Revelation 13, verses 6 to 10, part 2, The Beast makes war on the saints

 

An important point of Bible prophecy, as touched on before in discussing Satan in Ezekiel and Isaiah, is that when the Holy Spirit gave a writer specific wisdom about a person contemporary to or in the near future of the writer, a description is given that also gives us information about another person. We must be careful, though, in our declarations and assumptions because we shouldn’t take away the relevance of the immediate context to the writer.  When you read Daniel 11 in context from the beginning it is clearly talking about Alexander the Great and his four generals who inherit his conquests. Still, figures in history presage figures in prophecy and teach us about their character and designs.

Verse 7 makes it clear that there will be believers in the Great Tribulation who suffer under the Beast’s murders. Those people whose names are not in the Book of Life will worship this beast. Those who do not will be murdered, typically, perhaps some imprisoned.  If you can understand it, then listen up, those who are placed in bondage are placed in bondage and those who are to be killed will be killed. We may not be happy with the way God disposes of things but it is His right to do so or to permit it as He wishes. Do you have patience and faith, trusting God unto death itself?

Job 13:15a  Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…

Daniel 3:17  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

The Beast makes war on the saints so there must be believers here on earth when he arrives on the scene. His is triumphant for a time in his slaughter of Christ’s people. He receives a head wound that should be fatal, it seems, but is not. However, it is his image, his likeness, perhaps a statue that is required to be worshipped, or a hologram like Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has used when he gave a speech via a hologram, his giant avatar wowing his audience as reported by The Atlantic in January 2014. (https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/01/giant-hologram-of-turkish-prime-minister-delivers-speech/283374/)