The Beast Out of the Earth, Part 2

By Marv Rosenthal

This is the second of a 3-part series. Read Part 1 here.

This series is a follow-up to the series “The Antichrist is Coming.” Read Part 1 here; read Part 2 here.

Note: Part 1 served as an introduction to the False Prophet – the Beast Out of the Sea – and how he “fits in” with Satan and the Antichrist. In Part 2, we look more closely at the role he will play in the End Times.

Where He Will Come From
John noted that the first beast arose out of the sea (Revelation 13:1), and the second beast came up out of the earth (or land) (Revelation 13:11).

For John, the distinct origins of the two beasts – one out of the sea and one out of the land – must have had great significance. Why else would he have called this distinction to our attention?

There is good reason to believe the Antichrist who comes out of the sea is a Gentile and will represent the Gentile nations of the world.

A long succession of Gentile nations has attempted to destroy the Jewish nation throughout much of history. The Lord himself called this period the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). The “times of the Gentiles” is the period of time when no Jewish king from the royal tribe of Judah and family of David is ruling over Jerusalem. Instead, Jerusalem is ruled by foreign powers. This period continues until Christ returns.

In contrast, the False Prophet who comes out of the earth or “land,” I believe, will most likely be Jewish and come from the land of Israel. In the Scriptures, the designation “land” frequently refers to the “land of Israel.” Note the following scripture:

• “And the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7).
• “For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever” (Genesis 13:15).
• “Arise, walk about in the land through its length and width; for I will give it to you” (Genesis 13:17).
• “And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you” (Genesis 35:12).
• “So Joshua took the whole land, in accordance with everything that the LORD had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. So the land was at rest from war” (Joshua 11:23).
• “And you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy through you before their eyes, Gog” (Ezekiel 38:16).

The Problem
If the Antichrist is a Gentile who emerges out of the sea – the Gentile world – and if the False Prophet is a Jew who emerges out of the land – the Jewish world – an immediate problem is created for the Jews.

Throughout the Word of God, inspired penmen wrote of a Jewish Messiah who will come at the end of days to bring peace, justice, and prosperity to the world. He is portrayed in the Scriptures primarily as a political leader.

This coming King (Messiah) is consistently identified as a descendant of Abraham and David. Matthew 1 traces the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ back to Abraham and David to reveal His Jewish pedigree and legal right to the throne of David (Matthew 1:1-18).

To convince the Jewish people that a “Gentile” is the Messiah who will bring peace, justice, and prosperity in the face of the teaching of their prophets will require a powerful, influential, miracle-working, religious Jewish leader identify a Gentile political leader as God’s Messiah.

This is precisely what I believe the beast out of the land (the False Prophet) will do as he influences the Jews to follow a counterfeit Gentile messiah with whom they will sign a 7-year peace agreement.

His Purpose
Three times this beast that comes up out of the land is called a “false prophet” (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10). In describing this prophet, John said he has “two horns like a lamb” (Revelation 13:11). In contrast, the Antichrist (the beast out of the sea) has “ten horns” affixed to a composite body which combines the appearance of a leopard, bear, and lion. In military terms, this suggests the Antichrist’s speed as a leopard, power as a bear, and ferociousness as a lion (Revelation 13:1-2).

In the Bible, horns often symbolize power (Psalm 18:2; Daniel 7:7). This terminology is logical since horns were used by certain animals for fighting. Because they symbolized power, horns were appropriately used to speak of kings and the kingdoms over which they ruled. The Antichrist has 10 horns. They are an indication of his great power over the 10 nations and kings which will comprise his empire.

The False Prophet, by contrast, has only 2 horns. And they are like the small stubs on the head of a lamb. Therefore, the False Prophet will be harmless in appearance – he is depicted as a lamb with 2 small horns – whereas the Antichrist is depicted as a powerful, ravenous beast with 10 horns.

It would, however, be a grave error to think the False Prophet poses no threat. His appearance is deliberately deceiving. His power is simply power of another kind. The Antichrist will primarily wield his power with a sword as a king and military leader. The False Prophet will wield his power as a false religious leader with savory persuasion.

John called attention to the fact that the False Prophet “spoke as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). His source of power will not be from fire proceeding from his mouth and nostrils, or from a potent tail used as a weapon – but from subtle lies, deceptions, threats, intimidations, and coercions. His appearance as a lamb will disguise his real motives as he speaks as a dragon.

It is clear the False Prophet is not competitive with the Antichrist, as one might think – rather, he is partnering with him. Utilizing the power given him by Satan, the False Prophet “makes the earth and those who live on it worship the first beast [the Antichrist], whose fatal wound was healed” (Revelation 13:12).

John states 3 times in Revelation 13 that the beast (which is most likely referring to both a revived empire and the Antichrist himself) died and came to life again. He wrote:

I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast (Revelation 13:3).

Again he wrote:

He [the False Prophet] 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 (Revelation 13:12).

The third time John said of the False Prophet:

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 (Revelation 13:14).

He repeats the same truth three more times in Revelation 17:8 and 11.

The expression used to describe the death of Christ, a Lamb “as if slaughtered” (Revelation 5:6), is exactly the same Greek expression used to describe the death of the Antichrist “as if it had been fatally wounded” (Revelation 13:3). Therefore, if Jesus literally died – and He did – the Antichrist also literally died.

There is no legitimate way of getting around the clear statement of Scripture. Obviously, based on the 6 times of repetition, that the beast (Antichrist) is slain and comes back to life again is understood by John to be exceedingly important.

Serving Antichrist
Those who attribute the Antichrist’s death and coming to life again as a cheap magician’s trick or some kind of clever deception are, in my view, missing the point.

This raising of the Antichrist from the dead will be accomplished through the power of Satan, and its purpose will be to get the people of Earth to embrace and follow the Antichrist. For the Antichrist to be perceived as Christ, he must appear to conquer death just as Jesus, the true Christ, actually did.

For the raising of the Antichrist from the dead to be believed, and not simply seen as some kind of carefully arranged scheme, I believe it will require:

• The Antichrist to be a highly recognizable worldwide political personality.
• His death be confirmed far beyond the standard of reasonable doubt so there will be no questioning or suspicion concerning his death.
• And, not only will he be raised from the grave, but, in all particulars, he will be confirmed to be the same person who died.

The restoration of the Antichrist to life should not be confused with the resurrection of the Son of God. Jesus, in His sacrificial, substitutionary, vicarious (something done for the sake of another) death defeated sin.

The holiness of God the Father was eternally propitiated (satisfied) when Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because sin was defeated at Calvary, Jesus was resurrected to life by His heavenly Father never to die again. Death has no more dominion over Him.

The Antichrist will be raised (not resurrected) from the dead by the power of Satan. But he is the embodiment and essence of sin itself. So, unlike Christ, though he is raised for a brief time, he will die again. At Christ’s coming, both the Antichrist and the False Prophet will be cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20).

Not only does the False Prophet cause humanity to embrace the Antichrist, based on his being raised from the dead, he also does other miracles to help authenticate his counterfeit message. It is said of the False Prophet:

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. 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 (Revelation 13:13-14a).

An important question, which needs to be answered, however, is “Why?” Why, in the midst of a myriad of miracles the False Prophet could perform, does he call down fire from heaven? Why is it a featured miracle?

We will examine this in the third and final part of this series.

Marv Rosenthal, founder and President of Zion’s Hope, was an acclaimed international Bible teacher for almost 6 decades.