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Revelation 13:12
As we work our way through Revelation 13 we have learned that a beast arose out of the sea (vs. 1) and was given his power, throne, and great authority by the dragon (vs. 2). This beast had been mortally wounded but was healed and the world followed him because of this event (vs. 3). The dragon was worshiped because he gave the first beast his authority (vs. 4). The first beast blasphemed God (vs. 6), and then a second beast arose out of the sea that exercised the same authority as the first beast, in his presence as if by a spiritual presence (vs. 11-12).
This is the ultimate deceit and blasphemy of the devil in his attempt to impersonate God.
The devil does not have the power of creation but gives the “appearance” of his own version of being God in his own trinity; Satan/the dragon is the devil’s own attempt to present himself as God; the first beast is his “appearance” of Jesus; and the second beast is his “appearance” of God’s Holy Spirit as defined by being in “presence” as God’s Holy Spirit is in our “presence” and serves as our guide until Jesus returns. The big difference that we need to see, realize, and understand is that the dragon, the first beast from the sea, and the second beast from the earth are only the “appearance of” and not the real LORD, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, but false impressions of them as Satan cannot create unique beings but only “appearances” of those that God has already created. Satan is a mockery of God and is making his attempt to deceive the world. Jesus declares in John 8:44 (NKJV), “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” Don’t be deceived by the devil but believe in the way, the truth, and the life that is found only in Jesus (John 14:6).
Dear LORD,
Please help us to see through the lies of this world and to the truth that is only found in Jesus, our Savior and the Savior of the world. We are beginning to see why the world, in its creation as a place for the devil, is in need of a Savior – a Savior who is capable of saving all who will call on Him to save us out of the devil’s world and into everlasting life in the world we were meant to dwell with You – in heaven – in Christ. Please let it be so LORD. In Jesus name I pray, amen.