Bible Gem 2308 – Laughing as Lucifer’s Lame Lies are Revealed (Revelation 13:11-18)

Here are my responses to satan’s lies as listed in Revelation 13:11-18:

Now you have the full set to laugh at between Gem 2307 and 2308. Many of you found this to be hard. What was hard about it?

I will tell you but I am sure you can guess what is hard anyway. The subtlety of the devil is often hard to spot. We look back at his lies which are highlighted in the biblical text and have been written about before and feel confident that we could spot those ones. Those ones stand out, we are familiar with them. “I know those bold statements of satan, Ian.” Maybe you consider them bald, uncovered as such, because you have heard many sermons about them before. You have heard all about satan’s deceit in Genesis 3, Matthew 4 and Luke 4 because other preachers have pointed them out to you enough times.

I have never heard a sermon on Revelation 13 exposing satan’s lies before. Neither I have read any commentator’s run down of the devil’s lies found in Revelation 13. But I am convinced that my take on this passage is correct. It hit me between the eyes as I contemplated what was happening in the second part of Rev 13:4. How could John take what is frequently written in Scripture concerning God Himself and turn it into something that the devil is using to pretend the First Beast fits these rhetorical questions? What audacity! That is what initially set me on my present course of action. I have not read any of the commentaries I have on the shelves behind me yet. I prefer to do my own work first. But after finishing my comments about satan’s claims regarding the Second Beast I intend to look through all the resources I have behind me. I now want to see who among the commentators has recognised the parody or satirical nature of Revelation 13. I will keep you posted after I have finished my current self-appointed assignment.

However given the space it took to cover the first eight verses, I imagine I will need this Gem to deal with Revelation 13:11-17. In the following Gem I will survey the commentaries to see who among them has recognised Revelation 13 as parody or satire. It can’t be just me alone. If that is the case I may have to concede I stand alone on this viewpoint. Ouch. Following that I will deal with the problematic verses in Revelation 13:8b and 13:9-10.

Now for the Second Set of our Game: Learning to Laugh @ Lucifer’s Lame Lies

• 11 He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon.

LORD, this lamb is the one you spoke about in Mt 7:15. This ‘lamb’ speaks with the voice of the dragon’s, what next! Help your people not to be deceived LORD.  

Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.

Matthew 7:15

• 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast.

Point of Order Judge! On whose authority is this lamb speaking LORD? It surely isn’t from You. How does he imagine he can exercise all the authority of the first beast? Excuse me, the first beast doesn’t have any authority. He is an underling of the dragon who is defeated already and waiting for the axe to fall.

What authority? He has none and neither does his boss.

• 12b he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

He required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast. What pretentious nonsense is this? The second beast REQUIRES all the people of the earth to worship the first beast, why? Because his wound had been healed? The bounds of credulity have been stretched too far. We don’t worship someone or something because it has been healed. We worship, if we are willing to worship, the one with the power to heal. Not even the dragon has the power to heal. Why on earth would we be willing to listen to the subordinate of the first underling of a pretentious liar claiming that the first underling’s so called wound, which we doubt anyway, was healed? It is all so incredibly suspect. All of this on top of a command from God, who spoke everything into being, that we are not to worship anyone or thing apart from Him. Yeah nah. It makes no sense.

But LORD, you laugh at them. You scoff at the hostile nations.

Psaalm 59:8 NLT 

Help me to laugh with You LORD when I detect the fake masquerading as truth. After all, You are the Truth, you don’t just speak some truths.

• 13 He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching.

LORD I object to being subjected to this nonsense in the strongest possible terms.  Such deception from the father of lies, I don’t think so, I can’t swallow that one.

Allow me recap again for the sake of clarity. This second underling to the major pretender did astounding miracles, namely made fire flash from sky to earth. Wow, I must admit to not being overly impressed. Please someone, inform this usurper that we call such phenomena lightning and perhaps you could add that it’s a normal feature of atmospheric conditions which OUR GOD established when He first created the world, this upstart claims to control. Oh please, enough of the pretence; it’s tedious.

• 14 And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. 

LORD, it’s me again, Ian. Please don’t think I’m grandstanding, but the one grandstanding is not me. I suspect the fault at this point lies with all the people who belong to the world. Somehow their ability to discern what is true and what’s not has dissipated. My mind goes back to the time of Moses in demonstrating your miracles for Pharaoh while the Egyptian magicians replicated what Moses did. It all seems so contrived and theatrical. It leaves me rolling on the floor laughing, unimpressed. Such lame attempts at miracles fit well with Lucifer’s lame lies. I rest my case.

Miracles he was allowed to perform? What are these miracles? Like those done by the Egyptian magicians? Once again the operative word must be allowed or permitted. I sense You allow the devil to operate with his smoke and mirrors in order to show his true worth or lack thereof.

• 14b He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life.

Lord, please stop this progressive nonsense, I can see where this is all headed. The people make a statue of the beast. The Beast himself or the Dragon will make the statue do something human to prove it’s ‘supernatural’, then they will be asked to worship it. You Yourself tell us not to make any graven images of any living thing with the thought of worshipping them. You the Creator are distinct and separated from all else.

But you, GOD, break out laughing; you treat the godless nations like jokes.

Ps 59:8 MSG

What comes to mind LORD is what you had Isaiah tell the people many centuries ago.

The wood-carver measures a block of wood and draws a pattern on it. He works with chisel and plane and carves it into a human figure. He gives it human beauty and puts it in a little shrine. He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain. Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it he warms himself and bakes his bread. Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship! He makes an idol and bows down in front of it! He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.” Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”

Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.

Isaiah 44:13-18

Oh forgive them LORD because if they only thought about it, they would know what they are doing.

• 15 He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. 

LORD I object, how can they be so stupid to follow the devil in his deception. Maybe they have never heard the account of Dagon of Ashdod.

They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the LORD! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the LORD again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact.

1 Samuel 5:2-4

Point of Order Judge, the devil can’t give life; he can only rob, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) Whenever satan appears to make some inanimate object come to life or speak it is an illusion, a trick.

• 15b Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.

There it is, as predicted. The end result of satan’s ruses is always to demand worship. Make an image or idol, it moves, speaks or performs a miracle, following which it demands to be worshipped.

The Heaven-enthroned God breaks out laughing. He’s amused at their presumption.

Psalm 2:4 [MSG]

At the very least protect your blood bought children from falling prey to such nonsense. Help us not to be ignorant of the ways and deceit of the enemy.  

• 16 He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead.

On Whose Authority is he requiring this Lord? Help us to laugh at his claims and to be deaf to his demands. It is clear that this will affect every one: small and great, rich and poor, free and slave. That covers every human being left on earth.

Point of Order Judge, Will any saints be left on earth at that stage? How will we eat or survive if we can’t trade?

• 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? . . . . So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

Matthew 6:24-25, 31-32

 Help us not to lose sleep either LORD. Just as you protected and provided for your people in the wilderness, manna to eat and a river of water following them, help us to trust you as well if we remain on earth at that time. Ian

Give us the courage to stand up for what we believe in even though it may cost us our life here on earth.

Ian

The most radical demand of the Christian faith lies in the willingness to stake your life on the present risenness of Jesus Christ.

Ian

You say, ‘I’d like to have a closer relationship with God, but I’m so busy.’ The truth is, you are as close to God as you desire and discipline yourself to be!

Bob Gass

Worrying About Tomorrow Is Proof I’m Focusing On The Lies Of Hell Rather Than The Promises Of Heaven.

 Robb Thompson

Suffering from Truth decay? Brush up on your Bible.

Ian