The beast from the earth mimics the Lamb. It is the mouthpiece of the Dragon, and the propagandist for the first beast – Revelation 13:11-15.
The description continues the theme of wickedness “ascending”
from a dark place; first, from the “sea,” which corresponds to the “Abyss”
from which the “beast” first ascended, and second, from the “earth,”
the very place associated with the human opponents of the “Lamb,” the “inhabitants
of the earth.”
In both cases, the Greek participle rendered “ascending”
is in the present tense, indicating ongoing action rather
than a single event - a process of ascending.
- (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 this second beast’s arrival means
“woe” to the “inhabitants of the earth,” for he deceives them so they
render homage to the “beast from the sea,” ensuring that their names will
not be “written in the book of life.”
The language for the ascents of the beasts from the “sea”
and the “earth” is derived from Daniel’s vision of the four beasts “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 give their allegiance to it.
In fact, the “beast
from the earth” is the “mouth speaking great things
and slanders” that was 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” from Daniel that
was “speaking great things.” And though his “power was mighty,”
it was “not by his own power.” He 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 “beast” corresponds to the “herald” in the story of Daniel who summoned all the peoples of the Babylonian Empire to render homage to Nebuchadnezzar’s “image.” And as 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 mouths 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 before Pharaoh 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”
- (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 “beast”
does not erect the “image”; he convinces the “inhabitants of the
earth” to do so, which 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”).
 |
| [Caesar - Photo by Ilona Frey on Unsplash] |
“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 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.” Implicit is that faithful “saints” are the ones who are “killed”
for refusing to give allegiance to the “beast” - (Revelation 11:7-13,
13:10).
FIERY FURNACE
The source for 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 “golden image,”
though it is employed paradoxically in Revelation.
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 political power, 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, 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 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.”
Whether the “false
prophet” represents an actual person, organization, ideology, or something
else remains to be seen. For now, the stress is on his ability to deceive
others to give 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 “follow the
Lamb wherever he goes,” even when doing so means an unjust and violent
death.
No comments:
Post a Comment