Mark 9 · The beast from the earth
Deception by Signs
The false prophet performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven in the sight of everyone. Scripture's answer is that a sign proves nothing by itself: it is tested by where it leads.
✓ Reviewed by Fr. John How this site is made
- Texts
- Revelation 13:13–14; 16:14; 19:20; 1 Kings 18:38; Exodus 7:11–12; Deuteronomy 13:2–4; Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11
- Figure
- The beast from the earth, the false prophet (mark 4)
- Authority
- Scripture
What the text shows
"It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. It deceived the inhabitants of the earth with the signs it was allowed to perform in the sight of the first beast" (Revelation 13:13–14).
Three things stand out. The signs are great and public, "in the sight of everyone." They are allowed, like everything the beasts do. And their purpose is deception: they serve the first beast, and they lead straight on to the image the world is told to make (13:14).
A counterfeit Elijah
Fire from heaven was the sign of Elijah. On Mount Carmel "the LORD's fire came down and devoured the burnt offering," and "all the people fell prostrate and said, 'The LORD is God! The LORD is God!'" (1 Kings 18:38–39). The false prophet imitates the prophet's sign to win the opposite verdict: not "The LORD is God," but worship of the beast. In the same way Pharaoh's magicians copied the signs of Moses "by their magic arts" (Exodus 7:11–12).
Signs that lie
Christ foretold "false messiahs and false prophets" who would "perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24). St. Paul says the lawless one comes "from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:9–10). The three unclean spirits also "perform signs" to gather the kings for battle (Revelation 16:14), and at the end the false prophet is named as the one "who had performed in its sight the signs by which he led astray those who had accepted the mark of the beast" (19:20).
How Scripture tests a sign
Long before Revelation, Moses gave the rule. If a prophet "promises you a sign or wonder," and it comes to pass, but he says, "Let us go after other gods," then "do not listen to the words of that prophet… for the LORD, your God, is testing you to know whether you really love the LORD, your God, with all your heart and soul" (Deuteronomy 13:2–4). A sign that comes true proves nothing. What matters is where it leads.
The Fathers
St. Irenaeus says the false prophet's wonders come by magic, not by the power of God, with demons and apostate spirits at his service (Against Heresies V.28.2) A Father or Doctor. St. Cyril of Jerusalem warns that "the father of falsehood will make a show of the works of falsehood," so that crowds think they see what never happened (Catechetical Lecture 15.14) A Father or Doctor. St. Augustine leaves open whether the lying wonders deceive the senses "by false appearances" or are "true prodigies" that become a lie to those who think only God could do them (City of God XX.19) A Father or Doctor.
The Church Church teaching
The Church teaches that the miracles of Christ and the saints are signs that support faith (CCC 156, 548), and that every attempt to tame occult powers is gravely contrary to the virtue of religion (CCC 2117). The final trial is a religious deception (CCC 675): signs that seem to come from heaven, used to win the world to a man.
Where interpreters differ Disputed
- Tricks of the imperial cult: statues made to seem to speak and move, and other spectacles; the first meaning for John's readers, discussed in modern commentary.
- Demonic wonders at the end: St. Irenaeus, St. Cyril and most of the Fathers.
- Technological wonders: some modern readers, who see "fire from heaven" in weapons and machines that do what once seemed only God could do.
- Spectacle and propaganda: others, who see the signs in whatever dazzles the world into following power.
The Church has not decided.
The response asked of us
Do not follow a sign; follow the Lord. "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" (John 20:29). Test every wonder by Deuteronomy's question: does it lead to the living God, or away from him? Those who have "accepted the love of truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10) are not led astray.
Sources
- Revelation 13, 1 Kings 18, Deuteronomy 13 and 2 Thessalonians 2, New American Bible Revised Edition: Revelation 13; 1 Kings 18; Deuteronomy 13; 2 Thessalonians 2
- St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.28: New Advent
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 15: New Advent
- St. Augustine, City of God XX.19: CCEL
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 156, 548, 675, 2117