Revelation Chapter 13:11-15

(*All Bible verses are from the NIV unless otherwise noted)

We’ve seen the image of a beast used to illustrate the nature of Satan’s work against the saints.

2Pet 2:12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals, they too will perish.

This refers to when John is told that the seven heads of the first beast represent seven mountains or seven kings (17:9-10), possibly alluding to Rome.

In contrast, this next beast comes out of the “earth” (or “land”, Grk. ge). It’s later identified as a “false prophet” sharing Satan‘s evil attributes—a worldly, corrupted parody of the true Lamb of God (16:13, 19:20, 20:10).

The beast is an evil caricature of Christ. Paul warned the saints that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2Cor 11:14)! Compare the following verses (from the ESV):

Both were in heaven

Both raised someone from the dead

Both came back to life after a mortal wound

Signs and wonders were performed

They have the appearance of a lamb

Jer 5:31  The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?

Lam 2:14   The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.

Jesus and his disciples addressed the issue, foreshadowing the image that John would witness:

Matt 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Matt 24:11, 24 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people…24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

2Pet 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

The following are just a few examples of the thousands of misguided leaders who have led unwary believers astray and caused division and chaos in the church:

• Valentinus (c. 100 CE – c. 180) and other Gnostics mixed Eastern mysticism with Greek philosophy, teaching that the world was created by a demiurge or satanic power they identified as the God of the Old Testament in opposition to the God of this world. The “elect” could find salvation through secret knowledge (gnosis) – known only by a privileged few.
• Nicolaitans, mentioned earlier, evidently believed that ritual sex and eating exorcised sacrificial meat were permissible.
• Sethians, one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd and 3rd century AD identified Seth of Genesis with Christ (Second Logos of the Great Seth)¹,
• Basilides (second century) Basilides reportedly taught about an utterly transcendent God beyond even the concept of being, whom he named Abraxas. In his view, the Jewish Creator God was not identical to this Unknown Father, but was a lower angelic power. He taught that Jesus was the savior, but he did not come to atone for sin by dying on the Cross. Instead, he came to uplift humans to their original state of bliss through the process of gnosis and did not possess an actual physical body.²
• Ophites (first and second centuries) taught that Christ did not exist in the flesh and celebrated Moses’ serpent’s sacred power³ (Num 21:6-9).
• Montanus(c. 157–172) declared himself the “helper” that Jesus had promised (John 14:16). He, with his two prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla, prophesied the coming of the end of the world and taught that there was an age of the Father (Old Testament), an age of the Son (New Testament), and an age of the Spirit, initiated by his prophecies⁴.
• Jim Jones (1931 –1978) promised his followers a utopia in the jungles of South America after proclaiming himself the messiah of the Peoples Temple, a San Francisco based evangelist group. He ultimately led his followers into a mass suicide, which left more than 900 dead⁵.
• David Koresh (1959 – 1993), a cult leader in Waco, Texas, led the Branch Davidians in a deadly 51-day standoff against the FBI and ATF, which tragically led to the deaths of more than a dozen men, women, and children⁶.
• Paul Mackenzie (2023, Kenya). Police were able to rescue 15 emaciated parishioners from a compound owned by Mackenzie. Survivors told police that the pastor had instructed them to fast to death before the world ended so they could meet Jesus. A search of the property found more than 100 bodies and dozens of mass graves. Many of the dead had died of starvation, strangulation, or suffocation⁷.

Other movements, many of whose names have been lost in time, have sprung up like weeds among the wheat, distorting the true Gospel message:

Matt 13:25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.

Lenski writes, “As the first beast is the agent of the dragon, so the second beast is the agent of the first beast. ‘All the authority’ makes the second beast the complete agent of the first.”⁸

The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob paid a heavy price for their disobedience and idolatry. The brutal Assyrians conquered and scattered the kingdom of Israel in 721 BC, and the Babylonians subjugated the southern kingdom of Judah in 587 BC. Then came Persia in 539, and the Greeks in 305. The Maccabees‘ revolt threw off the Greeks’ yoke, and for a brief moment, Israel breathed freely (104 -63 BC). But their freedom was short-lived. The Romans annexed Israel in 63 BC, and Jesus grew up under their iron-fisted rule.

Eph 5:5  For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Col 3:5   Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

How easy it is to fall into the worship (proskuneo) of material things such as work, prestige, and wealth. The world presents a myriad of idols that demand our attention and devotion.

The New Testament writers, in particular, recognized that the relationship need not be explicitly one of cultic worship; a man can place anyone or anything at the top of his pyramid of values, and that is ultimately what he serves. The ultimacy of that service profoundly affects the way he lives.⁹

False signs and wonders have always been a hallmark of Satan‘s deceptions:

Exod 7:11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

1 Sam 28:7-14  Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” …  9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?”  10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this.”  

Acts 8:9-11  Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.

Acts 13:6-11  They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

Acts 16:16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

There may be a future world leader who mystifies the nations with signs and “miracles.” But, as the old saying goes, do we deal with the elephant in the room or the one that might be coming over the hill? The Church has always been threatened by men and women who falsely declare themselves “saviors” and “prophets” of God. Do we follow religious leaders because of outward signs—impressive building campaigns, high-tech worship services, fiery sermons, huge membership rolls, or healing revivals? Or do we look closely at their lives and the words they speak? The Holy Spirit of Truth enables believers to recognize Jesus’ simple truths in the lives and words of others. The Gospel is not a complicated or mysterious philosophy:

Matt 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The Church cherishes its heritage of spiritual gifts, miracles, and prophecy. However, such a rich tradition comes with inherent responsibilities, particularly in the information age of social media and instant communication. God’s gifts are given to uplift and encourage the saints, not to mystify them and claim their devotion:

1Cor 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

1Cor 14:12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1Cor 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

1Cor 14:6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?

Even though the gifts are meant to encourage and instruct, they can become a form of idolatry.

Deut 13:1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to them or listen to them…

In the “last days,” there might be a great leader who steps onto the world’s stage, performing miraculous signs and wonders to entice humanity away from the living God. But his or her performance will be no more powerful than the enticements that have been offered since the beginning of time – the temptation to take, kill, acquire, hoard, conceal, lie, cheat, and steal! Those enticements are already here and have cost the lives of countless millions, both physically and spiritually.

It’s easy for most of us to say, “I’ve not killed anyone,” “I don’t lie or cheat,” or “I haven’t stolen anything!”  But have we ever crushed someone’s spirit with a harsh word or action? Have we ever deceived someone by only telling part of the truth? Have we ever been unfaithful in our thoughts and vain imaginings? Do we let the homeless, widows, orphans, and foreigners go destitute by holding on to what we consider is ours?

Matt 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matt 25:37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

We don’t need to wait for the elephant that may be coming. There’s already one in the room! Paul and others warned the saints that a “lawless one” would come to deceive and mislead. But Paul recognized that “The power of lawlessness is already at work”:

2Thess 2:7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Throughout the first three centuries after Jesus’ ascension, there were statues of the emperors erected throughout the Roman Empire. Loyal citizens were expected to pay homage to these images as gods. In John’s vision, the miraculous resurrection of the beast seems to be the reason for worship, just as the true resurrection of Christ is central to a Christian’s faith and devotion. Humankind always seems to struggle to find the truth when it’s been with them all along:

Ps 106:20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

 Humanity continually tries to deny or re-invent God, expending all kinds of energy making up alternatives! This has continued into the modern era. For example:

• Theosophy, which originated in the 19th century, emphasizes mystical experience. In the late 19th century Helena P. Blavastsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, announced a coming New Age. She believed that theosophists (who embraced Buddhist and Brahmanic notions such as reincarnation) should assist the evolution of the human race and prepare to cooperate with one of the “Ascended Masters of the Great White Brotherhood” whose arrival was imminent¹⁰. Theosophical writers hold that there is a deeper spiritual reality and that direct contact with that reality can be established through intuition, meditation, or some other state transcending normal human consciousness.¹¹
• In 1970, American theosophist David Spangler developed the fundamental concepts of the “New Age” movement. He believed that the release of new waves of spiritual energy, signaled by certain astrological changes (e.g., the movement of the Earth into a new cycle known as the Age of Aquarius), had initiated the coming of the New Age. He predicted that a New Age of heightened spiritual consciousness and international peace would arrive and bring an end to racism, poverty, sickness, hunger, and war¹².
• Peruvian-born anthropologist and writer Carlos Castaneda published a series of books based on the mystical secrets of a Yaqui Indian shaman, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. Published in 1968, it quickly became a best-seller. 
• Many Christians hold what are sometimes characterized as New Age beliefs, including belief in reincarnation, astrology, psychics, and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects like mountains, trees, and crystals. The Pew Research Center reports that roughly six in ten American adults accept at least one of these New Age beliefs. Specifically, four in ten believe in psychics and that spiritual energy can be found in physical objects, while a somewhat smaller population expresses belief in reincarnation (33%) and astrology (29%)¹³. Many of these have grown up in churches that no longer focus on teaching Scripture, so they lack biblical discernment and are easy prey for extra-Biblical techniques that promise life-changing encounters and “spiritual awakenings.”
• Modern esotericism, a religious perspective based on the acquisition of mystical knowledge, has continued to crop up since the 2nd century AD (Gnosticism). In the 19th and 20th centuries, esotericism was typified by movements such as Rosicrucianism, speculative Freemasonry, and ritual magic¹⁴.
• Scientology, established by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1953, is a religious movement focused on actualizing human potential. While the concept of a Supreme Being exists in Scientology, it holds little significance within the system. At the heart of Scientology is the belief that each individual’s mind reacts to life’s traumas, obscuring the analytical mind and hindering the experience of reality. Practitioners undergo a process known as auditing to identify the sources of this trauma, striving toward a spiritual state referred to as “clear.” Some scholars argue that the church promotes the idea of an ancient intergalactic civilization in which millions of beings were annihilated and transformed into “body thetans,” which persist in attaching to humans and causing further trauma¹⁵.
  

The first beast represents all the intrigues, conspiracies, and collusions that Satan employs against God’s people. The second beast is identified as a false prophet (16:13, 19:20) who gives life and direction to these machinations. This verse could be interpreted to read, “The false prophet has the power to bring to life all the deceptions of Satan.”

Consider how the following circumstances filled the role of false prophet, misguiding people in John’s day:

• The loyalty of local pagan citizens and magistrates to the Roman State demanding that all people support the traditional gods and customs (Acts 16:20-24);
• The anger of Jewish leaders towards the new sect of Christians (Jn 5:17-18, John 7:1, John 7:45-49, Acts 9:23, Acts 13:45);
• The misguided mysticism of the Gnostics and the cult of emperor adoration and worship.

Tim Challies in his blog of July 2018, entiltled A Sober Warning from the Earliest Christians, wrote:

The great challenge of the Roman Empire was binding together many cultures, faiths, and nations under a common banner. As their armies conquered lands stretching from Germany to Northern Africa, from Spain to Syria, this challenge became increasingly difficult. What could serve as a kind of bond to hold it all together? The obvious answer was the Emperor. He could stand in as the living embodiment of the empire so that loyalty to the Emperor would be synonymous with loyalty to Rome. And how could such loyalty be displayed? By having every citizen make a sacrifice to him as if he was divine. So Rome did not insist that everyone convert to their religion; they merely insisted that every religion add a small homage to the Emperor, a small act of worship that would serve as a display of their loyalty to the Empire. Christians refused to do this. Their ultimate and exclusive loyalty to Jesus Christ precluded them from making the offering, and it was this refusal that was the source of so much of the persecution. It’s crucial to understand that from the Roman perspective, the persecution was not primarily about religion, but about politics. The Christians’ unwillingness to add this small element to their worship made them appear disloyal to the Emperor and to his empire. By failing to make their offering to Caesar, they were not failing a religious test as much as a test of good citizenship. They were refusing to participate in the ceremony that signified the unity of the empire. Thus, they were persecuted as disloyal citizens who hindered rather than strengthened their society. ¹⁶

A similar sentiment can be seen growing in our modern culture. Christianity is increasingly seen as anti-science and ignorantly superstitious, hindering the progress of modern thinking. George A. Yancey, an American professor of sociology at Baylor University, researched anti-Christian attitudes in the contemporary United States and the ways in which they can influence the decisions made by academic sociologists. In his article, Is There Really Anti-Christian Discrimination in America? ¹⁷  He writes:

I sent a questionnaire with open-ended questions to a group of progressive activists who tended to be white, male, wealthy, educated, and irreligious. They were the type of people one would expect to exhibit Christianophobia. And they did. Here are just a few of the answers I received on my survey:

• Kill them all, let their god sort them out.
• A torturous death would be too good for them.
• I’d be a bit giddy, certainly grateful if everyone who saw himself or herself in that category were snatched permanently from our societal peripheries, whether by holocaust or rapture or plague.
• I am only too well aware of their horrific attitudes and beliefs—and those are enough to make me see them as subhuman.

Granted, these are extreme examples from a narrow cross-section of society. But they are emblematic of a growing prejudice against Christians, particularly conservative ones.

Yancy found that many academics felt they would willingly discriminate against a job candidate who considered themselves to be a conservative Protestant¹⁸ and that media stories, generally sympathetic to hate speech and violence against other societal groups, were less so for Christians who suffered identical wrongs¹⁹.

There are reasons for this growing rejection of Christianity. While the faith began as a simple but wonderful message of love, hope, and salvation, it was followed by centuries of abuse and corruption. When Christianity came into power under Constantine, it was corrupted by that power. Thousands were bullied into accepting Christ. “Heretics” were burned alive, and many more were tortured and imprisoned in the name of God²⁰. The Age of Exploration and Colonization was built on the destruction of entire indigenous peoples. Slavery was accepted and perpetuated by largely Christian societies.

Modern Christians have a great deal to overcome. Believers must learn how to be people of faith by exemplifying that faith in love, patience, acceptance, and self-control.

This submission would lead to the loyalty test of paying homage to the image of the emperor as a deity! Christians increasingly found themselves isolated from their traditional communities of worship and commerce, often imprisoned, tortured, and killed for refusing to deny Christ.²¹

The same scenario continues to be played out in countries where it’s very difficult to be a Christian, like North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, and India²².

Footnotes

1. Sethianism: New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Sethianism, accessed April, 2024. ↩︎
2. Basilides: Britannica, Written and fact-checked by editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica Article History, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Basilides, accessed May 10, 2025. ↩︎
3. Ophites: http://www.gnosis.org/library/ophite.htm, accessed April 2024. ↩︎
4. Montanus: https://www.earlychristianhistory.info/montanus.html, accessed April 2024. ↩︎
5. Jim Jones: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jim-Jones, accessed April 2024. ↩︎
6. David Koresh: https://www.biography.com/crime/david-koresh#compound-fire-and-death. Accessed April 2024. ↩︎
7. Paul McKenzie, 10 May 2023, Peter Mwai, Deka Barrow and Rose Njoroge, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65412822, accessed September 27, 2024. ↩︎
8. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation, p.404. ↩︎
9. Schlossberg, Herbert, Idols for Destruction: Christian Faith and its Confrontation with American Society, p. 6. ↩︎
10. Britannica: Theosophy, https://www.britannica.com/topic/theosophy, accessed June 13, 2024. ↩︎
11. Ibid. ↩︎
12. Brittanica: New Age movement, https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Age-movement, accessed June 13 2024. ↩︎
13. Pew Research Center, New Age’ beliefs common among both religious and nonreligious Americans, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/10/01/new-age-beliefs-common-among-both-religious-and-nonreligious-americans/, retrieved June 13, 2024. ↩︎
14. New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Esotericism, accessed June 13, 2024. ↩︎
15. Scientology: What exactly is it?By Dan Gilgoff and Tricia Escobedo, Wed April 19, 2017. Accessed September 27, 2025. ↩︎
16. Tim Challies, https://www.challies.com/articles/a-warning-from-the-earliest-christians/, retrieved Oct. 10, 2023. ↩︎
17. George Alan Yancey, Is There Really Anti-Christian Discrimination in America? August 19, 2019, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/anti-christian-discrimination-america/, accessed April 2024. ↩︎
18. George Alan Yancey, Compromising Scholarship: Religious and Political Bias in American Higher Education,
    Baylor University Press, 2017-04-30. ↩︎
19. George Yancey and Alicia L. Brunson, Prejudice in the Press? McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina, 2019. ↩︎
20. Research the Crusades, the selling of Indulgences, the Inquistion,  and the colonial conquests. ↩︎
21. See Appendix, Nazarene Sect of Christianity. ↩︎
22. Christianity Today: The 50 Countries Where It’s Hardest to Follow Jesus in 2024, https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/january/christian-persecution-2021-countries-open-doors-watch-list.html, accessed April 2024. ↩︎

*All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™