The False Prophet | Daily Devotion
“Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. 14 And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. 15 He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.
16 He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. 18 Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.
Revelation 13:11-18 NLT
Here the apostle John describes the next beast who appears. This is the False Prophet, who comes up out of the earth, the depths of the abyss. He has two horns like a lamb, which contrast greatly from the Antichrist’s powerful ten horns, simply telling of the False Prophet’s subtle deception – he appears gentler but it’s a façade. He speaks with the voice of the dragon; thus, he only shares verbally what Satan wants him to share.
The False Prophet’s goal is to point people to Antichrist and the worship of Satan. So, the False Prophet performs signs and miracles spiritually and spiritually persuades people to believe his lies. He moves people to go along with what he is saying, desiring power and authority. He deceives the people who belong to the world by manipulating them, fooling them. He is a constant schemer. He then places a statue of Antichrist in the temple and commands the people to worship it as if it were God, and anyone who refuses to worship it, is condemned to die—Revelation 13:11-15.
This is exactly what Satan wants! He has always coveted the worship of God for himself—Isaiah 14:12-15. But the names of these people, worshiping Satan, will not be found in the Book of Life, they will not go to heaven—they are going to hell—Revelation 13:8.
Friend, do we care? Belief in Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior is a choice anyone and everyone can make, for God does not delight in the death of the wicked – Ezekiel 18:30. Friends don’t let friends die without Jesus. Who can you pray for or talk to today?
The False Prophet then requires everyone, “small and great, rich and poor, free and slave” to take the mark of the beast on the right hand or on the forehead. No one is able to buy or sell anything without that mark. A mark detailing either the name of the beast or it’s number, but a mark on the person nonetheless, very much like slavery where one is tattooed by their owner. A type of branding.
Here the False Prophet controls capitalism and the economy, and essentially murders society slowly – for anyone who does not take the mark of the beast will not have money to buy food and will starve, they will not have the needed money to take care of their everyday life, which will increase psychological duress and immobility, nor will they have money to go to the doctor and buy the needed medication for illness and will die of illness.
People will not be able to live in society taking care of their everyday needs for themselves or their family if they do not take the mark of the beast.
If you think about it – what do you buy in a given week to sustain your livelihood? You will be unable if you do not take the mark of the beast.
What’s interesting is how the False Prophet is the counterpart of the Holy Spirit. He is the unholy spirit. And his unholy spirit movement targets worship and the economy – two necessities of life, people’s focus and active living. He seeks control of both. He seeks to draw people’s pure devotion and worship away from Jesus Christ, placing it on Antichrist – and he uses manipulation and coercive fear tactics to do so, and he seeks to control what people buy and how they buy it. Whereas the Holy Spirit, does not control people nor does He deceive people. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. He fills those who ask Him with Himself and gives them the power to move beyond what they are able to do by themselves, He moves people beyond personality and current psychological and physical status, and only speaks what Christ says and moves according to God’s ways. The Holy Spirit is God and thus remains completely in line with God and His giving of a freewill – in His love, He always allows people to choose.
The apostle John then states in Revelation 13:18 NLT, “Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.”
Right here, the apostle John has entertained the human mind and the God given intellect. I personally, stop on the sentence, “Wisdom is needed here.” Off the top of my head, I cannot recall that sentence said anywhere else in the Bible, which means it is important while God allows a lot of room for speculation as it holds great mystery.
Since it holds great mystery, we need to ask God who says in Jeremiah 33:3 NLT, “Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.”
With John stating wisdom is needed here and only the one with understanding is able to solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man – his number is 666 – John is stating Jesus Christ is needed, as Jesus Christ is wisdom incarnate as 1 Corinthians 1:30 says. Thus, it is the call to ask Jesus – “What is the meaning of the number of the beast?”
John stating it is the number of a man – the man imitating Jesus Christ who is the God-Man, we thus know the number is describing creation, it is describing mankind who is made in God’s image. God has created mankind with a freewill and He foreknew all who would defy Him and His ways. This man, stems from the Garden of Eden and is fruit of the desire to have the knowledge and wisdom of God minus a relationship with Him. Thus, imperfect. For God alone is holy and perfect in power. The number is not eternal. But obviously the Antichrist will think this number is powerful.
We only know the mark of the beast is either the name of the beast or his number. All we know is it is an identifier, and yet it does not identify the specific individual such as their personal name, marital status, economic status, or education status. This mark becomes the identity of the individual who takes it.
My mind tries to think up the many different controlling methods that might be put into play to persuade people to take the mark of the beast – and one is "protection".
Could this be what happens? Manipulation is a controlling method, and Antichrist is filled with false peace, so could he state “to protect you during this time we are giving everyone my mark.”
If we think about it, there will be different manipulative tactics to coerce people to take the mark of the beast and one of them could be the statement, “This is for your best.” Thus, an authoritative stance, seeking power over the freewill of the people.
Therefore, quite possibly at some point will people be known by this mark of the beast and not by their own name. Very patriarchal, in a negative sense.
Now, the truth is we Christians know God always gives us the upper hand and He has told us the weight of the number 666, identifying this number as evil and the Antichrist. Christians during the Tribulation will need to be reading the Bible to be able to know this.
What Christians, today, also need to realize is every published work you complete in the name of Jesus, just might remain during the Tribulation – thus the work that you do for Jesus Christ, might fall into the hands of a desperate Christian suffering at the hands of Antichrist and you might be able to enlighten those who are under severe distress, with the truth of Jesus Christ.
It's the call to continue doing the will of the Father.
Moreover, with the government possibly saying – "this number is to protect you and your identity"– Christians will, at the same time, know the government will be playing into the hands of God. Christians will be able to identify the Antichrist and will be able to gauge what will come next experientially.
The number 666 is not 777 which would mean perfect and complete and not 70 x 7 which is indicative of endless. Antichrist will always be less than Jesus Christ, while continuing to imitate Jesus Christ.
One blessing is that at this time, when there is a lot of confusion, God speaks out to His own with a clear numerical identifier of who Antichrist is, when by now they will have been wrecked psychologically and emotionally by all that they have experienced. So even with clouded minds they will know the truth and will be able to identify it.
We have to remember the psychological state of the people who remain alive – these are very severe, distressing, psychologically immobilizing and physically immobilizing situations. They might not be able to tell up from down, overly stimulated by the trauma, battling acute stress disorder and post traumatic stress disorder, while being coerced to take the mark of the beast. They might not be able to think clearly and logically. People might all look the same, with the same mark of the beast.
But somehow Christians will be able to see this number to know this person is not to be trusted, they are not to follow this person blindly – this is the Antichrist and his followers—and they need to remain faithful to Jesus Christ until the end.
Will you pray with me?
Abba, thank You for always giving us a leg up on Satan. You know exactly what we need and so we praise You for Your faithfulness, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
