Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

I don’t know about you, but this passage of scripture can be pretty scary if you’re reading it for the first time or if you’re not reading it in its full context. I mean, there are visions, imagery, and Old Testament prophecies. That’s some intimidating stuff and, let’s be real, we don’t always understand their meanings and we might not ever fully understand. The good news for us is that Scripture doesn’t tell us that we need to understand the meaning of this chapter fully. It calls us to something else, but first, let’s unpack some things.

This chapter begins with John detailing his vision of two beasts. The first beast is described as having seven heads and ten horns. This imagery paints a picture of extreme power and strength. It also is an illustration of the person we commonly call the Antichrist, but 2 Thessalonians 2:3 describes this future world leader as the son of perdition, the man of sin, and the lawless one. Many commentaries and studies point to the idea that this vision is a foreshadowing of the Antichrist and the government that people will foolishly bow down to. Verse 1 also states that this beast has “blasphemous names on its head”. This Antichrist or “instead of Christ” is going to appear deceivingly good, wonderful, and charming. He’s even going to claim to be Christ himself. Hold on to all these descriptions and details that John is sharing with us. We’re going to come back to them. Let’s take a look at the second beast.

The second beast is described as having two horns and the voice of a dragon. The Greek translation for dragon is serpent or reptile (Revelation 12:9). Now if we go all the way back to the beginning, to the garden, we see a serpent there as well. We see Satan planting seeds of doubt that would soon lead to sin and the fall of man’s perfect unity with the Father. Revelation 13:2 states that the dragon will give his power, throne, and great authority over to the first beast. This means that through this beast, Satan will manifest his desires and authority. This sounds terrifying, but who’s really surprised? The schemes that Satan used on Eve to get her to question God’s truth and authority are still being used against man to this day! He loves to deceive us into believing that even if we’re not worshipping God, as long as it’s not overtly harmful then it’s all good. WRONG!! If we are worshipping anything other than God, Yahweh, then we are being deceived by Satan to do so! He’s crafty for sure, but this is where the call to action that we find in verse 18 comes into play!

Now that we’ve gotten all the doom and gloom out of the way, let’s discuss the call of this passage of scripture that I mentioned before! Verse 18 says, “This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666”. The first four words of the verse are our call to action, and they should bring us a little more comfort. “This calls for wisdom”. Our job as followers of the Way is to seek the Lord and HIS wisdom to discern who this beast is when the time comes. More importantly, we need wisdom to see and know that even though this beast will appear powerful, perfect, and seemingly lacking nothing, he will NEVER attain heavenly perfection because he doesn’t have faith in God or the love by which faith operates! We can know this by evaluating the number 666. It doesn’t matter how many sixes you add to it, or how many times you multiply, divide, or subtract it, 666 will ALWAYS fall short of 7, which represents spiritual perfection or completion! How fitting and comforting is that truth? It doesn’t matter how hard Satan or anyone else tries to be the one true Christ. There is only one and His name is Jesus! I hope that whoever is reading this will no longer be afraid of the book of Revelations or become obsessed with needing to know all the details. Trust that Jesus is who He says He is and rely on HIS wisdom and understanding alone!

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• In your opinion, why do you think the book of Revelations can be so daunting to read or study?
• When you read these passages, does it make it easier or harder to believe that Jesus has already conquered Satan?
• Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for how perfect You are and for sending Your truly perfect son to die my death and win the battle against sin. I pray that as I continue to study the book of Revelation I will not fear the days ahead or the unknown, but that I will trust in who You are and what You have done. Help me to believe and be brave. Would You replace my wisdom with YOUR wisdom and my strength with YOUR strength? I love You. I trust You. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Family Devo: Revelation 13

By: Paige Russum

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.   

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset  

Head

In Revelation 13, John continues to talk about his vision for the future. The way he describes it may seem really scary! While they may sound very alarming, throughout this whole book, you’ll see that everything is not exactly as the text describes it. Have you ever heard anyone say “You’re driving me crazy”? They’re really not driving anywhere and they’re really not crazy, but it’s just a statement they say that means something else. Much of this book is filled with stories like that statement. They may say one thing but likely have a different meaning. 

So, today we find John talking about two beasts and a dragon. Do you think he REALLY means he saw those things? Probably not! They most likely represent other bad things that are in the world. These “beasts” did all kinds of things in an attempt to make people like them. As a result, many people began to worship and follow these creatures. We know from all our previous messages that we should always keep our focus on God and only worship him. He is stronger than any evil, any beast, or any dragon. 

Heart

Just like the beasts in John’s vision, evil is in the world and it can be tricky to determine what really is good and what things we should keep at a distance. Satan is always trying to keep us away from the work God has called us to do. For this reason, it is very important that we pray to God for wisdom and discernment. Can you think of a time you had to make an important choice about what to do? How did you feel? If we study his word by reading our Bibles and seek guidance from Him, He will help us decide how to face those battles and overcome them. 

Hands

Remember, God's love protects us every day. Stay close to Him, be brave, and share His love with everyone around you. You're never alone because God is always with you! 

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for always watching over us and protecting us. Help us to stay close to You by studying Your Word, seeking your guidance, and remembering that You are stronger than anything that might try to scare or trick us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.