Revelation 13:5-10

The Mouth of the Beast

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on March 17, 2019 at Beacon Church

It’s easy to get distracted and forget what this prophecy is for. Verse 10 helps us keep the purpose in mind: “If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints,” (Rev. 13:10 ESV). This is the fourth sermon of a large unfolding prophecy that began in chapter 12—the woman and the dragon described Satan’s attempt to stop the spread of the Gospel and destroy the early Church while the Roman Empire was pagan. The war in heaven described how paganism was thrown down and a Christian emperor made Christianity the official state religion. But the true church, the woman, found that genuine faith in Jesus and obedience to the Gospel was not compatible with the politics of the State, and so faithful Christians found themselves more and more separated from the Christian religion of Medieval Europe. After the fall of the Roman Emperor, the last Caesar, in 476, people watched in amazement as the bishop of Rome rose in power to become head of all Christianity, and then king of the city of Rome. Once again, a Roman king ruled over Europe, but this time his authority seemed to be divine. And people began to worship him. Now, this morning as we look at verses 5-10, we will see that the bishop-king of Rome, no longer content to receive worship from some people, eventually required worship from all people. This didn’t happen overnight. And as I said last week, the first Roman bishop to be called, “pope,” seems to have been a good pastor to his people. That was about the year 600. After him, though, things went downhill in a hurry. To begin with, the popes abused the Bible to support their teaching; 600 years later they were using the sword to enforce their authority. Genuine followers of Jesus who held to the Bible were at first tolerated, but later on they were persecuted, hunted, and murdered, in the name of the Church. All over Europe. Millions of Christians were killed by the Church that claimed to follow Christ, at the orders of the Bishop-King of Rome.

Let me put it this way to help you see what the change in the Roman Empire meant for true Christians: they went from the frying pan into the fire. From the time John wrote the Book of Revelation, Christians were frequently persecuted by the pagan Roman Empire; later on they were hunted by the papal Roman Empire. The point of this prophecy, as verse 10 shows us, was to help the early church endure, and then later on, to help the medieval church endure. “If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Rev. 13:10 ESV). But even though this particular tribulation is over, we are still called to endure, because Christians still must expect to suffer for the sake of following Jesus. Not because God is punishing us; but because we will not bow down and worship anyone other than Jesus Christ. Like the true believers in the early church, and the medieval church, this is a call for us in 2019, to endure and to believe. Verse 10 gives us those two exhortations. And this whole prophecy reveals why Christians would need to endure, and then what Christians are called to believe. To explain that, I’ve broken these verses up into 3 parts: 1) what God gave the beast (vv5-7); 2) what people gave the beast (v8); 3) what God gave you (vv8b-10).

What God gave the beast (vv5-7)

Four times in these verses, the Greek Bible says, the beast “was given” something. English translations smooth out the words to make more sense, but the same phrase is repeated in Greek four times: “to it was given…” and the immediate question you need to ask is, “who gave the beast these things?” What were they? “A mouth” (v5a), “authority” (v5b); ability “to make war” (v7a), and “authority over every tribe, etc.” (v7b). This exact phrase, “to it was given,” is used very precisely, 12 times in Revelation. The first time was when the Lamb opened the first seal on the scroll in Revelation 6, and to the rider on the white horse “was given” a crown; the next was to the rider on the red horse, “to it was given” to take away peace, and then again, a great sword. Those things happened because of the sovereign will of the Lamb. That’s why the Lamb is worthy; why the Lamb deserves all power and glory; why the Lamb receives honor and glory and might forever.

9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,  10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 5:9-10 ESV)

…Saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (Rev. 5:12 ESV)

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Rev. 5:13b ESV)

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"  2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.  (Rev. 6:1-2 ESV; emphasis added)

Every time after that, then, when the same phrase “to it was given” is repeated, it shows the Lamb is still exercising divine sovereignty. The beast is not Christ’s equal; he is an object of Christ’s judgement; he is under Christ’s sovereign will.

So what did the beast do with what he was given? I worded that question carefully. What you do with what God gives you vindicates the justice of God’s judgement. And so it is with the beast, on a grand and historic scale. “And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words…”  (Rev. 13:5 ESV). A blasphemous mouth speaking great things was given to the beast. A direct quote from Daniel 7:8, confirming the beast is in Rome. The beast was also given “authority” in verse 5b: “…And it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months,” (Rev. 13:5 ESV). (Lit.) “It was given authority to act” / “allowed to exercise authority” (ESV) for a specific, limited, period of time—not an indefinite time. Think about that: if God gave you a mouth, and a limited amount of time, what should you do with what He gives you? Verse 6 condemns the beast by predicting what he would do with the mouth and the time he was given: “It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven,” (Rev. 13:6 ESV). You’ve heard that expression about giving someone enough rope to hang themselves? That’s the implication of verse 7: Jesus gives the beast the ability to make war, and authority over more and more people. And the beast takes all the extra rope he is given and ties his own noose. He confirms that no matter how much time he is given, no matter how much opportunity he is given, he persists in bending his entire will to silencing the Gospel and killing those who worship Christ: “Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,” (Rev. 13:7 ESV). The popes abused the authority Christ allowed them to exercise for 42 months: 42 months where each prophetic day was fulfilled as a year in history—1260 years from when the pope was made head of all churches, in 606, until his kingdom was taken away from him by the King of Italy in 1866.

You might try to argue that it’s not fair of Jesus to give the beast a blasphemous mouth and ability to make war, and then condemn the beast for simply doing what he was made to do. But the beast did what it wanted to do. Maybe you blame God for making you the way you are and you use that as an excuse for disobeying God’s commandments? Don’t you realize that the sins you do are what you want to do? He gave you a conscience, to know right from wrong, but you still prefer to do wrong. He gave you a heart that longs to exult in worship, but you give your worship to things God made instead of to God? What have you done with all that God has given you? What you wanted to do. The popes of Rome blasphemed God because they wanted to.

You might ask, “when has the pope actually blasphemed against God?” You could write a book of examples, but here are a few: Pope Leo XIII said, “We hold the place of Almighty God on earth”; Pope Pius XI said, “You know that I am the Holy Father, the representative of God on the earth, the Vicar of Christ, which means that I am God on the earth”; Pope Pius IX said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”.[i] And the popes blasphemed the people who are the true dwelling place of God’s Spirit, the living Church, the Temple of God. Interestingly though, here John calls it a Tent instead of a Temple. “…Blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven,” (Rev. 13:6 ESV). The word translated “His dwelling” is literally “tent,” like when Israel worshiped God in a Tabernacle in the wilderness. And notice that the next phrase explains what is meant by God’s tent—it’s actually about the people “dwelling” in God’s tent—the Greek text says, “those who are tenting...” Don’t forget that in Rev 11:1-2, those inside the symbolic Temple are true believers worshipping Jesus. And John was instructed to prophesy and reveal the True Church while exposing the False Church. Calling true Christians “tent” or “tabernacle-dwellers” in verse 6, reminds us that the church was in exile, as chapter 12 describes, being nourished by God for the 1260 years while the beast had real authority. As Barnes says, “Let any one remember the anathemas and excommunications uttered against the Waldenses and Albigenses, and those of kindred spirit that appeared in the long period of the Papal rule, and he will find no difficulty in perceiving a complete fulfilment of all that is here said.”[ii] We could add to that, the trials and martyrdom of Wycliffe’s followers in England, and of Huss in Bohemia—the pages of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs preserve many of their stories. So many saints gave their lives in worship to Christ even in death, and the beast called them heretics.

What people gave the beast (v8)

People give their worship to the beast. “…And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain,” (Rev. 13:8b ESV). Most scholars agree “those who dwell on the earth” doesn’t mean everyone since it is used 9 times in Revelation as a technical term. [iii] I’ve shown that this term means the inhabitants of the “land” of the Roman Empire, since Revelation began with a vision of Jesus standing among seven representative churches in seven cities of the Roman Empire at John’s times. The word translated “earth” here also means “land,” and that opening vision of the seven churches indicates the Roman Empire is the land in question. So “those who dwell upon the land” means inhabitants of the Roman Empire. But this is the first time it says “all” the inhabitants of the land.[iv] I think it means everyone in the Empire will finally be united in worshiping the popes. There’s also a shift from verbs in the past-tense, to suddenly, in verse 8, a future-tense: “all who inhabit the land will worship it.” As we saw in the amazing fulfillment of the death of the Two Witnesses in 11:7, in 1514, there was a declaration at the Ninth Session of the Fifth Lateran Council in Rome, that all Christendom was finally subjected to the Pope.[v] This was the climax of the reign of the Antichrist. His blasphemies were believed; his authority obeyed; his war against the saints was won. Now don’t forget what this prophecy is for: so that true believers will endure and have faith (v9).

The only people who didn’t worship the Popes were those whose worship belonged only to Jesus. “…And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain,” (Rev. 13:8 ESV).These are the saints whom verse 9 was written for; those who hear the call of verse 10 for endurance and faith in Jesus. These are those Christians who endure, who have faith, because they have received a special gift from God. Because He wrote their names in the Lamb’s book of life.

What God gave you (vv9-10)

We’ve already seen what the popes did with what God gave them. They had a mouth, a chance to teach the Bible, to proclaim the Gospel, to lead their hearers to worship Jesus Christ. But they used their speech for self-exaltation, for personal glory and power, and to convince the Roman Catholic Church to worship a man in the place of Jesus. “If anyone has an ear, let him hear…” (Rev. 13:9 ESV).

The prophecy goes on after verse 10 to describe how the worship of the beast was enforced. Which shows that verses 9-10 is the crux of the prophecy, the point—that if you are not one of those who can just go along with the blasphemous claims of the popes, who cannot bring yourself to give the popes the worship and obedience you feel only God deserves—then you must use the ears God gave you to listen very closely. “If anyone has an ear, let him hear…” (Rev. 13:9 ESV). What has God given you? And what have you done with it? The call to endure and have faith was a call that applied to the early church, even when the pagan Empire threw the faithful martyrs to the lions for sport in their Coliseums; it applied to the medieval church when superstitious doctrines, idol worship, veneration of dead saints, and a total ignorance of God’s Word was normal for Christians, while the beast filled his pulpits with Latin preaching nobody understood. Believers living under the pagan Empire and under the papal Empire were called to use the ears God gave them to hear God’s Word, to remain true to Christ no matter what the authorities might do to them, to endure and to believe. But if our generation is called to make a similar sacrifice, if we are called to suffer for Christ like so many believers before us have suffered, and like so many in other parts of the world are in fact suffering even today, what has God given you to help you endure and have faith? “If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints,” (Rev. 13:10 ESV). The hope of Christians for 2000 years has not been to escape suffering for the sake of Jesus, but to endure that suffering armed with a hope that death cannot kill. No matter how frightened we are, nothing even comes close to the terror that awaits all those who received so much time, and opportunity from God, to believe in Christ and worship Him, but squandered it because they feared what men could do to them.

“If anyone has an ear, let him hear…” (Rev. 13:9 ESV). What hope can give us courage to face death? Let me now preach to you the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but do not close the ears God gave you; do not squander this invitation to repent and be saved by believing in the salvation God has made possible for you through Jesus: “…And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain,” (Rev. 13:8 ESV). Worship Jesus. Worship the Lamb of God, who, before He called the Cosmos into existence with a Word, chose and called you by name to belong to Him, to believe in Him and through Him be accepted by God, to be set apart for the future resurrection of your dead body to everlasting life in the enjoyment of a glorious inheritance reserved for you by name! Has God given you ears to hear? And what will you do with those ears? Will you believe Jesus? This is His message to John for you in the Book of Revelation, showing that it is the Lord Himself who now exercises His divine sovereignty over all things, as He has over the centuries since He ascended to the throne of God. He is the One who bled for your sins; who died so that you can live; who wrote your name in His Book of Life before He created time and space with those words, “Let there be light.”

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.  34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-- more than that, who was raised-- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."  37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Rom. 8:31-39 ESV)

Christ has given me a mouth to speak His Words of life to you; has he opened your ears to hear Him? Repent of your sin and believe.