In this episode, we delve into the alarming concerns regarding Israel’s current political landscape and potential threats by neighboring countries. With banners calling for peace starkly laid across Israel, the nation’s internal debate intensifies over the cost of peace amidst growing external pressures. As this backdrop unfolds, the discourse evolves into an exploration of the vision from Revelation 13, where a beast rises, symbolizing deceptive global power, foreseen by the Apostle John.
Israel’s premier has a lot of people in Israel very concerned. Now, if they’re going to give Jericho and the Gaza Strip to the organization that is dedicated to the extermination of Israel, then they’re also concerned what this present government might do with the Golan Heights and the fifth largest army in the world, which is Syria. If they have the Golan Heights and they have direct shocks at destroying Israel, And it’s a very serious matter. And so he was in charge of a movement that urged peace with the Golden Heights. And they had banners all over Israel. And the premier wanted them taken down because obviously it was offending the peace process. And for every one they took down, the people put up three others in their place. It’s just spreading all over Israel, all these banners that, hey, peace doesn’t come at any price. Even the Hebrew prophet said, when they say peace, peace, watch out.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Hope for Today. John sees it in his vision, a beast rising out of the sea. Seven heads, ten horns, crowns of power, words of blasphemy. The world watches and then bows in worship. It’s a terrifying picture of global authority and deception. And when you look around at our world today, the system’s being built, the control being centralized, the stage is already being set. Well, join Bible teacher David Hawking as we open up Revelation chapter 13, verses 1 through 10 today for his message, The Beast with Seven Heads. First friends, we’re coming to the end of the month of September, if you can believe that. And let me remind you that Hope for Today depends on your prayers and your gifts. We’re a listener-sponsored broadcast. Would you stand with us right now? Would you partner with us in this ministry to help us keep this teaching on the air and online? You can do so by calling us at 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. Or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada to give. Bible by the numbers 24253. You can also give securely online at davidhawking.org. And thank you for praying for us and for helping out as you can to bring the Word of God to the world. Here’s David with day one of The Beast with Seven Heads.
SPEAKER 03 :
Chapter 13, beginning at verse 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power. and his seat or throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as though it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon who gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. Power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Now in the opening three verses we have the identity of the beast presented to us and this is a troublesome matter in Revelation. Back in chapter 12, the dragon was pictured with seven heads and ten horns. Now we have a beast with seven heads and ten horns. And there’s another very lengthy discussion about this in chapter 17. But let me just take it a step at a time. First of all, I want you to see the role of Satan in The reason I believe that chapter 12 pictures Satan with seven heads and ten horns exactly the same way as this beast is because Satan is, in fact, inspiring the beast. He’s behind it. Whatever this beast represents… And the role of Satan here, I would list four things for your information. One deals with the ascension of the beast out of the sea. And will you look at the first phrase, please? And I stood upon the sand of the sea. The manuscript evidence of verse 1 is very clearly presented in all the manuscripts. The first sentence is actually the last statement of chapter 12. And it is not I stood. It is third person singular. He stood on the sand of the sea. And it’s the last sentence of verse 17, which is dealing with the dragon who is angry with the woman and he goes to make war with the remnant of her seed. And we learned that that woman… represents the nation of Israel, and he’s going to make war with the believing remnant who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, and he stood on the sand of the sea. So the very issue of the beast ascending out of the sea has Satan supervising it as it were, and watching this event take place. It is he who stands on the sea. It is John who sees this. He says, and I saw, and that’s how verse 1 opens up with the words, I saw, which, by the way, is mentioned 44 times in Revelation in terms of distinct visions and about 70 times in all. So there’s a lot of different visions here, and this is certainly a spectacular one. I would also mention that in chapter 12, verse 17, it spoke about how God opened the earth and swallowed up the flood, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. Now, is this a literal flood of waters that are going to try to drown the people of Israel as they escape into the wilderness? That is certainly a possibility. It is also a possibility that it’s figurative, because the quote, like a flood, probably comes from Jeremiah chapter 46, verses 7 to 10, and chapter 47, verses 2 to 4. And there, an invading army is pictured as a flood. Now the fact that God swallows it up shouldn’t be a surprise because remember in Numbers chapter 16 verses 31 to 34 in the case of Korah and his rebellion. that the earth literally opened up and swallowed up all of the rebellious ones in Israel at the time of Moses in the wilderness. So that is no surprise. God could easily do that. He just opened the earth, swallowed them all up. Well, apparently the devil is using something. If it’s a figurative, it’s an army. Maybe it goes back to chapter 9. The invasion of demons that were described there and how armies of the world will be gathered to do Satan’s work in persecuting the children of Israel. That’s very possible. Because we do know the Hebrew prophets speak about the nations of the world coming against Israel. at the time of Jacob’s trouble or the great tribulation or the last three and a half years. So maybe the flood that the dragon is bringing to destroy Israel is a flood of nations who are going to come against her and try to wipe her off the face of the earth. It’s possible it’s a literal flood too. But that the devil is standing at the sand of the seashore, I believe, is a very symbolically important issue. Because I see the connection from chapter 12 into chapter 13. The number one way that Satan has shown his anger and persecution of Israel is through the governments of the world. The beast, I believe, is representing the governments of the world, and I hope to establish that fact in your minds before we’re through with our study in Revelation. But the devil is inspiring it all. And so behind the governments of the world and the nations of the world is a plot by the enemy to seduce these nations into persecuting Israel. And he has certainly done that over and over again in history, and apparently he’s doing it again. Peace doesn’t come at any price. Even the Hebrew prophets said when they say peace, peace, watch out. There is no peace. It’s a false peace. The New Testament cooperates with that. And it says in 1 Thessalonians 5 that when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. Well, this beast comes out of the sea as the devil’s standing there. This is what he uses to persecute the children of Israel, the remnant. Now, the sea is the sea, not any old sea. And normally when the definite article in Greek, the, is put in front of the word sea, it’s talking about the Mediterranean Sea. Now, this is where people get the idea of a revived Roman Empire, that this beast will come out of the area of nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. I personally don’t push it that far. I don’t think it means because he comes out of the sea that it automatically has to be the nations surrounding the Mediterranean. I don’t believe that. I think it’s possible that this beast beast with its seventh head and ten horns on it could very possibly be a division of the world that we have not yet seen, at least publicly. I think there’s a lot of difficulty with believing, frankly, that this beast is the European common market. There’s a lot of prophecy books that tell us that, but I just want you to know that I’m very hesitant about it. It looks like Europe is more independent than ever before, all these nations. I don’t really see how they’re getting together. But maybe that could happen. I don’t know. But I think we ought to be a little cautious at what we’re thinking about. It’s very possible that… It’s a world government and that the divisions, ten of them, will be much broader than simply Europe. That’s a possibility. I just throw it out for whatever it’s worth. You know, I don’t know what it’s going to be. God knows. I don’t know. But I just think it’s a little premature to say it’s just the nations around the Mediterranean Sea. They’re not in a position to be that powerful at present. It could work out. Germany certainly is very powerful. But some of the other nations around the Mediterranean, I don’t think you need to just say that’s it. Not only the ascension of the beast out of the sea, but Satan’s role is also seen in the authority of the beast. Look again at verse 2, the last phrase. The dragon gave him his power, his seat or throne, and great authority. Who’s behind this beast? Whatever this beast is. There’s arguments that he’s a man, and I’m going to show you arguments that he’s a kingdom or an empire. But whatever that beast is, understand something. The devil is behind him. The devil gives him authority. The devil gives him his power and his ability and his throne, his position, whatever it is. It’s going to come from the enemy, the devil himself. A third thing about the role of Satan, not only the ascension of that beast out of the sea and his authority, but his very appearance reminds you of the devil. Seven heads, ten horns. That’s exactly like chapter 12, verse 3. The dragon has seven heads and ten horns. There is an interesting difference, however. Look at chapter 12, please, verse 3. Where were the crowns? Were they on the heads or were they on the horns? They were on the heads in chapter 12, verse 3. But now look at chapter 13 again, verse 1. Are the crowns on the heads or on the horns? They’re on the horns. And the Greek word’s the same in both. Diadem, our English diadem. And it’s referring to really a king and his kingdom. So we have on the horns ten crowns. which because it’s a word diadem and not Stephanos, which is a cheaper like crown, a temporary crown, it suggests to us that these tenfold divisions are going to be powerful. I think for many, many years people saw the revived Roman Empire as ten nations, some set up, that together become a power. Together they become the beast. But ten horns have ten diadems. He uses the strong word. to indicate sovereignty and kingdom. So apparently they’re not all amalgamated into one issue. They are ten legitimate, separate, and distinct kingdoms, and they will be in power for a short period of time. The fourth thing I’d bring to your attention about the role of Satan is the attitude of the beast. It certainly is characteristic of our arch-enemy Satan. It says at the end of verse 1, “…upon his heads…” He had seven heads, and upon those heads is the name. Notice it’s not plural, it’s singular. Not names, but name of blasphemy. What characterizes the seven heads, which I’m going to argue are governments that have been world governments, world empires in the past, and what has characterized them in the past has been blasphemy. They have never been friends of God, ever. They’ve been against God. And they have blasphemed the people of God, always, and persecuted them. That’s the role of Satan. The second thing I want you to see is the relationship of this beast to the vision of Daniel. Look at verse 2. The beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. Turn back to Daniel chapter 7, please, in your Bibles, Daniel chapter 7. The relationship of this beast to the vision of Daniel, you can’t escape this connection. It’s so obvious. We have a lion, a bear, and a leopard. And in chapter 7 of Daniel, verses 3 to 8, we read this. Four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings. I beheld till its wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second like a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between its teeth, and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings of a fowl. The beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. Then the fourth beast comes out. Now, all Bible teachers that I know who connect these passages together usually refer to the fact that Babylon is represented by the lion, Persia by the bear, and Greece by the leopard. The lion communicates arrogantly, and that is in the book of Daniel about Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon. The bear controls extensively, and that was the story of the Bible as well as history about the Persian Empire. It was also a bear that was raised on one side because it was the Medo-Persian Empire, with Persia becoming the more powerful element of that. The bear had a tremendous control. One of the biggest empires in the ancient world was Persia. The book of Daniel and Ezekiel and also in Ezra and Nehemiah and Esther, we get an idea of the power of the Persian Empire and even their control. The book of Esther speaks about it and how they did it. The leopard, he conquers swiftly, and he’s got four heads or divisions, and most all Bible teachers say that the breakup of the Grecian Empire after Alexander the Great was between his four generals. It’s well known in history, and that, of course, is described in great detail in the book of Daniel. All I’m saying is that this beast is connected to Daniel, at least by the lion, the bear, and the leopard, to remind us of how we should be interpreting the beast. Because you see, the beast has seven heads. And it is definitely connected with Daniel’s vision. So it’s somehow connected with at least three world empires of the past, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. And I think that’s a biblical clue for all of us who are studying the book of Revelation in our day to not run off in too many fanciful directions, but understand God’s already determined a lot of the information about this beast. And we need to keep on that line and keep thinking accurately about it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now that’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David returns in just a moment to close out our time in the Word, so do stay right there. First, his son Matt’s here, and together we’re going to share a great home Bible study resource with you. And Matt, how about some details?
SPEAKER 01 :
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That’s 2 Timothy 3.16.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Matt, this includes each and every book of the Bible. Amen. So this month, we’re focusing a spotlight on your dad’s book, Visions of the Future, which guides readers through a fascinating study of Zechariah.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, Jim, Zechariah is often referred to as the little revelation of Of the Old Testament. The historical background follows Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem and the return of the Jews to rebuild the temple.
SPEAKER 02 :
Zechariah speaks of the centrality of Jerusalem and God’s prophetic plan and tells us how this city will become a cup of trembling.
SPEAKER 01 :
To all the nations. Oh, yeah. It includes prophecy concerning a future invasion of Israel, the Battle of Armageddon, the glorious return of the Messiah to the earth, and the setting up of a kingdom that will never end.
SPEAKER 02 :
And David’s book, Visions of the Future, will show you all the vivid details, the historical context, explanations of crucial original text terms, cross-references, and fascinating applications for your life today.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen to you. Dive into Zachariah with Visions of the Future and see the glorious future awaiting all of us who’ve put our faith in the coming Messiah. Amen, amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Visions of the Future is our featured offer again for the month of September. And we have your copy for just $15. Indeed we do. And when you purchase, please consider adding an extra amount as a donation to Hope for Today, or perhaps make a donation by itself. Your gift makes you a part of this ministry.
SPEAKER 01 :
And as always, please start by praying for Hope for Today. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. To get your copy of Visions of the Future, call 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the US, or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also order online anytime at DavidHawking.org. Oh, and by the way, if you missed any part of today’s program or a recent broadcast, don’t worry, you can listen again at our website. Just go to DavidHawking.org and click on the radio tab and you’ll see everything that we have there for you. Also on the website, click on the Media tab, and you’ll find an archive of teaching by David through various books of the Bible. You can watch or listen on demand, share it with a friend, or even download past studies for your personal library. And that’s not all. You’ll find books and study materials by David, and when you purchase those, you also help the ministry of Hope for Today. And on the website, you’ll find information on how to receive our monthly newsletter. All this is designed to help you grow stronger in your understanding of God’s word. So again, visit us today at davidhawking.org. And if the Lord is leading you to send a special donation this month to help us finish the month with all bills paid and to be ready for October, well, you can also donate by mail. Write us in the United States at Hope for Today, Box 3927.com. Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S, 8P1. Or call toll-free 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. and 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible is 242-53. And here’s David.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hi, friends. We are just delighted, I don’t know how to put it any other way, to teach the wonderful book of Revelation. That’s where we are. And we’re beginning chapter 13. And it begins with a beast coming out of the sea that has seven heads and ten horns. Wow. And this is an amazing story. delightful passage to get information about what’s going to happen. We think this beast is the Antichrist, inspired and empowered by the devil himself. And he gets a wound, a wound that is deadly, but he is going to be resurrected from that, healed from that, and that will lead all the world to to try to worship him, and he has power to continue for 40 and two months. Wow. Well, he is the kind of man who, according to the Bible, when he opens his mouth, he’s blaspheming against God and and his name, and also his tabernacle, and listen to this from verse 6, them that dwell in heaven. Yes, the devil knows that we have been raptured, and we are now in heaven, and he is blaspheming on earth God, and all of his wonderful… redeemed people who are in heaven well i hope you’re enjoying this god bless you
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, next time on Hope for Today, we continue in Revelation 13, and David shows us even more of John’s vision of the beast rising with power, speaking blasphemies, performing great signs for the purpose of leading the nations into false worship. It’s a dramatic picture of spiritual deception and global control. And David Hawking takes us right into it. Until then, thank you for your prayers, your support, and for standing with Hope for Today. Hope for Today
