Greetings, everyone. In this post, we’re going to study the second beast that the apostle John saw after he saw the Antichrist beast rise up out of the sea. We have now come to the last portion of chapter 13 where John described seeing another beast rise up, but this time it rises out of the earth and not the sea: “I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth…” (v. 11). As you will see in our study, this beast that rises up out of the earth is the false prophet. He’s a really bad guy! Are you ready to learn about the false prophet? Then let’s get into this!  

Revelation 13:11–18

Fifth of an Eight-Part Series
by Karen Thompson

A Second Beast: The False Prophet

Rev. 13:11 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. 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 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: 17 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. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Now we come to the last portion of chapter 13 where John described seeing another beast rise up, but this time it rises out of the earth and not the sea: “I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth…” (v. 11). If you recall, John described seeing the Antichrist beast rise up out of the sea, but this beast rises up out of the earth. What is the difference between rising out of the sea versus rising out of land? As discussed before, the symbolism for water, or sea, is many nations, many peoples, many tongues. The Antichrist beast rising out of the sea is a symbol of the ten nations that will be aligned with him. The other beast rising out of the earth is that he will be associated with one nation, not many nations. He will be associated with the Antichrist nation.

The Second Beast Is Duplicitous in Nature

Now let’s look at the last part of verse 11: “…and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” This beast had on its head two horns like a lamb, yet he spoke like a dragon: a lamb and a dragon, these symbols are polar opposites. This indicates to me a duplicitous nature. He will give the appearance of an innocent lamb, but his heart will be that of a dragon, meaning Satan. Revelation chapter 16 helps us understand this duplicitous nature, as in this chapter the second beast is called the “false prophet” (Rev. 16:13). He’ll be viewed as a prophet, a religious man. That explains the horns of a lamb. But he’s a false prophet. That explains why he speaks like a dragon. He’ll have the appearance of being a religious man, but just like the Antichrist beast, he will yield himself to demonic powers.

Jesus warned us about such a man saying, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15). It seems as though Jesus was describing the false prophet beast when He made that statement. The false prophet with his two horns like a lamb, yet speaking like the Devil is the quintessential wolf in sheep’s clothing. Jesus went on to expound on false prophets saying: “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:16–23).

Jesus compared the good and false prophets with good and evil trees. He said a good tree does not produce evil fruit, nor does the evil tree bring forth good fruit. Jesus said that it was “by their fruits ye shall know them.” The mistake many people make is they think the miracles, prophecies, signs, and wonders are the “fruit” of a man’s ministry. But that is precisely what Jesus was warning them not to consider when judging their fruit. In verses 22–23, He said false prophets will be able to give prophesies, they will be able to cast out devils, and they will be able to do many wonderful works. Jesus said even though they are able to perform supernatural miracles doesn’t mean they come in His name and doesn’t mean they are His prophets. To the false prophets, Jesus will say, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” 

If the fruit of a man’s ministry is not the miracles, signs, and wonders, then what is it? In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus identifies what is the fruit that we must judge. In this chapter, Jesus is again talking about good and evil trees and the fruit they bear. The Pharisees were accusing Jesus of casting out devils by the power of the Devil. Jesus said this was blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. He again made the statement, “for the tree is known by his fruit” (Matt. 12:33). Then right after that, He told us how to judge them by their fruit: “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matt. 12:34–35).

In these two verses, we are told to judge people by the words that come out of their mouths. Jesus said, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” If a man is good, he will say good things, but if a man is evil, he will say evil things. You’ll be able to tell whether a prophet is false or not by what comes out of his mouth. That is the fruit we are to judge—the words they speak—and not whether they are able to perform miracles.

Jesus’ warning about false prophets is exactly what people living during the time of the false prophet will need to heed. They are not to judge the validity of the false prophet by the miracles and wonders that he will perform. They are to judge him by what comes out of his mouth. What he says will be a reflection of what is in his heart. Like the Antichrist, he will no doubt speak blasphemous words against God. That is how you will be able to tell he is an evil tree, a false prophet.

Horns Symbol

At this point, it would be good to discuss the horn symbol. We’ve been reading both in the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation about how the ten horns on the dragon and the beast that rose out of the sea symbolize kings. Some might be tripped up by this and assume every time you read about a horn, it automatically symbolizes a king. But that is not the case.

The horn symbol is used throughout the Old Testament, and it doesn’t always symbolize a king. In the Old Testament, horns are most frequently used as a symbol of strength or power. A typical example of how the word horn is used is in Psalm 18:2: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress … and the horn of my salvation….” Other translations replace the word horn with the word “strength” to read “you are the strength of my salvation.” (See also 1^st Samuel 2:10 and Job 16:15 in KJV verses RSV.)

It’s important to note that every single time the horn was used to symbolize a king in the prophetic books, the Lord always provided the interpretation of the horn, pointing out that it symbolized a king. For example, an angel interpreted the ten horns and the little horn to Daniel, saying they represented kings. It’s the same with the prophet Zechariah in his prophetic word about the horns and the carpenters (Zec. 1). An angel interpreted the horns as being kings. And it’s the same with the apostle John; he was given the interpretation of the ten horns on the beast as being kings.

You will become confused if every time you see the horn symbol in the Bible, you automatically interpret it to be a king. More than anything else, the horn is used to symbolize power or strength: either the power or strength of a people group or an individual. Remember this: If the horn symbol is used and there is no interpretation given to indicate that it is a king, then it symbolizes strength and power. Keep that in mind when studying end time scriptures.

The point is that we are never told the horns on the false prophet beast symbolize kings. After John described the second beast as having two horns like a lamb, nothing else is said about the horns. There is no interpretation about the horns being kings, and there is no action being done by the horns. Therefore, we have to conclude that these horns simply symbolize power and strength accorded to the false prophet.

The False Prophet’s Power

Now let’s look at the first portion of verse 12: “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him….”  The false prophet will exercise all the power of the first beast. Did you catch the significance of those words? It’s easy to gloss over them and not fully grasp their meaning. The false prophet is not a king, yet he will operate in all the power of the Antichrist beast who will be the ruler of his nation. But here it’s saying the false prophet beast will operate in the same power as the Antichrist beast! The false prophet will be just as significant as the Antichrist beast.

It’s important to note that the word translated as power in this sentence is the Hebrew word exousia, the word often used to denote authority such as jurisdictional authority, an authority granted to someone in charge. How does this work out where both of the beasts exercise the same power?

One possible explanation for this is that the false prophet will serve as Antichrist’s “regent king” while he is out of the nation conquering other nations. The text in the book of Daniel reads as though Antichrist will himself be involved in his military campaigns. It says in Daniel chapter 11 that Antichrist goes forth in military fury when he hears disturbing news: “…tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many” (Dan. 11:44). This suggests that Antichrist might not be your typical stay-at-home king who sends his armies out to do his conquering for him. And when Antichrist is gone, he will need someone in charge of his nation. If that will be the case, then it seems the false prophet would be appointed as Antichrist’s regent king.

A regent king is someone who steps in to rule the nation if the king is incapacitated either with sickness or mental incompetence, or if the king is only a child and too young to rule, or if the king is out of the country. The regent king has the same and equal power as the king.

We see an example of a regent king in the book of Daniel with King Belshazzar, who was the king of Babylon. Daniel chapter five contains the story of King Belshazzar and the handwriting on the wall scenario. King Belshazzar hosted a great feast for all his princes and their wives. He made the mistake of using the vessels that were taken out of the holy temple in Jerusalem to serve his wine. As they drank their wine out of the holy vessels, they praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. It was an insult to God. That is when a hand appeared and wrote a message of judgment on the wall. A terrified Belshazzar didn’t know what the message meant, so he called upon the wise men in his kingdom to interpret the message. Belshazzar said, “Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom” (Dan. 5:7).

When Belshazzar said the interpreter of the message would be made the “third” ruler in the kingdom, he was acknowledging that he himself was not the top king. He was just the regent king. The actual king was his father, Nabonidus, who was the last recorded king of Babylon. Nabonidus appointed his son, Belshazzar, to be regent king when he left Babylon to live in Arabia.⁶ While Nabonidus was gone, Belshazzar exercised all the power and authority of his father the king.

In the same way Belshazzar ruled Babylon while his father, Nabonidus, was gone, the false prophet will rule when the Antichrist beast is gone and fighting in his military campaigns. That’s what it means when verse 12 says, “he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.”

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