Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: If you've studied the end times, you've likely heard about the Antichrist. But who is he, really? What are the signs of his rise to power, and what is he going to do? We'll find out more about this enemy as we continue our study in the book of Revelation. Welcome to Thru the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz, your host, and I'm glad that you're here on the Bible bus with us.

Now, in previous studies, our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, introduced us to five people who will play a significant part on the end times stage. And in just a few minutes, we're going to look at the final two characters. So as you get settled in your seat on the Bible bus, let's take a few minutes to hear how God is at work around the world. Greg, why don't you tell us what's new and exciting at Thru the Bible?

Greg Harris: Well, I'm excited, Steve, because just a few days ago, I got back from a trip to India. And you and I have been there together, you've been there separately, and I don't think you can ever go to India and not come back with some deeper sense of what God is doing.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah, for one thing, it's just such a massive country with so many different languages, and we have had so much significant ministry over what is now the decades in the country of India.

Greg Harris: And of course, one of our favorite subjects is the home groups, the radio home groups, and that was birthed in India. We now have over 20,000 active groups in India, Steve. And you and I have seen the impact, and you never, ever get tired of hearing testimonies from people. And we're using the TTB material in 150 languages in India. It's phenomenal.

It's incredible. So one of the things that we did—and you'll remember this because back a number of years ago, you and I were together, and you presented to the national winner of the TTB Bible quiz, right? So I got to do it this time because you weren't there. And I tried to; I did my best.

And here's what's interesting, Steve. We had 103,000 people—that's right, 103,000 people took the TTB Bible quiz last year in India. And this is where you study one book of the Bible using Dr. McGee's teaching, and then there's a 100-question test. Now, out of 103,000 people, any guess on how many people got 100 questions right?

Steve Schwetz: I would think a couple thousand.

Greg Harris: Five. And even George Philip, who wrote the test, said he's not sure he would get 100 percent. So it's a tough test. And so it was my privilege to represent all of us and present—we had over 500 people from all these different home groups and the Bible quiz, and we presented special awards to those five people.

But what was really more important for me was just meeting various home group members, leaders. We flew to Calcutta, and we met one evening with about 40, mostly women, and they were telling us their stories. And Steve, it was heartbreaking. So many of them talked about their families were opposing their faith in Christ. Their husbands were forbidding them from coming to the event, and they were having all kinds of challenges.

One lady stood up and said, "I was so upset in my marriage that my husband was opposing my faith, I was going to divorce him." And she said, "The next day, the TTB television program addressed that and said, 'Don't divorce your husband. Stay with him, pray for him.'" And she said, "I decided to stay." And you've seen these kind of stories as you've traveled.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah, and I don't think people have a real appreciation for—I know I don't. I often forget about the level of persecution that happens in India. India is a Hindu nationalist government, and there is tremendous persecution going on. I mean, right now the buzz is kind of around all the persecution that has happened in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, but India has always been for a long time a real place of persecution for Christians in particular.

Greg Harris: Yes. And so even they've renamed some of the cities, so what we would call Calcutta is now called Kolkata spelled differently, Bombay is now Mumbai, Madras is now Chennai. And so you're right, this is all part of a return to Hindu nationalism.

And we then went to Calcutta or Kolkata, and we drove three hours out into the country. And we showed up at this event, and there were about 250 people. And I've never—we've had flowers thrown at us. I have never—I mean, they were pelting us with the flowers. It was coming down the back of our shirts. We were laughing, but they were so excited to see us, and they welcome—that was their way of welcoming us.

Then we heard testimony after testimony. Many, again, many were women who talked about their husbands opposing their faith. And so as I come back from this trip to India, Steve, I just want to encourage our listening family to remember, as you pointed out, there's a lot of persecution, there's a lot of opposition going on in the world. And our ministry is like giving bread to a starving person. If you're being persecuted, you need God's Word to stay strong.

Steve Schwetz: Amen. Amen. So we can be praying for that. And then you can also be praying, if you're thinking about how can I be praying effectively for India, continue to pray for the home groups and the impact that it's having there. Our Christian faith is lived out in community, and there's no better way to start that community and get that fire going than by doing it in a small group, in a home group. So continue to pray for that. So let's pray now, Greg, as we begin.

Heavenly Father, we do pray specifically during this program for the country of India. We're thankful for the fruit that we've seen coming out of it for decades, so many different languages that Thru the Bible is in and so much fruit. I pray that you would continue to grow the home group ministry, not just for the numbers, Lord, but for the souls that are being saved, that you would call many people to yourself and that those that are in difficult situations, suffering because of their faith, that you would strengthen them, encourage them, and grow them in their faith.

And many others would come to Christ as a result of the persecution. Lord, I pray that you would bless the program as it goes out now in Revelation. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now today, friends, we come to this very awe-inspiring 13th chapter of Revelation. And we have introduced to us here now the two last personages of the seven that were introduced to us actually by the seventh trumpet. And we had five of them introduced to us in chapter 12. The woman—that's Israel. The red dragon—Satan. The child of the woman—Christ. Michael—is the archangel. And the remnant—that is the 144,000 that were sealed of God are going to make it through the great tribulation.

Now, here is where the action is when we come to these personages. Here is revealed to us the great warfare that's going on between light and darkness and God and Satan, and we see it manifested as we draw to the end of the age during the great tribulation period. Now these final two performers are brought before us, and one is the wild beast out of the sea. He's both a political power and a person. That's in the first ten verses. Then verses 11 through 18, we have the wild beast out of the earth, and he's a religious leader.

Now, we are going to look at these, but there are a few preliminary remarks I would like to make. These two beasts are presented to us as wild beasts. That's the literal translation. Now, it's bad enough to be a beast, but to be a wild beast compounds the injury. Now, there's much disagreement among reputable Bible expositors as to the identity of the beasts. Some consider the first beast to be a person, while others treat him as the last form of the Roman Empire. Some treat the second beast as the man of sin, while others consider him merely as the prophet or the John the Baptist type for the first beast.

Now these difficulties, I think, arise because it's impossible to separate a king from his kingdom. A dictator must have a realm over which he rules or he's no dictator. Though it's difficult to distinguish the two, it seems that the first beast is the Antichrist, the ruler over the restored Roman Empire, because in chapter 16, verse 10, we're told there "the throne of the wild beast." So I would judge from that that there's somebody to sit on that throne, and that is the beast that is here, but he wouldn't be the beast if he didn't have the empire.

Now after determining the identity of the first beast, it's not really difficult to identify the second. He's a man, the false prophet, the religious leader who leads in the worship of the first beast, and he is Antichrist also. We'll see that. Now there's another view being held today that Antichrist is a denial of the person of Christ rather than an actual person. In other words, Antichrist is false doctrine rather than a person yet to be revealed.

And I think we can answer that, by the way. The explanation, I think, is found in the meaning of the preposition "anti." It has two usages: Antichrist. Well, anti has a meaning of "over against." And the second meaning is "instead of" or "in place of." And it has both meanings in Scripture. And actually, John, not in Revelation but in his first epistle and also in his second epistle, he mentions the Antichrist, and he's the only one that uses that designation.

I think that we can see both of these characteristics, the one that is against Christ and the one that imitates Christ. And Antichrist is both. And how can you have it all in one person? Well, we're going to see that. And I'd like to take just a moment to turn to John and see what he has to say. We've looked at this before when we studied 1 John, but we'll look at it rather briefly now.

In 1 John 2:18, the first reference, he says, "Little children, it's the last time." That was 1,900 years ago. We've been in the last time a long time. "And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists, by which we know that it is the last time." Note here that John not only says there's going to be an Antichrist, but already in his day there were many antichrists.

Now, what was the thing that identified an Antichrist? Well, will you notice what he says in 1 John 2:22? He says, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He's antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son." Now Antichrist denies the deity of Christ. He denies him. He's against Christ, and we see that he is the enemy of Christ on the earth. In the fourth chapter, John's going to tell us some additional facts concerning Antichrist.

He said, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. By this know ye the spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of antichrist, of which we've heard that it should come and even now already is in the world."

In other words, any person or any group or any book that denies the deity of Christ, that's Antichrist. Now I'm very frank to say that I consider the play "Jesus Christ Superstar" is Antichrist. It's against Jesus Christ of the Bible. And I think that any minister today that denies the deity of Christ, he's Antichrist. He's against Christ. Now over in 2 John, verse 7, John says, "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."

Now Antichrist is a deceiver. He pretends to be Christ and he's not, and that's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ said, that there're going to be many that'll come in my name, saying "I'm Christ." And you to test them because every spirit is not of God. You need to test the spirits today. And I think a great many people that get all worked up and wrought up in these little groups, you better start testing your little group. You better start testing the little cult that you're in. And instead of being a super-duper saint, you may be following an Antichrist, actually.

So that the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24:24, "For there shall arise false Christs, false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Now there will arise false Christs. That is, they'll be able to perform miracles. Now this last beast is really a miracle worker. He's an Antichrist, and we're going to see that the first beast is political Antichrist. The last beast is religious Antichrist. You see, even the devil can't put it all together in one person, and I think there are two persons. These two beasts here are Antichrist.

Now let's come to our text today. We have here in verses 1 and 2, and I'm going to read from my translation, and you follow closely the Authorized Version. I read, "And he stood on the sand of the sea." What do you read? Well, you read "I stood upon the sand of the sea" as if it were John. Now the better manuscripts today show that "he," and who's he? Well, who were we talking about in the last chapter? It's the same "he" there because that's the last modifier, and that, of course, is Satan.

So the dragon, Satan, he stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a wild beast coming up out of the sea. Now who brings him out of the sea? Well, Satan brings him out of the sea. And he comes out of the sea, the sea in Scripture's a picture of the nations of the world, mankind, like the restless sea. Having ten horns and seven heads and on his horns ten diadems and upon his heads names of blasphemy.

Now, my friend, this is something that'll boggle the mind here again is this beast. This is really a beast, and if I met him in the dark, I know one thing: he and I'd be going the same way, only I'd be lots farther down the road than he was. Now will you notice this: the dragon stands on the sand of the sea, and it is he who brings the wild beast out of the sea and dominates it. Now this is his masterpiece. He's a person who heads up the old Roman Empire. Rome, as we've said before, just fell apart, and this is the only one that'll ever be able to put it back together again.

Now if you remember our study in Daniel, we went in detail on that. That's the reason you need to know Daniel to know Revelation. Now God apparently is taking his hands off of this earth for a while and turning it over to Satan. Personally, I believe that's poetic justice and that actually the very fact that evil has appeared and Satan has become who he is, that God must let him demonstrate that when he gives him full sway and his way, he'll not be able to produce.

Satan would always be able to say to God when he's in the lake of fire, he'd say, "Look, you never gave me a chance. If you'd taken your hand off and let me alone, I would have been able to accomplish my purpose and establish a second kingdom." But God's going to do that so that he won't have that opportunity. And so we have here then this tremendous statement. And as we said, the sea represents the nations.

And this wild beast is similar in description to the fourth beast, that nondescript beast in the seventh chapter of Daniel. There it represents the prophetic history of the Roman Empire down to the little horn and his destruction. You remember that beast there that looked like it became dormant for a while and then it had these seven heads and out of one of the heads there came up this little horn, out of the ten horns there came up a little one.

This little horn put together three, and he was able then to take over the other seven. That is back in the book of Daniel, and I'm saying it very quickly. But you see at the time of the writing of John, much of the prophecy of Daniel had been fulfilled, the first three beasts had: Babylon the lion, and Media-Persia the bear, and the Graeco-Macedonian Empire that represented the panther, that is the third beast.

When Daniel gave it, it was prophecy. Now it's fulfilled in John's time. So John centers on this last beast and upon the little horn because the last beast has appeared and the Roman Empire just fell apart. At the time of the writing of John, much of the prophecy of Daniel had been fulfilled, and John was living in the time of the Roman Empire having been exiled to the Isle of Patmos by the Roman emperor Domitian.

Already signs of weakness and decay were visible in the empire, and John was a spectator to that which was still future. The emphasis is upon the rule of the little horn of Daniel 7, and the little horn is set before us as a wild beast, for he's now ruling and controlling the Roman Empire. That is, that'll be for the great tribulation period in his prophecy. And the little horn and the wild beast are identical here. For those of you that are Bible students, you'll understand that. The wild beast is the man of sin and Antichrist, the final world dictator.

The last verse of this chapter confirms this view: "let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast for it's the number of a man." We're going to see that in verse 18. So we're dealing with a man who is the world dictator then, and we'll see the development here in this chapter. Now there's been a great deal of excitement in our day, and I'm included in the group that are excited, about the fact that there is the Common Market in Europe today.

You see, there've been many that have attempted to put Europe back together again. Charlemagne attempted that and he failed. I think that the Roman Catholic Church has attempted it and certainly has not succeeded in that. In fact, the Holy Roman Empire that centered in Vienna, Austria, Franz Joseph was the last of the emperors in the Holy Roman Empire, and his son apparently was either murdered or committed suicide.

It's a very sad story. And that's always been interesting to me because there was an attempt made. Napoleon attempted it. Kaiser Wilhelm attempted it. Hitler and Mussolini attempted it. But you see, God hasn't been ready yet, and he won't let him appear until the time of the great tribulation. And to me, the Common Market is interesting, not because we're seeing prophecy fulfilled but we're seeing a stage set that reveals that prophecy can be fulfilled.

A great many people have said down through the centuries, "You'll never get Europe together." Well, you can't until God's ready, and Satan is going to supply the man. And I think the Common Market is just an interesting instrument, that's all. Now the little horn comes to power by first putting down three of these rulers, and afterward he dominates the other seven, and he becomes from that the world dictator. We'll see that.

Now the seven heads are not easily identified. They're interpreted in chapter 17, verses 9 and 10, as seven kings. And these do not reign contemporaneously as the ten horns do, but they appear in a chronological order. Some have interpreted them as representing certain Roman emperors as Domitian, who was then ruling, and others interpret these seven heads as the forms of government through which the Roman Empire passed. They had kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, military tribunes, and emperors.

A third view is that the seven heads could represent seven great nations of antiquity which blasphemed God: Rome, Greece, Media-Persia, Chaldea, Egypt, and Assyria. Now the kingdom of the beast would be the seventh, which is yet to come, and Seiss takes that position. Another likely view is that the seven heads correspond to the seven heads of the dragon, which denote exceptional wisdom. Satan energizes the man of sin, the last dictator, and we're going to see that.

So you take your pick here. I'll be very frank with you. Here's a place where I can't be dogmatic. I can't tell, and I don't think it's that important, by the way. Now all seven heads are guilty of blasphemy. Blasphemy manifests itself in two ways, according to Govett: making oneself equal with God, that is usurping his place, and slandering and taking God's name in vain.

The emperors of Rome were guilty of the first form. They made themselves equal with God. That was emperor worship in the Roman Empire. And the Pharisees were guilty of the latter when they blasphemed the Holy Spirit. Now the beast here is guilty of both forms as we're going to see as we get into this chapter here. I've merely got down an introduction to this beast, and next time we're going to see the description of him and move on to the second beast and see how they are related. So until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: All our studies are available on our app or at ttb.org. For more information, call 1-800-65-BIBLE. Now next time, we begin an in-depth look at the beast that comes out of the sea. I'm Steve Schwetz, and I'll save you a seat on the Bible bus.

Our story on the Bible bus today is just one step in a five-year journey through the entire Word of God. Come along for the ride and you'll study both the Old Testament and New Testament, discovering God's great redemption story. Is this your story too?