1-2 Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea…. And the dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

7 Then the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them…

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.

16 And the second beast required all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,

17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name.

— Revelation 13:1-2; 7, 11, 16-17

12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

13 who were born not of blood, nor of will of flesh, nor of will of man, but of God.

— John 1:12-13

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.

29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

— John 10:28-29

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, salvation and joy from Jesus Christ to you.

We people on the earth actually face a battle that reflects the cosmic struggle that John described in Revelation 12. As the interlude between the sounding of the seven trumpets and the seven bowl judgments continues, Satan is hard at work opposing God and His people. Though already defeated, Satan is allowed another opportunity to wage war against God’s people through his two agents—the frightening beast from the sea and the deceiving beast, with two horns like a lamb but speaking like a dragon, from the earth. Through these two beasts, Satan launches brutal attacks on the believing body of Christ. For a prescribed, limited time, the beasts are given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to deceive God’s people by spewing heresy, false teaching, and false prophecy.

The fierce power of demonic forces may appear relentless and unstoppable, but this is not the case. The truly unstoppable power of Almighty God limits Satan’s evil schemes. God’s children will not bow down to or follow the two beasts. During the beast’s reign on earth, believers remain safe from the beasts’ delusion. But they do not persevere through their own natural strength and faithfulness. Rather, God’s mighty grasp and the permanence of Christ’s new life within the believers provide them with protection. Praise God! The power of God’s eternal will and Jesus’s death and resurrection secures those whose names are listed in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Satan has not hold on God’s people.