Revelation #4
Chapters 13-16
Chapters 1-3 • Revelation of Jesus
• Revelation of us and the church
• Jesus speaks to the churches
• Learn lessons from the churches
Chapters 4-7• Throne room of God
• The scroll with 7 seals – the judgment
• 4 seals – 4 horsemen
• 5th seal – martyrs ask for vengeance/justice
• 6th seal – start of destruction
• The rapture – before judgement falls
Daniel’s 70th week• A bad prince/ruler will come
• In the middle of the 7 years he will– Stop the temple sacrifices– Set up the abomination of desolation
• At the end of the 7 years the end will come
Chapters 8-12• The breaking of the first seal indicates the
start of Daniel’s 70th week (probably)
• 4 trumpets herald destruction from heaven
• 5th trumpet is release of demonic army
• 6th trumpet causes 4 demons to gather huge army (possibly human), ⅓ of world killed
• John eats the little book
• The gentiles (the huge army?) capture Jerusalem and take control of the temple
Chapters 8-12 contd• For 3½ years (first half of Daniel’s 70th week)
– Jews are allowed to visit temple and continue sacrifice
– 2 witnesses prophesy and more Jews (and others) get saved
• After the 3½ years (middle of Daniel’s week)– The beast kills the 2 witnesses– Jews flee to a wilderness– 2 witnesses resurrected– 144,000 called up to heaven
Daniel chapter 7• A vision of 4 beasts
• Explained in v17-27
– Four beasts are kingdoms (v17,23)
– Fourth one is different (v19)
– 10 horns are kings (v24) – one geopolitical organisation with 10 heads of state
– Extra horn is another ruler, different to the rest (v24)
– Subdues 3 of the other rulers (v24)
• Speaks against the most high (v20,25)
• Persecutes the saints (v21,25)
• Overcomes the saints for a time, times and half a time - 3½ years (v25)
• Then God’s kingdom will come and take dominion over everything (v27)
Daniel chapter 7
Revelation 13 – 2 beastsFirst beast
• Arises from the sea (not the pit) – from mankind (Rev 17:15)
• Got authority from Satan (v2)
• Experiences miraculous healing (v3)
• Speaks blasphemies (v5)
• Had authority and overcame saints for 42 months - 3½ years (v5,7)
• He is the extra horn of Daniel 7 – a ruler
Revelation 13 – 2 beastsFirst beast = the antichrist in the flesh
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come (1 John 2:18)
But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.(1 John 4:3)
Revelation 13 – 2 beastsFirst beast = the antichrist in the flesh
• The beast from the bottomless pit kills the 2 witnesses (Rev 11:7)
• Is this the same beast? - probably
• We can speculate that the human form of the antichrist is born normally. The spirit of The Antichrist rises from the bottomless pit and possesses the human form
• The spirit could be Abaddon/Apollyon
Revelation 13 – 2 beastsSecond beast = false prophet (Rev 19:20)
• Causes people to worship the beast (v12)
• Performs wonders (v13)
• Sets up a statue of the beast (antichrist)
• Brings ‘breath’ to the statue (animates it in some way) v15
• Causes ‘all’ to receive the mark of the beast
The unholy trinity
• Dragon/ Satan – a spiritual being like the Father
• 1st Beast/Antichrist – a physical embodiment of Satan (like Jesus came as a physical embodiment of the Father)
• 2nd Beast/false prophet – does wonders and points people towards the Antichrist (like the Holy Spirit draws people to Christ)
Revelation 13 – 2 beasts
The image of the beast• Is the abomination of desolation• Detestable to God• Makes desolate – kills (v15)• Is built 3½ years before the end (Rev
13:5,14; Dan 12:11)• Is set up in the temple (Matt 24:15)Other interpretations• Syrian attack of Antiochus (190 BC)• Roman destruction of temple (70 AD)
Revelation 13 – 2 beasts
The mark/number of the beast
• A tattoo?
• A barcode?
• A computer chip?
• The number may represent the antichrists name in simple code (a=1, b=2 etc)
Revelation 13 – 2 beasts
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• A political leader will rise to power over a group of 10 nations (the G10?)
• 3 of their leaders will oppose him but he will subdue them
• When he ‘confirms a covenant’ it marks the start of Daniel’s 70th week
• At some point he will experience a miraculous healing of a deadly head wound
• At some point he will be possessed by the spirit of antichrist (5th trumpet?)
• He will oppose the 2 witnesses and eventually kill them
Revelation 13 – summary
• He will have a deputy who does signs and wonders
• A number of key signs identify the middle of Daniel’s 70th week– The temple is occupied, the sacrifice stopped
and a statue of the antichrist is set up
– The statue gains the power to talk and to kill
– A new economic system is enforced
• People idolise the charismatic new leader who seems to bring sense and order in a time of chaos
Revelation 13 – summary
• 144,000 in heaven (singing before the throne v3) – God’s name on their forehead
• Angel carries the gospel (v6) – it’s not too late to get saved
• Angel announces the fall of Babylon (more in chapters 17-18)
• Angel warns not to accept the mark of the beast
Revelation 14 – 2 harvests
Harvest of the Son of Man (v14-16)
• Represents all those saved between now and the end. The ones who refused to worship the beast (and will therefore die)
• Some (or all?) of them seen in Rev 15:2
Harvest for the winepress (v17-20)
• Represents all those will die in the judgements to come
Revelation 14 – 2 harvests
River of blood
• 180 miles long, depth to a horses bridle
• Represents the blood of all the deaths to come
• The blood of 6 billion people could form a river 180 miles long, 5 feet deep and 200 feet wide.
Revelation 14 – 2 harvests
• Those who have refused the mark of the beast are seen in heaven
• Seven angels prepare 7 bowls full of God’s wrath
Revelation 15 – 7 angels prepare
1. Sores appear on those with the mark of the beast
2. Sea becomes ‘blood’ – all living things in it die
3. Freshwater becomes ‘blood’ – no deaths4. Sun gives more heat5. Darkness and pain on the kingdom of the
beast6. The river Euphrates dries up, 3 demons
gather an army at Armageddon7. “It is done” , earthquake, lightning, great hail
Revelation 16 – 7 bowls of wrath
Are the 7 bowls the same as the trumpets but seen from heaven?
• Similar in some ways but NO
• 1st trumpet – trees, 1st bowl – sores
• 2nd trumpet – kills ⅓, 2nd bowl – kills all
• 3rd trumpet- many deaths, 3rd bowl – no deaths
• 4th trumpet – less sun, 4th bowl – sun scorches
• 1st four trumpets happen before the pit is open, no beast, no mark, no image
Revelation 16 – 7 bowls of wrath
Armageddon (v16)
• The hill at Megiddo
• The army gathers but the battle is not fought here
Revelation 16 – 7 bowls of wrath
Summary• The antichrist rises to power and gets 3½
years in charge
• There is still opportunity to get saved but not if you worship the beast
• Judgement continues to fall and an army gathers at Megiddo
Final week
Chapters 17-22
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