The Worst False Prophet Ever
(This contribution is based on a message preached Sunday evening, 3-30-2025 at the New Hope Baptist Church near Fulton, MO, but is not an exact transcription.)
Introduction: Tonight we’re going to wrap up our study of false prophets. I sure hope the Lord has given all of us—not just me—insight into what false prophets say and do, plus some of the damage these men (not including female false prophetesses as well).
The false prophet we’re going to look at tonight is the last and worst false prophet ever. The good thing is that we as believes won’t be here to see any of this. The sad thing is that we all know people who are headed for the seven-year nightmare of the Great Tribulation unless they repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. (NOTE: I and my church believe in the pre-Tribulation Rapture and pre-millennial return of Christ).
Ordinarily I use one passage per message and stay there but tonight’s a little different. We’ll need to look at three different passages, but they’re all in the Book of Revelation, Let’s start by turning to Revelation chapter 13, beginning with verse 11:
1 The False Prophet—His Entry
Text: Revelation 13:11, 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.
It’s been several years now, but Dr. David Jeremiah produced an audio series about what could take place after the Rapture of the Church. In one such episode, he quoted the man who would soon become the Beast or Antichrist speaking to a religious leader who would soon be known as the False Prophet. The words Dr. Jeremiah used were something like this, after a conversation: “Down deep, you know who I am, and I know just who you are.”
For those left behind after the Rapture, they’re going to become very familiar with these two men, indeed. Now, neither one of them are introduced, formally, until chapter 13 as we see here. I have to confess that there’s some of the text that I don’t really understand but this is the Word of God and I believe it. When He says something is going to happen, count on it, it will happen. The Lord has never lied (in fact, He can’t, see Titus 1:2!) and isn’t going to start anytime soon.
What we can see, and understand, is that the Dragon (Satan) of chapter 12 is going to do his best to destroy Israel and her child, the Messiah. After this, there’s going to a be a “beast (literally, a wild beast, according to Strong’s concordance)” coming out of what seems to be the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This is, after all, the land of the Bible and the “Med” is a very easily identified landmark or body of water!
This “beast” is the Antichrist and will have about as absolute power as any man could dream of (limited, of course, by the Lord’s boundaries). The first several verses of Revelation 13 give a little more information about him and what’s going to happen to him, but that’s not the focus of the message tonight. We’re going to look at another “beast” who is going to be the “Number 1” or assistant for the antichrist. This verse tells us a tiny bit about his entry into this coming world.
In reality, all we know is that this beast (“wild beast”, as in verse 1) comes “up from the earth”. This could mean this false prophet is from anywhere in the world, while others think he may be an apostate Jew. After all, the Antichrist is going to seem to treat Israel favorably at first (see Daniel 9:27) before he turns on them, so it would make sense to have a Jewish person as an ally, humanly and politically speaking.
There is a possible hint of this in the three accounts of Rabshakeh (Isaiah 36 is one of these), a servant of the king of Assyria, speaking Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem. Looking at some of the Assyrian “alphabet (cuneiform, using a stick to make marks on pieces of clay that were dried later)” and comparing that to the old Hebrew letters, like on the Gezer calendar, I don’t see much in common between these two languages. Thus, some have thought Rabshakeh was an Israelite who became part of the Assyrian propaganda ministry! Who better to create fear, they must have thought, than someone who is fluent in the enemy’s language?
The last thing we know about the entry of this false prophet is that he has two horns like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon. Again, I don’t know what to make of all this, except that he looks harmless, like a lamb, in my opinion, but speaks deadly, like a dragon or large serpent (see notes at https://biblehub.com/greek/1404.htm). Ironic, isn’t it, that a serpent led the first people into sin and many years later, another man speaks with the voice of a “dragon” or large serpent to lead most of the remaining world population into greater sin!
There isn’t too much we know about this false prophet except that by one means or another, he’s chosen by the Antichrist to be his assistant. How many auditioned, or was there one already selected? Again, we’re never told, but for those left behind after the Rapture, they’ll know what happened: if not by the false prophet’s entry, then surely by the effects he’ll do at that time.
2 The False Prophet—His Effects
A The Early Effects
Text, Revelation 13:12-18, KJV: 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.
John doesn’t tell us just when the False Prophet will begin his “ministry” of service to Antichrist but my hunch is that it won’t be very long after he’s selected. John did list a number of things the False Prophet will do—we could call them effects—beginning with something a number of people have dreamed of over the years.
Power.
This is something many people dream of, to have power, authority, whatever one wishes to call it, over others. In their minds, the more power I have, the more things I can do or control. Now as for me, power is something I’ve never really wanted to have. That’s partly because I’ve been a supervisor before, during my active duty military days, and there were times one of those under my supervision did something wrong causing me to have to “lower the boom” on him or her as the case may be. Needless to say, that’s left a very sour and bitter taste for me but for others, the taste of power is sweet, nearly intoxicating, and once they get it, they’ll want more.
That’s going to be true of the False Prophet as we see him grabbing and using more and more power. The first effect of the False Prophet is to “exercise (a very descriptive word in the original language, see https://biblehub.com/greek/4160.htm)” or make the Antichrist’s wishes happen, especially in the realms of religion and economics. The False Prophet’s opening effect is to make or cause everyone on earth to worship the Beast (Antichrist). Doesn’t that remind us of the offer which Satan made to Jesus, on the Mount of Temptation (Matthew 4, Luke 4)? The Lord flatly refused the offer, but the Antichrist seems to have accepted gladly. Ditto for the False Prophet. These two have all the delegated power of Satan—and they’re going to use it.
One of the means or other effects the False Prophet will use are the signs and wonders to prove his power. He’s going to make fire come down from Heaven—and that will prove, in the minds of many, that he is the “real deal” and not the False Prophet. Now, as I understand it, there was only one time when fire came from Heaven, and that was in the days of Elijah (see 1 Kings 18). The prophets of Baal performed rituals, but nothing happened. Then Elijah prayed a very brief prayer, and the True God, the God of Israel, showed them all just Who was and is God! The LORD sent down fire and burned up the sacrifice, altar, and water in the trench!
But no one that I know of has ever done anything like that from then until now. That won’t be the case during the Great Tribulation, when just about all restrictions are removed and all guidelines are gone. Sure, there will be limits as the LORD will only allow so much, but it’s going to be just about anything goes in those days.
Besides the effect (shock and awe?) of the fire coming down from Heaven, the False Prophet will deceive many of the world’s population. He’ll be doing other miracles (implied, verse 14) and those, too, will influence, if not deceive, many people.
Then taking things one step further, the False Prophet will instruct “them that dwell on the earth” to make an image of the Beast—the Antichrist! We shouldn’t be surprised at this, as many people even in 2025 as I preach this message will and do worship idols of one form or another, Given the hold the False Prophet will have over the world’s population, it probably won’t be long or take long before an image of the Beast will be made to exact specifications!
This sounds sinister enough, an almost one-world universal religion, but the False Prophet has yet one more effect to produce. He’s going to have the power to make that image come to life! The image will have the power to speak, bad enough, but it will also have the power to kill. Sure, I remember the “G. I. Joe” action figures (toys) from my childhood days, but not a single one of them, or any toy of any size, could do anything. They had no life!
Now imagine if I had, say, a toy soldier and had the power to say, “LIVE!”—and the model or toy came to life! Imagine a toy soldier suddenly having the power to actually walk and talk and even do more? Of course, that’s far-fetched, and isn’t going to happen in these days but, as we read, there’s a day coming when IT WILL HAPPEN.
And let’s not forget that this now-alive image of the Beast will have the power to kill. John wrote that this image will kill anyone who does not fall down and worship it. As an aside, there will be a lot of people dying during the Tribulation. Sermon Central has an illustration called “Some Thoughts About Depopulation” where I show that by the time the Rapture takes place, and allowing for the literal death of various amounts of people, there won’t be that many people left on this earth by the time the Tribulation is over. It’s no wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ said that unless “those days (of the Tribulation) were cut short, no flesh should be saved (Matthew 24:22). Remember, no one has to be on earth in those days! Believe the Gospel and be saved!
But the False Prophet is not yet done; no, not by a long shot. He’s by now centered or grouped just about all the power there is into his religious system, but now he’s going to grab more. He’s going to create a world-wide system that nobody could buy or sell anything unless that person, male or female, no exceptions, takes the “mark”, name, or number of the Beast.
Some of us may have seen or at least remember the Christian movie, “A Thief in the Night”, released in the early 1970’s. Of course it took some liberties with the Bible but as far as it went, it gave a very plausible glimpse of life after the Rapture. There was a scene where a young woman, maybe in her 20’s, had gone to an office to receive the mark on her hand. She asked, “Will this wash off”” to which the mark-applier snapped, “No! It’s permanent!” Then a senior citizen sat down, pointed to his forehead, and said something like, “Put it right there! I’m not afraid to show I’m a good citizen!”
The sad thing is that once any person receives the Mark, there is no hope for any of them to receive salvation. There could be any number of reasons why people will take the Mark, but the end result is being separated from God forever (Revelation 20:4-10).
One last word about these early effects: we’ve probably heard any and every explanation and definition of “666” that there is. I remember people taking a Latin title of a certain official, and then adding the Roman numbers to equal, you guessed it, 666. The same kind of “logic” had another candidate: starting with “A” equaling 6, “B” equaling 12, and on through the alphabet, take the name of President Nixon’s secretary of state and the addition totaled, again, 666. The teacher who demonstrated this “proof”, though, had a sense of humor: he said, “So this equals 666. What does it prove? Absolutely nothing!”
But it’s going to be real during the Tribulation. If anyone living in the Tribulation reads this, do not, I repeat, do not take the Mark of the Beast. You will survive for a few years, but once the Tribulation is over, you’ll suffer in Hell forever.
These are the early goals and effects the False Prophet will begin and control beginning fairly soon after he is selected. They aren’t the only things, though, as there will be a later effect which he, the Antichrist, and Satan himself will start.
B The Later Effects
Text, Revelation 16:13-16, KJV: 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Most of us know that I tend to stay in one passage to share things from it. This evening is a little different, as we need to look, if only for a moment, and a couple of other passages. John wrote in Revelation 16, first, about the seven angels, each of whom had a “vial” or bowl, like a long flat dish (https://biblehub.com/greek/5357.htm). After six of the angels have emptied their bowls or vials on the earth, we have this incident as recorded in the text.
John wrote that he saw three unclean spirits like frogs come from the mouths of the Dragon (Satan), the Beast (Antichrist) and the False Prophet. This is the only time in the New Testament where frogs are mentioned, but let’s remember, the second plague on Egypt when Moses returned to lead Israel out of that land, was the plague of frogs. Exodus 8:1-15 has the story, and the text for the sermon “One More Night With The Frogs”, preached by a number of ministers. One of the best examples was that of Pastor John Alley of the First Baptist Church in Proctorville, Ohio, preached in the early 1970’s. There’s even a gospel song about that passage and/or plague (one example by Evangelist Dennis Irwin; Google™ for more options)!
Now, we can laugh about an invasion of frogs, and having loads of these critters in the house and even sleeping with us, but it was no joke to the Egyptians and it’s going to be even worse when these evil spirits, that look like frogs but are much worse, are set loose on this earth. Remember that these “frogs” are going to do even more miracles, all to gather the world together at the Battle of Armageddon.
Some may wonder why this is going to happen but at the simplest, this is the means God will use to finally put down the long-standing rebellion against Him by humanity. Don’t forget that the Euphrates River will be dried up (we’re never told how) and that’s going to remove a great obstacle from those wishing to come from the East to the West. Another hint of this is found in the last few verses of Daniel 11, where he wrote that “tidings out of the north and east shall trouble him (the Antichrist). It may not be clear to us, how to reconcile all of this, in our day but rest assured, when God says it’s going to happen, it will happen.
The False Prophet has done everything he’s been asked to do. Now he’s going to receive the reward for all that he did in helping the Antichrist and their reign of terror on the earth.
3 The False Prophet—His End
Text, Revelation 19:19-21, KJV: 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Just as there is only a little information about the entry or arrival of the False Prophet, there isn’t much given about his end. From the first verses of Revelation 19, we read that the Beast (Antichrist) and an untold number of soldiers have gathered together to fight against Jesus! The Lord Jesus Christ will lead His army, all on white horses and clothed in white, from Heaven to the Earth. Dare we say, the Lord will win this battle!
As I understand it, the enemy soldiers will be destroyed and the bodies of these men will become food for the birds. There’s going to be an untold number of civilians, though, who will remain alive but the unsaved are cast into Hades and the saved or righteous ones will enter the Kingdom! Jesus will be King, the saints who died and those who were raptured will reign with Him, and the unfulfilled prophecies for Israel will come to pass! What a time to be alive!
But not so for the Beast and the False Prophet. These two men are the first ever to be cast into the Lake of Fire, while they’re still alive, and will never return from it. And in fact, they’ll still be there, in the lake of fire, one thousand years later, when the unsaved dead stand before the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:7-15).
And then, new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3, and Revelation 21-22)! No more sin, no more devil, nothing evil, and no Beast or False Prophet! What a day that will be!
Well, we’ve come to the close of this study about false prophets. Each one was unique, of course, but they had some things in common: first, they believed they had a message from the LORD (“thus saith the LORD”) even though the message was false. If they didn’t believe it, they were lying, and that’s even worse. Also, they might sometimes claim magic or some special kind of power to deceive the ones who saw them. Finally and worst, few if any seemed to genuinely repent of their sins when they were confronted.
There have been false prophets, and there are false prophets now. My prayer and sincere desire is that the Lord has shown us what to look for, and always compare what any preacher says with what the Word of God says.
Beloved, read the Word; heed the Word, live the Word, and follow the Lord. I hope He blesses each one of us with the very best! And please don't be fooled by any false prophet!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
