The Time of Jacob’s Trouble – Part 7

Image of the Beast & the False Prophet

 

Of great interest and oddly never talked about much compared to the mark of the beast is the requirement that people worship or do homage to the beast.

 

“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads names of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled at the beast.
4 So they did homage to the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they did homage to the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in Heaven.
7 And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
8 And all who dwell on the earth will do homage to him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.
11 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 do homage to the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven onto the earth in the sight of men.
14 And he leads astray those who dwell on the earth by means of those signs which he was granted to do in the presence 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 And it was given to him to give spirit to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not do homage to the image of the beast to be killed.”  Revelation 13:1-15

 

This section is going to deal with the image of the beast, but also right here it would be appropriate to deal with the False Prophet. 

 

So the first thing we are going to note with this ‘another beast’ is that he has the appearance like a lamb, but his speech is not befitting to his appearance.  So will this person be a religious leader??? 

 

Not only does this False Prophet, as this beast is termed (Rev. 16:13), cause those who dwell on the earth to do homage to the Antichrist, but he performs great signs, so that he “even makes fire come down from heaven.”  I wonder, I ponder, at this point the Two Witnesses are gone, both of whom many have claimed to either be Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah, see the common person there, Elijah. 

 

What if it is not Elijah that is one of the Two Witnesses, yet what one thing that Elijah is famous for?  Calling fire down from Heaven.

 

“Then the king sent to him a commander of fifty with his fifty. So he went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: Man of God, the king has said, Come down!  And Elijah answered and said to the commander of fifty, If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.  Then he sent to him another commander of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said to him: Man of God, thus has the king said, Come down quickly!  And Elijah answered and said to them, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of God came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.  Again, he sent a third commander of fifty with his fifty. And the third commander of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and implored him, and said to him: Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your eyes.  Behold, fire has come down from the heavens and burned up the first two commanders of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your eyes.  And the Angel of Jehovah said to Elijah, Go down with him; do not be afraid of him. So he arose and went down with him to the king.”  2 Kings 1:9-15

 

As well as:

 

“So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.  And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you be limping between two divided opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow after him. But the people answered him not a word.  Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of Jehovah; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.  Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.  Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of Jehovah; and the god who answers by fire, He is God. So all the people answered and said, The word is good.  And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.  So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.  And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.  So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.  And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.  Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah that was broken down.  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Word of Jehovah had come, saying, Israel shall be your name.  And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.  And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.  Then he said, Do it a second time, and they did it a second time; and he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time.  And the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.  And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your Word.  Testify, O Jehovah, testify, that this people may know that You are Jehovah God, and that You have turned their hearts around back to You.  Then the fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, Jehovah, He is God! Jehovah, He is God!  And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape! So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.”  2 Kings 18:20-40

 

 

These signs that are performed by the False Prophet are to lead people astray, they are not signs from God, but rather satanic signs that are allowed to happen.  One of the discussions that we are going to get into dealing with the battle of Armageddon is how such things can be allowed to happen, as well as how a deception is allowed to happen to the kings of the earth to gather their armies for the battle of Armageddon, of which case we will examine the False Prophet a bit further in the relevance of such events.

 

So in verse 14 a reason is given to why the world should worship the beast or Antichrist, that reason is “telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.”

 

As mentioned in the Antichrist chapter, the Antichrist receives some sort of mortal wound (verse 3), this miracle is so obviously impossible to be by chance that the False Prophet uses that event to point the earth towards the worship of the Antichrist. 

 

Do not think that the world is going to look at the Antichrist and know he is the Antichrist, rather the Antichrist will be easily decipherable, there will be those multitudes who will be Saved, but for those who are blind and deaf, they will just follow along with the charade, one that ultimately leads to Hell. 

 

Now the image of the beast is given ‘spirit’ (verse 15) that the image of the beast can speak and those who do not do homage to the image are killed.  Here is probably why most people don’t get into detailed discussions regarding that!  Explain that!

 

First we must understand that this is allowed to happen, this is something that is out of the ordinary, obviously, and preciously how it works is not understood.  Some thoughts on the matter is that everyone will be required to do homage to the beast or the image of the beast.  Now it is not possible for everyone to even stand to stand shoulder to shoulder and even if an image is on a platform, high above the crowds, to be seen by millions upon millions of people in even one state. 

 

For a crowd that size would extend numerous miles and though technology would be sharp enough using high tech cameras to perhaps detect those who didn’t fall in line (you would be surprised), the logistics of that simply doesn’t seem feasible.  Aside from that, it is not just one state of the union, but rather all the inhabitants of the earth that are required to do homage to this image.  What technology do we possibly have that would allow such a thing to happen?  The smartphone.

 

A smartphone could not only show a live broadcast of this image that speaks, which is quite contrary to what any civilized person should consider regarding any image or idol, such as Catholic idols, Buddha or any other numerous things, for the Bible is quite clear about such idolatry:

 

“Every man is stupid in his knowledge; every refiner is dried up by the graven image; for his molten image is a lie, and no breath is in them.  They are vanity, the work of delusion; in the time of their judgment they shall perish.”  Jeremiah 10:14-15

 

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.  They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they utter through their throat.  Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.”  Psalms 115:4-8

 

Could not a smartphone use technology to ensure that the person is indeed doing homage?  Certainly, this is not as far off as you think, in fact it could easily be done today.  Eventually the outcome for the False Prophet is the same as the Antichrist.

 

“And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and those who did homage to his image. These two were cast alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone.”  Revelation 19:20

 

This happens at the very end and they are cast alive into the Lake of Fire.  Notice though, just as with the mark of the beast, so too those who did homage to his image will have been led astray.