Revelation 13 - The Great Tribulation

Revelation 14:13 I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write down this: Happy are those who from now on die in the service of the Lord"

THE 7TH TRUMPET
After the dragon had fought with Michael and was banished from heaven and thrown on earth and the sea Revelation 12:7-9, and fought with the rest of the descendents of the woman 17 he stood bt the sea shore.

The 1st Beast- The False Messiah

Revelation 13

• 1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had 10 horns and 7 heads, with 10 crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 

The dragon: Revelation 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan who leads the while world astray

The beast from the sea: Revelation 17:11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the 7 heads and is going to his destruction.

10 horns with 10 crowns: Revelation 17:12 "The 10 horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.

7 heads with a blasphemous name: Revelation 17:10 They are also 7 kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, but when he does he does come, he must remain for a little while.

• 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had fret like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 
• 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast
• 4 Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"

This means the beast will be a false Messiah and will be worshiped by the people of the earth.

• 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for 42 months
• 6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 
• 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation (the beast who is a false prophet will bengiven us the rest of the world)
• 8 All the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast (the 8th king who is a false Messiah)- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world
• 9 He who has an ear, let him hear
• 10 If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to killed with the sword with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. 

The 2nd Beast- The False Prophet

• 11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon
• 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and all the inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 
• 13 And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men

This 2nd beast is a false prophet

Revelation 19: 20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.

• 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them tons et up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 
• 15 He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast (the false Messiah), so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 
• 16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 
• 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark which is the the name of the beast (the false Messiah) or the number of his name
• 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.