Today's reading continues on with describing the ways in which Satan will go about attacking the church(us).
The beast out of the sea - bad government
The beast out of the earth - bad church
Sometimes they work individually, sometimes they join forces in the attack.
Daniel provides some direction for the first few verses having to do with the four beasts - Daniel 7:2-7 which are prophecies of specific governments in history and also a prophecy that it would be the Roman empire Jesus would be born under on earth.
vs. 4's question can easily be applied to secularism today, can't it?
I've tried to apply how these two beasts have played out in history up until now. By default it's "easy" to try and apply it to my own. But it actually spans the world and time through the NT age! It's interesting to me to recall the history I'm aware of and see this - but much has gone unrecorded or forgotten too!
Bad church has worked with bad government before - a "state church" is a good example of this! Often the gospel is clouded or completely devoid! The Roman papacy often worked in conjunction with the government through history. The dynasties throughout China's history strived to control their citizens with a blur of religious and government loyalty (often through fear). Communism by nature seeks to control everything - including and especially what people believe.
vs 17's mention of some sort of "economic boycott" against all faithful believers (Concordia Self-Study notes) brought to mind any Muslim run government that levies a tax against any non-Muslim. In British Columbia fairly recently, graduates from a conservative university were denied law degrees because of their stance on homosexuality.
Both sections call for wisdom!
"This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints."
"This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."
I found The People's Bible really had a lot of good applications and commentary on this section! I'd encourage you to take the time to read this one if you can. There's too much for me to type:)
Please share what insight you've gained through this reading! Anything you never noticed or thought about before?
2 comments:
The insight I've gained is that I now know something about Revelation 13! Without the help of the devotional reading and/or The People's Bible, I could not make heads nor tails (nor horns?!?) or anything in this reading.
But Rachel, I also found that TPB had some excellent details and insights.
I noted a few, but my favorite was in regards to the beast that came out of the earth, particularly the error of work-righteousness:
"Spiritual wisdom, the insight gained from Bible-based faith in Christ, is needed to identify the beast outside and inside of ourselves. ... He lurks within our own souls too - that insidious error that we can earn or contribute to our status with God. Daily sorrow over our sins and our sinful nature - always linked with renewed trust in the blood of the Lamb - will give us wisdom."
Both beasts, in fact, remind me that I must keep my focus squarely on my Lord and Savior. If I begin to look to government for my hope, I am headed down a path that leads to destruction. If I look to what I can do for my hope, my destination is destruction as well.
On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand!
Love the horns joke!!! I needed that:)
Thanks for your quote you shared. Good stuff!! Words of wisdom.
And the words from my confirmation hymn ... singing with you!
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