[The article below is a 20-page excerpt from the second edition of my 576-page commentary on the Book of Revelation, which will be published in physical paperback format. The whole book has been expanded by more than 17,000 words from the first edition (a more than 8% increase). This excerpt has also been expanded muchly from its first presentation. In fact, it is so up-to-date that it contains a good deal of material which has not been seen even by the proofreaders. (So if you spot a mistake, please let me know!). I hope you will find this wideranging extract informative and that it will encourage you to place an order for the upcoming book, due hopefully by the end of October. More details at the foot of this post].

“Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon. And this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast and caused the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. And the second beast performed great signs to cause even fire from heaven to come down to earth in the presence of the people. Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived. The second beast was permitted to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship it to be killed” (Revelation 13:11-15).

Introduction

In the previous section dealing with the first beast, we have already seen how that “beast rising out of the sea” is a symbol of the manner in which Satan uses enforcement through ‘beast-government’ and empire to further the goals of his kingdom-building throughout this age, culminating in the revealing of the Antichrist. Now we begin to examine the nature of the “beast rising out of the earth”.

So, the first question to be asked is this: Are there actually two completely different beasts — one from the sea and one from the earth — which would ultimately mean the revealing of two separate Antichrists? No. That cannot be, as we will see. Each of the two beasts is a symbol of a different aspect of the ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ and the satanic world-system — two sides of the same coin, as it were. Thus, as we have already shown, the beast out of the sea — the first beast — is the political, governmental, and administrative aspect of the enforcement of Satan’s kingdom-building across the planet, leading to the creation of a global government. Whereas the beast out of the earth, the second beast, involves all the ‘spirit of the antichrist’ influences in society of a false religious nature, godless philosophy and science — along with the unethical use of technology — which will endorse, prop up and advocate the first. Therefore, the second beast provides the undergirding religio-philosophical rationale and the scientific foundation for the whole political beast-system.

For just as the world is building up politically and administratively to a global government, so it is also building up to the creation of interfaith globalist religion to support that global government, along with advances in science and the unethical use of technology which will be used to further that process. The two beasts stand together like twins. The reason that we know it is really just one beast — two in one — is because right at the end of chapter 13, John says, “Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast”, rather than ‘of the two beasts’. There is just one beast whose number needs calculating (which we will examine in §8 of this present chapter). Thus, the use of two beasts is simply a symbolic literary-prophetic device to characterise the satanic world-system and reveal the full comprehensiveness of its nature.

Let’s just put together the second beast’s credentials from this text:

  • It has two horns like a lamb, yet its words are those of a dragon.
  • It instigates adulation for the first beast, which actually also means instigating adulation for Satan, as we saw in verse 4 of our text in Revelation 13 that the whole world revered not only the beast but also “they worshipped the dragon who had given authority to the beast”.
  • It performs false miracles with the intention of deceiving people across the earth into adulating the beast. We know that they are ‘false’ because the apostle Paul says: “The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and pseudo-wonder, and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
  • It tells people to make an image to the beast that had been wounded yet comes back to life. (We already covered that remarkable recovery in an earlier section).
  • It even makes that image appear to come to life and then forces everyone to adulate that image on pain of death.

Before going into each of these aspects, what is important to realise here is that the beast as a whole entity is not merely an Endtimes phenomenon. Just as we saw earlier in the Book of Revelation, with the seals being progressively revealed, along with such elements as the four horsemen being age-long phenomena, so in the same way beast-government and beast-religion, pseudo-spirituality, godless philosophy and science are also operational throughout the entire age as the ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ but coming to a global climax as the end of the age approaches — especially when the restraints have been taken away by God — with the subsequent revealing of the Antichrist as the pinnacle of the double-beast phenomenon. If I can put it like this: ‘Beastism’ in history is a process rising to a climax rather than merely a conclusion in itself. That process is what this thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation is all about. It involves the monstrous repeated attempts by Satan throughout the age to establish his earthly kingdom through the nations. It manifested in John’s day through the awful excesses of the Roman empire.

However, Satan has been restrained from the final accomplishment of his kingdom in its absolute fullness throughout this age; although he has been able to prepare for it and achieve it in lesser ways — just not at the global one-world government level. Yet! However, as we will see when we look at chapter 20 of The Book — where that restraint is symbolised in the figure of “one thousand years” (signifying the Age of the Ekklesia), during which Satan is said to be symbolically chained in the Abyss to prevent him being able to deceive the nations into a full-blown global jamboree — there will come a time when he will be loosed from that restraint and will savagely put together his global empire through a one-world government with the support, enablement, and endorsement from false religious, pseudo-spiritual, godless philosophical and scientific (especially technological) enterprise. It is this mass “deceiving of the nations” achievement into a global confederation from which he has especially been restrained throughout the Gospel Age, the Age of the Ekklesia. (There will be much more detail about all this in chapter 9 of this commentary). Only then will the revealing of the fullness of ‘beastism’ and of fallen, untransformed humanity’s highest possible achievement finally be realised through the global one-world kingdom and empire of the Antichrist.

The Beast as Counterfeiting Christ Like an Angel of Light

So, because there is a sense in which ‘beastism’ has been operational throughout this age, the “two horns like a lamb” and ‘speech like a dragon’ which describe the second beast refer to Satan’s ability through human government and especially through religion to appear as an angel-of-christlike light (as it says in our text, ‘like a lamb’), yet really being a satanic impostor (with ‘speech like a dragon’). The dragon in The Book, as we now know, is none other than Satan. This is another way of saying ‘like a dragon in sheep’s clothing’. That false christ presentation has happened repeatedly down the age, which Christ Himself referred to when He said, “For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:5), and when He spoke of the time when “false prophets will arise and mislead many” (Matthew 24:11), and when He said that “false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible” (Matthew 24:24). This is also why the second beast out of the earth is described as the “false prophet” in Revelation 16:13 & 20:10. World religions, pseudo-spirituality, philosophy, and science, if they do not promote the truth about Christ having come in the flesh, are actually false prophecy. In this way, the work of the second beast involves false prophecy, hence the title of “false prophet” for the second beast. Apostate religion and philosophy — that is, any religious, spiritual, scientific, or technological endeavour which does not acknowledge that Christ has come in the flesh as saviour of the world — is a major feature of the apocalypse. For that apocalypse (which is the revelation of Jesus the Christ) must inevitably also reveal the counterfeit ‘christs’ as quoted above from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24. When the Antichrist is revealed as the final manifestation of ‘beastness’, he will surely be the ultimate ‘false christ’, even claiming that he is the real returned Christ and asserting that this is what has always been meant by the term which speaks of the true Christ as ‘coming again’.

Once more, I must stress that this beast-process is really an age-long phenomenon — beginning after the fallen archangel, Satan, was completely kicked out of heaven as a result of the ascension of Christ (for he was then filled with fury, Revelation 12:12, and became monstrous) — and then escalating throughout the age until it climaxes at the end of this age in the ultimate counterfeit christ, the Antichrist, energized by Satan, who we know will perform “signs and pseudo-miracles” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Remember that the beast as a whole is a monster — a furiously monstrous imposture in the world; and the monstrousness of this beast is just as relevant for us now as it was for John in his day. I say this because there are those who claim that all the prophecy in the Book of Revelation was fulfilled in John’s time at the end of the first century AD, or that it is all awaiting fulfilment in the Endtimes. Both of those claims are false. When one understands how the ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ and the ‘mystery of lawlessness’ operate, then one cannot hold to those false claims anymore, recognising that these prophecies are part of an age-long process which comes to a climax as the end of the age draws near.

The false church, along with many other phony religious enterprises, will inevitably be a part of the process symbolised by the second beast — ultimately so when the process comes to a climax in endorsing and supporting the one-world government of the Antichrist, just as it has always propped up dictators and tyrannical regimes, as well as pseudo-democratic ones, never rocking the boat, but just there to be a sycophantic courtier (and courtesan) to the state.

How often has the false church propped up beast-government and even been a part of it? It has even conducted its own cruel pogroms under the guise of ‘inquisitions’ or armed ‘crusades’. One even saw that unquestioning support for corrupt government in recent times, when ecclesiastical authorities in many countries meekly endorsed their government’s strategy for the pandemic and indiscriminate Covid-19 vaccine rollout, which was an assault on one’s God-given body. [NB: If you dispute that, then try reading this superb November 2021 article by Dean Davis, who shows with courage and great lucidity how disciples of Christ do not have to submit meekly to governments which impose corrupt mandates on a population. Here is the link:  https://www.clr4u.org/covid-19-vaccines-and-vaccination-mandates-how-should-christians-respond/ . If that link has been taken down (as it has been a number of times), then try this: https://theaquilareport.com/covid-19-vaccines-and-vaccination-mandates-how-should-christians-respond/ .]

The Ekklesia was never meant to be a world religion, nevermind having its own state called the Vatican! The very idea of a state church, with the church being controlled by the state, is a reprehensible anathema for which many will be judged. That ‘harlot’ church will very fittingly be destroyed along with the whole satanic system of ‘beastness’, otherwise known spiritually as ‘Babylon’ (as we will discover in chapters 17 and 18 in the Book of Revelation).

The Two Beasts are One

This satanic “double-beastness” involving a coalition between a one-world government and corrupt global religion, philosophy, and science will be the culmination of the entire thrust of humanity in its hubristic, narcissistic outburst on a political and religious level against Christ and the true Divine. It has been in embryonic form for centuries. When we take these two beasts in parallel with the section about the “man of lawlessness” in Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica, we can see that what we can call ‘beast-government’ and ‘beast-religion’ (with its pseudo-spirituality, godless philosophy and science and the unethical use of technology) are ultimately amalgamated at the end of the age-long process into the revealing of the Antichrist, as the final climactic culmination of them both.

Thus, the beast coming from the sea and the beast coming out of the earth in the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation are not really two completely different beasts but they are used as a literary-prophetic device to describe the two principal aspects of satanic influence on this earth, namely a) politics and governance and b) false religion, pseudo-spirituality and godless philosophy, with enabling science and technology. Both of those aspects a) and b) are like two branches of the ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ which will accrue in Christ-denying evil and culminate in the revealing of the Antichrist at the end of this aeon.

Thus, to summarise, this marriage of politics with world religion, pseudo-spirituality, godless philosophy and science in the endorsement of global government is emphasised in the prophecies of the Book of Revelation, where we see that the first beast coming out of the sea in chapter 13 is the political/governmental aspect of ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ global government rising out of the nations (of which ‘sea’ is a classic Old Testament symbol used here by John) and the second beast out of the earth in that same chapter is the pseudo-religious, godless philosophical and technological scientific promotion of ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ global government, all culminating in the manifestation of the actual Antichrist as Satan’s highest representative on earth, which he will imagine is the realization of the earthly empire he has sought to build from the beginning. As the Christ said in a discourse on the Mount of Olives about the build-up to the end of this age and what the signs would be: “Where the carcass is, there the vultures will gather” (Matthew 24:28). And so they will.

The Antichrist will Be the Idol of World Religions (Including false “Christianity”)

In fact, the Antichrist will try to pass himself off as the returned Christ (hence, the image of the beast being spoken of as having ‘two horns like a lamb’). Not only that, but he will seek to satisfy each religion according to its doctrinal requirements for a coming world leader in the one-world globalist jamboree. This religious aspect of the Antichrist is especially important as it will make him extremely appealing to religious people of all types. Let us look a little more closely at this.

If it is the case that the Antichrist will present himself to be the true messiah for the world, the real ‘christ’, it naturally follows that in order to do so he will have to teach that the man, Jesus Christ, who walked this earth two thousand years ago, was an impostor and not the real Son of God come in the flesh — which, in fact, perfectly fulfils our definition of Satanism given in the previous section about the beast out of the sea; and the world will be more than ready for that, in view of the vast amount of false teaching about the Christ which will have prepared the way for it. In our text, it is said very clearly that the beast spoke “arrogant and blasphemous words” — “blasphemies against God”, slandering “His name and His tabernacle — those who dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:5-6). In fact, as it says elsewhere in Scripture, “He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). In other words, he will single out the Ekklesia and the teachings about the Christ for suppression, plus ridicule Christian teaching about the afterlife, then set himself up as being the essence of the one true ‘god’ who both represents all religions and makes them all defunct.

Imagine this situation: We already live in a world which in the main hates Christ, the true Christ, or dismisses everything about Him as either corrupted information or outright mythology. In due time, the idea of Christ as the Son of God is going to come under even greater attack and ‘cancellation’, which will mean that members of the Ekklesia are going to have to stand their ground as radical apologists and they will be under extreme risk to life and limb. The denial that Christ, the Son of God, actually came in the flesh is the real conspiracy, the one which seeds all others. This is why upholding that He came in the flesh is so crucial and so utterly radical. This is, in fact, what makes you truly act as counterculture to the satanic world-system. Without the counterculture of the Ekklesia proclaiming the fact that God was manifested in the flesh, there is no real opposition to Satan and his satanic world-system.

When the Antichrist is finally revealed — the ultimate impostor, presenting himself as the ‘messiah’ for the world — who do you think is going to be fooled? Not merely the easily programmable inhabitants of the liberal ‘Churchianity’ / ‘Christianist’ scene but also the adherents of the majority of the world’s religions together with the New Age pseudo-spirituality people as well as the UFO/ET ‘community’, for he will present himself as a fulfilment of all their dreams too! Let’s go into this much more deeply (which is precisely where I like to go).

A great many influential individuals and organizations are not only commending but also publicly working towards the formation of a global government as the principal solution to the problems of humanity. Consequently, everything which now happens in international affairs is playing its part in the build-up of global government. [Including the 2020-2022 pandemic, as I showed in my article, “You Have Been Spooked”, which you can read at this link here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2021/06/06/you-have-been-spooked/ ].

As this global government is gradually being put together, you will observe another rather interesting phenomenon. For all your hugely wealthy gurus with their Eastern mystical gobbledygook, and all your multi-millionaire New Age teachers with the westernised claptrap that they’ve plagiarised from those Eastern mystical gurus, and from Gnosticism and Theosophy, are lining up to endorse global government. This promotion of confederated global government by interfaith religion is a radical part of what is being prophesied in chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation, where we see that they will also eventually even revere the Antichrist!

The second beast out of the earth gives the religious impetus to the whole beast-schtick, along with the influences of world religions, false spirituality, godless philosophy and science, and the unethical use of technology. They will all be there, from the Dalai Lama and other berobed or turbaned globalist gurus to the pedlars of the CIA-induced New Age ‘bible’, “A Course in Miracles”, and the hawkers of the works of the likes of Alice Bailey, who basically inaugurated the New Age Movement with her quasi-theosophical, neo-Gnostic sophistry, and whoever else you want to name from the litany of pseudo-spiritual glitterati whose works have mesmerised so many all their lives. [NB: The term ‘New Age’ is usurped counterfeit terminology popularised by Alice Bailey who, in many ways, is the mother of the New Age Movement. Her book, “The Reappearance of the Christ”, is a blueprint for the appearance of the Antichrist. Theosophists draw on the Bible’s use of the word ‘aeons’ (ages) and, in particular, Christ’s prophecy of the present aeon (age) ending and a new one being birthed after the Divine judgement, which will be brought to pass after Christ’s return to earth (which New Age folks either reject or spiritualise). What most people call “New Age” is not really New Age at all but a kind of narcissistic greedy witchcraft chic with some tawdry divination thrown into the mix. However, the real New Age Movement, as seeded by Alice Bailey and other theosophists, which seeks to pave the way for their World Teacher, is actually a neo-Gnostic counterfeit of the real Christ’s work in ascension, salvation, and the fulfilment of the cosmos in a “new heaven and new earth” — the true new age. But the hardline New Age people have castrated the meaning of ‘aeons’ which they have stolen from the Bible into some Aquarian nonsense and totally twisted the designs of the true Christ, thus proving that they are ruled by the realm of darkness under Satan, who is the father of lies. Their false ‘christ’ — the so-called ‘christ within’ or so-called ‘christ-consciousness’ — is one who will never judge. For them, judging is ‘negative’ and truth is relative. One day, their shock will be palpable throughout the whole cosmos when that global judgement takes place].

The stark reality is this: One day, you will either suddenly, finally, and wholly wake up to the enormity of what has been happening on this earth and realise that all “those narrow-minded and nutty” disciples of the Christ who vigilantly (and at great cost to their reputations and lives) warned you about this were actually not so crazy after all; OR you will follow your politicians, pundits, gurus and teachers like lemmings into the maelstrom which follows and suffer the same eternal fate as the fallen angels who have been manipulating it all for aeons. This is the stark choice which lies before everyone, even right now at this moment. I hope that you will not wait until that crunch time to make your choice but that you will make it imminently. There really is no time to waste. Let’s develop this even more…

Institutional and mainstream Churches Will Welcome the Antichrist

The part which all those pseudo-spiritual religious icons will play in promoting the one-world government and, ultimately in endorsing the Antichrist himself, is a pure fulfilment of the age-long “spirit of the Antichrist” and part of what is encapsulated behind the image of the symbolic second beast out of the earth that we are focusing on here. For you will in all likelihood see that the world’s religious leaders — beginning with the Pope and the apostate archbishops, and the heads of many other denominations — will fall over themselves to treacherously say that the Antichrist is, in fact, ‘the returned Christ’. They will be absolutely lining up to endorse him, though he will have come as Satan’s representative (as we see in chapter 13, verse 2b), but dressed in sheep’s clothing, fooling the world that he is a political and spiritual colossus and, as we have seen, even accompanied by strange signs and the working of pseudo-miracles.

The transformation of ecumenism via the ‘Christian’ church ecumenical movement into full-blown interfaithism was catalogued in historical detail in my book “The Trojan Horse in the Temple: The Hidden Agenda of the Ecumenical Movement”. [This eBook can be downloaded free of charge from this link: https://diakrisis-project.com/2023/06/10/new-book-the-trojan-horse-in-the-temple-the-hidden-agenda-of-the-ecumenical-movement/ ]. This process is all part of what the second beast represents: false religion, pseudo-spirituality, godless philosophy and science, along with the unethical use of technology (a virtual religion today, especially in its use in Transhumanism).

To give just one potent contemporary example of this second-beast process for the purposes of this chapter, consider the very recent meeting in Indonesia of the Roman Catholic Pope Francis with Nasaruddin Umar, the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque, on Thursday, September 5th, 2024, in a meeting which focused on “fighting climate change and religious extremism”. There one could witness (see image, above) the Pope kissing the Imam’s hand and the Imam is kissing the pope’s head. The pope referred to the mosque as a “great gift” and “told people from other faiths that ‘we are all brothers and sisters, all pilgrims, all on our way to God, beyond what differentiates us’”. [See the following link at https://www.npr.org/2024/09/05/nx-s1-5099004/pope-francis-indonesia-muslim-imam-religious-harmony ]. This archetypal interfaith statement is laying down the religious norm by which all spiritual claims will be judged in the New World Order under the second beast element of governance in religious matters. Thus, anything which denies or negates this philosophy will be classed as “religious extremism” because it runs counter to the religious ‘unity’ which parallels the political ‘unity’ being fostered through the first beast element of governance.

It is no coincidence that the subject of “religious extremism” was the joint central theme of that interfaith meeting between the pope and the Imam, along with “climate change”. For to object to interfaith unity and to deny the official narrative on climate change (both being examples of ‘godless philosophy’) — which any genuine disciple of Christ would do because of a love of the truth — will be regarded as a great heresy and thus be one more reason to begin a pogrom against true followers of the Christ and start an attempt to ‘shatter the power of the holy people’ in the great tribulation to come (Daniel, chapter 12, verse 7; Book of Revelation, chapter 11, verse 7; chapter 13, verse 7; Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, verses 21-22).

Many more examples could be given of this process of interfaithism making inroads into the visible church (though not into the genuine Ekklesia), going right back to the nineteenth century. To understand the ramifications of this, please read the book I mentioned above, “The Trojan Horse in the Temple”. I think you may find it quite shocking.

It is easy to see from the above example how the mainstream churches and those caught up in ecumenical interfaithism will eventually welcome the Antichrist. For he (in true second beast fashion) will champion the coming together of the world’s religions in global unity. From that time onward there will follow many other religious figures giving endorsement to the Antichrist. Let’s open all this up a bit because it wholly underlines his magnetic spiritual pull and the extent of satanic deception.

Even Some Evangelicals Could Be Fooled into Welcoming the Antichrist as Christ

Not only institutional church people will be taken in by the revealing of the Antichrist, but this could also be the case with many of those who consider themselves to be of a more evangelical persuasion who are expecting Christ to return as a kind of superpower-enabled rabbi in human form who will set up a kingdom on earth and reign from Jerusalem with a restored temple for precisely one thousand years, which they call “The Millennium”. This comes about through a complete misreading of the twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation due to the stifling literalism which is everywhere prevalent in so many churches today. One has to be able to distinguish between what is literal and what is deeply symbolic — especially in a work such as the Book of Revelation — though there is an irrational fear among some that to regard any Scripture as being symbolic or allegorical is a liberal tendency and is therefore to be avoided. Even what I have written in this paragraph will have me marked out as a heretic by the ubiquitous hitmen in those churches that subscribe to the “millennial reign of Christ” in Jerusalem, and I will be ‘dead meat’ on their radar! Because I believe it is a complete ‘red herring’ and worthless diversion, I will be dealing with all this millennial madness in considerable detail in chapter 9 of this commentary.

Suffice it to say for now that it will not surprise me if many of these ‘evangelicals’ — whether so-called premillennialists (because of their absurd desire for Christ to set up a kingdom on earth for a thousand years) or postmillennialists (because of their unfounded belief in the need for the ‘Christianisation’ of the world before Christ‘s return) — will be swept up into the mass hypnosis attending the revealing of the Antichrist (and it will be mass hypnosis, or it might be even better to style it as hip-gnosis!). Christ has warned us that during the run-up to the end, the fraudulent sophistry of false christs (of which the Antichrist will be the ultimate manifestation) will be so fiendishly deceptive that it could “deceive even the elect, if that were possible” (Matthew 24:24). Obviously, with the genuine ‘elect’ that level of deception will not in the end be possible. But there could be a lot of wavering on the part of some when they witness the coming together of the world if they begin to doubt their faith and instead place trust in their sectarian feelings.

Clearly, this will be one of those occurrences which sorts out the wheat from the chaff — the true from the false, among those who profess to be Christ’s disciples. And those false ones will no doubt be swept up into the euphoria surrounding the revealing of the Antichrist, for the delusion of counterfeit will be strong.

The Level of Counterfeit Will Be Stunning!

This is a good point at which to speak more about the degree of counterfeit in the coming of the Antichrist — especially in the way that it could affect those professing to be disciples of the Christ. We can see the degree of counterfeit in the way that the apostle Paul describes both the coming of the Antichrist and the second coming of Christ with exactly the same Greek word, παρουσία, parousia (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9). In fact, ‘the Parousia’ is the official word used in theology to describe the second coming of Christ. To see it used in prophecy in relation to the revealing of the Antichrist is quite astonishing from an eschatological standpoint. That is how deceptive it will be. For it will be the ultimate masterstroke of mendacity from the father of lies as he mimics the true Parousia of Christ with his own coming. Distinguishing between one Parousia and the other will be a hallmark of true faith.

The disciples of Christ who resist that whole phony theatre surrounding the Antichrist and who call it for what it is, ‘an infernal deception’, will no doubt be ridiculed and excoriated (even by many who call themselves “Christians”) for rejecting ‘the second coming of their own Saviour’, as it will be touted.

Can you see it all unfolding — the beginnings of which are rumbling even now? Everyone coming together across the world in celebration as the religions of the world in all their fancy outfits join hands and it finally looks as though there really will be ‘peace in our time’ and the ‘golden age’ promised in all religions and the ‘Great Shift’ awaited by the New Age folks can finally begin, with the magic ‘messiah of all religions and none’ at the helm of the world. Even the most hardened atheists and anarchists will surely capitulate, though finally believing in the wrong god! After all, what kind of stubborn extremists would reject that wonderful hope for humanity promised by ‘our glorious world leader’? Well, that will be the nauseating mantra.

Obviously, he will not be called “the Antichrist” (as only genuine disciples of Christ will be able to identify him as that) but he will likely have some mightily powerful name of deep occult significance which will be like a coded turnkey into everyone’s heart across the globe (all in counterfeit of Christ’s secret new name, Revelation, chapter 3, end of verse 12). That is the point at which the genuine disciples of the true Christ will find themselves publicly denounced and treated as ungrateful pariahs doggedly holding on to what will be called “an outmoded dualistic viewpoint” which resists unity and community. They will then discover the full force of the tyranny of the Antichrist and his regime, and the words in our text will come to pass: “Then the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them” (Revelation, 13:7; 11:7; Daniel 7:21 & 25; 12:7). And the whole world will either turn a blind eye towards, or relish the prospect of, all the disciples of Christ being ‘disappeared’ and exterminated — the pogrom which will be unleashed on those disciples, believing that those who resist the ‘global shift’ should be dispatched from the world without ceremony because of the alleged ‘negative energy’ which they bring into ‘the new matrix’. These texts come to mind:

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of My name”, said the Christ (Mark 13:12-13a).

“For those will be days of tribulation unmatched from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be seen again” (Mark 13:19).

Yes, that will be the Great Tribulation and the disciples of Christ will bear the brunt of it. Anyone who teaches otherwise — especially the pedlars of the Rapture nonsense, as I showed in an excursus in §8 of chapter 5 — is selling the saints short. The whole Christian scene will be greatly affected by the revealing of the Antichrist. A great division will occur as those who are not true disciples will run after ‘the man of lawlessness’ with no understanding of his true nature and thus be among those who will have spiritually ‘received the mark of the beast’ (for it will not be a physical mark, as I will demonstrate in the next major section of this chapter, §8, but will be a spiritual identification). However, those who understand what is really going on will refuse to have anything to do with anything connected with the Antichrist. They will feel as if they are living in an alien world surrounded by alien people who are filled with misplaced elation without realising its falsehood. It will be a real nightmare of some magnitude. Martyrdom will abound, and the saints will be glad to leave this world through it. For this will be the ultimate of those times when the saints will be put to death and those who do the killing will be convinced that they are doing God a favour. It will be a holocaust and a genocide.

What of the world’s religions? How will they respond when the Antichrist is revealed?

[In the actual commentary, there here follow several detailed sections showing the manner in which the world’s religions, movements and philosophies will accept the Antichrist, such as Muslims, Buddhists, Theosophists, New Agers, the Jews, Hopi Indians, ET & UFO activists, and globalist organisations such as the World Economic Forum. I am not placing those sections in this excerpt as they take up much space and would make it cumbersome. Readers will have to wait for the publication of the second edition to read those details. All those sections, plus the material in this excerpt, are considerably more developed than in the first edition. But to conclude this excerpt, we now pick up the second beast theme again with the four subsections entitled, “Where are We Now on the Timeline?”, “The Second Beast & the Mark of the Beast”, “The Image of the Beast”, and “The World Would Kill Christ if He Were to Appear Again as a Man”].

Where Are We Now on the Timeline?

I wonder where we are now on the timeline en route to that cataclysmic event which will wind up proceedings on this planet in its present form? We can certainly see many elements falling into place, politically and spiritually, and the world has reached the point which entirely allows instant cross-global communication and action for the first time in human history — not to mention all the current scientific and technological advances which can now facilitate totalitarian global governance, mass surveillance and digital indexing of a gargantuan nature, and godless human augmentation. [This ‘godless human augmentation’ and its counterfeiting of becoming ‘a new creation’ in Christ is explained in full in my article “Transhumanism, Posthumans and the Need for Authentic Leadership”, which can be downloaded at this link: https://diakrisis-project.com/2021/10/17/transhumanism-posthumans-the-need-for-authentic-leadership/ ].

It is not impossible that such a one as this expected ‘World Teacher’ — who will have occult powers, undeniable charm, and political panache — could be revealed in the not-too-distant future. Never before have global communications been so instantaneous as to enable his coming to be projected around the whole planet. For whereas Christ’s glorious parousia will be witnessed everywhere simultaneously through spiritual revelation (i.e. “every eye will see Him”, Revelation 1:7, and it will be like “lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west”, Matthew 24:27), the comparatively puny parousia of the Antichrist will merely “be seen and heard worldwide over radio and television”, as even Mary Bailey readily admits, drawing on Alice Bailey’s writings in a Lucis Trust “Beacon” magazine article, as can be seen in the following link: https://www.lucistrust.org/books/the_beacon_magazine/selected_beacon_articles/christ_as_he_is ].

Surely, the time is coming ripe for all this to develop in the not too distant future. The people of the world today are filled with fear for the future and they are crying out for a strong leader who will protect them and take them into the coming years of uncertainty with a sense of security. Naturally, such a leader would have to be extremely ecumenical and interfaithist — not to mention highly skilled in sorcery and mass hypnosis so as to bamboozle the masses, while having universal appeal as the one to provide security and to lead the world into its imagined next era — if he is to satisfy the requirements of all the sects and religions who are expectantly awaiting his coming. But that is not beyond the bounds of possibility, given the present syncretistic outlook of the world and its desire to be given a pretended security by a global ‘daddy’ or, to give it a more sinister spin, a ‘Big Brother seemalike’. When such a world leader does appear, he will surely be the prophesied Antichrist and not the true Christ, as that is what Scripture unequivocally shows to be next on the prophetic agenda from an eschatological standpoint (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3; cf. 1 John 2:18).

The Second Beast and the Mark of the Beast

So, the second beast (aka ‘the false prophet’) provides the religious, and godless philosophical, scientific, and technological impetus for revering the Antichrist and his begetter, Satan. This is not to say that the second beast has an actual individual existence. It simply refers to the way that religion, pseudo-spirituality, godless philosophy and science, along with the unethical use of technology, will be brought to bear on promoting beast government and, ultimately, endorsing and advancing the cause of the Antichrist and everything that he represents.

The second beast, therefore, promotes Satanism in the truest sense of the word — that is, denying that the Christ has come in the flesh. Thus, when the scripture says that the second beast “required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead” (Revelation 13:16), it refers ultimately to the manner in which world religion, pseudo-spirituality, godless philosophy and science, and the unethical use of technology symbolised in that second beast will be used by this whole beast-movement to make people give themselves over to adulating the Antichrist and thereby adulating the one who has brought him into being, Satan himself — though he will obviously not be presented as “Satan”.

It is a complete misunderstanding — yet one which has gained huge traction through sensationalism and peer-group pressure, even in many churches — to view the mark of the beast as an actual physical tattoo, barcode, or microchip in or on the body. To have received the ‘mark of the beast’ is a symbol representing that one is a true believer, through and through, in the ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ and, when the time comes, the actual Antichrist, and everything he stands for, as I will prove in §8 of this chapter below, entitled “The Mark and Number of the Beast — 666”. Sure enough, because of that status of ‘spirit of the Antichrist’ believership (for which there may well be a pass or certificate of some kind which is not the actual mark of the beast, most likely digital), they will have no problem gaining access to the economic and trading system. While those who have resisted the mark (i.e. who refuse to adulate the beast-system and the Antichrist and instead are faithful disciples of the Christ, for one can only be one or the other) will be excluded from normal society.

You have to keep in mind that this ‘mark of the beast’ (Revelation 13:16) is in direct contrast with the seal in the forehead given by God to Jesus’ disciples (Revelation 14:1), and written about just a few verses after the verse where the ‘mark of the beast’ is mentioned. (Remember, there are no chapter divisions in the original manuscripts of the Bible). The two verses are plainly in juxtaposition with each other. Obviously, that seal of the disciples is not literal; it is spiritual and it is a reference to the way that the followers of Christ are described as having Christ’s name and His Father’s name “written on their foreheads” (Revelation 14:1), which is similar to what is described elsewhere as having their foreheads sealed “with the seal of the living God” (Revelation 7:2-3). This has plainly been written as a deliberate spiritual contrast to those who have the “mark of the beast…on their right hand or on their forehead”. A person can only have one spiritual attribute or the other. One is either ‘marked’ by Satan or ‘sealed’ by the Spirit of Christ. To not be sealed by the Spirit is to be marked by Satan as his. This has nothing whatsoever to do with microchips or QR codes, which is a nonsensical distraction from what the Bible is really teaching. The mark of the beast on the hand or head and the name of the Lamb and the Father as a seal on one’s forehead are symbolic spiritual tokens — the one epitomizing satanic darkness; the other representing light, holiness and Divine protection.

That is the choice in this life: The “mark of the beast” or “the seal of the living God”, which means to be “sealed with the Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30), which is what happens innerly when we become Christ’s disciples. The twaddle that I have read about the mark of the beast being a tattoo, or barcode, or microchip on someone’s body is just astonishing! Satan must be having a field-day with all these delusions, carrying people off with the fairies — just like with the so-called ‘Rapture’ and the ‘Millennium’. Fantasies designed to distract and deflect. I will be developing in some considerable detail the identity of the ‘mark of the beast’ and the number ‘666’ in §8 of this chapter.

The Image of the Beast

So what is the image of the beast about, along with its coming to life and speaking in verses 14-15?

“Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived. The second beast was permitted to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship it to be killed” (Revelation 13:14-15).

There is a sense in which the promotion of any beast-government or leader throughout the age has been beast-publicity. Think of the huge images and statues in public places of those historical forerunners of the Antichrist — the archetypal mini-antichrists called Stalin, Hitler and Chairman Mao. They were virtually worshipped by their populations. Think of all the emperors from the past who would have effigies made of them which people would adulate. The Roman emperors of John’s time were often deified, with images of them for the people to worship. Think also of the way that Big Brother’s image, in the book “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, was beamed onto a screen for adulation by the people. And it would appear everywhere as a reminder of that adulation. This is even more apposite when one remembers that the man portrayed as Big Brother probably never actually existed, but was merely a smart device concocted by the state to bamboozle people and control them! How will that image idea pan out at the time of the end, when the Antichrist is revealed? Even with the technology now in place — and especially with that which will be in place by the time of the Antichrist — one can even imagine some kind of hologram, Deepfake media or AI rendition for universal adulation. Time will tell. I await with interest, should I still be alive to witness it.

The World Would Kill Christ if He were to Appear Again as a Man

Now we can hopefully begin to appreciate the extraordinary relevance of this prophecy about the two-in-one beasts in this thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation. It is of dynamic significance in relation to world events and to religious, philosophical, scientific, or technological occurrences. But despite the ardent activities of all these political and religious leaders in the creation of their phony ‘oneness’, all that will have happened is that the true hubristic colours of fallen humanity will have been shown, and the world will have become ripe for the final judgement. That is where everything in this creation in its present form has always been heading.

Not too long after the revealing of the Antichrist, the true Christ will appear — not as a man who they can assassinate once again (and they truly would kill Him afresh if they could, as shown in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s insightful ‘Grand Inquisitor’ scene in his book, “The Brothers Karamazov”, when Christ suddenly reappeared on earth as a literary device, and you can read that brilliant extract from Dostoevsky’s profound novel at this link: http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/philosophy/existentialism/dostoevsky/grand.html , and there is a superb theatrical rendering of Dostoevsky’s vision in that piece, with Sir John Gielgud as the Grand Inquisitor, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om6HcUUa8DI ). In fact, He will actually appear cataclysmically and universally as “lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west” (Matthew 24:27). For in that time,

“The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:29-30)

This is what Armageddon is really all about, as I will uncover in chapter 7 of this commentary below — the last final spiritual onslaught against Christ by Satan, the Antichrist and his counterfeit empire. This will be the ultimate standing up on its hind-legs of the hubristic governance of humanity and lead to the subsequent winding up by the Christ of the old order (which vainly imagines itself to be some kind of “new world order”) and the establishing of the new creation in a new aeon, in which the population will be all those who have endured to the end as disciples of the Christ and followers of His Light across time (which is not to be confused with merely calling oneself “a Christian”).

For Armageddon is not some literal battle on a piece of real-estate in Israel. That idea is yet another literalistic diversion. But it is the final scene of spiritual warfare waged by Satan against God, and by Satan’s representative on earth, the Antichrist, against the true Christ, at which point the whole demonic realm and those who follow it will finally be shown the full power of Christ’s victory in the validation of His ascension. For the Antichrist will not be around for very long, as “the Lord Jesus will slay [him] with the breath of His mouth [i.e. the spirit of His fiats, edicts, and decrees] and annihilate [him] by the manifestation of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

That is how Armageddon and the whole of this fallen world’s history will be resolved and dissolved. For at that time, “both the beast and the false prophet” will be “thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur”, and “the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 19:20 & 20:10). Thus, the Antichrist and Satan will suffer the same fate, as that whole kingdom-building counterfeit is brought to an end as abruptly as was its forerunner, Babel, on the plain of Shinar.

Because I know which side I am on, the coming maelstrom does not fill me with fear and apprehension, but as a glorious adventure and a full vindication of truth and light in prophecy. As Jesus said, “When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

Next, we turn to examine in detail the mark and number of the beast…

[Here ends the extract on the identity and purpose of the second beast from the second edition, v.2.0, of my commentary on the Book of Revelation, which will appear in paperback format hopefully by the end of October 2024. I hope that you have found it helpful. If you wish to preorder a book, please send a message requesting that. The price for this non-profit 576-page large-format paperpack book is expected to be £12 GBP, or €14 EU, or $16 USD. But send no money now. A special PayPal account is being set up by a sponsor to receive those monies when the book has been published. This is just a preorder reservation as the limited print run is expected to go quickly].

© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2023
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]