2/15/18 – Eph 6:11, The Angelic Conflict, Pt. 18, The Enemy, Pt. 15, The False Prophet, Pt. 2. Lesson #18-019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLavoQZKdMQ

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

Thursday, February 15, 2018

www.GraceDoctrine.org

Eph 6:11-12; Rev 13:11-18; Malachi 4:5; 1 Kings 18:22-29; Mat 24:24; John 4:48; 2 Thes 2:9; Rev 16:14; 20:9

Stand in Warfare – Eph 6:10-20.

Outline of Eph 6 :10-24

1. The Empowerment, vs. 10.

2. The Enemy, vs. 11-12. 

3. The Equipment, vs. 13-17. 

4. The Energy, vs. 18-20. 

5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.

2. The Enemy, vs. 11-12 - The Beast and The False Prophet, Rev 13, (continued).

The Second Beast, the False Prophet, Rev 13:11-18.

2. The deceptive miracles of the False Prophet cause the world to make and worship the image of the Antichrist, vs. 13-14.

Rev 13:13-14, “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. ¹⁴And 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.”

This begins with the 2^nd beast performing many great sign-miracles. “Signs,” is the Greek noun SEMEION, σημεῖον that can mean, “sign, token, signal, miracle, or portent.” It can be translated either, “sign or miracle,” as in John’s Gospel for the miracles of Jesus, cf. John 2:11, 23; 6:19-21.

Here we see the second beast’s counterfeit, as Jesus Christ performed His miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:22; Luke 4:1; cf. Phil 2:6-8, this second beast performs miracles through endowed power of Satan, 2 Thes 2:9.

2 Thes 2:9, “That is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders.”

The counterfeit is used so that the people worship the 1^st beast. Just as the apostles where given the ability to perform signs and wonders to prove they were from God and to believe in and worship Him, Acts 2:43; 4:30; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12; Rom 15:19; 2 Cor 12:12, the 2^nd beast does so to deceive the world that the Antichrist is god and to worship him.

As our Lord told us, not everything that appears to be a miracle is actually a miracle. And not everything that is a miracle is a miracle from God. That is true today, and it will be true during the reign of the Antichrist, Mat 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2 Thes 2:9; Rev 16:14; 19:20; cf. John 4:48; John 20:29.

John 4:48, “So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe’.”

Mat 24:24, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs (SEMEION) and wonders, (TERAS, “portent, omen, sign, wonder”), so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

Rev 16:14, “For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.”

The sign used here by the false prophet is to have “fire coming down out of heaven.” This is a counterfeit to the prophet Elijah, as this will invoke to some the imagery of Elijah from 1 Kings 18:22-29, who is to be the forerunner to the Advents of Christ.

Malachi 4:5, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.”

In the Gospels, John the Baptist was the “Elijah” forerunner to the First Advent of Jesus Christ, but Elijah is also the forerunner of His Second Advent, as prophesied in Malachi 4:5, “the great and terrible day of the Lord,” and as our Lord told His disciples in Mat 17:9-13.

In 1 Kings 18:22-29, Elijah called the people of Israel to a decision between the Lord and Baal. Elijah, at God’s instruction, called fire down from heaven, something the priests of Baal could not do. He also called down fire from heaven in 2 Kings 1:10-12, to prove that he was “a man of God.” The counterfeit imagery of the 2^nd beast will cause even the Jews to believe in the 1^st beast as the Christ.

Remember, that even in a scientific age, as we are in today, there are gullible people who follow false prophets and are deceived by false miracles that do not glorify God, cf. 2 Thes 2:9-12.

This also harkens back to God’s commands to Israel to not believe in a prophet, even if he performs miracles, if he does not lead people to the true worship of God, Deut 13:1-3. True prophets speak for God and encourage people to serve Him and follow Christ. Yet, the false prophet will use this miracle to bring people to believe that the 1^st beast is god.

This miracle will be used to offset the power of God demonstrated by His two witnesses of the Tribulation, Rev 11:3-14, as noted in vs. 5, so that people follow and worship the Antichrist. Many combinations to the identity of the two witnesses have been given over the years including: Enoch and Elijah, because both were raptured, and therefore will come back and physically die; Moses and Elijah because they both performed great miracles; or John the Baptist and Elijah because John was the forerunner to the First Advent and will be for the Second with Elijah. Notice how Elijah is always one of these two. We do not know for sure, as it may be two Cherubim angels who are given bodily form to die and be raised again when comparing vs. 4 with Zech 4:3-14, or even Joshua and Zerubbabel spoken of in those passages, or even David and Israel as they are called the “green olive tree” in Psa 52:8; Jer 11:16. But whoever they are will fulfill the prophesy of Malachi 4:5, as John the Baptist did in Christ’s First Advent.

Finally, this counterfeit will be superseded by the Lord Himself, when at the end of the His Millennial reign He will destroy the revolutionary armies of Satan in the Gog and Magog war, Rev 20:9.

Rev 20:9, “And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”

Therefore, the second beast, who is the false prophet, will draw together all peoples and religions to encourage / force an ecumenical church to worship the first beast, the Antichrist. His deceptive miracles, which will counterfeit Biblical miracles and even attempt to counterfeit the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, will help accomplish this.