SATAN
AND THE TWO BEASTS
Almost all of the latter part of the book of Revelation
comes in play after the Jews return to Israel in unbelief.
After coming back into the land, they are harassed continually by
their enemies. Most important
is the fact that in chapter 12 we are told about the “war in heaven”.
Michael the Archangel is given the command to execute the first
judgement on Satan. This is
to cast him out of the heavenly places down to the earth.
The second judgement comes later when Satan is confined to prison
in the abyss for a thousand years, and thirdly cast into the lake of fire
for eternity.
Rev.13:
1 - 2
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
verse is not to be confused with verse 3 in chapter 3. “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a
great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon
his heads”.
This verse refers directly to Satan.
The differences are easily seen as in this verse Satan is described
as having seven crowns on his seven heads, whereas the Beast has ten
crowns on his ten heads. The
seven heads on the dragon are not the Seven Hills of Rome related to the
beast. The seven heads refer to the dragon’s concentration of
earthly power and wisdom. It
is his world in as much as God allows it to be.
He also has been allowed to control the ten kingdoms in the revived
Roman Empire. All of this can
only be temporary as the dragon, the Beast, and the false Prophet, and
their followers will be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ as we read in
Revelation chapter 19, Verse 6
“And I heard as it were the voice of a
great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of
mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Verse
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. The
First Beast
It is very important to clearly see
the different heads. The
first Beast, in this context, is the seventh Roman head, and it is a
political government powered by Satan.
This Beast gets his power from the dragon.
This Beast comes out of the sea.
Here we see John on the sand of the sea.
The reference to the sand and sea are very important.
The sand speaks of masses of people.
In this particular setting, it is mainly concerned with Europe just
prior to the formation of what we can call “United Europe”. The sea is even more important to
understand as it is describing the state of Europe, in particular the
social aspect of it. Socially
then it is describing people in virtual rebellion.
It is in this state of turmoil that a Beast arises out of the
seething mass. Let us note it
is a “Beast”, and a beast is the very opposite of a Lamb.
The difference is dramatic. The
Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God. The Lamb He could say: “Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Mt 11:29.
We also read: “Who, when he
was reviled,
reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed
himself to him that judgeth
righteously:” 1Peter.
2:23. This man showed
forth the glory of God. “And
without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in
the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
1Tim.3: 16. The Leopard Now let us see something of this leopard.
“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.” Rev.
13:2. He arises out
of the political and social chaos in the revived European Roman Empire. The Difference Just a moment’s reflection shows us
the dramatic difference between the Lamb and the Leopard.
The Lamb reflects the attitude of the Creator God towards His
creation. Of the Lord Jesus
Christ we read, “For
the Son of man is come to seek
and to
save
that which was lost”. Luke
19:10. The
leopard is portrayed as a wild beast, the servant of Satan, whose whole
purpose is to destroy all that pertains to God.
The seventh head is certainly political
and holds complete power over the revived Roman Empire.
The scriptures are quite clear that this particular form of
government will only last from the rapture of the saints till the end of
the seven years of tribulation. After
this mid-tribulation date, the leopard becomes more formidable. 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. The verse is very interesting in so much that it seems to indicate
political death of the Roman Empire which ceased in AD 476, and later its
resurrection. The verse
states that one of the “heads” was given a deadly wound, but his wound
is healed. Many commentators
believe that there will be a time, when God in His providence will call
and form this complete empire out of revolution and conflict, (“out of
the sea”). The timing of this great miracle seems to be the commencement
of the tribulation and the Beast takes absolute control at the
mid-tribulation, aided by the False Prophet. What is mentioned in the paragraph above is that the revived Roman Empire
begins its existence in a weakened form thus allowing a situation to arise
in which this empire goes into rebellion and is generally ungovernable.
After three years of this political condition, the Beast takes
control. In Daniel chapter 9:
27, we are told that the Beast will make a pact with Israel for seven
years, but at the mid point he will force Israel to cease their religious
worship with the aid of the second Beast described later in verse 11
onwards. Verse 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? At this mid tribulation point, with the Beast in absolute control, the
Beast because Satan himself has given him superhuman powers.
We should be aware that Satan worship is wide spread in the world
today, and very much so in Europe. It
is not stated here that the Beast forces the masses to worship the Dragon,
but we notice that one of the tools being used to do so is the supposed
miracle of the revival of the Roman Empire, and the arrival of its head
the Beast, that turns into worship of the Dragon, the Beast, and false
prophet. The Beast is the
most powerful of all Satan’s earthly tools. Nevertheless, God totally controls everything but does not
prevent Satan’s evil from being used.
Indeed this unholy trinity of Satan, the Beast, and the False
Prophet (second Beast), can only do what God allows. Verse
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. Above we see that the people worship Satan and
the Beast then speaks blasphemies. Blasphemy
is: “1)
slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another's good name. 2)
impious and reproachful speech
injurious to divine majesty.” The
position takes place in the middle of the tribulation and will only last 3
and a half years. We must ever be conscious of the fact that there
is no power except that of the Lord Jesus Christ we read “I am he
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and
have the keys of hell and of death”.
Re 1:18. Also,
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”.
Mt 28:18* Verse
6
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. This blasphemy continues for the 42 months. Many may ask, “Where are the christians?”
The answer is simple in the first place, prior to the rapture of
the believers there were very few. Testimony
has almost disappeared from the earth.
Therefore he is virtually preaching to the “converted”. Verse
7 - 8
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, 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. Every
person left behind after the rapture is unsaved.
From these verses, it is clear that, notwithstanding the terrible
times of the tribulation, there will still be those who will be converted.
Woe betide those believers because the god of this world will use
his slaves to kill and destroy them.
The Jewish people will be a particular target of this evil person. Verses
9 – 10. 9.
If any man have an ear, let him hear. 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. This
is a special message to those who have been exercised by the Holy Spirit
to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
This message is that they are not to retaliate against those who
persecute them. 2 AN
OVERVIEW We
have seen the historical four beasts, or world empires, in past history up
to about 476AD, and then we saw the reemergence of the fourth beast as the
Roman Empire. However, what
is importance is what is not mentioned in the scriptures at this time. First, there is no mention of the United Nations. In any case, even from the incident of the “Tower of
Babel” in the book of Genesis, we should be very aware of the fact that
what God has separated man cannot join together.
One should not be surprised then if it ceases to exist. Second, the scriptures do not tell us what causes the European rebellion, (the
beast comes out of the sea) but that it must occur is scriptural fact.
In that case, then as we are in the last days we should see it in
our own time. Why do we say that we are in the “last days”?
We do so because the Jews are back in their land, and that in
unbelief. Third, we should notice in the scriptures is a division of the world into two
camps. The revived Roman
Empire, and the Kings of the East. One
is opposed to the other and the opposition seems most likely to be their
attitude to Israel. The
revived Roman Empire is for Israel, and the Kings of the North and East
are against them. The
Second Beast
In
Revelation chapter 13, verses 11 to 18 we have a description of a second
beast that is very different in many aspects to the first one.
The first one comes out of the sea that refers to people in
agitation. The second one
comes out of the earth referring to a settled state of affairs where there
is firmly established civil and political government. It
is interesting to note that the first Beast had ten horns, but the second
has only two. The objective
of the second Beast, who is subservient to the first, is the deification
of the first. He will also
use the military power of the first to achieve his objective.
We also notice that the first beast is a Gentile and the second is
a Jew. The chronological
order is that the second beast is second in time as well as in rank.
We should repeat that the two beast’s spheres of action are
different in that the first beast is a mighty military and civil power,
but not as wide territorially as the old Roman Empire. Not
withstanding that it is smaller in size than the old Roman Empire, its
power and influence extends throughout the civilised and christianised
parts of the world. The Lord at His coming destroys this Empire.
Most interesting is the source of this beast’s power.
It comes from Satan himself as stated previously.
That may have been obvious to the Spirit led believer, but this
same power was offered to the Lord in Luke chapter 4, which he rejected
out of hand. Luke
4 Verse
5 – 7. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be
thine. The
Lord’s answer was to be expected because we read, “And without controversy great is the
mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the
flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
1Ti 3:16. The
gift of God is always the Lord’s, and nothing will divert His attention.
He, as the Son, has all the promises of God. Psa.
2:7 – 8. I
will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this
day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me, and I shall
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession. When power in the world is offered to the first beast he accepts it. Satan is the God of this world, and the Beast in accepting this Satanic gift, has power second only to Satan. However, we must keep in mind that, the first Beast and Satan as well, can only do what God will allow him to do. The second Beast rules in Israel, but soon the first Beast meddles in Israel’s affairs and the second Beast’s power diminishes. The second Beast functions are to deceive the world with the purpose of leading both christian and Jewish religion to be totally controlled by Satan. All liberty and freedom is gone each and every person who is led by the Beasts is in total slavery. 3 When
power in the world is offered to the first beast he accepts it.
Satan is the God of this world, and the Beast in accepting this
Satanic gift, has power second only to Satan.
However, we must keep in mind that, the first Beast and Satan as
well, can only do what God will allow him to do. The
second Beast rules in Israel, but soon the first Beast meddles in
Israel’s affairs and the second Beast’s power diminishes.
The second Beast functions are to deceive the world with the
purpose of leading both christian and Jewish religion to be totally
controlled by Satan. All
liberty and freedom is gone each and every person who is led by the Beasts
is in total slavery. The
Second Beast or False Prophet. A
Vile Imitation of Christ Revelation
13: 11 – 18. This
passage describes the Second Beast. In
the preceding paragraphs, we have noted some things about this Second
Beast, now we look a little more closely. Verse
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. The
First Beast had ten horns. The
lamb had seven. This Beast
has two. When we consider
this beast’s function, we see that it is to imitate the Lord Jesus
Christ, but with Satanic power. The
two horns of this Beast, when compared with the Lord’s seven is a
travesty and shows its deficiency in comparative power.
Nevertheless, it does represent the power of Satan and its
deficiencies. Next,
we note its speech, which is that of a Dragon.
It is nothing more than Satan’s mouthpiece and has his power.
No power on earth can stop either the First or Second Beast from
obeying and putting into operation Satan’s plans for all that dwell upon
the earth. However, they can
go as far as the Almighty God will allow them to do so and no further. Verse
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. We
have noticed above that these beasts have total power over the people of
this world. For those who
oppose either beast it means certain death.
Whatever the Second Beast says to the world is not recorded, but
the effect of his words and actions are clearly described.
He causes the people of this world to worship the First Beast.
Now we must keep in mind that the Second Beast is situated in
Israel, probably Jerusalem. In
the verse above, in order to achieve this result, he uses the backing and
has his full authority of the First Beast who is overall the most
powerful. Obviously from this
same verse, he is proclaiming the resurrection of the First Beast.
What we should consider at this point is that Satan is determined
to take the place of the Almighty God on earth.
Therefore,
it is correct to assume that he will try and duplicate that which is of
God. First, he will set up a
trinity will consist of Satan, the First Beast, and the Second Beast.
From the foregoing then, we can see Satan trying to represent
himself as God with the First Beast as the Son, and the Second Beast as
the Holy Spirit. However, the
False Prophet’s claims go even further.
He claims he is Jehovah God of Israel, and in fact performs great
sign and wonders. Verse
13 And he
doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the
earth in the sight of men, This
man seems to have miraculous powers.
The bible student is aware that his total power comes from Satan
and he can only serve Satan. In
this verse he does miraculous things the greatest of which is to make fire
come down from heaven. It is
interesting to note that in Elijah’s history fire came down from heaven
proving Jehovah was the true and only God. In
this verse we find that Satan copies Elijah’s miracle by using the
second beast and sending fire down from the sky to demonstrate his power
over his followers. What we
must not forget is that should anyone fail to worship the False Prophet he
is put to death so that we see a reign of awe together with fear. Thessalonian
Prophecy At this point, we should look at the prophecy concerning the second beast in 2Thessalonian chapter 2 verses 2 to 12 in particular. 4 2Thes.2.
Verse 2 That ye
be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. In
this verse false teachers had told the Thessalonians that the “day of
Christ is at hand.” “At
hand”, meant that the “the day of Christ” had already come, and
taken His redeemed back to the heavenly places to be with Him, and His
judgement had begun. They had
been left them behind. 2Thes.2.
Verse 3 Let no
man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition; Because
of this false teaching, the Apostle Paul begins to explain the real
scriptural position. In doing so, he considers two prophecies rather than only the
one. The first prophecy is he
describes the moral and ethical condition of the inhabitants of the earth.
The whole world seems to be totally immoral, particularly the
christianised part. This is
described in 2Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 9. Even today, we have false teachers who say the Lord comes at
the mid point of the tribulation, and others, equally wrong, teach that
the Lord comes for His redeemed at the end of the seven years of
tribulation. Every christian
is saved from judgement. The
second prophecy concerns the activities of the second beast, the false
prophet, in the land of Israel. This
can only occur after May 1948 when the Jews returned to their land in
unbelief. The apostle Paul
had told the christians at that place of future events in their own land.
In particular the coming of the Lord for His redeemed. Verse
4 Who
opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God. It
is very interesting to note he opposes all that is of the God of Israel.
This verse fits in with the description of this beast in Rev.13. The First Beast is also described in the book of Daniel. Daniel
Chapter 11 Verse
36
And
the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and
magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against
the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished:
for that that is determined shall be done. The scriptures tell us that this Second Beast has
set himself up in Jerusalem in the temple has been rebuilt by the Jews who
are still in belief. In the
verse above, we note that he is an egomaniac claiming that he is god.
We are also shown that he has total control, and that he will
prosper until the Lord returns to Jerusalem and judgement then begins. Verse
37
Neither
shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor
regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all This verse shows us that he is of Jewish origin.
In these two verses we see a little more of this person’s
character and if we are not a born again believer we will share the same
eternal judgement, which is eternity in a lake of fire. We
have just noted two related passages of scripture.
The first is 2Thes. Chapter 2 verse 2, 3, and 4, and the second is
Daniel chapter 11. These
passages gave more information about the character of the second Beast.
Having done so we now return to Revelation chapter 13 and we
discover more of the character and actions of the second Beast or False
Prophet. Revelation
ch.13 Continuation Verse
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. 5 This
beast commands that the people should build an idol representing the
leader of the revived Roman Empire, the First Beast, and orders that the
people must bow down to and worship him.
Next, we see a repeat of the history of Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar
built an image and then commanded all bow down and worship the image or
suffer death. Satan again
imitates God in that he sets up a trinity of evil as opposed to the Holy
Trinity of the almighty God. The
Holy Trinity It
may so well be that we are not fully aware of the relationship of God and
that trinity. In the first
place, we read in the scriptures that there is: 1.
The Father, 2.
The Son, and 3.
The Holy Spirit. What
we may not be aware of is the fact of the follow scripture. “For there is one
God, and
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 1Tim.
2:5. This
scripture makes it perfectly clear that there is only one God.
Then the question might be asked “why the mention of the three
above?” The answer is very
simple in that the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth is beyond
human description in that he is: 1.
Omniscient 2.
Omnipresent, and 3.
Omnipotent. In
the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we have three aspects of our God
who is the Creator, Governor, and Preserver of the universe.
In all this the vitally important point is mentioned in the verse, “God is
a Spirit:
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24.” It is
vitally important to notice the infinite difference between Satan and his
trinity of the Dragon, the First Beast, and the False Prophet.
The difference is that we have Satan as an individual, and the two
beasts as another two separate individuals.
Again notice the fact that the satanic trio can only very weakly
imitate that which God has done in past history. Does
all this seem far-fetched? With
respect to images, we should keep one thing in mind, and that is that men
in these last days worship images. This
is particularly so in the christian world where so called churches have
set up idols and the adherents even bow down and kiss them.
Therefore, one cannot envisage any problem in people worshipping
images. In any case the
people have no choice, it is either that or death.
This verse expands on the information given in 2Thes.2: 4. Here we find the second beast, the Jew in Jerusalem and in
the temple, deceiving “them that dwell on the earth”. This
phrase simply means those who are unsaved believe what they see.
In this case, the sole purpose of the image is to have those in the
world worship him. He uses
the secular power of the First Beast to achieve his purposes. Verse
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. First,
let us note that the word translated as “life” is really “breath”.
Only God Himself can give life.
Second, let us also note that this image can speak.
What the Second Beast has done is to imitate the giving of life and
in doing so; he is reinforcing his role as a counterfeited God on those in
the world. He is calling the
world’s attention to the first Beast and having them fall at his feet.
Not to do so is death. We
may probably wonder why it is that people who are totally self engrossed
and motivated should want to worship an idol rather than themselves.
The answer is that there are two good reasons.
The first reason is that Satan controls them.
They are part of the world and Satan controls the world. The second reason is that disobedience means execution.
It is very hard for us to imagine such vicious despotic control
over the religious lives of people. Whereas
the second beast is subservient to the first he still is able to exercise
all the power of the first and that of his own. Verse
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: Of
all the verses in this chapter this is probably the best known, but
probably not very much is known about either the beast or his mark.
It therefore behoves us to carefully study what the scriptures say
and forsake any guesswork. 6 In
this verse, we notice that the receiving of the mark is universal.
There are no exceptions. It
is interesting to see that the mark is to be expressly placed on the right
hand or on the forehead. Here
we read that each and every person was given an identifying mark either in
his right hand or on his forehead. There
would be no exceptions. S we
will see there would be no place for individual thought or action. Verse
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. The control over the lives of those left in the
world at that time will be absolute.
In effect we see, “no mark, no food”.
In the history of human habitation, there has never been such total
control in the lives of every inhabitant.
We must be careful however, because the mark need not be visible.
This may be so because these days the mark need only be scanned,
therefore we cannot say very much except that it is Satan’s dominion and
whatsoever he commands will be put into effect.
In this case, speculation may not be profitable.
What we can do is to note that there seems to be three options, and
even that is not clear. Verse
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. In
the continuation of verse 18 with respect to the mark all that has been
revealed to date is that the figure 6 represents man.
In the scripture we find man was created on the sixth day, his
appointed days of toil was six days, the Hebrew slave was to serve six
years, and the land was to be sown for six years.
We also find that under the sixth seal God poured out universal
disaster on mankind. With
respect to verse 16, and 17, above, in these last days, we should have no
problem in understanding the simplicity of the phrase “receive a
mark”. Most people have
bankcards with a mark (number) identifying the individual owner and with
which we can make purchases in retail outlets. It
is just as easy to mark the individual with an implant just as we can and
do with animals. Therefore to
receive a “buying” mark with which we can purchases is extremely
simple. Let
us also notice in verse 18 that the number six is prominent with respect
to Goliath in 1Samuel.17: 4 - 7, and Lahmi in 1Chronicles.20: 6.
We should also notice the number six in Daniel chapter 3.
What we can say with some assurance is that the number six
represents fallen man, and the number 666 may therefore represent the
degradation of mankind totally controlled by Satan.
What remains for fallen man is the judgement of God in various
forms, and finally they join their leader in eternal torment.
It is vitally important to see the end of Satan, the Beast, False
Prophet, and their followers. No
doubt believers, who wait for the Lord’s return in the air, have no real
need to know any more about the name 666 because it is not revealed.
In a future time, this will be revealed to those involved.
This man does not appear until 42 months after the rapture.
There is no doubt more will be revealed by our God in due time.
One should keep in mind the numerous prophecies fulfilled in the
last 60 years or so, particularly since the return of the Jew to their
land in 1948. In particular,
we have the almost total disappearance of the scriptural witness of a Holy
Spirit gathered group of believers to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This departure is described in Revelation chapter 3 where the
letter to the church of Laodicea is found. In
addition, we are seeing the prophecy of “the days of Lot”.
The Scriptures are very clear about the state of society in the
last days that will culminate in its peak of evil at the return of the
Lord Jesus Christ to reign on the earth.
The Lord prophesises this in the following passage: “Likewise
also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought,
they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out
of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is
revealed.” Luke 17:28, 29, 30. In
the day of the Lord’s personal return to Jerusalem to rule in
righteousness, there will be a clearly seen degeneration in the morals of
society in the christianised part of the world, and the “days of Lot”
is described in the verses below. “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly” Gen 13:13. Also, “And
the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because
their sin is very grievous”; Ge 18:20. 7 Here
we are told that they were sinners and had departed from the ways of the
Creator God. The following
two verses further describe the moral outlook of both Sodom and Gomorrah. “Behold,
this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and
abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she
strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me:
therefore I took them away as I saw good.” Ezek 16:49, 50. Four
things stand out in these verses. First,
in Lot’s time there was “fulness of bread”, which meant that people
generally were well off and had need of nothing.
Second,
their society was economically prosperous, but for those who happened to
be paupers were left to fend for themselves.
The well off had no concern for anyone else but himself or herself. Third,
we read:
Isa. 59:14-15 And
judgment is turned away backward,
and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and
equity cannot enter. Yea,
truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and
the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. Mic. 3:11 The
heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire,
and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the
LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Hab. 1:4 Therefore
the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth
compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Fourth,
we read that because they committed abomination they were taken away.
The “taking away” of Sodom and Gomorrah is clearly described in
the scriptures. We should
take careful note of this, as well as the flood in Noah’s day.
Both give an indication of the conditions to which society descends
in these last days. It would
appear that the most graphic prophecy of our days in the Word of God is
those describing Lot and Sodom. Later
we will study the attitude of both Abraham and Lot that clearly picture
the actions of the spiritual and carnal christian in similar situations. Taking
Away Sodom Taking
away, as we will see below, is the total destruction of both the people
and the countryside. The loss of the Sodomite’s life from this world is, from a
worldly point of view of terrible judgement.
However, it is of little consequence compared to the state into
which they were eternally consigned.
This was an eternity in a lake of fire.
Genesis
24 verses 24 and 25 “Then
the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the
LORD out of heaven; And he
overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the
cities, and that which grew upon the ground”. And Jude
1:7. “Even as Sodom
and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves
over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an
example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” What
appears to be totally misunderstood today is the mind of God on this
particular sin. To the
spiritual christian what he thinks is immaterial, what is of utmost
importance to him is what God thinks of this sin. Also, what should the believer’s attitude to those
committing such a sin. To do
this we will look at the Word of God, and them look at the actions of
Abraham and Lot respectively. God’s
Judgement on this Matter If a man
also lie
with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon
them”. Lev 20:13. 8 That
is the end of this matter. What
we think about the offenders is of no consequence.
We must go to the Word of God and through the Holy Spirit be led by
those words. In these last
days it is patently obvious that the unsaved, and the carnal christian
have no idea as to what the mind of God is in this matter.
For the unsaved their belief is that there is no God so they think
they can do whatever suites them. The
carnal christian is worse in every respect in that they were once
enlightened to the mind of God and have turned back of their God.
Their whole life is now doing what pleases them, and what they
think is right. This is
described in the following verses: “But it
is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog
is turned to his own vomit
again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire”. 2Peter
2:22. We
need no further description and we well know the origin of the word
sodomy. It is almost
impossible for older christians to believe that the world could have
degenerated to the extent that it has.
We now have civilised countries passing laws legalising sodomy
alone so called christian churches having these people leading them. Abraham’s
Witness In
Genesis chapter 12, we see the Lord calling Abram to leave his relatives
and his land to go to a land that he was yet to see.
In addition, God told him that he would be the founder of a great
nation and that he would be the recipient of great blessings.
This is seen in Genesis chapter 12 Verse 1 and 2. “Now the LORD had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing:” Abram
began his travels, and Lot his nephew came with him as they traveled to
Canaan where God promised the land to Abram.
We next see Abram and Lot out of the Lord’s will as they traveled
to Egypt. This is significant
as we see the restoration of Abram’s fellowship with the Lord.
At this point we see Abram’s restored fellowship with the Lord
making itself evident by him giving Lot the choice of the land when a
problem developed between Abram and Lot’s men.
We must keep in mind that God had given all the land to Abram, and
normally one would expect him to take first choice. Particularly
note that Lot’s choice was made by what he could see.
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and
beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well
watered
every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the
garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” Gen.13:10. Lot
was totally controlled by the flesh.
Not only did he know the land was first class, but also he must
have known the reputation of the people of Sodom in the place that had
attracted him. The
fundamental difference between the two was that Abram was led by, and
trusted God and gained His promised blessings, whereas the flesh
controlled Lot and eventually he lost everything. Abraham
walked with the Lord, which means that he maintained fellowship with Him
by simple obedience to His Word. For
us to be able to do that it requires us first of all, to appreciate that
the Lord died for us. For
Abraham it was an appreciation of what the Lord would do for him the
future. He would give His
life a ransom for all on the cross at Calvary. Abraham
Intercedes Gen.18:1-2. “And the LORD appeared unto him in
the plains of Mamre : and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he
lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he
saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward
the ground.” God
came down to Abraham because he was walking in fellowship with Him, and
told him that he would have a son Isaac.
God also told Abraham that he would destroy Sodom and all dwell
therein. The true
spirituality of Abraham became evident as he interceded on their behalf.
It of the utmost importance that we all take careful note of the
fact that Abraham would not have any thing to do with Sodom or its
inhabitants. Its fertile land
had no attraction for him, as his judgement concerning its people was that
they were evil. Notwithstanding
that, he pleads with God on their behalf.
The born again believer should follow Abraham’s lead and have
nothing to do with evil people or their deeds as there are no grounds for
fellowship whatsoever. Some
Highlights in Lot’s Witness The
first thing we have noticed about Lot is that he was after personal gain.
His choice in the land was the well-watered plains of Sodom.
We next read: “Then Lot
chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot
journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. .Abram
dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot
dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom”.
Ge 13:11-12. We
follow Lot and he obviously set up his household in the city.
Here we find that not only are the well-watered plains and
attraction for Lot, but also he attracted by the evil city of Sodom and
become then becomes part of it. We
also read that he becomes a leader in the city of Sodom.
He may well not have been part of the Sodomites evil habits, but we
may be certain that he never condemned them.
That would appear to be obvious, as he becomes a man of power in
the city as a judge as seen in the next verse. “And
there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot
sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot
seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face
toward the ground;” Gen. 19:1. In
this verse, we have the account of the avenging angels who warned Lot of
the coming destruction of the wicked city and were told to take his family
and leave. Even Lot did not
seem to want to leave the evil place, but the angels motivated him to move
out quickly. Of all that Lot
had, only three escaped that was Lot and his two daughters. It
is the vilest kind of sin for born again believers to have any kind of
fellowship with evil as it is totally opposed to the mind of God, and it
is walking in utter darkness. “If
we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness,
we lie, and do not the truth:” John. 1:6. When
the Holy Spirit shows us that the Lord paid the penalty for our sin in
full, and we accept His work, the Holy Spirit then dwells within us and
guides us on our way to spend eternity with the Lord.
However, that gratitude in us should make us walk according to His
Word, and in doing so we will be conscious of two things, first the total
sin of our old nature and our failure from time to time, and second the
necessity to confess our sin. With
the aid of the indwelling Holy Spirit the born again christian is brought
to the Word of God in times of failure. We read: 9 1John
1:7
But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Walking in the light simply means that we read our
bible and the indwelling Holy Spirit giving us a clear conscience when we
obey it, and should we disobey or sin He gives us a guilty conscience
until we get right with God. How
do we do that? By confessing
to God our sin, and no one else, whereby He forgives us our sin.
No other person on earth has any right to be involved unless it has
harmed another. In this case,
we must immediately put it right with the offended person. “For there is one God, and one
mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”; 1Tim.
2:5. In this same passage, we are very clearly told
that we are not perfect and that the old nature is still with us.
Hence, there is the necessity for confession.
1 John.1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 10 The
Poor In Sodom “Behold,
this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and
abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she
strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me:
therefore I took them away as I saw good.” Ezek 16:49, 50. We
have noted this verse previously, but there is another very relevant thing
that helps us to picture the last days just before the LORD catches us up
to meet him in the air. We
notice Sodom did not strengthen the hand of the poor.
This has well been described as the rich get richer and the poor
get poorer. In effect, the
population was strongly self-centered. It would appear in this our day less and less is being done
for the unfortunate. The
Days of Noah We
have noted the days of Lot, and having done so we are in no doubt that,
our present day is strongly orientated in that direction.
However, when we look at the days of Noah we are further
enlightened as to the times in which we live and the soon coming of the
Lord. We are warned in the
Scripture Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Therefore be
ye also
ready:
for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh”.
Mt 24:42 &44 Yes
indeed, the faithful servant waited for his master’s return, and should,
no less diligently wait for Lord and Master’s return. Our
day is similar to Noah’s in that there were saved and unsaved. And
it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and
daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the
daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all
which they chose. And the
LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years”. Gen.6:1-3 11 Not
only were there saved and unsaved, but we find in the verses above that
there were unequal yokes which thing God’s Word forbids the result of
which we read: Genesis 6:5-7. And GOD saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had
made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the
LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the
earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the
air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. Fallen
man’s thoughts of himself are that he is great and almost invincible.
God’s thoughts are that He can no longer tolerate such gross sin
in to continue, and that it must be destroyed.
Please take special notice that God never intended to destroy
mankind from the earth, and as in other places, we find that there is
always a remnant testimony for Him on the earth.
We must now take particular note of one of the worst human traits
is that violence filled the earth. We
read “And God said unto Noah, the end of
all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence
through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth”.
Gen.6:13. The
two major sins of men in Noah’s day was that they saw nothing wrong in
an unequal yoke, and had no thought of God in their mind.
This resulted in unbridled evil.
In particular, note that violence filled the earth.
Even when under this great pressure we find that there was no
thought of God in their mind. When
we look a the days of Noah and of Lot we can see all these characteristics
being prominent. Violence fills the earth, sodomy is violently fought for a
right, and there is no thought of God in the minds of society in this day
and age. These things
characterise the days when the Lord comes for His redeemed. OVERVIEW There
have been so many dramatic changes in the world since the return of Israel
to their promised land in 1948 that people born in the last twenty years
find that it hard to keep pace with them.
For older people this change is marked and it is very difficult to
describe them to younger people unless they are bible students with a good
knowledge of the scriptures. This is so because they think that things have always been
the way they are now. It is
therefore necessary for all, both old and young to have a good knowledge
of Bible prophecy. In
the last fifty years, dramatic and visible fulfilments of prophecy have
taken place in such quick succession that it is hard to believe.
What is harder to believe is that there are born again believers
who are not aware that these changes have taken place and also they seem
incapable of telling right from wrong, or scriptural events from those
that are unscriptural. No
doubt the notes above have highlighted some of these events and it may be
profitable to look over some of them again with respect to the period in
which we live. “Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come,
except there come a
falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”
2Thes. 2:3. We are clearly told in this passage of scripture that there must be a “defection, apostasy” (falling away) from scriptural commands and principles. This is a fact, and we believe that this is in the process this very day. 12 A
First Sign “Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
Rev.3:20. |