No particular character is here to be understood, but only the general imposition of the Romish faith upon all sorts of persons. His mark was nothing else but either the profession of his faith and religion, or a vowed subjection to his commands, which we know is the practice of the papacy where it obtaineth in any country. read more
THE FIRST BEASTCRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTESIN this and the preceding chapter the three chief adversaries of the real kingdom of God in the world are described. The first is the dragon, or Satan. The second is the power of the world striving to withdraw our thoughts from the unseen and eternal, and to confine them to the seen and temporal. The third is the spirit of carnal religiousness, like that which so bitterly opposed Jesus in the days of His flesh, and sought to substitute its superficial... read more
he causeth Antichrist the person is to be distinguished from the "many antichrists" 1 John 2:18 and the "spirit of antichrist" 1 John 4:3 which characterizes all. The supreme mark of all is the denial of the Christian truth of the incarnation of the Logos, the eternal Son in Jesus as the Christ John 1:1; John 1:14. (See Scofield "John 1:14- :") . The "many antichrists" precede and prepare the way for the Antichrist, who is "the Beast out of the earth" of Revelation 13:11-17 and the "false... read more
John said,I stood upon the sand of the sea ( Revelation 13:1 ),Probably the Mediterranean Sea.and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads, ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy ( Revelation 13:1 ).The sea represents, of course, the multitudes of people, the Mediterranean Sea, the multitudes of people that live around the Mediterranean Sea. And out of it he sees this hydro-headed beast with seven heads and ten horns. We are told in... read more
The conscious mind, enquiring after the truth and certainty of revelation, is worthy of all the aid that science can afford. In Daniel, as stated above, on chap. Revelation 10:5, we have before us three prophecies of the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman empires, finally under the Roman power, divided into ten kingdoms, as represented by the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image. Those visions of Daniel are here confirmed by the continuous visions of John. The tablet is broad, and... read more
Revelation 13:1-18A beast rise up out of the sea.The domain of antichristI. It has a manifold development. In the commerce of the world, in the government of the world, in the campaigns of the world, in the literature of the world, in the religions of the world, antichrist appears in aspects as hideous, and in a spirit as savage and blasphemous as the monsters depicted in this vision.II. It has one master-spirit.1. He is endowed with tremendous power.2. His grand pursuit is moral mischief. He... read more
Revelation 13:13-18Deceiveth … by the means of those miracles.Miracles: a counterfeit supernaturalismMiracles have ever been the chief evidence of the presence of what is worshipful and Divine. It is by these especially that men’s faith is begotten and controlled. It is by seeing and experiencing what is manifestly above and beyond all natural human power, and what cannot be accounted for on natural principles, that the human mind is forced to a conviction of the presence of some great and... read more
Revelation 13:16He causeth all … to receive a mark.Soul-marksThe words “he causeth” clearly ascribe this operation to the second beast. If it had been the first we might imagine that some outward mark or sign was meant, for that beast deals with the visible and outward. But this one stamps an image on the souls of men; this writes a name on all their inward thoughts, which afterwards expresses itself in their common daily acts. Men fancy, when they read and talk of some great tyrant-power which... read more
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, Ver. 13. And he doth great wonders ] By his art of magic; for true miracles he can do none, nor his master the dragon to help him. Hence they are called lying wonders, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 , sorceries, Revelation 18:23 , and impostures here,Revelation 13:14; Revelation 13:14 . So that he maketh fire ] As another Elias. This the pope doth daily by his excommunications, casting... read more
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Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Revelation 13:15
The beast, mentioned Revelation 13:11, had power to give life unto this new formed idolatry, conformable to that of the pagans, in which the old beast again lived: he gave life to it by his decrees and bulls, and canon laws, and by his excommunications and censures of those that would not comply with his idolatry as heretics; after which the persons so adjudged were delivered up to the secular power to be put to death. read more