Audio Links

Video Links

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5 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.

Introduction

We need to be reminded of three things before we begin this study.
1) “Blessed is he that reads, hears, and keeps the things which are written” in these three verses as well as all the other “prophecies of this book” (Rev 1:3 and 22:7).
2) This chapter, the previous chapter, and the next two chapters, are all part of a long introduction to the revelation of what is the seventh trumpet, which is revealed in Rev 16, as the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon all of our “ungodliness and unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18).
3) The last thing we need to remember before we begin this study is that it is the working of the Lord Himself to give the beast within us a deadly wound, and it is also the working of the Lord via evil spirits, to heal that deadly wound, and to cause us to “worship the beast”.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

For the beast within us to be wounded “as it were wounded to death”, requires the work of the Word of God. Only God’s Word can deliver a wound which would give our first head a deadly wound. The word translated ‘one’ in this verse is the Greek word ‘mia’, and carries with it the thought of ‘first’ as well as ‘one of…’ ‘Mia’ is most often translated with the English word ‘one’, and this is completely proper. But it is also eight times translated ‘first’, as in “the first day of the week” and “after the first and second admonition reject”. It should be clear from scripture the “one of his heads” that was “as it were wounded unto death”, would only logically be the first head of our beast within.

Mat 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [ Greek – mia] day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first [ Greek, mia] and second admonition reject;

How is this wound inflicted?

It is when God first begins to bring us to the point that we see our need for a Savior that this first beast receives a “deadly wound”. Israel cried out to God for a Savior, with an innocent heart, and God heard their cry and delivered them from their oppressors. This is the Old Testament type of giving our inward beast a deadly wound when we are first caused to cry out to God for our salvation.

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

When God heals us, He does so by causing the beast within us to receive a “deadly wound”.

Joh 3:30 He [“Christ in you”] must increase, but I [ the beast that I am by nature] must decrease.

The only thing that can make war with this beast is Christ and His Word.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

So what is it that delivers this “deadly wound”? We are not left to speculate. We are plainly told:

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Since we are told that Christ can and does destroy this beast “with the sword of His mouth” we therefore know that the only thing that could inflict this “deadly wound” on this beast is the sword of the Word of God.

Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

“Who is able to make war with the beast?” It is the Christ with the “sword which proceeds out of His mouth” who can and does “make war with the beast” and who will with that “sword… smite the nations” within us, and cast the beast and the false prophet within us into a symbolic “lake of fire”. That this “lake of fire” is just another symbol for the Word of God is clear to all who have the mind of Christ, because we are clearly told that both ‘fire’ and the ‘sword’ are symbols of the law and Word of God.

Deu 33:2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
2Sa 22:9 There went up a smoke out of his [ the Lord’s] nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them [ God’s “two witnesses”], fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

But what happened to God’s son, Israel, after he was given a deadly wound and was called out of Egypt? Here is the Old Testament spiritual type of the healing of the deadly wound of “one of the heads” of the beast within us all. This is what we all do.

Hos 11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

Here is Hos 11:2 in Christ’s words:

Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

“Making one proselyte” symbolizes “a deadly wound with a sword” and “twofold more the child of Gehenna than yourselves” is the “healing of the deadly wound” of the first head of our beast.

Now let’s examine verse four:

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

How do we “worship the dragon which gives power to the beast”? The first thing we need to realize is that we do not think we are worshiping the dragon while we are doing so. Those who “worship the dragon” actually believe they are worshiping Christ and His Father.

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then] are ye my disciples indeed;

Speaking to “those Jews which believed on Him”, Christ said this:

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [ even] God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

“You do the deeds of your father… you are of your father the devil…” That is us when we claim the name “Christian” and refuse to “hear His word”. That is how we “worship the dragon who gives the beast his power and throne and great authority”. As Christ tells us here, when we first come to Him as the first head of the beast, we “cannot hear His word”.

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

What orthodox Christian can hear and obey Christ’s speech which says:

Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell [ Greek – Gehenna] fire.

What so called Christian can hear and obey Christ’s speech which says:

Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Finally, what Christian can hear these words of Christ’s speech?

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 T hat ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

There it is in plain English. “That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven”. We are God’s children only when we “do the things that He says”. Likewise we are “of our father the devil” when we do the things he says, and worship and serve the beast who is the seed of the serpent, having seven heads and ten horns, just like his father.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Rev 13:5 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.

We have already seen that “forty and two months” is the same as “times, a time and half a time”, or “1260 days”. As Joseph told the Pharaoh, “The dream is one.”

Gen 41:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
Gen 41:18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
Gen 41:19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
Gen 41:20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
Gen 41:21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they [ were] still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
Gen 41:22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
Gen 41:23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
Gen 41:24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told [ this] unto the magicians; but [ there was] none that could declare [ it] to me.
Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

So it is here in the book of revelation. Whether it is a certain number of years, a certain number of months or a certain number of days, “the dream [ or vision] is one [ and] God is showing us “things which must shortly come to pass”.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

When we are “given a mouth speaking great things and blaspheming” while we are the Gentiles who “tread the court of the temple underfoot”, we “continue [ to do so for] forty and two months”. Likewise after we have blasphemed Christ and His temple forty and two months, we become those against whom the beast does his blaspheming, and as God’s two witnesses we “prophesy [ against the beast] a thousand two hundred and threescore days”.

Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

How do we blaspheme?

This verse tells us that this beast is “given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies”.

Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies…

If this beast is us, then it is we who are given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. But is that true of God’s elect? Do God’s elect really blaspheme?
One way to answer that question is to refer to the four verses we mention so often in these studies. If there is any truth to these four verses, then the answer to our question is yes, God’s elect are indeed blasphemers before they repent of doing so. Here are four verses which prove that God’s elect are blasphemers of God, before they repent and are changed in heart, and begin the process of dying daily and having Christ increase as their old man is destroyed daily by decreasing daily.

1) Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
2) Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

3) 1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
4) Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

“All things come alike to all… there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked… Man shall… live… by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God… for all things are yours… the world, life death, things present and things to come, all are yours”.
Are you and I beasts by nature? What say the scriptures?

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Is it “written in this book” that this beast is given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies?

Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies…

There it all is. “All things are ours”. We are a beast with mouths that speak great things and blaspheme our God. That should and does answer that question for all spiritually honest people. But do we have any scriptural examples of God’s very elect blaspheming? You be the judge. Here is what the scriptures reveal about this subject. It is generally agreed that the apostle Paul is one of God’s very elect, and this is what he has to say about his past:

1Ti 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
1Ti 1:13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did [ it] ignorantly in unbelief.
1Ti 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
1Ti 1:15 This [ is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
1Ti 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

How did Paul blaspheme God? He persecuted God’s elect; he supervised the stoning of Stephen, and went on to do even more damage to the body of Christ by going outside of Israel to Damascus to persecute the body of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. There is not one word of 1Ti 1:12-16 which does not apply to you and to me if we are in Christ. Here is how Saul of Tarsus, who later became the apostle Paul, blasphemed. This is what is in your flesh and in my flesh. This is how we first feel about the truth of God’s Word:

Act 7:58 And cast him [ Stephen, God’s elect] out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon [ God], and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Act 22:6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
Act 22:7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

So by Christ’s own words we are “Jesus of Nazareth” who is “hated of all men”, and is persecuted by blasphemers. But if any of those four verses quoted above are true, then we must all be Saul of Tarsus before we can become, “Jesus of Nazareth” and we must all be blasphemers before we can be those who glorify God for bringing us out of darkness into the light of His Truth, that “All things come alike to all; all things present and to come are ours, and it is we who keep the things written in this book”, including this 5th verse of Rev 13..

Summary

Let’s review what we have seen as revealed in God’s Words here in Rev 13:3-5.
We were reminded of these three things:
1) “Blessed is he that reads, hears, and keeps the things which are written” in these three verses as well as all the other “prophecies of this book” (Rev 1:3 and 22:7).
2) This chapter, the previous chapter, and the next two chapters, are all part of a long introduction to the revelation of what is the seventh trumpet, which is revealed in Rev 16, as the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon all of our “ungodliness and unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18).
3) The last thing we need to remember before we begin this study is that it is the working of the Lord Himself to give the beast within us a deadly wound, and it is also the working of the Lord via evil spirits, to heal that deadly wound, and to cause us to “worship the beast”.
We have seen that the beast of this chapter is us as the first Adam, with seven symbolic heads and ten symbolic horns.
We have learned that this beast, according to Ecc 3:18, is all mankind who are “in Adam”, including you and me.
We have learned that we, as this beast, receive a deadly wound when we are first dragged to Christ by God’s own working. We also saw that, like ancient Israel, we received a shadow of our deadly wound to our beast within by crying out to God for deliverance and being carried out of Egypt “on eagle’s wings. This is just like us as we cry out to God to be delivered from the sins of this world.
We saw how this wound is inflicted, and what we saw was that it is inflicted and can only be inflicted by the words of fire of our Lord. What we learned is that these fiery words are also known in scripture as a sharp two- edged sword, and we saw that later in this same 13th chapter we are told this this wound was inflicted “by a sword”.

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

We have seen that Christ taught that it is only via obedience to God that we become His children:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 T hat ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

We also saw that it is by doing the deeds of “our father the devil” that we worship the dragon and become his children.

Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

We have seen that none of us can hear Christ’s Words when we first are given them in parables which depict the mysteries and secrets of the kingdom of God within us.
We have seen again the dual application of forty and two months, as the time we spend, first blaspheming God and treading down the court without the temple, before we become God two witnesses who bear witness against our old man for this same “forty and two months” period of time.
Finally, we have seen that like the apostle Paul, you and I are one and all, first blasphemers of God’s elect and of His Words which are in the mouths of God’s elect, before we become His witnesses of these things. We “live by every word…”
Next week, Lord willing, we will see that the works of Saul of Tarsus against the body of Christ of his day, is a type of the treatment which we receive from the Christian world of today who “cannot hear Christ’s words”. We will learn what it means to blaspheme God, His name and His tabernacle. We will learn how it is scripturally possible to be overcome by the beast in war, worship the beast, not have our names written in the book of life, and still be able to say that we are God’s elect.
Here are next week’s verses:

Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 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.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.