It will thus be a satanic triumvirate, which will be an imitation of the triune God. In this conspiracy the dragon (i.e. the devil) is the anti-type of God, the beast) i.e. the Antichrist) the anti-type of Christ, and the false prophet the anti-type of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says the following about the revelation of the false prophet:
“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men” (Rev. 13:11-13).
The false prophet will be another beast in the same kingdom from which the first beast comes. He will just be another one of the same type as the first one. He will look like a lamb but speak like a dragon. He will have an innocent appearance like a religious leader who has only one objective ant that is to unite the world and lead humanity into an era of peace and harmony. But when he speaks it will be evident that he is, to an extreme degree, possessed with the supernatural power and spirit of deception that comes from the dragon, the devil.
The false prophet will be totally intolerant of the kingdom of God and of true Christians and speak blasphemous things against them. He will glorify the Antichrist at the expense of Christ and astonish the world with his signs and wonders. Through his cunning he will cause deceit to prosper. The minds of people will be blinded by the god of this world (Satan); consequently they will be unable to discern between good and evil but will believe a lie (2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Thes. 2:9-12). The false prophet will take full advantage of this climate of deception to induce people to worship the beast.
Supporting role of the False Prophet
According to Revelation 13, the false prophet will be the right-hand man of the Antichrist. Satan knows that two are better than one. The false prophet will praise and magnify the beast, causing multitudes of people to accept, follow and worship him.
The mass media, such as radio, television, the press, and Internet, will be utilised to their full potential by the false prophet, who will be the chief propagandist and public relations mastermind for the Antichrist. He will spare no effort to influence and deceive people. All human brainpower and knowledge, including the educational systems and the entertainment world, will be mobilised in the service of the Antichrist. False religions, including compromising, ecumenical Christianity, will be used as an important weapon in his hand. The false prophet will definitely not forbid religion, but instead use it as a powerful tool to deceive the masses. The only message that will be forbidden to proclaim is that of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Religions that do not lead people to a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus, but instead proclaim false messiahs and idols, or who preach politics and human rights, as well as those who place a heavy emphasis on signs and wonders, will suit the false prophet perfectly. Signs that are performed by false prophets will greatly increase and be used as a tool for mass deception.
We must remember that Satan has tremendous supernatural powers, which he has always used to oppose God. The miracles that Moses performed in Egypt were in many cases repeated by the Egyptian magicians. The devil often uses false prophets with occult powers to deceive people. In Deuteronomy 13:1-3 we read the following:
“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying: Let us go after other gods – which you have not known – and let us serve them, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your hear and with all your soul.”
Take care that signs and wonders do not replace the Word of God! Also beware of the so-called signs and wonders conferences and spectaculars.
Satan is increasingly going to concentrate on signs and wonders and will use every available demon in his kingdom to the end. Because the Antichrist will get the credit for the greatest signs, wonders and manifestations of power, the whole world will marvel and follow him, saying: “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him” (Rev. 13:4)
Imitator and adversary of the Holy Spirit
The evil spirit of Satan will possess both the Antichrist and the false prophet. The false prophet will imitate and oppose the work of the Holy Spirit in the following ten ways:
• As the Holy Spirit introduces us to Jesus and teaches us to worship Him, the false prophet will introduce the Antichrist to humanity and teach them to worship him.
• The Holy Spirit calls and purifies a bride for Christ, which is the only true church. Through deception and apostasy the false prophet calls together a spiritually unchaste bride (the Mother of Harlots) for the Antichrist, which will include all the false religions.
• The Spirit of God is the Spirit who convicts us of sin. The false prophet has a wicked spirit through which people are seduced to commit sin.
• The Holy Spirit proclaims the pure words of God to us so that we may be drawn too Him with cords of love. From the mouth of the false prophet an unclean spirit will come, speaking u8nclean words that will seduce the nations to enter into a covenant with Satan.
• The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who guides us into all truth. The false prophet will lie to the people of the world and trick them in order to make them captives of the spirit of error.
• The Holy Spirit gives us faith in God and His Son. The false prophet will mislead people to believe in Lucifer (Satan) and in the Antichrist.
• The Holy Spirit comforts us, and also encourages and empowers Christians to act righteously. The false prophet will frighten and oppress people and also incite and empower them to act unrighteously.
• The Holy Spirit gives divine gifts to people to enable them to better serve the Lord. The false prophet will give demonic gifts to people to enable them to perform signs and wonders to deceive others.
• The Holy Spirit teaches us to worship God and to become partakers of His eternal life. The false prophet will force people to worship the image of the beast, thereby condemning themselves to eternal death.
• The Holy Spirit seals everyone who belongs to Christ as a child of God. The false prophet will induce people to be sealed with the mark of the Antichrist, thereby selling their souls to the devil.
Ideological brainwashing by the false prophet
The false prophet will undertake the ideological and religious brainwashing of humanity on behalf of the Antichrist. He will either emerge from the global alliance of false religions, or come from outside or gain full control over them within a short space of time. The religions of the world will then be exploited to make their follower subservient to the Antichrist and also to worship him. Revelation 13:14-18 clearly states that the false prophet will deceive the world into worshipping the beast and receiving his mark and number on their right hands and foreheads. This means that the world will be united in the political, religious and economic spheres under the leadership of the Antichrist.
The way of thinking that will be fundamental to the world empire of the Antichrist is monism, which means everything is one. This unitary ideal has two perspectives, i.e. the horizontal, human dimension, and the vertical, cosmic dimension.
A united world
In the horizontal perspective of monism, unity must first be established in the world by building bridges and eradicating boundaries in all spheres of life. Social unity must be realised with a view to establishing an integrate society of planetary citizens who are non-sexist, non-racial, multi-religious, and multi-cultural. A process of internationalisation must also occur politically and economically which will lead to the founding of a world government and a global monetary system. The ecumenical movement must promote religious unity in the world. These building-block of the new world order are regarded as critically important for the achieving harmony and peace, and consequently also for the emergence of the long-expected Utopia on earth.
The Antichrist needs a unitary ideology and reforms of this nature if he is to appear on the scene as a political world leader, a universal religious messiah, and head of a world economy. The more nationalistic and religious divisions there are, the less his chances are of establishing a united, international order under his control. However, the New Age Movement, the new world order, the ecumenical movement, and the globalisation of industry, business and finance, are working hard to promote a spirit of globalism and mutual acceptance for him. They will pursue these aims with much greater dedication after the false prophet has appeared.
Cosmic Unity
The second perspective of monism is that of cosmic unity. For the further development of man to higher levels of divinity, contact must be made with spiritual entities and forces in the cosmos. People must be taught how to contact spirit-guides and masters of wisdom in cosmic spheres. The objective is that all people should be assisted by higher beings to realise their full potential, and to make progress on the evolutionary ladder from the l4evel of homo sapiens to that of homo universalis (the universal man), also referred to as homo novus (the new man). The entire human family must also be collectively assisted to make the transition to the Age of Aquarius. Apart from spiritism and other techniques, transcendental meditation ™ is regarded as one of the most effective methods of achieving an alternative state of consciousness and of becoming one with the cosmic world.
The false prophet will be highly exalted in the hierarchy of cosmic masters of wisdom. He will occupy the second place after the Antichrist, and be able to perform amazing signs and wonders. He will even make fire come down from heaven and, according to Revelation 13:14, this sign will deceive the nations into worshipping the Antichrist.
The false prophet will apply the ideology of “everything is one” to its fullest extent. This means that here is no counter-reality of a devil and a hell, that all religions are one, and that there is only one universal messiah – the Antichrist. Lucifer (Satan) will, therefore, be worshipped as an angel of light in the place of God. The only negative element in this ideology of unity will be those people who refuse to unconditionally accept and implement this ideology. They will mainly be evangelical Christians.
It is obvious that a Christian world-view is diametrically opposed to the monistic philosophy of the Antichrist. The Bible does not teach us monism – everything is one, but dualism – everything is two. There are two major and irreconcilable realities that confront a person, i.e. the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. They are totally polarised and implacably opposed:
The kingdom of God in comparison to the kingdom of Satan
God – Satan
Christ – Antichrist
Holy Spirit – False prophet
True religion – False religions
Narrow way – Broad way
Light – Darkness
Heaven – Hell
Truth – Lie Salvation – Damnation
The way of thinking, or spiritual and ideological orientation, of these two kingdoms may be contrasted as follows:
Christian world-view
An antithetic way of analytical thinking in which discernment is needed to be able to categorise things and to think in opposites.
Antichristian world-view
A synthetic way of thinking which ignores differences and integrates all things into a larger whole. This philosophy is called holism.
Christian world-view
Continued divergence to a point of eternal separation between light and darkness. Reconciliation and unity between these two opposites will never be possible.
Antichristian world-view
Sustained convergence until all things in the cosmos become integrated and unified. Differences and conflicting interests are ascribing to ignorance.
Christian world-view
The cosmic domain of spirits and demons is prohibited. No experimentation with occult powers and extrasensory perception is allowed.
Antichristian world-view
The development of a cosmic consciousness by transcending the boundary with the supernatural, mystical world is recommended.
Christian world-view
Monotheism. The Triune God is a transcendental God. He must be perceived and worshipped independent from His creation. God works within man through His Holy Spirit, but remains a distinct Being who should be reverently approached in prayer and worship.
Antichristian world-view
Pantheism. God is mystical and impersonal. There is an element of divinity in the entire creation, which means that everything is god. Since all people are inherently divine, they must deepen the level of their consciousness and discover the god within themselves.
Christian world-view
Man is a unique creation of God. He is distinct from, though physically part of, the natural world and was commanded by God to subdue it and rule over all living creatures. He is responsible to improve and protect his environment.
Antichristian world-view
Man is part of the natural creation. It is claimed that he emerged from a unilinear line of biological evolution and thus descended from more primitive primates. He must beat one with nature, not unduly disturb it and maintain a mystical bond with it.
Christian world-view
Man has only one earthly life cycle in a physical body. It is appointed for him to die once, after which the judgement follows and eternity dawns.
Antichristian world-view
Man has various life cycles in which he evolves to higher forms of life. By way of reincarnation he often returns to a new life cycle on earth.
Christian world-view
Humanity must realise that it is divided into two groups, i.e. the saved ones who are destined for heaven and the unsaved ones who are destined for hell. Those who are in spiritual darkness are invited to come over to the kingdom of God by being spiritually born again.
Antichristian world-view
The unity of the human family must also be reflected in the religious sphere. All faiths must accept the fact that they worship the same God. One religion must therefore not be regarded as better than any of the other. Structures must be created to promote this religious unity.
Christian world-view
Because there are, religiously speaking, two opposing kingdoms, each of them promising a messiah to redeem the world – the true Christian and the Antichrist – a choice must be made between them.
Antichristian world-view
Because the different religions emerged from the same source of cosmic wisdom, they all wait for the same cosmic Christ who will finally unite them. In anticipation of this great event they must all join hands.
Christian world-view
Man is morally corrupt and spiritually dead because of the Fall. If he is not born again, he will end up in the lake of fire.
Antichristian world-view
Man is inherently good and only acts badly as a result of adverse external influences. There is no devil or hell in the universe.
Christian world-view
Through repentance and prayer the remission of your sins can be obtained from Jesus Christ, and the love and peace of God will flow into your heart by the work of the Holy Spirit. There is no substitute for prayer and it never becomes a mystical experience.
Antichristian world-view
Through a process of quiet, mystical meditation and the opening of the receptive faculties of your right-brain you can develop a deeper state of consciousness. You will then become one with the Christ within you and experience a mystical peace and tranquillity.
Christian world-view
When Christians join together in corporate prayer, the Holy Spirit works in a powerful way to convict people of sin and to save their souls.
Antichristian world-view
When large numbers of people meditate at the same time, cosmic energy will be released to promote peace and to save mankind.
Christian world-view
Reconciliation between man and God occurs at the cross and is based upon the atoning death of Jesus. Reconciliation between people is based upon the honouring of other’s rights, negotiated settlements and the respecting of boundaries.
Antichristian world-view
Reconciliation between people, ideologies and faiths is effected by compromise, unity and the eradication of boundaries. Groups must relinquish their exclusivity and become open and accommodating in order to promote convergence.
The end of the road
After the false prophet has induced millions of people, through spiritual deception, to become followers of the Antichrist, those who stubbornly refuse to bend the knee to the Antichrist will be summarily executed. The false religions are and always have been resentful and vindictive towards Christianity. In the tribulation period, under the guidance of the false prophet, they will get the right and the power to give full expression to their age-old campaign of hatred against evangelical Christianity.
In collaboration with the false prophet, the Antichrist will eradicate all spiritual opposition.
Rev. 13:7 says “It was granted him to make war with the saints and to overcome them”. After this, unclean spirits that do signs and wonders will proceed from the dragon (Satan), the Antichrist and the false prophet to deceive the kings of the earth into mobilising their armies for a great war against Israel. (Rev 16:13-14) Although they will also be intent on destroying the remnant of Israel, their main target will be the coming Messiah – the Holy One of Israel.
When Jesus comes from heaven, descending to place His feet on the Mount of Olives, there will not be an extended battle or any conversation with the rulers of Satan. They will immediately be captured alive and cast into the lake of fire. “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. The two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” Rev 19:20