The Biblical Response to Systemic Oppression

The dragon could not devour the child, Christ. He could not consume the woman, national Israel. So, he persecutes the other offspring of the woman, the church of Jesus Christ. John envisions how the serpent persecutes the church and exhorts the church to respond properly to the serpent’s persecution in the tribulation of this age—the 42 months and the millennium initiated at Christ’s incarnation, particularly His ascension.

Revelation 13:1-10

And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And 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. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. 

And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.

The first beast (v. 1-3a)

And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.

John continues the apocalyptic imagery from Daniel’s prophecy. He reminds us about the beast that comes out of the sea (cf. 11:7). This beast is the one that would destroy Jerusalem according to Daniel (cf. Daniel 7:1-8; 12:7)—Rome. Like described in Daniel, the beast that represents Rome has ten horns and seven heads and ten diadems—blasphemous diadems (cf. 12:3). The beast, Rome, is worshipped as God. Rome, in John’s Revelation, is the manifestation of Satan’s great blasphemy. Rome presents itself as God. The people worship their nation in place of God.

And 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. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed.

John now conflates the four beasts in Daniel’s prophecy in to one. John’s symbol, thus, refers to all four nations—Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Though Rome is the nation currently persecuting the people of God, John’s revelation has all persecuting nations in view represented by Daniel’s four beasts and in the current persecution of the beast with iron teeth—Rome. The beast is not merely future or past. The beast represents the superpowers of this world, all worldly governments apart from Christ during the apocalyptic millennium (the time spanning Christ’s incarnation and His second bodily coming). 

Before the incarnation, Satan has been devouring nations and, apparently, influencing worldly nations to persecute the people of God. At the incarnation, Satan was bound from devouring the nations. It seems he still builds nations for himself as another act of blasphemy against the kingdom of God. Since he cannot devour the nations, he will influence people to devour one another. The great deceiver is always looking for a loophole. So, the dragon, Satan, builds worldly nations for himself, gives the beast whatever power and lordship the beast has. During the millennial reign of Christ, then, there are worldly nations that are given much power and influenced by Satan as Satan tries desperately to stop the growth of Christ’s church, persecuting the offspring of the woman because he is enraged toward the woman, Israel.

One of the beasts heads appears to have been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. This particular worldly government, a conflation of four kingdoms represented in Rome and applicable to every worldly government, somehow mimics the death and resurrection of Christ—yet another great blasphemy. These heads represent four nations (cf. Daniel 7:1-8). They do not represent particular kings as has been suggested by some. John will symbolically describe the kings using the image of the second beast (v. 11-18). One of the nations in particular view has a fatal wound yet lives. We cannot discern from the text which nation it is, but I am not sure it matters since John has conflated the four nations into the image of one beast. I think the symbol simply indicates that the worldly nations continue to lose against Christ, yet they are reborn again until the consummation of Christ’s kingdom at His second bodily coming—when all worldly nations will finally be judged.

The beast’s work (v. 3b-8)

And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 

In John’s time, the whole world had gone after Rome. By going after Rome, they inadvertently worshipped the dragon—because Rome is the incarnation of the dragon (another act of serpentine blasphemy). They fawn over Rome and claim that Rome will be forever, “Who can stand against this great nation!” That sounds familiar. The state religion of the dragon is nationalism.

John believes and claims, here, that the kingdom of Christ is separate from and higher than any worldly government. As such, the formation of any worldly government is, by nature, opposed to the established kingdom of Christ. Christ’s kingdom is of a different nature than Rome (here referring to all worldly governments). Rome is merely material and geographic; the Christian nation is not. The Christian nation is such that it currently exists in the midst of worldly nations, cultures, societies, and governments. The kingdom of heaven is like the wheat and chaff growing together:

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn”’” (Matthew 13:24-30).

Ultimately, when any nation on this earth pursues its own glory, and when the people trust in the government to provide all things and protect the people, the people worship the government rather than Christ. They are citizens of the world rather than of Christ. When the government seeks to provide all welfare and security for the people, it presents itself as the kingdom of Christ. When we seek salvation, purpose, well-being, happiness, blessing, provision, security, and so on from government, we are the ones saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against him?” John here reveals that while Christ is conquering and the kingdom of God is consummating from the midst of worldly nations, normative human worship will be to the state—and people who profess to be religious are not exempt.

There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

Rome, and every other worldly government, is given a mouth to speak arrogant words and blasphemies—such is the nature or every worldly government. Rome is given the authority to act for 42 months, the timeframe that the church is witnessing, Satan is bound, and Christ is conquering the world. Surprise. Rome does what Rome was created to do. Worldly governments blaspheme God, His name, and His tabernacle (the church) by assuming the position that ultimately belongs to Christ’s church. Christ is building a kingdom of priests who will reign on the earth with Him forever (cf. 11:15-18; 20:6).

It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

During the millennial reign of Christ, power is given to Rome to make war with the saints and overcome them. This war is a physical and verbal war. Rome is given authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation. Everyone except those whose names are written from the foundation of the world in the book of the Lamb who has been slain will worship the beats—worldly government and worldly politics. Here, I see a few things I want to unpack a little further.

First, we see the doctrine of election. The kingdom of heaven is for those whose names were recorded in the book of the Lamb before the foundation of the world and no one else. Everyone else will worship the government of the world in some way. The symbolic book of the Lamb has recorded in it the names of those for whom the Lamb was slaughtered as an atonement for sin, who were chosen from the foundation of the world.

Second, authority is given to the beast for a limited time. During this time, a Christian nation defined by geographical boundaries and human laws will not be established. Even though Rome converted to a form of Christianity and founded a state church, the Roman Catholic Church, Rome could never truly be a Christian nation because there is no such thing. Christ’s kingdom is being built among the worldly nations, which are nationalistic. Christian nationalism, then, is a worldview contrary to Scripture. State churches (e.g. Catholicism and Anglicanism) and religions that operate like worldly governments (e.g. Islam) are contrary to the kingdom of God. Campaigns like the Roman Catholic Crusades and Jihad are damnable and the result of state religions, tools of the beast meant to increase nationalism rather than true Christianity. The same revelation applies to the United States of America, which could never have been a “Christian nation” because such a nation identified by borders and culture is not biblically Christian. The Christian nation is multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and not identified by geographical boundaries like the worldly nations are. There are no Christian nations. There is one Christian nation in the midst of the heathen nations of the world.

Third, those who are not elect (the reprobate) will worship the beast—even if they profess to be Christian. Such will be normative during the millennium (the 42 months during which Satan is bound). So, we imagine a worldly nation that claims to be Christian. Perhaps its values align with biblical values because there are many Christians in the midst of that nation. Yet, the worldly nations are represented by the beast in John’s Revelation. Over the almost 300 years since the conservative nation was founded, it has elected leaders for itself who desire either to make it great and secure or capitalize on welfare and activism. In John’s Revelation, both extremes are weapons in the beast’s arsenal. The beast is a great blasphemer, and both persuasions in the great nation’s political system claim to be essentially Christian. In reality, they are the blasphemous beast. Christians might be present in the government, which we need, but the system itself is the beast described in Revelation and the whole nation worships the beast. This is true of every worldly nation as exemplified by Rome.

The Christian’s response (9-10).

If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.

John challenges those who have ears to hear to hear, referring to those whose names have been recorded in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world. In light of worldly governments’ millennial role on the earth, John prescribes how true Christians (those who are in Christ, Jew and Gentile) should live. John does not instruct Christians to take up arms, wage a physical or verbal war, or overtake the nations of the world. Such is not the nature of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is being built among the worldly nations in such a way that cannot be stopped by the efforts of those nations. It is being built by the proclamation of the Gospel of grace and peace through meekness and servitude. Therefore, John applies his eschatology in order to reveal the right response of citizens of Christ’s kingdom.

If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes. John’s application is opposite that which comes from the world. The current revival of liberation theology, known as woke theology, causes people to live like and worship the beast. John, here, instructs Christians to be content in their current circumstances because these are the circumstances through which Christ is consummating His kingdom—sifting the wheat from the chaff. Though the nations of the world are blasphemous, they play a leading role in the process. Those who are not secure in Christ will seek liberation according to the standards of the beast. 

If anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. John reminds Christians about God’s just nature. The nations of the world operate by the sword. The Christian nation operates by servitude and meekness. Justice will come and the meek will inherit the earth.

Here is the perseverance of the saints. People are surprised when worldly people come to lead worldly nations. They react by thinking, “We need to make our nation Christian again!” They yell and post ungodly graphics and sayings on social media and think that electing the correct person will solve all the problems they see in the nation. John, here, reveals that the proper response of Christians is perseverance and not political involvement. By all means, we have the liberty to vote when afforded the opportunity. But, do you ever think that God has a purpose for permitting worldly people to lead worldly governments? Those whose names are in the Lamb’s book will persevere with contentment rather than fight battles that are really only for the worldly nations to fight. The beast serves God’s purpose; by this, God is sifting the wheat from the chaff.

We are not surprised when the world elects worldly leaders. We are not surprised when the heathen nations rage and divide against themselves. We are not surprised at the formation of new imperial cults and new state churches that call themselves schools or by some other moniker. We are not surprised when people who claim to be Christians prove instead to be some degree and persuasion of nationalist. Instead of riding their lofty pachyderms or activating enlightenment from their lowly asses, true Christians bear their crosses. With their crosses, Christ is building a meek and unshakable nation. There is a reason I don’t get very upset when I see worldly governments doing worldly things and having worldly fights. I am in Christ. Christ is not divided. He has taught me contentment. I will reason with others and testify about Christ. He is building His kingdom from the ashes of worldly infighting.

Many sincere Christians are bamboozled into fighting the battles of the world. The apostle, Paul, admonished his brethren:

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier (2 Timothy 2:1-4).

So, we are content whatever our circumstance in this age. We use the circumstances to testify about Christ as His witnesses. He is building His church while the world tears itself apart. The less a state identifies as Christian, the truer Christianity in the midst of that worldly state becomes. How good it is to be in Christ when the world is showing its own foolishness and inability to bring peace and justice to the earth. Will you become a citizen of a higher kingdom? Do you have ears to hear?