Revelation 13:1-18

The sincerest form of flattery is imitation.  I am sure that Satan is, in no way, desirous of flattering God, but he constantly seeks to imitate God out of a desire to usurp God’s authority.  The fact that God exists eternally in a tri-unity is not a hidden fact to Satan.  I believe that Satan, during the tribulation described in Revelation, seeks to imitate the Holy Trinity by forming his own evil trinity.  Satan, of course, would be the first person of this evil trinity and the other two members are revealed to us in this passage.
THE BALSPHEMOUS BEAST OF THE SEA: The Sea in Revelation represents the Gentile nations.  This beast that comes out of the Sea is the Anti-Christ.  He is a Gentile ruler that demands the obedience and more importantly the worship of all the nations.  The Anti-Christ represents the second person in Satan’s evil trinity.  We must recognize that Satan’s goals during the tribulation are far greater than just establishing a political regime that forms a new world wide empire.  This is as much a religious regime as it is a political one.  The Anti-Christ will demand much more than obedience, he will demand worship.  He receives his power and authority directly from Satan.  I believe that indicates that the Anti-Christ will be “Satanized” or that his body will be possessed by Satan himself.  He will blaspheme the holy name of God; he will be arrogant and demand that all men submit to him.  There will be many believers in Christ alive during the tribulation as a result of the ministry of the 144,000 on the earth.  These believers will obviously refuse to worship Anti-Christ and for that reason they will be greatly persecuted by him and many of them will be killed because of their faith in and obedience to our Lord.  I think that it is important for us to remember that Satan is not just out to deceive men during the tribulation period.  He is active doing these very same things today.  All men are worshipers by nature of our creation.  God created us to worship Him, but Satan is out to distract us from that purpose that we might worship other objects, beings and, in reality, Satan himself.  We must be ever vigilant and strong in our faith that we never be deceived into redirecting our worship which should belong to God alone to worship one of Satan’s many substitutes.
THE BATTELING BEAST OF THE EARTH: The earth in Revelation represents Israel.  This beast that comes from the earth is false prophet that rises up from among the nation of Israel.  At the beginning of the tribulation the Anti-Christ will sign a peace agreement with Israel guaranteeing her security in the world.  This promise of protection will be met with great accolade on the part of the nation of Israel.  So much so, that many Jews will declare that the Anti-Christ is truly the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.  This false prophet from Israel will be a key to promoting this deception of the children of Israel.  Just like the Holy Spirit promotes the person of Christ in the church, the false prophet will promote the worship of Anti-Christ in the world.  This prophet posses miraculous powers and he will use them to deceive the nations of the world.  He will act as an enforcer in the Anti-Christ’s regime and will punish to the point of death all those who refuse to worship Anti-Christ.  He will require all men to carry a mark on their hand or forehead as a symbol of loyalty to this new Satanic Empire.  All those who refuse to be loyal to this false religion because of their loyalty to Christ will be prohibited for purchasing food or other services and will face the death penalty for their lack of submission.  Satan always seems to promise peace and pleasure when inviting men to follow him.  However, the reality is that following Satan’s schemes only leads to slavery to sin and great suffering.  There are many false prophets that are active in this world today that are seeking to promote a “Satanocracy” in this world.  We must not follow their teachings or capitulate to their demands even in the face of death.  Our worship and loyalty must be reserved for God and God alone.  

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