2/20/18 – Eph 6:11,
The Angelic Conflict, Pt. 20,
The
Enemy, Pt. 17,
The False Prophet, Pt. 4.
Lesson #18-021
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
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.
The Enemy, vs. 11-12 - The Beast and The False Prophet, Rev 13, (continued).
Eph 6:11-12; Rev 13:11-18; Psa
135:15-18; Hab 2:19; Acts 16:16; 2 Thes 2:10-11
The Second
Beast, the False Prophet, Rev 13:11-18.
3. The False Prophet gives
breath to the image of the beast and all are required to worship the Antichrist
through the image, Rev13:15.
Rev 13:15, “And it was given to him to give
breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even
speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
No great movements or revolutions
in history have ever come without preparative conditions and causes, some
preliminary plantings which gradually mature until they ripen into the great
ultimate results. When gigantic changes come, they typically have had their
roots in something which has gone before, subtlety but surely, where the nature
of the times has served to favor and develop its final fruits. In Germany under
Hitler, it took months to vilify and condemn the Jews, so that eventually the
population would ultimately join wholeheartedly to the point of exterminating them.
So will be the way of the False Prophet in the Tribulation. So will be the case
of the false worship of the Antichrist.
Being a prophet, the False Prophet
must have a doctrine, a system which he puts forth, an economy which he seeks
to sustain, and the ability to convince his followers to cooperate with him.
Having the name “prophet,” it has to do with the religious element; and the
coming of this “beast out of the earth” may refer to the evolution of his
system out of the religions that have been placed among men throughout history,
and the progress of human society with reference to beliefs and spiritual
things.
As noted above, having the two
horns may represent the ultimate convergence of the world’s two greats, the
thinking of man and the thinking of God, or the gods. Here is the convergence
of science and religion. We could call this the convergence of naturalism and
supernaturalism; that is, the conclusions of natural conscience and reason,
deemed sacredly obligatory, because it is believed to be good and true, with the
presence of revelations, or what are accepted as revelations, from the superior
powers, and held to be Divine and binding.
Therefore, the False Prophet will
be at once a naturalist and a supernaturalism, a scientist and a spiritualist,
a rationalist, yet asserting power above ordinary nature and in command of
nature.
In other words, he claims to be the
bearer of the sum total of the universal wisdom, in which all reason and all
revelation are fused into one great system, claiming to have and be the
ultimate of all truth. Professing to have everything natural and supernatural
solved and crystallized, as the one eternal and perfect wisdom, he will present
himself as the one absolute apostle and teacher of all, that should command the
thoughts, faith, and obedience of man.
Yet, having the two horns like a
lamb, he speaks like a Dragon. He is lamblike in that he proposes to occupy
only the meek, mild, and inoffensive position of spiritual adviser; gentle and
innocent in counselling people how to live and act, for the securement of their
happiness! But, his words are like the Dragon, in that forthcoming edicts are
in fact the assumption of absolute dominion over the minds, souls, consciences,
and hearts of men, to bind them irrevocably, and to compel them to think and
act only as he prescribes and dictates.
Thus, the False Prophet imposes on
the world, wins credence to his professions and claims, and sways the public sentiment
to the acknowledgment of a new divinity, demanding a new religion, whose vulgar
abominations are thought to be right and reasonable.
“And it was given to him,” the Aorist, Passive, Indicative of DIDOMI
that means, “to give, bestow, or delegate,” tells us that the ensuing
empowerment of the image was not of his own but bestowed on him by both Satan
and the Antichrist. He is performing as their puppet prophet to deceive the
entire world.
“To give breath to the image of the beast,” is the Aorist, Active,
Infinitive of DIDOMI with the Nouns PNEUMA, EIKON, and HO THERION.
PNEUMA, commonly translated “spirit, soul, or
breath,” also can mean, “a spirit, (angelic or demonic),” and is used for the
Holy Spirit. It is quite different from ZOE, which means “life.”
Expositors usually hold that the extraordinary powers given by Satan to the
false prophet do not extend to giving life to that which does not possess life,
because this is a prerogative of God alone.
The intent of the passage seems to
be that the image has the appearance of life manifested in breathing, but actually
it may be no more than a hologram or robot that may be possessed by an evil or
demonic spirit. This may be a ventriloquist type demon who controls the
vocal cords of unbelievers when they are demon possessed, as we will see below
in Acts 16:16.
The ventriloquist demon could work
in two ways, according to the OT scriptures. The voice could be thrown from out
of the ground as though the dead were speaking from their burial place, or the
voice could be thrown from the mouth of some individual who was demon-possessed.
The Greeks had a word for it and this same demon is called “engasthrimuthos.”
So the ventriloquist demon is designated PNEUMA or spirit. The noun PNEUMA does not always refer to demons but it does in, Mat 8:16; Mark 1:27; 6:7; 3:11; 5:13; Acts
5:16; 8:7; 1 Tim 4:1. We see this ventriloquist demonic influence further
in Rev 16:13-14.
The image is further described as “would even speak,” HINA KAI and the
Aorist, Active, Subjunctive of LALEO, to “speak, proclaim, say, or utter.”
Therefore, by an indwelling breath or spirit the image will speak.
This is a faculty easily
accomplished by mechanical means. In fact, in ancient times, religious
ventriloquism was sometimes used to give the impression of supernatural speech,
a practice confirmed by archaeological excavations in Corinth.
In Acts 16:16, the slave girl possessed
of a demon was able to bring gain to her masters by soothsaying. She also
supernaturally recognized Paul and his companions as, “servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of
salvation,” Acts 16:17.
Her power of speech was under
demonic control, as will be the mouth of the image of the beast. Whether
completely natural in its explanation, or whether some supernatural power is
used to create the impression of life and speech, the image apparently is quite
convincing to the mass of humanity and helps to turn them to a worship of the
first beast as their god. So this is going to have to be something that was not
seen or done before, and well beyond what people may expect in order to impress
them enough to gain their allegiance and worship.
This will be a counterfeit to the
power of God Who restores breath and life to the Two Witnesses, Rev 11. Therefore the False Prophet, as
the arch magician, will have power to give animation and speech to this dead
statue. Therefore the image, though made by man, likewise takes on of the
supernatural, so as to refute God’s Word regarding idols.
Psa 135:15-18, “The idols of the nations are but
silver and gold, the work of man's hands. 16They have mouths, but
they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; 17they have
ears, but they do not hear, nor is there any breath at all in their mouths. 18Those
who make them will be like them, Yes, everyone who trusts in them.”
Hab 2:19, “Woe to him who says to a piece of
wood, ‘Awake!’ To a dumb stone, ‘Arise!’ and that is your
teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at
all inside it.”
Therefore, we see that this idol is
very different. The powers of falsehood have by this time become mightier than
of old, because this image will have a perception of breath / life and speech.
As a result, men will be carried away by it, because of their previous unbelief
of the possibility of anything of the sort.
“Old
Pagan and Christian writers have recorded instances in which the idols spoke,
and gave forth oracles. The papists affirm the same veritable truth concerning
some of their images. The Hindus to this day hold and maintain that a degree of
life and supernatural power takes possession of their images when solemnly
consecrated according to the prescribed ceremonies.” (The Apocalypse: A
Series of Special Lectures on the Revelation of Jesus Christ.)
With the Antichrist systematically
deified, an image set up and consecrated to his adoration, and the testimony,
argument, and eloquence of a great miracle-working Prophet ringing through the
world in his behalf, the Image speaks and issues edicts “causing as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
By doing this, the False Prophet
will be able to claim divine power for himself and for the first beast, the
Antichrist. This will be his greatest deception, as the gullible people will
consider him deity. Then the prophecy of 2
Thes 2:10-11, will be complete.
2 Thes 2:10-11, “And with all the deception of wickedness for
those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to
be saved. 11And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding
influence so that they might believe what is false.”
This verse gives us the negative
scenario of not worshiping the Antichrist, but we first must realize from this
phrase that because of the “fatal wound” and now the “animation of the image,”
many will worship the Antichrist as God.
In the ancient writing of Homer, we
see that the heroes of old we considered the “sons of gods,” and Alexander
though a young man when he died was claimed to be more than a natural man and
received honors as a god. He thought himself to be the son of Jupiter, and so
announced to the priests, who gave oracles proclaiming him such, and exhorted
all inquirers to render to their victorious king the honors of a deity. We have
also noted above the similar story of Antiochus Epiphanes. Likewise, Herod,
with all his corruptness and crimes, was hailed as a god, and took it as his
due, Acts 12:21-23. Julius Caesar
was honored as a god, and after his death many temples were raised and
frequented for his worship. Statues, temples, altars, and trophies were
consecrated to Augustus Caesar, as were to the Caesars Tiberius, Nerva, Trajan,
Caligula. The King of Parthia, kneeling before Nero, said to him: “You are my
God, and I am come to adore you as I adore the sun. My destiny is to be
determined by your supreme Will;” to which Nero replied: “I make you King of
Armenia, that the whole universe may know it belongs to me to give or to take
away crowns." Domitian filled the world with his statues, to which
sacrifices were continually offered, and required that all letters written or
published in his name should always begin, “Our Lord and God commands.”
The chief reason for the martyrdom
of the Christians of their day was that they would not sacrifice to the emperor
as God.
We could say that these were
ancient, pagan, and unenlightened times, and that such abominations can never
again be willed upon mankind. But they were the times which produced our
classics. The same has also occurred in later days, with characters such as
Hitler, with far less reason or apology, and among those who claimed to be the
most advanced and enlightened of people.
“At
this very time, there resides a man in the city of Rome, whom one-half of
Christendom itself hails, honors, and adores as the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the
Vicegerent of God upon earth, Infallible, and sole possessor of the Keys of
heaven,—a man whom the greater festivals exhibit as a Divinity, borne along in
solemn procession on the shoulders of consecrated priests, whilst sacred
incense fumes before him, and blest peacocks’ feathers full of eyes wave beside
his moving throne, and every mortal on the street where he passes, uncovers,
kneels, and silently adores;—a man who, once a year, takes his seat upon the
high altar of the sublimest church in Christendom, in the broad light of this
favored century, and there receives the adoration of the whole college of his
most exalted subjects, who reverently bow amid chants, music, and burning
lights to kiss the toe of ‘His Holiness!’” (The Apocalypse: A Series of
Special Lectures on the Revelation of Jesus Christ.)
So, there will come a man from
among the enlightened of both reason and revelation, by signs and wonders, with
invincible power and whatever else marks the glory of the mighty; a great
prophet to exercise all this in one direction of a new universal religion,
advising and urging with meekness, eloquence and miracle, in the name of absolute
wisdom, the worship and adoration of that man, the Antichrist, as the only
right worship in the universe.
And as such, there will be a new
religion for the world, as scientists and reformers already claim and proclaim.
It will be a powerful and universal religion. It will ground itself in
pretensions to the profoundest wisdom, intelligence, reason, truth, and progress.
It will deceive the earth, and carry with it all who are not written in the
Lamb’s book of life. It will be the final coronation of the progressivism of
human perfectibility. But it will be a religion whose god is Antichrist, and
whose seal of damnation is inevitable and eternal.
And as our verse tells us, the
absolute authority of both the first and second beasts is such that those who
will not worship the image of the beast are sentenced to be killed.
As we have noted, there will be
some in those days who do not accept the new worship. These are the elect ones,
whose names God has written in the Lamb’s book of life, who will not be
deceived. There will be believing Jews, (beginning with the 144,000 and the two
witness who evangelize), who are ingrained never to accept the worship of an
idol, along with Gentile believers, who cannot be moved to an abomination so
foul and blasphemous.
And as this verse tells us, for
those who “do not worship the image of
the beast,” they are “to be killed.”
Here, the Greek negative ME is used with the Aorist, Active, Subjunctive of the
Verb PROSKUNEO, προσκυνέω that means to, “fall down
and worship, bow down to, show reverence to, welcome respectfully, etc.” It
comes from PROS – “face to face” and KUNEO – “to kiss.”
“The
origin of this term probably lies in the ancient custom of putting one’s hand
on one’s mouth in a kissing gesture and then extending the hand toward a person
of higher status, especially a deity. Among other things, ancient Egyptian
reliefs show how worshipers with outstretched hands offered kisses to the deity
(Schönweiss and Brown, “Prayer,” Colin
Brown, 2:876). Or it may stem from the custom of kissing the feet of a
superior (or idol).” (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary)
This reminds us of both the “hiel Hitler” hand arm and hand gesture and the
kissing of a spiritual leader’s hand / ring.
This is used with the Aorist,
Passive, Subjunctive of the Verb APOKTEINO, ἀποκτείνω that means, “to kill or deprive of spiritual life.” The
image will give a decree demanding that all who refuse to worship the image of
the first beast, the Antichrist, are to be killed. This further reinforces the
demand of the false prophet and shows that those who resist the Antichrist and
continue to worship the Lord Jesus Christ will be martyred for their faith, Cf.
Rev 6:9; 14:12, 13; 17:9-17. Thus,
it is clear that Antichrist will not follow a secular, humanistic, atheistic
philosophy. He will want religion, but he will use religion to exalt himself as
a god, as did the ancient kings of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Rome.
Principle:
Frustrated religion always resorts
to violence to get its way. The use of violence to coerce volition reveals the
Satanic nature of volition both now and in that future day.
Therefore, No one, of any class or
race, is allowed to live under the dominion of these Beasts, if unwilling to
conform to the worship they set up. And as we see from the Greek, this is a
very visible gesture of worship. If someone does not demonstrate this worship
visibly, they will be put to death, as we will see in the next verse regarding
the “mark of the beast.”
No comments:
Post a Comment