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At this time it is important to bring in another character, the false prophet. It is not completely clear when the false prophet comes on the scene. He could have been there from the beginning, but stayed behind the scenes until his hour had come.
It’s not apparent what position he will hold, but his mission is clear. I believe he will head up the religious side of Babylon and the world church. I am quite sure that he is alive and well today in one of the church systems. He will work his way up through the future world church and one day ascend to its highest position, but in the end, he will betray them. His power will be astonishing and his bond with the antichrist will be unshakeable. From Dwight Pentecost’s book Things To Come is a description of the false prophet and his purpose:
In close association with the Beast, the head of the federated empire, is another individual known as the “False Prophet” (Rev. 19:20; 20: 10), called “the second beast” in Revelation 13:11-17, where his fullest description is given. In that passage of Scripture there are some important factors concerning him to be observed: (1) This individual is evidently a Jew, since he arises out of the earth, or land, that is Palestine (13: 11); (2) he is influential in religious affairs (13: 11, “two horns like a lamb”); (3) he is motivated by Satan as the first beast is (13:11); (4) he has a delegated authority (13:12, “the power of the first beast”); (5) he promotes the worship of the first beast and compels the earth to worship the first beast as God (13:12); (6) his ministry is authenticated by the signs and miracles which he does, evidently proving that he is Elijah that was to come (13:13-14); (7) he is successful in deceiving the unbelieving world (13:14); (8) the worship promoted is an idolatrous worship (13:14-15); (9) he has the power of death to compel men to worship the beast (13:15); (10) he has authority in the economic realm to control all commerce (13:16-17); (11) he has a mark that will establish his identity for those who live in that day (13:18).
Although the false prophet will eventually be as powerful as the antichrist, his only goal will be to promote the worship of the beast. In further discussion about the false prophet, Charles C. Ryrie goes on to say in his book Revelation that, “In order to accomplish his aim, this second beast (false prophet) will be empowered to do certain things…He will make fire come down on the earth in imitation of the power of the two witnesses, to show the world that he has as much power as they had.”
In doing these miracles, he will deceive the world into worshipping the antichrist as God. God will allow this display of wizardry to ultimately sift out those who will serve Him from those who will serve the antichrist.