Translation
And it was granted the ability to give breath to the image of THE BEAST so that the
image of THE BEAST
could speak and cause all those who do not worship
the image of THE BEAST to
be killed.
Paraphrase
It was granted the ability to give life to the representation of THE FEROCIOUS CREATURE so that the living replica of THE FEROCIOUS CREATURE could speak and command that all who do not worship the enlivened replica of THE FEROCIOUS CREATURE be killed.
The Image of the Beast
All man-made religions are an attempt at representing, in visible and ritual form, man’s idea of deity; they are attempts to create God in man’s image. In this passage it is an image of Satan rather than of God. The point of this passage is that Satan has guided and instructed mankind in formulating a specific thinking process about who he is and what he does. He has even caused them to see what they think are real-life proofs that their ideology is correct (bringing the image to life). He has caused, still causes, and will continue to cause, those who do not comply to that ideology to pay a high price, sometimes with their lives. In the days when I am writing this, there are believers in Jesus who are being slaughtered or enslaved by Isis and Boko Haram. They know exactly what John was talking about.