SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/21/2015
10:53 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Antichrist’s
Ancestry PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
13:1
Message of the
verse: “1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the
seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and
seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were
blasphemous names.”
The first thing that I want to mention is that in the KJV
of the Bible we see the following way verse one is translated: “1 And 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.” This is a very big difference, but from what
I learned about this is that the newer translations like the NASB, NIV, and
others were using older manuscripts than what the KJV used and so it is
believed that the correct way this verse should go is the way that I have it
quoted from the NASB.
John MacArthur writes the following “The first sentence
of this chapter belongs as the last sentence of chapter 12, since it concludes
the account of ‘the dragon’ (Satan; cf. 12:9) and his war against God and His
people.” He then goes on to explain what
I wrote above about the different manuscripts.
Let us look at how this would look if verse one of chapter 13 were added
to verse 17 of chapter 12: “17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and
went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of
God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
1 And 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.”
John speaks of how Satan summoned the Antichrist, which
is described as “a beast coming up out of the sea.” MacArthur writes “Therion (beast) is also used to describe Antichrist in 11:7. It does not refer to a domesticated animal,
but to a wild, savage, vicious monster, thus describing Antichrist as a
ferocious and rapacious personality.” We
have to understand that the beast is described as both a person and also a
kingdom. MacArthur explains “The beast
must represent a kingdom, because of the complex description of him in the
latter half of verse 1. Yet the beast
must also represent a person, since he is always described with personal pronouns
(e. g. , ‘his,’ ‘him,’ ‘he’; cf. vv. 1-8; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 10). Daniel (Dan. 7:25; 8:24-25; 11:36-45) and
Paul (2 Thess. 2:4) also describe the Antichrist as a person. In this manner, Scripture views the final
world empire as inseparable from its ruler, much as Hitler is inseparably
linked to the Third Reich.”
Some have said that the “sea” which is mentioned in our
verse represents the “nations,” however it is possible that it could represent
the “abyss.” In certain verses from the
Old Testament the sea is equated or pictured as the realm of satanic
activity. We will look at a couple of
verses on this subject: Job 26:12 says “"He
quieted the sea with His power, And by His understanding He shattered Rahab.” Next look at Psalm 74:13-14 “You divided the
sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave
him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.” Isaiah 27:1 says “In that day the LORD will
punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty
sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who
lives in the sea.” We have also learned
that some of the demons are at this time incarcerated in the abyss as seen in
Revelation 9:1-11. We also know from the
end of Revelation, chapter 20:1-3 that Satan will be put into the Abyss for
1000 years. I have to say that it is
entirely possible that the “sea” pictures the nations too. My SD from 8/13/2005 has the following to say
on this subject: “The “sea” in many parts of the Scriptures
means the nations or the Gentile nations as in a sea of humanity. The next part of this verse speaks of a beast
coming up out of the sea so this would mean that this beast is coming up out of
the Gentile nations, and because he is described as a beast he cannot be a nice
person, for this is the description of Antichrist. This beast is described to have ten horns and
seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns.
Horns usually represent power, political power, when used in the Bible
and this person will have very much power.
These ten horns represent ten nations, and most feel this is speaking of
a re-built Roman Empire. I believe that
the seven heads represent seven nations, for when antichrist comes into power
three of the nations will not want him as their leader but he will force them
to come under his power. There are ten
crowns on his horns that represent the ten rulers. As this vision of the beast,
(antichrist) continues in the later verses of this chapter it will become
clearer.”
We will continue looking at Antichrist’s Ancestry in our
next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am thankful
that God has promised that we who are in the church age will not have to see
the Antichrist, or live under his power.
I am looking for Christ and not Antichrist.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength. Proverbs 4:23 says “Watch
over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Paul” (Acts 23:11).
Today’s Bible
question: “How many years did it take to
write the Bible?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/21/2015 11:30 PM
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