JRNT 525 THE UNHOLY SPIRIT REVELATION 13:11-18 5/3/2026 JESSE RANDOLPH Last Sunday night in our study of Revelation chapter 13 we were introduced to the Antichrist, the first beast who is described in Revelation 13:1 as coming up out of the sea during the second half of this future period of carnage and destruction which will fall upon the earth known as the Tribulation. We worked our way through Revelation 13:1-10 last Sunday night, and as we did so we learned a few different things about this figure. A few different details about this future figure, the Antichrist. We learned that he’s an individual, an individual who will arise both as an emperor of sorts, as a king. We also learned that he would represent an empire or a kingdom, a kingdom which will have certain traits of ancient kingdoms of old, a kingdom which will have elements of the ferocity of a lion as ancient Babylon did. A kingdom which will have the strength of a bear, as ancient Medo-Persia did. And a kingdom which will have the swiftness of a leopard as ancient Greece did. But we also learned that when Antichrist comes, when he arises, he will also come with the backing of a dragon, namely Satan as we’re told in Revelation 13:2, “the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.” Now we learned at some point during the Tribulation the Antichrist will be killed. That’s picked up in Revelation 13:3 where it says, “and I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain fatally.” Then we learned that he’s going to come back to life because later in verse 3, we see that his fatal wound was healed. Because humans, especially unregenerate humans are foolish, the people at that point on earth will marvel at the fact that Antichrist has come back to life. That’s also revealed in verse 3 that “the whole earth marveled and followed after the beast.” Not only will they marvel at him though, but they are also going to worship him. Verse 4 says they that worshiped the dragon, meaning Satan, but they also it says worshiped the beast, saying, who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him? Well, this will only embolden the Antichrist as we saw last time in verses 5 and 6, that will lead him to engaging in blasphemies of various types as he, verse 7, makes war with the Saints, meaning those who have put their faith in Christ at this point of the Tribulation. And though there will be much reverence and worship for the Antichrist at this point of the Tribulation, we’ve seen repeatedly in our study thus far that his reign will have a very short shelf life, 42 months, 3 1/2 years to be exact. We ended here in verses 9 and 10 last Sunday night, that “If anyone has an ear, let him hear.” Those are words that we’ve seen even this morning in the Gospel of Luke from the lips of Jesus. Those words really mean to listen up. Then we see these words, in Revelation 13:10. “If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the Saints.” As I mentioned at the conclusion of last Sunday evening’s service, those words, those final words in verse 10, delivered by the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus to the Apostle John while he’s there on the isle of Patmos. He is taking down everything that’s coming to him through this vision he’s receiving, those words in verse 10 are saying, that the Antichrist will have his run. He’ll have his heyday. He’ll have his fun, but it’s going to be short-lived. His reign of terror will eventually come to its end because we’re told later in Revelation 19:20, that he, the Antichrist, the beast, will be thrown into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. The message here to the Tribulation Saints, the Believers of this era, is to persevere. The Antichrist will one day, he will soon in fact face his fiery fate. So, knowing that persevere in your faith in the Lamb who was slain. Persevere in your faith. That’s what’s being told here to the Saints of this era, persevere in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Here is the perseverance in the faith of the Saints.” Well, it won’t only be the Antichrist we know, who will be thrown into the lake of fire one day. It’ll also be this figure to whom we’re introduced this evening as we continue on in Revelation 13, this figure known as the False Prophet. Last Sunday night I gave you a preview of what’s often been called the Unholy Trinity. The dragon, the beast, and the second beast or Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet. They are called that because in many ways they seem to be counterfeiting the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit respectively. In the actual Trinity, the First Person is God the Father. In the Unholy Trinity the first person is the great red dragon, Satan. In the actual Trinity the Second Person of the godhead is the Lord Jesus Christ. Last week we saw his counterpart in the Unholy Trinity is the Antichrist, who last we looked at in verses Revelation 13:1-10. In the actual Trinity the Third Person of the godhead is the Holy Spirit. And then we’re going to get into this evening, the third person of the Unholy Trinity is the second beast of verses Revelation 13:11-18, the False Prophet. I have titled this evening’s message The Unholy Spirit as a way to frame this figure that we’ll be looking at this evening, the False Prophet. He’s not a spirit in the sense of being without a body, or without flesh, or without the external characteristics or features of a man. But he’s the Unholy Spirit in the sense that he’s the anti-Holy Spirit. In a way that’s similar to the way the actual Spirit of God testifying to the actual Christ, this person of the Unholy Trinity, the False Prophet, we’re going to see, he testifies to the Antichrist. He’s the Unholy Spirit in that sense in that he mimics and copycats the actual third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. So that’s our background. Let’s go ahead and look at our text. We’ll be in Revelation 13:11-18 tonight as we wind down this study of chapters 12 and 13, this interesting pivot point in the book of Revelation. Let’s go ahead and read our text in full and then we’ll work through it verse by verse. Revelation 13:11-18. “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he was speaking as a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which were given to him to do in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the freemen and the slaves, that they be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man; and his number is 666.” Again, what we have here in our text tonight is our introduction to this figure who will arise during the second part of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation, this figure known as the False Prophet. He’s formally introduced by that name, the False Prophet, later in the book of Revelation. First in Revelation 16:13, and then also in Revelation 19 and 20. He’s called specifically the False Prophet. Similar to the way that the actual Holy Spirit glorifies and points actual followers to the actual Christ, to Jesus. That’s how Jesus said it in John 16:14, that “the Spirit will glorify Me.” The False Prophet during the second part of the Tribulation, will glorify the Antichrist. He will be this propagandist, this mass propagandist of lies as he directs worship toward the Antichrist, toward this counterfeit messiah. Remember, at this point in the Tribulation, Satan will have finally and forever been cast down out of heaven. This will not have happened too long before what we see here. So what’s going to be happening now at this point of the Tribulation is Satan will be ramping up his persecution and his aggression toward any who have put their faith in Jesus, and to any who of those who have not yet already been martyred or in the case of Israel, for those who have not already fled into the wilderness. Remember the words of Revelation 12:17 where it says that “the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the witness of Jesus.” That speaks to his ramping up of his activity during this part of the Tribulation. Well, we’re going to see as we study the rest of what Revelation reveals about the Tribulation, are Satan’s furious efforts, his final push to gain further power to overcome the Lord’s faithful followers, and to establish his own ungodly kingdom on earth. We are going to see what he’s going to do in trying to do so and attempting to do so as he’s going to enlist these two agents that the figure we looked at last week, the Antichrist, and the figure we’ll look at tonight, the False Prophet. He’ll be relying on both of those figures to help him to do so. Now we saw this even this morning in our study of Luke because Satan is and always has been since his fall, a liar and a deceiver. He knows nothing else but to imitate God and to attempt albeit imperfectly, to emulate God. He’s a copycat. He mimics. So as God the Father works through the Lord Jesus, His Son incarnate, and as God the Father works through the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead; Satan will work through the Antichrist, the false christ. And then he’ll work through this False Prophet, the Unholy Spirit, to accomplish his ends. So, let’s now work through our text. Let’s get into it verse by verse, line upon line, starting in verse 11. Where this one, who will later be referred to as the False Prophet, is described as another beast. Verse 11 he says, “then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.” So just as the Antichrist back in the first part of the chapter last week was described as a beast, so to here is the False Prophet. He’s described as another beast, with that word another meaning, another of the same kind. So just as Jesus said to His disciples, in John 14:16, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate,” a reference to the actual Holy Spirit. Here, another beast is being described as coming on the heels of the Antichrist. Unlike the first beast, the Antichrist, who comes up out of the sea as we saw last week, and that we noted was a reference to the abyss, the domain of the demonic. This second beast is described as coming up out of the earth, verse 11. Now some have said that those words, the earth, where is says this beast comes up out of the earth That is a reference to the land as in the Holy Land, as in the land of Israel; they’ll use that reference as the argument for their argument that the False Prophet will be a Jew. I’m going to put that question aside for now as to whether the False Prophet or for that matter the Antichrist, will be Jews or Gentiles. We will get to that question at a later date eventually. For now, I simply want to point out, that this is not the Scripture to use to make the point or the argument that the False Prophet will be a Jew. And that’s because the term earth here in verse 11, where John says I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, that term is not referring to a specific parcel of earth like Judea or the Holy Land. Rather this reference to the earth is being contrasted with heaven. The beast, the False Prophet, is a creature of earth rather than being a heaven-dweller. He will be a man, not an angel. He’ll be an individual, not a world system and he’ll come from the earth. Well next still in verse 11, we’re told that this second beast, this False Prophet, had two horns like a lamb. That’s quite the contrast. There’s a bit of mixed symbolism happening here in verse 11 because horns suggest strength and we’ve already seen that Satan himself is depicted in Revelation 12:3 as having ten horns. We’ve also seen the Antichrist last week is depicted in Revelation 13:1 as having ten horns. But we do have this False Prophet being depicted as having two horns. So maybe he’s not as strong as those other two figures but he does indeed have strength. At the same time, the fact that these horns are not just horns, but they render him like a lamb it says. He will have two horns like a lamb. So, what that suggests is that he’ll have this appearance not only of strength, but one of meekness. He’ll be strong yet gentle. Strong and meek. Where else do we see a description like that in the Scriptures of somebody who is embodying strength and meekness? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus is described as being gentle and humble in heart. That’s His own description. But we also know from Revelation 19:15 and other places, that He is a strong ruler and will come as a strong ruler when He returns. This is Revelation 19:15, speaking of the return of Christ. “He will have a sharp sword when he comes, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He will tread the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty.” That sounds pretty strong. The point is this second beast, the False Prophet, will in this sense, attempt to imitate or emulate the Lamb of God by not only being strong and in his case violent, but meek. He’ll project the image of this harmless little lamb being lowly and gentle and meek and mild. Let all the little children come unto me. And he will do so, so that he can ensnare them and entrap them in fulfillment of his ultimate goal, which is to get them to engage in false worship of the Antichrist. Well, his meek little lamb act will only go so far, because at the end of verse 11, we’re told that he was speaking as a dragon. Which tells us, again that this False Prophet will be motivated by the power of Satan, who is the dragon. He’ll be under the leadership of Satan, the dragon. While on the outside his mannerisms and his appearance will appear to be gentle, his words will be Satanic, they will be laced with devilish poison. On the outside he’s going to mimic the gentle character of Christ. But on the inside, he’ll be every bit the child of the devil. The words of Jesus, in Matthew 7:15 come to mind, where our Lord said, “beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” The False Prophet will be like that a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’ll use deceptive, subtle, seductive speech. He’ll act the part of the perfect gentleman, and he’ll do so in order to lure people away from faith in Christ into Satan’s trap, as they pledge their loyalty to the Antichrist. The beast that we have been studying this evening, he’ll claim to be a true prophet. But in fact, he’ll be a False Prophet. The ultimate False Prophet, the ultimate example of what Jesus would say with these words of warning in Matthew 24:24 where he says that “false christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” That now brings us to verse 12. We’re still speaking of the second beast, the False Prophet, it says this, “And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.” This passage here, verse 12, really gets to the heart of what the False Prophet will aim and seek to do at this point of the Tribulation. His aim and his goal fundamentally will be to lead all of unredeemed humanity at this time, to praise and glorify and worship the false messiah. To praise and worship and glorify the Antichrist. His aim and his goal will be to promote the worship of the first beast, the Antichrist. His power will be as great as the Antichrist. Verse 12 says he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. But the False Prophet will use his power to serve the interests of the first beast, of the Antichrist. He’ll be centrally focused on carrying out the Antichrist’s agenda. As we’ll soon see he’s going to force worship. He’ll do great signs. He’ll bring down fire from heaven. He’ll cause people to receive the mark of the first beast. But his entire goal, the False Prophet’s goal as we see here in verse 12, is to make the earth and those who dwell in it worship the first beast. By the way if there was any confusion over who this first beast is, that confusion goes away with the words at the end of verse 12; where this beast is identified as the one whose fatal wound was healed. That’s a reference of course to the figure we studied last week, the Antichrist. We know from Acts 17:31 that God will one day judge the world in righteousness through a Man, that man being Jesus, whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead. But the False Prophet is going to lead people to worship not the true Christ, not the true Messiah, not the actual Risen One. The One through whom God will one day judge the world as he says in Acts 17. But instead, the Antichrist, the one whose fatal wound was healed. Like many false teachers today, this second beast, the False Prophet, will seek to draw people to his false message through a variety of different signs and wonders. Look at verse 13, “And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.” Using his satanically derived power, the second beast, the False Prophet will be empowered to do certain things. Note how that verse begins, “And he does great signs” meaning great displays of power, great wonders. The verb here where it says he does great signs; it’s in the present tense which suggests repeated action. Meaning he has more than one trick up his sleeve. Then comes this example and illustration of the types of signs and wonders he’ll perform. Verse 13, “And he does great signs” and then note this, “so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.” So, the False Prophet we’re told will make fire come down from heaven. Some believe that that’s just going to be an imitation of Pentecost where what appeared to be tongues like fire came down and when the day the church was born in Acts 2:3. Others think this reference to fire coming down from heaven by way of the False Prophet could be drawing on the account of Elijah calling fire down from heaven in II Kings 1:10-12. Even more likely, I think is that this False Prophet is being mentioned here as calling fire down from heaven to contrast him with the two witnesses of Revelation 11. Remember those two witnesses of Revelation 11 and it was said of them in Revelation 11:5, “if anyone wishes to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so, if anyone wishes to harm them, he must be killed in this way.” The False Prophet, I believe, is going to make fire come down to the earth as a way to imitate the power of those two witnesses to show the world that he has even more power than they do. This won’t be a trick by the way. This won’t be like the world’s greatest Fourth of July performance ever. The pinnacle pyrotechnic performance. No. This is going to be a genuine miracle, an act of the supernatural by the False Prophet as he calls fire down from heaven as one of these great signs he performs. Again, he’ll be doing all of this as Satan’s agent, with the aim of obscuring the truth and confusing the world and giving their allegiance to the Antichrist. Unlike the Holy Spirit again who leads people into truth, the Unholy Spirit, the False Prophet, will lead people into false worship during the Tribulation. Now again he’s not all about the False Prophet soliciting worship for himself. He’s not trying to get people to worship him. His whole mission is to get people to worship the Antichrist their new world leader, the one who was slain, and the one who has since miraculously risen from the dead. The False Prophet will be saying to worship him. He’s the true God. Bow your knee to him. This is directly in line with what Paul says in II Thessalonians 2:9 which is that with the Antichrist coming, this will be in accord with the working of Satan Paul says, and that he will come with all power and signs and false wonders. As we turn to verse 14 now, we learn that the deception that this False Prophet will bring about, will actually lead to him giving marching orders to those who fall under his sway. Verse 14, “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which were given to him in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.” The ultimate aim of this beast, the False Prophet, is brought out in the first part of this passage. You see it there, “He deceives.” Like the Antichrist, the False Prophet will be a deceiver. Like the Antichrist, the False Prophet will report to the first person of the Unholy Trinity, Satan, the father of lies. And so, like his father the devil, the False Prophet will be a deceiver, John 8:44. Now, at this point the False Prophet will have those who are listening to him and following him and under his sway. Through his charm and his cunning and his meek and mild demeanor, he will get people to respect him. And the respect he’ll command will only be amplified by the fact that he does his signs and his wonders and does the Mr. Nice guy thing in the presence (verse 14) of the beast. “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which were given to him to do in the presence of the beast.” Remember the beast here is referring to the Antichrist who is the actual world ruler the source of worship, we’re told for many at this time in history. He will be, the antichrist, will be their god. He will be the object of their worship. So, when this second beast, the False Prophet, performs his own miracles in the presence of this powerful figure, the Antichrist, that’s going to motivate those who have been following and listening to the False Prophet to do whatever he says. They will want to do whatever they can to get closer to the Antichrist, to gain favor with the Antichrist, to be in the Antichrist’s good graces. They will listen with rapt attention to whatever it is the False Prophet commands them to do. Well, he gives them their marching orders, the False Prophet does, in the second half of verse 14 where it says that he will be “telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.” The False Prophet, at this point in the Tribulation will be telling those who are worshiping the Antichrist to make an image to him. At this point it says make an image to him, not an image of him but an image to him. The Scriptures don’t tell us what this image will be like or what form it will take. All we are told by this language is that this image, whatever its appearance is, will be dedicated to the beast. It will be dedicated to the Antichrist. It will be an image to which those who are following the Antichrist at this point will be all too eager to dedicate as an act of worship, as an act of allegiance to the emperor of this whole new world order. As an act of worship of this now dominant world leader who the world has been searching for now for thousands of years. As an act of worship for this ruler who has not only subdued the nations by this point but has miraculously come back from the dead. They will be all too eager to construct something for him, to him about him. The False Prophet will command worshipers of the Antichrist at this time. That command language comes out here in verse 14 where it says he will be telling them what to do. He will command them to make an image dedicated to the Antichrist. Now interestingly in our passage tonight, we’re not told specifically that those who are given these instructions by the False Prophet will actually go out and follow up on his command and actually construct this image, but we do know that they will do so. Because it’s revealed elsewhere throughout the book of Revelation. We do know from other places in the book of Revelation that this image ultimately is constructed because the images mentioned as being constructed and existing, later on in the book. So, for instance, Revelation 14:9-10, the angel of the Lord says, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Revelation 14:11 says “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Revelation 15:2, when John receives this vision of seven angels and seven plagues and says, “Then I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who have overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.” Or Revelation 16:2, when the first bowl of God’s wrath is poured out it’s described this way. “So, the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who have the mark of the beast and who worship his image.” This image of the beast, this image dedicated to the Antichrist, indicates all these different references, that it is actually constructed at some point by those who receive this order from the False Prophet. The image will by this point in the Tribulation be built and it will become this object, this central object of the false worship of the Antichrist. And now look at what this image will become. Verse 15, “And it was given to him (meaning to the False Prophet) to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” That is exactly what it sounds like. This is saying exactly as it sounds. The False Prophet will not only give instructions to those who hear him to make an image to the beast as we’re told in verse 14, but here in verse 15 we’re told that the False Prophet will give breath to this image. That word for breath is pneuma which means spirit or wind or life. And though we know that God alone is the only one who can give life, he’s the author of life, apparently at this point he will have given the False Prophet delegated authority. Hence the words it was given to him to give the breath of life to this image to the Antichrist. Now, the fact that this image will simply exist is in and of itself blasphemous. That fact alone will be a horrible act of blasphemy that there’s this image of the Antichrist that people are flocking to, to worship. By the way, I do believe this is that abomination of desolation mentioned in Matthew 24:24 where the Antichrist and his forces, they enter the rebuilt temple, and they set up his image in the holy place and they command that image to be worshiped. That’s also mentioned over in II Thessalonians 2:3-4 where “the man of lawlessness will be revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the sanctuary of God, exhibiting himself as being God.” I think that is what we have going on here, but it will get even worse. Since we’re told here in verse 15 that for those who refuse to worship this image, this image that now has breath in it. This image can now even speak. We’re told that for those who refuse to worship this living, breathing image of the beast that they will actually incur the wrath of the beast and face imminent death. That’s how it’s worded here at the end of verse 15, that the image of the beast would speak. But then also this that the image of the beast now living and breathing and speaking would cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Not only will the image of the beast speak but the False Prophet who has already directed others to worship and construct this image in the first place, he’ll be given authority to execute those who refuse to worship this image, to worship the image of the beast. Now there is a trace of that account of Nebuchadnezzar and his image here from Daniel 3 where Daniel and his friends were ordered to bow down and worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 3:4-6 records it, “Then the herald loudly called out: ‘To you it is said, O peoples, nations, and men of every tongue, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. But whoever does not fall down, and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.’” There’s a parallel there. For those who haven’t already fled into the wilderness by this point of the Tribulation. For those who refuse to go along in wonderment about the beast or worship of the beast, they will receive an edict of some sort mandating that they worship the image of the beast. But as these faithful ones, these ones who remain loyal to the Lord and to the Lamb through it all, they will refuse to do so. And they’ll pay the price as they’ll be under a sentence of death for refusing to worship the Antichrist as the true and living God. As the False Prophet will, end of verse 15, “cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” Well, as for those who do fall under the sway of the False Prophet and who do fall under the sway of the Antichrist to whom the False Prophet points as the object of worship, the False Prophet will lead them to do something else. Look at verses 16 and 17, “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the freemen and the slaves, that they be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.” Now the “he” mentioned here at the beginning of verse 16, is not the image which has been brought to life but instead the False Prophet himself. And as we see here it will be through economic leveraging, economic warfare really that the False Prophet will seek to starve out all those who refuse to submit to the Antichrist. The False Prophet will make everyone, all it says in verse 16, all of them. The small, the great, the rich, the poor, the free, the slaves, he’ll cause them all to take a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. A mark which will indicate their submission to the rule of the Beast. A mark which will indicate their submission to the rule of the Antichrist. A mark which will indicate that they are now allowed to and authorized to buy and sell, to engage in commerce, to obtain and meet their basic needs. The mark will serve as a token that an individual truly does worship the beast, the Antichrist. Because they do worship the beast, the Antichrist, they’re eligible at this point in the history of the world to engage in commerce and engage in trade and to purchase the basic necessities of life. What will this mark look like? What is it going to be? A stamp? A chip? A tattoo? Surely one of those barbed wire tattoos that guys got back in the 90s, right? No. We don’t know. What we can pick up on right away is that yet again, Satan and his forces are engaging in mimicry, copycatting. Recall back in Revelation 7, John has this vision of this divine seal that’s being placed by God on the foreheads of the 144,000, this seal saved ones of the 12 tribes of Israel. Well here, copycatting and the mimicry continues. Just as the Lord’s servants will be marked as we saw back in Revelation 7 so the Antichrist will mark his servants. He will cause them to be marked, it tells us on their right hand, a symbol of strength or on their forehead, the most noticeable, conspicuous, out-there place that one could be marked. Note just how prevalent the taking of this mark will be. The False Prophet will cause everyone; all it says again in verse 16. Small and great, rich and poor, free men and slaves, they will all be compelled to take this mark. It’s comprehensive language. All who are enslaved and ensnared to sin, all who by this point have fallen prey to Satan and the ways of his henchman, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, the members of the Unholy Trinity, all, we are told here, will take the mark of the beast. But it won’t be the case that everyone on planet earth will take the mark. No. There will be true Believers who refuse to receive it. They will refuse, rather, to do so. They’ll refuse to take the mark and in refusing to do so, they’ll essentially self-embargo. They’ll have no ability to buy goods or sell anything for a profit. They’ll be deprived economically and practically and the outcome of this is starvation. All ultimately because they refused to take the mark of the beast. They would rather starve than submit to Satan and the two other members of the Unholy Trinity. It makes them sound much like a lot of the martyrs of the world in the church age and even before. Now as far as the contents of this mark, that’s what everybody wants to know about and it’s not what I’m going to give you tonight because we need to take communion. As far as the contents of this mark, look at verse 17 which tells us that it will be either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Now that about debunks the idea of it being somebody’s social security number, or bank account number, or student number, or Hy-Vee rewards number. That will not be the number. It will clearly be, it says here, his number, the beast’s number. It will be a number that represents his name. I think it’s worth noting because of all the wild conspiracy theories that are out there today, that nothing we see today is the mark of the beast. I think it’s important to note that. Remember the beast isn’t going to appear until after the Rapture. He’s not going to appear until after the Antichrist has already been unveiled. He’s not going to appear until after we’ve reached or the world has reached that mid-point of the Tribulation. So consistent with our hermeneutics and consistent with our reading of the book of Revelation, we have to say that it would only be at that point, verse 17, past the Rapture, past the Revelation of the Antichrist, past the midpoint of the Tribulation, that the name of the beast or the number of his name would be revealed. Until then, in the days in which we live now in the church age, there really shouldn’t be a whole lot of over-thinking about this mark of the beast stuff and whether it’s out there floating around today. Getting a tattoo in the church age is not taking the mark of the beast. Wearing an Apple Watch, is not taking the mark of the beast. Getting one of Elon Musk most recent inventions implanted in you is not taking the mark of the beast. Those who take the mark of the beast will do so during the Tribulation, and they’ll do so consciously and they’ll do so intentionally in a specific point in history and in doing so they will seal their eternal fate. Revelation 14:9 tells us that by taking the mark at that point, they will be eternally doomed. Revelation 14:9-10, “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, and he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’” Well, this interesting section of Revelation that we’ve been looking at the last few weeks as we’ve worked our way through Revelation 12 and 13, ends with these words in verse 18, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man; and his number is 666.” Six hundred and sixty-six. There have been more than a few who have relied upon this language, this Revelation 13:18, as their grounds for going on a wild goose chase as to who they believe the Antichrist is, as they use that number to decode the meaning or the identity of the Antichrist. They will go through a number of different numerological formulations, none of which is perfect and all of which have flaws and holes and imperfections in them. A number of folks over the course of church history have used this passage as they try to decode and use numerology and other strategies to present their own candidates for who they are sure the Antichrist is and it all has some connection to their interpretation of this number 666. The candidates include everybody from the the Emperor Nero, to Caligula, to the Roman Catholic Church, to Adolf Hitler, to Henry Kissinger, to JFK, to LBJ, to Ronald Reagan, to Bill Gates. I hate to rain on anyone’s numerological parade, and I hate to burst anybody’s numerological bubble, but this passage, in context seems clearly to be saying that this number, the number of the beast as it’s written here, 666. It will be understood by those who in the Tribulation, will be spiritually wise through their knowledge of Scripture and their relationship to the Lord and their ability to wisely discern that this widely received world figure is not in fact the Christ, but is in fact, a false christ. When the Antichrist rises to power during the Great Tribulation, for those individuals there will be no mistake as to who he is and that he is to be avoided. That number will be a clue for them, a clue that only they know the reason for, as to why that is not a figure that they should follow. We can rest assured as Church-Age Saints today, that though this number, 666, is a mystery to us now it won’t be for those in the Tribulation, for those who have wisdom and understanding. They’ll be able to figure it out. They’ll be able to calculate the number of the beast as it says here in verse 18. They’ll refuse his mark, they’ll refuse to worship him, and then as this text tells us, they will ultimately pay the price for their obedience to the actual Christ with their lives.