Beast From The Land Series

By: Tom Lowe Date: 10/19/16

Title: Beast from the Land (13:11-18)

Revelation 13:11-18 (KJV)

11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Introduction

The first beast is a political power and a person, and his power will become worldwide. We come now to the second beast, the one who comes out of the earth and is a religious leader.

Commentary

11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Chapter 13 has two parts; the first part of the chapter (1-10) deals with the coming of Satan’s false prince; the remainder of the chapter (11-18) has to do with a second mysterious person conjured up by Satan to act as the propaganda chief for the beast. This person is called the false prophet. The first beast is possibly a Gentile, or at least he is partly Gentile, since he comes up from the sea. The second beast, the lamb like beast, is probably a Jew, since he comes up out of the earth, or, more accurately, out of “the land,” meaning the ancient land of Palestine where Christ was born and died. What is the difference between them? The sea represents the peoples of the world. The great mob of mankind today is like the surging and restless sea—that has always been true. The earth from which this second beast arises is symbolic of Palestine, and it is naturally assumed that the second beast comes from Israel. He is a messiah, and Israel would not accept him unless he had come from their land and was one of them.

Note: some believe that this second beast will be a nation or a government. But that theory is difficult to accept because the Greek says “another beast.” The way it is constructed denotes another of the same kind therefore, the most natural way to read this is that another man[1] is on the scene performing critical works at the direction of the first beast. The great function of the second beast is to glorify the first beast. Thus Satan, the beast, and the false prophet form a satanic Trinity.

This second beast has a very deceptive appearance, and yet, he is easier to identify than was the first. After you establish who the first beast is it is not too much trouble to identify the second. John says, “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” The first beast has 10 horns; the second one has two horns. Territory is symbolized by the 10 horns of the first beast—“The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast” (17:12; NLT); testimony is symbolized by the two horns of the second beast and, of course, it is false testimony. Jesus had warned of false teachers, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart” (Matthew 7:15, NLT). The two horns of the second beast suggest his imitation of Christ. The first beast is opposed to Christ—he is Antichrist. The second beast imitates Christ. He also is Antichrist (considering anti, meaning “instead of”); he poses as Christ.