Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.
In the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, Michael and his angels threw the dragon and his demons to earth. Chapter 13 continues the story.
The dragon stands on a seashore, while a beast emerges from the sea. The beast has 10 horns, 7 heads, feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion. One head looks like it was fatally wounded, but had healed.
This impresses the whole world, and everyone worships the magical beast and the dragon who gave him authority. The beast spends the next six years blaspheming God, railing against the residents of heaven, and unleashing war against Christians.
John quotes Jeremiah to describe these six awful years:
If anyone is destined for captivity,
into captivity they will go.
If anyone is destined to be killed by the sword,
then the sword will kill them (Rev 13:10 quoting Jer 15:2).
Not a comforting thought for those Christians. What happened to the salvation and power and kingdom of God that were promised in Revelation 12? With classic understatement John comments, “This calls for patient endurance by God’s people” (Rev 13:11).
The vision continues. Another beast shows up: Beast #2. It comes out of the earth and starts a new religion by creating an image of Beast #1. The image comes alive and speaks. If you refuse to worship the image, you are scheduled for execution.
Notice some Old Testament themes in this story. In the beginning, God’s spirit hovered over the waters of chaos, and created humans in his image from the dirt of the earth.
In a feeble parody of creation, the dragon stands by the sea, calling up beasts like itself from sea and earth. The beasts set up an image to be worshiped, reminding us of King Nebuchadnezzar who commissioned an image of himself for people to worship. When Daniel’s friends refused, the king threw them into a fiery furnace.
In Revelation, the beasts not only demand worship, they mark everyone’s forehead or right hand. Without that mark, no one can buy or sell.
John comments, again with understatement, “This calls for wisdom” (Rev 13:18). He continues, “Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of humans. That number is 666.”
A mysterious saying indeed. 666 is the code for the beast that rules and for the humans it rules over? Maybe John is warning that humans who worship something other than God are turning themselves into beasts.
Let’s pray.
Our father, save us from whatever it is that 666 represents. Save us from the beasts that require worship, from humanity’s tendency to become like beasts, and from the beastly instincts of our own nature.
John’s vision tells us that our world will get worse before it gets better. As the old hymn says, “Is this vile world a friend to grace?”
O Lord, grant us wisdom not to consume ourselves with counting sixes and charting the rise of beasts. Grant us wisdom to understand the true nature of earthly power, whether wielded by Biden or Trump or Putin or Jinping or Trudeau. Teach us to be loyal to you alone, to wait for your salvation.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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