THE FALSE PROPHET

Let me begin by saying I do not know the identity of the False Prophet, the Antichrist, or the riders of the four horses of Revelation Six (even though the name of the rider of the fourth horse, the pale horse, is given as "Death" - Rev. 6:8).  There does seem to be some logic to the idea that the rider of the white horse (Rev. 6:2), will be the Antichrist, in that he appears to offer himself as Israel's Messiah (Dan. 9:27; 1 Jn. 2:18).  Israel's real Messiah will return riding a white horse (Rev. 19:11).  What I do know, without any doubt, is that God's Word tells us all we need to know, about all we need to know, and exactly when we need to know it.  According to Jesus, even He does not know when the end-time events will occur (Mk. 13:32), so for modern day "experts" to declare they know, seems to me to be a little preposterous! 

What we know about the False Prophet comes from three verses:
*  "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan - Rev. 12:9), and out of the mouth of the beast (believed by most conservative theologians to be the Antichrist), and out of the mouth of the false prophet (Rev. 16:13).
*  "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20).
*  "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Rev. 20:10).

However, because we know that the "second beast" of Revelation 13:11-18 works miracles to deceive humanity into believing in the "first beast," it appears that the "false prophet" and the "second beast" are the same man (cp. 13:11-18 w/ 19:20).  In addition, there are only three persons who are identified as being the leaders of the revolt against God and Israel's true Messiah:  Satan, the "first beast," and the "second beast" (Rev. 16:13).  This false "trinity" functions much like the true Trinity.  It is comprised of Satan, who would be god (Isa. 14:12-14; 2 Cor. 4:4); the beast, who is empowered by his god and causes humanity to worship Satan (Rev. 13:2-4); and the "second beast" whose main focus is to get mankind to worship the "first beast" (Rev. 13:11-15).  In addition, since the beast, and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20; 20:10), and no mention is made of what happens to the "second beast," it is logical to recognize them as being one individual person.

Believers do not need to know the identity of the Antichrist and the False Prophet!

We will not be on earth during their "reign of terror" (Ch. 6-18)!  Praise God!