Revelation Chapter 13

13 ¹And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The beast is the antichrist.

² And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

The dragon is the Satan. Don’t get caught up with the description of the beast trying to figure out what nation it represents. Satan (the dragon) gives his power to the beast and puts the beast in his seat and gives him great authority.

³ And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

The beast will have the ability to preform miracles.

⁴ And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

And they worshipped the dragon (Satan) who gave power to the beast and they worshipped the beast. My thoughts on this is that this is Satan’s counterfeit of two of the Holy Trinity, God the Father and Jesus the Son…and the third figure of the Trinity , the Holy Spirit, will also be counterfeited with the rising of the 2 horned beast LIKE a lamb that speaks like the dragon (Satan).

⁵ And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

I used to think the antichrist was going to come to earth pretending to be Jesus ,but I don’t believe that is the case. I believe the antichrist is coming with a new belief system that appeals to the masses and will go against the Christian beliefs completely. (September 29, 2024 Edit: I no longer hold this belief about the possible end time religious structure of the antichrist and will be refuting my position in a future post, however the following statements on this position is still held) The deception will be so profound that people will think they are doing the right thing by killing actual Christians. Right now, Christians are being vilified because we stand against abortion and other sins. Our stand against abortion is painted as a stand against women and their rights to chose, when the reality is the stand against abortion is the stand against the murder of the unborn children. Our stand against the sin of homosexuality is being painted as being a hater of people who are different. A kind of gaslighting is going on… and in this gaslighting…. the sin isn’t bad, the shame is. Basically, people want to sin without feeling shame….this shame comes from the open rejection of immoral behavior that Christians have… so, Christians are the enemy to this type of person because their righteous standing causes the sinful person to feel ashamed…and as I said before, shame is the enemy for the sinner. If you look right now in society, SHAME is the biggest villain. You become public enemy number one if you “slut shame” someone who enjoys (wanton engagement in) their sexual freedom. Do you see how that plays out… you hold to the word that fornication is a sin and the world paints you as a slut shamer. John 16:2 ² They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
I think it’s in this way that people will be seduced to following the beast, because he will paint a picture of a life where everything is allowed and right while disallowing a person from doing whatever they want is wrong (again, I no longer believe the Antichrist will be a leader of a permissive religion, but a religion that hold extremist ideologies in a graceLESS religion…one with an eschatological theology that is a counterfeit of our own…and this religion is already established. I do believe that there are other false religions that are antichrist in their doctrine, a religion that has a form of Godliness, but denies the power thereof….. a sort of Judas Sheep religion where the lambs are led away from the flock and slaughtered by false Shepard.) . 2 Timothy 4:1-4  ¹I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;² Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

⁶ And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

⁷ And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

⁸ And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

⁹ If any man have an ear, let him hear.

(Edits to this conclusion are coming soon) The great falling away of the Christian believers happen when they have no sound doctrine , but instead embrace the worldly ideation of live and let live. This belief says it’s ok to be gay, it’s ok to sleep around…it’s ok to hit someone if they make you mad…. it’s ok to set fire to a city because you don’t like the outcome of a trial…. it’s ok to riot in the streets when you don’t get your way. It’s a slow eroding of sound doctrine over time.

¹⁰ He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

¹¹ And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

The religious beast, the 3rd part of this unholy tri-unity.

¹² And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

¹³ And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

¹⁴ And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

¹⁵ And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

¹⁶ And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

¹⁷ And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

The mark of the beast is one of those topics people tend to misunderstand. This mark is more than a mark, it’s an open act of solidarity. It can’t be taken by accident… it’s a conscious act of joining with the beast.