Revelation 12 and 13 describe two persons that will come at the end of the age, the ‘beast‘ – known as the Antichrist, and the ‘false prophet‘ – who works with the Antichrist to deceive mankind. These two appear when the ‘dragon‘ – known as Satan, is thrown down from heaven to the earth.

The narrative begins with Satan making war with the Jewish people, known as ‘the woman‘, and her fleeing into the wilderness into a place of safety prepared by God. When Satan can not get at the woman, he turns his attention against the woman’s ‘seed’, which are believing Christians.

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” – Rev. 12:17

This is the setting into which the Antichrist and the False Prophet appear. I want to concentrate on the second beast, the False Prophet.

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. … And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” – Rev. 13:11-18

Notice this beast appears as a lamb, trying to copy the Lamb of God, Jesus. However this false lamb only has two horns whereas the Lamb of God has seven horns –

“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” – Rev. 5:6

The hallmark of the False Prophet will be deception. He will come with religious overtones but his message will be false. The spirit that drives him is at work today in the

Church, appearing to be religious but denying the Word of God. Women posing as pastors are driven by this spirit. The Bible states –

“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” – 1 Ti. 2:12

Presbyterian Pastor Rebecca Peters preaches “If Christians “Truly Value Women” They Will Support Abortion” and supports Planned Parenthood’s practice of disassembling baby parts in abortion clinics.

Other church leaders support gay marriage and homosexual pastors in their churches when Scripture clearly speaks against it.

“And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” – Rom. 1:27,28

All these are being driven by the same spirit that will drive the False Prophet when he comes. He will also cause people to receive a mark in their hand or forehead that will identify them and allow them to buy or sell. Fifty years ago this would have been unheard of but today it is becoming common practice. Now the mainstream media is coming right out and telling us that we will all get chipped.  It is almost as if they are trying to mentally condition us to accept what is coming. In the aftermath of a Wisconsin firm embedding microchips in their employees to ditch company badges and corporate logons, the Internet has entered into full-throated debate. “It will happen to everybody,” says Noelle Chesley, 49, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “But not this year, and not in 2018. Maybe not my generation, but certainly that of my kids.” From digital codes on all we buy to chips embedded in our credit cards, the American public is being conditioned to accept the False Prophet when he comes.

The spirit of the False Prophet is active in public schools as well as prayer to God is outlawed and use of the name of Jesus is forbidden. A Pennsylvania high-school graduate was told by her High School  To Remove “God” And “Jesus” From Commencement Speech. This is how she responded –

The spirit of the False Prophet is at work already; in our government, in our economy, in our schools, and in our churches. God’s word has warned us of this coming evil and God has given us the way to escape –

“Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.” – Zeph. 2:3

 Zephaniah is writing to the meek of the earth. The word he uses for meek carries the connotation of ‘gentile’ and ‘saintly’. It was said of Moses that he ‘was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.’  Such people are humble but, this does not mean they are weak, especially when following the Lord. They are what most of us wish we were but, often are not. Then Zephaniah gives two clues for survival – seek righteousness and seek meekness! These are the two elements of personality that will cause God to keep us in the midst of the coming Day of Jacob’s trouble. Of course righteousness means living according to the Lord’s standards and not the world’s standards. It does not mean being politically correct but instead being Godly correct! Putting away all things that offend the Lord. And we have to ‘seek meekness’ because it is not natural to us. It requires dying to our fleshly desires in favor of God’s desires.

We are so near the end that the False Prophet may already be among us but, even if he is not yet here, his spirit is. And the Bible warns us explicitly not to accept him or his mark.

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” – Rev. 14:9-12