Revelation 13
In popular culture about 99%
of apocalyptic attention is focused on the last verse of this chapter. The
numeric mark of the beast as 666 seems at times to have become an obsession.
The mark of the beast has been predicted as everything from Social Security, to
Popes, to a computer chip and beyond.
Most people would be
surprised to find that this chapter is really about two beasts. Both are agents
of Satan; they are empowered by Satan to accomplish his agenda on Earth.
Perhaps we will be better served to use the term monsters. Of the two, the
first monster appears more terrifying. It is very aggressive, it is
intimidating, it is politically powerful with crowns, it is international with
seven heads, and it's a combination of predators: leopard, bear, and lion. The
second beast is, relatively speaking, almost warm and cuddly. It looks like a
lamb. But when it talks it sounds like a dragon. We may be misled by folklore
about what the sound is like. Rather than a roar let’s think of Satan talking
to Eve in the garden, the voice of the serpent sweet and seductive. The first blasphemes God and the second
whispers seductions. The first is the bad cop killing and sending into
captivity; the second beast is more subtle with the incremental pressure of
economic hardships. The first beast is seen in governmental powers and state
sponsored persecution as in North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or China where believers
die for their faith. The second beast is seen in places like academia or
corporations where being a Christian presents employment, tenure, or promotion
problems. One is brutal, one is subtle; one crushes one seduces. One is easy to identify as a monster the other
sounds like it would be a friend or even a pet.
Never doubt Satan uses both overt and seductive pressure to get
Christians to compromise their commitment to Christ.
For a Christian in the first
century hearing about symbols of a 21st century supercomputer that determines
via a computer chip in our hand participation in the economy probably would not
make any sense. In fact, if this chapter is about a literal, physical mark or
chip or government agency then it helps no one in Christian history except
those living in the last moment before the end.
But if we understand persecution as coming from satanic authority that
operated as both political authority and as false religion and philosophy this
chapter makes perfect sense for every generation of believers. It would help
both early Christians and those persecuted today to understand as believers to
expect persecution from both government and religious quarters. It teaches being prepared because some will
die and some will go into captivity. Faithfulness in this misery is our goal.
“Here is the preservation of the Saints.”
Questions to ponder
Where are the places in the
world and in history that we see the aggressive monster at work?
Who are some of the agents
of the seducing monster in our world?
Do you think the aggressive
and seducing monsters might work in concert to attack the disciples of
Christ? How might that happen?
