Revelation 13 retells the same story of cosmic conflict as the previous chapter but this time using the symbolism of Daniel’s animal visions (Dan. 7-12). Satan, depicted as a giant red dragon, summons two beasts which he empowers to be his agents of evil on earth. Having failed to destroy the Messiah he turns his destructive energies toward the church (12:12-13). But who or what are these beasts?

THE SEA BEAST = the war machine (13:1-10) — The first beast emerges from the “sea.” To Israel, a mostly agricultural and pastoral society, the sea represented the chaotic forces of evil which oppose God’s purposes. Violent and rebellious nations that threaten God’s people are sometimes described as tumultuous waves (Isa. 17:12; 57:20-21; 60:5). In Daniel’s vision, four beasts arise from the sea, each one representing a great kingdom: Babylon, Persia, Macedonia and Rome. The beast in John’s vision is Daniel’s fourth beast, which would be defeated after waging war against God’s people for a time (Dan. 7:2-8, 23-27), but is depicted as an amalgamation of the first three.

Therefore, this sea beast represents the Roman Empire. It possesses the tearing power of the “lion” (from the Babylonian empire), the crushing force of the “bear” (from the Persian empire) and the swift ferocity of the “leopard” (from Macedonia under Alexander the Great). The evil and might of Daniel’s first three beasts reaches its climax in the fourth, this “beast from the sea” which Satan uses as a tool to oppress God’s church. It possesses military strength and authority, symbolized by its ten horns upon which were set ten crowns, and malicious cunning, symbolized by its seven heads which bear blasphemous names (Rev. 13:1-2). This description signifies a government intoxicated with its own power, exhibiting total irreverence toward God and all that is sacred—Roman emperors took blasphemous titles for themselves and accepted, and eventually demanded, worship.

But this beast received what seemed to be a mortal head-wound which was then mysteriously healed to everyone’s amazement (13:3). This probably refers to the death (suicide) of Emperor Nero in 68 AD which plunged the empire into civil war and anarchy. After the “Year of four Emperors” (69 AD), Vespasian restored order and the Flavian dynasty began first with Titus, who reigned from 79-81, then Domitian, who reigned from 81-96. Nero’s bloodthirsty spirit lived on in Domitian and the persecution of Christians intensified to its historical apex.

The watching world marveled at the recovery of the empire and “worshiped the beast,” attributing to it divine qualities (Rev. 13:3-4). Though under the power of the dragon, God gave permission to the beast to do its worst: Rome was allowed to speak blasphemy against God and his church, to exercise authority for a period of time, to persecute and even kill the saints, and was given all those who would give their allegiance to it (Rev. 13:5-8).

THE EARTH BEAST = the propaganda machine (13:11-18) — The second beast rises from the “earth” and resembles, at first glance, an innocent “lamb.” But its speech quickly gives it away, for its message is diabolical, nothing but lies and deception. Because it has swallowed the lies of Satan (12:16; cf. Jn. 8:44), this beast is later called “the false prophet” (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). It supports the Roman Empire by compelling people to worship it (Rev. 13:11-12).

The earth beast represents paganism and false religion, particularly the Roman imperial cult whose job it was to disseminate propaganda. Through its "two horns"—the Roman Proconsul (the appointed political power) and the imperial priests of the Commune (the appointed spiritual power)—the earth beast worked to compel the citizenry to worship the Empire and Emperor while the sea beast enforced it.

While the first beast attempted to control people through fear, the second exerted its influence through deception. The Roman propaganda machine bolstered its lies with false displays of power, pseudo-miracles to deceive people into making an image of the Emperor and worshiping it (Rev. 13:13-14; cf. Mt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:9-10). Anyone who refused to give their total, public allegiance to the Empire—symbolized by receiving the “mark” of the beast on their hand or forehead—was either “slain” or economically boycotted (Rev. 13:15-17). This “mark” was a kind of anti-shema; the “shema,” so named after the first Hebrew word in the prayer (“listen”) was the daily Israelite prayer of complete loyalty to God whose commandments they were to bind on their “hands” and “foreheads” (Deut. 6:4-9). The “mark of the beast,” therefore, was not a physical mark on one’s body but one’s public loyalty and support of the imperial cult.

Saints suffering under such beastly pressure were called to two things:

1. The call for faithful endurance (Rev. 13:10) — Saints who were being taken captive and slain with the sword by the Roman war machine were simply told to persevere and refuse to retaliate against this evil. They were not to resist the government (Rom. 13:2; 1 Pet. 2:13) but remain faithful to God and fight with spiritual weapons (Eph. 6:10-18). If they were unjustly taken captive or slain with the sword for their faith, they must follow Jesus and continue suffering in innocence, entrusting themselves to him who judges justly (Rev. 13:9-10; cf. 1 Pet. 2:23). “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:10b; cf. 1 Jn. 5:4)
2. The call for wisdom (Rev. 13:18) — In addition to being “innocent as doves” in their suffering, they were also to be “wise as serpents” (see Mt. 10:16). Following the description of the second beast which used words to deceive, saints were told to discern between truth and error. They were to “calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man, and his number is 666.” (Rev. 13:18) Israelites would compute the numerical value of Hebrew words based on their constituent letters. Each letter possessed a value: Aleph = 1, Bet = 2, Gimel = 3, and so on. When the Greek words “Nero Caesar” and “beast” are spelled in Hebrew letters, they each add up to 666. In the numerology of Revelation, the number six symbolized ultimate (thrice repeated) creaturely imperfection in comparison to divine perfection (symbolized by the number seven). What does all this mean? Christians are to be wise enough not to be hoodwinked by the schemes of this beast. After all, behind this evil empire was a dark spiritual force pulling the strings, colluding with it and animating it. The “number of the beast” would signify to Christians that Rome belonged to Satan and would soon fall. So don’t put your trust in it!

In the face of the first beast’s violent persecution, the church was to endure faithfully and refuse to retaliate (Rev. 13:10). In the face of the second beast’s political and spiritual deception, the church was to be wise to the schemes of the devil (Rev. 13:18). Neither Rome nor any other earthly entity was the real enemy. God wants his people then and now to see that Satan works through earthly powers. Governments become beastly when they fail to protect people from evil and instead exalt their own power and economic security as false gods and then demand total allegiance. But they are merely tools under the influence of the evil one who wants to inflict as much damage as possible before he is “thrown alive into the lake of fire” (Rev. 19:20; 20:10). If we must suffer for our Lord, let us suffer innocently, faithfully and wisely!

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

(Luke 24:44-49)

As far back as I can remember we had a billiard table in our basement. Dad’s house rule was that you had to “call your shots.” Something like “nine ball, corner pocket” or even a silent tap on the desired pocket would do as you were lining up your shot. This was, of course, to increase the challenge of the game. Anyone might accidentally knock a ball in and claim afterward that they meant to do it. But making a shot which you specified beforehand indicates a certain amount of skill (instead of luck)—especially if the results are repeated. If dad made a ball early on, he was liable to “run the table” on you, pocketing one and setting himself up for the next and so on leaving you holding your stick until he won. It was frustrating but also motivating; it made you want to improve so you could beat him one day (I still can’t).

In the Bible, God is always “calling his shots.” Take the passage above in Luke 24. After Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose on the third day, he appeared to his disciples to explain the significance of these events. He had previously told them these things would take place but they failed to comprehend his meaning at the time. Now, in the light of his resurrection, Jesus explains that his rejection, far from being a divine blunder, was not only foreseen but prophesied in the “Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,” the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible. Once their minds were opened to see the truth of Jesus’ words and that history had unfolded exactly according to God’s plans, they were filled with confidence, equipped to be witnesses of the risen Messiah (Acts 1:8).

In fact, the books of the New Testament and the sermons of the early Christians all have a strong apologetic backbone, appealing to God’s promises in Scripture to explain how Jesus fulfilled them. In other words, they showed that God calls his shots. Peter said to the crowds who crucified Jesus a few weeks prior that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” (Acts 2:23) He went on to quote several Scriptures, skillfully connecting the dots to show how Jesus directly fulfilled them. Later,  Stephen does the same for the Jews in Jerusalem (Acts 7) and the apostle Paul for those in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13).

It was also typical of the Old Testament prophets, in the face of pagan idolatry, to appeal to the LORD’s ability to foresee future events and even bring them about according to his sovereign will. A memorable example of this is found in Isaiah 40-45 where the incomparable greatness of the omnipotent Creator is contrasted with the impotent idols made with human hands. They have mouths that cannot speak, let alone prophesy; ears that cannot hear, let alone answer prayer; eyes that cannot see, let along see the future! All those who fashion and depend on these idols become as deaf, dumb, and blind as they are (Isa. 44). But the LORD who made the heavens and the earth and all that is within them calls his shots: he predicts events before they happen and works through history to bring about his purposes. For example, God called Cyrus, king of Persia, by name (Isa. 45:1), 100 years before Cyrus assumed the throne. What confidence God gives to all those who put their trust in him! We serve a God who calls his shots and always makes them.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

(Romans 12:6-8)

Paul consistently teaches that every Christian has an integral role in the strength and growth of their local church. Have you ever wondered what your role is here at Dulles? You have unique abilities that God has given you and he expects you to “use them” to build up of the body of Christ (Mt. 25:14ff; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:16). Paul emphasizes that no one is unimportant, no task is trivial and no action, if done for the Lord, is meaningless (1 Cor. 15:58).

Consider the text in Romans 12 above. While prophecy was a gift unique to the first-century, every Christian has some measure of giftedness in the areas listed. For example, all Christians must be merciful but there are some who, already having compassionate hearts, are particularly predisposed to showing mercy to the suffering. All must be servants in the kingdom but some excel in service; they naturally see and seize opportunities to serve while others may have to force themselves to do so. The same with teaching, exhortation, contribution, generosity and leadership.

We are all equally made in God’s image but each possess unique traits. Once we give our loyalty to King Jesus, his Spirit can either create and awaken talents within us previously unknown or refine and enhance talents already present. We must learn to evaluate ourselves and each other to point out where our spiritual strengths lie so that we can exercise and develop them for the Lord’s sake.

Backing up a bit, consider Paul’s words in Romans 12:3-5: “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

Rather than thinking we are self-sufficient (thinking of ourselves “more highly than [we] ought to think”) we must learn to soberly reflect on our need of others and others’ need of us in the church (3). Paul describes the church with the helpful metaphor of a human body consisting of “many members” each having functions that are essentially different from, yet complimentary to, one another (4-5). The implications of thinking of ourselves and others as unique body parts like limbs or organs are enormous.

First, there are no extraneous body parts. Each one is needed to perform a special function that contributes to the health and growth of the body. Every member matters. Also, what each member does (or fails to do) affects the entire body because of the interconnectedness of the individual members. Moreover, if a member is subtracted from the church body, the church is not simply reduced in number but has suffered a grievous injury!

As is typical for Paul, he gives us the ideal so that we know what to shoot for. The church is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 4:12; 5:23). The exhortation is to think and behave in accordance with this reality. If we are a member of Christ, we are no more or less important than any other member. If we are a member of Christ, we are also members of one another to share and bear each others’ burdens. If we are members of Christ, our connection to the Head (Jesus) is paramount; our common faith in Christ makes us one. Therefore, above all else, we must hold fast “to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Col. 2:19)

…he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

1 Peter 1:3-4

Your Best Life Now is the title of Joel Osteen’s 2004 redundant and shallow self-help book which affirms a distinctly un-Christian, short-sighted “name-it-and-claim-it” theology (AKA the prosperity gospel). It is about how to get God to serve the demands of self-centered, materialistic people who actually think that godliness is a means of gain (1 Tim. 6:5). Osteen tells his readers (in seven simple steps!) that God wants us to live our best life now. I do not recommend it.

The irony in his message is that it’s only true if you’re not a Christian. For those who reject the gospel, this really is their best life; there is no hope for future good beyond it for death will finally separate them from the source of all goodness (Heb. 9:27). This is the unhappy destiny of us all because we have all put ourselves at odds with our Creator (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). But Jesus came to rescue us from judgment, reconcile us to God, and give us life beyond this one.

Therefore, if you are a Christian, the best really is yet to come! Now, since we can only glimpse the matchless glory that will be revealed to us (Rom. 8:18) we live by faith not sight (2 Cor. 4:16-18). God never promises us a wealthy and trouble-free existence here on earth. Rather, “we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Rom. 8:23) We eagerly await the resurrection because we know that is when our salvation will be complete and all that is wrong will be made right. The Christian’s best life only begins now but culminates when this life ends.

I can’t imagine what the suffering, exiled Christians Peter addressed in his letter would think of Osteen’s book. They lived under the harsh reign of Nero (54-68 AD), a highly educated but impulsive and brutal emperor. Nero ascended the throne at the age of sixteen. Early in his reign he was heavily advised but he slowly grew more independent and soon abandoned all restraint. He began to execute his rivals one by one. He murdered his mother at the behest of his wife and forced his tutor, Seneca, to commit suicide.

After the great fire of Rome (64 AD), it was rumored that Nero had ordered the fire to clear a space for a giant palace. Tacitus tells us that Nero, sensing the ire of the Roman mob, said Christians were responsible. Christians were already unpopular at this time because they refused to pay their civic respects by worshiping the Roman gods. Nero claimed the fire was the vengeance of the gods—a wave of localized persecution ensued. In the aftermath of the fire, many Christians were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and executed. At least three thousand were thrown to the lions in the Colosseum. Just a short time after writing his second letter, Peter himself would be executed by Nero (2 Pet. 1:12-15; cf. John 21:18-19).

Peter wrote to Christians who were chosen by God yet exiled, despised, and rejected by the world (1 Pet. 1:2; 2:4). Much of his first letter is devoted to encouraging Christians to remain strong in their faith and follow the example of Jesus who suffered innocently and without retaliation (1 Pet. 2:18-24). He teaches them that suffering in this life comes with being a Christian. Therefore, they should not be surprised by it (1 Pet. 4:12) but prepare for it (1 Pet. 5:6-11) and even learn to rejoice in it, because it is a sure sign of their fellowship with Christ (1 Pet. 4:13-19). Peter consistently reminds these hard-pressed disciples that their best life comes on the other side of this one: they have an inheritance laid up in heaven for them and, because of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, they have a certain, living hope of attaining it (1 Pet. 1:3-4). That hope for the future would fuel their suffering in the present, shaping and strengthening them until the coming of Jesus (1 Pet. 1:5-9). So, are you living your best life now or is the best yet to come?

“By no means Lord…”

Acts 10:14

We have a tendency to modify Christianity for various reasons. These are not outright rejections of the truth, but subtle attempts to edit it, downplaying or eliminating elements from it that may be socially unpalatable or hard to accept. Ironically, when we redefine the gospel to make it more accessible or less offensive, we strip it of its power and relevancy. These modifications, no matter how well-meaning, only lead people away from Christ and the eternal life he wants to give them. On three occasions, the apostle Peter contradicted Jesus, illustrating this tendency to modify Christianity.

First, when Jesus’ identity as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” was professed by Peter, Jesus went on to foretell his own suffering, death, and eventual resurrection in Jerusalem. But Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” (Mt. 16:21-22) Peter, like most Israelites of the day, was expecting a militaristic Messiah, one who would take the throne in Jerusalem and establish God’s rule by wiping out their pagan oppressors. But Jesus subverted his messianic expectations: he came not to destroy pagans but to save them from their sins (Jn. 3:16-17); he came not to establish an earthly, political kingdom but a heavenly, spiritual one (Jn. 18:36); he came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mt. 20:28). Peter wanted a Christianity without the cross so Jesus had to explain that there is no cross-less Christ and there are no cross-less Christians either (Mt. 16:24-28).

Second, in the upper room on the eve of his death, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as a parable of his love, humility, and the spiritual cleansing his death would provide. When he came to Peter he responded incredulously, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” and then contradicted him: “You shall never wash my feet!” Peter wanted a Christianity without cleansing so Jesus had to explain that if he did not wash Peter’s feet then he could not have fellowship with him (Jn. 13:8). The King leads by serving. Jesus’ greatest act of service, which this instance of foot washing dramatically anticipated, was giving his life on the cross to cleanse us of our sins. We will never be clean unless we accept that spiritual cleansing.

Finally, after Jesus’ victory over death and ascension into heaven, God’s kingdom was established. It was always God’s mission to unite Jews and Gentiles, a mission Jewish Christians were slow to understand and reluctant to embrace. In Acts 10, Peter was given a vision that set him on the road to discover the universal scope of God’s plan. Peter saw many animals, some of which were unclean according to the Law of Moses, descending from heaven on a giant sheet. He was then told to kill and eat the animals. And again Peter contradicted the Lord: “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” But the voice responded, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” (Acts 10:14-15) Peter wanted a Christianity without mission, one that was limited to the Jewish people. But Jesus showed him through this vision, his instructions, and his meeting with a certain Gentile family, that “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35)

God’s people have a tendency to deviate from the gospel, something Jesus vehemently warned us against. The Galatians accepted a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:6) and the Corinthians “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4). Peter was a conspicuous example of this tendency. When he was confronted with a teaching he didn’t particularly like or agree with or understand, he contradicted Jesus with the words, “No Lord!” Have you ever said that to Jesus? How can we call him “Lord” and contradict him in the same breath? (Lk. 6:46) May God give us the wisdom to trust him and respond to Jesus with the humble and submissive words “Yes Lord!”