Transcript
The true story is told of a certain African tribe that learned an easy way to capture ducks in a river. Catching this agile and wary prey was difficult, so they formulated a plan.
The tribesmen learned to go upstream, place a pumpkin in the river, and let it slowly float down into the flock of ducks. At first, the cautious fowl would quack and fly away. After all, it wasn’t ordinary for pumpkins to float down the river!
But the persistent tribesmen would subsequently float another pumpkin into the re-gathered ducks. Again they would scatter, only to return after the strange sphere had passed. Again, the hungry hunters would float another pumpkin.
This time the ducks would remain, with a cautious eye on the pumpkin, and with each successive passing, the ducks would become more comfortable, until they finally accepted the pumpkins as a normal part of life.
When the natives saw that the pumpkins no longer bothered the ducks, they hollowed out pumpkins, put them over their heads, and walked into the river. Meandering into the midst of the tolerant fowl, they pulled them down one at a time. And dinner was roast duck.
There will be much deception in the future Tribulation, and the false prophet will be at the center of it all. Many will fully embrace the lies and lethal deception of the Anti-Christ and the false worship of him.
And today, there is also much deception under grace. We need to be reminded of this so that we remain vigilant and cautious and do not become complacent.
In life, false doctrine and error keeps subtly coming at us knowingly or unknowingly, so that sometimes we let our guard down, and feel that we are safe when we are not.
We can get caught in the snare of Satan and led astray into error and bad doctrine if we don’t keep our focus on the Word of God and on Christ.
Revelation 13:11-12: “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.
“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.”
In verses 1-10 of this chapter we learn about the beast, or the Anti-Christ. In verse 11, we are introduced to “another beast.”
The second beast is another prominent figure of the Tribulation period. The fact that he too is called a “beast” like the Anti-Christ, shows he is just as ruthless, vicious, and dangerous as the Anti-Christ. He will have the same purpose and goals and be just as wicked and evil as he is. He will be the Anti-Christ’s right hand man: the False Prophet.
We find a counterfeit of the Godhead in the Tribulation. Revelation 16:13 says this, “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon [Satan], and out of the mouth of the beast [Anti-Christ], and out of the mouth of the false prophet.”
In this unholy trinity, Satan takes the place of the Father, the Anti-Christ takes the place of the Son, and the False Prophet takes the place of the Holy Spirit. And we find that during the Tribulation the False Prophet will imitate the Holy Spirit’s work.
In this chapter we have a sea beast and a land beast. This shows that they are different in origin. In verse 1, the beast that rises up out of the sea, or the nations, is the Anti-Christ.
In verse 11, the beast that comes up out of the earth is the False Prophet. The term “earth” means land. I believe that since he comes from the earth, or the land, he will rise out of the Promised Land, or Israel. We don’t know for certain if he is a Jew or Gentile, but rising up out of Israel makes it pretty clear that he will be a Jew, like the Anti-Christ.
The second beast will have “two horns like a lamb.” The two horns suggest that he has power and authority, but since they don’t have crowns like the horns of the Anti-Christ do in verse 1, it indicates that his authority is not political, but instead religious.
The false prophet will be the leader of the cultic and idolatrous worship of Babylon, and of the persecution that this religion will carry out.
As Revelation 17:6 says, “I saw the woman [or the religious system of Babylon] drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”
What the Anti-Christ is to the one-world government, the False Prophet will be to the one-world religion. He will be the leader of its ecumenicalism, mysticism, idolatry, anti-Jesus Christ, anti-Scripture beliefs.
In verse 2, the Anti-Christ is likened to leopard, bear, and a lion. In verse 11, the False Prophet is likened to a lamb, seemingly harmless, gentle, meek, and mild. In truth, he will be a vicious wolf in sheep’s clothing.
By verses 2 and 11, you see the counterfeit of the true Christ as the Lion and the Lamb in two persons.
The false prophet, at first at least, will have the character of a lamb, and as verse 11 states, he will also speak “as a dragon.” Speaking like a dragon indicates that the second beast’s message comes from THE dragon, who is Satan.
Just as verse 5 states that there was “given unto” the Anti-Christ, by Satan, “a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies,” so the false prophet will also be Satan’s mouthpiece, speaking his words and message of lies.
He’ll be a subtle deceiver, like Satan, and he will exercise “all the power of the first beast before him.” He will exercise the same power and authority as the Anti-Christ, because both are empowered by the same source: Satan.
The purpose of his power and authority will be, as verse 12 states, to cause “the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,” or the Anti-Christ.
This reminds you of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. John 16:13,14 says, “when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself…He shall glorify Me.”
The Holy Spirit came to point people to Christ, to bear witness to Him, and glorify Him. He still does this by the Word. The False Prophet will come to point people to the Anti-Christ, and to worship him alone after his “deadly wound was healed.”
Revelation 13:13-15: “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.
“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.”
Also, in his imitation of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, the False Prophet will do “great wonders.” The false prophet will do these miracles by Satan’s power. He will back up his false teaching with lying wonders.
Like the Lord warned in His Olivet discourse, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matt. 24:24).
And one of the wonders the foremost false prophet in that day will do will be to “[make] fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” And the sense in the original Greek is that he will repeatedly do this.
In Job 1:16, Satan sent fire from heaven and burned up Job’s sheep and servants. So this is a supernatural thing that Satan can do and has done.
Fire from heaven reminds you of the prophet Elijah calling fire down from heaven at Mt. Carmel. Elijah’s purpose in that was to turn Israel from Baal worship to the true and living God. The False Prophet’s purpose in this will be to deceive and turn people away from the living God and the true Christ to worshipping the Anti-Christ as God.
A city boy named Kenny moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day the farmer drove up and said, “Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.”
Kenny replied, “That’s fine, just give me my money back.” The farmer said, “Can’t do that. I spent it already.” Kenny said, “Ok then, at least give me the donkey.” The farmer said, “What are ya gonna do with him?” Kenny, “I’m going to raffle him off.”
Farmer, “You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!” Kenny, “Sure I can. Watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he is dead.” A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, “Whatever happened with that dead donkey?”
Kenny said, “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $898.” Farmer asked, “Didn’t anyone complain?” Kenny replied, “Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.” That was profitable, but deceptive.
Verse 14 says that all the miracles the False Prophet does in the sight of and in support of the beast are for the sole purpose to “deceive,” to believe the lie that the Anti-Christ is God, that all should follow and worship only him.
The False Prophet will announce to the world that “an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live” (v. 14b) should be created.
In light of his assassination and resurrection, the Anti-Christ will be held up by the False Prophet as the true Messiah and God in flesh.
In celebration of this fact, the False Prophet proclaims that an image should be made to the beast, the Anti-Christ. The statue, or idol, will be made in tribute to the beast as a symbol of his deity and as a call to worldwide worship of him.
The world will obey, and an image will be made to the Anti-Christ. We can imagine that this will be done with supreme craftsmanship and the best and costliest of materials.
And in doing another “great wonder,” the false prophet, in the power of Satan, gives breath and life to the idol. It breathes and it even speaks. He gives the appearance of the idol as being alive.
This satanic, breathing, and talking idol will be set up in the temple in Jerusalem. Setting up an idol is bad, but setting a satanic idol up in God’s temple is the pinnacle of blasphemy. This is the abomination of desolation.
Daniel prophesied of this: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [or 7 years]: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations” (Dan. 9:27).
Matthew 24:15,16 says, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation [or the idol of the Anti-Christ], spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place [or the temple in Jerusalem], (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.”
The “whoso readeth, let him understand” in verse 15 is for ISRAEL to read and understand in the Tribulation. That verse does not apply to us, the Body of Christ, because we will have been caught up to heaven at the Rapture before the Tribulation ever begins. We are delivered from this 7 year period of wrath to come.
The Gospels give instruction for the Jews who will have to endure through those 7 years and this is a reminder to us that while the Gospels are profitable for doctrine and they are for our learning, their primary application is to Israel and God’s program with her.
An idol in the temple is an abomination to God. It desolates and desecrates the temple of the true and living God. It is an abomination of desolation. The image of the beast, the idol of the Anti-Christ, standing in the temple, will be a sign for believers in Israel at that time to flee, because the greatest persecution of God’s people is going to begin immediately.
In that day, they will need to run in order to survive. In Matthew 24:17-20 the Lord tells Israel that at this time to not go back into the house to grab something. He says “woe” to them that are expecting and with child because that will slow them down. He says “pray that your flight be not in winter” because that’ll make it harder to get away faster.
He says to pray that it’s not on the Sabbath day, because that would make a Jew hesitate whether they should make a sabbath’s day journey or not. It won’t be a time to hesitate. It will be a time to run, and run as fast as they can.
After the assassination and resurrection of the Anti-Christ, there will be sitting and standing. The Anti-Christ will go into the temple, enter the holy of holies and SIT on the mercy seat and declare that He is the Messiah and God.
And then an image, an idol will be created and fashioned to his supposed glory, and it will STAND in the holy place in the temple in Jerusalem.
Reminiscent of the days of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when Nebuchadnezzar erected a gold statue of himself and demanded worship by all or be cast into the fiery furnace, the false prophet will “cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” All will be required to worship the image of the beast.
It will be a worldwide decree from the false prophet for all to either worship this idol or be executed.
Revelation 13:16-18: “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.”
At the mid-point of the Tribulation, a decree will be issued by the false prophet for all people, in whatever category of society they are: small or great, rich or poor, free or bound, that they have to receive a “mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.”
The term “mark” has the idea of a scratch, engraving, or etching. In time past, tattoos or brands were commonly given to slaves and soldiers. The mark of the beast will be something visible, that is easily seen and shown to all on the skin. It will be clear to all.
You won’t miss it. The mark won’t be done unknowingly. It will NOT be a chip implanted under the skin or an invisible barcode on your skin. Anytime you read those kinds of things trying to strike fear in people, you can dismiss it as error.
All will see the mark of the beast or all will not see the mark of the beast. The whole purpose of the mark is for it to be easily seen and clearly visible.
In that day, in the sweeping, cultic, popular worship of the Anti-Christ, they will willingly, gladly, and proudly get that mark for all to see.
The beast’s mark on the forehead or right hand will signify that that person is loyal to Anti-Christ. Refusing the mark and not having it will demonstrate faith in Jesus Christ.
No other time in history will make the identity of true believers in Christ from non-believers so clear.
This mark will then be used by the False Prophet and the Anti-Christ to more easily identify believers in Christ, making them easier to find AND kill.
There will be dire practical consequences in daily living if a person does not take the mark.
The worldwide decree will be, as verse 17 states, “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.”
One commentator rightly says this: “Anti-Christ’s empire will maintain strict economic control over the world. Food, clothing, medical supplies, and the other necessities of life potentially in demand in the devastated earth, which has felt the judgment of God, will be unobtainable for those without the mark.”
One will not be able to buy or sell unless you have one of three things: the mark of the beast, the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
They have 3 options for their mark on their forehead or right hand: first, they can get a tattoo of the image of the idol in Jerusalem, second, they can have the Anti-Christ’s name etched on their skin, or third, they can choose to have the number of his name: 666.
The great temptation for all when they can’t buy or sell without the mark, will be to take the mark. But believers will need to overcome, abide in Christ, and endure to the end to be delivered from this temptation.
It is at this time that many things from the Sermon on the Mount will find their fulfillment. Believers will need to trust the Lord implicitly to provide for their daily needs like He instructed them to in the Sermon on the Mount. Things such as we read in Matthew 6:
“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” In other words, the Father will certainly care for you and feed you when you can’t buy or sell.
Also: “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field…Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you,” i.e., when they can’t buy or sell clothes.
They will need to live by faith and “take no thought for the morrow.” They will have to take it day by day trusting God to provide for them when they can’t buy or sell.
The Lord’s Prayer will also be fulfilled in that day: Lead us not into the temptation, the temptation to take the mark of the beast. Give us this day our daily bread, when they can’t buy or sell. Deliver us from the evil, or the evil one, the Anti-Christ, when he is trying to kill all who believe in Jesus Christ.
The reason they need to trust the Lord to provide for them and overcome and resist the temptation to take the mark is that whoever takes the mark in that day will be immediately marked by God for the lake of fire.
Revelation 14:9-11 reads, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God…and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night…”
Possibly putting the mark on the forehead is an imitation of God who, as we read in Revelation, puts His name in the foreheads of believers. In Revelation 9:4, the Father’s name written in the forehead is called “the seal of God in their foreheads.”
The seal of God speaks of divine ownership. And Satan will counterfeit this and will require the Anti-Christ’s followers to have the mark of the beast in their foreheads, thus sealing those who belong to Satan. And this seals their fate in the lake of fire.
The “number of his name” is given to us in verse 18. The exclamation “Here is wisdom” at the beginning of that verse is a warning to those alive in that day, to be wise.
They will need to recognize what is happening and be wise to not take this number, which we all know to be: 666.
The precise significance of the number 666 cannot be fully known until the time of the Anti-Christ. There are some things we can understand though.
The number six is “the number of a man” verse 18 says. We know that man was created on the sixth day, his average height is six feet, his workweek is often 6 days, and when he dies he is buried six feet down.
Seven is God’s number, the number of perfection and fullness in Scripture. Six is man’s number, which is short of perfection, as man is, who all fall short of the glory of God.
My father wrote this in his commentary on Revelation: “The number 666 is the composite of the numbers that make up the evil trinity; each of the sixes falls short of the number seven, the number of spiritual perfection and completeness.”
Just like “holy, holy, holy” repeated 3 times stresses God’s absolute holiness and being set apart and greater than all. Repeating the number 6 three times emphasizes man, his supposed greatness and humanism. Man loves to make a god out of himself and what he thinks. The Anti-Christ will foster humanism in that day. And man will love him for it.
As far as how it ends for the false prophet and the Anti-Christ, they will be completely crushed and defeated at the Battle of Armageddon. And to that we say, Good!
Christ will take both of them by the scruff of the necks as it were and throws them both alive into the Lake of Fire. They are the first two inhabitants of the lake of fire and will be tormented there forever and ever.
Revelation 19:20 says, “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.”
1000 years later after the millennial kingdom when Satan is cast into the lake of fire, the false prophet and the Anti-Christ are still there. Revelation 20:10 reads: “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.”
It strengthens our faith and encourages our hope to know that being on the Lord’s side, we are on the side of absolute victory, truth, and power. As 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”