Remember that these seven signs are telling a story of the history of good and evil and the plans of Satan and God in the overall process.  This is the fifth sign.  The nasty beast, the bully, the intimidator is not alone.  There is now a second beast that comes from the earth.  His mission is religious in nature forcing humanity to worship the image of the first beast.  He may appear gentle, but he is ferocious.  We can see here the evil trinity parody (the dragon – Father, the beast from the sea – Son, and this beast from the earth – Holy Spirit).  This second beast mimics the Holy Spirit with power to bring forth signs and wonders.  John’s vision must be understood first as it pertained to the first century church and his immediate audience.  If the first beast represents the Roman Empire and it’s insistence on emperor worship (as we have said), “the second beast most certainly represents the imperial priesthood that assisted Rome in propagating the imperial cult.” (Mounce, p. 255).  John wrote with a definite end in sight.  Now, over 2000 years later, we can still understand this book to show that in the end Satan will demand complete allegiance of humanity, and will use every deception he can to accomplish this.

 

v. 11 – We see now another beast that comes from the earth.  The first beast came from the mysterious sea and was shockingly fearful with seven heads and ten horns.  Note that it could mean that this beast came from across the sea, hence from the sea, while this beast comes up from within Asia Minor itself – hence from the earth.  This beast seems less intimidating than the first one.  He only has two horns – like a lamb.  Yet, Jesus warns us, “Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matt. 7:15 see also: Matt. 24:24).  He will seem amiable to most.  This is also somewhat of a contrast since the first beast is the one who mimics the Lamb figure not this beast.  However, he is a parody of truth – he spoke like a dragon – his speech is like that of the evil one.  He is directly linked to the dragon and the first beast.  The evil trinity is complete – as the Son received authority from the Father, so the first beast received authority from the dragon, and as the Holy Spirit brings glory to the Son, so the second beast (or false prophet) brings glory to the first beast.  This beast is a deceiver and elsewhere called the false prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10).  His speech is like a dragon – deceptive and evil.  He is given power to perform signs and wonders in order to deceive people to worship the image of the first beast.  He will use the restriction of basic daily needs and death as a threat to win as many to worship evil as possible.  In the first century, the imperial priesthood was responsible to enforce the worship of the emperor and/or his image.  The priesthood of the Roman Empire is definitely the key identifier here for the original readers. 

 

v. 12 – This second beast exercises the authority of the first beast.  It is brought up again here that the first beast was mortally wounded and survived.  This is a big attraction to humanity, and it aids in them following the lead of the second beast to worship the image of the first beast.  His purpose is to get ALL people to worship the first beast.  Remember we mentioned about Nero being wounded and died.  The people waited and waited for him to return from the dead, but he never did.  The beast, however, did recover. 

 

Targets the church?  Could be!  The pagans didn't have to be deceived!  This is not much different than worshipping the Lord God - everyone accepts Him!

 

v. 13 – Deut. 13:1-3 tells us that false prophets will come and seem legitimate, but they are not from God, and we are not to follow them and their sayings.  They may even perform signs and wonders.  1 Kings 18:36-39 – Elijah prays and calls down fire from the sky to consume the burnt offering to the Lord God.  This beast mimics Elijah and can call down fire from the sky to impress the people to worship the image of the first beast.   He is a false prophet, a false Elijah.  The false Elijah prepares the way for the false Messiah.  Mark 13:22 – Jesus warns us that many false Christs will come and lead astray many, even the elect if that were possible, but it’s not.  2 Thess. 2:9 – Paul tells us that the lawless one will come in the power of Satan and use miraculous signs to deceive many.  The second beast is the majestic deceiver of fallen humanity.

 

v. 14 – He was “given” power from Satan (the dragon) to deceive – the devil is The Deceiver.  “The inhabitants of the earth” is to be understood as the entire world of unregenerated humanity.  He captivates them by the signs and wonders he has authority to perform.  Once they are suckered in, he then orders them to erect an image (statue) of the first beast – who survived the mortal head wound (there it is again).  This recovery is a real draw to captivating the allegiance of the people.  Christ was wounded and resurrected. Why not a deception of that?  According to sources, the Antichrist was to erect an image in every city.  Caligula was on his way toward this goal.  His death prevented him from erecting an image in the Jewish Temple (the abomination). 

 

v. 15 – This beast is given the power to breathe life into the image of the first beast so it could talk.  This is a blatant deception against the power of God, who alone can give life.  Gen. 2:7 – the Lord God breathed the breath of life into the man and he became a living creature.  Heb. “Ruach” – breath – wind – Spirit of God – another connection of this beast to the Holy Spirit parody.  The words the image spoke were not words of life, but words of condemnation to death for all who would not worship it. He claims to have power over life and death - worship him.  The power of this deception is unquestionable.  People will be divided.  Some will remain faithful even in the face of death, while the remainder will yield to deception and worship the Antichrist. 2 Thess. 2:1-3 – speaks of this apostasy that will precede the return of Christ. Failure to worship the emperor is a capital offense – the priesthood was working with the Empire.

 

v. 16 – Now things really start getting rough.  The beast requires people to take the “mark of the beast” on their right hand or forehead or they will be refused even their daily needs of sustenance.  No group escapes this charge – small, great – poor, rich – etc., you get the idea.  There have been so many speculations and theories as to what this mark is.  People are reading all the technology articles to see how this could be accomplished without us knowing.  What about micro-chips like they have to identify pets?  People used to think credit cards and paperless banking was the mark.  Remember our reading instructions with this book – the meaning of the symbol is in the symbol.  The mark is the sign of allegiance.  It may have been something physical back then.  They had certificates to show you were aligned with the emperor worship mandates.  At the end of time there may be something visible, but what is the real issue here?  This marking of people is an evil mimicking of the sealing of the 144,000 we discussed in chapter 7.  Just as the people of God were sealed with a mark to escape the destruction of God’s wrath on the earth, so here the people will be sealed to escape the destruction the Antichrist threatens against the church.  It symbolized the absolute allegiance in the final test of religious loyalty.  Only those willing to die for their faith will resist the mark of the Antichrist.

 

v. 17 – The mandate is for everyone as mentioned before.  Without this mark of one’s true allegiance, even regular commercial transactions will be prohibited. There were already economic prejudice against the church at the market place.  They didn't buy the temple meats - the sacrificial left-overs. This judgment will be against all who do not fall in line.  Now for a revelation about this mark… It will be the numerical equivalent of the name of the beast.  They didn’t have the Arabic number systems we have today.  Letters represented numbers and letters depending on their context.  In Greek, the name Jesus translates to 888.  So, we have something to go on in trying to figure out what John is trying to say here.

 

v. 18 – “This calls for wisdom” – John tells us. With insight we can calculate the number of the beast.  It is man’s number – not a man’s number – be careful.  This verse has been given more time and attention than probably any other in the whole Bible.  It is discussed among Christian and pagans alike.  Many years ago I worked for a company in NYC and my employee number was 666.  I wore it like Medal of Honor, not knowing the Lord or anything about the Bible at the time, but I knew that number was the Devil’s number.  If we are honest, we still have no definite answer for who this represented then or now or in the future if we think about it as a single name or a person.  All we can conclude is that John’s readers understood what he meant at the time since this was a revelation to them.  Even Irenaeus only one hundred years after John’s writing could not pin-point the person.  Since then people have been trying to figure this out and have not. Many modern scholars lean toward Nero Caesar – but this would be stretching some spellings and meanings.

 

One symbolic application that I lean toward uses the number as representative of more than a person.  We know that the number seven is perfection, completion, wholeness and relates to God in that sense and his standard.  Well six falls short as does all who don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ.  Six repeated is failure upon failure upon failure in measuring up to God.  It seems to be an imperfect trinity as is the Antichrist (dragon, beast, and false prophet).  It is the totality of imperfection and can represent all who align in worship of the Antichrist rather than Jesus.  Everyone has a choice to make.  The battle is one of evil against good.  Even though the enemy has already been defeated by Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection, the final victory cannot be realized until He returns.  In the mean time we live in the now and the not-yet of this battle.  Some will turn away because the pressure gets too tough – they will forfeit their inheritance in the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of good.  How strong is your allegiance to the One true God and His Christ?  Is it strong enough to die for?  The times could change at any moment God declares “enough.”  What will you do if faced with a choice of being put to death or joining the multitudes who are worshipping the evil one, many unknowingly? There is no gray area in this battle; we are either aligned with Christ or Antichrist.  Humanity without Jesus IS, of necessity, under the dominion of the evil one and marked.