EPISDOE 264 REVELATION CHAPTER 13 " World of Deceptions"

This is Share the Word podcast, and you're about to listen to episode 264 covering Revelation chapter 13, which focuses on the deceptions that will take place in the end of times. Pastor Paul has gotten the attention of so many with these chapters, and so much of what's happening in this world, well, I'm starting to think that we may not be far off. Paul? Revelation 13. World of Deceptions. Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?

That's a now-famous line from an early Marx Brothers movie made almost 100 years ago now, during a time when seeing was believing. We're not in such a time anymore, are we? Suddenly, we're in a world where it's virtually impossible to tell whether anything you see is real or not. A picture or a movie clip is no longer proof of anything, and deceptions, whether for fun or for more sinister reasons, are just everywhere these days. In the scary time of the tribulation, people will be desperate for a leader who seems strong enough to restore some kind of order and normalcy. Most people will sacrifice pretty much anything in order to just feel safe.

That's true normally. So just imagine how much more so it will be then. Chapter 13 tells us more about the world leader who will come to power, promising peace and security, but who in time delivers anything but. He'll be a master of deceptions, a creation of the father of lies. In John's vision, he describes this man as a beast. The word means ferocious animal because of the destruction he will unleash once he consolidates power in the tribulation era.

But for a time, the leaders and people of the world will believe they have found in him someone perfect for this time, someone able to pull together the earth's warring factions and create a safer, more harmonious world. Daniel calls him the prince who is to come. Paul refers to him as the man of sin. The most common title applied to him, though, is Antichrist. The prefix anti in the language of the New Testament was written in means, first of all, in place of. So this great deceiver will not only be against Christ, as we think of anti, but will be seen by many as Christ, a new age Messiah, someone they will accept in place of Christ, hoping he can bring peace and security to the increasingly out-of-control world at that time.

Never forget that Satan's most dangerous attribute is his ability to deceive. He's an audacious liar. He can disguise himself as an angel of light, we're told. He can blind minds. He can reproduce miracles, lying wonders as they are called. And Revelation says he will be able to deceive the whole world during the last of the last days.

His man for that hour, the Antichrist, will not come on the world suddenly as a monster. It would probably be far more accurate to imagine a brilliant man, a gifted orator, a charismatic personality, someone with very strong leadership skills who others are readily drawn to and will foolishly put their confidence in. Remember, he is ceded his enormous power by others, while lurking just beneath all of his charm and gifts is a vicious, satanically possessed beast, just waiting to lash out once their power is consolidated. It sounds like from verse 3 of chapter 13 that something very dramatic will happen to this man which greatly increases his aura. Here's how John describes it. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed, and the whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

Then further down in verse 14, it says again that the beast had what appeared to be a fatal wound, but came back to life. I understand the seven heads thing there to be obviously representational. It corresponds to similar visions the prophet Daniel had. The seven heads in his visions represent powerful empires that the world has seen rise throughout history, the last of which, apparently the seventh, is the still future government that will be headed by this Antichrist character.

So, although some take the fatal wound that was healed to mean this man will have some kind of political fall and then make himself a miraculous comeback, most understand this more literally, as I do, that this man himself will suffer an apparent mortal wound, but making an astonishing recovery, all the people in the world will be astonished by that and will conclude there has to be something supernatural about this guy, that he's obviously a man of destiny for our times. Remember, this person is a counterfeit of the real Christ. And Jesus was famously what? Resurrected from the dead. The whole earth will marvel at this deception, and it's something that will cause people all over the world to buy into him. During the 24 presidential campaign, the Republican candidate Donald Trump was shot at by a would-be assassin while giving a speech in front of a big outdoor audience in Butler, PA.

He turned his head to point to a chart hanging behind him just as the shot rang out. What could have hit him in the head only grazed his ear, but fatally struck a man behind him. What if, though, with the cameras all rolling, that bullet had hit Trump right in the head? Within minutes, hours at most, everyone in the world would see the footage, read or watch reports by witnesses describing how he was mortally wounded. But the next day, he is out on the campaign trail looking hale and hearty, confident and unafraid. Can you even imagine how something seemingly supernatural like that would affect everyone?

And it's something just like that which will propel the Antichrist into a worldwide phenomenon. When that deception happens, it will cause the whole world to marvel, John says, giving the Antichrist supernatural, godlike aura in people's eyes. As verse 4 reveals, his power actually comes from Satan. But on the surface, his power as a world leader will come because other leaders give theirs over to him. The repeated mention of the beast's ten horns, symbols of power, in one of Daniel's visions, a great statue had ten toes representing a final world empire, leads interpreters to believe that on the surface, the Antichrist will be given his power by ten nations, so will lead a confederation of nations, or, for past nation states by that point, ten regions on the globe that make up a world future organization.

As a result of all the things we've already seen—the wars, the famines, all the upheaval going on in the first half of the tribulation—this man will come to power with the backing of other world leaders and the devotion of most of the world's citizens. The collective mindset will be finally someone smart enough, gifted enough, powerful enough to lead us out of all the problems that the world is caught up in. Others in the past have tried to do all this and even succeeded on a smaller scale. The Roman emperors went from military conquerors to proclaiming themselves gods and demanding worship, and they too tried to extend their dominance over the known earth.

Many prophecy students, for reasons I won't go into here, believe that one of Daniel's visions indicates that the Antichrist government will be sort of a futuristic replication of that ancient empire, the most dominant that the world has seen. But the government of the Antichrist will be even more far-reaching and controlling than Rome ever got, and it will come about quickly and seemingly inevitably. Once he gains power, though, the Antichrist will begin to out himself. One way he will show he is not the great man most think is when he begins to shoot his mouth off. He'll have a mouth speaking great boasts and blasphemies, verses five and six says. When he takes authority for the 42 months, that is during the Great Tribulation, the final three and a half years, he will open his mouth in blasphemies against God, blaspheme His name and His tabernacle and even those who dwell in heaven.

This will happen in conjunction with taking over the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Again, if we compare a vision in the Old Testament prophet Daniel had at the same time, one in Daniel chapter nine, it says there that in the middle of the seven-year period, the Antichrist will break a covenant that involves Israel and commit the sacrilege referred to as the abomination of desolation. Some kind of image of the Antichrist will be placed then in Jerusalem's temple, and the normal Jewish religious worship and sacrifices that will be going on. Will suddenly be halted. Jesus Himself confirms this is going to happen, and mentions Daniel's prophecy in particular in His Olivet discourse recorded in Matthew 24. But He'll just be getting started.

Antichrist will do awful things once firmly in control. Listen to verses 7 and following. And it was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Lamb's book of life. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he'll go.

If anyone kills with a sword, with the sword he will be killed. Herein is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. As we've noted before, saints in the New Testament does not refer to a special class of super Christians, although the word is often misconstrued to mean that by religion today. It literally means holy ones or sanctified ones. Believers are made holy in God's eyes by faith in Christ, we've learned. And in the New Testament, all true believers are seen by God as holy ones and called saints, as here in Revelation 13.

They are defined here as those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, written from the foundation of the world. I understand that to mean from the very beginning, people with real faith, the kind of faith God is looking for in us, have had their names recorded by Him. And there's a record in heaven of all true believers, and those in the tribulation time who are true believers will see through the deceptions going on then and will not fall in line with the Antichrist program. Which will lead to him, once firmly in control, warring against the people of God, turning against and destroying as many of God's people, both Jews and Gentiles, as he can. This will be permitted by God, and apparently supported by most of the unbelieving world.

My expectation is that the Jews and anyone associated with God will be scapegoated then as responsible for the world's many problems, like Nero blamed the early Christians for the great fire of Rome, or Hitler as he ranted against the Jews leading up to World War II. This Antichrist character will rail against God's people and blaspheme God Himself, and once he is able, he will with demonic zeal go after anyone and anything associated with God. Notice, there is no instruction here for Christians or Jews to fight back, to organize some kind of Red Dawn-like guerrilla resistance movement. Some are destined to be imprisoned and killed during that time. That's the word John uses here. God's message for them is to keep the faith and to persevere.

I can't fully explain why, but for this short time God will let Satan have his day. But there is no doubt his doom is sure. This section brings to my mind lyrics from a great 16th century hymn: A mighty fortress is our God. But still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. Then it goes on defiantly: The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, or lo, his doom is sure.

One little word shall fell him. They don't write them like that anymore, Tony. Yes, at this juncture, during the Great Tribulation, Satan will seem to be in absolute control, and his man Antichrist will dominate things on the earth. But their time is short, John assures his readers, and their doom is sure. It's from this chapter, Revelation 13, that we learn that Antichrist will have a partner in crime as he consolidates his power and rules. John sees another beast at verse 11, and this one doesn't have ten horns and crowns and all that, just two small horns like a lamb, he says.

The suggestion may be that this man comes across more meekly, less loud, less violent, but he will also be a tool, especially a mouthpiece of Satan's. Verse 12 and the following say, He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, or under his authority, that means, and he makes the earth and those who dwell in it worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of these signs which were given to him to do. This second satanically controlled world leader, apparently a religious figure, will be the one who deceives the world into accepting Antichrist as a god. Many refer to this character as the false prophet because he will do supernatural things that give him spiritual credibility.

Just as the prophet Elijah once called down fire from heaven, this guy will be able to duplicate things like that. Note to self: not everything that seems supernatural is of God. Remember that. God's Word is what defines for us what is really of God, not guys who apparently can do miracles or do unexplainable things. Let that sink in very well. This satanically controlled man will be able to do amazing things, but they will be deceptions, lying wonders, and he will use the influence he gains over people to point them to worshiping Antichrist.

No matter how apparently spiritually powerful and persuasive he will be, the ultimate false prophet and clearly a tool of Satan. One of the apparently supernatural deceptions he will cause is, well, listen to the last couple lines of this chapter. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak. And he will cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, small and great, rich and poor, free and slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and no one will be able to buy or sell except those who have this mark, either 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 man, and his number is 666. So if someone is living at this time and has any doubts about where they are on the earth's timeline, John sees two things now that should remove any doubts. First, the Antichrist will take over the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and his hype man, this false prophet guy, will announce to the world that this man who blasphemes God of heaven is in fact himself God and must be worshipped as such. Daniel and Jesus both call this happening the abomination of desolation. And John here adds that there will be some kind of image of this Antichrist person, at that point placed in the temple of God in Jerusalem. But it will clearly not be a statue, as we're thinking of statues, an image of someone sculpted in stone or cast in metal.

No. Rather, this image of the Antichrist will seem alive and will be able to speak. I remember hearing about this when I was a kid and wondering, what in the world could that be? But I've lived long enough now, I don't even need much imagination to imagine this. There are very viable explanations today which explain exactly how this could happen. For one, advanced robotic technology.

The best robotics engineers now can create very lifelike humanoid robots, even giant ones. And using AI, they can personalize a human's characteristics, their movements, their expressions, and sample their voice, and so essentially create a mechanical clone of someone. And another possibility would be the use of holoportation technology. I read about this in a news report put out by NASA, the space agency. It described how they sent one of their team doctors, his image anyway, to the International Space Station as it orbited the Earth a couple years ago. Don't expect me to explain to you how this works.

But using something called Microsoft HoloLens technology, in conjunction with AEXA Aerospace software, this doctor appeared on the space station craft as a live, three-dimensional figure, able to talk and interact with the astronauts just as if he were physically there. Crazy, hell, just like beam me up, Scotty, while he himself is actually someplace else entirely. But however it's done, it's this specific event, this lifelike image of the future world leader being set up in the holy place in Jerusalem's temple, that will be the unmistakable sign. This world leader is no peacemaker and savior. This is the Antichrist prophesied by Jesus, by Daniel, by the Apostle Paul, and by John here. And things are about to go completely crazy on Earth now.

And remember, it's actually this event, too, when the temple in Jerusalem is defiled by his image, that starts the countdown to the end, because we're told multiple times that from the time this happens, there will be exactly three and a half years until the return of Jesus Christ. The second specific happening that will shout, Antichrist alert, is when the policy enacted by those who will not accept the mark of the beast will no longer be able to do any business at all, legally anyway. His number on your hand or on your forehead will be the mark you must have to be able to buy or sell anything. This is also something that was very hard to imagine before our generation, but suddenly now it's very conceivable with our globally interconnected banking systems and various personal identification technologies.

Have you, like me, ever been in a grocery store checkout line when your debit card would not work, or tried to get into a computer program you need and regularly use but now get the message, password not recognized? Every time something like that happens to me, something controlled by online network security systems blocks me from doing something I want to do, it reminds me of this passage. I'm sure the program in that time will be pitched as necessary for personal economic security, you know, protecting your identity and finances online and so on. But it will be used to control people and bring them under the power of the Antichrist regime. If this is in the near future, perhaps it will be some kind of barcode that will be used, or an implanted microchip that contains all your personal and banking information.

But however it is accomplished, your official ID will need to contain the number 666 in its code. The edict will go out from the Antichrist government that from such and such a date, every citizen will need the new Babylon ID, or whatever they call it. Cash will no longer be legal tender. But people will find out to get it, they will also have to swear allegiance to the Antichrist. If they will not, they will not be linked into the system. And if they are not linked into the system, they will not be able to buy or sell anything from then on.

It's all a big bunch of deceptions that will entangle, mislead, and seek to control the people of the world then. So, have you thought of this yet? There will be the deception, the overarching deception of the, as it's been called, unholy Trinity. Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, doing their best to counterfeit the real God of heaven, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. And the deceivers then will be promising, if you get on board with us, you'll be part of a peaceful, secure, and prosperous new age. But it's really a deceptive counterfeit of the promised millennial kingdom of Christ that God's Word promises.

It will be all about putting your faith in this man, giving your allegiance to him, the Antichrist. Satan's final deception that will turn people tragically away from putting their faith in Christ, man. It will be a world of deceptions then. Stay with the story. We'll take up chapter 14 next time on Share the Word. It just keeps getting better and better.

Paul, thank you for the clear insight to the Book of Revelation. For all of you who are listening to this podcast, I strongly suggest that you take the time to go through all of the podcasts covering the Book of Revelation. I continue to reiterate that Share the Word is a crowdfunded nonprofit organization, and everything we release has been free to listen to, download, and to share. And because our mission is to provide it all for free, we need your support. Please go to sharetheword.org and click on Give and help us continue this great commission project. Thanks again for listening.