the Other Beast - Pt. 1

 

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666. (Revelation 13:11-18 ESV).

 

We turn our attention today to the “other” beast. The Greek word here is allos meaning another of the same kind. This second beast looks different. He looks like a lamb instead of the first beast which had characteristics of the leopard, the bear and the lion. Yet any thought that this one is different in nature and purpose is removed when he opens his mouth, for he speaks like a dragon. That he looks like a lamb shows that he will come as a religious figure in some way trying again to mimic the true Lamb, the Lord Jesus. Yet this one is a counterfeit lamb. This is seen further in the verses to come when we will see how he acts. So, if you want to talk about wolves in sheep's clothing, this coming second beast will surpass them all. But despite how he looks and the image he tries to portray, he is but another beast of the same kind. 

 

The mission of this beast is to make all the world worship the first beast whose fatal wound has healed. So, in these first two verses we see a Satanic trinity working together in a perfect unholy alliance. I have previously mentioned that Satan and the Beast try to mimic the Lord Jesus with a counterfeit resurrection, thus “he will rise from a fatal wound.” And we see this mimicry again in this satanic trinity. The first beast, the Antichrist, comes to do the will of the dragon just as the Son came to do the will of the Father. The second beast comes to bring worship and glory to the first beast just as the Holy Spirit comes to glorify Christ. Even the use of miraculous signs is mimicking the real thing.

 

Tomorrow we will see more of this deception. Today I would encourage you to be very careful of those who claim faith but their actions prove a life much different. James helps us a great deal as he writes concerning genuine faith: But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:18). Be wise in these last days!