by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n
The contrast between Revelation 13 and Revelation 14 is one of the most striking between any two chapters in the Bible. In Revelation 13, all the news is bad. Even though the dragon has been defeated in heaven, a new ally for him, the beast, emerges from the sea. Another evil creature, a beast who is a false prophet, comes up out of the earth.<\/p>\n
Together, these beings do incredible harm. The dragon leads all the earth to worship him and the beast. The false prophet mimics the work of Christ, deceiving all the people of the world. Now, anyone who does not worship the beast will be killed, and anyone who does not receive the mark of the beast cannot buy or sell. In short, by the end of Revelation 13, it seems that the bad guys have already won!<\/p>\n
Revelation 14 tells a different story. There, we learned that 144,000 have not followed the dragon or the beast. Instead, they have remained faithful to God. Also, God uses His angels to begin his plan to overthrow the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Babylon, the city of the beast, will be destroyed. Furthermore, all who have worshipped the beast will be punished. The righteous will be rewarded, and in the end, it is the will of God, not the will of the dragon, that will triumph.<\/p>\n
In addition to making for exciting reading, this two-chapter sequence reveals a fundamental truth about the cosmic struggle between good and evil. It always looks like evil is about to win. This has been true at many, many times throughout the history of God’s people, and it is certain to continue to be true.<\/p>\n
Indeed, we ourselves may feel this way right now. It may be that as we consider the apparent moral decline of our country, the work of the devil is as apparent to us as it is in Revelation 13. The same may hold true in our personal lives as well. In my own life, developing a terminal illness does not look like a victory for God!<\/p>\n
However, we must hold the truth of Revelation 14 firmly in mind. It was not obvious at the end of Revelation 13, and it may not be obvious in our lives now, but God is preparing an answer. If we see trouble looming on the horizon, how much more is He aware of it! He has had all the time in the world to address our situation. He knows what He is going to do, and His power is such that He will infallibly do it. Nobody reaches the end of Revelation and concludes that God has lost, and if we are faithful to Him, no one will think that He has lost the battle in our lives either.<\/p>\n
This is not always easy to hear. We may well feel like God should have turned the chapter to Revelation 14 a while ago! As always, though, God works on His timetable, not ours. If we trust in Him, His triumph in our lives is as certain as His triumph in Revelation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford The contrast between Revelation 13 and Revelation 14 is one of the most striking between any two chapters in the Bible. In Revelation 13, all the news is bad. Even though the dragon has been defeated in heaven, a new ally for him, the beast, emerges from the sea. Another evil…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[102,182,188],"class_list":["post-47227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-revelation","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3324,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-mistranslation-of-jesus-is-the-666-in-revelation\/","url_meta":{"origin":47227,"position":0},"title":"The mistranslation of “Jesus” is the 666 in Revelation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does it mean that the verb \"count\" in\u00a0Revelation 13:18\u00a0must be ignored? Does it mean that the counting operation in\u00a0Revelation 13:18\u00a0leads to no result at all? I have found that if you assign numeric values to the alphabet from 1 to 26, then Iesvs (74) + Jesus (74) + Joshua\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42259,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-revelation-2010-accurate-in-the-kjv\/","url_meta":{"origin":47227,"position":1},"title":"Is Revelation 20:10 accurate in the KJV?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. Is the King James translation of the Book of Revelation in chapter 20, verse 10 in the same book an error? \"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62585,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-thousand-year-reign-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":47227,"position":2},"title":"The Thousand-Year Reign","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Revelation 20:4-6 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many elaborate theories are based on this \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some teach that Christ, at his second coming, sets up a kingdom here on earth. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Christians from the early church are raised up to rule with him. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After a peaceful, thousand-year reign, the Devil is released \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a04.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69242,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-is-the-1000-year-reign-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":47227,"position":3},"title":"When Is the 1000-Year Reign of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Robert Harkrider via Timberland Church of Christ One of the most highly publicized teachings today in the religious world is the 1,000-year reign of Christ. Phrases such as \"It's a sign of the times,\" \"The rapture is coming,\" and \"The kingdom of God on earth is about to be established\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24323,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/666-and-the-mark-of-the-beast\/","url_meta":{"origin":47227,"position":4},"title":"666 and the Mark of the Beast","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry Falk Do microchips and bar codes have anything to do with \"the mark of the beast\" (Revelation 16:2; 19:20)? Before answering this question, we would do well to remember that the word of God is \"handled\" a lot in the world. However, it's not good enough to just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/08\/666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18518,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-revelation-1410-referring-to-judgment-on-a-place-or-to-the-final-judgment\/","url_meta":{"origin":47227,"position":5},"title":"Is Revelation 14:10 referring to judgment on a place or to the final judgment?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"He also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb\" (Revelation 14:10). I am guessing this is talking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47227\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}