The Beast from the Earth
The Beast from the Earth counterfeits the Lamb. It is the mouthpiece of the Dragon and the propagandist for the Beast from the Sea. In Chapter 12 of Revelation, the “great voice in heaven” pronounced “Woe” on the “Inhabitants of the Earth and Sea because the Devil has descended to you, having great wrath.” Satan then launched his war against the “Seed of the Woman” by summoning his own “seed” to attack those “who have the Testimony of Jesus,” namely, the “Beast from the Sea” and the “Beast from the Earth.”
The
description of the second “Beast” continues the theme of wickedness “ascending”
from a deep and dark place to attack the saints; first, from the “Abyss”
(Revelation 11:4-7), then from the “Sea” (13:1), and now from the “EARTH,”
the same place that is associated with the human opponents of the “Lamb,”
the “Inhabitants of the EARTH.”
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| [Photo by Wu Dae on Unsplash] |
As before, the Greek participle translated as “ascending” is in the present tense, indicating an ONGOING ACTION rather than a single event. That is, a process of ascending from the “Earth.”
- (Revelation 13:11-15) – “And I saw another beast ascending from the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and began speaking as a dragon. And all the authority of the first beast he uses before him; and causes the inhabitants of the earth to render homage to the first beast, whose stroke of death was healed. And he does great signs so that even fire he causes to descend to the earth before men; and he deceives the inhabitants of the earth by the signs which it was given him to do before the beast, saying to the inhabitants of the earth that they should make an image for the beast who had the stroke of the sword, and yet lived. And it was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and should cause that as many as should not do homage to the image of the beast should be slain.”
The
passage demonstrates why the second Beast’s arrival means “Woe” to the Earth’s
“Inhabitants.” This creature deceives them so they give their allegiance
to the first “Beast, the one from the Sea.” That decision means their
names will NOT be “written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
The
“Beast from the Earth” speaks with the voice of the “Dragon” and the
authority of the first “Beast” (“He spoke as a dragon”). He is
the mouthpiece of the “Beast from the Sea” and summons all men to give
absolute allegiance to the latter.
Moreover,
the “Beast from the Earth” is the “mouth speaking great things and slanders”
that was given to the first “Beast” along with the authority to do so
for “forty-two months,” the same period allotted to the “trampling of
the Sanctuary by the nations,” the prophetic ministry of the “Two Witnesses,”
the “nourishment” of the woman for “a
thousand, twelve hundred and sixty days,” and
the “Short Season” given to the “Dragon” to wreak havoc on the “Earth
and the Sea” - (Revelation 11:1-3, 12:6-14, 13:5).
MOUTHPIECE AND COUNTERFEIT
This
creature’s voice echoes the characteristics of the “Little Horn” in the Book
of Daniel who was “speaking great things” against the saints. Though
his “power was mighty,” it was “not by his own power.” Likewise,
the “Beast from the Earth” speaks with the authority of the first Beast.
He has “two horns like a lamb,” which means on some level he counterfeits
the true “Lamb” – (Daniel 7:8, 8:23).
This
Beast “causes the Inhabitants of the Earth to
render homage to the first Beast.” This echoes
the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s “golden image” that he “erected” in
the “province of Babylon” and compelled all “peoples, nations and
tongues” to bow before it - (Daniel 3:1-7).
The second “Beast” corresponds to the “herald”
in the story in Chapter 3 of Daniel, the one who summoned all the peoples
of the Empire to give allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar and his “image.” Just
like his counterpart in that story, the “Beast from the Earth” threatens
death
to anyone who refuses to venerate the beastly image.
The
“Beast from the Earth” has “two” horns and the authority to “cause
fire to descend from heaven to the ground” to awe and deceive the “Inhabitants
of the Earth.” This means he also imitates the “Two Witnesses” from
whose mouth fire proceeded to “consume their enemies” - (Revelation
11:4-6).
The
second Beast commanded the “Inhabitants of the Earth to
make an image for the first Beast.” This
creature does not erect the “image” himself. Instead, he convinces the “Inhabitants
of the Earth” to do so, which makes them willing participants in this
idolatrous endeavor.
The “Beast from the Earth” is also the one who gives life and purpose to the “image.” He provides the political ideology and propaganda used to coax the Earth’s inhabitants into giving their allegiance to the “Beast from the Sea” rather than to Jesus (“It was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast”).
“As
many as should not render homage to the image should be killed.” This
statement echoes the action of Nebuchadnezzar when he threatened to cast all who
refused to bow to his “great image” into “the burning fiery furnace.”
The
term translated as “killed” represents the Greek verb apokteinô,
the same verb used when the “Beast from the Abyss” KILLED the “Two
Witnesses,” and to describe the “perseverance of the saints” - “If
anyone is to be KILLED with sword, with sword he must be KILLED.” Hence,
the “saints” who refuse to give allegiance to the “Beast” are “killed”
by the “Beast from the Earth”- (Revelation 11:7-13, 13:10).
THE FIERY FURNACE
The
source for the image of the “Lake of Fire” in Revelation
is the action by Nebuchadnezzar against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego when
they refused to render homage to his “great image,” though it is employed
paradoxically. In Daniel, the men who cast the Jewish exiles into the
fiery furnace were burned alive by its super-heated flames.
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| [Storm - Photo by Justin Leniger on Unsplash] |
Likewise, the “Beast from the Sea” and the “False Prophet” who attempt to destroy the “saints” are themselves “cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” after the final “battle” with the “Rider on a White Horse” - (Daniel 3:1-6, Revelation 19:20).
The
task of the second “Beast” is to cause the “Inhabitants of the Earth”
to give allegiance to the first Beast and the “Dragon.” If the former represents
the political power of the Empire, the “Beast from the Earth” is the
face of the political ideology and the religious authority invoked to
legitimize the idolatrous allegiance demanded by the “Beast from the Sea.”
Elsewhere
in Revelation, the “Beast from the Earth” is called the “false prophet.” Just as the
deceitful activity of “that prophetess, Jezebel” corresponds to the “Great
Harlot, Babylon, who made the inhabitants of the Earth drunk with her
fornication,” so the efforts of the “False Prophet” to deceive men parallel
the proponents of the “doctrines of Balaam” and the “Nicolaitans”
at Pergamos who taught many saints to “fornicate and eat meat offered to
idols.” Thus, the deceptions of the “Beast from the Earth” are found
in the Assemblies of Asia as well as among the “Inhabitants of the Earth.”
Furthermore,
the “Beast from the Earth” imitates the “Two Witnesses” who are
identified as “prophets.” This second Beast is in the truest sense a FALSE
PROPHET. Whether he represents an actual person, organization, ideology,
or something else remains to be seen. For now, the stress in the narrative is
on his or its ability to deceive men so they swear allegiance to the first Beast
–
(Revelation 2:14, 2:20, 17:1-4).
In
Chapter 13, the political and religious aspects of this satanic effort are
prominent. In the end, the decision of each man and woman is between giving
allegiance to the “Beast from the Sea,” and by proxy, to the “Dragon,”
or “following the Lamb wherever he goes” even if doing so results in
martyrdom.
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