In this passage we find Satan not acting
alone. He has deployed his other powers to do his bidding in this spiritual
warfare. He would rule the world through his intermediaries by providing powers
to them, and accomplishing his task through them. Here we see the beast of the
sea is one of his intermediaries. The passage we see here draws heavily on Daniel
7. Without going into detail, we can see that John is not interested in the
monster than in what this monster represents. His readers, like him, could see Rome
as the monster from the sea. Rome represents the worldly power that set itself
up against God.
Verses 3 draws us to a feature of the beast
that was mortally wounded and was healed. This was probably referring to rumors
that Nero who was dead, purported to have returned to life. Whether this is the
case or not, John’s main point is this: the beast claimed worship and shared
the worship with the dark pagan gods that stood behind it. This is a fact that his
readers would also recognize.
The Roman emperor was worshiped as god.
There was only room for him alone. Everyone must accept this and worship him. For
any one, the Christians in particular, who refused to worship the beast, had already
set themselves up on a collision course with him. And everyone it seems,
worshiped the beast, except those whose names are found in the book of life of
the Lamb that was slain.
John paints for us a larger and bleak picture
here, so that the little struggles in church can make sense in this larger context.
This dragon and the beast should help us to come to a proper perspective to our
faith and practice. It should goad us into greater faithfulness to Christ and
to persevere in our faith with patience and true holiness!
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