Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
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People Worship the Beast : Day 48 
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet 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. 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. Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshipped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 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. (Revelation 13:1-7)
God's Dwelling Place
The power of the Roman Empire and the institution of Caesar worship are a blasphemy against God, and heaven, and the angels. If we like to take this a little further, we can take more out of the word used for God's "dwelling-place" the Greek is "skene", which means a "tent" or a "tabernacle" or "a place to dwell." Although it has really no connection with it, skene always reminded a Jew of the Hebrew word "shechinah", "the glory of God." So it may be that John is saying that the whole conduct of the Roman Empire, and particularly the institution of Caesar worship, is an insult to the glory of God.
The Beast
"The beast" is the Roman Empire. It may be that John is thinking of all the ways, not just those in his own time, in which Rome had insulted God and his dwelling-place. Most Roman Emperors were embarrassed by Caesar worship; but not Caligula, A. D. 37-41, who was an epileptic and more than a little mad. He took his divinity very seriously and insisted that he should be universally worshipped.
Caesar Worship
The Jews had always been exempt from Caesar worship because the Romans were well aware of their immovable allegiance to the worship of one God. This is closely parallel to the fact that of all peoples in the empire, the Jews alone were exempt from military service, because of their strict observance of food laws and their absolute observance of the Sabbath. But Caligula insisted that an image of himself should be set up within the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Jews would have suffered extermination rather than submit to such desecration of the Holy Place but Caligula had actually collected an army to enforce his demand (1) when by great good fortune he died!
If ever there was an insult to the dwelling-place of God, this action of Caligula was one. And it may well be that this notorious incident is in John's mind when he speaks of the insults which the beast launched against the dwelling-place of God.
Out of the Sea
The sea is one of the places where demons were thought to live. Others are in the desert The Jews did not particularly like to sail especially out of sight of land. During Solomon's reign, it is the Phoenicians who bring in imports and carry out exports from a prosperous Israel. Jonah goes aboard a vessel for Nineveh manned by non-Jews. The fact that the beast was given a mouth shows that it is controlled by Satan, a higher power.
Words to meditate on
Would you bow the knee and worship another God, or accept persecution?
Words to pray
Lord, preserve our society today from leaders who are tyrants.
Notes
(1) Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 18:8 (2)
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
