THE LAMB THAT BECOMES A DRAGON
Kevin D. Paulson
Without question, the movement that has come to be known as the Religious Right, wields awesome power in the American political system.
You don’t have to watch the political news for very long before you hear talk of the power of Christian conservatives, Christian evangelicals, the Religious Right—any number of terms you can think of—relative to the political process in the United States over the past several decades.
The issue we are addressing in this series is not so much the moral agenda of the Religious Right. Rather, the issue tonight is the METHOD they use to promote that agenda.
1. God's reverence for liberty
Gen. 2:9:
"And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
Now what did God tell them about this tree of knowledge?
Gen. 2:16-17:
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
While God forbade them to eat of this tree, He still planted it in the midst of the garden. In other words, He gave Adam and Eve a choice.
Josh. 24:15:
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Rev. 22:17:
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Some have asked, “How can you have the right to do what is wrong?” Well, God has given to human beings, and all His creatures, that right.
God doesn't want forced obedience. He only wants obedience that is motivated by love and free will.
What about the separation of church and state? What, if anything, does the Bible say about it?
Some Christians say it is a myth. Others claim this principle is the product of atheism.
But what did Jesus say, when He was asked about paying tribute to Caesar?
Matt. 22:21:
“Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”
And what did He say to Peter, when the latter threatened to use force in defending Him?
Matt. 26:52:
"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."
"Christian" terrorists who bomb abortion clinics and engage in similar acts of violence have obviously forgotten this verse.
John 18:36:
"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from thence."
II Cor. 10:3-5:
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
Acts 1:6-8:
"When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
"And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Notice He didn't say, You shall receive power when you have gained control of the legislature. Jesus never promised political power to His church. He only promised the power of the Holy Spirit, which alone can provide victory over sin. He declared that His kingdom was not of this world, and that force was not to be employed in His service.
There was a time when Christian fundamentalists understood this principle as the basis of church-state separation.
It was Roger Williams, not Thomas Jefferson, who invented the term "wall of separation" between church and state.
"The wall of separation had the allegiance of a most profound Christian impulse as well as a secular one. To Christian fundamentalists of the Framers' time the wall of separation derived from the biblical injunction that Christ's kingdom is not of this world."
Leonard W. Levy, The Establishment Clause: Religion and the First Amendment (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co, 1986), p. 184.
How indeed American fundamentalism has changed!
Now, let us turn once again to Revelation, chapter 13:
Rev. 13:11-15: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth: and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
"And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast: saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."
Seven points stand out in this prophecy, and help us identify who it refers to:
1. It comes to power after the papal eclipse in 1798.
That's why this chapter refers to "the first beast" as distinct from the second.
2. This beast comes up out of the earth, rather than the sea.
The first beast in Revelation 13, like the whore of Revelation 17, comes up out of the sea, as do the four beasts in Daniel 7.
Rev. 17:15:
"The waters which thou sawest . . . are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."
If waters represent multitudes of people, the earth would represent a part of the world sparsely populated and not known to civilized people at the time the book of Revelation was written.
The second beast, in other words, come from a part of the world people didn't yet know about.
3. "He had two horns like a lamb."
Who else in the Bible is compared to a lamb?
John 1:29:
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Repeatedly, in the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ is described as the Lamb (Rev. 5:6,12,13; 6:1,16; 13:8; 14:1,10; 21:9,23,27; 22:1,3).
Elsewhere the Bible uses this symbol to refer to Christ's followers (John 10:14-15).
Besides this second beast in Revelation 13, no nation is represented in Scripture as a lamb. And this beast is obviously a political power, because it exerts the power of life and death over people (Rev. 13:15). Only a political power can do this.
Why then, is this power represented as a lamb?
The late historian Theodore White, in his provocative book on the fall of Richard Nixon, makes these comments about the uniqueness of America:
"All civilizations rest on myths, . . . A myth is a way of pulling together the raw and contradictory evidence of life as it is known in any age. . . .
"Other states may fall or endure, they may change or refresh their governing myths. But Frenchmen will always remain Frenchmen, Russians will be Russians, Germans remain Germans, and Englishmen--Englishmen. Nationhood descends from ancestral loins. . . .
"But America is different. It is the only peaceful multi-racial civilization in the world. Its people come from such diverse heritages of religion, tongue, habit, fatherhood, color, and folk song that if America did not exist it would be impossible to imagine that such a gathering of alien strains could ever behave like a nation. . . .
"For so mixed a society to extend over a continent, to master the most complicated industrial structure the world has ever known, to create a state that has spread its power over the globe--that would be impossible unless the people were bound together by a common faith. Take away that faith, and America would be a sad geographical expression where whites killed blacks, blacks killed whites, where Protestants, Catholics, Jews made of their cities a constellation of Belfasts."
Theodore H. White, Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon (New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1975), pp. 322-323.
John 10:3-4:
"To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
"And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and they follow him, for they know his voice."
America is likened to a lamb in Scripture because like Christ, America has given its people freedom of choice, and like Jesus' followers, we have come together by choice as the people of no other nation on earth have done.
"The only peaceful multi-racial civilization in the world," as Theodore White says.
What do the two horns of this lamblike beast represent?
In the Bible, horns not only represent kings or kingdoms (Dan. 7:24; 8:8,20,22), but power and strength (Deut. 33:17; Zech. 1:18=19; Lam 2:3,17).
What have been the two great strengths of America?
Civil freedom
Religious freedom
America is the first society in human history to grant its citizens such liberty.
Again, in Theodore White's words:
"These words (of the Declaration of Independence) were written by men who had taken the best ideas of their English-speaking heritage and made them universal. Such language was almost incomprehensible to the non-English-speaking peoples who were drawn to America in ever-growing numbers seeking the promise. and, for the first time in history, the But the ideas were compelling, and still compel. . . . They could be robed in legal phrases, or judicial admonition against illegal search and seizure; guarantees of right to trial; guarantees of freedom of assembly, free speech, free press; and, for the first time in history, the guarantee that the state would support no 'establishment of religion.'"
White, Breach of Faith, p. 323.
In his last public appearance, New York Governor Alfred E. Smith declared why he believed God would never abandon the United States:
"He (God) made it a haven of repose and a harbor of refuge for the downtrodden and poor and the oppressed of every land."
Christopher M. Finan, Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior (New York: Hill & Wang, 2002), p. 344.
4. "And he spake as a dragon."
Rev. 12:9; 20:2:
"That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan"
I say this in great sadness, because I love my country.
America started out like a lamb, giving people freedom. And we still have much of this freedom left today. But according to this prophecy, our country will one day abandon liberty, setting aside the methods of the Lamb for those of the Dragon.
The different methods of the Lamb and the Dragon
Rev. 3:20:
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."
Luke 11:24-26:
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest: and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
"And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
"Then goeth he, and taketh seven other unclean spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first."
No mention of knocking at the door here.
5. "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him."
Remember what we read the first beast will do.
Rev. 13:7:
"And it was given him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations."
6. When this power unites with the first beast and restores its power, we will see miracles worked before the whole world.
Matt. 24:24:
"For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
II Thess. 2:9:
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders."
Rev. 16:14:
"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
Never forget: Miracles do not prove God is present in anyone's work or ministry.
Only faithfulness to God's Word proves this.
Isa. 8:20:
"To the law, and to the testimony: in they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
7. A death decree against dissenters.
Not only will America establish an image to the first beast--that is, a replica of medieval intolerance--but it will eventually "cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed" (Rev. 13:15).
What story from the Bible does this bring to memory?
Dan. 3:4-6:
"Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
"That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
"And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."
Ex. 20:4-5:
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them."
Nebuchadnezzar cast these young men into the furnace because they were obedient to this commandment.
But look what happened.
Dan. 3:25:
"He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
The Religious Right, sincere though its adherents may be, seeks to compel worship and to enforce personal morality. God's Word describes such tactics as the tools of His enemies.
Think about it:
Prayer as part of the public school curriculum would be an act of forcing worship.
Prayer is a theological statement. Catholics pray to Mary and the saints; Protestants don’t. Christians pray in Jesus’ name; Jews and Muslims don’t. If prayer is part of the curriculum in a taxpayer-funded school, whose prayers will be offered?
The same holds true for the effort of some to post the Ten Commandments in public buildings. One Congressman asked in public debate on the House floor:
"Whose Ten Commandments? Which version? The Catholic version? The Protestant version or the Jewish version? They are different, you know."
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, quoted by Rob Boston, “House of Horrors,” Church & State, July-August 1999, p. 5.
Let me ask a simple question. What turns a lamb into a dragon? What turns any otherwise peaceful creature into a ferocious one?
FEAR.
According to the book of Revelation, this end-time departure from civil and religious freedom will lead the entire world into a state of defiance against God and His people.
Rev. 16:13-14:
"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
We're going to see the world united, and we're going to see the churches united.
Not all the unity we see in Christian circles just now is blessed by God. Listen to what Jesus said about Christian unity:
John 17:17-19,21:
"Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth.
"As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
"And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. . . .
"That they all may be one: as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."
Truth, not compromise or political expediency, is the only basis of true Christian unity.
Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition, writes:
"The future of American politics lies in the growing strength of evangelicals and their Roman Catholic allies. If these two core constituencies--evangelicals comprising the swing vote in the South, Catholics holding sway in the North--can cooperate on issues and support like-minded candidates, they can determine the outcome of almost any election in the nation."
Ralph Reed, Politically Incorrect: The Emerging Faith Factor in American Politics (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994), p. 16.
In another statement Reed speaks favorably of what he calls “the coupling of religion and politics.”
Reed, Politically Incorrect, p. 144.
Well, the Bible has another word for this relationship:
Rev. 14:8:
"And there followed another angel saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
The use of civil force brings about the fall of Babylon. She falls because she makes coercion a substitute for conversion.
And who does she commit fornication with?
Rev. 17:1-2:
"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore which sitteth upon man waters:
"With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication."
What is fornication?
I Cor. 7:2:
"Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."
Why is the attempted union of church and state on earth described as fornication
John 18:36:
My kingdom is not of this world: . . . Now is My kingdom not from thence."
When will Jesus rule the kingdoms of this world? When He comes the second time.
Rev. 19:11,16:
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. . . .
"And He had on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."
Isa 9:6:
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."
Eze. 21:26-27:
"Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn; it shall be no more, until He come Whose right it is, and I will give it Him."
Just as any union between man and woman prior to marriage is called fornication in the Bible, so any union between church and state before Jesus comes as King of Kings is called spiritual fornication.
Rev. 11:15:
"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever."