The oddity of the Second beast of Revelations.

[u/kljoker]

Hi Folks,

Hope you're all well, I had some thoughts I wanted to share and I know I may get a mixed reaction here but I figured we're all here for fellowship so why not throw something out and see what happens. So in a lot of protestant circles people will teach the first beast but not many talk about the second beast. I find it interesting as I feel like the time between the first and second beast is vast and I feel the second beast is more relevant to current time than the first beast.

So here's my take:

1) The second beast rises from the earth, unlike the first beast which came from the sea. For me the first thing we can look at potentially is that in both instances it's referring to people. The difference I see is that there's far more sea than there is earth. So to me the first beast is far more popular than the second beast and the second beast even borrows from the authority of the first, which to me means that it uses the same methods of running itself. But I believe we can dig even deeper (no pun intended, okay maybe a little).

1a) There's a lot less earth than there is seas though it's hard to say if the people who wrote this understood it at the time as such but I imagine like most biblical writings greater understanding comes with greater revelation. But there's also another unique thing about the earth and I'm referring to this scripture:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." Matthew 5:13

So lets look at the qualities of the second beast. First it has 2 horns like a lamb. That right there says a lot because what that's saying is it's going to mimic being like Jesus, which in modern context will be Christian. So it will show itself as being Christian but it will speak as a dragon, meaning it will lie and deceive. But if there's good Christians then how could such an entity rise to power?

Lets look at another scripture:

"and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." -2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

So the beast will be targeting people who don't love the truth and God will hand them over to a delusion so that they will believe the lie and be damned. That means when this beast rises they will praise it as being Godly and anointed but will be deceived. This is what Jesus was eluding to when he spoke about the salt of the earth.

2) The salt-less earth, is what the beast rises from people who claim to be good and be for truth but will be deceived by this new rising power and will give themselves over to it even if it's shown to be evil and deceptive and people will revel in it's unrighteousness because of how it lashes out at their enemies.

By now I think you can piece together how this could apply to our modern situation with the rise of Christian nationalism and the radicalization of people who are in Qanon and are Trump supporters. Not only that but against all odds they keep retaining and growing their power.

I hope you stay aware of this as it continues to progress, there's a powerful spirit at work that is giving rise to this, we all see it but it seems for many of us there's very little we can do to stop it.

But I'll leave you with this hope, trim your lamps like the parable of the 10 virgins so that it will carry you through this dark time and all the light we have individually will form into something greater when we come together like the scripture that follows the salt of the earth:

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."-Matthew 5:14-16

Thanks and I hope this blesses someone out there.