The Image of The Beast

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Hi R___,
The word ‘image’ is as much a symbol of something spiritual as any other word in this prophecy. Notice who it is who makes this image and requires all men to worship that image of the beast which came up out of the sea:

Rev 13:11  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.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and [ he] causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And [ he] 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.
Rev 13:15  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.

Notice the wording of all of this. There is “another beast coming up out of the earth.” This beast does not come up out of the sea. This beast comes up out of the “earth.” What is the earth?

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [ and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

The “earth” is always God’s own rebellious, sinful people who reject Him as their God, even while they want to claim His name. This beast “looks like a lamb”, but when he opens his mouth, all who know the voice of the true shepherd, all who can “try the spirits, immediately know he is a dragon. It is this beast in us all who has us all to worship the first beast which came up out of the sea.
How does the beast which comes up out of the earth go about getting us to worship the beast in us which was at one time given a deadly wound?
It is while we are in Babylon that we learn that ‘a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children:’

Pro 13:22  A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

The beast coming up out of the earth tells us that we are expected to be successful in this world, and right there in Proverbs is the scripture to prove it. Besides, we are told, Abraham the father of the faithful was rich, Jacob was rich, Kings David and Solomon were rich, etc. etc. and you, too, need to bow down and worship that very physically rich image of the beast which came up out of the sea which Christ warned us against:

Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

James is of this same mind:

Jas 5:1  Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Jas 5:2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you,
and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Not one rich man in a thousand will think that James is speaking of him, because they see no rust in any of their riches. But when those riches are seen as God’s word being twisted and perverted from true spiritual riches into the physical riches of the prosperity gospel, then it becomes apparent just how “your riches are corrupted and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver are cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your [ carnal] flesh as it we fire.”
So the “image of the beast,” like the “gold and silver” and like “your garments,” are all symbols of the spiritual image of the carnal me and you. This is “the image of the beast” which we all fall down and worship. This is the “image of the beast” which we are all incapable of warring against. This is the image of the beast which the second beast which “comes up out of the earth,” actually encourages us to worship. It is the beast within all of us which is loath to give up its power and throne and great authority over us.
I hope this helps you to see that the symbol of “the image of the beast” is much harder to detect that any physical image on any physical monetary paper bill or metal coin. The “image of the beast” is symbolized in spiritual terms. It is not a physical image. It is a spiritual image which has replaced Christ as He who should be sitting on the throne of our hearts.
Mike

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