Another Beast Coming Up Out of the Earth

Give me understanding, Lord, as I study Your Word.


"Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he ... causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast ... " (Revelation 13:11-12)


satan is always God's imitator. Just as he will have an antichrist, he'll also have an anti-spirit to round out his unholy trinity. And just as the Holy Spirit causes us to worship the Lamb, the false prophet will cause people to worship the beast.


He will be satan's sinister minister of propaganda, deceiving the world with miracles, mind control and manipulation (vv. 13-17). he will be so persuasive, were it not the the grace of God even the very elect would follow after the beast (Matthew 24:24).


It will appear satan's unholy ambitions are being accomplished through the antichrist and his supporting agent. The devil will be deified, while God is blasphemed with burning eloquence (Revelation 13:5-6). The antichrist will turn people away from God with his magnificent lies.


Those he cannot deter, he will seek to destroy. It will be the devil's last fling against the people of God, and this ravenous beast will drink his fill of the blood of the martyrs (v. 7). He will unite the rest of the world under his global control, dominating society through a regime of war and intimidation.


The entire world will be turned into a vast concentration camp with all of the inmates numbered (vv. 16-17). Everyone will be required to bear the mark of the beast, and without this number they will not be able to carry on commerce.


The number of the beast, 666, reveals his satanic agenda. Six is the number of a man. Three is the divine number. So with three sixes you have man making himself God. This is the mark of one who is driven by satan's own ambition.


The devil never gets it quite right when mimicking God. While he gives people a number, Jesus calls His sheep by name (John 10:2-3). satan would brand you in order to doom you to hell. Jesus will save you and seal you for eternity.


~Adrian Rogers~