Revelation 13:11 "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." (KJV)
The word "another" means in Greek "one like in kind". Here we have another beast similar to the first one.
This beast comes from the earth. This tells us that he does not come from Heaven.
He is described as a lamb. This indicates that he is a religious figure. We will learn in Rev 16:13 and Rev 19:20 that he is the False Prophet.
Satan is the great counterfeiter. He wants to copy G-d in everything. He has his own UNHOLY trinity. Satan is the Father figure in this trinity. The Anti-Messiah is the Son figure. That leaves us with someone to imitate Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). This is the job of the second beast.
1. god the Dragon = the counterfeit father
2. god the 1st. beast = the counterfeit Messiah (Anti-Messiah)
3. god the 2nd. Beast = the counterfeit Spirit.
Dragon gives orders and empowers the Anti-Messiah. The 2nd. Beast has signs and causes men to turn to and worship the Anti-Messiah just like the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to cause people to worship Y'shua.
The False Prophet is false because it looks Messiah-like as a lamb, but in reality it is satanic: it speaks like a dragon. It is a wolf in sheep's clothing. This can be seen coming in the churches today. Like at 2 Thess. 2:3 "that day shall not come except there come the falling away first. And the expression 'falling away' means to stand away from, to betray a former loyalty, to turn back to an earlier commitment. The word "opistimi" is the word we translate "apostasy" Scripture predicts apostasy as one of the signs of the day of the emergence of Anti-Messiah. There are today many churches. How many still stand for the truth of Scripture, the deity of Y'shua, the rapture and other Christian doctrines. The church will become so depraved by apostasy as we move to the last days that it will be easy for the False Prophet to appear. He will make organized religion a tool in his hand and give His authority to the first beast. Thank G-d that by that time the Church will be taken from the world in the blessed event of the Rapture. Satan always likes to copy G-d. John gave his authority over to Y'shua. The False Prophet turns his authority over to the Anti- Messiah. Who will be the False Prophet?
Some believe he might be the next Pope.
Some believe he will be the top member of the "World Church".
Some also believe the "two horns of the 2nd. Beast also represents two kingdoms, Two "Christian" nations. He "speaks like a dragon" tells us underneath the "Christian veneer resides the devil. Part of the apostasy is the ecumenical movement, which desires a union between all religions and influences evangelicals as well.
What is the difference between the truth and false religion?
All religions teach that one can earn one's way to heaven. That man can somehow achieve salvation through one's own actions. It is called "humanism".
The truth says, "the true way is what Y'shua did and by faith in what He did is how one gets to the true "promised land".
Revelation 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. (KJV)
Just as John the Baptist pointed the people of his time to Y'shua. The False Prophet points the people to the Anti-Messiah. Instructing them to worship the Anti-Messiah.
He is a supporting character to the first beast; he is active on behalf of the first beast and exercises his authority. (Walvoord p. 205)
Today we have a great push to unite all of the religions of the world. We have the world council of churches as one example of an ecumenical group. There is also a group formed by the United Nations called "United Religions". These groups want us to set aside our differences and join together as one. They say that there is no ONE WAY to heaven. The Hindus have their way, the Buddhists have their way, the Muslims have their way, etc, etc, etc.
Y'shua said
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 (KJV)
The formation of these religious groups is a sign that we are living in the last days. One day the world will have one religion and it will be under the direction of the False Prophet.
Revelation 13:13-17 "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." (KJV)
The False Prophet will be able to perform great signs and wonders.
Examples from the Bible where Satan gave power men to perform signs and imitate the miracles of G-d.
Rod became a serpent -
Ex 7:11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. (KJV)
River became blood -
Ex 7:22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the L-RD had said. (KJV)
Frogs -
Ex 8:7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. (KJV)
When the plague of Lice was upon the Egyptians the magicians were not able to reproduce it. -
Ex 8:18-19 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of G-d: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the L-RD had said. (KJV)
So from the above examples we see that Satan's servants do have a great deal of power but their power is limited. The Egyptian magicians were able to counterfeit a certain number of G-d's miracles but they could not reproduce all of them. The same thing will happen during the Tribulation.
The False Prophet then instructs the people to build an image of the Anti-Messiah. This may be some sort of robot, hologram, virtual reality, etc.
The image of the Anti-Messiah will have the ability to speak. This is not hard for us to imagine in the year 2000 A.D. However, it would have been quite a statement for John. At that time idols didn't do much but stand there. Makes you wonder why anyone would want to worship them!
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast". The word "life" in verse 15 is "pneuma" it is better translated "Spirit" or "Breath" is quite different from the Greek word "Zoe" which means "life". The intent of the passage seems to be that the image has the appearance of life manifested in breathing, but actually may be no more than a robot. (Walvoord p. 208)
Anyone who will not worship the beast will be killed.
The False Prophet causes all people "both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond," All classes of people are included in three contrasting pairs: the small and great, referring to status; the rich and poor, alluding to possessions; and free and bond, referring to their state in society. (Walvoord p. 209)
He causes them to receive a "Mark" in their right hand or forehead. THIS IS KNOWN AS THE MARK OF THE BEAST. This is yet another counterfeit of Satan. All believers in Y'shua, those who have accepted Him as their L-rd and Savior, are sealed by Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). (See 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph 1:13; Eph 4:13) So Satan has his seal too. We will see in the next chapter the consequences of taking this mark.
The mark is simply a token that they are beast (Anti-Messiah) worshippers, and it serves as an identification necessary to conduct business and to purchase the necessities of life. It is another device to force all people to worship the beast (Anti-Messiah). (Walvoord p. 209)
Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (KJV)
We read that the Anti-Messiah's number is 666.
Probably the simplest explanation here is the best, that the triple six is the number of man, each digit falling short of the perfect number of seven. Six in the scripture is man's number. (Walvoord p. 210)
Perhaps there is one six for each of the members of the unholy trinity. The unholy trinity come close to perfection in it's counterfeiting, but it is so short of it. Thus, it is called G-d's contradiction.
Elaine here. Before I continue I want to make it clear that this is MY OPINION. I could be 100% wrong. No one knows for sure what the "Mark of the Beast" will be; we can ONLY make educated guesses. So I will now offer my professional opinion for your consideration. Professionally I am a Software Engineer. Using my knowledge of the Bible and Computers. I THINK that the "Mark of the Beast" may be a computer chip implanted under the skin. They now have computer chips the size of a grain of rice that can be injected under the skin with a hypodermic needle. This technology is already in use in certain areas to track cattle. It is replacing the old method of marking cattle by branding them. It is also being used to track pets in certain areas. They inject a chip under the skin of a dog or cat and then if it gets lost it can be scanned and the proper owner can be identified.
Add to this is the fact that we are rapidly heading toward a cashless society. Two years ago a banker told me that in 5 to 7 years we would have a cashless society. That would be 3 to 5 years from now. I believe the Europeans are ahead of the Americans on this.
Now add to this the Internet. We are all able to buy and sell from home. Our computers are tied together and it would not be very hard to picture someone telling you that they need to scan your hand, or forehead before you left the store. At home a chip scanner could be added to your computer as easily as adding a printer. In other words, we already have the technology.
I think you get the idea.