Sound The Trumpet : Revelation 13:4

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“Revelation 13:4”
by Art Sadlier
August 23rd, 2009

"And they worshippeg the dragon". That has been Satan`s ultimate goal from the moment he fell from grace. Listen to Satan in Isaiah 14:13, "I will ascend into heaven". "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation". Verse 14, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds", "I will be like the most High".

We can understand something of the circumstances that surrounded Satan`s fall as we read what God has revealed to us about this event. We see Satan as the Covering Cherub as he hovers over the throne of God, he is the closest to God there in heaven. He sees the glory of God, he sees something of the majesty of God, he looks on as all of heaven worhips God. Satan said in his heart, I want that, I want what God has. He said in his heart I want the Glory of God, I want to be worshipped as God is worshipped. From that moment he set as his goal to have the world of men and angels worship him. He has worked to that end for thousands of years and is still striving to obtain that objective. He offers men all kinds of incentives to have them worship him in the here and now, but his ultimate plan is what we see unfolding in our text today.

Satan is not opposed to religion, his goal is to have his own religion, the worship of himself by the world. Satan is opposed to Christianity, but he uses it in the last days to bring the worshippers to worship his man, the antichrist and through the worship of antichrist he will seek to bring the world to worship him, see 2 Thess. 2:3,4.

"Who is like unto the beast"? The world will be impressed, they will say, what can Christ do that the beast cannot do?. In fact they will be deceived into actually believing that he is Christ.

I believe that he will deceive the apostate church into believing that he is Christ. I believe that he also will deceive Israel into believing that he is their Messiah and that he will deceive Islam into believing that he is their Mahdi. The whole world will be deceived. They will be deceived by Satan and the beast, 2 Thess.2:9. They will also be deceived by God as well, 2 Thess. 2:10,11.

"Who is able to make war with the him"? We see the beast in the last half of the tribulation period as the most powerful man that has ever lived on the earth. God allows Satan to attempt to work out his purposes, removing all restraints upon Satan. This is Satan's hour! He has been bragging for millenia that he can dethrone God, that he can run the kingdom in God's place. God says go to it Satan, lets see what you can do? As the scene unfolds we see the world in ashes and ruins, we see a world ruined by Satan.

God allows the whole scenario to play out so that when great experiment is over, the world of men and angels will know beyond any question that sin and rebellion against God does not pay. The contest between God and Satan is a moral contest, and God seems to tie His hands behind His back instead of crushing Satan. I believe God does that not for Satan's sake but for the sake of men and angels who are watching throughout all of the ages.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13