Back when I was in the fourth grade there were whispers amongst our teachers concerning a relatively new book that had made its way to our library, the book was Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls by William Rossa Cole and Tomi Ungerer. It was about mischievous things boys did to girls, and vice-versa! Since that was a different era, teachers didn’t really want to give us new ideas…though we were probably doing them anyway! It was beastly!
In a ghastly way, or should I say, ghostly way, Halloween will be soon upon us-sort of, restrictions due to Covid19. When it rolls around, kids dress up in all types of costumes. Some are of nice & sweet characters while others can be on the terrifying side. Some are of monsters and beastly creatures. I remember trick-a-treating when I was 10 years old with my little brother. As we were steps from our building, we waved at my brother & sister-in-law and at that exact instant, an older guy, Mike, was up on the roof of a four-story building and with great precision, poured a bucket of water right on us! What a beastly thing to do!!! We were aghast as well as wet and scarier-looking than before! Life is like that: beasts and critters all around us waiting for the right moment to pounce on us!
Some of us have internal beasts to deal with. Our son usually says, “Don’t cause the monster within me to come forth!” Beasts, can present themselves in various forms, such as anger, jealousy, resentment, indifference, hatred, bitterness, vengeance, and others. They’re not pretty! Ghastly!
However, the Word of God speaks of a different type of beast, one that’s very unlike any character we’ve seen. One that’s worse and more horrific than any monster on any movie ever seen! He’s very near and coming with lots of charisma and probably good looks which will appeal to many. He’ll have a foul mouth and will speak blasphemies against God. This Beast will be nothing in comparison to the characters that we may allow our kids to imitate on Halloween, or the ‘beastly’ pranks played on siblings. His beauty is raw ugliness. It’s satanic; hellish. This beast’s ultimate accomplishments will make past world leaders like Hitler and Stalin seem like good, innocent school kids.
Revelation 13:4B-6 tells us, “…And they worshipped the beast saying,” Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given to him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”
Escape the Beast that’s soon to appear on this planet. He’s practically around the corner! Turn your life to God and seek Him. We may be living in tough and dire days, but this is nothing compared to what’s to come!! God has called us to sainthood, to godliness, and to be imitators (followers) of Him (Ephesians 5:1). No amount of water will quench the beast’s temper or hinder his plans!
God Bless!