Revelation 13:11-14 NKJV 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.
V11 “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.” Coming from the nations of the earth comes another “beast.” The word beast is used because this is God’s opinion of him. He is like a wild, untamed animal. This beast is different from the first in that he is described having two horns like a lamb, so he is a substitute for the Lamb of God—Jesus (John 1:29, Revelation 5:6, Revelation 7:17, Revelation 14:10, Revelation 15:3, Revelation 19:9, Revelation 21:23, and Revelation 22:1, 3). Compare false lambs (Matthew 7:15 and Matthew 24:24). The dragon is a description of the devil. The message given by this false prophet is the message the devil wants preached—lies (John 8:44, of which Bible Knowledge comments: “The devil is the enemy of life and truth. By a lie, he brought spiritual and physical death to mankind (cf. Gen 3:4, Gen 3:13; 1Jn 3:8, 1Jn 3:10-15). He still distorts truth (there is no truth in him… he is a liar and the father of lies) and seeks to lead people away from God, the Source of truth and life (2Co 4:4). Since these Jews wanted Jesus’ death and since they rejected the truth and embraced the lie, their family solidarity with Satan and his desires was certain. How different from having Abraham as their father!”
V12 “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.” The first beast is the antiChrist; the second beast is his false prophet. This false prophet is described as having the same authority as the first beast. His authority comes from satan. He is false because he directs, demands under penalty of death, to worship the antiChrist and teaches lies, not truth. Compare Deuteronomy 13:1-5. The false prophet’s demand is given to every country and person on the globe of the Earth.
V13 “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the Earth in the sight of men.” To deceive people, the false prophet performs lying miracles and signs like in Exodus 7 and 8. He can then make the claim of being “Elijah,” the prophet, to authenticate the antiChrist. Compare Malachi 4:5.
V14 “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.” Many believe these signs and miracles and are further deceived to believe that the antiChrist is the Messiah who will deliver these people from the judgments of God. Interesting how the miracles Jesus did in his earthly ministry did not cause most to accept Him as the Messiah, but the lying miracles are believed by most.
We learn:
- There are false Christs and false prophets.
- Scripture shows some character traits of these satan’s agents.
- People will be deceived.
- Solution? Know the Scriptures to discern true from false.