This is of the greatest interest to us, and it’s mentioned repeatedly throughout the chapter. ‘I saw one of his heads’ – only one – ‘as it were wounded to death.
But what perspective this chapter gives you! When you read the books of the late Rev. Tim Keller of New York and his constant emphasis on Christians being called to reform the world and bring about better values throughout the world and a nobler society. It’s completely out of step with the teaching of the New Testament: that this is a doomed world and you cannot reform the world and things will grow worse and worse, and especially bad at the very end for a time. I read a book by the minister-come-psychologist from the United States, Paul Tripp, and it was all about the duty of Christians to reform society, and make the world a better place. Our task is supposed to be transformational of society. But that is totally contrary to the picture of the Bible and this chapter particularly, which shows that Satan’s hostility to Christ and the church is principally channelled through governments. So while we obey governments for law and order – and we are commanded to do so in the Scripture – when it comes to governments determining the morals of a nation, there you see the persecution element of world government: the beast out of the sea.