Revelation 13:15; Make An Image to the Beast

Revelation 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 

There is coercion and threat made and those who refuse will be killed, it will be an enforced allegiance! 

There is a supernatural energizing of the image of the beast that cause it to be able to speak and demand worship. 

The major weapon in Satan’s arsenal is deception. Satan, Jesus declared, is “he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44), who “transformed into an angel of light ” (2 Cor. 11:14) to deceive people. From his first appearance on earth in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:2–6) until his final appearance at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:7–8), Satan is a liar and a deceiver.

Genesis 3:2-6 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which isin the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree wasgood for food, and that it waspleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make onewise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 

Revelation 20:7-8 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom isas the sand of the sea. 

He constantly seeks to confuse people, “blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Cor. 4:4).Since Satan is a deceiver, it follows that his agents (both human and demonic) are also deceivers. The apostle Paul warned, “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Cor. 11:15), though they are purveyors of wickedness, lies, and deceit. The devil uses them to spread his damning “doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 4:1).

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 

The worldwide joining of political and religious power in the end times is detailed in Revelation 17. For a time, the two powers will coexist (17:1–9).

Revelation 17:1-9 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead wasa name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here isthe mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 

Eventually, however, Antichrist will destroy the false religious system and institute the worship of himself (17:15–17).

Revelation 17:15-17 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 

That will happen at the midpoint of the Tribulation, when Antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation (Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:3–4).

Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. 

Daniel 11:31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 

Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

Having reached the pinnacle of his power, Antichrist will destroy all other religions. The worship of Antichrist, fomented by the false prophet, will become the only religion tolerated (cf. 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4).

Revelation 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 

Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 

Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, andover the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 

Revelation 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and uponthem which worshipped his image. 

Revelation 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. 

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I sawthe souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received hismark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2000). Revelation 12–22 (p. 54). Chicago: Moody Press.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2000). Revelation 12–22 (pp. 57–58). Chicago: Moody Press.