Revelation 13.    The vision that we started reading yesterday introduced us to Satan, the great dragon/serpent/devil.  Today’s text describes the two great tools the devil has used against God’s plan and his people.  They are described as beasts.

1. The first beast (the one from the sea) has all the elements of the four beasts of Daniel 7.  This is a way of identifying all the human empires.  What Jesus is saying is that human government will conspire to overthrow God’s plan and destroy his people.
2. The second beast (the one from the earth) seems to represent human religion.  The apostate church will conspire with the rebellious state to undo God’s plan.  They will both fail.

LORD, we pledge our ultimate loyalty not to the church or the state but to Jesus Christ.