In this message we come to the beast out of the sea (13:1). Chapters twelve and thirteen seem to stand alone, and for many years I did not know the connection between them. The connection is the sea mentioned in 12:18 and 13:1. Revelation 12:18 (13:1 in KJV) says, “And he [the dragon] stood on the sand of the sea.” Following this, 13:1 says, “And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.” The sea both in 12:18 and in 13:1, as well as the great sea in Daniel 7:2, refers to the Mediterranean Sea. (Mediterranean means “the sea within the land.”) Hence, the sea is the link connecting chapters twelve and thirteen.
In chapter twelve, the dragon was defeated and cast out of heaven to the earth. After coming to the earth, immediately he begins to stir up the beast from the sea. The sand of the sea here no doubt indicates the seashore of the Holy Land, the very edge of the nation of Israel. The dragon will stand there and cause the beast, Antichrist, to come up out of the sea. The fact that the dragon stands on the sand of the sea and the fact that the holy city, Jerusalem, will be trampled under foot forty-two months (11:2) indicate that Satan’s persecution in the great tribulation will be carried out mainly in the land of Israel.
In these messages on Revelation 13 I am burdened to point out all the various aspects of Antichrist, as revealed to us in detail in Daniel, Revelation, and 2 Thessalonians, so that the saints may have a clear understanding concerning this evil person.
Hardly anything in the book of Revelation is altogether new. Rather, nearly all the items here are mentioned in the Old Testament. If we would understand the book of Revelation, we must trace the items found here back to their first mention in the Old Testament. In this way we shall see both the original revelation and the development of the revelation. This is the case, in principle, with Antichrist. Antichrist is revealed in Daniel, but Revelation gives a further development regarding him.
Many of us are somewhat familiar with the prophecies in the book of Daniel. In these messages we need to consider four chapters in Daniel: chapter two, an account of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; chapter seven, a revelation of the four beasts out of the sea; chapter eight, the ram and the goat fighting against each other; and chapter eleven, the northern and southern kings. In chapter eight a little horn comes out of one of the four horns of the goat, and something also issues from the northern king in chapter eleven. These two are the same.
The great image in chapter two is of four parts: the head, the breast and the arms, the belly and the thighs, and the legs, including the ten toes. The fourth part is subdivided firstly into two legs and then into ten toes. The periods of history signified by the first three parts of the image and the two legs have been fulfilled, but the ten toes have not yet been fulfilled. The four beasts in chapter seven correspond to the four parts of the great image in chapter two. The first beast corresponds to the head, the second to the breast and the arms, the third to the belly and the thighs, and the fourth to the legs with the toes. Eventually, according to the vision in chapter seven, the fourth beast will have ten horns. These ten horns of the fourth beast will actually be the ten toes of the fourth section of the great image.
The two animals in chapter eight, the ram and the goat, are equal to the second and third beasts mentioned in chapter seven. Hence, the goat equals the third beast and the third section of the great image. According to chapter eight, upon the goat there are four horns, and out of one of them sprouts a little horn.
In chapter eleven of Daniel we have the two kings, the southern king and the northern king. The northern king is a shadow of Antichrist, and he comes out of the horns of the goat in chapter eight.
Please note the connections between these four chapters in Daniel. The four beasts in chapter seven equal the four sections of the great image in chapter two. The ram and the goat in chapter eight equal the second and third beast in chapter seven. The northern king in chapter eleven comes out of one of the four horns of the goat in chapter eight. Eventually, the northern king will be a shadow, a type, of Antichrist, who is the little horn spoken of in chapter eight.
In Daniel 9:24-27 we have the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks. According to this chapter, seventy weeks have been assigned by God in the history of Israel. Each week denotes a period of seven years. After the sixty-ninth week, a prince, who was Titus, came to destroy Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was trodden under the feet of the Gentiles. During that time, the desolation came with the abomination (Dan. 9:27). In A.D. 70 Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem. From that time until 1967 Jerusalem was under Gentile control. The return of Jerusalem to the Jews in 1967 is an indication that we are very close to the end time. Through Antichrist the desolation with the abomination will soon come in full.
© Living Stream Ministry All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.