The Revelation of the False Prophet (Revelation 13b)

The first beast mentioned in Revelation 11:7 is Satan. The second beast seen in Revelation 13:1 is the anti-Christ, described by John F. Walvoord as a “world dictator”. In Revelation 13:11, we see the third beast, the false prophet who, like the anti-Christ, is a human, and together they will be thrown alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20), where Satan will eventually also join them (Revelation 20:10). Walvoord says this regarding that verse:

                                                                                                                        

According to verse 7, the beast from the bottomless pit, which is none other than Satan himself, makes war against them and overcomes them and kills them. Of interest is the fact that this is the first of thirty-six references in Revelation to the beast (Gr., therion)… The beast out of the pit is Satan. The beast out of the sea is the world dictator (13:1). The beast out of the land is the false religious leader of that day (13:11). This unholy trinity is the satanic counterfeit of the divine Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (For further discussion see exposition of 13:1-4; 17:7-8.) 

Though humans, both the second and third beast will personify the world’s political structure (the revived Roman Empire) and the ungodly religious structure

While the second beast, the anti-Christ, will have a political and a military hue, the third beast out of the earth; that is, the false prophet, will have a decidedly religious color. He will have spirits of demons coming out of his mouth, deceiving the world, working miracles, and causing the world to worship the anti-Christ and his image and even give animation to the image of the anti-Christ.

 

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹²And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³ He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. ¹⁴ And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. ¹⁵ He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

 

Here is the false prophet, coming out of the earth; he is “another” beast, like the one which came up out of the sea. He will be a religious leader, like Christ (“like a lamb”), yet have the voice and teachings of Satan. He will be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Like the two true witnesses, the false prophet will also have great powers, even calling down fire, so that perhaps those deceived will falsely think they are worshipping the true God. Verse 12 states that the first beast (that is, the first beast mentioned in chapter 13, the anti-Christ) will have a deadly wound that will be healed. The word wound is also translated at plague (plege) in 9:20; 11:6; 15:1, 6, 8; 16:9, 21; 18:4, 8; 21:9; 22:19. 

Verse 14 explains that such a wound will receive pneuma or also translated as spirit or breath. The word “image”, eikon, from which we get the word “icon” can also be translated as “statue” or likeness. However, it will be different than a mere statue or image. It will have pneuma and will be able to speak and even cause people not worshipping the image to be killed. Several verses state that both beast and image will be worshipped (14:9, 11, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4). 

 

¹⁶ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

 

There is a connection between the mark, the name of the beast and the number of his name (verse 17). “whoever receives the mark of his name” (14:11), “those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name” (15:2).

Initially, the mark of the beast is economical, perhaps with an increasingly cashless society, counterfeit money, international banking, and more identity thefts, this is one sure way that people are correctly identified in regard to buying and selling. 

Quickly however, the mark turns into something more religious. An angel warns against worshipping the beast and receiving his mark (14:9, 11). Those receiving the mark were likely to also worship him and were punished with sores (16:2). Those who received the mark did so initially by deception (19:20). And eventually, those who do not receive the mark will be beheaded (20:4).

There are far too many calculations of the number to justify any further speculations. Since it was originally thought to be Caesar (but even then, you have to misspell his name or spell it “Neron Kaisar” in Hebrew), there are far too many ways to make any number of people’s names to equal 666. Since we know that the anti-Christ will not be revealed until after the Rapture, this wisdom and understanding is not for us to know but will be made evident when those who are left behind need to know.

Should we be afraid of technologies that allow chips to be implanted under our skin for identification? We should be aware that such technology is coming, and it should heighten our awareness that time is short. 

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) sounds remarkably similar to giving pneuma to an icon. If such systems as implanted chips, vaccines to heal the wound/"plague", and artificially intelligent machines becomes mandatory and there are no options, then yes, it would be something that should be avoided. 

Again, we as current Christians will not be on earth at this time, but there are indications that those who are saved during the Tribulation might be able to lose our salvation, unlike now. Only those who "endure to the end", will be saved (Matthew 10:22, Mark 13:13). Revelation 2:10 encourages that being faithful until death will ensure the crown of life. However, the resistance of such technology by Christians is likely just why the true mark of the beast cannot be administered until the church is first “snatched away.”