Beast Comes
A sly, grotesque grin spread slowly across his face. Diabolis was alone in the library absorbed in his obsession to gain the adoration and worship of the whole world. This had been his greatest desire ever since he was thrown out of heaven 6,000 years ago. All that time he had focused on devising methods of control. For most of those years God had limited his abilities.
In the very near future he was going to be given almost unlimited power. It was true that God was still stronger and any person who chose God would be protected from Satan. But most people would be too busy or too selfish to submit themselves completely to God.
A large percentage of people who claim to worship God really don’t put their heart and soul into serving Him. They attend church and pray occasionally but then spend most of their time involved in worldly pursuits. They would be easy to deceive and destroy.
His wicked smile broadened as he pictured the cruel work. Today he, Archimel and Mordality were going to plan how they would rule the world. He glanced at the clock. They were late. An arrow of rage shot through his body. He hated waiting.
It wasn't long until Archimel and Mordality arrived. They were engaged in a lively discussion about Moses and Elijah. Diabolis was impressed. They had been doing their homework. The three selected chairs, opened their Bibles and began to read from Revelation 13.
"Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority." Rev 13:1,2
Diabolis bursting with excitement. “This is great! A beast is dangerous and wild and that describes me perfectly. But I won’t appear that way to the people on earth. I will disguise myself so that I seem tame and gentle. I will come up out of the sea, also called the deep, the abyss and the bottomless pit.
"I have seven heads and ten horns, just like I did when I was pictured as the dragon in Revelation 12. I have parts of a leopard, lion and bear. These are the same wild animals that Daniel saw in Daniel 7. Each of them represented a worldwide kingdom. The kingdom we set up will be worldwide as well.”
Without hardly taking a breath Diabolis continued, “I will announce that I am God. That will be blasphemy because I am not God. But the people on earth will believe that I am God.
"I will impersonate Jesus. I will steal His identity and make myself look and sound like Him. It will be like Halloween. I will wear the costume and make-up of Jesus Christ. I know exactly what He looks like and sounds like. I knew him when I was in heaven and He shone like the sun. That’s how I will appear.
“My 10 horns are my 10 leading demons. They are wearing crowns because they will be kings ruling under me. They will not appear as demons. They will come disguised as heavenly angels or important Bible characters from thousands of years ago. They may come as Daniel, Joseph, Abraham or Peter. I will decide later.
“I have been the dragon for 6,000 years. When I put on my Jesus Christ costume I will become the beast. I will have the same power, throne, and authority that I had as the dragon.
"When I come as the beast I won’t look dangerous or evil. I won’t look like the demon I am. I will look beautiful and glorious and I will speak in gentle, melodious tones. People will believe that I am God because they will see me with their own eyes and hear me with their own ears.” Diabolis talked loudly and passionately.
Serpent head killed
"3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" Rev 13: 3,4
“This part of the Bible is so easy for me to understand. Too bad it isn’t all this simple,” Diabolis mused. “One of my heads was killed. It was my serpent head. It was killed at the cross, just like the Bible prophesied in Genesis 3:15. ‘He will bruise or crush your head’. That made me so angry.
"When I come disguised as Jesus my serpent head has been healed. I will be given back the deceptive abilities that I had when I deceived Eve in the garden of Eden. She was perfect and she still believed me instead of God. What do you think gullible humans will do? They are sinful and weak. They will all believe that I really am their God.
“The whole world – every single person – will marvel when they see me. They have never seen anyone like me before. They will all follow me. My archenemy, Jesus, wants people to follow Him, but when they see me they will be enamored and bewitched and they will follow me.” Diabolis was excitedly jumping up and down. His voice rang out, “They will worship me. I have been craving worship for 6,000 years and now I will finally have it.
"Over six billion people will be worshiping ME! They will worship the beast – me dressed up like Jesus. They won’t realize it but they will also be worshiping the dragon – me in my normal, demonic form. People will recognize that it is impossible to fight against me because I am too powerful for them. Besides, it will be an honor for them to worship me.” Diabolis was lost in the euphoria of his thoughts and intoxicated with his vision of power.
Blasphemy
"5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven." Rev 13:5,6
“I will speak audibly so people can hear me with their ears. I will tell them that I am God and I have come to save them from the calamities that are destroying the earth. I will be given authority to continue wearing my Jesus Christ costume for 42 months. Jesus was physically on the earth for 3 ˝ years to complete His plan of saving people in His kingdom. I will be given 3 ˝ years to complete my plan of recruiting people for my kingdom.
“Here is how I will blaspheme God. I will take His name and claim to be Him. I will tell people that I came from heaven, from the throne of God in the temple of God. I will tell them that my retinue of demons are angels from heaven. I will speak with great authority. Most of what I will say is true. We did all come from heaven.” Diabolis paused for effect. The two demons were listening with rapt attention. But they wished he would hurry up so they could get to the part where they could talk about themselves.
"7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev 13:7,8
“I will be allowed to fight against the people who worship God and kill them. I doubt that God will have many people by then. But I will relish destroying the few that exist. I will have authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation. That includes everyone. All people will worship me. Well, there will be a few who won’t. The tiny minority who have their names written in the Lamb’s book of life won’t worship me. Jesus is the Lamb and the book of life belongs to Him. I hate Jesus and I hate everyone who is in His book.”
"9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." Rev 13:9,10
“Stupid people. They have ears but don’t hear. I will lead them into captivity and will kill anyone I choose. The words say that I will then be taken into captivity and killed. I despise that part. I must change it.”
Archimel and Mordality were captivated by the description of Diabolis pretending to be Jesus and they were fascinated by what they heard.
“God thinks His people will have patience and complete faith in Jesus during my 3 ˝ years of destructive power. We’ll see,” Diabolis sneered as he turned toward his cohorts. A sly, grotesque grin spread slowly across his face.
Read the Second Beast next.