The Revelation of Jesus Christ The TRINITY of EVIL: Satan, the Antichrist (Beast of the Sea), and the False Prophet (Beast of the Earth) Revelation 13:11-18 Introduction In last week's study, we were introduced to the "beast of the sea", who is identified as the Antichrist. The Antichrist is empowered by Satan, and eventually rules as a political and military genius over the earth during the second half of the 70th Week of Daniel. The Antichrist will rule the world as the leader of the revived Roman Empire. In today's passage, we are introduced to the "beast of the earth", who is soon identified as the "False Prophet". Whereas the Antichrist is a political and military leader, the False Prophet is a religious leader. The reader is now aware of Satan's unholy trinity. Satan is the counterfeit of God the Father, the Antichrist is the blasphemous counterfeit of the Son, and the False Prophet is the deceptive counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. Like Ahab and Jezebel joined the religious priests of Baal, so the Antichrist and the False Prophet, combine political and religious power to rule over the world. I. The Work of the Two-Horn Beast of the Earth (Rev. 13:11-15) 11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who live on it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. 14 And he deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. A. The Beast of the Earth has two horns, spoke like a dragon 13:11a 1. "out of the earth", might indicate Jewish origin. 2. Recall, the Beast of the Sea is the Antichrist, likely Gentile origins 2. Gentle as a lamb, but empowered by Satan, the dragon B. The Beast of the Earth exercises all the authority of the first beast 13:12a C. The Beast of the Earth makes earth-dwellers worship the first beast 13:12b 1. Tyranny of false worship of the beast of the sea 2. Reminder of the fatal wound experienced by the Antichrist, and subsequent resurrection as an evil imitation of the work of Christ Rev. 13:3 3. These signs be very persuasive, leading earth-dwellers to believe 4. Like the Holy Spirit does for Jesus, the False Prophet glorifies Antichrist D. The Beast of the Earth is the "False Prophet" perforMs great signs Revelation 13:13,14a; "false prophet", read Revelation 19:20; 20:10 1. Fire comes down out of the sky, imitation of God power Gen. 19:24; Lev 2. The fire out of the sky deceives those who live on the earth 3. Reminiscent of Pharaoh's sorcerers, rods into serpents, water into blood, frogs up on the land (Ex. 7:11,22)… signs are not always from God! E. The False Prophet Gives Breath to the IMage of the Beast 14b,15 1. The False prophet convinces people to worship the Antichrist 2. People are not forced to worship, but they worship freely to avoid suffering or death 3. The idol of the image of the Antichrist will create the false appearance of the idol being alive II. The Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:16,17) 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. A. The False Prophet "causes" all to be given a "Mark" 1. cause by persuasion through the evidence of the signs 2. The "mark", 'charagma', "to engrave (tattoo?), stamp" 3. The "seal", 'sphragida', of the 144,000 (Rev. 7:2) is "seal of ownership" 4. The mark is a sign that the person is a worshipper of the Antichrist 5. The mark is engraved, or stamped on right hand of forehead B. No one will be able to buy or sell without the Mark of the beast C. The Mark of the beast will be either the naMe of the nuMber of the Antichrist III. The Number of the the Name of the Beast is 666 (Rev. 13:18) 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. A. "here is wisdoM", likely a reference to those who are alive during the 70th Week of Daniel will be able to decode the naMe of the Antichrist. B. The call to calculate the "nuMber of his naMe" likely points to the practice of geMatria, where the individual letters of a name are given values which are added together to be the number of the name. C. GeMatria will be used to uncover the identity in the nuMber 666. D. Too Many historic naMes could be Manipulated to produce 666. E. Other characteristics and works of the Antichrist are More helpful. .