“Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword.” Revelation 13:9-10
It is clear from verse 8 that the universal worship of the beast will achieve at long last the characteristics of a world religion in that it will be ecumenical. The desires to have all Christian churches unite, or to even go one step further and unite all religions of the world has been advanced as a desired goal. It is questionable whether this will be achieved prior to the end of the church age. However, in the great tribulation as here described, a world religion will be advanced which will have as its focal point the worship of a man chosen and empowered by Satan himself. In that day, true believers on Christ will be separated from this world religion and will be the objects of its fearful persecution. From a biblical point of view, the concept of a world religion prior to the second coming of Christ will be far removed from a true recognition of God.
The phrase “have ears” this refers to ability to hear spiritually. The phrase “let him hear” means that we hear and understand. The invitation emphasizes the preceding relation as a matter of great moment to which any man should give attention. This phrase was used in Revelation 2 and 3 on the warning that Jesus gave to the seven churches. This warning was to the churches, while this warning in Chapter 13 is to the entire world.
Taken as a whole, the first ten verses of Revelation 13 predict a future world government which from God’s point of view will be a continuation of the ancient Roman Empire expanded ultimately to cover not only the area of the ancient empire but the entire world. This government will be empowered by Satan, and its primary objective will be forcing the whole world to worship Satan and his human representative, the world dictator.