Who could forget this scene?
Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow stood quivering before The Great and Powerful Oz. Smoke filled their nostrils. Sound waves wreaked havoc on their eardrums. A giant, green disembodied head communicated his displeasure while their hearts raced and knees buckled.
And then…Toto pulled back the curtain.
The terrifying wizard was just an illusion. He had no more power to inflict harm than the old man pulling the levers.
Revelation 13 paints a perturbing picture. An otherworldly beast rises from the deep accompanied by a power-hungry dragon. Together they command the worship of the world. Death and destruction are their national anthem.
And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation.
—Revelation 13:7
This isn’t a Hollywood screenplay. We can’t disassociate from the realities of these demonic powers as we watch them unfold from our couch with a bowl of popcorn on our lap. Perhaps your heart wants to race and your knees want to buckle at the thought of it. But when fear of the forces of darkness begins to grip you, let Scripture pull back the curtain.
Look at those verses again. Ask yourself: who’s really in control?
The beast was given a mouth to utter boasts and blasphemies (v.5).
It was allowed to exercise authority (v.5).
It was permitted to wage war (v.7).
It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation (v.7).
Every ounce of authority the beast possesses was granted to him by our holy God. And that which the Lord giveth, He will most certainly take away.
The powers of darkness are never outside the authority of the Light of the World. God never surrenders His sovereignty—not for a nanosecond. In the end, the beast’s power will be exposed for what it truly is, a temporary and limited illusion. There will be real death and devastating destruction. Even now the “the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour” (1Peter 5:8), but soon enough, the King of kings and Lord of lords will place the beast and the dragon where they belong: underneath His feet (Romans 16:20).
Church, we’ve got our marching orders:
This calls for endurance and faithfulness from the saints.
—Revelation 13:10
How can we endure the darkness of our day? And the darkness that’s to come? With our eyeballs glued to Jesus, the One who was, and is, and is to come. The one and only sovereign.
Plant your feet. Square your jaw. Allow the Word to run a steel rod up your back. Whatever beasts may come, Jesus reigns supreme.
Keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
—1 Timothy 6:14–16
Leave a Reply
59 thoughts on "The Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the Earth"
❤️✝️
LET’s GOOO!!!
!!!! God is control- always was always is and always will be. I look forward to the day where we all may be with Him forever and that day will come, but we have to be prepared in the armour of Jesus Christ!
Thank you Erin was your words, it was a great reminder that God is in control over all things!
I really like this “How can we endure the darkness of our day? And the darkness that’s to come? With our eyeballs glued to Jesus, the One who was, and is, and is to come”. Thank you ERIN.
❤
I think this represents the fear of God. Also, the beast could be another version of a dragon.
Erin’s devotion helps us gain perspective… God is in control and gives to Satan, yet will take away also. Did you notice the beginnings of chapters 12 & 13… the heads, the horns, the diadems… they were the same for the dragon and also the beast. Talk about genes or whatever!
.
After all the awfulness of Revelation, it was nice to read the last verse in the Hebrews reading today. Hebrews 10:39—But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved. Amen to that!
.
Thanks for your prayers for my bout with the flu. Day 2 was just the worst. Day 1 wasn’t so bad, so I thought to myself that I would breeze through it. NOT!! I feel SO MUCH better today! (But I did run some errands earlier and totally need a nap now!! Goodnight!)
Patient Endurance.
Stand strong for Jesus. He wins!
Wonderful insight and words from each of you. Great devotion today, Erin. Thank you to all of you.
Be blessed this Wednesday. ❤️
Wow!!! What a great devotional today by Erin Davis. “The powers of darkness are never outside the authority of the Light of the World. God never surrenders His sovereignty.” Things may look bleak but we know who is in control.
Endurance and faith of the saints. We have a calling that supports the work of the Kingdom of Heaven.
❤️
I’m not sure if someone else has shared this already (I don’t really keep up with the comments here, sorry!), but the weekly podcast is a great resource for understanding a bit more of what we are reading. I am not the best at tuning in, but I definitely listened to this week’s episode with Jen Wilkin. She did a whole study on Revelation that was released last year and has a lot of good insight :)
The podcast was really good this week! I think I’m going to go through it one more time.
I am just thinking out loud today. The beast. It reminds me in the book of Daniel when King Nebuchadnezzar demanded everyone worship the image.
King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet wide.[a] He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue the king had set up. Then they stood before the statue Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 A herald loudly proclaimed, “People of every nation and language, you are commanded: 5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,[b] lyre,[c] harp, drum,[d] and every kind of music, you are to fall facedown and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 But whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.”
7 Therefore, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and every kind of music, people of every nation and language fell down and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
14 It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image[a] of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was permitted to give breath[b] to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
I wonder if this is a product of artificial intelligence inspired and created by satan.
I don’t know or claim to know anything but creating images is what I do sometimes with artificial intelligence. Making images and giving life has gone up a whole new level with artificial intelligence. It can be used for good and for evil. It is man manipulated and very creepy if you think about what can be done with this in the wrong hands. It can be used for some nefarious puroposes.
The name “artifical intelligence” is a little disturbing to me. It usurps or pretends to be superior knowledge. We all know G-d is the author and creator of all things. I am getting a Tower of Babel type vibe here.
Amen, that’s good Tanya!
The most recent episode of the Understanding the Times podcast discusses the potential ability of AI to be used to bring about the reality of end times prophecy. It’s a lot to take in. And scary. Amazing how just little advances in technology come at us slowly enough with enough convenience, before we know it we could be deep into some “good and convenient” tech that gets turned around for evil.
Yep, I just read that today, that we want convenience, but it will come at a cost.
Technology is moving us toward a new world order. Alexa, Siri, and microchipping is making possible things we couldn’t imagine 50 years ago.
The ability to grow organs for transplants “pharm animals” is amazing. However they are splicing human DNA with other genetic material in order to create the “super human” Who will not age or die. This stuff frightens me.
Amen. I think so too. AI can play a huge part and can outperform the majority of human abilities, cognitive tasks , and consequently, turn humans into slaves (through surveillance, loss of privacy, total control).
Never saw the “allowed” action I. Revelation before! So many great insights. This another “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” moment! We have to stand firm, stay in God’s word, pray, intercede, encourage others!
Hold fast! These words come to mind.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.10.23.NIV
Keep our eye on things above! “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.4.18.NIV
Praying for all! Thank you for the songs!
AMEN!
I echo Tina’s words/comment. Love you sweet She’s. Happy Wednesday!
Satan has no authority or power whatsoever, unless given to him by God – for a season. The power of darkness will not prevail!
.
This world at times can seem very dark, but it’s not as dark as it could be if God removed His Spirit.
.
Satan is busy and active because he knows his time is short, but we – the believers, sealed by the blood of the Lamb are to patiently endure, and be faithful.
.
We must never take our eyes off of Jesus.
.
We must be tethered to Him by spending time in the Word and in prayer, living out our faith daily, lest we drift away.
.
→Hebrews 12:1b-2a – “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”
→Hebrews 6:19-20a – “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.”
→Hebrews 3:14 – “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”
—
Happy Wednesday She’s – will be back later to catch up on the comments!
Another day of a descriptive, disturbing visual, that feels like I don’t quite “get it” but where my focus rested was on endurance.
“This calls for endurance and faithfulness from the saints.” Rev 13:10b and then, “For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.” Heb 10:36 Evil,attacks,deceit and deception is all around but we must keep going. We must perserve. We must be steadfast. We serve the One who has already won. He is the Light in the darkness. The Truth of who is reigns and who is in control is so clearly evident.
Such a great devotional to go with our reading today that just helps with clarity and understanding – and, she too points out endurance. A lot of what I personally deal with and that weighs me down, leaves me so weary, and I found Erin’s words to be so encouraging today. Thank you, Erin for this.
“Eyeballs glued to Jesus. Plant your feet. Square your jaw. Allow the Word to run a steel rod up your back…. JESUS REIGNS SUPREME.”
Thank you Almighty Lord, that you reign above it. That you are supreme. Give us resolve, endurance, courage and strength to keep looking to you. Find us faithful Lord, with our eyes on you, on bended knees, with hands lifted high. Amen ✝️
Beautiful Wendy! Thank you for sharing .
Love it Wendy! So good!!
And I DO have the steel rod up my back, so I will have to “feel” it in a new light!! It often weighs me down with tightness and pain…but it is for a short time!!
2 Corinthians 4:17
GM She’s!
These passages are the more familiar passages of Revelations that we have been forewarned of in such movies as “Left Behind.” The prophecy of the one that comes, that will solve the peace problem, all nations will look to. Then the mark of the beast to sell or trade. Only a few decades ago this made no sense to us. But now, we see how the one world system is right around the corner. And that we will indeed need the chip in our hand or forehead to buy goods, we have seen it being implemented already!! Woosh. Scary.
But not for Christians that our hope is set on the Lord! This devotional by Erin Davis was so good!! I loved how she brought my mind to Dorothy and her friends being scared to death by the great wizard, only for him to be revealed! That really does put it in perspective!! God allows all this, for his purposes, for the devil to have this control. It is a mighty battle in the spiritual realm, and here. But we know…we KNOW that God protects those that stand firm, trust and faith in Him!!
One of my butterflies was struggling last night and called late. But we talked, prayed and talked about keeping her eyes on Jesus, and not let the Devil have this control over her. She is on probation and could lose everything from one night of flesh leading, then failing the test. Her next court date on Tuesday where it will be revealed. Please pray for Shalann, and that the Lord will give the judge compassion to not send her back to jail. She is one that I’m super close to, and has come to church, my house, and like a niece to me.
I love that the scripture from Hebrews was tied in today!!
Many of our She’s got hit with the block from SRT website from Cloudfare, including me yesterday. Thankful it was resolved for me by unplugging my wifi and router for 2 minutes making a NEW IP address which was the problem for me. It seems to be affecting many people, so if it happens to you, and you get a “blocked” message from Cloudfare (which many people have not heard of!), it is not a virus, or from the website itself, but from a legit company that protects many websites.
What a great encouragement, support and lifeline you are to your butterflies Rhonda. May the Lord give you strength and wisdom as you lead them. Have prayed for Shalann. ❤️
Praying for Shalann and the judge to be understanding and praying for your butterflies / jail ministry. I watched the Wizard of Oz again last week (I love old movies and it still makes me cry). Evil is temporary and God wins!
Praying for your sweet friend right now as I finish getting dressed for work.
I too got that message and since I’m not so techy I didn’t know what it was.
Love you sweet lady!
Prayers for Shalann. Know you’ll keep us posted…
This happened. Digital tattoo (electronic tattoo) skin-adhering device with sensors and circuits that can monitor health, control devices, or provide other functions. Applications for a hand-placed digital tattoo include real-time health monitoring of vital signs, opening doors, and controlling virtual objects or robots by hand gestures. While not yet commercial, these e-tattoos represent a future integration of technology directly onto the body. Praying for Shalann.
The study book has some interesting extra info. Prayers for needs.
I know, this study book is so helpful to understand Revelations. Today’s devotion was outstanding too! Praying for requests.
Amen and Amen!!
ERIN DAVIS- Thank you for this most brilliantly written devo! POW!!!
.
Yes, we must focus on the One Who holds TRUE power. The adversary has already lost and he knows it so he has nothing left to lose by throwing any and everything at God’s people.
.
Hebrews 10:36
Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
37 “For in just a little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
38 And my righteous ones will live by faith.*
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”*
39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
.
Psalm 55:22-23a NIV
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
23a But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay;…
.
.
SONG SHARE:
Where You Call Home by Need to Breathe
“Cause you ain’t ever going to know who’s side you’re on
As long as the wind blows your feelings like a sailboat in the storm
And time will drift you far out on your own
so take out your map and put your finger on the place where you call home.”
.
Love, hugs, and prayers! ❤
Today’s scripture reminded me of the song “Holy Forever”. He is above all thrones & dominions, all powers & positions. God is over everything!
Going to play Holy Forever right now!!Amen!
Praise be to God!!!
In Revelation 13, the whole chapter is dark—two beasts, deception, persecution, and worldwide pressure to worship something other than God.
.
In the middle of that darkness, the line “This calls for endurance and faithfulness from the saints” is the light shining through.
.
Here’s what that “light” means:
The Light: Hope, Guidance, and God’s Perspective
1. God is still in control—even when evil looks powerful.
.
2. God sees and honors the faithfulness of His people.
.
3. Evil’s power is temporary; the saints’ victory is permanent.
.
4. God gives believers strength to endure.
.
“Endurance” is not human toughness—it’s God-sustained perseverance.
.
5. The main danger is not death—it’s deception.
.
The “light” warns the saints not to be fooled by the beasts’ miracles, power, or pressure. Staying faithful to Jesus is the safe and true path.
.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight” Proverbs 3:5
Oh, I love this! Thank you so much for sharing!
Amen❤️
Amen.
Amen ❤️
“The powers of darkness are never outside the authority of the Light of the World. God never surrenders His sovereignty—not for a nanosecond.”
.
He is the ALMIGHTY, now and forever. Hallelujah and Amen.
.
ADRIENNE – hope you feel better soon. Take courage as you read, remembering those who read the book will receive a blessing. Rev. 1:3
.
Update: plumber hired, starting today. My husband is battling city hall about permits this morning. Pray he finds favor and gets all paperwork in order.
.
“Endure . . . and remain faithful” today!
Praying everything comes together!
Praying!
BG verses Psalm 1:1-2
Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
.
There is much to absorb in Rev 13 about deceit and power shown by evil in this time period of the tribulation. One thing that stood out to me in the Enduring Word commentary for this chapter is the focus of how the antichrist may present to the world –
“As much as Jesus spoke only truth, the Antichrist will speak only lies. This emphasizes the idea of the “opposite Jesus” too much. The Antichrist will instead be more of an “instead of Jesus.” He will look wonderful, be charming and successful. He will be the ultimate winner, and appear as an angel of light. In this sense the Antichrist will be a satanic messiah, instead of the true Messiah Jesus Christ.”
.
Even in these pre-tribulation days, there is already much deceit, just consider the anti Bible stances of many churches.
.
Be on guard, sisters.
Amen!!
Planting my feet.
.
Squaring my jaw.
.
Allowing the Word to run a steel rod up my back.
.
Whatever beasts may come, Jesus reigns supreme.
.
BUT GOD.
.
AMEN..
.
Happy Wednesday,
AMEN!!!
My dad hasn’t been feeling like himself. Doctors can’t pinpoint it yet. I find myself getting worried about him. A few heavy situations in my church family as well. This devotional really does help me focus on Jesus and give my worries into his strong, capable hands. Thank you Lord for being sovereign.
My mom seems to be doing well, thank God. We will find out about the clot soon.
House update- they should be starting at the end of January. It was disappointing they didn’t begin sooner, but at least they gave us a date now. Again, thanks for your prayers.
My in laws will be arriving today and staying with us for 2 weeks. We will be very cramped for space, but happy they are coming. Pray for their travels as they are driving from the airport to us. The other side of the road and how narrow the roads are can be tricky. Thanks.
Praying you take your worries about your parents, the house and your church to the Lord and leave them there while your in-laws are visiting.
Praying for your dad and your church and your home. I’m so sorry you’re going through so much.
Praying
Oh Ladies, does this statement not give us great comfort: “The powers of darkness are never outside the authority of the Light of the World.”!! Praise God the Father and the Lamb to whom salvation belongs! May we have courage to stand firm whatever may come by focusing on Jesus. Amen.
Dear Shes
Imagine a voice from heaven…
“Nothing’s gonna harm you, not while I’m around
Nothing’s gonna harm you, no sir, not while I’m around
Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays
I’ll send ’em howling
I don’t care, I got ways
No one’s gonna hurt you
No one’s gonna dare
Others can desert you
Not to worry, whistle, I’ll be there
Demons’ll charm you with a smile, for a while
But in time…
Nothing can harm you
Not while I’m around…”
That’s our God.
That’s our King.
That’s our Lord.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen…This calls for endurance and faithfulness from the saints”. (v.9-10)
Song lyrics from the Broadway musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”.