Citywide Baptist Church
The Antichrists
Revelation shows Satan working through two agents, the Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the land who are better known as the antichrist and the false prophet. It turns out that these agents have been at work for a long time and will be at work until Jesus comes back.
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Citywide Baptist Church (Mornington)
400 Cambridge Rd, Mornington TAS 7018, Australia
Sunday 10:00 AM
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https://www.citywidehobart.org.au/2024/07/25/ask-your-questions-about-revelation/The five principles of reading Revelation
1) Correct reading of the bible leads to the fruit of the spirit and not fear
2) Revelation should be interpreted symbolically unless you are forced by the text to read it literally. Numbers, particularly are very symbolic.
3) The most important key to Revelation is understanding the Old Testament and what the over 200 allusions to the Old Testament mean in that context
4)Reading Revelation requires imagination.
5) Revelation was written to shape people as dissidents who give their allegiance not to the world but to the Kingdom of God.
1) Correct reading of the bible leads to the fruit of the spirit and not fear
2) Revelation should be interpreted symbolically unless you are forced by the text to read it literally. Numbers, particularly are very symbolic.
3) The most important key to Revelation is understanding the Old Testament and what the over 200 allusions to the Old Testament mean in that context
4)Reading Revelation requires imagination.
5) Revelation was written to shape people as dissidents who give their allegiance not to the world but to the Kingdom of God.
In Revelation 12, we see Satan working to attack the people of God for a time, times and half a time. Revelation 13 unveils the agents of that attack.
Satan is the force behind this beast.
Satan is the force behind this beast.
The central problem presented by the beast is that people choose to follow the beast.
Horns in the Old Testament represent strength.
Horns in the Old Testament represent strength.
The beast (or wild thing) is a combination of the four beasts that Daniel saw that represented different empires.
We see specifically that it is the coercive power of the beast that people worship.
Coercive power is the power to make people do things that they don't want to do.
Coercive power is the power to make people do things that they don't want to do.
What you worship is what you give worth to, or what you organise your life around. It is the basis of how you make decisions.
When you worship the power of the beast you are worshipping Satan.
When you worship the power of the beast you are worshipping Satan.
Already the fact that it is a combination of the previous beasts alerts us to the fact that the beast is more symbolic of the dark forces behind leaders of different empires than one leader or empire in particular.
The beast's different heads represent different leaders of the empire, so again, the beast is emblematic of more than one person.
The beast's different heads represent different leaders of the empire, so again, the beast is emblematic of more than one person.
The beast's approach is pride and denials of God (blasphemy) and he has authority over other people... for the same amount of time that God's people are in the wilderness between the cross and New Jerusalem.
The beast fulfils Daniel's prophecy, which also reminds John's readers that the beast's days are numbered.
The beast ends up being called Anti-Christ by readers of Revelation because he is a distorted imitation of the real thing:
Both were slain and rise to new life (5:6 and 13:3).
Both have followers with their names written on their foreheads (13:16 and 14:1).
Both have horns (which represent authority) (5:6 and 13:1).
Both have authority over every “tribe, tongue, people, and nation” (5:9; 7:9 and 13:7; 17:12, 15). •
Both receive worldwide worship (5:8–14 and 13:4, 8).
Both have a final coming or manifestation, though one is to destruction and the other to eternal victory (17:7–18).
The term Antichrist, though, is not in Revelation but is used by John in his epistles to warn Christians that there will be many Antichrists.
Both were slain and rise to new life (5:6 and 13:3).
Both have followers with their names written on their foreheads (13:16 and 14:1).
Both have horns (which represent authority) (5:6 and 13:1).
Both have authority over every “tribe, tongue, people, and nation” (5:9; 7:9 and 13:7; 17:12, 15). •
Both receive worldwide worship (5:8–14 and 13:4, 8).
Both have a final coming or manifestation, though one is to destruction and the other to eternal victory (17:7–18).
The term Antichrist, though, is not in Revelation but is used by John in his epistles to warn Christians that there will be many Antichrists.
Because of one verse in Revelation 13, there has been a level of anxiety about one person who was going to come as the Antichrist.
Candidates for being the fulfillment of 666 and thus being the antichrist have been numerous over the centuries. Modern adaptations of the principles of gematria have led people to propose Adolf Hitler (if a = 100, b = 101, c = 102, etc., Hitler = 666); Henry Kissinger (whose name in Hebrew allegedly has a value of 111 [x 6 = 666]); former President Ronald Wilson Reagan (six letters in each name19); Bill Clinton (whose name could supposedly add up to 666 in Hebrew and Greek); and Barack Obama. Other associations with 666 have also been seen as evidence of the antichrist: John F. Kennedy receiving 666 votes at the 1956 Democratic Convention (and later being wounded in the head; see Rev 13:3); Ronald and Nancy Reagan moving into a house with the number 666; and so on.
Michael Gorman
Many scholars believe that the number 666 refers to Emperor Nero, who had recently committed suicide when Revelation was written, and who lots of people believed was either still alive or going to rise from the dead. The closest equivalent we would have to Nero would be Hitler, who caused revulsion and terror and who many said was still alive in South America.
If this is the case then John is saying, “Watch out for the next Nero”
Others point out that the original Greek doesn’t say “The number of a man” but rather “the number of man” (there is no “a” in the original). And that 666 symbolically means triple imperfection or directly to the demonic parody of the completeness that is communicated by the number 7. In this case, the wounded head is symbolic of the victory won by Jesus and that his followers can also wound Satan.
Either way, Jesus's followers are being called to watch closely anyone who wields coercive power, and particularly people with a lot of it.
It's possible that at the end of time, there will be more expressions of people seeking coercive power to enforce their will over God's people, but they will be the last in a long line of antichrists.
The central issue at the heart of the fall was that people chose their own power over submission to God, and as people reach for their own power they find the only way to do that is to subjugate other people. The forces of the antichrist were released in Genesis chapter 3.
The antichrist is a conquering force that imposes his will on other people. The people who align with the agenda of the beast are those who align themselves with his power.
Michael Gorman
Many scholars believe that the number 666 refers to Emperor Nero, who had recently committed suicide when Revelation was written, and who lots of people believed was either still alive or going to rise from the dead. The closest equivalent we would have to Nero would be Hitler, who caused revulsion and terror and who many said was still alive in South America.
If this is the case then John is saying, “Watch out for the next Nero”
Others point out that the original Greek doesn’t say “The number of a man” but rather “the number of man” (there is no “a” in the original). And that 666 symbolically means triple imperfection or directly to the demonic parody of the completeness that is communicated by the number 7. In this case, the wounded head is symbolic of the victory won by Jesus and that his followers can also wound Satan.
Either way, Jesus's followers are being called to watch closely anyone who wields coercive power, and particularly people with a lot of it.
It's possible that at the end of time, there will be more expressions of people seeking coercive power to enforce their will over God's people, but they will be the last in a long line of antichrists.
The central issue at the heart of the fall was that people chose their own power over submission to God, and as people reach for their own power they find the only way to do that is to subjugate other people. The forces of the antichrist were released in Genesis chapter 3.
The antichrist is a conquering force that imposes his will on other people. The people who align with the agenda of the beast are those who align themselves with his power.
The beast represents the coercive power behind all empires throughout history. You can see this power at work whenever people are conquered and coerced into submission
The moment you deny God and his agenda, then the only thing you can do is reach for power and your agenda, which means reaching for Satan.
My idea is that every specific body strives to become master over all space and to extend its force (--its will to power:) and to thrust back all that resists its extension. But it continually encounters similar efforts on the part of other bodies and ends by coming to an arrangement ("union") with those of them that are sufficiently related to it: thus they then conspire together for power. And the process goes on--
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Powerholders are egocentric, not compassionate, overconfident,
unrealistically self-assured and prone to ignore others.
They tend to cheat, even on their life partners.
Powerful people stereotype others, treat others instrumentally, and undervalue the performance of their subordinates. They tend also to harm others by various forms of aggression in family, peer, and workplace contexts ; In fact, a majority of workplace bullying comes from those who occupy a higher rank in the organizational hierarchy than their victims.
Power Corrupts, but Control Does Not: What Stands Behind the Effects of Holding High Positions (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5971364/)
My idea is that every specific body strives to become master over all space and to extend its force (--its will to power:) and to thrust back all that resists its extension. But it continually encounters similar efforts on the part of other bodies and ends by coming to an arrangement ("union") with those of them that are sufficiently related to it: thus they then conspire together for power. And the process goes on--
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Powerholders are egocentric, not compassionate, overconfident,
unrealistically self-assured and prone to ignore others.
They tend to cheat, even on their life partners.
Powerful people stereotype others, treat others instrumentally, and undervalue the performance of their subordinates. They tend also to harm others by various forms of aggression in family, peer, and workplace contexts ; In fact, a majority of workplace bullying comes from those who occupy a higher rank in the organizational hierarchy than their victims.
Power Corrupts, but Control Does Not: What Stands Behind the Effects of Holding High Positions (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5971364/)
Jesus wins people from every tribe and tongue with a different kind of authority, that actually gives authority to his followers:
Revelation presents us with a stark choice: worship power or worship Jesus.
The beast’s agenda is himself, not the empire he rules (which he actually hates), which is always the problem for any of Satan's plans.
The beast is only able to wreak his havoc because the people of the empire hand their authority to him and fail to hold him accountable for the welfare of the whole empire.
The beast is only able to wreak his havoc because the people of the empire hand their authority to him and fail to hold him accountable for the welfare of the whole empire.
A sign that the beast is at work is that decisions get made from the self-interest of the leaders and not the benefit of the whole community.
We are invited to be God’s agents of justice, mercy, and compassion, and when we hand that responsibility to self-interested people, society itself becomes fragmented.
We are called to be agents of God's peace in the midst of the empire.
We are invited to be God’s agents of justice, mercy, and compassion, and when we hand that responsibility to self-interested people, society itself becomes fragmented.
We are called to be agents of God's peace in the midst of the empire.
The antidote to the allure of the beast is the realisation that some things beyond self-interest are worth dying for
John is clear that this revelation of the power of the beast is something that affects his readers now, not in the future. They (and we) need patient endurance now.
This is the very practical implication of what he told them in the previous chapter about how they can defeat Satan.
This is the very practical implication of what he told them in the previous chapter about how they can defeat Satan.
We are called to live from a completely different approach to power than seeking to impose our will on other people.
The Kingdom of God is based on a completely different power system to that of the world, a system where where we exercise our royal authority through being willing to die to ourselves for the sake of God’s Justice, Mercy and Compassion.
Small Group Questions:
1) In the past, what pictures have you had in mind when you thought or heard about the antichrist
2) Read the quote from Friedrich Nietzsche and the results of power on people from the NIH study. Where do you see this in operation?
3)The beast from the sea is a combination of the different empires in Daniel's vision, so represents the powers behind many empires. How do you respond to the idea that the antichrist has actually been at work since Genesis 3?
4)What interpretations have you heard about 666? How do you respond to the two different interpretations of 666 that Matt put forward and their implications?
5) How do you respond to John's call for patient endurance and faithfulness rather than retaliation? What might that mean for you?
1) In the past, what pictures have you had in mind when you thought or heard about the antichrist
2) Read the quote from Friedrich Nietzsche and the results of power on people from the NIH study. Where do you see this in operation?
3)The beast from the sea is a combination of the different empires in Daniel's vision, so represents the powers behind many empires. How do you respond to the idea that the antichrist has actually been at work since Genesis 3?
4)What interpretations have you heard about 666? How do you respond to the two different interpretations of 666 that Matt put forward and their implications?
5) How do you respond to John's call for patient endurance and faithfulness rather than retaliation? What might that mean for you?