It’s Getting Beastly Out There

On Tuesday Gabriel Comfort Dog and I worked at the funeral of Harris County Precinct 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway, who was killed in the line of duty while conducting a traffic stop.

We have also heard of other law enforcement officers being killed or injured in the line of duty this past month.

So far in 2022, Houston homicide statistics have outpaced Chicago.

In fact, crime is on the rise throughout our country, whether it’s “smash and grab” theft, physical assaults, or murder.

There are numerous factors contributing to the spike in crime, but I’d like to remind you of one that you don’t hear about on the evening news.

I believe that the underlying cause of the mayhem in our cities is explained in Revelation 13, what I consider to be one of the most ominous chapters in the Bible.

In Revelation 13 we read:

And [the dragon] stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea... And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

I realize that Revelation is a challenging book and what I’ve quoted here may not make a lot of sense to you. That’s all right.

I will attempt to clear some things up.

Revelation 13 describes a scene in which Satan (the dragon) calls forth two beasts, one from the sea and the other from the earth.

The beast from the sea is portrayed with characteristics (“the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth”) that are drawn from Daniel 7. Those same animals are used to illustrate different historical empires, specifically the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Greek empires.

The fact that the beast in Revelation 13 is based on a description of ancient empires indicates that this beast represents earthly political institutions and secular systems such as government, education, economics, and the like.

Keep in mind that this beast is under the control of the dragon, Satan.

In other words, Satan accomplishes his purpose of waging war against God’s people (Revelation 12:17) through the use of the systems of the secular realm.

To put it plainly, I believe that Satan is exploiting the criminal justice system (which is under the authority of the beast from the sea) to wreak havoc in our society.

Satan is the one who is creating fear and chaos among law abiding citizen through the increase of crime and violence that we are seeing. Through this beastly ally Satan is pulling the strings of public policy that puts criminals back on the streets and cops and citizens in the hospital or the morgue.

As a result, good people are being victimized by felons, families are being destroyed by violence, and lawlessness is becoming the norm in many communities.

Our God is a God of peace, not violence, and He wants His people to experience peace. We are urged to pray for leaders so that “we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2).

When peace is replaced by chaos and fear, God’s desire is being thwarted and Satan’s desire is being achieved.

So I urge you to indeed pray for the leaders who are responsible for our public safety. Pray that they might serve the public good and not their personal political and social justice agendas.

Pray also that our true enemy, Satan, might be hindered and that his beastly ally might be hobbled. Always recall the words of St. Paul: We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Satan may be the real enemy who works through this world’s systems to achieve his evil goals, but his final defeat has been assured. He has been vanquished by Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.