THE SECOND BEAST : the false prophet
Revelation 13:11-18
The first beast has the primary role of serving as the political leader, whereas this second beast is the False Prophet. He is the very deceptive counterpart of the first beast. All that he does is in support of the first beast for the purpose of doing the will of Satan. He has a very deceptive description, but his true nature is revealed when he opens his mouth. There is nothing about him other than his looks that are lamb-like. This beast is further described in the following verses:
Revelation 16:13: 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.
Revelation 19:20: 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.
Revelation 20:10: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
These verses above tell us the fate of the two beasts along with what is going to happen to Satan. I wish to remind each of us as we study that Satan and his entire league are to be doomed. In the meanwhile, we will continue to expose what he and his followers will be doing up until the very last.
III. THE FINAL BEAST COMES TO POWER. (Vv. 11-18).
John the writer, saw another beast “coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” The description of this second beast is given showing him coming up out of the earth. I do not know the significance of this beast coming up out of the earth versus the first beast coming up out of the sea. We do have an understanding of the mystery pertaining to the first beast because of an explanation that is given to us in the seventeenth chapter. Chapter seventeen also gives further indication of what the seven heads represent.
We must keep in mind that the introduction of this second beast is just another way that Satan has for trying to bring creation under his control. We will consider how this false prophet is nothing more than a powerful imitator.
A. This Beast, Who Is The False Prophet, Serves As A Powerful Imitator. (Vv. 11-12).
Gathering as much as we can from our Text, we find first of all that the beasts are similar in that they both are referred to as beasts, which means “wild animal”. Anything pertaining to Satan, no matter how tame it may appear as he disguises himself, will still have all of the attributes of Satan. This creature presents himself as a docile lamb, but when he speaks he is identified as the dreadful dragon. In symbolic language, this beast as we have already stated, is a great pretender or imitator. There are so many who have become victim to his pretending ways. He will possess and influence people and cause them to become the great pretender like himself. The hypocrites in Jesus’ day were no different. They, as the word implies were “play actors”. This is the reason that Jesus told the hypocritical, Pharisee Jews that they were of their father the devil in John 8:44.
With this beast being described this way, it gives indication that he will suddenly appear on the scene for the purpose of causing the world population to accept the first beast. Everything that this beast does will be done in support of the first beast and he will position himself under the authority of the first beast to accomplish this purpose. This beast’s charming ways will have a charismatic impact on those who will be inclined to worship the beast or the Antichrist. With this beast having the appearance of a lamb is only another way that he is attempting to impersonate the true Lamb of God.
To resonate with the Jewish people upon the earth, this beast is probably a Jew. As such, he is working in close proximity with the first beast to initiate all of the political and religious programs that the first beast is demanding. This is done so that the first beast will receive the worship that he so much desires.
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. (V.12).
This twelfth verse shows us the job description of the second beast as well as his ability to exercise the same power of the first beast. Satan, the dragon, is constantly pulling together his team to carry out his wickedness. Every capability that this second beast has is for the purpose of Satan gaining control of the creation. He continues his miserable rebellion to the very end.
B. This Beast, Who Is The False Prophet, Is Particularly Impressive. (Vv. 13-14).
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 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. (Vv. 13,14)
These two verses tell us how the second beast will be performing satanic miracles, making fire come down from heaven, to bring about his deception. The fire coming down from heaven does not mean that it originated from God. We remind ourselves that the Bible speaks of three heavens. The first is where the birds sing; the second is where the stars shine and the third is where the Son sits. The fire fell from the sky, thus giving the illusion that it had come down from heaven. The beast will do all that he can to mess with the minds of the people. Satan is now doing all he can do to mess with our minds. As Paul told the church at Philippi, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Phil. 2:5). If we keep the mind of Christ, we will not have the mind of Satan. We develop the mind of Christ by letting the Word of Christ dwell within us richly.
Not only does the false prophet perform miracles to deceive the earth dwellers, he also requires them to make an image for the purpose of worship. Much that goes on today is preparatory to what will be happening during the tribulation. There is much technology already in place to accomplish what Satan wants done. When we read about the mark of the beast and the way that the mark will be on the right hand or the forehead, we must admit that we already have the technology for this to happen. We already are using a similar technology in our monetary system and could very easy switch over to an implant or some other internally placed energy chip that can store programmable information to respond to a machine scan.
We already have the technology to produce a humanoid or a robot with very human-like features that can be instructed to simulate many life-like qualities. What used to be a “Twilight Zone” idea is now a reality. Within a very few short years the technology will progress at a quantum rate allowing Satan to have many unusual devices at his disposal. You might say that he will have his technologically sophisticated bag of tricks to use on whomever he pleases.
The image that is described in our Text could be nothing more than a machine that is being given life-like qualities or a life that is demonic. I do not believe that this image will enjoy created life that comes from God. Can you imagine Satan producing a form of life that is entirely demonic? Can you fathom the wickedness of this kind of life quality? Can you reckon the wicked, destructive nature of a demonic creation? Even today, it is frightening how wicked someone can be who is only possessed by Satan. Imagine, how awful it would be if someone could be created by Satan.
On December the 26th, 2002 a cult group, named Raelian, made news. They claimed to have cloned a female named Eve. Their group believes that the earth population came from neither evolution nor creation by God. They claim that aliens from a distant stellar system came to planet earth and cloned the original Adam and Eve. They claim to have five other such cloned beings. Notice a portion of what this cult group teaches that comes from an explanation of their corrupt doctrines.
“The messages dictated to Rael (on December 13, 1973 from a space visitor from another planet) explain that life on Earth is not the result of random evolution, nor the work of a supernatural ’God’. It is a deliberate creation, using DNA, by a scientifically advanced people who made human beings literally "in their image" -- what one can call "scientific creationism." References to these scientists and their work, as well as to their symbol of infinity, can be found in the ancient texts of many cultures. For example, in Genesis, the Biblical account of Creation, the word "Elohim" has been mistranslated as the singular word "God", but it is actually a plural word which means "those who came from the sky", and the singular is "Eloha" (also known as "Allah"). Indigenous cultures all over the world remember these "gods" who came from the sky, including natives of Africa (Dogon, Twa, etc.), America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.” (Raelian web site).
I do not know how far to take this in relationship to our Text, but it shows Satan already has a group like this in place to prepare the minds of people on earth for a Satanic takeover.
I also admit that I do not have an understanding of all that is being said about this image having life. I can only speculate as others, but enough is said that I can be thankful that I will not have to experience an incarnation of Satan! Surely the last phase of the tribulation will reveal many satanic monstrosities that can now only be imagined. The Lord had a reason for giving us some of the information pertaining to the events of the tribulation, but also a reason for excluding parts. There will be a further revealing of what we read about in time and eternity, I am sure.
C. The Beast, Who Is The False Prophet, Is Also A Powerful Influencer. (V. 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.
The influence that the beast will have on mankind may be attributed to that which causes fear and also that which causes admiration. When men fear God, it is a reverential fear. When men fear Satan it is a diabolical fear. Satan can not cause men to have the quality of fear for himself that men have for the Lord. That is one of the failures of his counterfeiting. He can only imitate a portion of what he sees. This should remind us that we can not imitate Christ by virtue of our own abilities and worth, but must depend upon Christ living within us. Religion apart from Godly worship attempts to do just that. Religion of this kind is constantly replicating the religion of Cain. Cain tried to please God by offering what he himself wanted to offer rather than what God wanted him to offer. He violated God’s commandment by doing as we would say, “his own thing”. Our spirit of worship should be, “not my will, but thy will be done.”
This beast will be causing great fear to sweep over creation as he performs his wicked miracles. There will also be those who will not be afraid of such, but will be admirers of such, just as they are those who become engrossed in a movie making the villain their hero, rather than the crusader for justice and good, their hero.
As you might determine by our Text, the worship of the beast will be a forced worship to many who are under threat of being killed.
D. The Beast, Who Is The False Prophet, Is Particularly Intimidating. (Vv. 16-18).
As we have already indicated, the Scriptures are not very clear on which of these beasts would be the Antichrist. There seems to be more evidence to support the first as being the Antichrist, because the second is both worshiping and causing others to worship the first beast. An argument against the first beast being the Antichrist is that he seems to be rising up out of the sea, which pictures Gentile nations. The Jew would not accept the Gentile as being the Messiah. In either case these beasts are Satan’s puppets who will be very intimidating.
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: 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. 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. (Revelation 13:16-18).
For common purchases to be made whether it be a loaf of bread, tank of gas, a visit to the Doctor or anywhere that money is to be spent for goods or services, there must be the mark of the beast. For anything to be sold or exchanged there must be the mark. Many will receive the mark during the tribulation and surrender all of their rights to Satan and his beasts so that they may continue to do their business. When they receive the mark they will have a temporary relief that comes from being able to buy and sell. Places like Wal-Mart at that time will be very appreciative that their customers were willing to receive the mark. If you think that I am singling out a particular place of business, all businesses will be required to sell on the basis of their customers having the mark. When you rent a house or pay your mortgage, it will all be the same. No exchange of money can take place without the mark…
YET, there will be those who will refuse the mark even if it means that they will have their heads cut off or starve to death. The tribulation saints will suffer all kinds of persecution rather than receive the mark. People will either be marked by the Lamb or they will be marked by Satan.
There is really no difference today as God sees it; you are either marked by the Lamb or marked by Satan. Which is it? The Scriptures tell us, in Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
