The Second Beast
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LESSON 10: THE SECOND BEAST
Herodias the wife of king Herod HATED John the baptist deeply. This fearless prophet had dared to call her an adulterous woman “just because” she left her ex-husband Philip to marry the richer but more wicked brother, king Herod. And thus this sinister queen was determined to somehow manipulate Herod to kill John dead. First, she convinced Herod to arrest and imprison John. Then she requested that John be executed, but was refused by Herod. This tyrant at least was still aware that John really is a prophet of God, and did not want to heap too much trouble upon himself.
Finally, Herodias came up with a plan. She hosted a birthday party for Herod and invited the nobles and many of his friends to attend. When Herod started to get drunk after some rounds of intoxicating drinks, she had her beautiful daughter Salome come out to perform a most provocative and enchanting dance. Herodias knew that Herod would probably ask Shalome what reward she would want to receive.
Her sinister plot worked. After the performance of Salome, the drunken king indeed had made a most solemn and thoughtless vow: “Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.” [02] Mark 6:23. When the excited guests were applauding the generosity of this intemperate despot, the daughter had prepared her answer, and she had startled them all on the spot when she requested the head of John the baptist on a charger. So shocked by this barbaric request even to the point of being made partly sober again, but before all the nobles and friends who were looking so intensely at him to see how he would react, king Herod feared that he would lose face if he refuse. And thus he gave the order. That day, the great prophet was murdered amidst the cold loneliness of a prison cell.
This is not the first time a mother teamed up with her daughter to manipulate the government to persecute the people of God, nor will it be the last, sadly. In the Old Testament time there were Jezebel and Athaliah, infamous for persecuting the Israelites across the northern kingdom of Israel to the southern kingdom of Judah, forcing people into false worship. And in the last days, there will be a combination of forces of a similar character.
Let us spend a few minutes reading through [27] Revelation 13:11-17 before we dive in.
1. In the prophetic language of the Bible, what does a woman symbolize?
[24] Jeremiah 3:1 Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me.
[08] II Corinthians 11:2 I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Throughout the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, a “woman” is the often-used symbol for the church, the congregation of believers. A chaste woman would be a decent church faithful to her “husband”. An adulterous woman would be an apostate church, rebel against the Lord and his teachings. By the same logic, the harlot daughters of a harlot mother would be the apostate churches originated from an apostate “mother” church.
2. In the book of [27] Revelation, is there any vision that describes a wicked woman who has “daughters”?
[27] Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
Many people have missed this detail: Babylon wasn’t alone, but had daughters who are harlots just as she is.
Determining the identity of Babylon in [27] Revelation 17 isn’t hard, because God has already supplied us with the following identifications:
1. She is guilty of blasphemy (verse 3).
2. She persecuted and murdered the saints (verse 6).
3. She wears purple and scarlet (verse 4).
4. She is called “mother” (verse 5).
5. She has daughters who are also harlots (verse 5).
6. She sits on “seven hills” (verse 9).
7. She is a city that “reigneth over the kings of the earth” (verse 18).
And she is none other than the Roman Catholic Church: all identifications match perfectly. To see how the Vatican is guilty of blasphemy and persecuting the saints, review lesson “The First Beast”.
Next is the very specific colors of her clothes. Scarlet, or red, is the robe color of cardinals. Purple is the robe color of bishops. The Pope himself often wears this royal purple color in important events.
Rome – the city where the Vatican resides – is called “the city of seven hills”: it sits right on seven hills!
{The Catholic Encyclopedia, p.529}
“It is within the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican state proper is now confined.”
Not only so, even since the time the apostle John wrote the book of [27] Revelation, the city of Rome was indeed the one that “reigneth over the kings of the earth”. Afterwards the Roman empire gave its authority, its seat (capitol), and its army to the church of Rome – the Catholic Vatican Church. Nowadays, its international influence is even stronger than that of old. Even the US and Cuba had to obey the commandment of this so-called “Lord God the Pope” to make peace with one another.
Chapter 17 mainly describes Vatican under the viewpoint of an alliance of church and state, with the church (the harlot woman) sitting on and controlling the state (the beast). While chapter 13 mainly describes it under the viewpoint of an independent nation, revealing that it will cooperate with a second beast to persecute the people of God. This lesson will soon uncover which nation this second beast is, and its relation to the daughters of Babylon.
3. Which nation is the Second Beast in [27] Revelation 13?
[27] Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb…
The Second Beast, or nation, is described with the following identifications:
A. Coming up out of the “earth” (verse 11).
B. Has international influence so powerful that it can manipulate and control the entire world (verse 15-17).
C. Has two horns like a lamb (verse 11).
Although there are many details in the prophecy about this Second Beast still remain in the future, but the things that have been fulfilled are more than enough for us to identify which nation it is. The Second Beast is the United States of America – the most powerful nation on the face of the earth nowadays, besides the Vatican, that is. Let us analyze the three above descriptions.
A. Coming up out of the “earth” (verse 11).
In the prophetic language of the Bible, an area of waters (like the sea) represents a densely populated area ([27] Revelation 17:15). The earth is the exact opposite. The USA matches this identification perfectly because it arose from a continent that was relatively unpopulated. Of course, alongside with the USA, there are many other nations that match this description, like Canada, Australia, New Zealand… but we still have a few more identifications to easily eliminate all the other suspects.
B. Has international influence so powerful that it can manipulate and control the entire world (verse 15-17).
The prophecy describes this Second Beast to be a nation so powerful that it can enforce economic sanction (prohibition of buying and selling), and even capital punishment, to those who refuse to receive the Mark of the Beast, worldwide ([27] Revelation 13:15-17). It can clearly be seen that the number of nations that have this kind of economic, political and military power are very few, and among them, the USA stands out even more as the number one superpower that exceeds all others. Especially among the new nations that arose within a few centuries past from new continents, it is the only one that matches this description.
C. Has two horns like a lamb (verse 11).
In the prophetic language of the Bible, the “lamb” symbolizes JESUS, and “horns” symbolizes power. Pay attention and notice that the 2 lamb-like horns of this Beast have no crowns on it, unlike the first Beast. They represent the two fundamental principles established by the Protestant Christians that make up the strength of the United States of America: “a nation without a king, and a church without a pope.” In other words: civil liberty and freedom of religion, the two fundamental foundations of the freedom of conscience, ensuring that no one has the authority to force other people to practice their faith contrary to the dictates of their conscience. And the founding fathers of the USA, along with the many people who immigrated to this new continent back then were the very Protestants fleeing from Europe to escape the persecutions of the Vatican and the local monarchs. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are all under the rulership of the monarch of England, and thus are all eliminated at this identification.
In addition to that, the USA arose around the very time the power of the Vatican was broken in 1798, at the end of the 1260 years. It declared its independence in 1776, established the constitution in 1787, adopted the Bill of Rights in 1791, and was recognized as a world power by 1798.
The symbols provided by the Lord all matches perfectly: an apostate “mother” church – the First Beast – and from that church, came out the apostate “daughter” churches – assembled into the Second Beast – continue to go against the plain teachings of the Bible, and although have corrected themselves regarding the second commandment forbidding idolatry, still sin against God regarding the first and fourth commandments (review lesson “the Seal of God”). Read this declaration of “reverend” John A. O’Brien: “That observance (of sunday instead of the Sabbath) remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away.”
{The Faith of Millions (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 1974), p. 401}
4. According to the prophecy, what big changes are about to take place in the United States of America?
[27] Revelation 13:11 …and he spake as a dragon.
The dragon is Satan ([27] Revelation 12:9). The USA, under the manipulation of Satan, will reverse the two principles of the founding Protestants, about the government not interfering with other people’s freedom to follow the Lord according to the dictates of their conscience: it will issue laws that force people to worship contrary to their conscience. More specifically, it will force people to receive the Mark of the Beast – by keeping the first day of the week and profane the Sabbath, transgressing one of the Ten Commandments of God – or be punished with economic sanctions (prohibition of buying and selling – verse 16, 17), and then with death (verse 15).
5. Which three forces will unite to persecute and war against to people of God in the last days?
[27] Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
The dragon Satan operates through the heathen religions, especially the extremist religious groups. The First Beast in [27] Revelation 13:1-10 is the Vatican. And lastly the false prophet, we only need to cross-reference its descriptions in [27] Revelation 19:20 with the descriptions of the Second Beast in [27] Revelation 13:13, 14 to know that it IS the Second Beast, which is also the apostate daughters of Babylon, the congregation of the Protestant churches which were infiltrated by heresies that deceive into sins, and have officially rejected the corrections of the Lord in organizational level.
These two descriptions are about the same power, but one describes from the viewpoint of a nation, the other from the viewpoint of a spiritual power.
6. How will these so vastly different powers manage to unite with one another to deceive the people on earth?
[27] Revelation 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
[27] Revelation 13:13, 14 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.
Mainly through the miracles of Satan, these vastly different entities will combine forces and nearly the entire world will follow them ([27] Revelation 13:3). [27] Revelation 18:23 added: “by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”
“The battle of that great day of God Almighty” is the event when the dragon shall make war with the remnant of the seed of the woman ([27] Revelation 12:17). Pay attention and see that they have already been combining their forces to spread lying heresies and build up an alliance against the Word and the people of God.
It is heartbreaking, that once these heresies are accepted by someone, that person’s mind is immediately poisoned, damaging more and more severely the ability to understand and receive Bible truths by simple common sense. These brethren need our continual prayers. Please remember them when you are on your knees.
7. In short, what is the United States of America about to do?
[27] Revelation 13:16-17 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.
[27] Revelation 13:14-15 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 cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
The USA is about to “make an image” of Vatican, meaning it’s about to do the exact thing Vatican did: the church (the woman) will sit upon and control the state (the beast), using civil authority to issue the decree “the Mark of the Beast” – sunday sacredness – to force people to worship according to its dictate, contrary to the Word of God and their conscience. And thus, it will transform itself into a second Vatican.
To be more specific, the US – and all the other nations of the world under its influence will then follow its example – is about to pass a law demanding that its people, and the people of the world, to consider the first day of the week to be holy, and show obedience by resting from work on this day. But it doesn’t stop there. It will demand people to trample upon the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The punishment for refusing to do so will first be economic sanctions (prohibition of buying and selling), and then will be death.
Of course, this decree will be shrouded in coverings that have the appearance of righteousness – like for the laboring people, or for bonding family, or to protect the environment – but inside, it secretly seeks to deceive and force even the chosen ones to compromise the fourth commandment of God in keeping holy the seventh-day Sabbath. Worse, it will be supported by many miracles of Satan: fire will fall from heaven, demons impersonating the apostles, the prophets, the dead saints, the angels; Satan too will masquerade as an angel of light ([08] II Corinthians 11:14), if not as JESUS himself. And the majority of the world will be dazzled by these miracles and deceived to their eternal destruction.
8. How do we help protect ourselves from being deceived?
[04] John 7:17 If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
[23] Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
[05] Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Whosoever has surrendered to the Lord completely, willing to do His will whatever that is, will be filled with His Holy Spirit and given the ability to discern whether a miracle and its accompanying teachings are from God or from Satan, by comparing all encountered doctrines with the Bible. These people are daily in a living connection with the Lord, having hearts of absolute obedience and are kept by His Word, power and grace. It is impossible to wrestle them from the hands of the Lord.
9. The church I am now fellowshiping with is practicing their faith against the instructions of the Bible, thus sinning against God. What should I do?
[27] Revelation 18:4 Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
If you are in any church that teaches heresies contrary to the Word of God, you are accounted to be in Babylon and/or her daughters, and you must come out of that place.
That of course doesn’t mean we are not allowed to approach the churches that are practicing their faith contrary to Scriptures, to share the light of truth in the Bible to the believers who are fellowshipping there. But if we should do so, we are not to consider ourselves members of any organizations that war against the truths of God’s Word and contribute our influences and means for them to continue spreading unbiblical heresies that they refuse to recant, for doing so would definitely counted as partaking of the sins of Babylon to share in God’s punishment for her.
Seek for the church that teaches the truths of God’s Word accurately, and its respective ministries, to fellowship and contribute – where none of your means will be used, even unintentionally, to spread lies.
10. Are you ready to leave Babylon and its daughters to go to the place that the Lord shall direct you to?
Instructions already given by the Lord in [27] Revelation 12 will be presented in the next lesson about “the Bride of Christ”.
Appendix
Documentary video “Unmasking the Mark – part 1”
Click on CC (captions) at the “setting” gear symbol by the corner of the video to turn on subtitles.
Note: due to problems with vimeo’s display on smartphones when the video is placed on the website, the link to this video will be opened in a new tab, directly on vimeo:
With the fall of pretty much the entire Christendom prophecied in the last days, does the Lord still has a people united upon the Truth? We shall find out the identity of the Last True Church, in the next lesson.
