Idolizing the Beast

The Empire’s propagandists encourage men and women to give allegiance and veneration to the Emperor, the Beast from the Sea.

The “False Prophet” as described in the Book of Revelation uses religious symbolism and economic control to coax the Inhabitants of the Empire to pay homage to the Imperial Throne. Whether force or persuasion is employed, the goal is the same. Men who refuse to venerate the “Beast from the Sea” are excluded from economic activity and impoverished.

Since the Tower of Babel, monarchs have encouraged their subjects to worship their absolutist regimes. Antiochus Epiphanes fancied himself the son of Zeus. The Roman imperial cult encouraged subject peoples to offer incense to Caesar’s image - Filio Dei or “Son of God” as it read on Roman coins. It remains so to this very day.

[Caesar - Photo by Anastasiya Badun on Unsplash]

The Book of Revelation uses a graphic Greek term to describe the agenda of the “Dragon,” but its sense is lost in many English translations. The “False Prophet” exploits the authority of the “Beast from the Sea” to lure men to “worship” it.

The Greek verb ‘proskuneô’ translated as “worship” does not mean doing so as in the ritualistic adoration of a deity. The more accurate sense is “to prostrate” oneself before someone of superior rank, to “render homage” to him. It combines the Greek preposition ‘pros,’ meaning “towards,” with the word for “kiss.” In other words, bowing down to kiss the hem of a dignitary’s robe.

From this comes the idea of “rendering homage” to an overlord who speaks with divine authority. Swearing allegiance to political leaders, causes, and governments best represents the idea in a modern context. This is what the “False Prophet” does by causing individuals, peoples, and entire nations to submit to the “Beast.” If this Master Deceiver cannot persuade men to submit, he carries a very big stick to force their c0mpliance, namely, economic coercion.

The “Inhabitants of the Earth” who follow the “Beast” have its “number” branded on their “right hand,” but the followers of the “Lamb” have Christ’s name “written on their foreheads.” The “Mark of the Beast” is the counterfeit of the “Seal” of God. The “Slain Lamb” offers men and nations redemption purchased through his sacrificial death. In contrast, the “False Prophet” uses economic threats to compel men to venerate the “Beast.” The contrast could not be starker:

• “He causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand or upon their forehead, and that no man should be able to buy or to sell except he who has the mark, even the name of the Beast or the number of his name” – (Revelation 13:16-17).

• “And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the book, and to open its seals, for you were sacrificed and purchased for God with your blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and you made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they are reigning upon the Earth” – (Revelation 5:9-10).

The “Inhabitants of the Earth” who take the Beast’s “mark” are legally authorized to engage in commerce, to “buy and sell.” The followers of the “Lamb” are excluded from the economic life of society. Loyalty to the “Beast” has its rewards. Remaining faithful to the “Lamb” often means personal loss and poverty.

Humanity is divided into two groups: Those who follow the “Slain Lamb wherever he goes”, and those men who give their allegiance to the “Beast from the Sea.” There is no middle ground, no neutral territory. To which one, the Lamb or the Beast, any man gives his allegiance determines whether his name is excluded from the “Book of Life” - (Revelation 13:16-18).

BOWING TO THE IMAGE

The “False Prophet” leads men to manufacture an “image” of the “Beast” before which they prostrate themselves, just as the Babylonian Emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, required of all his subjects:

• “To you, it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and venerate the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And whoever does not fall down and venerate the image will in the same hour be cast into a burning fiery furnace” – (Daniel 3:4-6).

What distinguishes the image of the “Beast from the Sea” is not its shape or size, but the total devotion to it required by the Imperial Government. Ironically, this time, those men who submit by venerating the beastly image will find themselves cast into the “Lake of Fire and Brimstone” - (Revelation 20:10-15).

The “Beast from the Sea” employs the authority of the “Dragon,” the “Ancient Serpent, called the Devil and Satan.” Like its Master, the “Beast” has “seven heads” and “ten horns.” He is the earthly representative of the “Dragon.”

Likewise, the “False Prophet speaks like the Dragon” since he is the mouthpiece of the “Beast,” the “mouth that speaks great things” and slanders God and His “saints” – (Revelation 12:1-5, 13:1-12).

The allegiance and veneration that belong only to Jesus are lavished on the beastly image and the World Empire that it represents. This is the ultimate form of idolatry, the veneration of the State and its Leader. It occurs whenever the political order demands absolute loyalty that belongs only to God and His appointed King, Jesus of Nazareth. Any man who wishes to be a disciple of Jesus must choose between Christ and Caesar.

One day, a political entity will appear on the Earth that will use its economic might against nations, peoples, and individuals that refuse to submit and acknowledge its absolute authority. That will be a sign that the “Beast” is, once again, “ascending from the sea” in preparation for its war against the “Lamb” and his people - (“It was given to the Beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them”).

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SEE ALSO:

• Golgotha or Rome - (Jesus refused the political power of Rome when Satan offered it. So, why do we insist on seeking the very thing our Master rejected?)

• The Son of Destruction - (Many saints will apostatize when the Lawless One, the Son of Destruction, seats himself in the sanctuary of God)

• Following the Lamb - (The Messiah of Israel submitted to the way of the Cross and now summons us to follow his example in our daily lives)

• Idolâtrer la Bête - (Les propagandistes de l'Empire encouragent les hommes et les femmes à prêter allégeance et vénération à l'Empereur, la Bête de la Mer)