“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound and yet lived. He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he requires everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of his name. Here is wisdom: The one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. His number is 666.” (Revelation 13:11-18 HCSB)
Well, we’ve reached the passage that contains what I think is often THE verse that gets the most attention in Revelation. In fact, I think the fact that it gets the most attention is just indicative of the very wisdom and spiritual insight we are told we really need in this same passage. Almost every writer, work of fiction, or media creation references and focuses on the “mark of the Beast” found in our focal passage. EVERYONE spends an inordinate amount of time on trying to decipher and identify the mark or number [666], so they can identify the beast. To spend our time doing so is to really miss the point at the heart of this book and to fall prey to the very deception described in the passage. We’ll get there, but not before we lay a strong foundation on which to stand and set a direction upon which to build our faith. Stay with me…
The description of this beast in verse 11 parallels the other who rose out of the sea in verse 1, but this one rises up from out of the earth. If this is meant to contrast, and I believe it is, then this beast doesn’t come up out of chaos but from the corrupted order of fallen creation. But notice, he had two horns and looked like a lamb, but sounded like a dragon (see v. 11). We need to keep that in mind as we consider the rest of this passage, he looked like a lamb but he spoke like a dragon.
In scripture, we have a few descriptions of the kind of language the dragon uses. In Genesis we find that he takes God’s word, twists it and questions God’s goodness and intent (see Gen. 3:1-6). Jesus tells us that his native language is deception or lying and his sole purpose is to steal what he can from us, kill us and destroy God’s work and purpose in us (see Jn. 8:44, 10:10). In fact, when he confronted Jesus in the wilderness, he used these very tactics to try and get Jesus focused on the wrong things – needs/desires, self-preservation, position and power (see Matt. 4:1-11). He’s been much more successful at using these very tactics on us.
But notice, this beast has no real power or authority of his own but is given the ability to exercise authority on behalf of the first beast. Because of this, He compels people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. In a very sick and twisted way, this unholy and wicked trinity is a mockery and imitation of the Holy Trinity. In these people’s lives, the dragon assumes the role of God the Father, the first beast assumes the role of Jesus the Son, and the third beast assumes the role of the Holy Spirit. This is the very fulfillment of what Satan attempted to mislead Jesus to do in the wilderness temptations. This is blasphemy at its absolute worst!
The second beast’s efforts at compelling the people to abandon worship of the One true God is bolstered by his use of signs or miracles. He leads the people to make an image [Gr: eikon/icon] of the first beast, and then he was permitted to “give it breath.” He was permitted to do so, not by the dragon but by God. In other words, God is still sovereign and Satan and his “beasts” are only able to do what God allows them to do. That might shock a few of you, because why would God allow someone or something that is evil to do anything? Because love and obedience must be conscious, intentional choices we make or they aren’t valid. Everyone cringes at the thought of God “making” us do something against our will. In His infinite wisdom and love, He has made us capable of desiring, choosing, and doing things that are both constructive and destructive, good and bad, right and wrong, for and against Him and His perfect will for us.
In the visions that John has been showing us throughout our study, we have seen the direct results of our own choices as well as the choices of those around us. The dragon and his beasts have no power over us except what God allows and what we grant them. God has allowed the dragon to lie and attempt to deceive us, but He has also given us the ability to seek, discover, know and embrace the truth. The problem is that we often desire and believe the lie more than we desire and believe the truth. The deceiver knows our desires and he crafts his lies in such a way that he plays our desires against us.
By now, I think most of you know that I work in the field of technology. I have worked in this field for almost forty years. I am charged with keeping the data of my organization safe and its reputation clean. So, I’m a bit reluctant to admit that I’ve fallen for a few online scams. The very things I cited above regarding desires and lies have caught me in their trap. Let me explain, just a bit more…
I was raised by a mother and father (particularly my mother) who were very good at stretching their income to try and provide a nice home for me and my three brothers. In doing so, my mother was a bargain hunter and frequented many flea markets, garage sales and bargain stores with four boys often along for the ride. Because of this, I often find myself looking for a bargain. Confession time: I have made several purchases through scam vendors offering products I desire with deals that are “too good to be true.” For example, I have a particular brand of leisure shirt that I enjoy wearing. They are well manufactured, fit properly and last a long time. I saw a Facebook ad for these shirts with a very, very good price and I ordered several. They took my money but never shipped the shirts. When I investigated, I found that the web site was not legitimate and was entirely a scam. Like the fish that I often try to catch, they presented a lure that I couldn’t/didn’t resist and I bit…
I’m trained to recognize these signs, but I have fallen for them on several occasions because my selfish desires deafen me to the truth and turn up the volume on the lies. Is this happening to you with the truth regarding God and His word? As Jesus said, when the deceiver lies he is speaking his native language for he’s been a liar from the beginning. His desire is to throw out a lie that will catch your eye, confuse your mind, override your logic and get you to take his bait: Hook, Line, and Sinker!
Listen to the next few verses: “He performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of the people. He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound and yet lived. He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image to be killed. And he requires everyone – small and great, rich and poor, free and slave – to be given a mark on his right hand or forehead, so that no one can buy or sell without the mark.”
Remember, he looks like a lamb but he sounds like a dragon. We’re often persuaded to follow leaders when the things we see in them seem to line up with what we wanted, desired or expected. Leadership isn’t really about giving people what they want, desire or clamor for, it’s about leading them to a destination they don’t yet recognize, they can’t yet see. It’s about taking us where we ought to go, not necessarily where we want to go. The leadership we see in the verse above is a bait and switch scheme. Tell them what they want to hear to get them where you want them to go. The second beast shows the people signs and tells them what they want to hear in order to get them where he wants them to be, kneeling at an altar to the first beast. They never saw it coming. He looked like a lamb, but he spoke the words of the dragon.
When Moses brought Israel to the edge of the Promised Land, he had them select twelve men of vision and leadership from among the people. He then tasked them with going into the land, scouting it out, identifying the challenges and the benefits and then returning with a report. Ten of the twelve returned with a report that indicated they had made a grave mistake and should immediately return to Egypt. Two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, acknowledged the challenges and fears voiced by the ten, but they recognized these challenges were nothing in the grand scheme of God’s plan. The people were blind to God’s promise and deaf to God’s voice and saw only what they wanted to see and heard only what they wanted to hear. That rebellious and unbelieving generation never saw the fulfillment of God’s promise in their lives. Those ten leaders looked like a lamb but spoke with the voice of the dragon.
Now, we are down to the section I mentioned in my first paragraph. We are ready to tackle this passage that has captured so MUCH attention over the centuries: “Here is wisdom: The one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. His number is 666.” There it is, the beast’s mark, name, or the number that his followers will wear on their right hand or forehead. Be honest, isn’t that usually the center of attention in most books, articles, sermons or studies on the Revelation? It feels like everything and everyone revolves around this enigmatic verse. If that’s what your study of Revelation is focused on, then you’re listening to the wrong voice, you’re listening to the voice of the dragon.
You can’t understand the purpose of Revelation by focusing on the beast. He looks like a lamb, but he speaks with the voice of the dragon. You understand the purpose of Revelation by focusing on the true Lamb and by hearing the voice of the One on the throne. Listen once more to the warning in this verse, “the one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the NUMBER OF A MAN! His number is 666.” Remember what I said about leadership, a true leader leads you to places you can’t yet see, understand, or envision. He doesn’t take you where you want to go but where you NEED to be going. The beast can’t lead you to where you need to go because he is just a man and doesn’t know the way. He looks like a lamb, but he speaks like the dragon.
But I can assure you, there’s One who knows the way: “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way? ” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:5-6 HCSB)
It takes understanding. It takes someone who can recognize the lies. It takes someone who is able to identify the voice of the dragon. For the truth to break through in us, we must close our eyes to the false images we are shown every day. For the truth to be heard, we must silence the sound of the lies that blast away at us all day long. The lies of the dragon are loud, and persistent. In the verses above, Thomas and his fellow disciples had spent three or more years hearing, learning, and sharing the truths that Jesus demonstrated and taught them day after day. When Jesus told them that they knew the way to the Father, Thomas spoke the thoughts the rest of them were hesitant to say out loud: “But, we don’t know the way.”
It takes understanding…
The way TO God is not the way OF man. I’m going to try and say this in very plain language and in a very clear way. You can’t get to heaven by following me. I’m not the way, HE IS! The way of man will NEVER get you to where you really want to go, only God’s way can do that. Even my message, based on the truth of God’s Word can’t get you to where you really want to go.
The images we’ve seen in our focal passage are filled with stark contrasts. They were never meant to stand alone. They stand in the midst of the images before and after this passage. The images of the dragon, the first beast, and the second beast as an unholy trinity stand in stark contrast with the images of One on the throne, the Lamb who was slain and the Spirit of God, the holy and triune God of biblical revelation. And the ONLY way to know this holy, loving and personal God is through the revelation He sent to us, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and His Spirit whom He has chosen to pour out on those who come by grace through saving faith to Him:
“For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 HCSB)
There simply is no path to God and eternal life through man. The only path to God is through His One and Only Son, and through the work of His Holy Spirit. The one who has understanding must recognize this, the number of the beast is the number of a man. He may look like a lamb, but he speaks with the voice of a dragon.
Don’t make the mistake of believing his lie… it takes understanding.
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