Revelation 13:4

This cry of the world, ‘Who is like unto the Beast’ is a travesty of the song of Moses. When celebrating Jehovah’s overthrow of their enemies at the Red Sea, Israel sang, ‘Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the Gods! Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders!’ (Ex. Ex. 15:11 cf. Ps. Ps. 89:8).⁵

His revival from the abyss, the holding pen of demons (Rev. Rev. 9:1-2+), and his ability to sway the world and overcome God’s prophets all point toward his demonic possession, possibly even by Satan himself (Luke Luke 22:3):

The Antichrist will be a man (2Th. 2Th. 2:4), but at some point in his life, he will be indwelt by a powerful demon from the abyss. This demon-possessed man will be a gifted orator, an intellectual genius, possess great charm and charisma, and have immense leadership power. Added to those natural qualities will be the hellish power of Satan. The result will be a person of superhuman power, vast intelligence, and consummate wickedness.⁶

Notes

¹ The preference for an individual to worship is evident from the time of Rome: “The worship of emperors . . . provided a living tangible, audible deity for men who had been accustomed to the formal routine of ritual observance. The gods of Graeco-Roman legend had no reality; and their very existence had been challenged by the philosophers. The [Roman] emperor was the living head of the state and the guardian of its welfare. . . . His abilities and deeds seemed almost superhuman to the ordinary man of the street. Here at last was a real person whose position and powers made him worthy of worship.”—Merrill C. Tenney, Interpreting Revelation (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1957), 24.

² Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 248.

³ Regarding the phrase, “the desire of women”: Gen. 3:15), making the expression a symbol of the Messianic hope in general. The ‘desire of women’ would be a subjective genitive: ‘that desired by women.’ Favoring that interpretation is the contextual position of the phrase sandwiched between references to ‘the gods of his fathers’ and ‘any god.’ ”—Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2002), Dan. 11:37.

⁴ Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. I (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), s.v. “ECF 1.1.7.1.3.7.”

⁵ Arthur Walkington Pink, The Antichrist (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1999, 1923), s.v. “Antichrist in the Apocalypse.”

⁶ John MacArthur, Revelation 12-22 : The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 2000), Rev. 13:1.