Revelation 16:13 Commentary and Bible Study

This final assault is made via demonic forces. Satan is now given permission to manipulate the kings of the earth and the nations under them in a far more powerful way than ever before. He immediately uses this freedom to gather them for a final assault on the church. This has been his intention all along, but he has been prevented by the Lord until the very end of history. His being held back has not meant that he could do nothing to harm them, but the full force of his hated has not been felt until now. Of course the real object of his most passionate hatred is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, but Christ has already been victorious over the devil and is beyond his reach. Satan therefore proceeds to do the next best thing and he seeks to annihilate those who belong to the Lord. These he mistakenly believes he can significantly hurt. He thinks that because they are still on earth they are vulnerable, but God protects them on earth just as surely as if they were already in heaven. John sees how the kings of the protagonists in this war are gathered together. Out of the mouth of Satan, the dragon, come three unclean spirits. These are pictured as frogs, described here as just as revolting as the frogs that came up and covered the land of Egypt in the time of the plagues. Even their arrival is described in horrifically unnatural terms, as they are seen coming out of the mouth of other beings. This arrival is significant. The mouth symbolises words, speech. It will be by means of lies that these things are accomplished. Satan will lie to the world, the beast will lie to the world, and the false prophet will lie to the world. Satan is the power behind the other two, but he will continue to use his two most successful agents as long as he can. This unholy trinity leads captive the whole world to do the devil’s will. By lies they flatter men into following their plans. They encourage this unbelieving world to desire that freedom that comes from throwing off the shackles of God’s law, while bringing them into bondage to sin and rebellion. They lie about the rewards that men will receive and the world readily believes them because it is eager to believe in the success of its own rebellion. The demons are steering hatred at the church, having many plots and plans like today’s sex education, like the whole attack on creation norms, and the turning upside down of all Biblical morality. Satanic propaganda will at last succeed in convincing the world that Christianity must be destroyed. Adding to the force of this persuasion are signs performed to persuade the kings of the earth to go along with the devil’s purposes. These are elsewhere called lying wonders. The Scripture suggests here and in a number of other places that there will be an outburst of such lying wonders at the end of the age, which will be successful in convincing this world to do the devil’s bidding. This is hardly surprising for the gospels show how easily impressed men are with miracles. When Christ performed signs before the world, they were so impressed by them that for a time they looked as if they might be prepared to follow him. How much more easily will Satan lead men in a false direction by his lying wonders, when their hearts are already leaning in that direction already! When another comes who seeks his own glory, they will believe in him.The backdrop of this scene in Revelation is 2 Thessalonians 2:3: ‘Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).