Recognizing the beasts
I am baptized, confirmed and an active member of WELS and want to know how would a Christian such as myself be prepared to never follow or worship this beast as told in book of Revelation? Certainly this beast and its image will be masqueraded and I'm not certain I would know it if I saw it. I do not want to fall victim to it nor worship it. Thank you!
Revelation chapter 13 speaks of two beasts. There is a beast that John saw “coming out of the sea” (verse 1) and a beast that the apostle saw “coming out of the earth” (verse 11). Lutheran commentators have seen the first beast representing secular governments that are anti-Christian in nature, being in league with Satan. Lutheran commentators have understood the second beast to represent the great Antichrist, the “man of lawlessness” of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
How do we recognize these beasts, you wonder? Jesus said that we recognize false prophets “by their fruit” (Matthew 7:15-20). We will recognize anti-Christian governments and the Antichrist by what they say and do. And that presupposes that we know what the Bible says, doesn’t it? We need to know the Bible so that we can recognize truth and error.
And when we recognize error and false teaching, we reject that. We cling to the truths of God’s word, knowing that God always speaks the truth (Numbers 23:19). More than clinging to God’s word, we use that same word as our weapon against Satan and his allies. I’m reminded of the great Reformation hymn: “Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us, We tremble not, we fear no ill; They shall not overpow’r us. This world’s prince may still Scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none. He’s judged; the deed is done! One little word can fell him.” (CW 200:3). As the apostle James wrote: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).