is no longer useful to him, he will devour her. And he will have the full support of the ten kings who give him their authority (v.16). None of them want to be ruled by religion either.

The Antichrist will befriend this religious system, support it, and perhaps even allow himself to be directed by it until it has fulfilled his agenda. Once he jockeys himself into position and the kingdoms of the earth yield their sovereignty to him, however, all the restraints upon him will be thrown off. He will be free to make himself the object of worship.

And obviously, to make that happen, the harlot who had proven so useful in the past will have to go.

For the first half of the Tribulation, this false religious system will remain in place. But at the midpoint of the seven years, the Antichrist will debunk the harlot he has used to gain power and will present himself to the world as God in the flesh. He will do so in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, thus breaking a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. His blasphemous act, as we have seen, is called “the abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15; see also Daniel 9:27).

In many ways, this tactic is nothing new. Communist and other regimes have done this for years. They come into an area, make friends with the local religious leaders, and even put them in positions of authority—until they reach a critical mass of power and no longer need those religious leaders.

Then they start executing the leaders and persecuting and restricting the freedoms of the religious groups. This happened with Hitler, it happened in the Soviet bloc, it happened in Nicaragua, and it continues to happen today. During the Tribulation, it will happen on a worldwide scale.

Ruin of the System (17:14)

The ten kings who throw their full support behind the beast will, with their evil leader, oppose the Lamb (v. 14). They will try to wage war against Christ, but of course they will fail spectacularly. More details on this ultimate confrontation are given to us in Revelation 19, but in the end, Jesus will win. And those who belong to Him will win with Him. Together they will rule over His everlasting kingdom.

The Antichrist’s final destruction was portrayed in King Nebuchadnezzar’s mysterious dream about the huge, magnificent statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and clay (Daniel 2). Each segment of the statue represented a world empire.

At the end of the dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone cut without human hands strike the statue at its feet and pulverize the whole thing into fine dust. After the wind carried away the dust, leaving no trace of what stood there before, this stone grew into a gargantuan mountain that filled the whole earth. Daniel explained to the puzzled king that the stone represented a kingdom that God Himself would set up. It will wipe away all human kingdoms, and it will last forever.

Paul also had a take on the demise of the Antichrist. He succinctly compressed the end of history into one verse: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

Returning to Revelation 17, we see that John makes a point to mention those who will come with Jesus when He makes His triumphant return to earth. As King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus will obliterate the Antichrist and his forces; and John adds, “Those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (v. 14). John wants to show that the Champ will not be the beast, but the Lamb. He makes that clear in verse 8 as well when he contrasts the winners with the losers: “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.

And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.”

Which side would you rather be on? The side of the beast of Revelation, and have your name not written in the Book of Life? Or on the side of the Lamb, who will ultimately overcome and reign over all?

Blurred Lines

We live in an age when the lines of truth are becoming increasingly blurred. It’s become fashionable to refuse to take a dogmatic stand about anything, especially Jesus Christ. And so people everywhere are drifting from the truth. I want to exhort you to cling to the truth at all costs.

About a century ago, Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote the following words:

If the Lord does not speedily appear, there will come another generation, and another, and all these generations will be tainted and injured if we are not faithful to God and to His truth today.

We have come to a turning point in the road. If we turn to the right, mayhap our children and children’s children will go that way; but if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and to His Word. I charge you, not only by your ancestry, but by your posterity, that you seek to win the commendation of your Master, that though you dwell where Satan’s seat is, you yet hold fast his name, and do not deny his faith.

God grant us faithfulness for the sake of the souls around us!

How is the world to be saved if the church is false to her Lord? Stand fast, my beloved, in the name of God!

That’s the charge. The world is fast coming to a point of abandoning the truth. Don’t go along with the crowd—stand up for the truth! It might cost you everything. But one day, if you stand fast, you’re going to hear some beautiful words from Jesus’ own lips: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Revelation 18 covers commercial Babylon, the allure of luxury and riches that drew in earth’s leaders, who “committed fornication with her” (v.3)—that is, forsaking any integrity or principle to gain power and wealth.

They led the Antichrist and False Prophet’s charge against Christians, “and in her [Babylon] was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (v. 24). And here, after the end of God’s judgments, an angel announced her fate: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!” (v. 2).

With Babylon’s demise and the fall of the Antichrist, the stage will be set for the best part of the book, and the best part of the future—the glorious reappearing of Jesus Christ.

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It does not please God to see people suffer, that is why the judgements are incremental - they start small and increase in intensity, giving unrepentant people time to repent and turn to God.

And God is so merciful that even during this period of judgment, He is calling for people to repent and turn to him through His two witnesses, the 144 000 witnesses and through an Angel.

Many people will turn to Him but so many will not, instead they will curse God as they prefer darkness to light...

The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. Rev 9: 20-21

They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. Rev 16: 9-11 

From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible. Rev 16: 21

The above images and descriptions are not meant to scare you, but to prepare you for what is coming. If you are a true Christian, you will escape the wrath to come.

But if you are not saved, do you hate God so much that you will be prepared to go through so much suffering instead of repenting?!

We have tried to warn our friends, family and neighbours but we are often told "we don't want to hear about Jesus or the Bible". These are, in our estimation, good people. They are not evil, they are kind and helpful, but they are sinners, like all of us, and God cannot let sinners into Heaven. He has offered one way to obtain forgiveness for all our bad thoughts, words and deeds, through His Son Jesus. 

But it seems so many people have to overcome their pride and temporary self-sufficiency in order to ask God to forgive them. Yes, your house, cars, jobs, food, water, electricity are all freely available at the moment but can you not see what the global elites are doing? They are slowly making the masses more and more dependant on the Governments by using fear.

Their ultimate goal is depopulation. They want us dead. God created us so Satan hates us and would like to kill us. 

Once the Beast comes to power you will have nothing ("You'll own nothing and you'll be happy" remember the phrase from the World Economic Forum?) - you will be 100% dependant on the Antichrist and he will require you to worship him in order to obtain what you need. 

Once you worhip the Beast, by taking the mark of the Beast, you will have given up your opportunity to be saved. Why not repent and put your faith and trust in Jesus today? You can then escape the tribulation and reign with Jesus for eternity.

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Second Coming: From Heaven to Earth (Revelation 19)

When you think of a battle, you think of a struggle—two sides losing casualties in a fierce contest of arms, skill, and strategy. That will not be the case in the greatest of all battles—the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus is going to mop the floor with His enemies: “The lawless one [the Antichrist] will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). This is a total wipeout!

Think back to Psalm 2, where the world’s rulers gather together against the Lord and His anointed, and God’s response is to laugh: “The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion’” (Psalm 2:4-6).

That will indeed be the case in the Battle of Armageddon—game over before it even begins. Jesus will take over the earth. There will be no vote, no counsels or committees to discuss a transition of power; He will take His rightful place as King, the culmination of all the hopes of His people throughout the ages.

(Some people get confused between the rapture of the Church and Jesus' second coming. They are two different events. In the rapture, which occurs before the tribulation, Jesus comes FOR His Church. He descends from Heaven, calls us and meets us in the air before taking us home to Heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb as we are His bride. 

In the second coming, which is after the 7-year tribulation, Jesus comes WITH His Church back to earth to reign for 1000 years.)

Millennium: Heaven on Earth (Revelation 20)

Upon His return, one of Jesus’s first official acts will be to imprison Satan. “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:1-2). With Satan out of the way for ten centuries, the earth will get an extreme makeover.

Jesus will delegate authority to His saints, and the martyrs will finally get their reward, ruling with Christ during this period (Revelation 20:4-5).

“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (v. 6).

This thousand-year kingdom, this millennial reign, though the precise time is mentioned only here, has been predicted many times as a time of “regeneration” (Matthew 19:28) and “refreshing” (Acts 3:19). Other passages, such as Isaiah 35, describe this messianic age as a blossoming garden. We have trashed the earth, but the utter demolition of the tribulation will make that look like a soda can by the side of the freeway. Jesus will restore the world to Edenlike glory.

Despite Jesus ruling in person on earth, people will still have free will.

Those born during the millennium will still be able to choose whether to give their hearts to Him or not. Enough will still choose not to do that, when God releases Satan from his prison at the end of the millennium, the devil will have an army to lead—called Gog and Magog (Revelation 20:7-8).

This final rebellion will end decisively: “Fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them” (v. 9). That’s it. All the build-up, some of them no doubt planning their insurrection for decades, awaiting Satan’s release, and fwoosh! It’s over. One sentence, and all their scheming comes to nothing. But judgment still awaits.

While Christians will be held accountable for their actions and either given or declined rewards (2 Corinthians 5:10), forgiveness in Christ means their names have been recorded in His Book of Life (Revelation 17:8) and they are not in danger of hell. Our lives will be examined, but our salvation is secure. We will never be condemned for our sins.

It will be a different story for anyone whose name is not recorded in that book.

Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire, joining the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). Final judgment will then come for all unbelievers, what we call the Great White Throne judgment. “I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them” (v. 11). This is the most sobering moment in all of world history, past, present, and future.

John reported on the encompassing, eternal scope of this moment: I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-14).

In this somber courtroom scene, there is no debate about guilt, only prosecution. There is no defense or jury, only the Judge. There is no appeal, only a sentence. No parole, only punishment. “This is the second death.

And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15).

Eternal State: The New Heaven and Earth (Revelation 21–22)

Finally, we reach the end of the end of days, stepping from time into timelessness. Jesus will terminate the old earth and create a new, eternal one. “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1). The new earth will have a new capital city: “I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (v.2). Human language falls flat here, wholly inadequate to describe our eternal home.

The Greek word John used for “new” indicates that it’s a brand new, never-seen-before creation—not just a reboot or a resetting of time. An angel gave John a rundown of the New Jerusalem’s dimensions—apparently it will be an enormous cube made of translucent gold and precious gems, extending nearly 1400 miles in each direction (vv. 16-21).

And there will be no temple, “for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (v. 22), and they will be its source of light too (v. 23).

Best of all, we’ll have the intimacy with God that He has always desired: “I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God’ ” (v. 3). Because of that intimacy, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. And He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new’ ” (vv. 4-5). Heaven will not be what we expect, but beyond anything we could possibly hope for.

The Bible opened in the magnificent Garden of Eden, filled with God’s good gifts and purposes, but then came the plot twist—sin and death entered the world, and paradise was lost. Yet God immediately promised a Deliverer, and continued promising that Deliverer throughout the millennia until Jesus Christ arrived. Jesus was born, grew up, lived, was killed, and then was resurrected, defeating sin and death. He ascended to heaven but promised He would return. And here we are today, hoping and waiting for Him to return and once and for all to defeat Satan, sin, and death and perfectly restore what’s been lost.

The Bible’s last sentence is the perfect counterpoint to its beginning: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:21).

We have come full circle. The fall brought a curse that permeated every part of creation. Now, at the end, we have grace. Sin brought a grimace to creation, but God poured in grace. Despite all the troubles in this world, all the broken hearts and suffering, a happy ending is possible for all of us if we will receive that grace.

People of this world will often say, “Get real. This is it. This is the real world.” I understand what they’re trying to say, but there’s more to it. This is the real world, but there is another world —a really real world. And that world is coming, the eternal reality God originally made you for, and Jesus is the door that will get you there.

Despite all the diversity in the world, there are really only two kinds of people: saved and unsaved.

God loves all people and made the ultimate sacrifice so that everyone could be counted in the first category, but you have to choose Him. The book of Revelation reveals the future God wants to give you.

If you’ve already received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, celebrate that future!

But if you haven’t yet received Him, will you do so right now? Jesus is waiting to embrace you as you are, forgive you of your sins, turn your life around, and take you on an adventure beyond your wildest dreams, with heaven as your destination.

Salvation is a gift that God offers us - all you need to do is accept the gift and it's as easy as ABC:

A=Admit You're a sinner (Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God")

B=Believe Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised on the third day (Romans 10:9-10: "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved")

C=Call on Jesus (Romans 10:13: "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved")

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