Weekly Message: Who are the two Beasts Antichrist and False Prophet? Discover the mystery of Revelation Chap.13 &17
By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce 4/10/2024
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Ø The angel of the abyss
his name in Hebrew Abaddon means destruction, in Greek name Apollyon means
destroyer
Who is Antichrist? According to the book of
Revelation 9:11 Apostle John unveils the vision, “the angel of the abyss; his
name in Hebrew is Abaddon; and in Greek he has the name Apollyon. (Rev.9:11). The abyss is the dwelling place of the demons
(Luke8:3). The angel of the abyss is the beast Antichrist,
who will come out of the pit of the abyss. The Hebrew
word means destruction; it is used also in Job26:6; 28:22. The Greek word means destroyer. As the destroyer,
Antichrist will do much destroying (Dan.8:23-25). In the first woe, the woe of
the fifth trumpet, Satan falls from heaven to earth and Antichrist comes up
from the abyss, and the two works together to torment man. Since it is at the
fifth trumpet that Satan falls from heaven to damage the earth and persecute
the people of God for three and a half years (Rev.12:10, 12-17,6) and since it
is at the same time (the last three and a half years) that Antichrist comes up
out of the abyss to collaborate with Satan to torment people, persecute the
saints, and blaspheme God (Rev.13:5-7;11:7)
Ø Two Beasts, one out of
sea is Antichrist, one Beast out of the Earth is the false prophet
1)
The first Beast out of sea is Antichrist
Revelation Chapter 13:1 John says, “And I
saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and
on his horns ten diadems, and on his heads names of blasphemy …and the dragon
gave him his power and his throne and great authority.” (Rev.13:1-2). The
beast coming up out of the sea, the sea here is the
Mediterranean Sea, out of which Antichrist will come. In Revelation 9:11,
Rev.11:7 and Rev.17:8 we are told that Antichrist
will come up out of the abyss, Here Rev.13:1 we are told that he will come
up out of the sea, as is mentioned
also in Dan.7:3. This indicates that Antichrist will
come from two sources. His spirit, which
exists in the abyss before he is born, will come up out of the abyss. His body will come
from one of the Gentile nations around the Mediterranean Sea. In
biblical figure, the land signifies the
nation of Israel and the sea
signifies the Gentile nations (Rev.17:15; Isa.57:20). That Antichrist will
come up out of both the abyss and the sea may indicate also that the sea is the
mouth of the abyss, because the abyss is in the heart of the earth. (Rom.10:7; Matt.12:40)
and the sea is above the earth.
The ten horns and seven
heads of the beast are those of the dragon (Rev.12:3). This indicates that the
beast is one with the dragon. The ten horns are the ten
coming kings (Rev.17:12; Den.7:24);
the seven heads
are the seven
Caesars (Rev.17:10). The Ten horns correspond with the ten toes of
the great image mentioned in Dan.2:42-44. The word here indicates that the
Roman Empire, Antichrist, and the ten kings are one with Satan. The seven Caesars symbolized by the seven
heads of the beast claimed deity and called for their people to worship them as
gods. That was truly a blasphemy against God.
The beast, Antichrist, is like a leopard, and
his feet like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.
According to Dan.7:4-6 the leopard,
which is characterized by swift and cruel movement, was the symbol of Alexander the Great, the king of Greece. The bear, characterized by its destroying feet, was the symbol of the monarchy of
Medo- Persia. The lion,
characterized by its devouring mouth, was a symbol of Nebuchadnezzar, the king
of Babylon. Since Antichrist, the beast, is like
these three, he will have all their characteristics, as mentioned in
Dan.7:4-7. He is the totality of all the evil powers in
human history. That the dragon gives his power,
his throne, and great authority to the beast indicates that he makes the beast
one with him so that on behalf of the dragon the beast can resist God and
persecute God’s people on the earth.
Rev.13:3 mentions about one of his heads
refers to one of the Caesars, who will be slain and resuscitated. His death
stroke was healed means that the Caesar will be resuscitated from death.(Rev.
17:11) Because of this the whole earth will marvel and follow after him.
Rev.13:5 indicates the forty-two months here
and in 11:2 are the three and a half years in 12:14, and are also the one
thousand two hundred and sixty days in 11:3 and 12:6, the time of the great
tribulation (Matt.24:21). At the end of this age Antichrist will make a seven year covenant with the nation of
Israel. Three and a half years after the covenant is made, he will break it,
terminate all the Jewish worship and service to God (Dan.9:27), persecute the saints (v.7), and destroy the
holy city (11:2) for three and a half years.
The saints in
the Rev.13:7 here constitute the rest of the woman’s seed mentioned in 12:17,
which consists of the Jews, who keep God’s commandments, and the believers, who
bear the testimony for Christ. This proves that in the great tribulation there
will still be believers on the earth who are not yet raptured.
2)
The second beast out of the Earth---the false prophet (Rev.13:11)
This other beast will come up out
of the earth, since the earth, the land, signifies the
nations of Israel, this other beast, the false prophet, will come out of the
Jews. This one may
be Judas Iscariot (John6:70-71), because
after Judas died, he went to his own place (Acts1:25), not to his people as
others did (Gen.25:17; 35:29). Geographically, this false prophet will come up
out of the earth, and figuratively, he will come out of the Jews. The false
prophet looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon that he appears to be a lamb
but speaks like the dragon, Satan, indicates his falsity. The false prophet will employ satanic power
to perform great signs, such as calling down fire out of heaven as Elijah did
(1Kings18:36-38), thus it will be difficult for people to distinguish the real
prophets from the false prophet.
Rev.13:15-18 the number of the beast 666 is the number of a man
Caesar Nero.
No idol made by man has ever been
able to speak, but this last idol will be enabled to speak as a living image.
This surely will be a marvelous sign to those who dwell on the earth, and will
cause them all to worship the idol. The number of the beast is the number of a
man. This man is Caesar Nero, who is the coming Antichrist. (17:8,10,11) Because the book of Revelation was written
during the time of the Roman Empire, John did not mention the name of Nero but
indicated it with a number. Therefore, wisdom is needed to understand.
The number represented by the Hebrew letter of
the name Caesar Nero is 666 as follows:
Greek Hebrew Greek
Hebrew
Nε
נ
50 Kαι ק 100
ρ ד 200
σα כ 60
ω
ז 6 ρ
ד 200
ν נ 50 ---
306 + 360 = 666
Revelation 17:8 mentions about the beast
who is Antichrist, was in the person of Caesar Nero before John wrote this book. He is not at the time of
John’s writing, because Nero had died by that time. That he is about to come up
out of the abyss implies that Nero’s spirit is now in the abyss and is about to
emerge from it to take possession of the body of the slain and resuscitated
Antichrist, as indicated in Rev.13:3.
Revelation 17:10 indicates that
seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has
not yet come; and when he comes,
he must remain only a short time. And the beast who was and is not, he himself
is also the eighth and is out of the seven and goes into perdition.
Revelation 17:11 mentions about the seven kings are seven Caesars of the
Roman Empire. The first five heave fallen; they died unnaturally (Judg.3:25;2
Sam.1:10,25,27). Those five are Julius Caesar,
Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, all of whom either were murdered or committed suicide before John wrote
this book. The sixth, Domitian, who was also murdered, was living when this
book was written; therefore, it is said “of him that he is”, “The other”, the seventh, is Antichrist; he had not yet come at that time. When he
comes, he will remain only a short time and then will be slain and will be
resuscitated by the spirit of the fifth,
who is Nero, to become the eighth.
Antichrist will be the coming seventh Caesar.
But he is also the eighth Caesar. According to 13:3, Antichrist
will be slain and resuscitated. In that resuscitation the spirit of Nero (the
fifth Caesar), which will come up out of the abyss (when Satan is cast down to the earth
-12:10,13), will animate and resuscitate the dead body
of the seventh Caesar, Antichrist, thereby imitating the resurrection of
Christ. This one, composed of the fifth and seventh Caesars, is the eighth. Hence, he is “out of the seven,” having the body
of the seventh and the spirit of the fifth. Therefore, he will be all the more capable, all the more
intelligent, and all the more powerful to charm; deceive, and allure people,
capturing those who do not believe in Christ. It is no wonder that people will
marvel at the sight of such an extraordinary person and will follow him.
Rev.17:12 the ten kings will be raised up in the revived Roman Empire before the
great tribulation. They will be one with Antichrist in opposing God and
persecuting His people the Jews and the believers. These ten kings are likened
to the ten toes of the great image seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his dream
(Dan.2:42). They will submit themselves and their kingdom to Antichrist
(17:17).
Caesars of the Roman Empire kings as follows:
Julius Caesar 49BC-44 BC, Augustus 27 BC-14 AD, Tiberius 14-37 AD,
Caligula 37-41 AD,
Claudius 37-54AD, Nero 54-68 AD, Galba 68AD-69AD, Otho 69AD, Vitellius 69AD,
Vespasian 69-79AD, Titus 69AD-81AD, Domitian 81-96AD,Nerva
96-98AD, Trajan 98-11AD,
Hadrian 117-138AD,Antoninus Pius 138-161AD, Marcus Aurelius 161-180AD, Commodus
177-192AD…
In this generation, may God continue unveiling
His mystery in the book of Revelation, who is the beast Antichrist? The number
eighth mentions in the Revelation 13:1-3? Antichrist
will be slain and resuscitated. In that resuscitation the spirit of Nero (the
fifth Caesar), which will come up out of the abyss will animate and resuscitate
the dead body of the seventh Caesar, Antichrist, thereby imitating the
resurrection of Christ. This one, composed of the fifth and seventh Caesars, is
the eighth. Therefore, he is “out
of the seven,” having the body of the seventh and the spirit of the fifth.
Bibliography,
King James, The Holy
Bible, Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.)
Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
