Unholy Trinity

Dr. Couch, do you see an "unholy" trinity with Satan and the antichrist in Revelation 13? ANSWER: Yes, and many others have also. Satan would be the counterfeit of God, the Beast would represent Christ, and the "other Beast" would be something like the Holy Spirit. Hindson in his commentary notes: "The Bible predicts the rise of a counterfeit messiah in the Last Days. While many of his titles and descriptions emphasize the diabolical character of his rule, we must remember that he is ultimately a deceiver who promises to bring world peace. The meaning of 'antichrist' also means 'in place of.' Thus the Antichrist will rise to power brilliantly. He will oppose the Messiah by pretending to be Him." Satan will empower the Beast. In 13:3 we read: "And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed." I write in my Handbook of Revelation (Kregel), "One of the Beast's heads, not necessarily the Beast himself, will receive a fatal wound. Since the Beast will be the ruler of a ten-empire confederacy, this one head would simply be one of his leaders who represent an empire." Walvoord adds: "It is significant that one of the heads is wounded to death but that the beast itself is not said to be dead. It is questionable whether Satan has the power to restore to life one who has died, even though his power is great." The "as if had been slain" is important. Thomas adds: "This is all part of the dragon's attempt to counterfeit the death and resurrection of Christ." The Greek text reads: "hos esphagmenan eis thanaton." The "hos" implies in Greek "something appearing like being slain into death." The "slain" is a Perfect Passive Participle. "It had at that point appeared as having been slain." Humanity will believe that a resurrection had occurred. Verse 4 reads: And men "worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast." I write: "God gave His authority to His Son, and so Satan will give his authority to the Beast." The apparent miracle will fool the entire world! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch