The World Wondered After the Beast
Arlette Pollard
Rev. 13:3
In the fullness of time
God brought forth
Divine, holy light
To slay principalities
That had darkened the sky
He made a way
Through mercy and grace
For His Son
To bring revelation
That would dispel the night.
Jesus ushered in
A brand new day
He opened wide
The heavenly gates.
But upon the earth there arose
A most dangerous
Deadly foe
Who opposed liberation
Through the Word that was sown.
Like a beast in the field
Unbelief trampled down
The fertile yield
By denying the revelation
That would loose the heavy yoke
How long will man
Deny the Father’s holy plan
By treading underfoot
The Word that was sown.
Jesus is the Word sent to slay
The evil foe.
Through Him, the Spirit
Restores man’s fallen soul
But to deny
The Father’s perfect design
Is to give power to the beast
To resurrect and to speak
Words that will pervade
And darken the sky.
“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” Revelation 13:3
“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Galatians 3:1-3
A child born in the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, would one day cause many to stand in wonder and amazement at the love and longsuffering of the Lord who created the heavens and the earth. The child from Bethlehem was born of a virgin, conceived through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, and was given the name, Jesus. This precious child born of a virgin, conceived through the power of the Father of creation, is the sign of God’s promise to save man from their enemies. Many enemies of God have filled the earth throughout history, but God would empower His Son so that none would be able to stand and live, when they encountered the living God. Many relentless, harsh and cruel enemies, have brought about great suffering within children’s lives, and are close brothers and sisters whose personalities reflect the cruelty of their father, the destroyer of men. They are known by the names of idolatry, hatred, jealously, fear, vengeance, covetousness, un-forgiveness and lust.
Those who hear the name of Jesus, and believe He is the Son of God will rise up in wisdom and mercy as they begin to realize that it is the Lord who will deliver them from the enemies, who have brought ruin and destruction, terror and great strife into their lives. Those who hear and believe in the name of Jesus, will stand humbled before the Savior, in wonder of His great love, power and might. Children, who have embraced the message of the Holy Savior, will personally experience His ability to loosen the clutches of the destroyer whose talons have dug deep into their lives, influencing their thoughts and actions.
Those who have been awakened to see the terror that exists in the darkness of unbelief, will stand in awe and wonder as they acknowledge God’s great mercy, in providing a way of escape. Thankfulness will fill their hearts as they realize that God has had compassion on sinners such as themselves, as He moved them from out of the darkness of unbelief, and into the light of His glory, truth, and love. Wonder will be an ongoing experience as the powers of darkness, enemies to the good purposes of God, submit to the Governmental authority that has been placed upon the shoulders of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. “Emmanuel”, “God with us”, Jesus Christ, has been given the power and authority, by the Father, to enlighten the eyes of a child’s heart so they are able to see the goodness of God working out His good purposes within their lives.
Through Jesus Christ, a new day arose upon the horizon, where man would stand in awe and wonder as the eyes of their hearts beheld the beauty of God’s eternal Kingdom of love and mercy. God’s eternal kingdom of truth, holiness and love, was made available through Jesus Christ, and will be revealed to those who believe that He is God’s beloved Son. Those who have been born first of the flesh, then of the Spirit, having received the Spirit of adoption through faith in Jesus Christ, are able to give praise to the Father that He would reveal His kingdom of light. In the Father’s Kingdom of righteousness, children will receive His truth as the light that shines upon their soul, causing the good fruit of peace to grow into maturity.
When man, through faith in Jesus Christ, is born again of the Spirit, a battle cry will sound as God trumpets forth within the heavens the good news that a child has crossed over the threshold, from death into eternal life. Though Satan declares dominion over the soul of man who lives unaware of God’s kingdom of holiness, when a man hears the message of the gospel and turns toward God, Satan will begin to lose his authority over the child’s life. Satan’s realm of corruption will be swallowed up by God’s kingdom of love and mercy when a man places his hand securely in the hand of God. Satan’s realm of darkness, where eternal death hangs over a child’s soul, influencing their thoughts and emotions, will give way to God’s incorruptible kingdom where eternal life blesses the bearer with hope for each day. Oh, how wonderful is the Lord of heaven and earth, His mercy endures forever.
“Why do you transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, honor thy father and mother, and, he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, it is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:3-11
Oh how wonderful it is when men raise up holy hands and worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. How wonderful and awesome are the prayers of the saints who overflow with praise, as the Spirit rises up from the depths of their souls, from the wellsprings that never run dry. God, who is a Spirit, establishes His truth upon the hearts of those whose faith has been placed in His Son of righteousness, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who is the same today as He was yesterday, and will be tomorrow, continues to shed abroad within children’s hearts the spirit of God’s truth. But woe unto those who honor the Lord with their lips, but whose hearts are far from Him. They do not realize that the deceiver’s lies have entangled their hearts and minds to truths established within the darkness of unbelief, where every evil thing exists. When man’s beliefs have been impacted by the thief and the liar, then their thoughts and behavior will not reflect truths that flow from the throne room. Instead, a stink will arise from out of stagnant water that has been stirred up by the deceivers hand.
It is the “beast” who rises up from the sea of mankind’s unrepentant, un-dealt with emotions, declaring he understands and speaks the fullness of God’s message of salvation. It is the “beast” who has not had God’s Holy Spirit slay their enemies. They do not understand that God, through the sword of the Spirit, is able to accomplish His good purpose within their lives according to the power of the Spirit. And so, the beast, because he does not understand the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, will proclaim it is according to the law, and not the Spirit, that man will receive salvation from his enemies, his sins which keep man from living in peace with God.
The “beast”, whose emotions and thoughts have not been dealt a death blow by the sword of the Spirit, continues to deny, through his words and actions, what God accomplished through Jesus Christ. The heart and eyes of the beast can not see beyond the natural world of darkness, where Satan holds reign, to the kingdom where God is in control, and able to rule in power and strength over the emotions of mankind. The “beast” does not understand the bondage he continues to place upon the shoulders of mankind. The yoke of bondage that Jesus is able to remove from off the shoulders of man, so that man walks according to the leading of the Spirit, looking to God for direction and purpose in life, and not to another man.
The “beast” is not able to understand that it is through faith in God that a child will be delivered from out of the clutches of Satan’s realm of darkness. In his inability to believe in the sanctifying power and authority of the Holy Spirit, which is received through faith in Jesus Christ, the “beast” creates, through his words formed in the darkness of unbelief, thick cords that are used to bind man to earthly thinking. He places his cords, which are made up of works, rules and traditions, ideas that do not reflect the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, and places them upon the shoulders of men. The other end of the cords are then attached to a stake that is hammered deep into the earth, so that the man is forced to stay within the mandates of man, in obedience to man. Instead of the yoke being removed from off the shoulders of man, which is God’s desire, the man is forced to remain in obedience to man. Because man lives in servitude to man, and not God, then it becomes natural for man to live in wonder of man, instead of in wonder and thankfulness to the living God.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1
While man continues to create and place the yoke of bondage upon the shoulders of man, the blood that has dried upon the nails that were driven deep into the person of Jesus Christ as He hung upon the cross, cries out to be recognized. Through the blood that Jesus Christ shed upon the cross, a new yoke was fashioned. The yoke, which was fashioned through the life of Jesus Christ, will help children to understand the nature of God, and will help them to walk in meekness, as they find rest from the enemies that have tortured their souls. The yoke, which Jesus Christ has fashioned through the cross, is easy to understand because the Spirit will speak truth to the heart of man, and the burden that the yoke Jesus created for men to bear, will be light.
The beast may profess to understand, with his mouth, the importance of the cross, and the power that was released through Christ’s blood that was shed upon the cross. But because of the bondage that the beast continues to place upon man, it is made manifest that his heart is still far from understanding the nature and purpose of God. The beast does not understand that it is through faith in Jesus Christ and the atoning work of His blood shed on the cross, that children will receive the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit into their lives. The “beast” does not understand that it is the Spirit of God, moving upon man’s enemies, which will release them from the stronghold of Satan, and not through binding more laws, rituals, and regulations upon man. The “beast” continues to deny that a child is born again into the kingdom of God’s love, through the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost, and instead, hammers the stake fashioned by the hands of man deeper into the earth of self-sufficiency.
To stand in wonder of God, is an experience understood by those who have been born again into God’s kingdom of righteousness, holiness, and truth. But the “beast” who is empowered by the dragon, Satan, has a preset disposition, so that it becomes natural for him to take the law into his own hands. The beast naturally forms laws that are inspired by his own reality of what will be for the good of the people. Laws which are not light and, which will not lead man to lean upon the influence of God’s Holy Spirit, where intimacy of relationship with God is developed. Instead, the laws devised by the “beast” will lead man to look toward man in understanding the ways of God, and it will become man who is worshipped and wondered after, instead of God.
In forming and establishing laws based upon what man considers to be for the good welfare of mankind, while denying the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit to crucify the enemies and conform man into the image of God, the beast inappropriately turn mans worship away from God, and toward himself. Whether he truly believes it is for the good of the whole, or because his pride and unbelief continue to blind his eyes to the goodness of God, when the beast denies salvation according to faith in God alone, he defies the truth of God’s purpose for mankind. To teach that salvation can be accomplished through the law, and not faith alone in Jesus Christ, enables the beast to draw adoration toward himself and away from God. When children are led to look to man and his dictates, instead of the yoke of heavy bondage being lifted so they can walk in peace with the Lord, they will continue to find suffering, fear, misery, and hopelessness to be a natural experience within their life.
“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heat.” Hebrews 4:12
Jesus Christ is the Word who was with God in the beginning, “all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Jesus Christ is the Word, who is able to cut and separate that which is truth from that which does not represent the nature of God. Jesus Christ is the Word, who is able to move upon a child’s heart like a sharpened sword, to cut and remove thoughts that were formed and fashioned within the darkness of unbelief, so the child is able to stand and appreciate the light of God’s glory. Who ever believes in their heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, to them is given the power to become sons of God. To them is given the power of the Holy Spirit, so that they stand in wonder of their Father’s mercy, wisdom and love.
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished for mankind, man will be drawn toward obedience to the Government and authority that Jesus Christ has established within the heavens and upon the earth. God’s divine, holy Government, where His power is given to man through the Holy Spirit, so that man looks to God for direction and wisdom. But the beast continues, through unbelief, in thinking that he can turn back the hands of time, and change times and seasons, by having children disregard the message of salvation through faith.
The beast does not understand that, to look to the law, regulations and rituals to receive salvation from the enemies of man, is to try and change times and seasons. For a time and a season, the law, which was given through Moses, was the only light to keep children walking on the narrow path toward the Lord. But God has declared that the law could not make any man perfect. So God ushered in new day where faith in Jesus Christ would lead to receiving the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, so that man would be declared perfect before the Lord. Man does not stand perfect before the Lord in their own works that they have accomplished, but in the perfect work of Jesus Christ. It is through grace that children stand holy before God, and not through obedience to the law. It would be to try to turn back the hands of time, if children should deny what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. It would be to try and turn back the hands of time, if man should disregard the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit and look, instead, to the law in declaring he is justified before the Lord.
For those who look to the law to be justified before the Lord, it will be natural to stand in wonder of the “beast,” who establishes the truth they depend upon for direction. But to wonder after man, to give praise, and full allegiance to man and not to God, will not release a child from the perils of suffering that sin will bring about. To look to man, will not release a child from the suffering that sin will manifest within a person’s life. To suffer for unrighteousness sake, will not change the nature and desires of man’s bondage to sin.
God, through the Word, the sword of righteousness, Jesus Christ, has been able to cut off the head of the beast who speaks blasphemous lies against the purpose and power of the Holy Spirit. God is able to wield His Holy Sword of righteousness, and kill and destroy the message delivered by a messenger who speaks words of bondage and captivity to those Jesus came to set free. But those who deny or misunderstand the purpose of the Holy Spirit, continue to rise up in their own strength and speak words that have been scooped up from out of the stagnant pools that Satan has stirred up.
It is God’s desire that the beast’s head never be healed, so that his words that promote obedience to the law, while denying the power of the Holy Spirit, can never be spoken out, able to influence the heart and mind of man again. But man, who does not understand the plans and purposes of God, will promote ideas uninspired by the Holy Spirit. These ideas will attempt to resurrect the “beast” from the dead so that he once again holds a position of power. The beasts wound will be healed through man’s desire to be justified before the Lord through the law, and not through faith in Jesus Christ alone. As man’s words and desires continue to praise the “beast”, the beast will appear to have the ultimate power in dictating truth and direction for man. The words that the beast speaks naturally reflect the desires of those who brought it back to life.
To worship the “beast” and his mandates is to stand in wonder of man, who denies the sanctifying, purifying power of the Holy Spirit. To stand in wonder of the beast, is to stand upon the earth, in bondage to earthly thinking, which will never deliver man from out of the clutches of death and sin. To stand in wonder of the beast, is to live without understanding the beauty that will envelop a child’s heart and mind as he worships God in Spirit and in truth. To stand in worship and wonder of the beast and his mandates, is to be led away from experiencing a personal, one on one, relationship with God.
Jesus Christ was sent to redeem mankind from their sins, through the sanctifying power of the Father’s Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is able to make war with the beast and gain the victory that belongs to the Father. Today, many hear the sound of the trumpet call that has been sounded to awaken man’s heart to the revelation of what was accomplished through Jesus Christ. Today God is able to shake man awake from their apathy, that would cause them to desire standing in bondage to truths established in times and seasons that covered the earth before the grace of Jesus Christ touched the earth. Today the Lord is able to gain the victory over a man’s soul, so that they stand before Him, basking in the warmth and beauty of the revelation of who they were created to be in Jesus Christ. How good it is to be joined to the Father through faith in His beloved Son, how wonderful and awesome is His Holy name.
“And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, they do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest.)” Hebrews 3:5-11