"Revelation 13-17"
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When I was a kid, I grew up learning how to count from a mysterious but friendly purple vampire who lived on a familiar television street. Whether he counted spiders on the wall or cobwebs in the hall, his musical approach to enumeration always left you tapping your feet. And this week, as we count down some of the final chapters in our reading plan, we'll find more noteworthy numbers in Revelation.
Two Beasts
On Monday (Rev. 13), John watches the first of two multi-headed beasts rise out of the sea with authority over the earth (Rev. 13:1-5). It spoke blasphemies against God and made war against the saints (Rev. 13:6-8). Then a second beast rose from the earth, deceiving the world into worshiping the first beast (Rev. 13:11-13). And through its deception, all humanity wore a mark with its name on their forehead (Rev. 13:16-18).
- Why should these terrifying beasts lead the saints toward endurance (Rev. 13:10)?
Three Angels
Unlike those who wore the beast's mark, on Tuesday (Rev. 14) we'll find the Lamb surrounded by 144,000 who wore God's name on their foreheads (Rev. 14:1). They sing a new song around the throne (Rev. 14:2-5). Judgment is coming, as we look up to see three angels flying overhead, bringing an eternal gospel and a condemnation against the beast and all who worship it (Rev. 14:6-11).
- How do the closing images about harvest relate to what Christ said about a "harvest" of judgment (Rev. 14:14-20; cf. Matt. 13:24-30))?
Seven Bowls of Wrath
On Wednesday (Rev. 15), those who conquered the beast sang Moses' song — the song of the Lamb — in heaven as seven angels came from the sanctuary with seven terrible plagues, wearing pure white robes. Then the four creatures gave each angel a bowl of wrath to pour out on the earth (Rev. 15:2-7).
The angels began to empty their bowls on Thursday (Rev. 16), pouring God's wrath upon the earth (Rev. 16:1). The plagues against God's enemies are terrible — like those in Egypt — with painful sores, rivers and seas of blood, fire burning the earth, darkness, drought, and finally hail after a great earthquake (Rev. 16:2-21).
- Are you willing to say to God, "True and just are your judgments" (Rev. 16:7)?
Ten-Horned Beast
On Friday (Rev. 17), one of the seven angels shows John a great prostitute riding on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns standing on many waters (Rev. 17:1-5). Her evil is evident, as she holds a cup full of abomination and sexual immorality and is drunk from the blood of Jesus' martyrs (Rev. 17:4-6). And while John marvels at the sight, the angel explains in great detail what it all means (Rev. 17:7-18).
- How does the angel's explanation of the woman shape your understanding of the book?
