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The Bible mentions in a passage that the flesh cannot have life without the spirit. Both the spirit and the flesh need to be present for that person to be considered a living soul and for this I am going to quote several passages in the Bible.

In the beginning when God created Adam out of the mud of the earth. He breathed into Adam's flesh his own spirit and Adam became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

The preacher Ecclesiastes also mentions that the spirit goes into the womb from God when new life is formed.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Other translations use the word wind instead of spirit but the same wind is much similar to the breath of life God breathed into the nostrils of Adam so wind could well be substituted for spirit.

Jesus also made a statement to prove that this wind spirit theology is closely related and I am going to quote John 3:8

John 3:8

The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

The final one is the spirit of Jesus who was God moving into the child who was formed in Mary's womb. Again, I think Ecclesiastes was prophesying of Jesus without the benefit of knowing the previous verse.

Now let's fast forward to Revelation 13:11 where there is an attempt to prove to the world through deception that the false prophet is from God, and for this deception to materialize he then needs to cause an image which I will assume is the image of a man to speak so that the world would marvel and say "Who is this man (false prophet), that he even gives life to lifeless objects that they are able to speak, could he have been sent by God?". This is very similar to what Jesus did during his time on earth: he walked on water and people marveled that who was Jesus that even the seas obey him. The devil is copying God's moves desperately to ensnare the world into a trap.

Now here is my question, does the false prophet cause the spirit of Satan to move into the image of the beast so that this image (who is Satan incarnated into flesh), speaking and causing many who would not worship the first beast to be slain?

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  • Nowhere in Revelation 13 does it mention the False Prophet. Where is the connection between the Beast that comes out of the Sea, and the Beast that comes out of the Earth, with the False Prophet? Also, what is your basis for saying the image of the Beast is Satan incarnated into flesh? Please help me out here because your question has confused me.
    – Lesley
    Jun 1 at 15:52
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    @Lesley it looks like the second beast in Rev 13:11-18 is commonly referred to as False Prophet (see Wikipedia and GotQuestions).
    – GratefulDisciple
    Jun 1 at 16:12
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    Thank you. I answered a question related to this where I partially quoted from that Got Questions article and said I was not altogether convinced with that view. Here is the link to that question and my answer: christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/79629/…
    – Lesley
    Jun 1 at 16:27
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    @Lesley I should have known that you're aware of that GotQuestions article already 😀. I haven't paid much attention to the book of Revelation, having focused on the Trinity and Christian anthropology. As of now, I'm more inclined to the Preterist position. To DongLi: I recommend getting a book that focuses on the history of interpretation of Revelation and be aware of whole history of failed predictions with the their associated meanings of the beasts, antichrist, markings, and other symbols. That's what I would do if I were to tackle this kind of question: broadening horizon first.
    – GratefulDisciple
    Jun 1 at 16:46
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    This question would benefit from including an explicit quotation of the Revelation scripture rather than simply describing what you think it means.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Jun 1 at 20:17

1 Answer 1

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It is Satan himself who causes the arising of the beast from the sea, the beast from the earth, the false prophet, and the making of the image. Satan gives rise to those means of getting his wicked will carried out on earth, and he it is who gives them their power and their authority. In chapter 13 of Revelation, Satan is referred to as "the dragon". Here's what the Bible states about the beast from the sea:

"And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast?" Revelation 13:2-4 A.V. [emphases mine]

Notice that the world of humanity that adores this beast doesn't say, "Who is like unto the dragon?" - no - they think they are worshipping the sea-beast. In all of this Revelation, the dragon - Satan - is invisible. The nations only see the means he uses to deceive them. Here's a shrewd observation about the beast of Revelation 13, showing the link to the various beasts in Daniel chapter 7:

"Daniel's series of beasts combine to give form to the beast of Revelation. What does this signify? In that the beast of chapter 13 incorporates features from all the beasts successively revealed in Daniel chapter 7, besides having features of its own, such a composite implies all those powers envisaged in Daniel, but more. Here is the all-embracing summation of the entire concept, whilst the successive beasts in Daniel depicted manifestations of that concept for the succeeding times then present. But the beast of Revelation 13 answers to time itself...

John stands as it were on the edge of the world. He views time as a whole... John discerns all these beasts as being various successive manifestations of but one. Here is the true vision of the history of the world. John sees one beast, though with seven heads. Of these 'heads', Daniel had envisaged four... John perceives a deeper principle: the heads might have come one after the other, they may have appeared diverse, but behind them all lay one single concept: the beast...

The vision in Revelation is that in which each of Daniel's allegorical beasts in turn became equally incorporated into the one great power lying deeply beneath every single historical materialization of its age-long strife for dominion. These are the seven heads...

But none saw the beast - the eighth - of whom these seven were but the visible successive manifestations.... behind the seven lay the eighth, unknown and unseen but for the Revelation of Jesus Christ given unto the Seer in the vision...

The horn [the beast out of the earth, Rev. 13:11 ff.] is that weapon of thrust and aggression by which a beast asserts its power to slay, subdue, and rule. By the exertion of this force the beast will gain the crown, and by force maintain it. But behind all this lies the dragon, and, in spiritual reality, it is upon his heads that the crowns rest, though it be in appearance by the power of the beast. The mind of the dragon is to gain the crown rights properly due to Christ... Mankind as a whole remains - and will remain - wholly oblivious to what actually takes place in the realm of that which is invisible, spiritual, and visionary." The Revelation of Jesus Christ, John Metcalfe, pp. 307-310

The answer to the question is, in brief: No, it is the other way around. The spirit of Satan is in the various beasts of chapter 13, and the false prophet. The best illustration I can think of is to see the beasts and the false prophet as puppets appearing in sequence on the world stage, and their strings are being pulled by the satanic puppet-master, who always remains out of sight and not even considered by the nations, who are in thrall to the puppets. If they knew that it was the monstrous, great red dragon of Revelation chapter 12 controlling everything and everyone who don't have the seal of God, Satan's game would be up.

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    The false prophet is not one literal man. This is an allegory of the current reality of the manner in which Satan has introduced false doctrines and false teachers into the church. Only when the Antichrist is identified, purporting to be the returned Christ Jesus, and all the nations bow down and worship him, looking to him as the saviour of the world, will Satan have realised his goal, which is to demand the worship that rightfully belongs to Christ Jesus. Anne's final paragraph sums it up very well.
    – Lesley
    Jun 2 at 6:18
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    @Lesley, that is a really good eye opener. Satan could as well masquerade as the returning Christ as written Satan is turned into an angel of light and go forth to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth. If he uses this deception of faking the second coming then most people even the elect will be deceived into worshipping him.
    – Few Against Many - Israel
    Jun 2 at 8:48
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    Guess where Satan wants to sit, enthroned? In Jerusalem. Of course, he won't took like Satan, neither will the nations recognise him, and perhaps that is why even the elect will be deceived. We must be always alert, waiting for the true Christ to return.
    – Lesley
    Jun 2 at 12:54
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    @DongLi Nobody is going to see Satan, the Dragon. He foists a global deception on the nations who have not repented at the declaration of the everlasting gospel (Rev.14:6-12). Those deceived ones have the mark of the beast on them, unlike those identified as sealed unto God. There is no such thing as "Christians who do not have the Holy Spirit". The Holy Spirit is their guarantee that they are secure in Christ and he sets them apart. Study Romans 8:5-17, please.
    – Anne
    Jun 3 at 13:49
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    @DongLi No, those who belong to Christ will not be deceived, for the Holy Spirit indwells all such. Just beware those claiming to have 'special knowledge' so that you must follow them. But those who know Jesus and the written word of God will be kept safe. Pseudo-Christians will be deceived. Jesus promised that "the days will be cut short" to prevent the elect being deceived Mat. 24:21-25. But this is now a different topic, requiring a fresh question. Comments are not for pursuing points.
    – Anne
    Jun 3 at 13:59

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