SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/30/2015
7:05 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction
to the Final False Prophet
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
12:11-18
Message of the
verses: “11 Then I saw another beast
coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a
dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence.
And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast,
whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes
fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he
deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given
him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the
earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come
to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast,
so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not
worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small
and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to
be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides
that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark,
either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let
him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is
that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”
In the verses above we see John writing about the coming
false prophet, even he is not named in this section we see clearly that this is
who John is writing about. The Bible has
much to say about false prophets and in our introduction to this last of the
false prophets we will look at some verses in the Scriptures that speak of
false prophets. We must remember that
Satan, the father of lies, is behind all false prophets, and the last false
prophet will be the one who helps Satan deceive the world. Deception is how Satan works as he causes
people to believe his lies. Paul writes
in 2 Corinthians 11:14 “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel
of light.” This verse speaks of
deception. MacArthur writes “From his
first appearance on earth in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:2-6) until his final
appearance at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:7-8), Satan is a liar and a
deceiver. He constantly seeks to confuse
people, ‘blind[ing] the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see ‘the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (2 Cor.
4:4).”
Let us look at a section from the book of Deuteronomy
where Moses writes about false prophets as he warns Israel that they would come
to lead them astray. “1 "If a
prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a
wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to
you, saying, ’Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us
serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that
dreamer of dreams; for the
LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul. 4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you
shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
5 "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has
counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of
Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in
which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from
among you.”
I am not going to quote the verses that Jeremiah spoke
about false prophet, but when we were studying the book of Jeremiah we stated
that Jeremiah had many problems with the false prophets of his day and that
they even were taken into captivity into Babylon to test the people there. The following are some sections from Jeremiah
that speak of false prophets: (Jer.
23:16; 23:21-22; 23:25-32; 27:14-16; 29:8-9).
Now we will move into the New Testament to see what it has to say about
false prophets and we first look at a familiar passage that we have looked at
before in conjunction with our study of Revelation and that is Matthew 24 where
Jesus speaks of the fact that Mt 24:24
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive
the very elect.” Jesus also spoke of
this in Matthew 7:15 where he says “Beware of the false prophets, who come to
you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Peter writes “But false prophets also arose
among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will
secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought
them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Pet. 2:1). John writes in 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not
believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
In his commentary on this section John MacArthur quotes
John Phillips as he speculates on this final false prophet: “The dynamic appeal of the false prophet will
lie in his skill in combining political expediency with religious passion…His
arguments will be subtle, convincing, and appealing. His oratory will be hypnotic, for he will be
able to move the masses to tears or whip them into a frenzy. He will control the communication media of
the world and will skillfully organize mass publicity to promote his ends. He will manage the truth with guile beyond
words, bending it, twisting it, and distorting it…He will mold world through
and shape human opinion like so much potter’s clay.”
As we look at the last false prophet we need to
understand that in this Tribulation period there will be an unholy trinity as
Satan represents God the Father, while the Antichrist represents the Lord Jesus
Christ, and this false prophet represents the Holy Spirit. We will see how the Antichrist through the
aid of the false prophet will ride the “religion” into power and then will get
rid of the religion and say that he is god.
So what we are looking at is the combination of the political and the
religion during those last three and a half years of the Tribulation period. We will look more at this when we get to
chapter seventeen, but we need to realize that the false prophet will be a big
part of confusing the people of his day to believe the lie that Satan is
promoting during the Tribulation Period and that lie is the same lie he has
used since he spoke it to Eve in the garden:
“1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ’You shall
not eat from any tree of the garden’?" 2
The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the
garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit
of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ’You shall not
eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’" 4 The serpent said to the
woman, "You surely
will not die! 5 "For God knows that in the day
you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil."”
We will be looking at three key elements of the false
prophet in our next few Spiritual diaries; his person, power, and program.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: When I first
became a believer I read and listened to Hal Lindsey and one of his books is
called “Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth.” As I study the book of Revelation and look at
the current events I have to say that Satan is alive and well in the United
States of America as he has his people spewing out his lies and people are believing
those lies just as Eve believed them.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To trust the Lord to bring glory to His name
through the events that are happening in our country. To remember that I am on the winning side,
and to be a bright and shining light in this world that is getting darker by
the moment.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “He would lighten the load Solomon had placed
on them” (1 Kings 12:3-4).
Today’s Bible
question: “What were the disciples in
Antioch called?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/30/2015 8:08 AM
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