Revelation 13:5-10

5The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies
and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
6He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his
name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
7He was given power to make war against the saints and to
conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe,
people, language and nation. 8All inhabitants of the earth will
worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in
the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the
creation of the world.
9He who has an ear, let him hear.
10If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance
and faithfulness on the part of the saints.



13:5-7 - The Beast continued to utter proud words and blasphemies and
to exercise his authority for the now familiar, forty-two months .
Specifically, the Beast blasphemes the name of God and His dwelling place
(His tabernacle), and those who live (or tabernacle) in heaven . This makes
sense because the citizenship of the saints is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), we are
enthroned in heaven in Christ (Eph. 1:20; 2:6), and the Church's official
worship takes place in the heavenly realms, with angels in assembly (Heb.
12:22-23) Those who reject Christ dwell on the land in the Revelation, but
the New Covenant people gather around the Throne of God. According to
Alexander Schmemann in, For the Life of the World: Sacraments and
Orthodoxy , "The early Christians realized that in order to become the
temple of the Holy Spirit they must ascend to heaven where Christ has
ascended. They realized that this ascension was the very condition of their
mission in the world, of their ministry to the world. For there - in heaven -
they were immersed in the new life of the Kingdom; and then . . . They
returned intotthe world, their faces reflected the light, the joy and peace of
that Kingdom and they were truly its witnesses. . . In church today, we so
often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom.
We do not realize that we never get anywhere because we never leave any
place behind us." In other words, Christians today need to learn how to
spiritually ascend into the heavenly realms the way the early church did, the
way we are called to. It is in this kind of worship that we will transform the
World.

The Beast was given authority to make war against the saints and to
conquer them for only forty-two months. Again, this is a number that
symbolizes trouble for a limited amount of time. It signifies a time when
the enemies of God are in power or God's judgment is being poured out.
Interestingly, Nero's persecution of the Church lasted from November 64 to
the beginning of June 68, a period of forty-two months. Although this is
typically a symbolic number, the real time period did, apparently, correspond
to the symbolic number in this case. During this time, the Beast was
also given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. This
was true of the Roman Empire as well as Satan, who ruled all the kingdoms
of the world (Matt. 4:8-9).

13:8 - Everyone who dwells on the earth (literally 'land'), those who reject
Christ, will worship the Beast. Worship comes in two types. It can be
official, liturgical worship in a service, or the everyday, practical allegiance
and obedience. The Jews had chosen the idolatry of Caesar as lord over
Christ. Those who worshiped the Beast will have names that have not
been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain
from the creation of the world. In a true piece of irony, the Jews who have
worked to excommunicate and cut off the followers of the Lamb have been
themselves locked out of the Covenant.

13:9-10 - John takes a quick moment to make sure that his readers pay close
attention to what comes next as he says, He who has an ear, let him hear.
He declares that the followers of the Beast, those who dwell on the land
(earth) are doomed. He says if anyone is to go into captivity, into
captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the
sword he will be killed. This is a loose quotation from Jeremiah 15:2. This
verse is from a longer passage that details God's rejection of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah is told not to pray for the nation because they have been destined
for destruction. There will be no place to go to hide from the judgment is
God's declaration that John paraphrases here. In making reference to this
passage, John is emphasizing the certainty of the coming judgment on the
apostate Jews of the first century who have thrown their lot in with the
Beast, in opposition to the Lamb. This judgment will come absolutely. The
patient waiting for this is the patient endurance and faithfulness of the
saints.