Cyberspace Ministry
Our Mission: Revelation 14:6-12
If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 67
The
Beast Rising from the Earth
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Let's pray together:
Our Father,
Now that Your Word has revealed the identity of the beast rising from the sea, we humbly
ask You to show us what the beast rising from the earth represents.
Please accompany us through this lesson, and may Your Word and Your Spirit be our only
guides.
In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 12:17; 13:1 (NIV)
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war
against the rest of her offspring - those who obey God's commandments and hold the
testimony of Jesus.
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
----------------------------------------------------
In our last lesson, we have seen the dragon, Satan, standing «on
the shore of the sea».
This indicates that Satan will use the powers of both the sea and the earth to try to
annihilate God's people.
In fact, immediately after this scene, two powerful beasts appear, the first one rising
from the sea, and the second one rising from the earth.
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Revelation 13:1
And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns.
---------------------
Revelation 12:3
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns.
----------------------------------------------------
We studied the description of the first beast, rising from the
sea, and learned that it means that this power is controlled by Satan, the great dragon.
Indeed, just like the dragon, this beast has seven heads and ten horns.
Identical to the little horn of Daniel chapters 7 and 8, this beast symbolizes the papacy.
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Revelation 13:3
I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and
his deadly wound was healed.
And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
----------------------------------------------------
We have also seen that the beast was mortally wounded, and then
its deadly wound was healed.
In fact, exactly as foretold, the papacy, after having lost its political power to France
in 1798, recovered it in 1929. In that year, Mussolini, by the Lateran Treaty, restored
temporal power to the pope, who has, since then, ruled over Vatican, a little country
within the city of Rome.
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Revelation 13:10,11
He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity (...).
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and
spoke like a dragon.
----------------------------------------------------
The prophecy links the pope's captivity (which happened at the
end of the 18th century) with the appearance of another beast.
Unlike the first beast, this second beast comes up out of the earth, not the sea.
Who is this beast which arose at the end of the 18th century, and why does it come up out
of the earth?
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Daniel 7:17,23
Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise
out of the earth. (...)
The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth.
---------------------
Daniel 8:20,21
The ram which you saw, having the two horns - they are the kings
of Media and Persia.
And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece.
----------------------------------------------------
First, we must remember that, in Bible prophecy, a beast symbolizes a kingdom, a political power.
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Revelation 17:15
The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.
----------------------------------------------------
We must also remember that waters symbolize «peoples,
multitudes, nations, and tongues».
So, the beast rising from the sea represents a power coming out of a populous place (it
was the case with the papacy, which appeared in Europe).
But what about the beast rising from the earth? The only power which arose out of a
sparsely-populated place, at the end of the 18th century, was the United States of
America, which came out of the New World in 1776.
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Revelation 13:11
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
----------------------------------------------------
But does the United States really fit the other criteria of the
beast coming up out of the earth?
First, the beast displays lamb-like features, appropriately representing the Christian
tradition of the United States which stands up for principles of civil and religious
liberty.
But the beast also speaks «like a dragon»: in spite of an outward gentleness, this
nation remains a fearsome power, ruling the roost throughout the world.
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Revelation 13:11
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
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Revelation 12:3
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns.
----------------------------------------------------
Like that of the beast rising from the sea, the description of the beast coming up out of the earth indicates that this power too is controlled by Satan, the great dragon: like the former, the latter has horns and speaks like a dragon.
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Revelation 12:15,16
So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after
the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
----------------------------------------------------
In addition to making the second beast look like a lamb, the symbol of Jesus, Satan carried the deception to the point of making this beast come up out of the earth, that is, the New World, the very place that had helped the woman, the Church of God, as it was persecuted by the papacy in Europe.
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Revelation 12:12
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you,
having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.
----------------------------------------------------
The prophecy was right again: «the devil has come down to the
earth and the sea».
In fact, in spite of the outward religious liberty offered by the United States of
America, it is clear that this nation, which arose out of the «earth», fits into Satan's
plan, in the same way as the papacy, which arose out of the «sea».
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Revelation 13:1,2,11,12
And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads
and ten horns (...). And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
(...)
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and
spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his
presence.
----------------------------------------------------
The first beast had received its power from the dragon. This
authority is also given to the second beast. So, for the first time, a satanic trinity
appears, made up of:
- the dragon (Satan)
- the beast rising from the sea (the papacy)
- and the beast rising from the earth (the United States).
This satanic trinity represents a fearsome counterfeit of the divine trinity, and portrays
itself as an alternative to the true Godhead, as the following three tables clearly
demonstrate...
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Satanic trinity and divine trinity: the Dragon, counterfeit of the Father.
The Father |
The Dragon
-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------
1. He gave the Son His power (Re- | 1. He gave the beast from the
sea
velation 2:27).
| his power (Revelation 13:4).
2. The Holy Spirit bears His mes- | 2. The beast coming out of the earth
sage (2 Peter 1:21).
| bears his
message (Rev. 13:11).
3. The universe worships Him (Re- | 3. The world worships him (Revela-
velation 5:13,14).
|
tion 13:4).
4. He sends three angels to pro- | 4. He sends three demons to
gather
claim a message throughout the | the kings of the
whole world (Re-
world (Revelation 14:6-11). | velation
16:14).
5. His wrath goes against men who | 5. His wrath goes against men
who
follow the dragon (Rev. 19:15). | follow the Father
(Rev.12:12,17).
6. There is no one like Him (Exo- | 6. He wants to be like the
Father
dus 8:10).
| (Isaiah 14:14).
7. He is the Father of truth (2 | 7. He is the father
of lie (John
John verse 4).
|
8:44).
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Satanic trinity and divine trinity: the sea beast, counterfeit of the Son.
The Son
|
The beast from the sea
------------------------------------+------------------------------------
1. He is the image of the Father | 1. He is the image of the
dragon
(John 14:7-9; Colossians 1:15). | (Compare Rev. 12:3
with 13:1).
2. He receives authority from the | 2. He receives authority from
the
Father (Revelation 2:27).
| dragon (Revelation 13:4).
3. He receives authority over all | 3. He receives authority over
all
flesh (John 17:2).
|
nations (Revelation 13:7).
4. His ministry here below lasted | 4. His ministry here below
lasted
42 literal months (Daniel 9:27). | 42 prophetic months
(Rev. 13:5).
5. He died on the cross, then rais- | 5. He was mortally wounded, then
ed from the dead (Acts 5:30). | was healed
(Revelation 13:3).
6. He sits on the Father's throne | 6. He sits on the dragon's
throne
(Revelation 3:21).
|
(Revelation 13:2).
7. The universe worships Him (Reve- | 7. The world worships him (Revela-
lation 5:13,14).
| tion 13:4).
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Satanic trinity and divine trinity: the land beast, counterfeit of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit
| The beast from the earth
------------------------------------+------------------------------------
1. He speaks like the Father (He- | 1. He speaks like the dragon (Reve-
brews 10:15,16).
| lation 13:11).
2. He guides people into all truth | 2. He deceives those who dwell on
(John 16:13; 1 John 5:6).
| the earth (Revelation 13:14).
3. He leads men to worship Jesus, | 3. He leads men to
worship the
He glorifies Him (John 16:14). | beast from the
sea (Rev. 13:12).
4. He leads men to edify the Son's | 4. He leads men to make an image to
body, the Church (Acts 9:31). | the sea beast
(Rev. 13:14).
5. He performs great signs and won- | 5. He performs great signs and won-
ders (Acts 19:6; Hebrews 2:4). | ders
(Revelation 13:13).
6. He makes fire come down from | 6. He makes fire
come down from
heaven on earth (Acts 2:3,4). | heaven on
earth (Rev. 13:13).
7. He puts a seal on God's people | 7. He puts a mark on rebellious men
(Ephesians 4:30).
|
(Revelation 13:16).
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Revelation 13:12
He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
----------------------------------------------------
The beast rising from the earth, being a political power, does
not seek to be worshiped, but rather causes men to worship the beast rising from the sea,
which is, for its part, a religio-political power.
So there is a kind of alliance between the papacy and the United States, leading men to
worship the papacy.
But how could this be possible?
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Revelation 13:13
[The beast coming up out of the earth] performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
----------------------------------------------------
First, the United States' influence over the other nations is
significant, especially since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the break-up of the
Soviet Union in 1991.
The «fire coming down from heaven» indicates the extraordinary power of the United
States, which became, with the bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
1945, the first nuclear power of the world.
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Revelation 13:13
[The beast coming up out of the earth] performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
---------------------
1 Kings 18:37,38
[Elijah said:] «Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may
know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.»
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice.
----------------------------------------------------
By calling to mind fire coming down from heaven, this prophecy also indicates that the United States' actions seem to have God's approval.
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Revelation 13:14
[The beast coming up out of the earth] deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do.
----------------------------------------------------
The United States really charmed and «deceived those who dwell
on the earth», not only by their political and military power, but also by their culture
and symbols which conquered the whole world.
The «American way of life» lures the nations with a picture of liberty and prosperity.
The American dollar has become the currency exchange standard.
The United States of America truly sets the pace of the whole world.
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Revelation 13:14
[The beast coming up out of the earth is] telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
----------------------------------------------------
In March 1984, the United States sent its first ambassador to
Vatican. Since that time, the collaboration between the United States and the papacy has
become closer and closer yet.
Their greatest common success is, without a doubt, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the
break-up of the Soviet Union, resulting in an important weakening of Communism.
Now, prophecy announces another great common project: the «image of the beast».
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Revelation 13:14
[The beast coming up out of the earth] deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
----------------------------------------------------
Very soon, the worldwide influence of the United States will also
be felt at the religious level, by the creation of an image to the first beast, that is, a
system reminiscent of the papacy.
In the papacy's image, this system will unite Church and State, producing a
religio-political power.
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Matthew 22:21
Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.
----------------------------------------------------
Jesus always commanded that Church and State be kept separate.
And He was right, since history reports that such a union has always resulted in horrible
persecutions.
But prophecy had indeed seen right: during the past few years, we have witnessed the rise
of the American Christian Right Wing, exerting more and more pressure on the United States
government, so that it is gradually giving up its principle of separation between Church
and State.
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Revelation 13:15
He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
----------------------------------------------------
Prophecy announces that the extremist Christian Right Wing will
soon succeed in destroying the wall between Church and State, creating a religio-political
government similar to that of the papacy.
This is how the «image of the beast» will be produced.
Of course, this alliance between political and religious powers will once again lead to
intolerance and persecution.
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Revelation 13:16,17
And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark.
----------------------------------------------------
Once set up, the religio-political American government, with the
papacy's approval, will cause men to receive a mark.
First imposed in the United States, this mark will quickly become universal.
All the inhabitants of the earth will be forced to receive this mark, for fear of
increasingly severe penalties.
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Revelation 14:9,10
If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark
on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of
God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.
And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.
----------------------------------------------------
God warns us not to receive the mark of the beast; otherwise our
punishment will be eternal destruction.
But what, exactly, is the mark of the beast?
This is a crucial question which requires a precise answer from the Word of God. This will
be the subject of a future lesson.
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Daniel 3:1
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was
sixty cubits and its width six cubits.
He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
----------------------------------------------------
Let's note that, by announcing the coming of an «image of the
beast», the prophecy calls to mind a story contained in the book of Daniel.
Just as the United States will produce an image to the papacy (the leader of spiritual
Babylon), King Nebuchadnezzar erected a golden statue, an image in honor of his kingdom,
Babylon.
But the parallel is even more precise...
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On pain of death, men of all nations must worship the image:
DANIEL 3:4-6
|
REVELATION 13:14,15
--------------------------------+----------------------------------------
«To you it is commanded, O peo- | «[The second beast] deceives those who
ples, nations, and languages, | dwell on the earth by those signs which
that at the time you hear the | he was granted to do in the
sight of
sound of the horn, flute, harp, | the beast, telling those who dwell on
(...) you shall fall down and | the earth to make an image to the beast
worship the gold image that | who was wounded by the sword and
lived.
King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; | He was granted power to give breath to
and whoever does not fall down | the image of the beast, that the image
and worship shall be cast imme- | of the beast should both
speak and
diately into the midst of a | cause as many as would not
worship the
burning fiery furnace.» | image of the
beast to be killed.»
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Daniel 3:7,8
So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn,
flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and
languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews.
----------------------------------------------------
Under threat of death, everyone bowed down before the king's
image, except Daniel's three friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
The resistance of these three Jews triggered off the king's rage...
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Daniel 3:14,15
Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them,
«Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship
the gold image which I have set up?
Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and
psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image
which I have made, good!
But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery
furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?»
----------------------------------------------------
Determined to remain faithful to God, these men endured severe pressure.
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Daniel 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king,
«O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we
worship the gold image.»
----------------------------------------------------
These three young Jews are a shining example for God's people who, at the end of time, will have to refuse to worship the image of the beast in order to remain faithful to God, even if this decision may cost them their lives.
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Daniel 3:24,25
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and
spoke, saying to his counselors, «Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the
fire?»
They answered and said to the king, «True, O king.»
«Look!» he answered, «I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they
are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.»
----------------------------------------------------
This story had a happy ending for the three faithful Jews, who
were saved from the fiery furnace by Jesus Himself, the One who «is like the Son of
God».
Will it be so, at the end of time, for the believers remaining faithful to God?
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Revelation 20:4
I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness
to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had
not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
----------------------------------------------------
God is honest and straightforward with us: our decision to remain
faithful to Him may cost us our lives.
But, to those who refuse to worship the beast and its image, and to receive its mark, God
promises eternal life.
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1 Peter 4:12,13
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
----------------------------------------------------
Just like Daniel's three friends, our decision to follow God will
soon plunge us into the fiery furnace of trial.
But, whatever may happen, we will ultimately be saved, at the return of Jesus Christ, our
Savior.
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Let's thank God:
Our Lord Almighty,
On the horizon, we already see the image of the beast dawning, this religio-political
system which everyone will have to worship, on pain of death.
Please give us the courage You gave to Daniel's three friends, who withstood pressure from
everybody, and remained faithful to You in spite of the threat of the fiery furnace.
Please grant us Your continuous support, so that we may also remain faithful to You in all
circumstances, and that our names may remain written in Your book of life.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 67 is waiting for you!