Revelation 13:4 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast’ – the words are a parody of Exodus 15:11 – ‘and they worshipped the beast, saying who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ In other words, there’s nothing higher than secular governments. You can’t go against it. If you are in a democracy you can vote out a party and vote in another, and that’s good. But broadly speaking, you can’t go against the government, so you don’t attempt to. That is the way in which most people are said to worship it. Government and secular rule and secular control comes before God; he is now set at nought. The beast is admired for its military power, for its exaltation of human power and human accomplishment.The dragon, as the evil power behind the beast, is the ultimate object of worship. The beast has many of the characteristics of the dragon, its hatred of God, its cruelty to man, its desire to persecute the church and its love of evil. And yet the world does not necessarily know it is worshipping the dragon. The dragon chooses for the most part to remain hidden. He doesn’t advertise the fact that he is the authority behind the beast. The world may not yet be ready for that. Perhaps at the end of time it will be ready to learn this, but now it would frighten them off. Even then, the devil will need to present himself as an angel of light. He will always need to be a deceiver. Men will not knowingly follow him to destruction.