Faith & Love: A One Year Bible Reading Plan - Part 12Sample

We are busy going through the book of Revelation together, and today, we are in chapter 13. Let’s read verse 1 and 11 and then see what we find there.

Revelation 13:1 ESV: "[1] And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads."

Revelation 13:11 ESV: "[11] Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon."

The beast of the sea and the beast of the earth in this portion of scripture reveal to us that the worldly system has in the past and is still today trying to supplant Christ as the King of humanity. For instance, the mark of the beast 666 was given to people as a proclamation of allegiance to a counterfeit source. What is interesting is that the name Nero Caeser in the Hebrew alphabet gets you to the number 666. This tells us that there are ongoing influences that are anti-Christ and that we don’t have to wait till the end of the world to figure that out.

When we read things like the beast of the sea, the beast of the earth, and the mark of the beast, we tend to forget the main reason for which John wrote the book of Revelation. It was never written to impress us with all the destruction and death caused by the enemy or even to fill us with a sense of fear. This book was written to encourage the believer during trials and tribulations to keep their focus on Christ. The systems of this world will continue to try and influence us to choose the road to a better life instead of the Life.

The message could not be clearer, and that is: we have the choice! We can respond to the revelation of Christ and establish His rule and Kingdom wherever we find ourselves. Or we can be overcome with distractions and fables of systems that falsely promise to be the source of humanity's desires and needs. May we choose the only King in Whose nature we share and Who has already provided everything pertaining to life and Godliness.