Bob Josey - Antichrist September 15, 2019

Post date: Sep 15, 2019 8:33:44 PM

The False Prophet

 September 15, 2019

The Role of the false prophet in the Tribulation period (Revelation 13:13-18)

13:13 – The false prophet will have the power and authority from the Antichrist to perform supernatural miracles.  The verb “performs” is in the present tense indicating he will do it repeatedly. These miracles will be genuine signs and wonders, not just deception or sleight of hand.  Satan is pulling out all the stops and giving his best effort in the last days, so he will give the false prophet power and authority to do great miracles. The False Prophet will even have the ability to call fire down from Heaven. John uses the word “even” to stress that the false prophet will be able to perform not just miracles but great miracles such as making or causing fire to come down from heaven. The ability to call or to cause fire to come from Heaven is a miracle of divine significance to the Jewish mind. Elijah had this ability to call or cause fire to come down from heaven on the altar of Baal.  (2 Kings 1:10) Sodom and Gomora was destroyed by fire from Heaven, as well as Korah’s family and possessions (Numbers 16:35) There are many other examples of fire coming from heaven to destroy people or things. In the New Testament we also see fire from heaven as a significant miracle. James and John had at one time wanted to call down fire from heaven on some Samaritans. (Luke 9:54) Also, we see in Revelation 11:5 that the Lord gave the two witnesses the ability to reign down fire from heaven,

13:14-15 - Because of all the miracles, the false prophet will be able to deceive the world. The Greek word translated deceive means “to cause to wander” or “to be led astray.” In this case, it means they will be led away from the truth. The truth was not about the miracles. They will be real. They are led away from the truth concerning the Antichrist being god. So the miracles performed by the false prophet along with the miracle of the Antichrist being brought back from the dead by Satan deceives the world into believing that the Antichrist is god. That’s the deception. They are certainly trying to emulate the Father resurrecting the dead Messiah. The world, except for believers, will certainly buy into this deception.

The result of being deceived is found in the fact that the false prophet will demand those on the earth to make an image of the Antichrist.  Apparently, they will do just that because the false prophet in verse 15 will give breath i.e. life to the image.  What does making an image of the Antichrist and giving it life all mean?

Computer technology continues to increase daily. Maybe it will be something like the presentation at the Hall the Presidents at Disney World. All we know for sure is that as a result of the false prophet giving or appearing to give life to the image of the antichrist where it is able to speak, many people will be deceived.  We will talk more about that at a later date.  The image of the Antichrist will speak and will put to death those who do not worship the Antichrist, possibly by issuing commands for executions. The image will probably be built at the Temple in Jerusalem after the Antichrist breaks the covenant with Israel and brings his government to Jerusalem.

13:16 - In one sense this is where the rubber meets road. This is where individuals will decide if they are going to faithfully persevere or not.  Now there is not one but two demands or requirements from the False Prophet concerning the Antichrist. First, he demands that the Antichrist be worshipped because he was healed supernaturally and therefore seen as god. Again, this is of course trying to emulate the resurrection of Jesus and the worship of Him because of that great event in history. Two, the false prophet will demand that all people take some kind of mark to distinguish themselves as being followers and worshippers of the Antichrist either on their right hand or on their forehead. The Greek word translated “mark” means a mark that is engraved, etched, branded, cut, imprinted, marked, or stamped.  The mark of the beast is evidently a brand-like mark, similar to a tattoo, that will identify worshippers of the Antichrist so that they will enable them to buy and sell.

During the time that John wrote Revelation, slaves were branded with a name or special mark of their owners. The same Greek word translated “mark” was also used by Roman emperors to put their name or image on coins. Also, Jews during WW II in Germany and occupied German territory had to wear yellow stars of David that had the word JUDE inside the star to distinguish themselves from other people.  Wearing the star of David of course told everyone that they were Jewish.  There is much speculation on what this mark in Revelation might be so I’m not even going to try to guess. By the time this occurs, everyone will know exactly what it is. Concerning the religious Jews living at that time. the Torah says in Leviticus 19:28 “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.”  So a religious Jew will also have to make a decision to obey the Torah or not.

Another profound thing about this is that is that all men and women will have to make the choice to worship the Antichrist and to receive the mark as seen in verse 16.  This mandate covers all to include those of every civil rank, “the small and the great,” those of every economic class, “the rich and the poor,” and those of every cultural category, “the free and the slave.”

13:17 – This verse gives the result of those taking the mark and those refusing the mark. The false prophet will use economic regulations to secure loyalty to the antichrist. There will be some mark placed upon the head or forearm of people to show that they are loyal to the antichrist. Food, supplies, and other needs—the whole economy—will be based upon this mark. Put it another way a person must have the mark to buy or sell anything. No mark means no food, no clothing, no medicine, no shelter, nor any other necessities for life. If a person takes this mark, they will show their loyalty to the antichrist. If not, then he or she will be a traitor to antichrist. Each person living then will have two choices: take the mark which  shows his or her loyalty to the antichrist or refuse the mark and suffer the consequences of either being killed, starving to death, or be forced to flee to the wildernesses for possible safety and survival.  However, it could be that some believers who do not take the mark will be able to survive by combing their resources, by obtaining their needs of life in secret ways, and through the supernatural provisions from the Lord as in Rev. 12:16.

It appears that the interchangeability of the beast's name and the number of his name evidently indicates that the name, written in letters, has a numerical equivalent as we will see in verse 18.

13:18 – Is there anyone here who is not aware that the number 666 is associated in some way with the antichrist? We may not understand the full implications of the number of the beast today, but during the Great Tribulation wisdom will be needed to figure out the number of the beast. By identifying the beast's number believers in the Tribulation will be able to recognize him for who he is. There has been much speculation and debate over the meaning of this verse since John wrote it around AD 95. Many, many attempts have been made to interpret the number 666, usually using the numerical equivalents of letters in the Hebrew, Greek, or other alphabets. Since this is the case, it is not really clear exactly what it means.

It seems that the most consistent interpretation among conservatives is that the number six is one less than the perfect number seven. Six is the number of man who is an imperfect created being. The threefold repetition of the six would indicate even though Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet want to be worshipped and seen as deities that they are nothing more that created beings by the one true God.  A threefold 777 would represent the holy and perfect Trinity. The numbers 666 falls short.

Chapters 12 and 13 have given us a lot of insight into the character and motives of the unholy trinity - Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet. We have also seen on some level their involvement in the Great Tribulation. They will demand a one world government, a one world religion, and a one world economic system. Those who resist the antichrist and refuse to worship him may outnumber the believers who survive. It will be Satan's final and ultimate attempt to cause the world to worship him and the antichrist so the focus of worship will be on them not the Father and Jesus our Savior.

Application for Today

Even though what we have been studying is going to happen in a future time, there are some things we can take away from our study of the Satanic trinity during the Great Tribulation that we can make application to ourselves today.  Remember that in 1 John 4:3 the Apostle John tells that the “spirit of antichrist” has been in the world for almost 2000 years.  The spirit of the antichrist means that most people living today are against Christ as suggested by the name antichrist because they are not believers. Up until about twenty years ago or so, Christians were tolerated. As each day goes by, we are less and less tolerated in America.

Also, the Apostle Paul informs us in 2 Thess. 2:7 that even though the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, has not yet been identified, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work in deceiving and destroying people today. Our study of the Tribulation Period and the unholy trinity should remind us of some of the realities about the “spirit of antichrist” already at work in the world at this very moment:

·      Satan deceives people today! Politicians, intellectuals, and even many so called Christian religious leaders are not what they purport to be. Many times people in each of these categories are nothing but wolves in sheep’s clothing and are really servants of Satan.

Because of this, we must keep several things in mind: 

1. We must be alert and discerning as Peter tell us in 1 Peter 5:8. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

2. We must always remember that our fight is in the spiritual realm not the physical realm.

3. Jesus alone should receive our ultimate allegiance.

4. Scripture alone should serve as our final authority in all matters of faith and morality.

·      During the Great Tribulation, unbelievers will take the mark of the beast so they can prove their loyalty to the antichrist. As a result of taking the mark they will be able to survive during this period of time. By taking the mark of the beast, they are sealing their fate for eternity. There will no second changes or do overs.

Since Pentecost 2000 years ago, those who trust in Jesus as Savior are also sealed for eternity. This seal is not external like the mark of beast, but it is internal. Let’s first look at 2 Corinthians 1:21-22.  This is one of those verses where we find our eternal security in Christ. At the moment one trusts Christ a Savior, God anoints him or her with the Holy Spirit. John wrote about this anointing from God in 1 John 2:20, 27. In Ephesians 1:13-14 we also see that the Holy Spirit is a seal of ownership. He is our pledge i.e. our "earnest.” It is like the earnest money one puts down to buy a house however, in this case, this deposit is more than a pledge which can be returned; the Holy Spirit is a down payment with a guarantee of more to come. This pledge from God guarantees a believers' "inheritance" for the future. Finally, Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:30 that the Holy Spirit is in fact a seal until the day of redemption. Ancient documents were often sealed using a waxy substance not only to close them up and thereby protect the contents but also to authenticate the document by imprinting the seal usually with a ring in the soft wax. (Jer. 32:11)