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THE BEAST FROM THE
EARTH (VERSES 11-18)
“Then I saw another beast coming up out
of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a
dragon. 12 And 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. 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.”
This Earth Beast is Described (verse
11)
Well, this is
a rather interesting section. This second
beast, which came up out of the earth, will be identified elsewhere
here in Revelation once we get over to
chapter 16, chapter 19 and chapter 20 as a
false prophet. This earth beast is an ally
of the first beast [the sea beast], and he is certainly an ally of
the dragon, of Satan himself.
This earth
beast is described in the same way as the “sea
beast.” The word “beast” here is the same
word as used earlier, representing a wild animal,
a wild beast, something that is awful, something
that is terrible, that is absolutely the
worst thing that you could imagine.
And there is
something of a contradiction that appears
here. He had “two horns like a
lamb,” but he “spoke
like a dragon,” [verse
11]. What does that suggest?
His actions, his behavior, the things he says, are like the
dragon. And who is the dragon? He is Satan, the
devil. But this “earth beast” has the appearance,
or at least he has a partial appearance, of a
lamb. What is a lamb? Something that is gentle,
something that is meek, that is mild. What does that suggest
to us? What do we have? We have a
contradiction here in the
appearance. While he appears to
be one thing, this earth beast is actually
something else. Certainly that suggests that he is
deceptive in mimicking, or in imitating, the power
of the Lamb, BUT he is, in
reality, the devil’s
agent. This earth beast is
counterfeit. It is not what it appears to
be. It is deceptive. And we’ll see here as we
look through this second part of chapter 13 that
because he himself is counterfeit, he will suggest
and introduce counterfeit worship, verse
12. He will engage in and practice
counterfeit miracles, verses 13 and
14. He will even encourage and introduce and deceive
people into a counterfeit conversion,
verse 16—that mark, you
see, that identifies people as being something other than, perhaps,
what they thought. And in verse 17, the
earth beast’s mark gives people
phony privileges. So, he’s
phony, he’s counterfeit, he
is deceptive.
Well, would
this surprise us if this was an
ally, a cohort, an
instrument of Satan, whom we know from the
Scripture has the ability to disguise himself as an angel of
light? That’s what Paul said, 2 Corinthians
11:12-15 [“But what I do, I will also continue
to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an
opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which
they boast. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no
wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of
light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also
transform themselves into ministers of righteousness,
whose end will be according to their
works.”].
Jesus Himself
warned about false prophets wearing sheep’s
clothing, Matthew 7:15-20
[“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous
wolves. 16 You will know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from
thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a
bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad
fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that
does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know
them.”].
Jesus also
speaks, when He writes to the church in Colossi, about teachers who
beguile people, using enticing
words, Colossians 2 and verse 4
[“Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you
with persuasive words [“enticing
words” KJV]. 5 For though I am absent in
the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good
order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. 6 As you
therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7
rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as
you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and
empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the
basic principles of the world, and not according to
Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, Who is the head of
all principality and power,” Colossians
2:4-10].
Things in the
religious world, yes, in the latter part of the 1st
Century and down through the ages, even to our day, are
not always what they appear to
be. There have been in the past and there
are many today—multitudes
today by the tens of thousands, by the
tens of millions—who are, as Paul said to
Timothy, “obeying the doctrine of devils and
demons,” [1 Timothy 4:1-2:
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some
will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies
in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a
hot iron….”].
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