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1. The Beast From the Earth (Revelation 13:11-12)
REVELATION 13:11-12
11 I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
While the seer John on the isle of Patmos was being shaken to the core and still was thinking about the beast from the sea and remembering in prayer his churches on the land in the east, he suddenly saw in a new vision a beast coming up out of the caves of the mountains of Anatolia. This beast did not stem from earthly animals, but appeared as a further creation of Satan coming directly from the underworld.
The beast out of the earth did not look horrifying as the image of the dragon with its seven heads and twelve horns. In fact, this demonic spirit appeared as a gentle lamb. Yet its two horns showed that this animal was not a female but a male lamb. The beast could not hide its identity completely. It appeared as a lamb, but it was male young sheep.
The voice of the beast finally revealed its true character, because it did not bleat like a little lamb but it snorted and belled like a dragon: a young dragon in sheep's clothing. The beast appeared outwardly gently and humbly, but inwardly full of rapacious greed and destructiveness.
The Lamb With a Voice of a Dragon: As it already was with the “resurrection” of the beast with its deathly wound, so also with the beast out of the earth the attempt of Satan was revealed to imitate the Lamb of God. The Lamb, which was slain, remained its opponent and defeater. Satan did not get away from the victor of Golgotha. The term “Lamb” or “little Lamb” is found 28-times in the book of the Revelation of Christ as designation of Jesus. Therewith the characteristic trait of the Son of God is described accurately. The Passover lamb in Egypt which saved the people of Israel from the wrath of God (Exodus 12:22-23.27), or the suffering servant of God, who was led like a lamb to the slaughter and did not open his mouth, but instead atoned in our place with its death all our sicknesses and sins (Isaiah 53:4-12), explain the testimony of John the Baptist, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29.36)
As he had already attempted with his first son of the dragon and its healed deathly wound, likewise the evil one wanted to imitate the Lamb. Yet in another attempt of creation a dragon spirit was generated again, this time in lamb's clothing, but nothing different. In Satan and his descendents there is no love in action which has compassion with other people and is suffering in their place. Out of the sheepskin the voice of the dragon is roaring.
The Satanic Trinity: Some expositors speak of a Satanic trinity: the arch dragon, the son of the dragon and the dragon spirit, who pursue the same purpose in an apparent unity, that is, to get the world dominion with cunning and violence. Some expositors designate the trinity of hell as anti-God, anti-Christ and anti-Spirit. In these three the wickedness comes to its complete effect. They do not redeem any human mankind, but want to tie down everybody to their spirit. They do not create peace in hearts but cause rebellion and self-destruction. They are unified by the hatred against God Father, Jesus, his Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The triality of Satan knows that it has already been judged and that only a short time is left for it (Revelation 12:12 and other verses). Therefore the false prophet drives many worshippers to the son of the dragon, fills them with the spirit of the dragon which imitates the Holy Spirit. The false prophet has received the authority of the beast form the sea so as to inspire the inhabitants of the earth to worship the son of Satan. He does not carry out this task on his own and independently, but in the presence of anti-Christ who supervises him permanently. In the satanic triality there is no freedom and confidence but only control and observation. In fact, fear and distrust are ruling.
The divine trinity is totally different. God the Father has entrusted all power in heaven and on earth to his Son without fear of a palace revolution. For likewise as the Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus and not himself (John 16:14), so the Son glorifies the Father. In the heavenly trinity there is no self-adulation, no proud and arrogance, Our God is humble! Jesus said, “Learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29) God's Son sacrificed himself out of love for unworthy sinners! He did not live for himself. In this sense Jesus gave the power to the Holy Spirit (John 16:14-15) so as to build up his church purchased by his blood and to fill its members with the spirit of the Lamb. Lowliness is one of the mysteries of the holy trinity. Who refuses to become humble, is not able to understand the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Worship Out of Fear: Satan, his son and his spirit, however, are all proud. Allah is called in the Qur’an “the proud", “the arrogant” (Sura al-Hashr 59:23). He is also called “the best of all cunning ones” (Suras Al 'Imram 3:54, al-Anfal 8:30). Muhammad is his prophet and full of an unclean spirit. He said: “War is nothing else than swindle.” “Hasty oaths can be broken!” (Sura al-Tarim 66:2) His long term goal is to subjugate the whole world to Islam. Concerning this we can read in the Qur’an: “Fight with weapons until there is no more temptation (to apostasy from Islam) and religion is all for Allah” (Suras al-Baqara 2:193; al-Anfal 8:39). Muhammad was a false prophet fighting for his anti-God against the Son of God. Muhammad intended to lead all mankind to worship Allah, either voluntarily or by force. More than 300 times we read in his instructions for the Holy War of humiliating, painful, extreme tortures, in order to implement his goal, the dominion of Islam over all continents. All unbelievers (other than Jews and Christians) theoretically have only the choice between subjugation and death. Sometimes killing will be changed into slavery, so as to torment the unbelievers day and night.
In Revelation 13:12 we read that the son of the dragon causes and controls the activities of his false prophet. The beast out of the earth is subjugated to the beast from the sea. It is inspired and led satanically. One of the tasks of the false prophet is to make sure that “the earth worships the beast". This curious expression does not only aim at all people of the whole earth, but also at the elements and the fauna, the electrons and neutrons, bacteria and volcanoes. Everything ought to be infected and interspersed with the demonic spirit of the dragon. St Paul writes about the evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:11-13) and knew that, “The whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.” (Romans 8:22) The world dominion of Satan is not shallow, but goes the whole hog. The whole world lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19)
At first the false prophet forces the inhabitants of the earth to worship the son of Satan. The goal remains the same: devotion, commitment and subjugation! The false prophet intends to implement the total dominion of the son of the dragon in all continents. For that purpose all power of the beast from the sea, that is the authority of Satan, was given to him. Here the violent trinity is in action without any saving or redeeming love. The subjects are not free to refuse to worship the son of Satan. They had to subjugate to him, and they have to worship him. They are his worship slaves. In Arabic the words for worship and worshipper are very closely related to the terms for “slavery” and “slaves". We who live in countries with a Christian majority do not know any longer how great the freedom is for which Jesus, the Son of God, has set us free (Galatians 5:1).
Propaganda for the Miracle of Healing: The particular method, with which the false prophet catches naive people, is the propagandistic portrayal of the miraculous healing of the deathly wound of the violent son of the Evil One. Since his father has healed and revived him, he is propagated as immortal, invincible and almighty (Revelation 13:12). This false statement about the eternal live of anti-Christ fascinates mankind and leads them to worship him. The people hope that they will be filled with his resurrection power.
Christ, however, said while he was still living on earth: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40; 16:4 and other verses) Therewith Jesus prophesied his resurrection from the death and called it the most important sign for the human mankind. Why do we testify as Christians of Christ's victory over death so rarely? Why do we surrender to the false prophet the representation of the demonic healing of anti-Christ who is really not eternal but finite? The resurrection of Christ assures us that Jesus was and is sinless and holy, that death and Satan had no right and power in him, that his atoning sacrifice for all human beings was accepted by God and that Jesus lives in eternity. In him also our resurrection and eternal life is hidden! Outside of him death, hell, condemnation and desperation are lurking. We must let us lead by the Holy Spirit so as to pronounce the victory of Jesus Christ more clearly and plainly. He is really risen, but not anti-Christ, who will return into the abyss.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we worship You because You are the All-Ruling, and you have given us the gift of distinguishing spirits, to discover the unclean spirits that we might not fall prey to the tricks of antichrist and the signs of his false prophet. Help us to distinguish Your voice from among the false voices in the media that we may not worship with the multitudes to the beast and his father dragon. Amen.
QUESTIONS:
- Is there a satanic trinity? How does it appear?
- What is the purpose of the false prophet’s propaganda and tricks?
- Why did the healing of antichrist's wound become the main reason for worshipping him and his father the devil?