A second beast is revealed to John, only this one is
distinguished from the previous since he comes out of the
earth or land. The beast out of the land is also called the
false prophet in Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.
“Out of the earth” distinguishes and contrasts him with the
beast out of the sea. These two beasts though similar, are
diverse in origin, as the sea symbolized the mass of
humanity, the nations, so the earth, land, the ground,
region, or country. Some think this beast will be a Jew, a
false prophet among Jews who seeks to persuade men to follow
the beast as the antichrist. On the other hand the contrast
between the two beasts could simply be that the former
arises first and at the time of terrible chaos among the
nations when the people are fearful and crying for “peace
and safety” and for a world ruler to settle world
conditions. The second beast may come on the scene after
world conditions have been settled somewhat, when chaos has
given place to some order and a more stable government.
“And he had two horns.” The horns are symbolic of great
power, but not to the degree of the first beast who had ten
horns. His horns were like those of “a lamb.” As the lamb is
a religious symbol, a symbol of gentleness and sacrifice.
This beast is a religious figure and, as a lamb is also
symbolical of a mild, lamb-like manner, so this second beast
will adopt a mild lamb-like appearance, but he will be a
wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“And he spoke like a dragon.” connects him in character with
the dragon, Satan. As with the first beast, this beast gets
his power from Satan, just like the sea beast that begins
his career as the white horse rider, proclaiming peace, so
this mild religious appearance of the land beast is only a
cover up, a sham for his real nature and goals.
There is an important lesson here for it demonstrates the
typical behavior and character of any of man’s religions
when a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is absent
because they are based upon Satan’s deceptions, not God.
Most religions will claim to be humanitarian, loving, and
concerned for society, but in reality, since Satan is always
at the root of the system (1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Corinthians
11:13-15), they can become vicious, cruel, and murderous as
a wild beast whenever people do not toe the party line.
“He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his
presence,” stresses the fact he has all the authority needed
to carry out the wishes of the first beast, but it’s
delegated authority and he exercises it on behalf of the
beast and his worship in the world. “And he makes the earth
and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast.” The
purpose of this beast or false prophet is to promote the
authority and worship of the first beast, just as the Holy
Spirit works to bring glory to Jesus Christ (John 16:14)
“Whose fatal wound was healed,” indicates that this
deception is part of his propaganda program to sell people
on the beast just as the Holy Spirit truthfully, by
contrast, uses the resurrection to convince men of the
person and work of Jesus Christ. As in the early church, the
resurrection of Christ was followed by sign miracles to
authenticate the message of Christ and His prophets (Hebrews
2:4), so this false prophet does the same in his deception.
Verse 13 “He performs great signs” points us to his first
deception with miraculous signs. “Performs” is a present
tense of repeated actions that indicates he engages in a
display of miraculous signs one after another, though only
two are mentioned here, he makes fire come down from heaven
to earth and give breath to the image, illustrates something
of the power of his miraculous activity. Whatever this will
be, it is clearly designed to counterfeit the miraculous
works of God, either that of Elijah in 1 Kings 18:38 or that
of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:5. Some have suggested
that this could be a reference to fire from heaven to
imitate that, which occurred at Pentecost (Acts 2:3) and
could be a reference to pseudo-charismatic gifts to create a
counterfeit religious community whose allegiance is to
antichrist. Whatever it is, it is a prominent sign and shows
the kind of power Satan will display through his puppets,
the beast and the false prophet.
Verse 14, “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth
because of the signs which it was given to him to perform in
the presence of the beast.” The next thing we see about the
signs is that they are designed to deceive, they are
deceptive.
This should be a warning to all of us. Miraculous signs are
not in themselves a proof that whatever is going on is from
God. However, we are living in an esoteric, mystic oriented
age where reality is too often reduced to a personal
experience or some kind of enlightenment. Just note the rise
of the psychic “hotlines” and the emphasis in TV shows on
the paranormal or on psychic phenomena. Even within the body
of Christ, the emphasis has moved away from the Word of God
as our authority to an emphasis on phenomena and subjective
experiences.
Verse 15, “And it was given to him to give breath to the
image of the beast.” The image that breathes and speaks is
the second great deception of these verses. The image is
designed not only to portray a likeness to the beast, but
the reality of his rule and worship. Whatever the image will
be, it will portray a likeness of the beast that becomes a
symbol of his power and majesty, and of the character of his
system. This image becomes the center of the false worship
of the beast and the focal point of the final state of
apostasy and idolatry.
Finally, we are told that the false prophet is able to give
breath to the image. This gives it the appearance of life.
However, it is not real life. Since breath or breathing is
one of the signs of life, men think the image lives, but
John is careful not to say that he gives life to the image.
Only God can do that. It is something miraculous, but also
deceptive and false.
Then we are told the image of the beast, through this
imparted breath, speaks. This is to be a further
confirmation of the miraculous nature of the beast’s image.
Some might see this as the result of some product of our
modern electronic robot-type of technology. However, such
would hardly convince people of anything spectacular.
Evidently, it will go far beyond that.
