THE BEAST THAT COMES OUT OF THE LAND

By Mariano Franco

One of the main characters present in the book of Revelation is that of the False Prophet. This name —which informs us both what he is not and what he will pretend to be— is learnt of only in Revelation 16: 13 and then again in Revelation 19:20, where we have a glance of his fate: to be thrown alive into the lake of fire, together with the Antichrist, at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. However, his appearance and his role are mainly described in Revelation 13:11-17 [1], where he is mentioned as a “beast that comes out of the earth” in all English versions of the Bible.

In the course of the present study, I will apply myself mainly to those seven verses in Revelation 13 in order to uncover the identity of this beast, this false prophet, or —to be more precise— the identity he will usurp to achieve the task he was assigned to carry on by the will of the Lord Almighty. Here is the passage mentioned above:

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. (NIV)

Those acquainted with my reading of the Greek word γη (ge), which appears throughout the book of Revelation, know that I understand for its meaning, not “earth” —which implies the entire world, best reflected in the expression (found in Revelation 3:10 and 16:14) οικουμενης ολης (oikumenes holes), which stands for the inhabited or civilized world, being its model in the times of Jesus and the apostles, the Roman Empire—, but instead that of “land”, which stands for the land of Israel [2].

So, when we read in verse 11: “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth”, we should read instead of that: “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the land”. In other words, the second beast John sees and describes in Revelation 13 comes out of the land of Israel.

Past and Present Speculations

It is well known that Luther in particular and Protestantism in general have vastly identified the first beast of Revelation 13 (that is, the Antichrist) with the Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church from which they have departed in the beginning of the 16^th century. Such identification seemed to follow its course most naturally given the bitter disagreement arisen between Catholicism and Protestantism. The Pope seemed to be most fitting into the shoes of the Antichrist, just like the Catholic Church was seen by Protestants of many denominations as the actual Babylon the Great spoken of in Revelation 17 and 18.

However, the flaws of this view are serious, being perhaps the main of them the scriptural evidence that even when in a first moment the woman who symbolizes Babylon the Great rides the beast as in a mutually beneficial relationship, she enters later into conflict with this same beast or Antichrist, who finally destroys her together with or through his influence over ten kings. If something, this suggests us that the whole Protestant eschatological view was perhaps too much influenced by its hatred of the Roman Catholic Church and specially of its head, the Pope. Now, setting aside the woman called Babylon the Great, had the Protestant identification of the Pope with the Antichrist any serious basis? Certainly it is not my interest to exhaust here the arguments maintained by Protestants throughout History to support their assumption that the Antichrist of the end times would be a final Pope. It will be sufficient to assert here that the Popes were and are antichrists inasmuch as they oppose Christ by perverting the sound doctrine of the Church, presenting themselves as mediators between God and men as Vicarii Figli Dei. The Popes are certainly antichrists [3], but none of them was, is nor could possibly be the Antichrist. The only thing I would add is that the notion of the Pope as one who “seats himself in God´s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2: 4) is unsustainable once we realize the nonsensical and contradictory Protestant assumption that the Vatican —as well as any other place in the world that not be the temple in Jerusalem— could have been considered as the Temple of God by the Apostle Paul.

In recent years it has also been posed a view of the Pope fulfilling the role of the False Prophet. However, when one comes to understand that η γη stands for the land of Israel in the same manner that κατοικουντας επι της γης points out to the inhabitants of that land, it becomes more difficult to figure out how could a Pope have such influence over a wide majority of Jews as to cause them to worship the Antichrist. In fact, there could hardly be in the whole world a figure less reliable in the eyes of Israeli and Diaspora Jews than the Catholic Pope. May be due to this later difficulty, some Bible scholars gave themselves to some speculations which go from the possibility of a future Pope with a Jewish background (such is the case, for instance, of Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of France) to that of some kind of takeover of the city of Jerusalem by the Roman Catholic Church and/or by the United Nations in a not too distant future.

Hopefully, in the course of the present study I will prove why the view of a future Pope as the False Prophet is totally out of frame in relation to what the book of Revelation tells us about the last days of the present age [4].

The False Prophet and the Inhabitants of the Land The Scriptures tells us unequivocally that the False Prophet will emerge in the land of Israel. He will have, therefore, a special relationship with the Jews —the “inhabitants of the land” as mentioned in Revelation 13:12 and 13:14. His main task is clearly described as a religious one, for it will mainly consist in making the Jews worship the first beast, the beast that comes out of the sea, the Antichrist. This will be possible because they will take this first beast as their promised Messiah as well as the second beast as a great prophet of God, who will be pointing out to the former and telling the Jewish people that in him are fulfilled all the promises given by God through Moses and the prophets, according to the interpretation present in the Talmud and in Rabbinic literature in general. And that´s one reason why he is called later in Revelation the False Prophet, that is, someone who falsely speaks on behalf of God.

Now, anyone who minimally knows the Jewish frame of mind —especially among Orthodox Jews— will come to see clearly that there is only one person who could have among them such authority ex profeso, even before his appearance is effected. It is the book of Malachi that provides the identity of that prophet who has both the godly authority and task to carry on among the Jewish people, an authority and task that the Talmud confirms in many passages. It is written in the book of Malachi: “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4: 4-6, NIV)

And also, in a previous passage, as understood by Jewish tradition: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. (Malachi 3: 1, NIV)

This crucial passages in the Bible are the key to understand what Revelation tells us about the beast that comes out of the land, the False Prophet. It gives us hints not only of the identity that this beast will usurp, but also of some of the means he will adopt to give legal status to his fraudulent claims. The False Prophet will claim to be none other but Eliahu Ha-Navi, Elijah the prophet. The Jewish people is waiting for the fulfillment of those prophecies recorded in the book of Malachi since more than two thousands years ago, as witnesses the following passage found in the deuterocanonical book of Ben Sirah also known as Ecclesiasticus: Then stood up Elias the prophet as fire, and his word burned like a lamp. He brought a sore famine upon them, and by his zeal he diminished their number. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, and also three times brought down fire. O Elias, how wast thou honoured in thy wondrous deeds! and who may glory like unto thee! Who didst raise up a dead man from death, and his soul from the place of the dead, by the word of the most High: Who broughtest kings to destruction, and honorable men from their bed: Who heardest the rebuke of the Lord in Sinai, and in Horeb the judgment of vengeance: Who annointedst kings to take revenge, and prophets to succeed after him: Who was taken up in a whirlwind of fire, and in a chariot of fiery horses: Who wast ordained for reproofs in their times, to pacify the wrath of the Lord’s judgment, before it brake forth into fury, and to turn the heart of the father unto the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Blessed are they that saw thee, and slept in love; for we shall surely live. (Ben Sirah 48: 1-11, KJV Apocrypha)

To put it in the words of author George F. Moore: Elijah’s historical mission was to bring Israel back to wholehearted allegiance to its own God and to his righteous will, and the prophecy of his return spoke only of the work to be done in Israel. His part was the preparation of the people for the imminent crisis. which in the centuries we are dealing with was understood to be the appearance of the Messiah. [5]

Even today many Jews around the world remember him by symbolically setting out a cup of wine during the Seder Pesach and by singing at the end of the prayer that marks the end of the Shabbat, the Havdalah: דוד־ןב חישמ־םע ונילא אבי ונימיב הרהמב / ידעלגה יבשתה איבנה והילא

Eliahu Ha-Navi Ha-Tishbi Ha-Giladi / Bimherah beyameinu yabo eleinu im Mashiach ben David

(Elijah the prophet, the Tishbite, the Gileadite / Soon, in our days, he will come with Messiah son of David)

The Prophet Elijah in the Talmud and in Judaic Literature

The Talmud is the center of Jewish religious life. Among a majority of Jews its prominence is even higher than that of the Tanach, since it is forbidden by Jewish law for the laymen to interpret the latter without recourse to the opinion of the rabbis who wrote its many volumes throughout some four or five centuries. In the words of Rabbi Finkelstein, who published a history of the Jews in 1949:

The Talmud derives its authority from the position held by the ancient academies. The teachers of those academies, both of Babylonia and of Palestine were considered the rightful succesors of the older Sanhedrin… At the present time, the Jewish people have no living central authority comparable in status to the ancient Sanhedrins or the later academies. Therefore, any decision regarding the Jewish religion must be based on the Talmud as the final resumé of the teaching of those authorities when they existed. [6] So far, one could think the Talmud is utmostly central only for observant, Orthodox Jews. However, that is not the case. The truth is the Talmud not only stands as a rock-solid code and system of beliefs for Orthodox Jews in their relation to men —both Jews and Gentiles— but also as a permanent reminder of their belonging to a special people for many secular Jews. This is so because religious education (even when only through rituals like circumcision and bar-mitzvah in childhood and adolescence) is so important in almost every Jewish family. This is surely the sense of the following words present in a 1959 article by Jewish author Herman Wouk:

The Talmud is to this day the circulating heart´s blood of the Jewish religion. Whatever laws, customs or ceremonies we observe —whether we are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or merely spasmodic sentimentalists— we follow the Talmud. It is our common law. [7] Thus, it is extremely important to make a survey of the more relevant mentions of Elijah in the Talmud in order to see what can be expected, from a Jewish point of view, about his prophesied return before the Day of the Lord. It would be, however, quite difficult to quote here every passage from the Talmud exhaustively, for they are in their majority entire discussions between rabbis; furthermore, it will be to no end in the context of this brief study. It will suffice to enumerate the most important activities expected by the Talmud to be carried on by Elijah after his coming, providing the sources to the reader for him to check them out by himself.

According to the Talmud, Elijah will… ● Clarify genealogical problems (Eduyot 8:7; Kiddushin 70b)

● Resolve halakhic disputes (Berakhot 35b; Shabbat 108a; Pesachim 13a, 70a; Sheqalim 2:5; Hagigah 25a; Yebamot 35b, 41b, 102a; Gittin 42b; Baba Metzia 1:8, 3:4, 3:5; Menachot 45a; Eduyot 8:7) ● Precede, arrive with, and prepare for Messiah (Erubin 43a-b)

There are, however, many sources other than Talmud from corpus Judaica dealing with the figure and mission of Elijah at the end of days. It will be of great help to quote here the following two sub-sections from the extended article consecrated to Elijah in the Jewish Encyclopedia as to get an approach to the statements made by such sources: Elijah as the Forerunner of the MessiahThe climax of Elijah‘s activity is his appearance shortly before the Messianic time. “He is appointed to lead aright the coming ages, to restore the tribes of Jacob,” says Ben Sira of him (Ecclus. [Sirach] xlviii. 10, 11). In the second half of the first Christian century it was expected that Elijah would appear shortly before the coming of the Messiah, to restore to families the purity which in the course of time had become doubtful (‘Eduy. viii. 7; this is the opinion of Johanan b. Zakkai). A century later the notion prevailed that Elijah‘s office was “to bring peace and adjust all differences” (ib.). It was expected that all controversies and legal disputes which had accumulated in the course of time would be adjusted by him, and that difficult ritual questions and passages of Scripture seemingly conflicting with each other would be explained, so that no difference of opinion would exist concerning anything (Men. 45b; Ab. R. N. xxxiv.; Num. R. iii., near the end; compare also Jew. Encyc. i. 637a). The office of interpreter of the Law he will retain forever, and in the world to come his relation to Moses will be the same as Aaron’s once was (Zohar, Zaw, iii. 27, bottom). But the notion which prevailed at the time of the origin of Christianity, that Elijah‘s mission as forerunner of the Messiah consisted mainly in changing the mind of the people and leading them to repentance, is not unknown to rabbinical literature (Pirke R. El. xliii., xlvii.). His real Messianic activity—in some passages he is even called “go’el” (=”redeemer”; compare Friedmann, l.c. pp. 25, 26)—will commence three days before the coming ofthe Messiah. On the first day he will lament over the devastation of Palestine, but will close with the words: “Peace will now come over the earth”; on the second and third days he will speak words of comfort (Pesik. R. xxxv. 161; Elijah as the “good messenger of salvation” is a frequent figure in the apocalyptic midrashim). When the archangel Michael blows the trumpet, Elijah will appear with the Messiah, whom he will present to the Jews (“Otot ha-Mashiah,” in Jellinek, “B. H.” ii. 62, 125; see Eschatology). They will ask of Elijah, as an attestation of his mission, that he raise the dead before their eyes and revive such of the dead as they personally knew (Shir ha-Shirim Zuta, ed. Buber, 38, end; compare also Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch; Bousset, “The Antichrist Legend,” p. 203).The Seven MiraclesBut he will do more than this, in that he will perform seven miracles before the eyes of the people: (1) He will bring before them Moses and the generation of the wilderness; (2) he will cause Korah and his company to rise out of the earth; (3) he will revive the Messiah, the son of Joseph; (4) he will show them again the three mysteriously lost sacred utensils of the Temple, namely, the Ark, the vessel of manna, and the vessel of sacred oil (see Antichrist); (5) he will show the scepter which he received from God; (6) he will crush mountains like straw; (7) he will reveal the great mystery (Jellinek, l.c. iii. 72). At the bidding of the Messiah, Elijah will sound the trumpet, and at the first blast the primitive light will appear; at the second, the dead will rise; and at the third, the Divine Majesty will appear (Jellinek, l.c. v. 128). During the Messianic reign Elijah will be one of the eight princes (Micah v. 4), and even on the Last Day he will not give up his activity. He will implore God’s mercy for the wicked who are in hell, while their innocent children who died in infancy on account of the sins of their fathers, are in paradise. Thus he will complete his mission, in that God, moved by his prayer, will bring the sinful fathers to their children in paradise (Eccl. R. iv. 1). He will bring to an end his glorious career by killing Samael at the behest of God, and thus destroy all evil (Yalkut Hadash, ed. Radawil, 58a). [8]

As the reader can see, there is a copious Judaic tradition about Elijah´s future pivotal role in the affairs of the Jewish nation. Following that tradition, it is not that simple to summarize the main ordered stages starting from his appearance among the Jews and to his very last act; in this respect, not even Judaic scholars of the last nineteen centuries have reach a consensus about it. Therefore, we should not try and set up a rigid order on this matter. Furthermore, I think that such an absence of consensus among Talmudic and Judaic scholars is generally most functional for the ultimate fulfilment of Bible prophecy for the end times. This is so because the Lord has arranged all things as to make them conducent to the climactic event that will transpire in the future of mankind in general and Israel in particular. Nonetheless, Talmudists and Judaic scholars do seem to agree in that Elijah will come to Israel some time between the battle of Gog and Magog and the coming of the Messiah, the son of David.

May be that would prevent some Bible scholars from Christian camp to consider the possibility that the beast that comes out of the land could pose as a returned Elijah in front of the Jewish people. In fact, does not Revelation 13 states quite clearly that the former appears after the beast that comes out of the sea has made his own entrance in the end times scenario? As it is written: Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. (Revelation 13: 11-14, NIV)

It is stated three times that the beast that comes out of the sea is the first one. Therefore, is it not the only logical path to come to the conclusion that the beast that comes out of the land is the second one? There is more to be said on this matter below.

Elijah in the Old Testament

Let us focus by now on verse 13 of the passage above, and compare it with two other well-known passages from the Old Testament:

And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. (Revelation 13:13) At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!” Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. (1 Kings 18: 36-40, NIV)

Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’ ” Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men. At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’ ” “If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men. (2 Kings 1: 9-12, NIV) That the performance of miraculous signs by the beast from the land points out to those two passages in the Old Testament is, in my view, out of discussion. That of causing fire to come down from heaven to earth is the only sign mentioned in detail in relation to the beast that comes out of the land in Revelation 13 and, as we can see, is also mentioned twice in relation to Elijah in both parts of the book of Kings.

Take the reader notice of the words uttered by Elijah in both cases: ―1 Kings 18: 36 (addressing God): “…let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command…”

―2 Kings 1: 10, 12 (addressing two captains): “…If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” By these words above is quite clearly manifested that the descent of fire from heaven is mainly related to the fact of being a true prophet of the God of Israel. At the same time, Revelation 13: 14 says that the specific power by which the False Prophet is able to cause fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men is allowed to him (εδοθη αυτω), that is, allowed to by God. In brief, not consenting God himself such display of power by the hand of the False Prophet —once again, a powerful sign reminding undoubtedly of that of old performed by none other than Elijah— it would be more difficult for the Jews to take him as the true one —Eliahu Ha-Navi, that same Elijah whom was prophecized about that he would come again to the people of Israel at the end of days. Furthermore, this is in full agreement with Paul´s words in 2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12:

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (NIV) Now, we have also seen that, according to Judaic tradition, Elijah is said to come as a forerunner, a herald of the Messiah, while Revelation 13 states clearly that the beast from the sea (the Antichrist) precedes the beast from the land (the False Prophet). How, then, can Revelation 13 refer to a fulfillment of ancient Jewish expectations about the coming of Elijah in its description of the latter?

The truth is there is room for another understanding of the text of Revelation. That is what we´ll see right bellow.

The Aramaic Text of Revelation 13

The Ancient Peshitta is the Aramaic version of the New Testament used by the Church of the East as well as other Aramaic speaking Christians. There is a theological-historical hint that the Peshitta precedes the fifth century Christological debates between Monophysites and Nestorians. Indeed, both of these groups have it as their accepted version even to the present day, despite of their doctrinal disagreement. There could also be a hint in that the Peshitta originally didn´t include in its canon 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude nor Revelation, following the fourth century canon of Antioch, previous to canonization of those books in 508 AD in that same city.

According to Aramaic scholar James Scott Trimm, the popularity of the Peshitta seems to have displaced quite quickly the previous use of the Old Syriac versions by Eastern Christians. And though its text was revised to be closer to the Greek versions, it certainly shows an important number of textual evidences that suggest a former common ground with the Old Syriac [9]. As for the book of Revelation itself, in spite of its late incorporation to the Peshitta, there is much room to think it was originally composed in a Semitic language, Hebrew or Aramaic, most probably the latter. There are simply too many textual evidences that point out to such origins, being the main of them the mistranslations found in the Greek text in comparison to the Aramaic one.

As a sampler of this, it could be mentioned here Revelation 2:22. The NIV as well as the rest of modern languages versions —all of them following various Greek texts— have it thus or similarly: “…So I will cast her on a bed of suffering…”. The word rendered here as “bed” is the Greek κλινη, while in the Aramaic Peshitta the word is אסרע (arsa). Now, quoting Trimm: The Aramaic word אסרע is ambiguous. It can mean “bed” as the Greek translator mistakenly took it, or it can mean “coffin” (as in the Aramaic of Luke 7:14 and Targum Jonathan 2Sam. 3: 31). Here it actually means “coffin”. [10]

Being thus suggested the very possibility of an Aramaic original text of Revelation, let us now turn to the Greek text of Revelation 13: 12-14. In them, there is a compounded word, ενωπιον (enopion), which Strong´s Concordance catalogues as follows: “in the face of (literally or figuratively): —before, in the presence (sight) of, to.” Let us see how renders it the King James Version: —Rev. 13: 12: “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before (ενωπιον) him…”

—Rev. 13: 13: “…so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight (ενωπιον) of men…” —Rev. 13: 14: “…by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight (ενωπιον) of the beast…”

Now, when we turn ourselves to the Aramaic text, we see the following: —Rev. 13: 12: “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him (יהומדק)…” —Rev. 13: 13: “…so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of (םדק) men…”

—Rev. 13: 14: “…by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of (םדק) the beast…”

What we have here is the Aramaic word םדק (q’dam) translated to Greek in all three cases above as ενωπιον. What does this word mean? Its meaning is as ambiguous as that of אסרע. Strong´s Concordance assigns to it number 6925 and describes it as follows: “corresponding to ‘qedem’ (6924); before: —before, X from, X I (thought), X me, + of, X it pleased, presence.”

That the meaning of םדק alludes both to place and time is also well established by other occurrences of this exact word in the Peshitta itself. The following are some examples of such occurrences: —Matthew 5: 16: “In the same way, let your light shine before (םדק) men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

—Matthew 10: 18: “On my account you will be brought before (םדק) governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.” —Matthew 8:29: “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before (םדק) the appointed time?”

—Matthew 5: 12: “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (ןוכימדק).”—John 1:15: “John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me (ימדק).’ “”—John 3:28: “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him (יהומדק).’” (The very same form found in Revelation 13:12) —1 Corinthians 4:5: “Therefore judge nothing before (םדק) the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”

So, in view of all the examples shown above, it is not irresponsible to figure out an alternative reading for Revelation 13: 12-14. Taking as foundation the NIV translation quoted at the beginning of this study, such alternative reading would be as follows: Then I saw another beast, coming out of the land. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast in precedence of him [11], and made the land and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do in precedence of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the land. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

This writer seriously thinks that such reading is not only supported by Aramaic grammar principles but also by the understanding of the figure and mission of Elijah at his coming by Talmudic and Judaic tradition.

Conclusion

There is a strong possibility that the book of Revelation is warning about a figure who will come to Jerusalem claiming to be Elijah and performing portentous signs in the name of the God of Israel as to deceive the Jewish people during the terrible Daniel´s 70^th Week, more precisely, near its midpoint. Furthermore, the False Prophet would be, thus, an euphemism for a false Elijah, for Elijah is today commonly called Eliahu Ha-Navi—Elijah the prophet. He will probably precede for a brief period (may be three days) the appearance of the Antichrist as Israel´s promised Messiah. This deception will aim to make all the Jews whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb to believe he is the true Elijah returned and that the individual annointed by him is the true Messiah, the son of David. This will be so because they will give credit to every interpretation of the Tanach, the Talmud and mystical texts like the Zohar presented by the False Prophet. Ultimately, that will result, of course, in their own destruction.

God will allow the False Prophet to perform signs and wonders; He also will arrange things in order that all these events will coincide with Talmudic and Judaic understanding of many prophecies found in the Old Testament. This will be so because the Talmud and its derivates spread lies —the lie— that lead to eternal damnation just like the Gospels spread the truth that leads to eternal salvation in Christ Jesus. However, God has appointed a time for salvation of a remnant of Israel through repentance and acceptance of Jesus the Messiah. As for the rest of them, the apostle Paul informs us about their future: “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness”. Buenos Aires, June 2007

Notes 1. I exclude verse 18 because it is not relevant to our present matter, leading —as it does— to a wholly different one with a number of problems of its own, that is, the calculation of the number of the beast. For a comprehensive approach to such matter, see Peter Goodgame´s The Giza Discovery (Vol. 1 & 2) —especially Part 10, “The Mighty One, in Vol. 2— at http://www.redmoonrising.com/Giza/index.htm

2. For a better and more comprehensive understanding of this, see my study “Jews & Gentiles in the Book of Revelation” here http://www.earthquakeresurrection.com/discussion/?page_id=48 3. Even so, Tim La Haye and Jerry Jenkins had no problem to depict the Pope as a saved man and thus worthy to be raptured in their spurious Left Behind series. Their teachings are actual stains in the Pre-Trib model and carry the guilt of having misleading hundreds of thousands of people around the world that accepted their false gospel made-up of fear of the catastrophes that will transpire in the near future. 4. According to my limited knowledge, the main secular scholars who directly or indirectly give hints of a Catholic pursuing of rule in and from Jerusalem are dissenter Catholics Pierce Compton (author of The Broken Cross) and Malachi Martin (author of The Key to This Blood, among other works) and Israeli investigative journalists and lecturers Barry Chamish and Joel Bainerman. When reading some of their books and articles in the past, I had had sometimes the feeling that at least some of them are somehow biased by popular Christian views on Bible prophecy, and this is the main reason why I don´t trust their views.

5. George F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of the Tannaim, Vol. 2, p. 348, Harvard University Press, 1962.

6. Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, The Jews — Their History, Culture and Religion, Vol. 4, p. 1332, Jewish Publication Society of America, 1949.

7. Quoted from “The Talmud: The Heart’s Blood of the Jewish Faith”, an installment of This is my God, serialized in The New York Herald-Tribune (November 19^th 1959). 8. “Elijah”, Jewish Encyclopedia (1905 edition), pp. 126,127. 9. For a more comprehensive treatment of this subject see: James Scott Trimm, Textual Criticism of the Semitic New Testament (especially chapter four, “The Peshitta Aramaic New Testament”. There is an online edition in pdf files available at http://www.nazarene.net/hantri/FreeBook/AramaicTextualCriticism.htm .

10. Ibid., “The Crawford Aramaic Text of Revelation”.

11. I think the rendering of the NIV here and in verse 14 —“on behalf”—, though an incorrect one, is unexpectedly accurate in that the False Prophet will also act on behalf of the Antichrist once arrived the latter into the scene.

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