Chapter 13 The First Beast, out of the Sea
¹And I saw a beast coming up from the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns ten crowns, and on its heads a name that is blasphemy. ²And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and the feet of it like a bear's, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave his power to him, and his throne, and great authority.
Media are outlets that are used to deliver information or data. It is either associated with communication media such as: print media and the press, photography, advertising, cinema, broadcasting (radio and television) and publishing.
The Beast is like a leopard. When you listen to the radio or watch TV, you are using electromagnetic waves which travel very quickly through space. These waves move at the speed of light. The speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second.
The Beast has feet like a bear. Television, radio, magazines, published media, etc.,have been around since their creation. They are not going to be moved or go anywhere, they are here to stay.
The Beast has a mouth like a lion. What is heard on the radio or seen on the television automatically engages its audience’s attention.
³And one of his heads was as slain to death, and the fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was filled with wonder and followed after the beast,
⁴and they worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?"
When you think about someone worshiping in ancient times you think about a person bowing down or on their knees in front of a statue or an object regarded as sacred. Their full attention is fixed toward that object.
Look at the family watching tv on the left or the statue of the man listening to the radio. What do you look like when your watching TV? How many hours a day do you sit in front of the television staring at this object? How many hours a week do you spend? How many hours a month?
⁵And there was given to him a mouth speaking big things and blasphemies, and authority was given to him to act for forty-two months.
What is a blasphemy?
According to Webster Dictionary a blasphemy is a great disrespect shown to God or to something holy; something said or done that is disrespectful to God or to something holy. The Beast will be given authority for 42 months which equals 3.5 years. I believe most of us would agree to say that some form of Media (TV/ Radio broadcasting) will be around until the end of the time. The first televisions marketed to be sold to the general public was in 1939. Again, 42 months does not literally mean 42 months but this number is important and more about this in the epilogue.
⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemies toward God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, those tabernacling in heaven.
The Tabernacle according to the Bible, was the portable earthly dwelling place for the divine presence of God from the time of the Jews Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. So the Beast’s blasphemies are toward God and anything that God considers divine, holy or sacred.
First in Exodus 20:1–17 and then at Deuteronomy 5:4–21, give us the 10 commandments which include instructions to worship only God, to honor our parents, and to keep the Sabbath; as well as prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, theft, dishonesty, and coveting. How many of these things do we entertain on television or hear on the radio? These blasphemies are now considered normal or no big deal. They are seen on television shows, movies, commercials or we hear them in song lyrics.
Do not be deceived by thinking that since you are not the one performing the immoral or blasphemous act that you are not sinning by entertaining the image you see or lyric you hear. In Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus says: You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to nor perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. How many things do we see on TV or hear on the radio that go against what God holds to be sacred and holy?
⁷And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to conquer them, and authority was given to him over every tribe and people and language and nation.
⁸And they worship him, all those dwelling on the earth, every one whose name is not written in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.
According to statista.com the projected number of TV households in the entire world would reach 1.59 billion in 2016. To compare, there were 116.4 million TV households in the United States in 2014. This number does not take into account for the number of people in each household. Who do you know that does not have a TV in their home?
⁹If anyone has an ear, hear.
¹⁰If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he is going. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. Here is the endurance and faith of the saints.
The Second Beast, out of the Earth
¹¹And I saw another beast, coming up from the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb, and it spoke as the dragon.
¹²And all the authority of the first beast it exercises before him. And he causes the earth and those dwelling in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.
The second beast is the digital revolution, internet, and digital medium. The mortal wound of the first beast refers to when television/ radio went from an analog signal to digital. With the convergence to the digital signal your old TV was rendered useless which forced to buy a digital TV or buy a digital converter box for it to work.
¹³And he performs great signs, such that he even causes fire to come down from heaven to earth before the people. ¹⁴And he deceives those dwelling on the earth by means of the signs which were given him to do before the beast, telling those dwelling on the earth to make an image to the beast which has the wound of the sword and yet has lived.
Are we not amazed?? What cannot be done with digital technology? Soldiers fight wars by flying drones that kill from thousands of miles away. Robots are making cars. Cars are driving themselves. Our phones talk back to us and so much more. What cant that little computer on the palm of your hand we call a smart phone not do? We take the image of the beast (the screen) where ever we go.
¹⁵And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, such that the image of the beast can even talk, and also to cause anyone who does not worship the image of the beast to be put to death.
Put to death, we have been forced to depend on computers/ digital technology. It is not impossible but difficult to nearly impossible to live in the present without it. Think about how many things in our daily lives we do, see, hear that is or was created by computers/ digital technology.
¹⁶And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to provide themselves a mark on their right upper limb or on their forehead,
The “mark on their upper limb” means to do evil and “on their forehead” means to think evil. To say that the dragon is using the beast (internet, tv, radio) as a tool for evil is an understatement. In the Bible, John 10:10 says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”. The internet steals time away from our families. Pornography is all over the internet, killing our souls and our children’s innocence. This medium makes it easier to give in to temptation and infidelity which results in destruction of countless relationships and marriages
¹⁷and makes it so that no one is able to buy or sell without having the mark---the name of the beast or the number of his name.
We use payment cards (debit and credit cards) by swiping them into digital card readers or typing the card information on a computer screen to make purchases or other financial transactions. Today, payment cards have become the preferred method of payment and sometimes the only method. Toll roads don’t accept cash anymore. It is difficult to get a plane ticket, rental car or a hotel room unless you have a credit card. You cannot make a purchase online unless you have a payment card. We have become dependent on these payment methods to make every type of financial transaction.
⁸Here is wisdom: he who has the understanding should calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a human being; and his number is 666.
The binary code is a unique series of 0’s and 1’s that are assigned to each symbol or instruction used to create computer processor instructions. This binary code is the basics for any digital data or signals created.
I believe that when John saw the number of the beast, he saw a series of 0’s and 1’s. The Apostles spoke Aramaic in their daily lives and Hebrew in their religious lives. Jesus is cited specifically as speaking Hebrew in the Book of Acts.
At least some spoke Koine Greek, which was the language of the Roman Empire and was the manuscript that the first copy of the Book of Revelation was written in as well as many of the other books in the New Testament. I believe that John was a Jewish convert to Christianity who was in exile in the Island of Patmos. I also believe that when he saw the characters of 0’s and 1’s, (being a vision from God) he related them to the closest characters in Hebrew that looked like these characters. The closest character to a 1 in the Hebrew alphabet is a Vau which has a value of 6. There are 2 characters in Hebrew that are similar to a 0, the Samech which equals 60 and the final or last Mem which equals 600.
Continue to the Epilogue