<p>13:15 <em>And he was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast should speak, and cause to have killed as many as would not worship the image of the beast</em>- I suggested on :14 that each person dwelling in the earth / land will be forced to make this image to the beast. He is &quot;permitted&quot;, by God, to make these images of the beast appear to have real life. This will then be the great example of God confirming people in their misbelief, by allowing these images to have some kind of apparent life and power. Any who would not worship it would then be killed.&nbsp; 13:10 has said that he who kills s.w. with the sword shall be killed with the sword; and this will come true at the Lord's return (19:21). So the killing is by the sword or dagger / knife, which is typical of how jihadists kill those who refuse to convert and obey them.</p><p>The beasts of Revelation seem to be described in terms of the Kingdom of God, and the descriptions link within Revelation to the descriptions of God's Kingdom. The point is being made that these beasts, both over time and in the last days, are fake Kingdoms of God.</p><div align=center><table border=0 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p><strong>Beasts</strong></p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <div align=center><strong>The Kingdom Of God</strong></div>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>The dragon has   Angels (Rev. 12:9)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>As Christ</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>He figuratively   comes from heaven to earth (12:10)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>&quot;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Speaks of us   day and night before God's throne (12:10)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>&quot;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Has a name in   his forehead (13:2)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>&quot;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Given power,   throne and authority (13:13)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>&quot;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Does great   miracles and signs (13:13)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>&quot;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Faithful   followers have mark in their hands and foreheads (13:17; 20:4) and are &quot;   sealed&quot; (13:16)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Ez. 9:4; Rev.   7:3</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>All the world   worships the beast (13:12)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>All the world   will worship God (15:4)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Followers as   numerous as sand on the sea shore (20:8)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>As the seed of   Abraham</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Their followers   have one mind (17:3), and are world-wide</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>How it should   be amongst us</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>The woman   clothed with a blood red robe and a cup (17:4)</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>Cp. the   sacrificial office of Christ</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>The beast is,   was and will be (17:8-11); an allusion to the Yahweh Name</p>            </td>            <td width=360 valign=top>            <p>God is, will   and will be (16:5)</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>The beast systems, as Babylon and Assyria before them, were false Kingdoms of God. The beast has the power to give <em>pneuma</em> to the image / body of the first beast (Rev. 13:15)- an evident mimicry of God&rsquo;s creation of Adam. They appear to offer, here and now, the things of the Kingdom, and the fleshly-minded are persuaded by them. This is all playing out the drama of Eden again; the serpent offered equality with God, the wisdom of God, when it was actually the wisdom of the serpent. Adam and Eve grasped for what was offered, unlike the Lord Jesus, who refused to grasp at equality with God (Phil. 2 is full of allusion to the events of Gen. 3). What happened in Eden is in essence the epitome, the prototype of all temptation and sin (1 Jn. 2:16 = Gen. 3:6). Every one of our temptations has an element of this; we are tempted to grasp for&nbsp;what looks like the Kingdom here and now. Pentecostals are an evident example of this; they think they can obtain the full healing and physical ecstasy of the future Kingdom here and now. And on a more common level, there are many of us who reach out for the supposed fulfilment of hobbies, the supposed peace and 'security' of a nice home and bank balance, when these things are actually a false fulfilment, peace and security, the peace and security of Satan's Kingdom which is a counterfeit of the spiritual fulfilment, peace and security of Christ's Kingdom. A very evident example of this is found in Rabshakeh's offer to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 'If you reject Yahweh as your God, the King of Assyria will give you a Kingdom where you will &quot;eat every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree&quot; ' (Is. 36:16); in saying this, Rabshakeh was quoting the very words of Mic. 4:4 concerning the Kingdom of God. The Jews were faced with the choice of God's Kingdom, or Satan's Kingdom, couched as it was in terms of God's Kingdom. Likewise, the world around us isn't passive. It is actively seeking to deceive. There is a tension between us and this world, including the apostate 'Christian' world, which is vital to recognize if we are to share the salvation of God's Kingdom and avoid the condemnation of Satan's Kingdom. There can be no half way position.</p><p>Those who will refuse to worship the beast will be killed (Rev. 13:15); but those (responsible) who try to avoid this death will themselves be <em>tortured</em> to death by the Lamb, because they worshipped the beast and did not openly testify to their faith (14:9-11; 16:2). See on Mt. 3:11.</p>