The false prophet will convince people to worship the Antichrist by using his religious authority, performing deceptive miracles, and directing a worldwide religious system to make and worship an image of the beast.
Les Feldick teaches that the false prophet is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit who draws people to the Antichrist, just as the Holy Spirit draws people to Christ. He exercises nearly as much power as the political leader, works hand in glove with him, and uses miraculous signs—including fire coming down from heaven—to deceive the earth's inhabitants. He persuades them to make an image of the Antichrist and worship it, thereby amalgamating all religions under one great image.
Revelation 13:12-15 — This is the direct answer to how the false prophet causes worship of the Antichrist.
In Revelation 13, the second beast (the false prophet) exercises all the power of the first beast and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. The Scripture says: “And he exercises 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. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live” (Revelation 13:12-14). The text also states that the second beast is given power to give life to the image, so that it could speak and cause all who would not worship the image to be killed (Revelation 13:15).
Les Feldick teaches that the false prophet is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit draws people to Christ, this religious leader draws people to worship the Antichrist, a counterfeit of the Son. He exercises almost as much power as the political leader (the first beast), but his role is religious, not political. Working hand in glove with the Antichrist, he uses great wonders—such as making fire come down from heaven—to deceive the people of the earth. These miracles are not from God but from Satan, who has tremendous miracle-working power. By performing such signs, the false prophet convinces the world to make an image of the Antichrist and worship it. Les also points out that the false prophet and the Antichrist will amalgamate all the world's religions into one system that worships this great image. He notes that the false prophet may possibly be an apostate Jew, based on the pattern of Jewish men rising to prominence in Gentile empires (like Daniel and Mordecai).
Les Feldick describes the false prophet as a great religious leader of the tribulation, not a political leader. He will exercise almost as much power as the first beast (the political Antichrist), following the pattern of men like Moses and Daniel who rose to positions of power next to the throne. He works under the cloak of religion but is inspired by Satan. His main role is to cause the mass of humanity to worship the political leader, the Antichrist, and to lead a worldwide religious system that amalgamates all religions.
Les explains that Revelation presents a counterfeit trinity: Satan as a counterfeit of God the Father, the Antichrist as a counterfeit of God the Son, and the false prophet as a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit draws people to God the Son, the false prophet causes people to worship the Antichrist, the counterfeit son. He does much of what the Holy Spirit does legitimately, but he is a counterfeit and will deceive, whereas the Holy Spirit never deceives.
The false prophet performs great wonders, including making fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. Les emphasizes that just because something is a miracle does not mean it is from God—Satan has tremendous miracle-working power. These miraculous signs are part of the deception. The false prophet deceives those who dwell on the earth by means of those miracles he had power to do, convincing them to make an image of the Antichrist.
The Antichrist and the false prophet will consort together and amalgamate all the religions of the world, melding them together by making them worship one great image. The religious leader will command those on earth to make an image to the beast (the Antichrist), and he will have power to give life unto that image. People who refuse to worship the image will be killed, according to Revelation 13:15.
Les draws a parallel between the false prophet's command to make an image of the Antichrist and Nebuchadnezzar's building a great image to centralize all worship of the world in himself. Just as Nebuchadnezzar attempted to consolidate worship through an image, the false prophet will do the same on a global scale for the Antichrist.
False Prophet's Power and Possible Jewish Origin
Les teaches that the false prophet is a religious leader who will exercise nearly as much power as the political Antichrist, and he may possibly be an apostate Jew.
Satan's Miracle-Working Power and the Image
Les explains that miracles are not necessarily from God—Satan has miracle-working power—and the false prophet will use this power to cause worship of the Antichrist and command an image to be made.
Counterfeit Holy Spirit and Miracles
Les repeats the warning about Satan's miracle power and describes the false prophet as a false Holy Spirit who causes people to worship the Antichrist and have an image made.
False Prophet Causes Worship of Antichrist
Les teaches that the religious leader, under the inspiration of Satan, will cause the mass of humanity to worship the political leader, the Antichrist.
Counterfeit Trinity Revealed
Les introduces the counterfeit trinity: Satan as counterfeit father, Antichrist as counterfeit son, and the false prophet as counterfeit Holy Spirit.
False Prophet Deceives Through Miracles
Les details the counterfeit Holy Spirit's role: he performs great wonders like calling fire from heaven and deceives earth's inhabitants through those miracles.
False Prophet Deceives Through Miracles
Les repeats the teaching that the false prophet is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit who uses miracles to deceive people into worshiping the Antichrist.
The Image of the Beast and Global Religion
Les explains that the Antichrist and false prophet will amalgamate all religions, command an image to be made, and give life to that image—a feat not beyond present technology.
Revelation 13:11: 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.
Introduces the false prophet as a beast who looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon.
Revelation 13:12: 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.
The false prophet exercises the first beast's authority and forces global worship of the Antichrist.
Revelation 13:13: And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
The false prophet's miracle of bringing fire from heaven is the sign that deceives many.
Revelation 13:14: And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
The miracles are the means of deception, leading to the command to make an image of the Antichrist.
Revelation 13:15: And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
The image is animated and speaks, enforcing worship by threatening death.
According to Les Feldick, the false prophet will perform great wonders, even making fire come down from heaven. However, Les warns that just because something is a miracle doesn't mean it's from God—Satan has tremendous miracle-working power. These miracles will be deceptive, not genuine works of God.
Les teaches that the false prophet is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit draws people to Christ, the false prophet draws people to worship the Antichrist, who is a counterfeit of the Son. His mission is to unify all religions under the worship of the Antichrist.
Les says the false prophet will lead a worldwide religious system. He will amalgamate all religions of the world, melding them together by making them worship one great image of the Antichrist. Les also speculates he may be an apostate Jew, but the Bible doesn't specify his origin.
He will perform great wonders, including bringing fire down from heaven, to persuade the people of the earth. The Scripture says he deceives them by means of those miracles, convincing them to make an image of the beast and worship it.
Watch the Teaching: The Antichrist Revealed: What Revelation 13 Really Says