The False Prophet
John saw political systems and leaders that he described using the term "Beast". John sees this beast coming up "out of the earth." Revelation 13 v.11
Satan is a counterfeiter. So he has an "unholy trinity" that consists of himself, the Antichrist (the political) and the false prophet (the religious) The third member, of course is Satan himself. It is Satan that gives the false prophet his doctrine. Satan is the one who enables both members of the unholy trinity to "speak great things," perform "lying miracles, signs and wonders" and call down fire from heaven.
Notice that the false prophet has horns as well: he has "two horns like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon." Rev. 13:11 Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world. The dragon is Satan. That gives us the religious perspective of the false prophet. He will be a counterfeit messiah, but his doctrine comes straight from Satan.
The Antichrist will resent the true church and attempt to throw off these shackles is clear from the fact that he will destroy her in the middle of the Tribulation period and set up his own form of worship. To propagate that worship, the devil will provide a special man on the scene, the other awesome personage described in Rev. 13 as the "beast coming out of the earth." That these two beasts (the first beast that comes up out of the sea, the Antichrist, and this beast that comes up out of the earth) are men is clear from what will happen to them when our Lord returns at the end of the Tribulation.
The greatest time of deception the world has ever faced or ever will face is the final 7 year tribulation period. Satan will go all out with deceiving spirits, signs and lying wonders potent enough almost to deceive even the very elect. Although that period has not come yet, it is highly probable that false teachers and deceivers committed to Satan are already in working their deceptive magic on the minds and emotions of people.
Supernatural Powers of the False Prophet - Every false religious teacher and false prophet has tried by magic, trickery, or demonic power to deceive people by a display of supernaturalism. Religions of the world are bound by superstition. Only Jesus Christ is able to give us peace and confidence before God, and this is not dependent on supernatural displays or signs. None of the false teachers to the present time has ever possessed the supernatural powers that will be exhibited by the False Prophet on behalf of the Antichrist during the Tribulation period.
"And he performed great and miraculous signs" (Rev. 13 v.13) The word translated "miraculous signs" is the same word used by the Apostle John in his Gospel, describing the ministry of Jesus. This leads us to believe that the False Prophet will be equipped by Satan and the Antichrist with authority and power to do such supernatural miraculous signs as to "deceive the inhabitants of the earth." (Rev. 13 v.14) This should come as no surprise for the devil has great power.
During the Tribulation period that Antichrist will have the power to perform "counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders." (2 Thess. 2 v.9) It does not seem surprising that the False Prophet will be able to reproduce everything that the special witnesses of God will be able to do, even to the point of "Maketh Fire Come Come From Heaven". Revelation 13 v.13
This predicted demonstration of supernatural, miraculous power should warn us of the significant truth that the mere display of supernatural power does not suffice as evidence that a matter or practice originates with God. All supernatural power is for the purpose of giving credentials to a person or a teaching. We have something far more important to stand as a test of all teaching, regardless of its accompanied signs - the Word of God. If a teaching is not in accord with that Word, it is false!
As we approach the end of the age and these signs in their initial stages begin to occur, we should not let miraculous power deceive us, but judge everything according to God's word.
"But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. Revelation 13 v.16 - Mark of the Beast The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur." (Rev. 19 v.20) This verse can apply only to the two beasts described in Rev. 13. This first is the governmental leader, called the Antichrist, who will set himself up as God; the second is his religious leader, who will incite men to worship Antichrist.
By discoverrevelation.com
The Mark of the Beast
Everyone Will Be Required to Take the Mark of the Beast - 666
Satan is the author of the phrase, "If you can't beat em, buy em". If he's learned anything from history, he's learned this equation: Healthy economy plus Really big Lie plus Weak, but Plausible Excuse plus Someone Else to Blame equals Social Control. It worked for Hitler. It seems to be working even better in the global arena.
John describes it this way. "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name." (Rev. 13 v.16-17)
The US government in WW2 furnished a device of this kind in the form of food rationing. It was not enough to have money sufficient to pay for an item, for one had to have food stamps. The same will be true during the 2nd half of the Tribulation, for the Antichrist will so control the economy that no one can live if he or she does not worship him.
The Mark of the Beast - Rev. 13 verses 13 -18 teaches that after the midpoint of the Tribulation, all men and women will be ordered to bow down before the image of the Beast and worship him. Those who do will receive "a mark on their foreheads" that is "the name of the beast, or the number of his name", later identified as the "Mark of the Beast" or 666 number. This will identify them as worshipers of the Beast. All those without that mark will be killed. Scripture makes it clear that receiving the mark of the Beast is no accident but the result of a deliberate choice made during the Tribulation. Revelation 13 v. 16-17
That choice involves rejecting of the teaching of the 2 witnesses, the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2 v.28-32), and the angel with the everlasting gospel. (Rev. 14 v.6-7) Twice in chapter 14 an angel warns that "if anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on their forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God."
Those who accept the mark will be cast into hell "and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone .. And the smoke of their torments ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, (those) who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name" (v. 9-11) Fire and Brimstone
The aforementioned verses show that the mark is obtained only by those who sell their soul to the Beast, and the devil who gives him his power. This involves a willful rejection of God.
The mark of the Beast does not appear until the middle of the Tribulation.
People should be concerned if they go through the Tribulation. If they live into the Tribulation, they had better be prepared to make a choice. But they should understand this: Once the choice is made, it is eternal.
By discoverrevelation.com