The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Mark of the Beast......?

Herman Hoeksema in his book Behold He Cometh has a good section on this text, Rev. 13:11-18. I think he possibly has grasped the meaning of the two beasts, of which you seem to be wanting to know about the second beast. In summary, he posits that the first beast is a world power politic rather than a single individual. The second beast is inextricably tied to the first and is the propaganda spread by a false prophet who does the bidding of the first beast, again the emphasis is upon the message vs. the messenger. His responsibility is to get people to submit to the authority and doctrine, both political and religious of the first through subtlety and guile and even to worship the person and philosophy of the first beast (pp. 465-476).

Yes, I am aware that the Postmil Puritans interpreted the "beast" as the pope and Rome. But I have never been able to be swayed to accept that as valid. I think these beasts are much broader in scope.