Beauty and the Beasts

It’s a familiar story: a beautiful girl meets a beastly guy. At first, she finds him mean, coarse, and unrefined. But eventually she discovers there is something redeemable underneath his ugly exterior. Perhaps he is simply misunderstood. Maybe, with enough patience and love, the beast can become Prince Charming.

We love stories like this because we want to believe there is something redeemable beneath every ugly exterior. But what if underneath all the ugliness, the beast is still a beast?

Revelation 13 introduces us to two beasts that represent the satanic powers at work in our world. These beasts do not represent particular people who are beyond the grace of Jesus. Instead, they represent powers that deceive people, demand their worship, and wage war against God's people. Scripture does not call us to reform these beasts. It calls us to resist them.

This chapter shows us two primary weapons Satan uses against God's people. He tries to frighten us into compromise and fool us into idolatry.

But Christians do not have to fall prey to either strategy. We resist Satan by refusing to bow to his demands or believe his deceptions.

Don't Bow to Satan's Demands

John's first beast rises from the sea with seven heads and ten horns. Its appearance combines several beasts from Daniel 7, which represented kingdoms that oppressed God's people. By combining them into one monstrous creature, John gives us a picture of the brutality of every kingdom that exalts itself against God and oppresses His people.

The first beast symbolizes political power that opposes God and His people.

For John's original audience, the obvious example was Rome. Emperor Nero brutally persecuted Christians, but after his death in AD 68, the Roman Empire nearly collapsed into civil war. Then it recovered and continued its beastly rule. Throughout history, this pattern has repeated itself. Evil empires rise, fall, and rise again. Whenever one beast seems defeated, another eventually takes its place.

This does not mean government itself is evil. Scripture teaches that governing authorities have been established by God for our good. Government becomes beastly when it demands an allegiance that belongs only to Christ or persecutes God's people for refusing to reject Jesus and His Word.

What should Christians do when that happens?

Revelation 13:10 answers: "Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints."

Endurance is what faith looks like when following Jesus hurts. God does not promise Christians will never suffer at the hands of beastly powers. Some will lose opportunities, livelihoods, freedoms, and even their lives. But Christians are called to trust and obey Jesus regardless of the cost.

We can do that because the beast is never actually in control. Twice the passage says it "was allowed" to attack God's people. Satan's beasts are dangerous, but they are like dogs on a leash. They can act only within the boundaries established by God. The first beast may imprison Christians, but it cannot erase their names from the Lamb's book of life. It may conquer them physically, but it cannot conquer them spiritually. It may kill the body, but it cannot have the soul.

For some believers, enduring faith means refusing to deny Jesus even when a government threatens them. For others, it may mean speaking biblical truth when doing so costs a friendship, an opportunity, or the approval of someone they love. We speak that truth in love, but we cannot compromise it simply because obedience has become costly.

Enduring faith also refuses to place its ultimate hope in politics. Politics matter, but they are not what matters most. The beast is not simply whichever political party we happen to oppose. Beastly tendencies can appear across the political spectrum. Christians honor governing authorities, pray for them, participate wisely in public life, and remember that our hope has never rested in the kingdoms of this world.

Most importantly, we look to Jesus. When He suffered under an oppressive government, He did not retaliate or compromise. He entrusted Himself "to Him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23).

We resist Satan the same way: don't bow to his demands.

Don't Believe Satan's Deceptions

The first beast tries to force us into compromise. The second beast uses a subtler strategy.

George Orwell's 1984 imagined a future where a totalitarian government forced people into submission. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World imagined people being seduced into compliance through pleasure and entertainment. In the modern West, Huxley's warning may hit closer to home. We may occasionally encounter the first beast's fist, but we constantly hear the second beast's voice.

John describes this second beast as looking like a lamb but speaking like a dragon. It represents false religion, propaganda, and deceptive ideologies that seduce us into worshiping something other than Jesus.

Its lamb-like appearance is important. Satan's lies do not usually announce themselves as satanic. Scripture says Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Evil often comes disguised as something beautiful, compassionate, reasonable, enlightened, patriotic, religious, loving, or even Christian.

Everything about this second beast is a counterfeit. It performs signs resembling God's prophets. It directs worship toward the first beast just as the Holy Spirit points people toward Jesus. Even the infamous mark of the beast counterfeits God's seal upon His people.

That helps us understand the mark and the number 666. John did not give Christians this number so we could spend our lives hunting for hidden references in barcodes, credit cards, computer chips, or vaccines. Throughout Revelation, receiving the mark is repeatedly connected with worship. The mark symbolically identifies those who give their allegiance to the beast by believing its lies, obeying its demands, and worshiping something other than Jesus.

That should not make us less concerned about the mark. It should make us more concerned. We are all susceptible to the beastly values of this world.

So how do we resist?

First, don't be fooled by appearances. An idea is not true simply because it sounds compassionate or reasonable. Ask whether it agrees with God's Word.

Second, examine whatever is clamoring for your allegiance. Every counterfeit eventually asks for worship. Sexual sin promises happiness. Money promises security. Entertainment promises pleasure. Addiction promises relief. Satan's counterfeits offer us something we genuinely desire and then demand our allegiance in return.

Third, know the truth well enough to recognize the counterfeit. Bank tellers learn to identify counterfeit money by becoming familiar with the real thing. Christians should do the same. Read God's Word. Sit under faithful preaching. Commit yourself to a healthy church. Invite mature Christians to correct you. Satan's lies become much easier to believe when you try to follow Jesus alone.

Once again, Jesus shows us the way. In the wilderness, Satan repeatedly tried to deceive Him. Jesus saw through every lie, refused to give His allegiance to anyone but His Father, and knew God's Word well enough to expose every counterfeit.

We resist Satan the same way: don't believe his deceptions.

Belong to the Lamb

Revelation 13 ultimately divides humanity into two groups: those who belong to the beast and those who belong to the Lamb. There is no neutral territory.

By nature, all of us belong to this rebellious world. We believe the dragon's lies, worship created things, and live for ourselves. Because of that rebellion, we deserve the same judgment that will ultimately fall upon Satan and his beasts.

But God sent His Son into this beastly world.

Jesus—the perfection of beauty—never bowed to Satan's demands and never believed his deceptions. He lived the faithful life we failed to live and died the death we deserved to die. On the third day, He rose from the dead, defeating sin, death, and Satan.

So turn from your sin, your idols, and your attempts to rule your own life. Trust in Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Everyone who comes to Him will be forgiven, reconciled to God, and sealed as His forever.

And if you already belong to the Lamb, remember this: the beast is real, but the beast is on a leash. It cannot erase your name from the book of life. It cannot conquer you spiritually. It cannot have your soul.

So endure in faith. Grow in wisdom. Refuse to bow to Satan's demands. Refuse to believe Satan's deceptions.

And keep resisting until our King returns and makes all things new.