[:en]THE BEAST OUT OF THE SEA (vs. 1-10)
A beast came out of the sea. He had 10 horns and 7 heads, with ten crowns on his horns and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast resembled a leopard but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. There is a fatal wound that had been healed. The whole world followed the beast and men worship the dragon because he had given authority to the beast. The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for 42 months. He blaspheme God, slander His name and make war against the saints. He has the authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast – all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
Satan, the dragon has 2 evil accomplices: The Beast out of the Sea and the Beast out of the Earth. Together, they form an unholy alliance in direct opposition to the Holy Trinity – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Satan gave the Beast of the Sea political power and to the Beast of the earth the power to do miracles. The 3 unite together to overthrow God but their efforts will never succeed.
The Anti-Christ is a false Messiah, a counterfeit of Christ. People will follow and worship him because of his power and miracles. He will unite the world together and control the economy with a mark. Those without the mark cannot buy or sell. But his power is limited to only a short period of time. He will establish worldwide dominion and demand that everyone worship him. And many will worship him – except the true believers. Those who refuse to worship him will result in imprisonment, persecution and suffering, but they will be rewarded with eternal life in the end.
Let us be patient and faithful when we face tough times because it is an opporunity for us to grow spiritually.
THE BEAST OUT OF THE EARTH (vs. 11-18)
The second beast that comes out of the earth is identified as the false prophet performing miracles to deceive people. The second beast orders the people to worship a statue in honor of the first beast. This is contrary to the second commandment of God and His Word.
The mark of the beast is designed to mock the seal that God places on His followers. God marks His people to save them. Satan also mark his people to save them from the persecution he is giving to inflict upon God’s followers. Identifying this particular mark is not as important as identifying the purpose of the mark. Those who accept it show their allegiance to Satan and their willingness to cooperate within the economic system Satan provides in rebellion against God. To refuse the mark means to commit oneself entirely to God prefering death to compromising his faith in Christ
The number “7” is considered to be a complete number in thie Bible . “777” represents complete perfection while “666” falls short of perfection. This number symbolize the worldwide dominion and complete evil of this unholy trinity designed to overthow Christ’s work.[:]