Revelation 13

Revelation 13:1:
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.

Revelation 13:2:
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Many have found this to be a Spiritual Metaphor for a modern day Roman Empire and I will not nor can I debate it being something else. We see that the sea is used to represent a multitude of people and using that example it is easy to see Satan´s man rising up to gain power. Some have been so bold as to proclaim this empire being composed of the countries of the European Union, I´m not at all certain of that. The Roman Empire consisted of nations from all of the known world and I tend to be more inclusive in my assessment of this reconstitution of the empire.

Revelation 13:3:
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

It is wonderful, the method and the manner of God´s use of words. I have seen several interpretations of this one scripture and none of the convince me of their being the one explanation.

Revelation 13:4:
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

It is important to remember, the Beast has just shone up on the radar and God has promised a peace that will be unparalleled for the first three and one half years, and this man will appear to be the author of that peace. Suddenly Satan and the Beast will be put up as God´s.

Revelation 13:5:
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Revelation 13:6:
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Revelation 13:7:
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Revelation 13:8:
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:9:
If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Many take this to show that the Church is not raptured until the first three and a half years are completed and I, being Pretrib, do not argue with them. You see, this is one of those secondary issues and in no manor affects our mission as described in the Great Commission. (Matt. 28:18-20) It is my position that, much like in the Left Behind series, there will be Laymen, Deacons and even Pastors that were not committed, whole heartedly, and they will finally get it! Life for these later Christians will be pure persecution. All of the Lost will be out to slay them, along with the Two Witness´.

Revelation 13:10:
He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Revelation 13:11:
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Revelation 13:12:
And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Revelation 13:13:
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Revelation 13:14:
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Revelation 13:15:
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Revelation 13:16:
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

Now enters the imitator of God. I take it that the world will see this one as the ultimate peace giver and will throw open their arms to welcome him into their, very, hearts. I find it important to note, here, that the Mark is issued and nowhere before the Beasts take over is it given. Many fear the Chip that, today, is being injected into our animals and the children of the Upper Class, all over the world. All of the Banks are calling for this chip to be given to all of us, but this is not the mark. (My opinion.) There is reason to fear this chip but for the time being, at least, the Mark of the Beast is the least of the reasons.

All of our Bank Records, Criminal Records and Medical Records are accessed through this chip and still, these are not as dangerous as the primary reason to distrust the chip. These chips are read because they have an RF Signal. RF is short for Radio Frequency. Therefore the chip is locatable 365 days a year, 24/7. You cannot hide without cutting the chip out of your body.

Revelation 13:17:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Revelation 13:18:
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Here we find an interesting point, every Bar Code, I´m instructed, begins with a six, ends with a six and directly in the middle, is a six. And I have no firm ground to make a statement about such but it is alarming to those that are close to the Church but have not committed.