The False Prophet in Bible Prophecy – Part One

The False Prophet is perhaps the most mysterious figure in the Bible, considering the impact he is to have in the last days. He is barely mentioned outside of several verses in one chapter of the Bible, and yet we’re told that he works in conjunction with the Antichrist to deceive most of the world.

In fact, the False Prophet is directly involved in so many stunning events in the end times, one could easily make the argument that he is MORE important than the Antichrist. So, with that in mind, let’s take an in-depth look at the False Prophet.

This is part one of a series of videos on the False Prophet, and in this first episode I’ll cover the basic facts about him, but also talk about four common mistaken beliefs related to this figure.

Our detailed introduction to the False Prophet is found in the 13^th chapter of Revelation, which describes two beasts that are to rise up in the end times. The first beast is the Antichrist which comes out of the sea, and the second is the False Prophet which comes out of the earth.

The two beasts coming out of the earth and the sea was hinted at in the previous chapter, as Revelation 12:12 says, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

The False Prophet is discussed in verses 11 through 16 of Revelation 13, which give a great amount of detail on what he is to do. Let’s go over those 6 verses one at a time, that way we can break it down a little bit so it’s easier to understand.

• Verse 11 reads: “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.”

This verse echos Matthew 7:15, where Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

In verse 11 we see three specific descriptions of the False Prophet. First, he comes up out of the earth. Second, he has two horns like a lamb. Third, he speaks as a dragon.

Coming out of the earth stands in contrast to how the Antichrist comes up out of the sea. In the case of the Antichrist, the “sea” is generally understood as meaning gentile nations, or unbelievers – or a nation that is not Israel.

Revelation 17:5 helps to confirm this. “And he said to me: The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and nations, and tongues.” – Revelation 17:5, Douay-Rheims Bible

Therefor, the “earth” that the False Prophet comes out of, is the opposite of the “sea”: Meaning, the False Prophet will come out of Israel or be connected to Israel in some way. This could mean that he will be Jewish, or that his seat of power is based in Israel.

Having two horns like a lamb tells us that he will appear gentle and peaceful, which has the clear connotation of him presenting himself as a man of God, perhaps even as a religious figure.

“Horns” in the Bible symbolize power and authority, so this man who appears gentle and peaceful also has worldly power. Finally, although he may appear as a gentle and peaceful man, he will speak as a dragon – meaning that he will be a fiery speaker, perhaps even a great orator.

Thus, in verse 11 we learn that the False Prophet will be connected to Israel in some way. He will appear gentle and peaceful as a religious leader might, but also has worldly power and authority. He will be a fiery and even captivating speaker.

• Verse 12 reads: “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.”

This verse tells us two things: that the False Prophet is every bit as strong as the Antichrist, and that he causes the world to worship the first beast. It’s reinforcement of how powerful of a figure the False Prophet is on the world scene, as symbolized by the two horns in the previous verse.

However, we should remember that the Antichrist comes from the sea, and the False Prophet comes from the earth. These two different origins mean that the power that each of these two individuals hold is a completely different, but complimentary, type of power.

In addition, the False Prophet’s ability to cause the world to worship the Antichrist teaches us that his power likely revolves around religion. This is all the more reason to suspect that he is, or will be, a powerful religious figure on the world scene.

• Verse 13 reads: “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,”

Verse 13 is telling us that it’s the False Prophet who performs the so-called miracles, not the Antichrist. This verse is important because many incorrectly attribute the miracles to the Antichrist instead of the False Prophet.

Rev 19:20 also reinforces that it’s the False Prophet who performs the miracles: “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image.”

So, why do some Christians think it’s the Antichrist who performs these miracles? This is the first mistaken belief that I want to briefly cover. There are two verses which are often misunderstood, and here’s the first:

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders” – 2 Thess 2:9 NKJV. The “lawless one” is, of course, the Antichrist, leading some to think this verse is telling us that the Antichrist performs the miracles.

But the words “WITH all power, signs, and lying wonders” mean that the Antichrist is accompanied by those things, not that he does them. And we know that because, again, both Rev 13:13 and Rev 19:20 clearly tell us that it’s the False Prophet who performs the fake miracles.

The other verse that leads some to think that the Antichrist performs the false miracles is Revelation 16, verses 13 and 14, which read as follows:

“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. 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.”

But note that this verse does NOT say that the Antichrist will directly work miracles himself, but that it’s a spirit of a devil that proceeds out of his mouth, symbolized by a frog. Likewise, the False Prophet has this spirit of a devil proceed out of his mouth, but he ALSO directly works miracles himself.

Thus, by comparing these verses with others in the Bible, we can clearly understand that between the Antichrist and the False Prophet, it’s the False Prophet who performs the so-called miracles in the last days.

There are additional miracles performed by these three unclean spirits, symbolized by frogs, but the stunning worldwide miracles such as making fire come down in the sight of men, are done by the False Prophet.

• Verse 14 reads: “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.”

Here we learn that the False Prophet deceives the world with his miracles, and he does so in the presence of the Antichrist. The verse also states that he does these miracles because of his power, which suggests both his worldly power as well as the dark forces behind him.

This verse also tells us that the False Prophet causes the world to make an image to the beast, and the purpose of this image, as we shall see in the next verse, is for worship. So, once again these verses are suggesting that the False Prophet is a powerful religious figure.

• Verse 15 reads: “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.”

Verse 15 tells us a very important thing, in that the False Prophet gives life to the image of the Beast, which is not the same thing as giving life to the Beast. This is the second misunderstanding that many have regarding the False Prophet.

There are many Christians who believe that the Antichrist will be killed only to be brought back to life by the False Prophet. But this verse actually tells us that it’s the image of the beast that the False Prophet gives life to – not to the Antichrist himself.

We should also recognize that in Revelation, depending on the context, the word “beast” could refer to either the Antichrist or to the final beast kingdom of the Antichrist. In this case, I believe that the image will, in some way, represent both of these things.

Whatever this image turns out to be, it not only will have the power to speak, but it will kill those who do not worship it. At this point, we have three different things on the world scene: the Antichrist, who is a man; the False Prophet, who is a man; and this Image, which has the power to kill.

• Verse 16 reads: “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:”

Here we read that the False Prophet causes the world to receive the Mark of the Beast. This again speaks to his immense power. This is the third mistaken belief that I wanted to mention. It’s the False Prophet, not the Antichrist, who causes the world to receive the Mark.

There are, of course, some who believe that the Antichrist and the False Prophet are the same individual, but we know that is not correct as Rev 19:20, which I mentioned before, specifically talks about the two of them as separate individuals.

The last two verses in Revelation deal more with the Mark of the Beast, rather than the False Prophet himself, and I’ll cover that more in-depth in a future video.

Before summarizing what we’ve learned so far, I want to mention the fourth and final misunderstanding about the False Prophet, which is that he has to be on the scene BEFORE the Antichrist.

This idea is based on how John the Baptist, who was most likely a cousin of Jesus and about 6 months older, was described as one crying in the wildness about the coming of the Lord. Thus his ministry began before that of Jesus.

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

However, although the public ministry of Jesus didn’t begin until he was baptized by John in the Jordan River, Jesus was already the Son of God, and He was already on the scene.

Likewise, the False Prophet proclaiming that the Antichrist should be worshiped, and performing his false miracles to delude the world, doesn’t mean that he comes before the Antichrist – it only means that it is at this point which the entire world will begin to worship the beast.

So let’s sum up what we’ve learned about the False Prophet from these 6 verses in Revelation 13.

The False Prophet will appear to be a gentle and peaceful man, meaning that he is most likely a religious leader. He is also to be a great speaker, even a fiery orator, telling us that he will have a very public pulpit to speak from.

He has immense power, equivalent to that of the Antichrist, but it’s based on a different sphere of influence, since he comes from the earth while the Antichrist comes from the sea.

He will either be Jewish or be connected in some way to Israel. This could very well mean that his seat of power is, or will be, based in Israel.

In part two I’ll cover the next step towards identifying who this figure is, or will be, and a big part of that comes from our understanding what the 4^th beast of Daniel is, because that tells us where both the False Prophet and the Antichrist come from.

Thank you for taking the time to watch this video, and I will talk to you guys soon. ♦