In part two we identified America as the second, lamb like beast, of Revelation 13. Despite being founded on the principles of Republicanism and Protestantism, the Bible predicted America would more closely resemble the philosophy and ideology of the Papacy and the Dragon (Satan) from whom Rome got her power.
We will now continue our study of Revelation by examining how the Bible tells us Rome will regain world-wide supremacy with the help of America and use that power to force the world to worship and serve her.
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 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. (Revelation 13:11, 12)
According to scripture America will cause all the earth to worship the Papacy. Worship is defined as the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. What does the Bible say about worship?
Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; (Deuteronomy 11:16)
But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, (Deuteronomy 30:17-18)
But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; (1 Kings 9:6-7)
But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. (2 Kings 17:36)
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. (1 Chronicles 16:29)
The above are just a sampling from the Old Testament where we see again and again worship tied to service, and sacrifice, and obedience to God's commandments. These themes continue in the New Testament.
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matthew 4:10)
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:9)
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:17)
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16)
We worship God by serving him, through obeying his word and his commandments. Every kingdom has a king and laws and statues. The kingdom of God is no different. If we worship God, Christ is our king and it is his commandments and his word we obey.
We know a beast in Bible prophecy represents a kingdom/government/political power (Daniel 7:23) so when the second beast causes the inhabitants of the earth to worship the first beast, they are being compelled to serve and obey the first beast. America will cause the world to serve and obey the Church in Rome, the Papacy.
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. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 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. 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. 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. (Revelation 13:12-17)
How will the second beast, America, cause the world to serve and obey the first beast, the Papacy?
- 2nd beast will claim to have the same power and authority as the first beast.
- 2nd beast will cause the inhabitants of the world to worship (serve/obey) the first beast.
- 2nd beast will do great signs and wonders by making fire come down from heaven and will deceive the world by these miracles.
- These miracles will be as a sign of authority to deceive the world into worshiping the 1st beast and taking his mark.
- Financial penalties and restrictions will be used to coerce people of all classes into worshiping the 1st beast and receiving his mark.
- Ultimately, anyone who does refuses to worship the 1st beast or take his mark will be killed.
We covered in our study on the first beast that the first beast claims to have authority that belongs to God alone, even authority over God's word and to change God's commandments including when the Sabbath is to take place. This is what the Bible calls blasphemy.
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: (Daniel 7:25)
If worship means serving a ruler and obeying his commandments then by causing the world to worship the first beast, the second beast will be causing the world to serve and obey the commandments of the first beast.
Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. ...Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. (Mark 7:6, 7, 9)
They (the hypocrites) shall put you (faithful saints) out of the synagogues (churches): yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God a service. (John 16:2)
We see above that the second beast would deceive the world by making fire come down from heaven; but this is not a natural fire but fire that is associated with miracles. Fire in the Bible is used to represent the Holy Spirit, and no wonder as God himself is described as a consuming fire.
John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: (Luke 3:16)
For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29)
The Bible describes the role of the Holy Spirit.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)
And when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (John 16:8)
The role of the Holy Spirit is essentially to teach us right living in accordance with the word of God. The fruit of the Spirit are the "proof" of the abiding Holy Spirit in the believer's life.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Ye shall know them by their fruits. ...A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. (Matthew 7:16, 18)
The Holy Spirit also gives spiritual gifts for the preaching of the gospel and the edification of the church.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ...But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7-11)
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; (1 Peter 1:12)
For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; (Romans 1:11)
Where does the Holy Spirit come from? Let's look at some examples from the Bible to find out.
And I John bare record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. (John 1:32)
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
So the Holy Spirit comes down from heaven.
How do believers receive the Holy Spirit?
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: (John 7:38, 39)
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)
Bring forth therefore fruits meet (worthy) for repentance: (Matthew 3:8)
So the receiving of the Holy Spirit (and his gifts) are connected to faith and repentance, specifically that which bears the fruit of the Spirit (again, see Galatians 5:22-23).
As with everything, Satan has a counterfeit. He has a counterfeit church, a counterfeit Christ (or antichrist), and Satan has a counterfeit for the Holy Spirit. Let's look at the second beast of Revelation 13 again and the miracles it will do which deceive the whole world.
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 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; ...And he (the 2nd beast) had power to give life unto the image of the (first) beast, that the image o the (first beast) should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. (Revelation 13:13-15)
The second beast will do great wonders. Yet the Bible warns us that signs are not a safe or sure way to determine whether someone is of God. In fact, the Bible warns that the day is soon coming when such signs and wonders would be so convincing that even the very elect of God could be in danger of being deceived!
There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)
As we studied earlier, with regards to worship, worship is tied to obedience to God's commandments so that anyone who would encourage us to disobey any of God's commandments, regardless of any accompanying signs or wonders or other special gifts they may exhibit, they are not of God. Disobeying God's law to obey another is akin to idolatry, worshiping other gods!
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. ...and Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD. (Leviticus 10:1; Numbers 26:61)
This second beast (America) will bring forth false teachers and false prophets that will perform signs and wonders. These miracle workers will claim that these wonders are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They will use these wonders as signs of authentication in order to deceive the world into obeying the Papacy contrary to God's law.
In the next part of this series we will use scripture to identify exactly what is the mark of the beast.
The Mark of the Beast Part 1: The Sea Beast of Revelation 13
The Mark of the Beast Part 2: The Lamb Like Beast of Revelation 13