‘If anyone is for captivity, to captivity he goes, if anyone is to be killed with the sword with the sword he is killed.'
The Greek text is very uncertain but Jeremiah 15:2 gives us the sense, ‘such as are for death, to death, such as are for the sword, to the sword, and such as are for famine, to the famine, and such as are for captivity to captivity'. There it referred to unbelieving Israel, here it applies to believers. God will not intervene to prevent persecution, for it is a part of His purposes and results in the fulfilling of His will. Thus His people will accept their destiny knowing that not a hair of their heads can perish (Luke 21:18)
‘Here is the patient endurance and faith of God's people (the saints).'
God's people rest in the will of God and trust Him through adversity recognising that He is over all, whatever happens. They know that their fate is in the hands of the God Who will one day raise them from the dead and give them rich rewards.
Note. The Continuing Nature Of This Vision.
As we have demonstrated the first reference of this chapter is to the blasphemous claims of Imperial Rome and its idolatrous religion. However, the genius of apocalyptic lies in its ability to convey intrinsic ideas and that is nowhere more true than here. John's eyes were naturally on Rome but the wild beast will in its essential nature go on through the ages, for anti-Christ will ever arise and it thus represents anti-Christ and his empires wherever such are found (chapter 17). The essential wild beast did not die with the Roman Empire.
It must, however, be granted that this empire as an ‘idea' has in fact itself reared its head a number of times through the ages. Charlemagne, the grand dukes of Moscow (16th century) and Mussolini (20th century) have all seen themselves as reviving it, and the Roman church has until fairly recently perpetuated the idea and still utilises the title Pontifex Maximus used by the Roman emperors.
Wherever religions and philosophies set themselves up against Christ, seeking to set up something to replace Him and enforcing themselves by political persuasion, there we have the wild beast, there we have anti-Christ (that which stands over against Christ) represented by the wild beast. Whether it be the rise of Islam, the degenerate kings and worldly popes of the Middle Ages, Russian and Chinese communism, the modern rise of Islam, or whatever else, each simply carries on the role of the wild beast. They depict man as he really is.
We therefore do not need to doubt that if Christ delays His coming yet other anti-Christs will arise as the end approaches, possibly, but not necessarily, even connected with Rome in a revived ‘Roman Empire'. There is the wild beast who was and is not (Revelation 17:8), and will yet ‘be', to come again. And when he does come we will be able to apply these Chapter s to him because the monster's method and approach do not change.
In chapter 13 the Roman Empire is primarily in John's mind, but only because Rome was the bestial empire of that time. That the idea stretches further chapter 17 makes clear. The message of Revelation applied to the idea of ‘anti-Christ' and did not fade out or cease to be meaningful at the fall of ancient Rome. Its essential teaching applies throughout history, and will apply until the end. In the end anti-Christ, whatever its form, will be destroyed by the manifestation of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
End of note.