[Darris McNeely] Yesterday we talked about the beast. We were talking about the European financial crisis and what's taking place with the possible exit of Greece from the European Union. And we went to Revelation 17, talked a little bit about the beast that is going to arise—a political power that is going to astound the world. We were also preparing yesterday for an upcoming Beyond Today program that Steve's going to be doing on this very subject of the beast and the biblical descriptions of the beast. And we've had some interesting thoughts as we look at this concept and this idea from the Bible and placing it into the context of the modern world today.

[Steve Myers] Yeah, it's interesting that there is a sense that there is the government that will be the beast power. But behind that government, we can say there's going to be a leader. And it's described in Revelation chapter 13 and it says very specifically, verse 3, "And I saw one his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed." And then it says, "All the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast and they worship the beast saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?'" (Revelation 13:3-4) And so we see there's a personal aspect to this beast—it's not just a government, but there is a leader, an end time leader that is going to be coming on the scene who is focused on, as we see what Revelation is indicating here.

[Darris McNeely] The interesting words to focus on in these first few verse of Revelation 13 is the fact that the world marvels at the beast and they worship the beast. And the idea of worshipping a political leader might seem a little bit strange to our modern sensibilities, but when you recognize that it's talking about obviously a very charismatic leader who arises out of a time of chaos and uncertainty in the world scene, then it brings it down a little bit closer to what we can see from history and what we even see around us in our world today because we still have instability and problems, which seem to defy solution by some leaders. And in past history, we've seen people arise at critical moments with the answers. Pragmatic leaders who promise prosperity, security, peace for a nation, for a people, and they rise with a great following. And then sometimes turn out to be a little bit different than what people at first thought they would be. This is the type of figure that the beast character from Revelation appears to be, someone that brings answers and solutions to the world at that particular moment and people marvel at them and they want to follow them. They want to put them in office or in a place to where they can provide all the needs and material wants of a population.

[Steve Myers] Yeah and it may not be necessarily saying, we're going to fall down and worship specifically as a religious icon, but it certainly carries the connotation that we're going to honor, we're going to hold this individual in high esteem because he's got the answers. He's the one that can save us. And as you look at the world scene right now, we see the precursors for this. When you look at the difficulties out there, who's going to solve these problems? Who's going to be the one we look to? Are we going to look to God? Or are we going to look to some physical leader to step in and hopefully they'll save us—they're the ones that have the solutions? And so you can see how people can be taken in by that when maybe there will be a measure of success. Maybe there will be peace. Maybe there will be some prosperity or maybe things won't go down the tubes as fast as we thought they should. And so that will bring honor. That will bring respect. That will bring this marveling and this idea of worship into play.

[Darris McNeely] Stop and think about it from your perspective. If your future security is in jeopardy because of a bad economy, if you cannot see a way to a peaceful solution for a conflict that's impacting you and your family, and someone comes along who provides the answers at a very critical moment. We've seen some very critical times economically in recent years. When someone like that comes along and promises a solution, you can pretty well bet that people will want to follow the programs, the policies of such a leader. This is a type of an individual that the book of Revelation is really describing for us to understand in our modern setting and to watch for as the world unfolds ahead of us. We're going to be talking more about this in preparation for Steve's program. But it's a fascinating subject of Bible prophecy, but it's also something that has some very important applications for the world today.

[Steve Myers] And a warning at the same time isn't there? Where it talks about don't worship the dragon, who's the authority behind the beast. So we've got to beware of that as well because it's all a ruse when it really comes down to it.

[Darris McNeely] That's BT Daily. Join us next time.