Thursday, February 20, 2014

THE BEAST FROM THE EARTH – THE FALSE PROPHET


In the previous post we saw that the beast from the sea, the Antichrist, will eventually become the de facto ruler of the world and be worshipped by all “earth dwellers” as God.  Only those who choose to follow God in faith and obedience will refuse to worship him, and such refusal will result in the death of many.  John next reveals the emergence of a beast arising from the earth.

Revelation 13:11–15 “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. 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.”

Note that the beast has two horns like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon.  John consistently makes a distinct contrast between the Lamb, Jesus, and the dragon, Satan.  Horns are a symbol of royal dignity, strength and power.  This seems to indicate that this beast would carry the type of dignity and power reflected in a man of God in leadership, but would speak with the cunning and deceitfulness of the dragon.  Because of this description, he is often referred to as the false prophet.

This second beast is able to perform miraculous things “before” the first beast.  The word for “before” indicates “in the face of, in the presence of.”  This makes a clear distinction in their positions.  The first beast operates at will on his own; the second beast is subject to empowerment provided in the presence of the first.  The second beast carries enough clout to cause those on earth to worship the first beast.  Again, we are told that the first beast has had a miraculous recovery from an apparently deadly wound.  The fact that this second beast is directing the worship of the people also indicates a position of religious leadership.

The second beast is able to do great wonders/miracles/signs.  He is able to publicly call down fire from heaven to earth just like Elijah of old and the two witnesses in chapter 11.

There is a verse in Job that verifies Satan’s ability to call down fire from heaven in accordance with God’s permission.

Job 1:16 “While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

Though the fire was attributed to God, the fact is that God had given Satan permission to attack Job; and evidently the ability to call down fire from heaven was included in this permission.

I liked Kenneth Wuest’s expanded translation at this point:  “And he performs great miracles the purpose of which is to attest the divine source of the words uttered by the one performing the miracle, even to the extent that he causes fire to be descending out of heaven into the earth in the sight of the men.”

The second beast is able to “deceive” those living on earth because of his miracles.  Jesus warned us of Satan’s power to deceive.

Matthew 24:24 “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.”

Paul warned us as well.

2Thessalonians 2:9 “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders….”

There are also great verses in Deuteronomy that apply.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3 “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

“The test of a miracle is its supernaturalness; the test of its source, the end, or interest for which it is wrought.  If in support of anything contrary to God and His revealed will and law, it is no less a miracle; but in that case it is the work of the Devil; for God cannot contradict Himself.”  Joseph Seiss

We are again told specifically that the second beast can only do these miracles in the presence of the first beast.  The same Greek word, “enopion,” is used for the word “before” in verse 12 and the phrase “in sight of” in verse 14.  He uses his platform of power to construct an image or statue of some sort in honor of the first beast. 

John also reveals that the apparently deadly wound was caused by a sword/knife/dirk.  Some scholars make a connection with this to the following verses in Zechariah.  If true, the attack on the Antichrist will result in a useless arm and blindness in his right eye.

Zechariah 11:16-17 “For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.”

The second beast is able to give life to the image of the beast and cause it to speak.  The interesting thing here is that the word for life is “pneuma,” which means “current of air, breath, spirit.”  Considering the speed at which technology is advancing today, who knows what type of image this will be.  Those that refuse to worship this image will be killed.  There is a verse in chapter 20 that indicates that beheading will be the likely method of execution.

Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

(to be continued…)

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