I find it interesting that in Revelation the Greek word for the Beast Antichrist and the False Prophet is that of a wild animal. The first time this Greek word appears in Revelation is in the days that Satan is cast out of heaven with all his angels. Earlier in Revelation the King James also calls the creatures around the throne “beasts”, but a different Greek word is used and that word simply means living creatures. The Beast name given to the Antichrist and the False Prophet depict that these beings are like wild animals in God’s eyes.

Chapter 12 of Revelation gives us the exact timing that the first Beast arrives on the scene. It occurs just before the testimony of God’s two witnesses is completed. The Beast that comes out of the pit kills these two prophets of God and the Beast is given power to rule on earth for 42 months.

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 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.
13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17  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.

The woman who brought forth the man-child is Israel. After Satan is cast out of heaven he knows his time is short to defeat God’s plan. God’s plan is for Jesus to take control of the earth from Satan and for Jesus to rule the earth from Jerusalem. By empowering the Beast, Satan tries to eliminate Israel so that God’s plan cannot be fulfilled. Even so, Michael the archangel stands up to protect a remnant of Israel (Dan 12:1) in the mountains of Jordan until Israel finally acknowledges that Yeshua is their Messiah (Ho 5:15). Then Jesus will return as King of Kings, defeat all the forces of the Beast and set up His own Kingdom on earth.

Some might say that Satan ruled the earth before he was cast out of Heaven, so what is the difference? The difference is that previously Satan had to submit and report to God. Satan and his angels could not do anything that they pleased without answering to God. At this future time, God has ruled against Satan in favor of the saints and Satan and his angels are cast out of heaven. Satan and his angels become in open rebellion against the God of heaven. They will use all their supernatural powers to deceive those on earth and try to defeat God’s plan for Jesus to take over their rule on earth.

We know from Revelation 13: 4-5 that Satan will give the Beast his power and that the Beast will continue for 42 months. This is what we refer to as the great tribulation, the day of the Lord, or the time of Jacob’s trouble.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Now does that passage imply that the Beast will push Islam or worship Allah to you? If so, you are still missing the point. Satan is going to be cast out unto the earth with all his angels. Satan’s Beast and his false prophet are going to open their big mouth and blaspheme the God of heaven and those that dwell in heaven. Demonic forces will be allowed to come up from another dimension called the abyss. The Beast/Antichrist that rises up out of the Abyss will claim to be above anything called God. All on earth that reject Jesus will worship him. The Beast and his false prophet do not come up from the abyss and deceive people with man-made religion. Revelation says the Beast and the False Prophet will deceive the kings of the earth by spirits of devils working miracles not by Islamic conquest.

The armies of nations deceived will be gathered to Armageddon (the high plains near the city of Megiddo). This will be the staging ground from which the armies of the world will come to battle against the coming of the Lord. The Lord will slay the forces of the Antichrist the whole length of Israel.

Rev 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.
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.

The rise of the Beast and the demonic from out of the abyss may be more like aliens coming from the stars or from another dimension than some clash between world religions. They will come with a message that is contrary to the Bible  How do humans war against supernatural forces? The fact of the matter is that they can’t in their flesh. All who take up arms against the Beast will wake up dead (Rev 13:10).

I do not think the gathering of the armies of the world to the high plains of Megiddo will be done by any natural airlift either. I think it will be done with the help of angels. So, it is not going to take great logistics and a long period of time for people to be gathered there.

Jesus said the wheat and tares will grow in the world together until the great harvest and then the angels will gather the tares to be burned before the wheat is gathered into His barn (Mt 13:30). As scripture says, “the meek shall inherit the earth” (the God-fearing people who survived the tribulation)

Timothy gives us quite a bit of information about this coming Beast in one short passage.

2 Tim 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The strong delusion is not Islam. After the two prophets torment the unbelieving world for 1260 days with truth and judgment, nobody is still going to be deluded by the teachings of Islam. The lie that comes after their testimony will be something much more profound than man-made religion. It will be a whole paradigm shift in man’s thinking.

All of man’s prior thinking about religion will be abandoned. Perhaps people will think that by taking the mark of the Beast that they are part of an evolutionary leap forward into a new age Christ consciousness. The promise from these satanic beings and the big lie might even be that man can obtain immortality like the fallen angels without receiving salvation from Jesus. Yes, man was made to be immortal, but without God’s salvation (Jesus) he will spend his immortality in the Lake of Fire. That is where the Beast and the False prophet will be cast when Jesus comes.

The satanic Beast and the False Prophet will be truly supernatural. These satanic beings will have supernatural control over the earth for 42 months with the exception of where Michael the Archangel is supernaturally protecting Israel. They will not be defeated until Jesus comes.

The Beast is not just a deceptive man with a few magic tricks up his sleeve. Those that reject the God of Israel will probably think that Zeus and the gods have returned to the earth (they will be fallen angels). Those that think that they are going to go through the great tribulation and fight for God against the Beast are not taking the events of Bible prophecy literally. Jesus alone has the power to save the world from the supernatural Beast and his false prophet. Those that think the Beast Antichrist and his false prophet will try to force Islam on the world have missed the supernatural picture.

Editor note: This is a modified version of my article posted Dec 11, 2010 on my old blog.