The Second Beast of Revelation (study)

Once the kingdom has been established and has become powerful we will see the second beast. The second beast comes from out of the earth. This beast will be a man, the Antichrist. This beast is given power to rule the kingdom that is the first beast.

Every religion on earth is waiting for their god to either come or return. Of course Christians are waiting for the return of Christ, Muslims are waiting for Mahdi’s return, and Judaism is waiting for their messiah. Even the ancient Mayan and Aztec people and what is left of their culture is waiting for the return of their god Queztacoatl. That being said, having a man show up with the abilities to perform great wonders would no doubt cause many to believe that he is who they had been waiting for.

Daniel chapters 8 and 11 give us a great look into who the final Antichrist will be. We can note that he will not be born into a wealthy family; he will not be considered royalty. For all intents and purposes he should be considered normal. At some point he will become very strong, but it will not be done under his own power. Someone or something will give this man his power. With only a few followers he will rise to power. He will rise to power as the king of the north.

-          Revelation 13: 11-15

¹¹ Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon. ¹² He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. ¹⁴ And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. ¹⁵ He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.

The first beast, or kingdom, will be a very powerful nation. The second beast, or antichrist, will be given control of that power and no doubt will use it to its fullest extent. Using this great power and influence he will require all mankind to worship the kingdom. Men will want what the kingdom has to offer, they will lust after it, strive to obtain it, all while hating every person belonging to it.

The Antichrist will be able to perform miraculous wonders. In the view of everyone, he will make fire rain from the sky. This seems to be the big one, the one that convinces many that this man is the one everyone has been waiting for. This shows that he has the power to control the elements. He will have other supernatural powers as well that will allow him to perform other counterfeit miracles. These miracles will have the potential to deceive even believers.

This man will be a master of intrigue. Meaning he will prosper by making and carrying out secret plans that are forbidden by law, rules, or customs and those that are harmful to people. Using this power of intrigue, he will be able to take control of opposing kingdoms suddenly and with force. He makes agreements (most likely peace agreements) with opposing kingdoms only to in turn violate that agreement. Once those kingdoms feel safe and secure he attacks, overpowering them with one big sweep. Using these deceitful methods he extends his power over many countries. He gives to his followers many stolen spoils of war, including coveted materials and money. He causes great devastation, and deceit to succeed. At some point he will conquer Egypt and gain control over all of its gold, silver and other riches.

-          2 Thessalonians 2: 9-10

⁹ This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. ¹⁰ He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.

            We are told repeatedly not to allow ourselves to be deceived. He will be here for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to do the work of the devil. It has been said that the Antichrist will be the son of Satan, which I must say the evidence for that is compelling, but that will be another project. The Antichrist has every intention of tricking, fooling, and deceiving us into worshiping himself. He believes that he is god.

-          2 Thessalonians 2: 4

⁴ He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

            This verse tells us that the temple of God must be rebuilt during the beginning of his reign or is built before he takes power. Viewing himself as a god, he refuses to obey anything or anyone that is called god, including YHWH. This must be true for every religion across the globe. This man must seem to be THE god that every culture is waiting for. How else could he openly throw out every object that people call god? This man must actually believe himself to be god, going so far as sitting on YHWH’s throne and calling himself god.

This man will show absolutely no regard for any of the gods of his ancestors. Nor will he regard any god for that matter. He is elated of only himself and exults himself high about everything considered god. He will spew unheard-of blasphemies against the God of gods. He considers himself superior to all, including God. He only honors a god of war, one that was never known in the ancient world. With the help of this god, he attacks the strongest of the world’s militaries, and overtakes them. Any man that acknowledges this foreign god will be greatly honored. He will make rulers of those that worship this new god. They will rule over many people and divides the land and sells it to these new rulers. Could this new god, spoken of in the book of Daniel, be the same image of the beast that is given the ability to live in Revelation?

Daniel 7: 25

²⁵ He will defy the Most High and oppress the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.

            Blasphemous words will spew from the mouth of the Antichrist. Abominable actions, in the sight of YHWH, will be taken by this man. He will destroy all that which is considered holy to the believers in Christ. The sacred festivals of the Jewish people will be stripped away, or they will be punished if caught attempting to celebrate them. It is said that the phrase “a time, times, and half a time,” refers to three and a half years. If this is so, then the Antichrist will have control over all believers for this amount of time.

The Antichrists heart will be against the holy covenant, despising that which God gave to the ancient Israelites. He will take action against it in order to destroy what it stands for. He vents his fury against the holy covenant and destroys the believers, the holy people. With insincere praise he will corrupt all those that go against, or abandon the covenant, and they will be shown favor. They will not be persecuted or killed. His armed forces will violently disrespect the temple fortress, and they will put an end to the daily sacrifice. They will then set up what God sees as the disgusting emptiness, known as the abomination of desolation.  

-          Revelation 13: 16-17

¹⁶ He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. ¹⁷ And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. 

            The Antichrist, once everyone is deceived, will make a law that everyone MUST take his mark. This is known as the mark of the beast. The mark will go either on the right hand or the forehead. All those that do not accept his mark will have trouble acquiring basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing.

            As we can see it is imperative that we know and understand what is in our future. This man will come, and his plan is to deceive all of mankind into worshiping him as god. He will have unimaginable intelligence and power. Even though he has the ability to perform what many will perceive as miracles, he is NOT the savior we are waiting for. Sometime, close to the end of his reign he becomes anxious and aware of some type of danger. After receiving this knowledge he sets out to kill as many people as he can.

He will be fierce-looking, contemptible person, deserving of hatred. He does anything he pleases, and is successful in everything he does. He will continue succeeding until the time of the end of God’s wrath. At this point, the end of time, he will be destroyed. His demise will not come at the hands of another man, but rather, by the Savior.