Power, Propaganda, Pack

The saints playing harps and singing on the fiery firmament are there because they are victorious over three enemies: the beast, the image of the beast, and the number of the beast’s name (Revelation 15:2).

When we look back at how those three are presented earlier in Revelation, we realize that they constitute three dimensions of Satan’s opposition to the saints. The beast represents the Roman empire; the attack of the beast on the saints is a frontal attack, perhaps physical, an attack from power.

The image of the beast is built by the land beast. The land beast is the Jewish propagandist of Roman power against the early church, and the image carries out the same propaganda campaign. The image issues death sentences against the saints: “the image of the beast . . . speaks and causes as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Revelation 13:15).

The number of the beast is the mark fixed to the hand and forehead of the beast’s worshipers. It is an anti-covenant sign of membership in the anti-ecclesia. It is a sign of belonging to the pack that has been assembled by the propagandists of tyrannical power.

Power, propaganda, and the pack: The victors are those who witness in the face of power, who see through the propaganda, and who refuse to join the beast’s mob.

These three are always the enemies of the church, in the first century and today. To be faithful is to gain the victory over this triune manifestation of Satan.