Mon.’s Devo - The Church and the Antichrist


Read: Zechariah 2:1-3:10; Revelation 13:1-18; Ps. 141:1-10; Pr. 30:18-20
 The angel is told to measure Jerusalem which is the same thing as to judge it. He speaks of a day when Jerusalem will once again be inhabited with people and filled with God’s glory. Their enemies will be judged and punished. Jerusalem will have a reason to sing and rejoice once again. 
In chapter 3 we see Joshua representing the priesthood. God is showing the state of the priests that they have become polluted with sin. He prophesies Jesus, the High Priest, that will come and remove the iniquity of the land in one day… the day he dies on the cross. 
Every time I read Revelation, I get a deeper understanding of it and I realize that most of it has already happened. We are further into this than I thought. Beasts are representative of powers that oppose God. When Nebuchadnezzar told his kingdom to worship him as God, he was reduced to a beast. He was like a beast with a womb that God healed when he humbled himself. Constantine was another example of a heathen king who opposed God and then came to a knowledge of Him. He changed his policy only to turn away from God and become more harmful to the truth than before. He was a type of Antichrist. Antichrist has been alive and well since Christ. 
The first beast attacks the church from without. The second beast is a false prophet who attacks the church from within. There are two churches just as there were two trees in the garden. One is the true church and the other is the counterfeit. The seven heads were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and Germany. The ten horns are leaders that have authority. Notice that the beast looks a lot like the creatures that are before the throne. Satan always counterfeits what God has…he’s not creative. Notice that the second beast looked like a lamb (Jesus). He is the false prophet that can do great miracles but his heart is self-motivated. His number is 666 because six is the number of man. He is totally self-centered. 
Lord, open our eyes to see truth and let us not be deceived by miraculous exploits but be established in You.