The Beast from the earth mimics the Lamb. It is the mouthpiece of the Dragon and the propagandist of the Beast from the sea.
The “great voice in heaven” pronounces “woe” on the “inhabitants
of the earth and sea because the Devil has descended to you, having
great wrath.”
He then launched his war against the “seed of the woman”
by summoning his own “seed,” namely, the “Beast from the sea,”
and now, the “Beast from the earth.”
The
description of the second “Beast” continues the theme of wickedness “ascending”
from a dark place; first, from the “Abyss,” then from the “sea,”
and now, from the “EARTH,” the same place that is associated with the
human opponents of the “Lamb,” the “inhabitants of the EARTH.”
And
as before, the Greek participle rendered “ascending” is in the present
tense, indicating an ONGOING ACTION rather than a single event. That is,
a process of ascending from the “earth.”
- (Revelation 13:11-15) – “And I saw another beast ascending from the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and began speaking as a dragon. And all the authority of the first beast he uses before him; and causes the inhabitants of the earth to render homage to the first beast, whose stroke of death was healed. And he does great signs so that even fire he causes to descend to the earth before men; and he deceives the inhabitants of the earth by the signs which it was given him to do before the beast, saying to the inhabitants of the earth that they should make an image for the beast who had the stroke of the sword, and yet lived. And it was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and should cause that as many as should not do homage to the image of the beast should be slain.”
WOE TO THE EARTH
The
passage demonstrates why the second beast’s arrival means “woe” to the earth’s
“inhabitants.” This creature deceives them, so they give their
allegiance to the first “Beast, the one from the sea.” And this ensures that
their names will not be “written in the book of life.”
The
language for the ascents of the two beasts is derived from Daniel’s vision of
the four beasts that he saw “ascending from the sea”:
- (Daniel 7:2-3) – “I was looking, in my vision which came with the night, when, behold, the four winds of the heavens, bursting forth upon the great sea; and four large beasts ascending from the sea.”
- (Daniel 7:17) – “These great beasts are four kings who will ascend from the earth.”
The
“Beast from the earth” speaks with the voice of Satan and the authority
of the first “Beast” (“he spoke as a dragon”). He is the
mouthpiece of the “Beast from the sea” and summons all men to render
homage to it.
In
fact, the “Beast from the earth” is the “mouth speaking great things
and slanders” that is given to the first “Beast,” and the authority
to do so for “forty-two months,” the same period allotted previously for
the “trampling of the sanctuary by the nations,” the ministry of the “two
witnesses,” the “nourishment” of the woman for “a thousand, twelve hundred and sixty days,” and the “short season” allotted to the
“Dragon” to wreak havoc on the “earth and the sea” - (Revelation
11:1-3, 12:6-14, 13:5).
MOUTHPIECE AND MIMIC
He
speaks with another’s authority. His “voice” echoes the characteristics
of the “little horn” in Daniel that was “speaking great things.”
And though his “power was mighty,” it was “not by his own power.”
This second beast has “two horns like a lamb,” which means on some level
he mimics the “Lamb” – (Daniel 7:8, 8:23).
He
“causes the inhabitants of the earth to render homage to
the first Beast.” This echoes the story of
Nebuchadnezzar’s “golden image” that he “erected” in the “province
of Babylon” and compelled all “peoples, nations and tongues” to pay it
homage - (Daniel 3:1-7).
This second “Beast” corresponds to the “herald” in the story from the book of Daniel who summoned all the peoples of the Babylonian Empire to render homage to Nebuchadnezzar’s “image.” And as his counterpart in that story, he threatens death to all who refuse to do so.
Moreover,
the “Beast from the earth” has “two” horns and the authority to “cause
fire to descend from heaven to the earth” to deceive its “inhabitants.”
This means he also imitates the “Two Witnesses” from whose mouth fire “consumed
their enemies.”
The
“Two Witnesses stood in the sight of (enopion) the
Lord of the earth”; likewise, the “Beast from the earth” exercises
all the authority of the first beast “in the sight (enopion) of
it.” Each serves its respective master - (Revelation 11:4-6).
The
“Two Witnesses” inflicted punishment on their opponents much like the
plagues inflicted on Egypt by Moses, and the “sign” Aaron performed before
Pharaoh when he cast his rod and turned it into a serpent.
But
the Egyptian sorcerers were able to imitate that “sign” (“they cast down
every man his rod, and they became serpents”). So, likewise, the “Beast
from the earth” performs “signs” like those of the “Two Witnesses”
– He is a FALSE WITNESS - (Exodus 7:9-12, Revelation 11:6).
IDOLATRY
“Saying to the inhabitants of the earth that they should
make an image for the beast.” The second “Beast”
does not erect the “image”; instead, he convinces the “inhabitants of
the earth” to do so, and that makes them full participants in the
idolatrous endeavor.
But the “Beast from the earth” is the one who gives
life and purpose to the “image.” He provides the political ideology for
giving absolute allegiance to the “Beast from the sea” rather than to Jesus
(“It was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast”).
“As
many as should not render homage to the image should be killed.” The
statement echoes the action of Nebuchadnezzar when he threatened to cast all who
refused to bow to his “great image” into “the burning fiery furnace.”
“Killed”
translates the Greek verb apokteinô, the same term used when the “Beast
from the Abyss” KILLED the “Two Witnesses,” and to describe
the “perseverance of the saints” - “If anyone is to be KILLED with the sword, with the sword he must be KILLED.” In other words, the faithful “saints”
who refuse to give homage to the “Beast from the sea” or its “image”
are the ones “killed” for not giving fealty to the empire - (Revelation
11:7-13, 13:10).
FIERY FURNACE
The
source for the image of the “lake of fire” in Revelation
is the action by Nebuchadnezzar against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego when
they refused to render homage to his “great image,” though it is employed
now paradoxically.
In
Daniel, the men who cast the Jewish exiles into the fiery furnace were
burned alive by its super-heated flames.
Likewise,
the “Beast” and “false prophet” that attempt to destroy the “saints”
are themselves “cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” - (Daniel 3:1-6, Revelation 19:20).
The
task of the “Beast” is to cause the “inhabitants of the earth” to
give allegiance to the first beast, and thereby to the “Dragon.” If the
first “Beast” represents the political power of the empire, the “Beast
from the earth” is the face of the ideology and religious authority invoked
to legitimize the idolatrous allegiance demanded by the “Beast from the sea.”
FALSE PROPHET
Elsewhere
in Revelation, the “Beast from the earth” is called the “false prophet.” Just as the
deceitful activity of “that prophetess, Jezebel” corresponds to the “Great
Harlot, Babylon, who made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with her
fornication,” so, also, the efforts of the “false prophet” to
deceive humanity parallel the proponents of the “doctrines of Balaam”
and the “Nicolaitans” at Pergamos who taught many saints to “fornicate
and eat meat offered to idols.”
Thus, the deceptions of the “Beast from the earth” are found within the church, as well as among the “inhabitants of the earth.”
Moreover,
the “Beast from the earth” imitates the “Two Witnesses” who are
identified as “prophets.” Thus, this second beast is in the truest sense a FALSE
PROPHET.
Whether
the “false prophet” represents an actual person, organization, ideology,
or something else remains to be seen. For now, the stress is on his or its ability
to deceive men into giving their allegiance to the first beast.
– (Revelation 2:14, 2:20, 17:1-4).
But
since the exaltation of the messianic “son” in chapter 12, Satan has
been banished from heaven. Though enraged, he has only a “short time”
remaining to destroy the church; and so, also, his earthly agents. He can only
operate when and how far allowed by the “Lamb.”
In
chapter 13, the political and religious aspects of this satanic effort are
prominent, especially the mixture of the two. In the end, the decision of each
man and woman is between giving allegiance to the “Beast” or “following
the Lamb wherever he goes,” even when doing so means an unjust and violent
death.