Venerating the Beast

The Empire's propagandists encourage men and women to give allegiance to Caesar and to venerate his image, namely, the Beast from the Sea .

In the Book of Revelation , the False Prophet uses religious symbolism and economic control to manipulate men and women so that they pay divine honors to the Imperial Throne. Whether the Empire uses force or persuasion, the goal remains the same. Men who refuse to venerate Caesar are excluded from economic activity and thereby impoverished.

Beginning with the Tower of Babel incident, and ever since, monarchs, tyrants, and emperors have commanded their subjects to venerate their absolutist regimes, and to venerate the king. Antiochus IV Epiphanes (“Manifest God”), ruler of the Seleucid Empire, portrayed himself as the son of Zeus. The Roman imperial cult encouraged subject peoples to offer incense to the image of Caesar, Filio Dei , as it reads on many ancient Roman coins. And so, it remains to this day.

[Colosseum - Photo by Patrick Schneider (Munich) on Unsplash]

The Book of Revelation uses a graphic Greek term to describe this agenda of the Beast, but its meaning is lost in many English translations. The False Prophet exploited the authority of the Beast to lure men into “ worshiping ” the Beast's image.

• “ And he performs great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. And he seduces the inhabitants of the earth because of the signs that were given him to perform in the sight of the beast, saying to the inhabitants of the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who has the stroke of the sword and lived. And it was given him to give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed ” - (Revelation 13:13-15).

However, the Greek verb ' proskuneô ' commonly translated as “worship” does not mean to worship as in the ritualistic adoration of a deity. The basic sense is “to prostrate” oneself before someone of superior rank, to “render homage” to that exalted person. It combines the Greek preposition ' pros ,' meaning “towards,” with the word for “kiss.” In other words, bowing down to kiss the hem of a dignitary's robe, and thusly, to pay him or her royal honors.

From this comes the idea of ​​“paying homage” to an overlord. The practice of swearing allegiance to persons, causes, and governments best represents the idea in a contemporary context, which is what the False Prophet causes individuals, peoples, and whole nations to do, namely, to submit to “ the Beast from the Sea ” and pay divine honors to the Beast's image.

If the False Prophet fails to persuade men or nations to submit, he carries a very big stick - economic coercion.

• “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead. And that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that has the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name” - (Revelation 13:16-17).

The Inhabitants of the Earth who follow the Beast have its “number” branded on their right hand. In contrast, the followers of Jesus have the name of the Lamb “written on their foreheads.” Thus, the mark of the Beast is the counterfeit of “the seal of God.”

• “And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” - (Revelation 7:2-3).

• “And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads” - (Revelation 14:1).

The men and women who take the beastly “mark” are approved by the Imperial Government to engage in commerce, “to buy and sell.” The followers of Jesus are excluded from the economic life of society. Loyalty to the Beast from the Sea has its rewards, but remaining loyal to the Lamb comes with a heavy price.

Humanity is divided into two groups: those who follow Christ, and the men and women who give allegiance to Caesar. There is no middle ground. Whether we swear absolute allegiance to the Lamb or the Beast will determine if our name is included or excluded from the Book of Life:

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

• “And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man pay homage to the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God” - (Revelation 14:9-10).

• “And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire” - (Revelation 20:15).

CHRIST OR CAESAR

The False Prophet seduces men to manufacture an idolatrous image. Men and women prostrate themselves before this image and thereby pay divine honors to the Imperial Beast. What distinguishes this idol is not its shape or size, but the total devotion to the image required by the Beast and his mouthpiece, the False Prophet.

The Beast has the authority of the Dragon, “the Ancient Serpent, called the Devil and Satan.” Like his Master, the Beast has “seven heads and ten horns.” He is the earthly representative of the Dragon. Likewise, the False Prophet “speaks like the Dragon” since he is the public voice of the Beast. He is also “the mouth that speaks great things,” the deceiver who slanders God and accuses His saints of disloyalty to the Empire – (Revelation 12:1-5, 13:1-12).

The Inhabitants of the Earth embrace the Beast and lavish the allegiance that belongs only to Jesus on Caesar and his beastly image, and they give their loyalty to the World Empire ruled by the Beast from the Abyss and the Sea – (Revelation 11:7, 13:1).

Paying divine honors to emperors and empires is the ultimate form of idolatry, the veneration of the State and its head. And this idolatry occurs whenever any political system demands the absolute loyalty that belongs only to God and His one true King. Regardless of what rulers and tyrants of this world claim, God is the one who grants the authority to anyone, and “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” can terminate that political authority whenever He chooses:

• “And he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings, and establishes kings” - (Daniel 2:21).

• “The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he wishes, and sets up over it the lowest of men” - (Daniel 4:17).

• “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. The two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone” - (Revelation 19:20).

The World Empire may rule for a lengthy period, and Caesar’s oppression of the Church may become severe. However, the Empire will not endure forever. Only the Kingdom of God will have no end. Therefore, if we wish to follow Jesus “wherever he leads,” we must choose today between Christ and Caesar.

One day, probably sooner than we think, a seductive political entity will appear that will use its economic might against nations, peoples, and individuals that refuse to submit to its demands or acknowledge its absolute authority, and especially against the saints of Jesus Christ. That will be the sign that the Beast is “ascending from the abyss” to wage Satan’s final war on the Lamb and his church.

[PDF Copy]

SEE ALSO:

• Jesus is the True Emperor - (Jesus, the Slain Lamb, is the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth, the King of Kings who now reigns over all the nations of the Earth)

• Lamb or Beast? - (Humanity is divided into two and only two groups – the followers of the Lamb and the subjects of the Beast)

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

• Adorer la Bête - (Les propagandistes de l'Empire encouragent les hommes et les femmes à prêter allégeance à César et à vénérer son image, à savoir la Bête de la Mer)