In this message we come to the second beast, the beast out of the earth (Rev. 13:11-18).
Revelation 13:11 says, “And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.” This beast is the false prophet (Rev. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10). Since the earth, the land, signifies the nation of Israel, this beast, the false prophet, will come out of the Jewish nation. Some students of prophecy believe that the false prophet will be Judas Iscariot. I believe this view is correct. According to Acts 1:25, after his death Judas went “to his own place,” rather than to “his people,” as was the case with others recorded in Scripture (Gen. 25:17; 35:29). Although there have been many false persons in history, no one was as filled with Satan as Judas was. Jesus said, “Did not I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? Now He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, being one of the twelve, would betray Him” (John 6:70-71). Here we see that the Lord Jesus even called Judas a devil. Because Judas was filled with the Devil, he was one with the Devil. No one other than Judas matches the description of the false prophet.
Let us consider further the significance of Judas’ going “to his own place.” According to the record in the Bible, Elijah was raptured to God, and the body of Moses was kept by God for a specific purpose. In addition, we have seen that the spirit of Nero is being kept in the abyss. Undoubtedly, the spirit of Judas is also being kept in a particular place. Only when we come to the book of Revelation do we see why the Bible gives us this particular record of these four people.
During the time of the great tribulation, the Lord’s people on earth will need strengthening. Because God foreknew this, He has sovereignly kept Moses and Elijah for His testimony during that time. God is also keeping Nero and Judas, but, in contrast to Moses and Elijah, they are not in a pleasant place. One is in the abyss, and the other is in “his own place.” Although I do not know what this place is, I am confident that it is not a place of joy. Hence, two people have been kept by God for His positive purpose and two others have been kept for His negative purpose. The spirit of Nero is being held in the abyss until the time it will fully constitute the last Caesar of the Roman Empire as Antichrist. Judas is kept in his own place until he appears as the false prophet. By God’s sovereign keeping of these four people, we can see that the whole universe and the entire human race is under God’s sovereign hand. Nothing happens accidentally. Rather, everything takes place according to God’s sovereign arrangement.
Centuries ago, God prepared Moses and Elijah. As we have pointed out, Moses represents the law, and Elijah, the prophets. In ancient times, the Jews referred to the Old Testament as “the law and the prophets.” Because Moses and Elijah are two witnesses, they have been purposely kept by God. One day, after Satan has been cast down to earth and embodied in Antichrist, who will exercise satanic power to persecute God’s people, God will send these two witnesses back to strengthen His people. At that time, Satan will call out Judas to work for him as he did once before. Just as the spirit of Nero will emerge from the abyss to become Antichrist, so Judas will come out of his own place to become the false prophet. Therefore, during the three and a half years of the great tribulation, four special persons will be on earth — Moses, Elijah, Nero, and Judas. Probably all four will meet one another face to face. I wonder what Moses and Elijah will say to Judas. Moses and Elijah will be the anti-testimony to Antichrist and the false prophet. Imagine what a situation that will be when these four confront one another!
Revelation 13:11 says that the other beast, the false prophet, will come up out of the earth. Geographically, he will come from underneath the earth, and symbolically he will come from the nation of Israel. We have seen that the land signifies the nation of Israel. For this reason, the false prophet will certainly come out of the nation of Israel. He must be one of the Jewish people.
Revelation 13:11 says that the beast out of the earth “had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.” The false prophet looks like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon. This indicates his falsehood. In the Bible the lamb signifies Christ. The fact that the false prophet will have two horns like a lamb indicates that he will pretend to be the same as Christ. However, his speaking will be like the dragon, Satan. Although he will pretend to be like Christ, what he expresses will be like Satan. He will be an absolute falsehood.
Verse 13 says, “And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth before men.” The false prophet will employ satanic power to perform great signs. In calling down fire out of heaven, the false prophet will do the same thing Elijah did. Elijah called down fire from heaven during the days of Ahab (1 Kings 18), and during the coming three and a half years of the great tribulation he will do this again. When Judas sees this, he may say, “If Elijah can do it, I can too.” Because the false prophet will perform great signs, it will be difficult for people to discern the real prophet from the false prophet. The false prophet will be able to do the same thing as the real one. As far as eloquence is concerned, Judas will likely be no less eloquent than Moses or Elijah because his speaking will be like that of the dragon.
If we have been enlightened, we would never pay attention to signs. According to the concept of the New Testament, the Lord does not intend for us to devote our attention to signs. Rather, we must concentrate our whole being on the matter of life. We should not care for what a preacher or minister can do in the way of signs; we must examine the kind of life he has. It is not a matter of the power we exercise, but of the life we live. If you care only for life, you will never be deceived. As far as signs are concerned, there is no way to discern the true from the false, for both Elijah and the false prophet will bring down fire from heaven. The only way to discern is by life. If both Elijah and Judas were standing before you, you could easily discern who is true and who is false by their very being. People may cheat others by their words, but they expose themselves by what they are. Do not care for what people can do — care for what they are. Today most Christians do not care for what people are, but for what they can do. They care for power, signs, and miracles. But those who exercise miraculous power to do signs may have a living and behavior that are deplorable. I am not saying that we should be concerned with our outward appearance. I am saying that we must be what we are. What we are in our living must express what we are in our life. The life we live out from within expresses, not what we can do, but what we are.
At the end time, the signs, powers, and miracles will come. In Matthew 24:24 the Lord Jesus said, “False Christs and false prophets shall arise and shall show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:9 and 10 Paul said the Antichrist, the man of sin, would come “according to the operation of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of a lie, and with all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing.” We must be warned not to look for signs and wonders. If you do, you may be deceived. Instead of seeking signs, we must care for Christ in the way of life. Do not expect miracles — give your attention to life, which is Christ Himself. When Judas, the false prophet, appears, he will deceive people by the signs he performs.
The false prophet will not work for himself, but for Antichrist, the beast out of the sea. No one who speaks on his own behalf is respected or believed. It is much easier to praise others than it is to praise yourself. If I were to speak highly of myself, no one would want to listen to me. Everything Judas says and does will be on behalf of the first beast. I simply cannot understand why he will sell himself to Antichrist to such an extent that he will even go to the lake of fire with him. There seems to be no reason for this. Neither Satan nor Antichrist will promise Judas anything. Why then will he be so foolish as to sell himself outright? From the beginning Judas was caught by Satan and became a person under Satan’s evil instigation. As Satan controlled Judas in the past, so he will control him once again. This may be the reason Judas will completely sell himself to Antichrist.
Although none of us is like Judas, part of our natural being is in the principle of Judas at least to some degree. We also may sell ourselves to Satan for nothing. Whether you realize it or not, you have done this many times. Frequently we have betrayed the Lord Jesus or damaged the church life. We have done certain things that have frustrated the Lord’s recovery. It seems that there was no reason for our doing these things. During the past fourteen years in this country, I have seen some cases of those who damaged the Lord’s recovery, but who received nothing for it in return. Their acts were the result of the fact that Satan had occupied their natural being. When Satan gets into our natural being and possesses certain parts of it, we sell ourselves for nothing. This is the principle of Judas as well as the principle of the false prophet.
Not only will Satan give his power to the false prophet; the Antichrist will place his complete confidence in him. Hence, the false prophet will be authorized to represent Antichrist, the embodiment of Satan. Satan will be embodied in Antichrist, and Antichrist will be represented by the false prophet. Because of this, some Bible students call Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet a satanic trinity. But I do not like to see the word trinity used in this way. Nevertheless, Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet certainly will become one. Due to this union, the false prophet will be authorized to do whatever he desires.
Revelation 13:12 says of the false prophet, “He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his sight.” The false prophet will not only exercise the power of Antichrist, but also the authority of Antichrist.
Verse 12 also says, “And he causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose death stroke was healed.” The false prophet will cause the entire earth and the earth’s dwellers to worship Antichrist. His ministry will be that of spreading the word that everyone on earth must worship Antichrist. He will do a great deal of preaching. By his preaching, which will be eloquent and powerful, he will convince people to worship Antichrist.
Verse 14 says, “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which he was given to do before the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast, who had the stroke of the sword and lived.” He will deceive people to such an extent that they will agree to make an image of the beast and worship him.
We have seen that Antichrist will be the totality of the characteristics of all the worldly powers. Throughout the centuries, people have been fond of erecting images of their heroes. Even today people make images of certain heroes. All this foreshadows what the false prophet will do for Antichrist. The false prophet will set up the image of Antichrist as an idol. Many argue that the images set up in various places today are not idols and that people are not required to worship them. Although this may be true, in principle to worship a hero is to worship an idol. We Christians must be careful never to stand before an image and pay respect to it. In principle, this is worshipping an idol. We should never stand before any image; we should stand only before our Lord. In the ten commandments God commanded us never to make an image. If you make an image, regardless of your purpose in doing so, people will eventually worship it, either in your generation or in a future generation. The desire for a hero will consummate in Antichrist, and the false prophet will convince the worldly people to worship their hero. Undoubtedly, Antichrist will be the hero of heroes, surpassing all the heroes of bygone generations. Through the release and distribution of this message, many Christians will be prepared for this. When that day comes for the image of Antichrist to be erected, they will be able to stay away from it.
Revelation 13:15 says, “And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause that whoever would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Here we see that the false prophet will actually be able to give the breath of life to the idol. The idol will thus be enlivened. No idol made by man has been able to speak (Psa. 115:5), but this last idol will be enabled to speak as a living image. This surely will be an astonishing sign to the earth’s dwellers, causing them all to worship the image of Antichrist. Today’s scientists can make many things, but they cannot give breath to anything they make. But the day is coming when Judas will be able to do this. An idol will be placed in the temple of God. This idol will speak and command that anyone who does not worship it should be killed. How difficult it will be for anyone not to be deceived by this devilish wonder! Who will be able to keep from worshipping Antichrist or his image? According to 13:8, “All those dwelling on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Only those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life will not worship Antichrist and his image. They will refuse to worship him, even at the cost of their lives. As a result, a great many will be martyred.
If you are not a firstfruit, but are left on earth during the great tribulation, you may be martyred by Antichrist. But that martyrdom will quickly make you an overcomer. Although those who are martyred during the great tribulation will be the late overcomers, they will become overcomers very quickly.
Brother Nee spent more than fifty years to become an overcomer. For more than thirty years he suffered the persecution from Christianity by means of opposition, criticisms, and rumors. Nearly all the missionaries, especially those of the China Inland Mission, opposed him. After those years of opposition from Christianity, he was imprisoned for another twenty years. Although Brother Nee spent fifty years to become an overcomer, those who remain during the great tribulation will not have more than forty-two months. It will not be pleasant to be left to pass through the great tribulation, but it is a great deal better than dying today. If you die now, you will lose the opportunity to be an overcomer. Praise the Lord that we all have the opportunity to become overcomers, either the early overcomers or the late overcomers. I certainly want to be an overcomer, to remain alive until I see the Lord. But if we cannot be overcomers today, then, instead of dying, we should prefer to be left in the great tribulation, for then we shall have the opportunity to be late and quick overcomers. If you do not want to be an overcomer now, you will be forced to be an overcomer later. Although you may say that you do not care, the Lord has a way to make you care. Antichrist will come, and the false prophet will preach and erect an image that will be able to speak. What will you do then? You will have to counter-preach. But after preaching against Antichrist, you will be martyred.
If these messages do not help to make you an early overcomer, I have the assurance that they will prepare you to be a late overcomer. The Lord is now releasing all these messages. I have not touched this matter of prophecy for more than forty years. This is the first time since the early 1930s that I have dealt with prophecy in the way of life. I believe that in the not too distant future Antichrist will come and the false prophet will appear. This is a timely word for God’s people. This word will either motivate them to be early overcomers, or it will strengthen them to be the late overcomers. The Lord has a way, and He will gain the victory. Hallelujah, our names have been written in the book of life! This is our predestination.
The false prophet will cause all “to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead” (13:16). The men will probably be marked on the forehead and the women on the right hand. This mark will indicate that they belong to Antichrist, the authority of the false prophet. Unless people are marked, they will not be able to buy or sell (13:17). As we have already pointed out, the name of the beast is Caesar Nero, and the number of his name is six hundred and sixty-six.
We have seen that two beasts are about to come, the first beast from the sea, from the Gentile world, and the second beast from the land, from the nation of Israel. It is unnecessary to remember all the details pertaining to these two beasts. When the time comes, you will remember the impression these messages have made upon you. Surely this is the Lord’s purpose in releasing this word. As far as the beast and the false prophet are concerned, we cannot say that no impression has been made upon us. Rather, we have been deeply impressed, and this impression cannot be taken away. We know who we are, where we are, what we are doing, and where we are going. Praise the Lord that we also know what is coming. Hallelujah, we have been enlightened and impressed!
