The book of Revelation does not pull punches! As John was given a vision behind the scenes of History, so he describes both the Devil and the agents or ‘tools’ he employs in the most graphic terms. The hideous dragon of chapter 12 may sound like the stuff of nightmares, but the devil that it represents is the stuff of nightmares. Likewise the ‘beasts’ that he uses are as horrible as he is.
None of this gives itself easily to the shuddering realization that the beast from the sea in Revelation 13:1 – 10 is actually the ‘state’ in all its guises and especially its oppressive forms! A glance back in history will easily confirm the truth of that picture: Numerous regimes through history have been really horrible but also welcomed. List some of the practices of the Roman Emperors or rulers of the middle-ages and we are quickly reminded us how grateful we are to live in the 21st century!
Yet you don’t have to go back very far in History to find that the word ‘beast’ or ‘monster’ is an appropriate description for more recent regimes: Hitler, Pol Pot, etc… from the 20th century and what about our own days and the brutal governments that are mentioned so frequently on our news-screens!
For Christians, many ‘states’ or governments have been very bad news: The Roman emperor Nero fed Christians to the lions and used them as burning ‘torches’ to light Roman gardens. Hitler sent Christians to concentration camps alongside Jews, and even today it is reported that Christians in North Korea are being tortured, imprisoned and killed.
It’s clear however that the ‘beast’ of this chapter doesn’t just refer to extremes. The ‘beast’ that all men except Christians (cf Rev 13: 8) seem to worship has 7 heads – and following the ‘shorthand’ of the book of Revelation that means it represents all regimes. As a patriotic Brit I surely want to protest: I want to go to John as he’s recording what he sees and tell him that Paul had it right in Rom 13: 1 – 7 when he described the state in positive terms. Queen & country is surely the cry! How can our government be seen in such an awful light?
Yet I am reminded of an Open-Air meeting I attended some 25 years ago when drunks disrupted proceedings and the police told the Christians off for disturbing the peace! I read all the time of honest hardworking believers – in many ways model-citizens – coming up against the latest politically correct legislation and finding themselves on the ‘wrong-side of the law’. Sadly our state, whose Christian heritage we are so proud of and upon which we all so much rely, looks just a little more ‘beastly’. I know very well that the British state has done some terrible things in the past and if I define ‘Christian’ as the Bible does, then neither the UK no any country has ever really been ‘Christian’. So I cannot see ours as a Christian ‘beast’.
Whilst as a Christian I am obliged to both uphold and support the state to the best of my ability, I am reminded that Paul wrote that letter to Rome even as Nero was the emperor. Paul upheld the law of God and shared the Gospel in full knowledge that it would cost him his life to do so.
So where does all of this leave the ‘state’? It is surely a great blessing – to be prayed for and supported and worked-with as God’s servant to bring order to our broken sinful world. Yet its limits are to be recognized – it is not worthy of worship, though very many will do so by their actions even if not consciously with their affections. To cry ‘Queen and country’ has its place, but we need to remember that the only hope for the world and the only one worthy of worship is the Lord Jesus. The church of all time gathered around the throne in Rev 5 and crying ‘worthy is the Lamb’ is always the right response! We must remember that the state can be, has been and is at times used as an agent of Satan – it is one of his tools to ruin God’s creation and to attack the church. Yes – in large and beastly ways but also sometimes with subtle sly influence. To be forewarned is to be forearmed – with faith and a determination that we will look to Jesus and Him alone for our ultimate hope and security and rest.