Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The latter part of Revelation 13 introduces another evil individual: “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. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed” (verses 11-12). This “beast” of a man is sometimes called the Antichrist’s lieutenant or the Antichrist’s “false prophet” (see Revelation 20:10). He is the third member of what is sometimes labeled the unholy trinity: Satan is trying to seize God the Father’s place, the Antichrist endeavors to mimic God the Son, and this fake prophet imitates the role of God the Holy Spirit. The word “another” means one of the same sort, indicating that this menacing man is dedicated to the destruction of all that is good and right. The description of him as “a lamb” reminds us that appearances can be deceiving: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). In fact, “horns” are used symbolically of power – power that will be employed perniciously to promote the brief and terrible reign of the Antichrist. One application for us today is that we need our Lord’s discernment: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).