Chapter 21

In the previous chapter, we conclusively identified the beast as the Church of Rome, i.e. the Catholic Church. Therefore, we are now in a better position to determine what the mark of the beast is and the image to the beast. And in that context, we find ourselves confronted with a lamb-like beast and a false prophet.

Rev. 14:9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, ¹⁰ he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."
     ¹² This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
     ¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."
     "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."

Rev. 15:1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues --last, because with them God's wrath is completed. ² And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God

Rev. 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." ² The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.

Rev. 16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. ¹³ Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
     ¹⁵ "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
     ¹⁶ Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Rev. 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Rev. 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
     ⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
     ⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth --Gog and Magog --to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

COMMENTARY

First let's look at the "another beast" that sets up the image to the first beast. Remember that a symbolic beast or horn, represents a kingdom or a king/leader. Three times John mentions scenes in which an entity performs miraculous signs on behalf of or in conjunction with the first beast. Let's review them:

Rev. 13:11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. ¹² He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.
¹⁴ Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.

Rev. 16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. ¹³ Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.

Rev. 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Note several things: 1) the false prophet is never introduced or explained, it just abruptly appears on the scene. It's taken for granted that students of Revelation will understand 2) that the "another beast" and the false prophet are one and the same. Both perform miraculous signs on behalf of the beast, and both deceive the world into receiving the mark of the beast and worshiping the image of the first beast. Together, the false prophet/another beast and the first beast (along with the dragon) gather the kings of the world for battle against God, and together, the two of them are thrown into the lake of burning sulfur.

You will recall that Elijah was a prophet of God. At the test on Mt. Carmel between God and Baal, God responded by sending fire from heaven to demonstrate that He is God. The demonic powers behind Baal, Satan and his angels, were forced to remain silent.

In this what I call the apocalyptic "Clash of the Titans" or prophets, both the false prophet and the two witnesses (prophets for God) can make fire come down from heaven in the full sight of men.

Let's continue on:

Rev. 13:11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. ¹² He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. ¹⁴ Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.

This "another beast" or false prophet comes out of the earth. In the prophecy of Revelation 17, the angel explained what the symbol of waters is:

In contrast, we can compare the symbol of the "earth" from which this beast arises to be the "lack of peoples, multitudes, nations and languages", i.e. it arises from a unpopulated area.

Thus, we may interpret the nation or power represented by the two-horned beast/false prophet to arise from an unpopulated area.

From the statement that "He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast", we recognize this nation to be a superpower.

The only nation on the face of the earth that meets these two criteria is the United States of America, the last remaining superpower.

The statement that, " He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon" states that at first this nation appeared as a lamb, peaceful and benign, but somewhere along the way, it begins to manifest the characteristics of Satan.

Satan has always used deception and coercion as two of his trademarks to get angels and humans to join in his rebellion against God.

From the quotes we read earlier, we see that this nation/power uses miraculous signs to deceive/delude the earth. It also attempts to coerce or force everyone under penalty of death into receiving the mark of the beast and worshiping the image that it sets up to the first beast.

Both of these characteristics are certainly dragon-like.

Incidentally, since the United Nations was originally set up 1) in part by Americans, 2) on American soil, and 3) the U.S. funds a large part of the United Nations budget, 4) has extensive veto power, 5) plays a dominant role in the UN military structure, and 5) its currency, the U.S. dollar, is the common denominator to the world's currency, to most of the world, the UN is seen as an extension of the United States. Through the UN's laws and charter, and the various international treaties that have been signed, the U.S.A. and the UN's influence has spread worldwide. Additionally, through international treaties, the President (who has treaty making powers) has subrogated the constitutional rights of the American people to the dictates of the international community. Thus, many of the constitutional rights that we as a nation have enjoyed are no longer effectually there. Whole books have been written on this subject, so I won't go further into that here. You can do the research if you wish.

Even as the Roman Church's power was extensive, so this nation eventually exerts its power on behalf of the Roman Church.

Rev. 13:12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. ¹⁴ Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.

Note that verse 12 says that he made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. Worship in this context not only means to bow the knee to, but it also includes: to honor and respect, to obey, to defer to, to behave in accordance with the wishes, traditions or commands of that entity.

Let's look at another prophecy concerning this worship of a false god at the end of time.

The United States, probably through the United Nations, will make the world honor and obey the commands of the Roman Church, thereby giving credence to commands which have no basis in scripture, but only in tradition. And the inhabitants of the world in obeying those traditions, they will be "worshipping" the beast. And to support this nation's contention that it is right in coercing the world to worship the beast, this nation will be able to bring fire down from heaven in the full sight of men. This certainly could be bombs dropped from aircraft, laser or particle beams from aircraft or satellite concentrators, or some leader could actually call fire from heaven as Elijah did. The effect is still the same. The world is deceived and obeys its commands to worship the first beast.

Note what the U.S. does.

14 He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. ¹⁶ He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

The U.S./UN orders the world to set up an image in honor of the Roman Church. Furthermore, the U.S./UN gives legal teeth to this image so that all who refuse to worship the image are to be killed. Furthermore, to insure compliance with this requirement, it sets up a world wide identification system so that the compliance of each individual, whether small or great, rich or poor, free or slave, can be verified.

And to make sure that no one refuses to receive the mark, it sets up a law that no one can buy or sell unless they have this mark.

Let's look at the image and the mark in detail.