2/18/18 – Eph 6:11, 

The Angelic Conflict, Pt. 19, T

he Enemy, Pt. 16, 

The False Prophet, Pt. 3. 

Lesson #18-020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBk197a4PAA

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

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.”

In vs. 14, we see the deceptive power of the False Prophet to deceive the entire world and lead them into making an image of the first beast, the Antichrist.

“Deceives” is the Verb PLANAO, πλανάω that means a variety of things including, “lead astray, mislead, deceive, seduce, delude, err, or sin.” In classical Greek,  it was first used in a simple geographical sense:

1. To lead someone on a journey astray so he does not arrive at his goal.

2. It also refers to a sheep that goes astray and is separated from its flock and shepherd.

3. It later developed a figurative sense of being led astray in matters of truth or wandering off the path of correct moral conduct.

It is used in the NT to refer to:

1. The nature of life apart from faith in Christ: 1 Peter 2:25, “You were continually straying like sheep.”

2. Christians who are carelessly inattentive to sound doctrine and so let themselves be deceived, 1 Cor 6:9; 15:33; Gal 6:7.

3. Its predominant NT use, (over 20 times), it is the deliberate deception practiced by Satan and false teachers to mislead the world and Christians about Christ and God: Rev 12:9, “. . . Satan, who deceives the whole world.”

The goal of the False Prophet is to deceive the world, both believers and unbelievers, into thinking that the Antichrist is the Christ and God.

He deceives by the “signs” he performs, including as noted in vs. 13, “making fire come down out of heaven.” He is able to perform these signs and wonders not by his own power but by the power given to him by Satan.

As we noted above, this imitates the signs of Moses and Elijah and the two witnesses of God of the Tribulation, Rev 11:1-14. Up to this time, the two witnesses have been ministering at the temple in Jerusalem, but “the beast” will slay them and take over the temple. When God raises the two witnesses from the dead and takes them to heaven, the false prophet will answer that challenge by giving life to the image of “the beast.” Not only will the image move, but it will speak, Rev 13:15!

This verse also tells us he performs miracles “in the presence of the first beast.” This means that the first beast, the Antichrist is giving instruction and approval for the False Prophet to perform them. This means the False Prophet will be performing miracles while the Antichrist is standing by giving his approval, as the False Prophet will be subservient to him, his puppet religious leader.

As noted above, Jesus warned that false prophets and false Christs would arise, Mat 24:24.

Mat 24:24, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

The Antichrist and his False Prophet will be the climax of that kind of deception, but the people will not realize the miracles of the False Prophet are deceptive at first. On the basis of him wielding this power in the likeness of Elijah and Moses, and the two witnesses, it makes an impression on the unbelievers of the Tribulation described as “those that dwell on the earth,” (in other words, “those of like mindedness, earthly, or worldly thinking). As a result, the second beast urges them to make an image of the first beast, just as the Israelites did when Moses was receiving the Law, in the golden calf episode, where the Israelites fashioned and worshipped the image of a god, while Moses was receiving the Law from God, Ex 32:1-4f; Deut 9:8; Psa 106:19-21; Acts 7:41.

Psa 106:19-22, “They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image. ²⁰Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. ²¹They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt. ²²Wonders in the land of Ham and awesome things by the Red Sea.”

The “image” of the beast is referred to three times in this chapter and mentioned seven more times in the book of Revelation, Rev 13:15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4. “Image” is the Greek noun EIKON, εἰκών that means, “image, likeness, form, an appearance or a representation.” It implies the illumination of its inner core and essence.

Therefore, the False Prophet is going to lead the people to make an image, (statue, hologram, robot, etc.), in the likeness of the beast so that they worship it.

This is another form of counterfeit to Jesus Christ God, as Jesus is the image of God, 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15.

2 Cor 4:4, “In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Col 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

As we noted above in vs. 4, when the people worship the first beast or his image, they are worshipping Satan, Rev 13:4.

The great deception of worshipping the image of the Antichrist is the culmination of the apostasy of the world, Rom 1:18, 21-23.

Rom 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Rom 1:21-23, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²²Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Rather than worshipping a false image of God, people should become the image of God, by reflecting the Christ-like nature in their lives, Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 3:18; Col 3:10.

Rom 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.”

2 Cor 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Col 3:10, “And have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.

This edict by the False Prophet will take place near the midpoint of the Tribulation, most likely in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, Mat 24:15; 2 Thes 2:2-12; Cf. Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.

Mat 24:15, “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand).”

Dan 9:27, “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

Dan 11:31, “And forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.”

2 Thes 2:3-4, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

The image is the center of the false worship and the focal point of the final state of apostasy, the culmination of the idolatry which has been the false religion of so many generations. This is a rendition of what the idol could look like in the reign of the Antichrist.

“It is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus did not permit anything connected with His physical appearance to survive. But the likeness of the Antichrist will evidently be placed in the temple at Jerusalem.” (Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee).

This image also reminds us of the forerunner of the “abomination of desolation,” Antiochus IV Epiphanes, whose name means, “God manifest.”

He was a Hellenistic Greek king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithradates (alternative form Mithridates) that means “given by the deity Mithra.” He assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne.

He was the first Seleucid king to use divine epithets on coins as depicted below, where the Greek reads, “King Antiochus, God Manifest, bearer of victory.”

The Seleucids, like the Ptolemies before them, held a mild suzerainty over Judea: they respected Jewish culture and protected Jewish institutions. This policy was drastically reversed by Antiochus IV, resulting in harsh persecutions around 168 BC and a revolt against his rule, the Maccabean revolt.

Prior to the Maccabean revolt he ordered the worship of Zeus as the supreme god, 2 Mac 6:1-12, as he presented himself as the earthly embodiment of Zeus, and he had the Olympian Temple of Zeus built.

2 Mac 6:1-2 (KJVApocrypha) 

“¹Not long after this the king sent an old man of Athens to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers, and not to live after the laws of God: ²And to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius (Zeus); and that in Garizim, of Jupiter the Defender of strangers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place.”

Jupiter is the god of the sky and thunder and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and mythology. The Romans regarded Jupiter as the equivalent of the Greek Zeus, the name means, “O Father Sky-god.” 

2 Mac 6:4-7 (KJVApocrypha) 

“⁴For the temple was filled with riot and revelling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots, and had to do with women within the circuit of the holy places, and besides that brought in things that were not lawful. ⁵The altar also was filled with profane things, which the law forbiddeth. ⁶Neither was it lawful for a man to keep sabbath days or ancient fasts, or to profess himself at all to be a Jew. ⁷And in the day of the king's birth every month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices; and when the fast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.”

2 Mac 6:9 (KJVApocrypha) 

“⁹And whoso would not conform themselves to the manners of the Gentiles should be put to death. Then might a man have seen the present misery.”

1 Maccabees 1:54-61 (KJVApocrypha) 

“⁵⁴Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side; ⁵⁹Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God.”

Rabbinical sources refer to him as HARASHA  הרשע, “the wicked.”

Below are more passages from the book of Maccabees describing the struggles they had with Antiouchus IV.

1 Maccabees 1:20-23 (KJVApocrypha)

“20And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, 21And entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, 22And the table of the shewbread, and the pouring vessels, and the vials. and the censers of gold, and the veil, and the crown, and the golden ornaments that were before the temple, all which he pulled off. 23He took also the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels: also he took the hidden treasures which he found.”

1 Maccabees 1:29-31 (KJVApocrypha)

“29And after two years fully expired the king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, who came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude, 30And spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel. 31And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire, and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side.”

1 Maccabees 1:41-43 (KJVApocrypha)

“41Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, 42And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king. 43Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath.”

1 Maccabees 1:44-49 (KJVApocrypha)

“44For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda that they should follow the strange laws of the land, 45And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days: 46And pollute the sanctuary and holy people: 47Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts: 48That they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation: 49To the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances.”

1 Maccabees 1:50-52 (KJVApocrypha)

“50And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die. 51In the selfsame manner wrote he to his whole kingdom, and appointed overseers over all the people, commanding the cities of Juda to sacrifice, city by city. 52Then many of the people were gathered unto them, to wit every one that forsook the law; and so they committed evils in the land;”

1 Maccabees 1:54-61 (KJVApocrypha)

“54Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side; 55And burnt incense at the doors of their houses, and in the streets. 56And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire. 57And whosoever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king's commandment was, that they should put him to death. 58Thus did they by their authority unto the Israelites every month, to as many as were found in the cities. 59Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God. 60At which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised. 61And they hanged the infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and slew them that had circumcised them.”

Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabaeus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי (Yehudah ha-Makabi) was a Jewish priest and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, “Dedication,” commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC, after Judah Maccabeus removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses.

Unfortunately, the people of the world during the Tribulation will accept the False Prophet’s miracles as proof of the beast’s claims that he is a god, the real Christ, so much so that he will talk the people into making an image of the beast and be dedicated to the beast. It will probably be a giant robot, hologram, or maybe a statue like the one Nebuchadnezzar had erected for the worship of himself, Dan 3:1.

The people will place the image of the beast (the Antichrist) in the temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem, Dan 9:27; Mat 24:15; 2 Thes 2:4, just as Antioch Epiphanes set up the statue of Zeus in the Temple 300 years before Christ’s First Advent. Thus, the image will become a focal point for the false worship of the beast.

Finally, once again we have the description of the Antichrist as having the fatal wound, “the one which had the wound by a sword and lived.” This is the third time it is given in this chapter, cf. vs. 3, 12. It is being emphasized more so, because it will be the greatest sign and wonder to deceive the people into believing he is the Christ, the God of heaven and earth.

“Sword” here is MACHAIRA, μάχαιρα, “a (small) sword, large knife.” This may allude to warfare and rebellion. It may be an assassination attempt from someone within his regime, as was common in ancient Rome. Nevertheless, he survives the mortal wound which is then used as a sign that He is god or the Christ.

But, at the same time, this sign will be the greatest prophetical sign to the believers of that day and the Jews that he is actually the antichrist, the beast out of the sea, so that they are not deceived and do not follow and worship him.