Mesa Hills Bible Church

Pastor Tim Dane: We're in Revelation Chapter 13, which unveils to us the final evil empire. It sounds like Star Wars kind of stuff. I saw this article this morning. John Gibson sent me this little news article. The World Health Organization is saying there's going to be a virus that comes along that is 20 times worse than COVID. Is this like planned out? Wouldn't surprise me. I don't want to be a paranoid conspiracy theorist.

So far, we've studied this final godless empire and we've looked at two of three descriptions so far. In verses 1 to 2, you see the makeup of this final evil empire. It tells us that at the end of the age, there's going to be 10 nations that come together in a massive political, military, and economic union. These 10 nations have not yet come together. It says so in Revelation 17:12. It's still future.

Daniel Chapter 2, Daniel Chapter 7, and Revelation Chapter 17 say at the end of the age, 10 nations are going to come together in this massive union, and it is going to be a terrible union. Verses 3 through 10 show us a second aspect of this final world empire, and it is the political leader who gains control of these 10 nations, the guy that we call the Antichrist. Antichrist is a Satan-possessed wicked man that brings ruin to the whole world, especially in those last three and a half years after he was killed and rises again possessed by Satan.

So this guy, the Antichrist, is going to be basically Satan incarnate. He's going to bring great destruction to the world. He's going to try to destroy Israel, and he hates Christians, and he's going to do everything he can to kill Christians. From our study of the text, we learned that he is a future world leader, and we cannot say the Antichrist was in the past. Antichrist was not Nero. He was not Hitler. He was not Mussolini. He was not Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Wilson Reagan. Six letters in each of his names. 6-6-6. No, the Antichrist is a future world leader who seizes control of this block of power, and he uses it for the worst evil this world has ever seen. I've showed you from the Scripture that this must be future. I've taken pains to keep bringing you to things that show us these are future events. This is what the early church believed and taught.

I took us through about 300 years of church history over the past couple weeks, showing you what apostolic fathers and the earliest church fathers all believed in a future tribulation period, a future Antichrist, a future return of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to destroy these powers. When Christ returns, he's going to bring the Kingdom of God to this world. We call this futuristic premillennialism, to put a label on it. This is what the Bible teaches, and this is what the apostles taught, and this is why the early church believed this.

One of the quotes that I gave to you was from Justin Martyr, who said, "But I and every other completely orthodox Christian are certain that there is going to be a return of Christ to bring a thousand-year kingdom on this world just as it was announced by all the prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel." This is what is going to happen in the future. This morning, we're going to look at verses 11 to 18 at a third description of this final world empire, the guy that becomes the Antichrist's right-hand man, his henchman, the guy that the Bible calls the False Prophet.

Verse 11 begins by saying, "And I saw another beast." When he makes this statement, "And I saw," this is another segment of the vision that really began back in Chapter 12 where God is unveiling to John the things that are going to happen in the world. What happens here in verses 11 to 18 is that we get introduced to a third individual that is called the Beast. The first one was the empire itself. The second one is the Antichrist, and the third one is the beast's henchman, the false prophet.

He's called the False Prophet several times. Look over in Chapter 16. Notice when you come down to 16, verse 13. John says, "I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, who is Satan, and out of the mouth of the beast, who is the Antichrist, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs." Again, in Chapter 19, you see this term, this title. Chapter 19, verse 20, says that when Christ returns to this earth and brings an end to these Armageddon battles, it says in verse 20, "The beast was seized, the Antichrist, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image, and these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone."

Here's what's going to happen at the second coming of Jesus Christ. The second coming didn't happen in the past. It didn't happen in the first century. You'll get some people with poor eschatology and they'll say the second coming was in the first century. No, it wasn't. It's future. When Christ returns, he destroys all of the enemy nations that are trying to destroy Israel. That's what's described in Chapter 19, verses 11 through 21.

He takes the Antichrist and the false prophet, brings them into a resurrected state, and casts them into the lake of fire for eternal bodily torment. That didn't happen in the past because it's still future. It also calls the false prophet in Chapter 20, verse 10, because what happens at the end of Chapter 19 when Christ establishes his kingdom on this earth, this kingdom is going to last for a thousand years on this present earth.

Jesus is going to take and bind Satan and all the demons into a place called the bottomless pit. Look at Chapter 20, verse 1. "I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan, and he bound him for a thousand years." A thousand years means a thousand years. It's used six times in six verses. This is not mystical, symbolic, allegorical ideas. God wants to tell us and communicate.

The Bible does use imagery to communicate many different kinds of things, but this is exactly what it means. Jesus comes back, destroys the nations that are trying to destroy Israel, he destroys the Antichrist and false prophet by throwing them into the lake of fire, and then he binds Satan for a thousand years. Verse 3, "He threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed. After this, he must be released for a short time."

If God wants to say a short time, he's capable of saying he's going to be released for a short time. When he says that there's going to be a thousand years, a thousand years doesn't just mean that's a long time. He could say it's going to be a long time. No, a thousand years means a thousand years. Then what happens next after Satan is bound? Verse 4, "Then John sees thrones, and he sees those who sat upon them, and judgment was given to them."

These are the saints of the Old Testament that have been resurrected. These are the church saints that are there in resurrection glory. So the rulership of the millennial kingdom is granted into all of God's resurrected saints. We're going to be there. In Matthew Chapter 19, verse 28, Jesus told the apostles, "You are going to sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel." They're going to have rulership over Israel, the apostles are.

When Christ rules over this world after the tribulation period, there's still going to be whatever the number is, there's going to be a lot of people who do survive the tribulation period, probably in the hundreds of millions or perhaps even billions. We don't know how many. It doesn't tell us. But there's going to be lots of people that survive that have repented and trusted in Christ. They're going to be here in this world in the kingdom, but they're still sinners, and you and I are going to be part of that ruling that Christ is going to accomplish.

So here you have the resurrected saints, and it says judgment was given to them. Then it also includes the people who were killed by the Antichrist and the false prophet. Look at Chapter 20, verse 4. "I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, those who would not worship the beast or his image, and they had not received the mark on their forehead or upon their hand, and they came to life, meaning they were resurrected, and they reigned with Christ for the thousand years."

All of God's saints that have already lived in the past are going to be resurrected and share in the kingdom with Christ. When you look at this world and you say, "I just get mad when I look at the news," what can I do about it? Don't look at the news. Only I find it hard to stop because we live in this world, and so you see the things that are going on. But I'll tell you what. The Bible says when God sends his Son back to this world, he's going to deal with this wicked system because he's going to purge all of the unsaved and he's going to establish a kingdom of righteousness and peace that he himself rules over.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That's our prayer. Notice one last reference here to the false prophet. Notice what happens, verses 7 to 10. At the end of the thousand years, Satan is released for a time. He comes out, he deceives the nations. So there's been people that have been born during that millennial kingdom, born to the people who entered into the millennium, and those children that are born during the millennium, they are going to have to repent and trust in Christ at a personal level.

Many of them will, but many of them will not. So of these unsaved people that are there at the end of the millennium when Satan is released, the demons go out and they stir up a rebellion against Christ, but it's a very short-lived rebellion. Verse 9 says fire comes down and devours them. Then, look at verse 10. "The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

The lake of fire is a place of eternal judgment for all of the demons and all of the unsaved. What you see right here in verse 10, this guy that we're going to learn about in Revelation 13, the false prophet, he has been in the lake of fire for a thousand years with the Antichrist, still alive, still under judgment. Eternal torment is a harsh truth because you and I know people who are going to be in hell. That should stir us with great compassion to bring the gospel to people and pray for them and tell them, "You need to trust in the Lord."

Amen. We're going to learn about the false prophet here in Revelation 13, verses 11 to 18. Let's go ahead and read this passage here, then we're going to pick it back up by looking at four facts about the false prophet. Revelation 13:11, "He says, 'I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all of the authority of the first beast in his presence, the first beast being the Antichrist. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed.'"

"And he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform 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 there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and causes many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed."

"And he causes all, the small, the great, the rich, the poor, and free men, and slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. And he provides that no one should be able to buy or sell except to 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 the number is that of a man, and his number is 666."

Lord, you have shown us what is coming in this world, not everything, but you've shown us many things. Here as we look at the Apocalypse, we see how you have unveiled many events that are going to be absolutely horrific. We thank you for your promise, O Lord, that you're going to keep your church out of that time of tribulation, not because we are any better or deserve it, but that's your plan and purpose. We thank you for giving us an understanding of your plan so that we can trust in you more and that we can be more confident in your word and that we can be better servants of the gospel and sharing it with others.

So use this time this morning to help shape us to be the people that we should be. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. So the first of these four facts about the false prophet would be the character of this guy. When you read about the false prophet, like the Antichrist, he's a bad guy. He's evil. He is what you might say a wolf in sheep's clothing. This is the idea that we see here in verse 11 where John sees this other beast coming up out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb, but he spoke as a dragon.

When you look at the Antichrist back in verses 1 and following and you see how there's these 10 nations that rise up out of the sea and then one man that comes to have control over them, the Antichrist, the empire itself is said to rise up out of the sea and the Antichrist rises up out of the sea to gain control of them. This one right here is said to be a beast who comes up out of the earth. As we try to understand what's going on here, we say, "Is there a distinctiveness here about the former beast, the Antichrist, coming up out of the sea and this one out of the earth?"

It seems like there may be some distinctiveness here that tells us who this individual is. He's an evil man just like the Antichrist, but he's not exactly like the Antichrist. The Antichrist is said to be extremely blasphemous, driven by military desires and extremely vicious. This one here, though, is said to look like a lamb with two little horns. If you think about a little lamb with two little horns, you say, "Well, that's not too frightening. I mean, it's not like having a bull elk chase you down with his giant antlers. These are just two little horns."

But these two little horns that probably convey the idea of something of gentleness is added with the idea that he speaks like a dragon. Of course, the dragon is Satan, and so the wolf in sheep's clothing, I think, is a very appropriate kind of metaphor for what you're looking at in the false prophet. He has some kind of a gentle demeanor on the outside, and yet he is as wicked and vicious and terrible as anything could ever be. Now, the fact that he comes up out of the sea, who is this guy in terms of his background?

The reformers, if you go back 500 years ago when the reformers were fighting the gospel war in European Roman Catholic Europe, they were many times wanting to identify the Antichrist as the papacy, the Pope or the papacy. Who is this guy right here? Could it be that this false prophet is a Pope? I don't know. Could be. The fact, though, that he comes up out of the earth, some writers have said that if the word "sea" back in verses 1 to 2 are symbolizing a giant empire of world power that rises up out of the Gentile world, that this beast who rises up out of the earth could be speaking about a Jewish man, that the false prophet is a Jewish individual.

John Walvoord from Dallas Seminary says some have taken this a specific reference to the promised land. So instead of being rises up out of the earth, it's talking about the land, and that's linguistically possible. They've argued he's a Jew. It is very distinctly possible that the false prophet is of a Jewish background. I wouldn't die on that interpretation because we're looking at kind of like some interpretation issues here, but that very much is a possibility.

In the way that this individual points everybody to worship the Antichrist who doesn't seem to be Jewish, there's not a good reason to say that the Antichrist is Jewish and rises up out of Israel. He rises up somewhere out of the Gentile world. He's a political leader that gains control of these 10 nations in that seven-year tribulation period. But it could be that this false prophet is a Jewish religious leader, maybe a Jewish priest, a Jewish high priest that rises up at that time and says, "He's the one that we need to follow. He's the world leader. He's giving us protection," and he points everybody, including the people of Israel, to give this submission to the Antichrist.

I would just say this. That's not a bad conjecture. It could be. But we have to be careful about those things that are not really explicitly given to us in the Bible. So we can say, "Here's what we do know, here's what may be" on the things that are not clear. It doesn't change our big-picture theology, though, when we look at the things that we don't know. It really doesn't change our big picture.

Now, there's been many speculations about who this false prophet is, just like there's been many speculations about the Antichrist. But none of these things that have happened in history would satisfy what the Bible says is yet future events. None of those things in history. One view that goes all the way back to the second century, held by different early scholars like Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Victorinus, is that this guy spoken of right here in Revelation 13 is the religious assistant or henchman, as Irenaeus called him, of the first beast, the Antichrist.

That's I think what we can say. He's an individual. He's not just a concept. It's not like he's an institution like the papacy, but it is an individual. And one of the reasons why we can say that about the Antichrist, that it is an individual, and the false prophet is an individual, is because Revelation 19 says they both receive resurrection and they're both cast into eternal judgment, lake of fire. Institutions are not judged, but individuals are. Antichrist and false prophet are both two individuals that rise up.

This much is clear. He is going to be a very evil man. He may be this religious figure looking like this little lamb that could be trusted, but he is pure because he's driven by demonic influences just like Antichrist. MacArthur makes some comments on this. He says the false prophet will be Satan's mouthpiece, and thus his message will be like the dragon, Satan, the source of all false religion. The devil's a liar. Jesus said so in John 8:44.

So the only way that we know what is actually true is by saying, "Here's what it says." Now, we know that there's interpretive issues when we study the Bible. That's fair enough. But when you look and you say, "Well, here's what it says in the Bible." So when I'm teaching you right here, I'm going to say, "Look with me at verse 11. Put your finger on it. It really says that. Look over here at this verse. It really says that." And then we carefully try to unfold it.

I remember one of my professors, my Hebrew professor Dave Duell said, "In seminary, what really we're trying to help you to do is to become a careful reader of Scripture." That's really well said. Now, there's all kinds of linguistics studies and grammar and learning languages and hermeneutics, but we're trying to be a careful reader of the Bible. I believe that even if you don't have any kind of background in biblical languages, if you're a careful student of Scripture, you can know what God says.

Vast majority of it. Let's just throw a figure out there and say 90% of it you can say, "I understand this." Maybe 5% you'll say, "I don't know, this is not I'm not too clear on this," and maybe 5% you'll say, "What in the world is this all about?" Then some kind of background sometimes, historical, theological background, will inform you on those other 5 or 10%. You say, "Oh, okay. I see how it fits." But if you just read the Bible.

First fact about the false prophet, his character. He is a demonically driven henchman to the Antichrist. Next, verse 12, the purpose of this man. John says in verse 12, "He exercises all of the authority of the first beast, the Antichrist, in his presence, and he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed." The first beast is the Antichrist. As we learned in verses Revelation 13, verses 3 to 10, it says that the Antichrist, somebody is going to kill him.

But God allows him to come back from the dead. In Revelation Chapter 11, verse 7, he's called the beast who comes up out of the abyss because he dies, he gets killed, he goes to hell, and he comes back to life by God's purpose and design. When he comes back, he comes back possessed by Satan himself, I believe is what we see happening here. He exercises power, but not his own power. He probably is possessed by Satan himself. I'd be willing to bet on that one. Not everything, but seems like that's what's going on.

This is what we see here at the end of verse 12. He's called the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. The false prophet exercises all the power of the Antichrist, but he does it for the purpose of getting men to worship the Antichrist, and he's very successful in getting the world, the unsaved world. By the way, notice who it is that gets deceived. It's those who dwell on the earth, the old earth dwellers that we've learned about.

Eleven times in the book of Revelation, you see this expression, "those who dwell on the earth." It's talking about a Christ-hating world, the unsaved of the world. They just eat up the Antichrist. "Oh, man, he's wonderful. I watch him every night on TV. I love his show. Oh, the false prophet, he's wonderful too. These guys are great." The false prophet gets people to follow the Antichrist and serve and worship the Antichrist. He's very successful in doing it.

Look with me at Chapter 17 for just a minute. Notice what it says down here in verses 12 and 13. These 10 horns which are the 10 nations, Revelation 17, verse 12, "Those 10 horns, these 10 nations that you saw, well, they're 10 kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour." This tells us right here that these 10 nations that come together in this economic, military, political union have not yet happened.

Revelation was written at the end of Domitian's reign. This is extremely clear from church history, extensive documentation from the first, second century, third century that Revelation was written in the year 95 right before Domitian died. So when you get people that say, "Well, Revelation was fulfilled in the first century," no, it wasn't. That's not true. Revelation was the last book of the Bible written, and it says here in Chapter 17, verse 12, that these 10 nations that are going to come together have not yet risen up and come together.

It's still future. So they come together, it says in verse 12. Notice verse 13. "These 10 nations have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast." It is a united effort to say, "Antichrist is the guy. We're going to submit to him, and he has all of our backing 100%." So the false prophet is very successful in getting people to submit to the Antichrist and follow him.

When the whole thing happened a few years ago, the COVID thing, and it just really became really unusual just the way that people were bowing down to the government and telling them what to do. I can remember going to Walmart one day up there, and there was no law saying you had to wear a mask, but I was in Walmart with Shelby and this guy tried to start a fight with me in Walmart because I wasn't wearing a mask. And like he shoved his cart into me. It's like, "Take it easy."

And so when we see this thing, and two different things, but all I'm pointing out is that when you see the way that people are willing to submit to a system. Now, what was happening in the whole COVID thing, let's just say it was a bad virus. And it was a bad virus. But when you look at what's going to happen in the tribulation period, this is stuff that is directly demonic where people are being stirred to submit to the government system. And if you look at it and you say, "But the Antichrist is evil, false prophet's evil, these are demonically driven guys." The whole world says, "Oh, no, no. They're good. Got to submit to them."

Well, this leads us to a third fact about the beast right here, this empire. Verses 13 to 15, the third fact about this false prophet is the power of the false prophet. So look at verse 13 right here. His purpose is to get the world to follow Antichrist, and God grants that this false prophet will have the powers to persuade people to follow. So in verse 13, it says that he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.

Back at Las Vegas Bible Church where I got saved, we had a missionary by the name of Daryl Champlin, a Baptist missionary who served in South America in a place called Suriname. Have you guys ever been there? No? That's probably the only country in the world you haven't been to. But I remember when he was back one time speaking to us, this I was just a member of the church, I wasn't the pastor. But I remember that he told a story where he had kind of a showdown with a witch doctor there.

And the witch doctor was trying to turn everybody away from the gospel and get everybody to keep following his demonic witchcraft. And Daryl said that this witch doctor one day, he called lightning down out of a clear blue sky and brought lightning down. That's weird stuff. And I mean that was like 40 years ago when he told me that story. And it was like, "Okay, this is weird stuff."

This is the kind of thing that the false prophet is going to do. It says he makes fire come down to earth in the presence of men. Now, how should we understand all these things? Are these real miracles that are happening, or is it that somehow these Satan-moved people are simply putting false lying ideas into the minds of the people? I would say that that is a legitimate possibility that they are simply mental deceptions coming right from demonic spirits.

But when you look at what happens in these descriptions of the Bible, the language really is more naturally understood that these are demonically, satanically driven supernatural kinds of phenomena that are taking place. And there's a number of times when we see this in the Bible. So for example, if you think back to Exodus Chapter 7, remember how Moses, how God enabled Moses to do miracles to try to establish him as God's prophet.

Like Moses, put your hand in your jacket, your robe, bring it out, it's got leprosy. Put it back, the leprosy's gone. Throw your staff on the ground, it turns into a serpent. Pick it up, turns back into a staff. Those the language that you see describing these things and when Moses went and performed signs in the presence of Pharaoh, it says his magicians, his court magicians, were able to also perform some kinds of miraculous signs.

And so everybody said, "Oh, you see? That's not so special. Our guys can do that too." And then God had Moses' serpent eat up their serpents and they said, "Wow, we can't do that." But the language that describes these things probably is best taken at its natural face value. These are some kinds of direct supernatural activities. Jesus said in Matthew 24, he said false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders.

In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul said that when the Antichrist comes, he will come with the activity of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders. And when we read about this in Revelation 16:13, a verse we looked at a minute ago, it says that the false prophet comes performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world. So it really looks like these are genuine kinds of supernatural things. Robert Thomas in his commentary says, "John's language in no way implies a sleight-of-hand deceptiveness. The signs are genuine, but they fool people into following lies."

Now, here's something important to remember. Just because there is some kind of supernatural phenomenon, that does not mean it is God. We see this. And here's a real danger in the entire charismatic Pentecostal world. People will say, "Oh, well, this guy made some kind of prediction or this guy did this or that, and it seems like it was some kind of supernatural sign or phenomenon. Therefore, all the things that are happening here must be from God and must be true." That is not true. And that is a really, really dangerous way to operate.

Look with me for just a minute. Keep your place here in Revelation 13. Go back with me to Deuteronomy 13. So we're going to stay in Revelation 13, go back with me to Moses. I'm not as bad as I sound or look. My poor wife had it for a week, plus, no, two weeks. Water helps. Deuteronomy 13. Moses says this: "If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, sign or wonder, some kind of statement, some kind of prophecy, some kind of miraculous some kind of supernatural thing, they give you something that has some kind of extraordinary character to it."

"And the sign or the wonder comes true concerning which he spoke to you saying, 'Let us go after other gods whom you've not known and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow Yahweh your God and fear him. You shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him and cling to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk, so you shall purge the evil from among you."

Wow. Capital punishment. Execute the guy. Even though the person says gives some kind of supernatural thing, sign or wonder. But he's trying to take you away from what God has already said. Just because there's something that has some kind of supernatural character behind it does not mean it is from God. That is something that you need to understand. How many of you ever heard of somebody by the name of Arigo?

Arigo was a Brazilian peasant. He lived from 1921 to 1971, had a third-grade education, worked in labor. When Arigo was about 30 years ago about 30 years of age, he began having hallucinations and would go into these fits. I remember this story because when I lived with my grandparents in Utah, they always had National Geographic and there was an article about Arigo in the bedroom where I slept and they had the National Geographics and I remember reading this thing 50 years ago.

And this guy would have hallucinations and he would begin speaking in German and claim that he was being possessed by a Dr. Adolf Fritz, who was supposedly in this vision was a dead World War II German doctor that died early. And Dr. Fritz said, "Well, I want to work through you." And there were people like New York Times journalists that went down and did stories, and they called this guy the surgeon of the rusty knife because he would do surgeries and bring people in and he would just kind of like look at them and say, "Oh, well, you have a tumor here in the back of your head" and cut their head open and very, very little blood.

And these things he would find things like cancerous tumors. They even had one of the senators of Brazil had a cancer tumor and the guy cut it out of him. And it was just really, really weird stuff. He would speak in German, didn't know German. He would write prescriptions in Latin, didn't know Latin, and strange combinations of drugs that worked. And then this guy had this kind of nightmare that the spirit told him that it was going to leave him and the guy got in a car wreck and then it went on to somebody else and it happened in somebody else's life as well.

I don't have any explanation for that except to say that I believe it's demonic. But literally, they had thousands of people who would come to this guy and he would do these surgeries on them even though he didn't have medical training. They ended up arresting him and putting him in jail, then he finally got pardoned and let out of jail. But Deuteronomy 13 tells you and me something. Just because there is some kind of supernatural phenomenon, this does not mean it is from God.

That is something that you need to understand. So when I look at what the Bible says about issues like apostleship and prophets and the gift of tongues, and the Bible says those things stopped in the apostolic age and you get people today doing all kinds of weird things and you go, "Wow, must be true because this is really an interesting phenomenon." That does not mean it's true. That does not mean it's from God. There may be a phenomenon that is taking place in these circles and you may say, "But I know some of these people and they're really nice," and you may even say, "Yeah, but I've even done that myself."

Well, guess what? We have a very powerful enemy. And what he tries to do is he tries to bring us away from the truth of God's word and he will use anything he can to bring you away from the truth of God's word. Remember the first time that I went to Berlin to teach and also Ukraine in '95? And the day before we left, I had this dream, and I was like sleeping in this really small room with kind of pine paneling, very, very small room. And it was really vivid dream. I thought, "That's kind of weird."

And then about a day or two later, we were in Berlin, we stayed with some missionaries, and they said, "Oh, you're staying up here in this room," and it had this really small roof with in the attic with this pine paneling. I thought, "Okay, this is a little bit weird." I did not try to make anything out of that. I don't know, maybe it was just a random dream. My interpretation of what happened? I think that was Satan knew where I was going to be staying because that was already pre-arranged and gave those thoughts into me in a dream and was wanting me to try to start chasing down the idea of looking for dreams and outside messages.

That's my interpretation of it. I don't know. But I just really, really extreme caution. I caution you about trying to chase down anything outside of what God says in his word. You are on safe ground when you go to what his apostle Paul said in Scripture. Don't chase down those other things. Well, come back here to Revelation 13. Look, the story continues in verse 14. John says that the false prophet deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform 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.

It's interesting. The false prophet uses his powers to have people make an image to the Antichrist and he says, "Now you are to come and worship this thing." And it even says that he gives the power to this image that it would it would speak. What is this image to the beast? Well, one thing is clear. It speaks about it more than several times. It speaks about it numerous times in the book of Revelation. So this image to the beast, this image to the Antichrist, is something significant there in the tribulation period.

One writer says whether this image was in the form of the world ruler himself, the first beast, the Antichrist, or some other object of worship, it doesn't tell us us, but it is a very significant thing. It's something representing the Antichrist, probably his very appearance. Now, where is this image located? One of the things that the Bible tells us repeatedly, numerous times, both in Daniel and in Revelation and even from Jesus and the apostle Paul, is that when the Antichrist comes on the scene, one of the things that the Antichrist is going to do at the midpoint of that seven-year tribulation period, he's going to invade Jerusalem, he's going to come into a rebuilt Jewish temple, and he's going to set up an idol representing himself, an idol called the Abomination of Desolation.

This is spoken of and we as we've gone through Revelation 12 and 13, we've looked at these verses quite a few times. There's going to be some kind of idolatrous image idol that the Antichrist puts into this Jewish temple. And it says that he himself goes into the temple and says, "Hey, you Jews want God? Here I am." So this abomination of desolation is inside of this Jewish temple. Is the image of the beast the same thing, the abomination of desolation?

I would just say, I don't know. Could be. We don't know if those two are the same thing, but it is distinctly possible that when the Antichrist goes into that Jewish temple and does these things and then has some kind of idol set into that Jewish temple, it's very possible that that is not the same thing as this image that is made to the beast that we read about here in Chapter 13. Very possibly these are two different things. Because what happens here in Chapter 13 down here in verse 14, this seems to be very universal.

Look at verse 14. "He deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs that was given to perform 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, verse 15, "It was given to him, the false prophet, to give breath to the image of the beast and that the image of the beast might even speak and causes many as who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed."

So in some way, the false prophet is able to bring some kind of animation to that image so that it speaks. Now, what in the world is going on here? You know, when we look at some of the stuff that's going on in the world, you know, it's possible that some of the stuff we see happening right now is part of it with artificial intelligence. I mean, could it be that they are using technology, maybe even demonically manipulated technology, where you look at artificial intelligence that there's some kind of replica of the Antichrist that now starts to speak and have life?

If we look at what's going on with AI, that could be what's connected to it. I don't know. There's some pretty weird stuff that's being made these days, and what used to be pure science fiction is now becoming actual reality. But this image breathes and speaks and it says that if anybody will not bow down to this image, they'll be put to death. Bow down to the image or you'll be put to death. Well, isn't this also what happened back if you look at the book of Daniel Chapter 3, right?

Nebuchadnezzar makes this giant statue and says, "Okay, everybody, bow down and worship the giant statue. If you don't, we're going to kill you." Now, if you know the cartoons called the VeggieTales, it was a giant chocolate bunny and they had to bow down to the bunny. Bottom line, worship the beast or you die. And that's what we see later on in Chapter 20, verse 4, of verse that we read at the very beginning. It says that those who would not who would not bow down to the Antichrist, he killed them.

So here's what we see so far about the false prophet. Number one, we see his evil character in verse 11. Number two, we see the purpose of the false prophet is to get everybody to follow the Antichrist, verses 12. Verses 13 to 15, we see his power that he's got satanic miraculous power that can direct people to follow the Antichrist. Verses 16 to 18, we come to the fourth fact about this false prophet, and this is the demand that he makes upon all the world.

Bow down to what we tell you to do or suffer the consequences. And those consequences are twofold. One, you're not going to be allowed to buy or sell. Come into our store and you're not wearing the mask, the mark. Don't have your mask on? We're not going to do business with you. That was where it was getting so weird. You don't have the mark, you can't buy or sell, and if you don't wear take the mark on your body and we catch you, we're going to kill you.

So look down here what we see how this comes out in verse 16. And you know when we look at this stuff, we should not try to explain it away or allegorize it or just say that there's some kind of allegorical idea behind it. What it says right here, and the reason why I say that to you is because some people do that. "Oh, well, that doesn't really mean that." What does it mean? I don't know. Here's what it says. Kind of like we were watching in our creation class last Thursday night a video by Ken Ham talking about the six days of creation.

He says he was talking to somebody one time and they said, "Well, you know, day doesn't have to mean day." He goes, "Yeah, but it can." And he said and they said, "Well, it doesn't have to mean day. It could mean maybe like a long time ago." He goes, "But it can mean day, like six days he made the heavens and the earth." So when we look at what language says, we should always say, "What is the natural understanding of it in a given context?"

There's nothing in this for me at all in any way whatsoever that causes me to look at these things and say, "Well, this is just some kind of mystical, allegorical idea." No, you're going to be forced to get a mark. So look at verse 16. "He causes all the small, all, small and the great, rich and the poor, free men and slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead." Very universal here, all. Nobody's excluded. You get this mark on your right hand or your forehead, very noticeable, very conspicuous, able to see.

Now, if you look at this and you say, "Well, this is really just so far-fetched." Far-fetched? Not at all. I'm tell again, we go back just three years ago and we see three, four years ago the stuff where it was just getting so oppressive over a virus, you know, a cold, tough cold. Almost lost my daughter to it. But this is going to happen. It's going to be insane. Look at verse 17. "He provides that no one will be able to buy or sell except the one that has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name."

No mark, no business. No mark, no Big Mac. It could be the name of the beast or a number that corresponds to his name. So here's what you're going to have. You're going to have it on your right hand, the name of the Antichrist or a number that corresponds to his name. You know, I like doing this. I do this all the time in the stores, you know, when they say, "Oh, yeah, you just tap your card right here." And, you know, I'll just say, "You know, man, maybe one day they'll just have it so that you've got it on your forehead and you just do that."

And a lot of the people kind of give me a funny look, you know. But the Christians say, "Oh, yeah, it's in the Bible." But most of them say, you know, just kind of joke off or laugh at it. But it gives you an opportunity to say, "Okay, that's exactly what it says in Revelation 13:17," and then you can give them the gospel, you know. Well, it must have seemed far-fetched to people living 1,900 years ago that this kind of thing would ever be, and yet we are watching it unfold before our eyes that we say, "Oh, I understand how this could be."

Now, about 30 years ago, you know, I was in finance, you know, before I came into ministry, and so used to like to invest and buy stock. I had this one stock in a company called American Digital Solutions from Palm Bay, Florida, and they made human implantable chips that had all the information on it, banking information, medical information, GPS capability. I thought, "Well, we we've got it in the Bible here. This an inside information. This is going to be a good kind of stock to own."

I ended up losing money on it. But but even back then, back in the early '90s, this had the ability to basically do everything for you including financial transactions. And I remember one article from Miami Beach where it said that, you know, people were taking these and they could go into like the lounges, the bars, the discos, and they could just swipe their hand and buy stuff. And it had FDA approval 30 years ago. They were using it heavily in South America where you have things like kidnapping children, child kidnapping.

Now, you know, what's happened in the last 30 years is way beyond what was going on back then. And I don't know exactly what this mark of the beast is, okay? But this is what it says in God's word. You take a mark, otherwise you can't buy or sell. And it's something that everybody is forced to do. You know, could it be that the further evolving of technology like these QR codes, right? You see those little squares with all of the information, you know, like a QR code that is the name of the Antichrist or a number that corresponds? Could be.

Now, I don't believe that that mark of the beast can be in place until you have the beast. I don't believe that you can have the mark of the beast happening before the tribulation period with the rise of the Antichrist. So if you're afraid to let's say have a card with a chip on it or something like that, I don't think you need to worry about that. I would say this, though. If I were you, I would not at all allow somebody to put a mark on your body, even if we're not here in the tribulation period. Wouldn't do that.

Well, notice here verse 18. It says here, "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man, his number is 666." Well, this is not clear. And as you look at the last 2,000 years, you've had multiple ideas that have been put out there. You know, some believe it's a form of kind of numerology or gematria. We just don't know what that exactly represents except for the fact that it's a number that corresponds to the name of the Antichrist, who we don't know and I don't believe that we are going to know who the Antichrist is.

If you belong to Christ, the Bible says you're going to be taken into glory and rapture and resurrection before he rises on the scene. He cannot be revealed until the church is raptured. So don't worry about that one. John Walvoord says countless attempts have been made to interpret this 666, usually referring to some kind of numerical equivalent in Hebrew, Greek, or other languages. As there probably have been hundreds of explanations continuing down to the present day, it's obvious that if the number refers to an individual, we don't know who it is.

Another writer said the better part of wisdom is to be content that the identification is not yet available, but that will be known when the Antichrist rises up. It is going to happen just as God says it's going to happen. I think it's just clear. It's going to happen. And you know when I read the Bible to you and I explain it, I'm not giving you a sensational this is not sensational kinds of stuff, you know. Now, some people they they mock the Bible, they mock this truth, and they should not do that, you know.

Now, they may look at, you know, some popular books or movies like The Left Behind and say, "Oh, well, this stuff is just so silly." All right. Maybe, you know, there is some dramatizing, maybe there's some things in these movies or books that aren't exactly biblical. But what they do is they basically mock the idea that these events are going to happen in the future. They should not do that. Because this is the Word of God and God says these things are going to happen. Even if we don't know everything, it is going to happen.

So what do we do with all this? Let me give you three points of application. Number one, don't live in fear. These things are going to happen, you're not going to stop it, there is going to be a massive block of world power that rises up at the end of the age, and we're not going to stop it. We can't come together and say, "Let's fight against all these things." I saw this news article this morning, we're going to close it up here in one minute. But this news article talked about how much land China is buying, farmland, United States farmland.

Are you guys aware of this? Massive amounts of farmland, and most of it is near military installations. I don't think we should be doing that. If I were the President, I'd say, "We're taking that all back. Now we'll cash you out if you paid some money, we'll give you the money, but you're out of here. We can't buy land in China." But whatever is going to happen in terms of world politics and the shifting of world power, you and I are not going to stop it. Nobody is going to stop what has to happen at the end of the age because this is what God says is going to happen.

But don't be afraid. Number two, do what you can do and this is to bring people into God's kingdom by preaching Jesus Christ, okay? This is what we are commanded to do is to not be afraid but to go into the world and preach the gospel so that men might hear, believe, get saved, and come into the church. And this church, when Christ returns, we're going to be in his kingdom with him in glory. That is our calling. Our calling never in the Bible is to fix a sin-cursed world.

You and I can't fix a sin-cursed world. Christ is going to do that. The Bible says Christ is going to do that when he returns. So we preach, God saves, and he's the savior, but we're the messengers. Here's the third thing you can do. Pray that these things would come to their culmination. Jesus said, "Here's how you should pray: 'Hallowed be your name, O God. May your name be seen as holy in the whole world. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'" Preach the gospel and pray for Christ to return. Amen? Father, help us to remember that you have a plan and purpose, and there's going to be a whole lot of stuff that's going to be really terrible in the outworking of that because of Satan and sin. But we must not be afraid. We must trust in you and be faithful to what you've called us to do. So help us, O Lord, to be faithful in what you've told us to do, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.