The Second Beast of Revelation 13

 In this article I will be revealing the identity of the second beast. If you have not read my previous article identifying the first beast, please do so now. In my first article I explained the first 12 verses of Revelation 13 where I identified the first beast as “the law of sin.” Our clue as to the identity of these beasts comes from Romans 5 through 8. The first beast is revealed thusly: “For without the law sin was dead,” (this is the beast with his head wounded to death.) “…but when the commandment came, sin revived…” (His deadly wound was healed)…[Rom 7: 8, 9].

Now to reveal the second beast: 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. This beast works in conjunction with the first beast and his name is Death. Sin and death go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. Wherever there is sin (which is everywhere), there is death. If it were not for sin, death would not exist. The rest of Rev. 13 shows how these two work together to affect the lives of every living creature on earth.

Some people reading this article may think it too technical to hold their interest. However, we need to keep in mind that the truths revealed here that have been hidden in Scripture until the end times when they would be needed, will require some deep exegesis for their secrets to be fully revealed. God kept the interpretation of these scriptures hidden from the church and yet available for a reason. He is going to show us some things about sin and death that could only be known by the church of the end times who will soon to be facing the greatest sin of all time coupled with the most death the world has ever seen, but God has great hope for us all in the book of Revelation. Later on in this book, we will see that these beasts are cast into the lake of fire. While we, the church, face these greatest evils of all time, we will also find ourselves overcoming sin and death in this life.

We will soon face the end of civilization as we have known it. America, the last great bastion of freedom, is soon to lose all her freedom. What hope will there be for the world then? There will be a people, a people who have been hidden away in God for decades, who will come forth triumphant over these two beasts, who will bring great hope, ministry and encouragement to all who will receive them.

I want to point out something very important here. When we read that the beasts are cast into the lake of fire (the second beast is also known as the false prophet), if we are looking at the scripture with an outward interpretation, we will think of it as happening once and for all for all people. However, with our inward interpretation, we can see that this happens individually according to our own maturing into God’s kingdom. When I am ready, God will cast sin and death in me into the lake of fire. Then I, still living on earth but fully realizing my citizenship in heaven, will be able to perform miracles such as Jesus performed. In fact, he promises in John that we will do even greater works than he did because he has gone to be with the Father.

As we saw in my first article, the first beast (the law of sin) rises up out of the sea…the sea being the restless desires of the flesh. This second beast is coming up out of the earth. The earth represents our body because Adam was created from the dust of the earth. Death dwells in the body. Not only is there physical death, but there is also spiritual death for those who are not true believers in Jesus Christ. Jesus overcame death for all who would believe in him. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb. 2:14, 15). As we shall soon see, the Devil is also revealed later in this Revelation passage where he is shown as he is related to death.

Jesus overcame death for us all; however, the physical body still dies. We go to heaven in our spiritual body when we die, but our natural body is buried here. Those of us living at this present time, who are facing the end of all things as we have known them, have something greater to look forward to. 1 Cor 15 tells us that there comes a time when “this mortal will put on immortality.” Let’s look at that passage now: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor 15:53, 54).

This is what we have to look forward to, but only if we are totally sold out and committed to Jesus Christ in every area of our life. This world is going to be completely filled with violence, death and all the evils of the totalitarian rule of the Antichrist. It is falling upon us rapidly. Don’t expect to see some man stand up and identify himself as the ruler of the world before this all happens. It is all happening right now. Just for one example, if you don’t know about the law recently passed by congress known as S510, stop and google it now. It involves total control of our food supply by global organizations making it a crime to even own seed or have a little vegetable stand where you sell garden produce to your neighbors. Some are saying it will even be against the law to have a vegetable garden in your own backyard. There is only one reason for this law…and they’re not going to tell us what it is. Those individuals who are controlling governments behind the scenes want us all dead. The quickest and easiest way to do it is to let us all starve to death. They can also fill our food with poisons to make us weak and sickly. This is also going on now.

There are laws being passed and implemented that will make it against the law to possess any food that is not regulated by the government. All the things that poison our food will be required by law to be used by food growers…pesticides, hormones, genetically manipulated organisms, irradiation, and slaughter house feed for animals. They are using widespread news stories about outbreaks of salmonella, e-coli, etc. to frighten everyone into receiving their laws when they implement them. Who are the “they” that are doing all this? The mega drug companies who lobby governments and use big money to push their way around. Often the congressmen voting for these measures don’t really understand the ramifications of their actions.

What can we do about this? Can we get our congressmen to make changes that will help us? Can we depend on our government to make things right and fair? Absolutely not! All we can do is press into the kingdom of God. That is our only hope. We must draw close to Jesus, pursue him until we become like him and then we will enter into his kingdom even as we live on this earth. I have revealed many details about how this will happen in my book The Four Living Creatures available on this site. I can’t describe this now because it needs to be seen as it is presented in Scripture, otherwise it would sound like my own opinion or mere conjecture. The Four Living Creatures takes every verse of Ezekiel 1 and shows precisely how God will be working in us to bring us into a higher heavenly realm.

So…getting back to our scripture, we see that this second beast is death. The last half of Rev 13:11 confirms this because he has “two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon.” Two…(as stated in my previous article, numbers are to be interpreted according to their spiritual meaning rather than denoting how many)…two has more than one spiritual meaning, one of them being “ruin and desolation,” (see E.W. Bullinger Number in Scripture). Horns are representative of power. Therefore, “two horns” means he has destructive power. “Like a lamb” also refers to death because lambs are symbolic of death in Scripture (Isa 53:7, Gen 22:8).

This second beast “spake as a dragon.” Satan is identified as the dragon in Rev. 20:2. How does the Devil speak? With lies. The Devil is described as one who was a liar from the beginning. So we see that death lies. And what is his basic lie?…that life ends with physical death. When you’re dead, you’re dead. There is no life after death. People who believe this lie are not happy people because they have no hope. The glorious message Jesus has for our lost and dying world is eternal life. The Christian will not die ultimately because at physical death, he/she goes to be with Jesus in their spiritual body. The physical part will be administered at the end when we receive our glorified bodies.

To sum up my interpretation of 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: I was made aware of death rising up from the physical body with great destructive power. This destructive power of death had sent forth a false message that there is no life after physical death.

As we continue on with our study of Revelation 13, I will be able to show how all these verses flow together to demonstrate how sin and death work together in the Devil’s efforts to destroy humanity and all of God’s creation.

Here we see that the second beast, death, has all the power of the first beast, sin. This is clearly seen in Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Let’s look at that in NLT:

When Adam sinned, death entered the entire human race. (This is the power of the first beast.) Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone. (This is the power of the second beast who “exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.”) They have the same power in that both of them have spread to all humanity. However, death could not have done this on its own. There had to be sin first before there could be death.

The next part of Rev. 13:12 states that the second beast causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. According to my interpretation, death (the second beast) causes us to bow down to sin (the first beast). The Bible states that the fear of death has kept us all in bondage (Heb. 2:15). Fear of death holds us in bondage to sin because fear in itself is sin. Fear of death can lead us to succumb to the lusts of the flesh…lusting for food, sex, etc. which are things necessary to keep us from death.

Moving right along, let’s look at the next verse, Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

There are many places in Scripture where fire has fallen from heaven. Fire fell from heaven upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah killing everyone.  When Ahaziah sent companies of 50 men each after Elijah, Elijah called fire down from heaven that destroyed all the men in each company (except the last one). Fire fell from heaven and consumed Job’s servants and his sheep. In short, when fire falls from heaven, people and animals die. Fire falling from heaven is God’s judgment on sin, so this lines up perfectly with my interpretation that the second beast is death. The judgment of God on sin is death (Rom 6:23).

The first clause of this verse says, he doeth great wonders. This word “wonders,” semeion in Greek, can be translated as “a sign, a mark, or a token.” The sign, mark or token of death comes to us all with wrinkles, gray hair, weakness of body, accidents and sickness. All these things are seen by humans everywhere (in the sight of men) as signs (wonders) that we all eventually die.

Now to uncover the mystery of the image…Rev 13:14 And 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. Here we see that death tells us to make an image to sin. An image is a likeness. We have all made an image to sin in that we have all formed a carnal mind to a certain extent. The image to the beast is actually the carnal mind, and the carnal mind is focused on sin. Sin is what enables death to exist. So, of course, death wants us all to have a carnal mind,  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Rom 8:6, 7).

The Bible makes very clear to us what the carnal mind is like. Out of the carnal mind come forth all the following sins: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin (Gal 5:19-21 NLT). The next verse in Revelation reveals more about the carnal mind.

Rev 13:15 And 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.

Here we see that death (the second beast) gives life to the carnal mind (the image of the first beast which is sin). In Deuteronomy Moses encouraged the people to follow God when he said, Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call upon heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (Deut 30:19, 20 NLT).

We are surrounded with things that represent life or death, and daily we make decisions regarding which things we will allow into our life. Certain things that represent death feed our carnal mind thereby giving it life that actually results in our death. Other things feed our spiritual mind and bring us life. We must choose.

The things that I speak will come forth from my carnal mind (the image of the beast speaks) if that is what I have been giving power to via my decisions. However, if I decide I am not going to bow down to my carnal mind, if I refuse to do and say what it is trying to lead me to do or say, I will die to self (and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.)

People all over the world, even Christians, are right now bowing down to the image of the beast and don’t even know they are doing it. When we live according to the dictates of our carnal mind, we are submitting to sin…we are bowing to the image of the beast. The Church has been very weak and ineffectual in the western world today because of this very thing. Christians are involved in just as much carnal behavior as the rest of the society to the point it is impossible to determine any difference between the Christians and the non-Christians. For this reason, we should not be surprised by the devastation that comes upon us as we progress further into these end times. God is going to judge his church first and it is not going to be pretty! We have been granted more grace and more opportunities to follow God than any people who have ever lived, and yet we have squandered it all on our pursuit of pleasure and materialism. However, God does have a remnant who has not bowed to this evil image. They can expect to enter into his kingdom and find great peace and safety in the midst of the turmoil and death that will engulf our nation and the whole world.

And now we will finish this chapter as we look at the meaning of the mark of the beast:

Rev 13:16, 17 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Are we going to be forced to take a literal mark on our forehead or hand? I don’t know for certain, but I think people are receiving the mark even now and don’t even know it. The enemy of our souls is very subtle. He works his way into our lives without our even knowing it because our spiritual senses have become dulled by our participation in worldly things. We are marked spiritually by our thoughts (head) and actions (hand). I believe that we are all even now marked according to how we have been living. We either have the mark of the beast or the mark of God upon us.

There was another kind of mark on someone’s forehead in the Old Testament. Aaron wore a gold plate upon his forehead that had “Holiness to the Lord” engraved on it. He had this on his forehead when he entered the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle where God dwelt. If we are to enter into the presence of the Lord in these end times, we must have holiness of mind and purity of heart, but we won’t have a literal gold plate on our forehead.

In Ezekiel 9, there is an account of people who were righteous receiving a mark on their foreheads that protected them from death while those without the mark were slain in God’s judgment. I suspect that this mark indicates a spiritual condition rather than an outward physical sign that can be seen with the natural eye.

What does the mark of the beast have to do with buying and selling if it is something spiritual? Simply this: Our world is becoming so corrupt that in order to hold down a job, many Christians are being challenged to either violate their conscience or be insubordinate toward their employer. Insubordination will result in the loss of a job. With no income, one has no money to buy anything.

Here are a few examples of how this works:

 So we see that the mark of the beast is not necessarily a literal mark, but it has everything to do with whether or not we are will tolerate within ourselves a carnal mind or live according to its dictates. If we are to live lives of holiness before the Lord, we may have to forfeit our job. Then we can neither buy nor sell.

And now for the number 666:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

“Six” is the number of man in opposition to God. “Three” is the number of completeness, so in “666” we have the completeness of man in opposition to God. In other words, it represents the greatest evil ever known in all of history. That is what is going to come forth in these end times…evil such as humankind as never before seen. It will come forth out of the carnal mind of humankind empowered by the Devil that will result in tremendous death and destruction on a scale never before known. Now that we are a “global community” things that used to happen in isolated places will now occur all over the world as the Antichrist begins to establish his rule over the world. Economic collapse in one country will affect the economies of many nations. At some point it will all fall.

There will be no place on earth where the Antichrist’s influence will not be experienced. There is no place left on earth where anyone will be able to hide from him. We are all under the surveillance cameras of satellites in space. You can “google” your phone number or address and immediately come up with a picture of your house and even your car parked in your driveway all from outer space.

So where can we go? What can we do? We can enter the kingdom of God. That is the only place left to go. We must be free from the influence of our carnal mind in order to go there. When we refuse the mark of the beast, meaning when we refuse to live according to the dictates of our carnal mind and allow God to put it to death via the cross, we will be on our way into the kingdom.