Caesar’s Secret Weapon

The False Prophet uses economic pressure to coerce men and nations to pay homage to the Beast from the Sea - Revelation 13:16-18. The False Prophet uses economic coercion to intimidate men who refuse to swear fealty to the Beast from the Sea. The mark and number of the Beast identify who has submitted to the Beast, and who has not. The ability to impose economic sanctions on nations and individuals is key to the political power of the World Empire.

We assume the success of this global government is because of its military might. While the Empire may possess the military means necessary to threaten nations (“Who can make war with it?”), the Beast enforces its will through its domination of global commerce. The same is true of the Beast’s co-conspirator, “Babylon, the Great Whore.” The ability to inflict economic sanctions as he chooses is the Beast’s weapon of choice – (Revelation 13:11-18, 18:11-19).

[World Empire Photo by Christine Roy (Montreal) on Unsplash]

Revelation contrasts the Inhabitants of the Earth who submit to the Beast with the saints who follow the Lamb “wherever he goes.” Members of the former group have the number of the Beast “branded” on their forehead or right hand, while the followers of Jesus have the name of the Lamb “written” on their foreheads. The Beast’s “mark” is Satan’s counterfeit of “the Seal of God” - (Revelation 7:1-3, 14:1-4).

All the Inhabitants of the Earth take this mark; therefore, they are legally authorized to engage in trade and commerce – “To buy and sell.” In contrast, the followers of the Lamb carry his name and refuse to pay homage to the Beast; therefore, they are prohibited from full participation in the economic life of the Empire - (Revelation 13:16-18).

Humanity is divided into two recognizable groups: the men who follow the Lamb, and the Inhabitants of the Earth who submit to the Beast from the Sea and bow to his image. To which group we belong determines whether our name is included in, or excluded from, “the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

References to “Earth” and “Zion” in the Book of Revelation are not geographical, but relational. We must give our total allegiance to the Lamb or worship the Beast. We cannot do both. How we respond to Jesus of Nazareth determines whether we receive everlasting life or destruction.

• “And they will pay homage to him, all those who dwell upon the earth, whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb, who has been slain” – (Revelation 13:8).

• “And another, a third angel, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone pays homage to the beast and his image, and receives a mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the fury of God, which is prepared, unmixed, in the cup of his wrath. And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment is ascending unto the ages of the ages. And they have no rest day or night, those who pay homage to the beast and his image, or if anyone receives the mark of his name. Here is the endurance of the saints: those who are keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” – (Revelation 14:9-12).

The mark or number of the Beast identifies who has submitted to him and his image. Without the Beast’s “brand,” our ability to engage in economic life will be limited or prohibited. Our ability to “buy and sell” is dependent on giving allegiance to the Beast, the allegiance that belongs to God and Jesus.

Placing this mark on the forehead or right hand mimics the ancient commandment for the People of Israel to worship Yahweh alone. The Beast’s mark is religious imitation, a counterfeit of God’s call for His children to place His statutes on their foreheads, and a counterfeit of the seal that God places on His saints:

• “Yahweh our God is one Yahweh! And you will love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might <…> And you will teach them diligently to your children <…> And you will bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they will be for frontlets between your eyes” - (Deuteronomy 6:4-8).

• “And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the Living God. And he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it had been given to injure the land and the sea, saying: Do not injure the land or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads” - (Revelation 7:2-3. Verbal allusions are to Exodus 12:13 and Ezekiel 9:4).

If the Seal of God is figurative, so is the Mark of the Beast. Anyone who gives allegiance to the Beast and his Empire rather than to the Lamb takes the mark, just as everyone who is redeemed by the Lamb is sealed by God.

• “And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing upon the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and his Father’s name written upon their foreheads. <…> These are the men who were not defiled with women, for they are virgin. These are the men who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These men were redeemed from humanity, a first fruit to God and the Lamb” - (Revelation 14:1, 4. The verbal allusion is to Psalm 2:6).

PAST AND FUTURE

The congregation of Smyrna experienced economic deprivation because it refused to compromise with the surrounding culture or participate in the veneration of Caesar and his image. Despite appearances, the saints “were rich” because they persevered despite persecution. By enduring tribulation on account of their faith and testimony, they will avoid “the Second Death” and receive “the crown of life” in the city of New Jerusalem – (Revelation 2:8-11).

The World Empire of John’s time was the Roman Empire (“five kingdoms are fallen, the one is”). Though it was not the final incarnation of the Beast, it certainly was a forerunner and possessed the same attributes as the future Beast from the Sea – (Revelation 17:10).

Satan has been pushing the same agenda from the beginning, whether at the Tower of Babel, the Neo-Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, or today’s would-be world hegemon. This is why the saints of God have experienced economic oppression by governments and empires over the centuries – (Revelation 17:10).

The Beast’s final form will come. When a political entity appears on the world stage that uses economic control against nations and individuals that refuse to submit to its demands, this will be the first signal that the Beast has started its “ascent from the Sea,” and that the Dragon’s war to annihilate the saints is about to commence – (Revelation 9:11, 11:7, 13:1-4):

• “And it was given to the Beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” – (Revelation 13:7. Verbal allusion is to Daniel 7:21).

• “And the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17).

• “And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony they had” – (Revelation 6:9).

• “I, John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 1:9).

We must choose whether to swear fealty to the Beast from the Sea or to follow the Lamb. If we give our allegiance to Jesus, we will find ourselves marginalized by society, but we will stand before the Lamb in the city of New Jerusalem. As Jesus promised, the men and women who remain faithful will be saved:

• “Because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, he will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole habitable earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” – (Matthew 24:12-14).

• “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their life even unto death” – (Revelation 12:11).

However, if we choose to submit and pay homage to the Beast, we will find that our names have been expunged from the Lamb’s Book of Life. All men who worship the Beast will experience the Wrath of God – (Revelation 14:8-10).

• “How long will you continue to limp between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him! But if Baal, then follow him” – (1 Kings 18:21).

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and allusions of Old Testament passages]

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SEE ALSO:

• Loving Caesar - (The Inhabitants of the Earth willingly venerate the Beast and take its mark, and even believers are not immune from its allurements)

• Caesar Wages War - (The language of “war” is used by Revelation to portray the persecution of the saints by the Empire)

• The Recurring Empire - (Babylon is both a historical kingdom and the symbol of the repeated rise of the World Empire)

• Le Pouvoir de César - (Le Faux Prophète utilise la pression économique pour contraindre les hommes et les nations à rendre hommage à la Bête de la Mer - Apocalypse 13: 16-18)