“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:6).

Some time ago John was describing Christ (called “another mighty angel”) as crying with a loud voice. Then he added, “as when a lion roareth” (10:1, 3). In another parody of Christ, the beast here is opening its lion-like mouth. The beast is speaking in an official or authoritative manner. Since the world wonders after the papacy, this message is addressed to them.

“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,” (vs 6)

The name of blasphemy was on its heads (13:1) as on its scarlet colored body (17:3). It is the epitome of desecration of holiness and profanity against heaven.

This description is a crushing indictment against:

• The Vatican state

• The pope as its leader

Its ability to communicate heresy is supreme. The world listens and commensurates. Clearly, this characteristic is not an incidental expression but a permanent part of the beast’s nature. He is Satan’s mouthpiece.[1] He resembles the “king of the north” of Daniel 11:36-45. God revealed the consequence of this sin: “He that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death” (Leviticus 24:16).

The “teaching” authority of the beast is expressed through its mouth. This is an allusion to Daniel 7:8, 11 and 20. “I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, … I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake” (Daniel 7:8b, 11a).

This “blasphemy” enhances the idea that it deceives and draws loyalty from the world through pretense. Daniel 7:25 noted: “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High.” Then in Daniel 11:32 and 36 (NAS): “by smooth  [deceitful] words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly.” Tragically, the world listens!

“to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” (vs 6)

To blaspheme God’s name is to slander Him. It is a usurpation of that name by claiming it or posing as His holy representative, demanding obeisance due only to God. In the Lord’s prayer the sacred honor conveyed to God is expressed in “hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2). That honor only goes to divine beings! It is a violation of the third commandment (Exodus 20:7, Deuteronomy 5:11) to blaspheme.

The “little horn” of Daniel 8:9-12 grew till it reached the “host of heaven” (the goal of the tower of Babel).[2] Then it set itself up to be as great as the “Prince of the host.” Next, truth was cast to the ground. Both reflect the behavior of the antichrist right at the end against God unfolded again in this verse.

The next imprecation is against the tabernacle or those “who inhabit heaven.” There is not an “and” in the Greek (like the NIV correctly conveys – 13:6) between these last two phrases. The tabernacle represents those who are citizens of heaven. In 12:12 those who “dwell in heaven” represent saints who could be either on earth or in heaven.[3] This is in contradistinction to those who “inhabit the earth” (13:8, 12).

The antichrist tries to come in and control the church – our spiritual lives – in apostasy. But God’s great plan, later noted by John: “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (21:3). We become one with Him. The tabernacle is more than a place – it is Divine fellowship with His glorified people.

Blaspheme against God’s tabernacle replicates a similar travesty in Daniel 8:10-13 where the little horn papacy causes some of the host of heaven and some of the stars to fall to the earth, causing, then, the place of the sanctuary to be cast down.[4] Paul equates the church as in heaven (Ephesians 2:6, Colossians 3:1). The beast does everything to displace that fellowship with God through deceit and persecution. False standards that mock God are placed before the people. One unites by coercion and control, the other through love and friendship.

Two end-time warnings of abominable temple intrusions are noted in the New Testament.

• “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” (Matthew 24:15).

• The “man of sin” will be revealed “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, [here now is the key] showing himself that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:4).

The pope and his “Holy See” attempt to redefine what the Church means by recharacterizing God. By such an act, he/she symbolically enters the temple precincts by demanding worship of its institution or leader. This arrogance is blatantly portrayed in the Catholic catechism: “26. Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.”[5]

This power is described in Daniel 7:25, speaking of an “eschatological fiend” who speaks out against God and equates himself with God.”[6]