April 9: STRING-OF-CLUES (part 2)
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except the one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16-17
Worship of our God, freely given from a motive of love, is the only worship He accepts. Forced allegiance of any kind is not genuine. This is exactly why Moses was led by God’s Spirit to emphasize the importance of teaching our children about the character of the only true God, the God of love (Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:4-8; 11:18-19; Jeremiah 31:3; 1 John 4:8) who does not change (Malachi 3:6a; Hebrews 1:12; 7:24; 13:8).
To understand how the second beast of Revelation 13 causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave to do anything, we must wonder by what authority this is brought to bear upon the people. As no boundaries are suggested in this phrase, we assume a worldwide scope. More details are given in verse 12: And he [the second beast] exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. So, the land beast exercises the authority of the sea beast. But where does the authority of the first beast, the beast out of the sea (v.1), originate? The answer is found in the last statement of verse 2: The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. This raises another question: Who or what is the dragon? Like any good detective, we can make a positive identification. The history is laid out in chapter 12, with details given in the Old Testament (Genesis 3:1-5; Job 1:6-12; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:14-19).
That serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan (Revelation 12:9) desires to be worshiped. This is made abundantly clear in Scripture (Matthew 4:9; Luke 4:7). Satan is so fixated upon himself that he will stop at nothing to gain the allegiance of mankind, created in the image of God. In yesterday’s closing verse, Jesus expressed the obligation to pay taxes in support of worldly government, quickly pointing to the ultimate authority. “Show Me a denarius,” He said. “Whose image and inscription does it have?” They answered and said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Luke 20:24-25) This amazing response of Jesus was a vivid reminder that, as God’s image was the pattern after which He created man, our highest allegiance belongs to Him. Satan works feverishly to press his image into our character: that of selfishness.
No one in their right mind would knowingly worship Satan. Therefore, he works through people by deceiving them (Revelation 13:14). In these last days, he will perform more and more great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men (v.13). This counterfeit revival will seem so real that people will think the Holy Spirit is the power behind it, a counterfeit of Acts 2:3-4. But the people who know their God will not be fooled. They will cling to the truth of His word. Jesus strictly warned:
“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” Matthew 24:24-25