THE RELIGIOUS BEAST?
Ken Garrison (ken@tzemach.org)

"And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth ... And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence." (Revelation
13.11a, 12a)

More than 1,000 religious leaders gathered in New York on Monday, August 28, 2000, at the United Nations for the Millennium World Peace Summit. The participants said they hoped the summit would result in the formation of a permanent council of religious leaders. Is this the religious beast (false prophet) John wrote about in the book of Revelation?

Biblical prophecy is an area which offers great insight concerning those
things that are evolving in the world. Prophecy can also be used incorrectly and made to say almost anything. Wisdom lies in knowing how to interpret the general trends outlined in prophecy and in refraining from interpreting in too great detail. This is true of the beasts of Revelation.

Through the United Nations and other efforts at world government, we have seen the development of the "secular" beast of the book of Revelation. Today we are also being challenged to recognize the second or religious beast. We will attempt to develop that Biblical picture revealed of this beast.

WHAT IS A BEAST IN BIBLICAL PROPHESY?

The Bible uses the terminology of "Beast" to describe a human empire. Daniel (Daniel 7:17) and John (Revelation 17:9-13) both interpret the term "Beast" as a king or kingdom. In modern usage, we believe that the word empire best describes the concept of beast.

There seems to have always been the tendency in man to form empiresthrough which to dominate part or, if possible, all of mankind. The first Biblical empire that we read of is Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) which evidently was the handiwork of the tyrant Nimrod. God, of course, struck this empire. Yet, we see in every age the quest to revive Babel. History records a long sequence of empires which struggled to dominate the civilized world of their days. We recall Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome from the Biblical era. All of these were very similar to one another.
Since the decline of the Roman Empire, there have been a number of efforts at empires which were regional in extent. Eventually technology developed which allowed for a truly global empire.

The British Empire was almost global in nature (We recall the phrase, "the sun never sets on the British Empire"). In the 20th century we have seen a truly global empire evolve. It is the United Nations. Today, near the close of the 20th century, the United Nations is nearing the point of exercising dominance over all national sovereignty. This was spoken of by both Daniel and John (Daniel 7:23 and Revelation 13:7). We believe that the UN represents the final Anti-God, Anti-Messiah (Anti-Christ) and Anti-Israel government.

THE RELIGIOUS BEAST

John (Revelation 13:11-18) described a second beast. It was religious in nature. In a later chapter it is referred to as the "False Prophet". It looked like a Lamb but spoke like the dragon (Revelation 13:11). It had two horns representing two primary subkingdoms making up this religious empire. The ministry of the "False Prophet" was to cause all mankind to worship the first beast (UN or global government). At first, worship of the beast may sound strange, but when we consider that this global empire embodies such principles as human rights, self determination, democratic process and free market economy as a means of bringing freedom and abundance (secular picture of salvation) to mankind, then it is not unreasonable to see the beast as an object of worship.

Who or what is this religious beast? We do not believe that this beast has been fully manifested in the world at this time. Therefore, we can only speculate about its identity and makeup until it appears. We can make some simple deductions which will help us understand this beast.

First of all, it is a beast. This means that it is a manmade global empire or institution. It exercises authority over all man. It evidently has the authority to include or exclude individuals or nations from participating in the beast empire.

Secondly, it is made up of two primary branches or subkingdoms. If we consider the history of the world over the past two thousand years we might conclude that these two subkingdoms represent Apostate Christianity and Islam. Islam can be seen as an apostate form of Christianity.

Thirdly, the religious beast is formed in the image of the first beast. Therefore, we may conclude that it has an operational structure patterned after the first beast. The UN (the first beast) is made up of a General Assembly and a Security Council. All member nations are a part of the General Assembly. There are fifteen members of the Security Council, five permanent and ten temporary members. The ten temporary members are taken from the general assembly and participate on the Security Council on a rotational basis for two years. All real power of the UN lies in the Security Council and, due to their permanent status on the Security Council and the power of the absolute veto, virtually all power is reserved to the five permanent members. The permanent members of the Security Council are Great Britain, France, Russia, China, and the US.

Can you envision a worldwide religious council formed in the image of the UN? Like the UN, it would be a representative assembly. The "General Assembly" would be made up of representatives from all member denominations. The "Security Council" would have permanent and temporary members with all real power concentrated in the permanent members. Who are the likely candidates for permanent "Security Council" membership? The most likely candidates would be (1) the Roman Catholic Church and (2) Islam. Other denominations would find expression through the "General Assembly".

What would be the function of this Religious Beast? It causes all men to worship or serve the secular beast. It has the power of inclusion or exclusion by the "Mark of the Beast". What kind of test would be
required to be included? Important parameters would likely include

(1) universalism or the rejection of any specially elect person or group (there would be a guarantee to respect all member denominations),

(2) commitment to work for the general well-being of all man (humanistic philosophy), and

(3) acceptance of the global community of nations with the secular beast government being the highest authority.

How can you be sure that you do not receive the "Mark of the Beast"? The most important point is to maintain a consistent Biblical lifestyle reflecting that God is sovereign and that you were created for His glory and purpose (man is subservient to God in all things). A second factor is to maintain a faith life which acknowledges the elect position of Israel according to the Scripture as special instrument of God. If you do these things, the religious beast will find you odious and will reject you. If we are pleasing to God we will be odious to the beast.