Daniel mentions that the Antichrist gets power from Satan, but John deals heavily with the symbiotic relationship between the Antichrist, Satan and the false prophet — the Devil's version of the Holy Trinity.
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?'"
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?'"
— Revelation 13:1-4
Here, John shows us the dragon (Satan) and the Antichrist's (beast) coming out party to the world. To a deceived public, it appears they can perform miracles and the people turn to them and give them their allegiance.
"The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world."
Here, John shows us the dragon (Satan) and the Antichrist's (beast) coming out party to the world. To a deceived public, it appears they can perform miracles and the people turn to them and give them their allegiance.
"The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world."
— Revelation 13:5-8
With John, we realize that the Antichrist will unveil his true self to the masses during the first half of the Tribulation, but the people won't care, they will still worship him, even though he stands against everything that is holy to God and true. It will only be those who have put their faith in trust in Jesus Christ that will be able to see through this pretender to the throne.
There may still be a few stragglers out there not quite sure about the Antichrist, but that's OK, because Satan has a plan to bring them into the fold — enter the false prophet, the last unholy leg of the Devil's trinity.
"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive the mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name."
With John, we realize that the Antichrist will unveil his true self to the masses during the first half of the Tribulation, but the people won't care, they will still worship him, even though he stands against everything that is holy to God and true. It will only be those who have put their faith in trust in Jesus Christ that will be able to see through this pretender to the throne.
There may still be a few stragglers out there not quite sure about the Antichrist, but that's OK, because Satan has a plan to bring them into the fold — enter the false prophet, the last unholy leg of the Devil's trinity.
"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive the mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name."
— Revelation 13:11-16
We see in this chapter that the first beast had suffered a wound, which looked like it killed him, but he recovered — Satan's nod to Christ's resurrection, but foisted on the beast to make him look divine. While the world did not accept Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, they do the beast's and worship him for it.
The Antichrist will be a political and military leader while the false prophet will become the world's spiritual leader whose job it is to bring the world to bow before Satan. Of course it won't be much of a chore, as "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all who will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
We see in this chapter that the first beast had suffered a wound, which looked like it killed him, but he recovered — Satan's nod to Christ's resurrection, but foisted on the beast to make him look divine. While the world did not accept Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, they do the beast's and worship him for it.
The Antichrist will be a political and military leader while the false prophet will become the world's spiritual leader whose job it is to bring the world to bow before Satan. Of course it won't be much of a chore, as "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all who will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
— 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
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1 comment:
If you want to know the members of the unholy trinity, go here:
http://whoistheantichrist.web.officelive.com
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