Revelation 13 Part 2
We left off last time identifying the beast as a king, who died, and yet somehow lived. Let's look at the second beast mentioned in Revelation 13
11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12And 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. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And 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. 15And 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.
Notice verse 11 says: 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.
So this second beast has two horns like a lamb, but spoke as a dragon. My father used to say "if it looks like a duck, walks, like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck". Well the first thing we notice about this beast is that it had two horns like a lamb. The beast couldn't have been an exact lamb, because lambs don't speak like a dragon, but I do believe John saw something that looked very much like a lamb.
The children of Yahuah are often referred to as sheep or lambs. I believe Yahuah was showing that this second beast resembled a lamb, or maybe it was a wolf in sheep's clothing (since it had two horns like a lamb). This supposed lamb, or supposed child of God, would speak as a dragon or as if they had great authority.
Verse 12 continues: 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.
So this lamb, or supposed child of God exercised the same power as the King who died, yet lived, and caused the earth and them which dwelled therein to worship the King who died and was brought back to life.
13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And 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;
This sheep, this false prophet carries on this lie by doing great wonders and maketh fire come down on the earth in the sight of men. And these false miracles were the cause of many people dwelling on the earth being deceived. These miracles were done in the sight, or in other words, these miracles were done in the presence (and dare I say in the name of) of the King that died, and was brought back to life.
Video (Please pay special attention on all who call fire down)
So we see this lamb, this second beast, also known as a false prophet, that would deceive the entire world. They would even deceive the world through 'miracles'.
Afterwards this false prophet would create an 'image of the beast', and they would cause the 'image of the beast' to speak. In otherwords, the true representation of the beast would never say the things that the false prophet is making the beast say. This false prophet would put words in the first beast's mouth.
14 ...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. 15And 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.
From the earliest parts of mankind, people have changed the image of Yahuah.
Now I don't know the Israelite's exact mindset, and I've heard many theories on why the Israelites chose a calf as their idol, but I do find it very interesting that on at least two occasions the symbol for 'salvation' was later worshipped.
In Leviticus 9 we read: 1And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; 2And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD.
A calf was used for a sin offering, something that would allow the children of Israel to be 'free of sin'. The Israelites actually worshipped a calf in Exodus 32:
1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to Yahuah. 6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
I highlighted one of the last parts of the passage to bring attention to what Israel was doing. Remember, Israel was to go into the wilderness to observe a feast of Yahuah. The Israelites recognized when the feast day was and made the image of a calf to worship. The same image that would 'cleanse them from sin'. Although we know the blood of calves have no power on their own.
So we see one one account where the thing that 'cleansed sin' or 'provided salvation (from the effects of sin)' was worshipped.
In John 3:14, Yahusha says something very interesting:
14‘And as Moses did lift up the serpent in the wilderness, so it behoveth the Son of Man to be lifted up, 15that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during,
It is very interesting to see Yahusha compare himself to a serpent that was lifted up.
In Numbers 21 we read:
6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Now notice something. It was a serpent that was killing them. Yet is was also a serpent that could save them. Almost as if Yahuah was providing an illustration, that one day, one would come (Yahusha) and destroy the people (at his second coming), but likewise, that one (Yahusha) may also provide a way of escape.
Now was the lifted up serpent God? NO! But did the people worship the serpent on the pole? They did! We read in 2 Kings 18
1Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
3And he did that which was right in the sight of Yahuah, according to all that David his father did. 4He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
So this is a second account of Israel worshipping the image of something that was supposed to save them.
We know 'the wages of sin is death'. The Calf 'cleansed Israel of sin' (symbollically). In otherwords the calf saved Israel from death. The serpent on the pole also saved people from physical death. Both times the object 'saving the people' was worshipped.
Can you think of another time an object was sent to 'save mankind' but in turn was worshipped?
Now you may see why I think it is interesting, and in my opinion no coincidence that Yahusha likened himself to a serpent being lifted up.