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14 He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. 15 It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be killed.
He deceives [my own] people who dwell on the earth
The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9)
The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. (Revelation 19:20)
because of the signs he was granted to do
We have explored this in depth previously, and the last verse quoted above includes a similar message.
in front of the beast
He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. (Revelation 13:12-13)
saying to those who dwell on the earth
We have explored this extensively a number of times beginning with Revelation 3:10.
they should make an image to the beast
This is worth paying close attention to here. Notice in particular who is being instructed to form this image to the beast. It is the people who dwell on the earth, not the powers seeking domination. That resonates with what we call democracy or making collective decisions that in turn are bound upon everyone through majority vote. In essence the beast strongly urges the masses to formulate something that closely resembles or emulates the beast. What might that look like in our day?
It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:15)
Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:9-11)
I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them God's wrath is finished. I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. (Revelation 15:1-2)
The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. (Revelation 16:2)
The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. (Revelation 19:20)
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for the thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. (Genesis 5:3)
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and the breadth of it six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. (Daniel 3:1)
who had the sword wound and lived
Again we defer to the extended study we had on this back in verse 3.
It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast
It was given to him has been a recurring theme we have discussed, especially in this chapter.
The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)
A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him. (Revelation 13:5)
It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. (Revelation 13:7)
He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. (Revelation 13:14)
He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; (Revelation 13:16)
And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. (Revelation 6:2)
Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword. (Revelation 6:4)
And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him. (Revelation 6:8)
The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. (Revelation 9:1)
Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Revelation 9:3)
They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. (Revelation 9:5)
Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don't measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months. (Revelation 11:2)
The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. (Revelation 16:8)
Jesus answered, "You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin." (John 19:11)
give breath to it, to the image
Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they don't speak. They have eyes, but they don't see. They have ears, but they don't hear. They have noses, but they don't smell. They have hands, but they don't feel. They have feet, but they don't walk, neither do they speak through their throat. Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them. (Psalms 115:4-8)
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they can't speak. They have eyes, but they can't see. They have ears, but they can't hear; neither is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them. (Psalms 135:15-18)
They don't know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can't see; and their hearts, that they can't understand. No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?" He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my right hand?" (Isaiah 44:18-20)
Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. (Jeremiah 10:14)
What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols? Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Awake!' or to the mute stone, 'Arise!' Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. (Habakkuk 2:18-19)
Now concerning spiritual things, brothers, I don't want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were heathen, you were led away to those mute idols, however you might be led. (1 Corinthians 12:1-2)
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:26)
What comes next seems to be in direct contradiction to nearly everything God says about images and idols. Satan is determined to refute the truth, so in these last days he arranges to have an image breathed into with his own diabolical spirit so that he can prove God wrong, bringing to life an image that can speak and act with apparent understanding and intelligence.
that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause
The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)
A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him. (Revelation 13:5)
It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. (Revelation 13:7)
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" (Genesis 3:1)
This was Satan's declaration of war on the first saints who ever lived on this planet. The war involved making God out as the problem, their obstruction to peace and happiness and fulfillment, the one whose words should not be trusted. By taking on the form of a created physical being, Satan could speak through a physical serpent so as to make it appear that miraculous possibilities were available to all who would accept his assertions about God and join him in his pursuit of happiness independent of God. He began by psychological manipulation of how our mind is designed to function, because whatever we hear, our subconscious expects it to be true.
We were not designed to live in a confused atmosphere of truth and lies bringing chaos in our lives. We were created to live in the rarified atmosphere of simple vulnerability free of exploitation that would make us afraid, free of doubt about God's passionate love for us, free of all fear, for mature love expels all fear. Yet by starting out with an emphatic and obvious contradiction to what God had said without trying to even hide the discrepancy, the very idea that God's disposition might be opposite to that of selfless love was slipped into the vulnerable soil of her heart, and the war was initiated as the devil manipulated the mind of Eve encouraging her to depend more on her own understanding rather than choose to lean solely on God as her primary source of truth.
The war primarily transpires in the realm of words. Physical wars are merely outgrowths of verbal wars spun out of control. This follows the same sequence as the fall of Satan in heaven, and is the same sequence he uses to incite people to commit violence against others, even in the name of God. Thus we can be ascertain that the speaking of this image at the behest of the beast whose power and authority originated from the dragon, that ancient serpent seen in Eden who initiated the takeover with Eve, involves lies intended to seduce all who dwell on the earth to conform to the agenda of the dragon accompanied by the two beasts and now an animated and apparently living image mimicking and enforcing that agenda.
You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
There came forth a spirit, and stood before Yahweh, and said, 'I will entice him.' Yahweh said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You shall entice him, and shall prevail also: go forth, and do so.' Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you." (2 Chronicles 18:20-22)
This story by Micaiah to Ahab was designed to fit the way Ahab saw God as both good and evil.
The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 NRSV)
Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face." Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life." (Job 2:4-6)
This backstory transpiring in the book of Job exposes the true nature of the war being played out we are studying here in Revelation 13. Satan insists that obedience is always motivated by profit and loss, not on loyalty out of a heart appreciation of God's nature of compassion and unconditional love. Satan and all who reflect his sentiments such as this image, are inspired with the very spirit of Satan. They insist that given enough fear, threats and intimidation, everyone has a price at which they will sell out their integrity in order to preserve their own life. Skin for skin is short-hand for the system of trading, the alternate operating system that was installed into humanity at the fall. All who choose to remain under the spell of Satan's view of how reality operates will have their break-point, when the cost of integrity reaches a point where they will capitulate to intimidation. From the very outset of the rebellion in heaven all the way to the very end of the rebellion at the day of full revelation, the war rages over what motivates people to follow the direction set by the leader they choose to believe. There are only two options: the dragon's system or the vulnerable Lamb who uses only love.
Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, drew near. The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people. Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered with the twelve. He went away, and talked with the chief priests and captains about how he might deliver him to them. They were glad, and agreed to give him money. He consented, and sought an opportunity to deliver him to them in the absence of the multitude. (Luke 22:1-6)
Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks." He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast, asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus therefore answered, "It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, "Buy what things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor. Therefore, having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately. (John 13:24-32)
Note that Satan gained access to enter into Judas at least twice. What might this imply?
But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?" (Acts 5:3)
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ's apostles. And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
cause as many as wouldn't worship the image
12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
13 He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people.
14 He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived.
16 He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads;
Make/exercise/cause: from poieo in the Greek. This is the same word translated as exercises at the start of verse 12 as well as makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast. This is an key thread running through these verses. It means to cause, avenge, band together, execute, lay wait, ordain, secure, transgress the law, work. Verses 13-17 list some of the methods of how this is done.
The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. (Revelation 12:15)
Another, a second angel, followed, saying, "Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality." (Revelation 14:8)
that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up; and whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:5-6)
as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be killed
What is clear here is the war between the clear commands of God and the commands of the dragon and his accomplices. God consistently warns against making and worshiping idols and images, but here image worship becomes compulsory by penalty of death for any non-compliance.
You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, (Exodus 20:4-5)
You shall make for yourselves no idols, neither shall you raise up an engraved image or a pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am Yahweh your God. (Leviticus 26:1)
Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, well: but if you don't worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? (Daniel 3:15)
Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:9-11)
I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!" The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. (Revelation 16:1-2)
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:19-23)
The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. (Revelation 19:20)
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spoke and said to his counselors, Didn't we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, True, O king. He answered, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their pants changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them. (Daniel 3:24-27)
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for the thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
The parallels here must not be overlooked. The disposition of these three Hebrews will be found in the lives of all who refuse in the last days to worship anyone or anything other than their Creator, the Lamb that they follow wherever He goes. Regardless of whether they are physically rescued from death or not, that is almost irrelevant just as it was to the three Hebrews loyal to God regardless of the outcome of their encounter with a super-heated smelting kiln. What is important to note is the connection with Christ. The three Hebrews surrendered their bodies to be burned alive and did not resist an evil person just as Jesus teaches us to do. The result was that they were thrown alive into the fire. The same thing happens to the beast and the false prophet who have served the agenda of the dragon to deceive and compel everyone to worship them.
So what might we take away from comparing these two stories? Evidently everyone may likely end up in fire, meaning that we need to come to view fire outside our natural reaction of fear that can cause us to make tragic choices if we try to avoid the pain and suffering it threatens to bring to us. The three Hebrews chose the fire rather than compliance to the laws of kings and rulers of this world. They had no assurance they would survive that fire, but they had confidence in God's heart that He was good, so that whatever the outcome might be, His name would be glorified if they would remain entirely loyal to Him alone. In their case they ended up enjoying a time of fellowship with Christ in the fire, for in a sense they reigned with Christ (maybe for a thousand minutes?) and experienced joy and freedom from fear. They had chosen to renounce fear of suffering and death and to trust the heart of the loving God they served, and as a result they experienced the presence and fellowship that Christ promises to all who receive Him.
While God did not save them from the fire, He joined them in the fire. And the power of His superior fire overcame the power of the evil super-heated fire that was meant to destroy them. This is the amazing power of God that is available to all who choose to serve and remain loyal to Him, not assurance of escape from pain or death, but the power of trust and praise and gratitude to defeat all the power of the enemy brought against us. In this story the result was a breakthrough for a king who started out in tune with the counterfeit system of Satan that relies on force, compulsion and intimidation to induce allegiance and worship. What was meant to reinforce the dictates of Satan's evil empire was transformed to become a confession of God's faithfulness and superiority and eventually after some years and further encounters accomplished the full conversion of this heathen king
Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. (Daniel 3:28)
We witness the progression of perceptions about how God relates to evil even through the flow of Revelation itself. Those loyal to God need to have their perspective transformed from the old patterns of supposed justice until full maturity finally exposes a generation willing to fully follow the Lamb.
They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course. (Revelation 6:10-11)
I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement. (Revelation 17:6)
The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived. In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth." (Revelation 18:23-24)
The dragon and all who subscribe to his motives and methods, rely on fear of death and threats of pain and deprivation to compel worship and allegiance to themselves. The Lamb in sharp contrast, leaves all free to embrace His revelation of God's heart, or give preference to the lies of the enemy about God leaving their heart vacant of love and ready to do any wickedness in the name of God. This war is over identity and what kind of character will be formed around what we believe about God, which directly affects what reflection we give and dictates whose likeness we absorb. This part of Revelation exposes both the tactics of the enemies of God as well as contrast with the truth about God increasingly intensifying as we move closer to the end of the book.
The compulsion used by the beasts and then the image formed in the likeness of the first beast, betrays their likeness to the dragon who is the originator of all violence and evil. His intent has long been to defeat the government of God that he claims is too weak to withstand chaos and will collapse in the face of raw power and violence and fear. This is where we find ourselves right now, for the influence of the subtle deceptions circulating in our thinking have to be fully exposed and replaced with the pure milk of the word of God so that our reflection of God's heart containing only light with no darkness at all in Him becomes pure and free of all contamination. This is the work of the Spirit of God whom Jesus sends to all who surrender fully to heaven's agenda for our salvation.
These chapters portray how this plays out, even as we see these things taking shape all around us in the world. The principles outlined here are witnessed in the methods and motives of rulers and religious leaders alike everywhere we look and cannot be ignored easily. Deception is increasing exponentially, but so too is the light of the glorious truth being perceived by millions as the Holy Spirit moves to bring the glory of the angel in Revelation 18 to every person on earth in order to make a decision as to which side they will align with for this last showdown.
Will we allow fear and demands for compliance to dictates by sinister powers of darkness to manipulate our will, or do we choose to trust the heart of our loving Father regardless of the cost to ourselves and even our lives? We are facing a time of polarization where every person on earth will have to choose one side or the other, for pressure is quickly increasing to compel everyone to worship (receive their identity from) the beast or worship his image, yet in so doing they end up ultimately worshiping the dragon, for they all are simply variations of the same thing.
Keep in mind that whether we choose to be faithful and loyal to the Lamb and leave the outcome entirely in God's hands, or whether we succumb to threats that increasingly impinge on our conscience and allow ourselves to be squeezed into the world's mold, everyone will sooner or later find themselves in the fire. So it would be better to soberly seek the truth of God's heart earnestly now while it is called Today, so that if our time comes to be displayed in a super-heated situation, we may be found trustworthy as faithful reflectors of the Lamb and enjoy His presence in the fire with us.
In the next chapter we will find that the idea of presence is tightly connected to the fires that everyone is destined to encounter. All through this chapter we are reminded that these satanic reflectors operate in the presence of the hierarchy of demonic influence. In the next chapter we find those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes and do not love their lives unto the death. We also learn that those who reject the Lamb as their model and origin of identity and choose instead to be molded into conformity with the image of the beast and dragon, experience the presence of the Lamb and the holy loyal angels with Him to be nothing but torture from them. It is now that we have time to choose which fire we will align ourselves with. We can allow fear to drive us to become more and more like the enemy of love and truth until we are transformed into the demonic likeness of the beast who makes war on saints of God, or we can allow the Spirit of Truth and freedom to transform us so completely that the presence of the Lamb and holy angels only produces joy without torment.
Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." (1 Kings 18:21)
If it seem evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh. (Joshua 24:15)
