Revelation 13 - Part 2

In the second part of Revelation 13, we see another beast emerge this time from the earth. This beast exercised all the authority of the first beast and is a worker of miracles. This is the false prophet who will use the instrument of religion to deceive the whole world. And just as Christ gave power and authority to his disciples to act on his behalf and represent him, the first beast, the antichrist does the same to the false prophet. With the power he now has, the false prophet will perform miracles that will deceive even the elects. Jesus spoke about this period too; “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. " Matthew 24:23‭-‬27 NLT. What does that tell us? The false prophet will be presenting the resurrected antichrist as Christ. It is this false prophet, using the instrument of religion that will also demand that the whole world worship the statue of the antichrist after he is resurrected. He also institutes and demands all to take the mark of the beast. "He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die. He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. " Revelation 13:13‭-‬17 NLT.