What is the Image of the Beast ?

What exactly is the image of the Beast? We find this image discussed in Rev 13:14-15. This image is ‘made’ by the False Prophet and all those who do not worship this image are killed (similar to Daniel and his companions being thrown into the fiery furnace of Daniel 3). This image of the beast is given life (literally, spirit) in order that the image may speak. When Scripture is compared to Scripture (1 Cor 2:13), we find that the image of the beast refers to the false Christian church during the Great Tribulation. This false Christian church has become very worldly and demands worship by all those in the church. Worship of this image includes obeying and the true Christians who do not obey the church are spiritually ‘killed’.

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Image in the New Testament

Made people make an Image of the Beast

Greek Word, ‘eikon’

Caesar’s image on a coin

An Idol (Baal)

Christians are the image of the Son

Man is the image of God

Jesus Christ is the Image of God

Law was a Shadow, not Image of Heavenly Things

To be Like Something (G1503)

Image of the Beast

Image in the Old Testament

Hebrew Word

Man made in the image of God

A Son is an Image of the Father

Idols

Daniel’s Great Image (Dan 2)

Job saw an Image

Solomon’s Temple – Cherubim Images

Michal makes an Image to Represent David in Bed

Two Cherubims over the Ark

Image in Psalm 73

Idols in the Prophets

What the Image was Given a Spirit to Do

Image in the New Testament

Made people make an Image of the Beast

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. 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.

Greek Word, ‘eikon’

Image – Greek – G1504 – eikon
Literally, likeness
23 occurrences in 22 verses
- 14 of these verses refers to the image of the beast

Caesar’s image on a coin

And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

(Mat 22:20)

And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s.

(Mar 12:16)

Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s.

(Luk 20:24)

An Idol (Baal)

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

(Rom 1:23)

But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

(Rom 11:4)

Christians are the image of the Son

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

(Rom 8:29)

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

(1Co 15:49)

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

(2Co 3:18)

Man is the image of God

For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

(1Co 11:7)

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

(Col 3:10)

Jesus Christ is the Image of God

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

(2Co 4:4)

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

(Col 1:15)

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

(Heb 1:3)

Law was a Shadow, not Image of Heavenly Things

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

(Heb 10:1)

To be Like Something (G1503)

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

(James 1:6)

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

(James 1:23-24)

Image of the Beast

(Rev 13:14)

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.

(Rev 13:15)

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

(Rev 14:9)

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

(Rev 14:11)

And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

(Rev 15:2)

And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

(Rev 16:2)

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 I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

(Rev 20:4)

Image in the Old Testament

Hebrew Word

Heb: tselem H6754 – literally- shade, phantom, illusion (17 occurrences)

Chaldee word – H6755 (17 occurrences)

Also H6459, H4906, H4676, H4541, H8655, H6816, H8544, H5262, H5566, H6755

Total = 75 occurrences, 60 verses (~50 refer to idols)

Man made in the image of God

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

(Gen 1:26)

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Gen 1:27)

Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

(Gen 9:6)

A Son is an Image of the Father

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

(Gen 5:3)

Idols

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

(Exo 20:4)

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

(Lev 26:1)

Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

(Deu 4:16)

Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

(Deu 4:23)

When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:

(Deu 4:25)

Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

(Deu 5:8)

And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

(Deu 9:12)

Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.

(Deu 16:22)

Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

(Deu 27:15)

And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

(Jdg 17:3)

Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

(Jdg 17:4)

Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

(Jdg 18:14)

And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.

(Jdg 18:17)

And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?

(Jdg 18:18)

And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

(Jdg 18:20)

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

(Jdg 18:30)

And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

(Jdg 18:31)

And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.

(2Ki 3:2)

And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.

(2Ki 10:27)

And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

(2Ki 21:7)

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

(2Ch 33:7)

As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

(Psa 73:20)

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

(Psa 106:19)

The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

(Isa 40:19)

He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

(Isa 40:20)

They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

(Isa 44:9)

Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

(Isa 44:10)

Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.

(Isa 44:15)

And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

(Isa 44:17)

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

(Isa 45:20)

I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

(Isa 48:5)

Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

(Jer 10:14)

Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

(Jer 51:17)

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

(Hos 3:4)

And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.

(Nah 1:14)

What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

(Hab 2:18)

The Second Commandment

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

(Exodus 20:4)

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

(Leviticus 26:1)

Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

(Deuteronomy 4:16)

(Deuteronomy 4:23)

When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:

(Deuteronomy 4:25)

Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

(Deuteronomy 5:8)

Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.

(Deuteronomy 16:22)

(Deuteronomy 27:15)

Israel Makes Idol in Wilderness

(Deuteronomy 9:12)

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

(Psalms 106:19)

Woman’s Son Makes a graven image

(Judges 17:3)

(Judges 17:4)

(Judges 18:14)

(Judges 18:17)

And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?

(Judges 18:18)

And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

(Judges 18:20)

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

(Judges 18:30)

And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

(Judges 18:31)

Image of Baal

And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.

(2 Kings 3:2)

And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.

(2 Kings 10:27)

Manasseh sets Image in the House

(2 Kings 21:7)

(2 Chronicles 33:7)

Ezekiel – Elders Worshiping Image in House of God

And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

(Eze 8:3)

Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

(Eze 8:5)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Image (Dan 3)

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

(Dan 3:1)

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

(Dan 3:2)

Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

(Dan 3:3)

That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

(Dan 3:5)

Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

(Dan 3:7)

Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:

(Dan 3:10)

There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

(Dan 3:12)

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

(Dan 3:14)

Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

(Dan 3:15)

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

(Dan 3:18)

Daniel’s Great Image (Dan 2)

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

(Dan 2:31)

This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

(Dan 2:32)

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

(Dan 2:34)

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

(Dan 2:35)

Job saw an Image

It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

(Job 4:16)

Solomon’s Temple – Cherubim Images

And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold.

(2Ch 3:10)

Michal makes an Image to Represent David in Bed

And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.

(1Sa 19:13)

And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster.

(1Sa 19:16)

Two Cherubims over the Ark

And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold.

(2 Chronicles 3:10)

Image in Psalm 73

As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

(Psalms 73:20)

Idols in the Prophets

The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

(Isaiah 40:19)

He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

(Isaiah 40:20)

They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

(Isaiah 44:9)

Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

(Isaiah 44:10)

(Isaiah 44:15)

And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

(Isaiah 44:17)

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

(Isaiah 45:20)

(Isaiah 48:5)

Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

(Jeremiah 10:14)

Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

(Jeremiah 51:17)

(Ezekiel 8:3)

(Ezekiel 8:5)

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

(Hosea 3:4)

(Nahum 1:14)

What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

(Habakkuk 2:18)

What the Image was Given a Spirit to Do

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.

(Revelation 13:15)

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

Give life – lit: give breath or spirit (Gr: pneuma)
Give life – Acts 17:25, Gen 6:17, 7:15,22
Wind as type of Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2, John 3:8)
Spirit ( hundreds of occurrences in NT), in negative sense used of unclean spirits (demons) – Lk 8:29, 11:24, 13:11, Mk 1:23-27, 3:11, 3:30, 5:2-13, 6:7, 7:25, 9:17-25, Mat 12:43-45, 10:1, 8:16, etc
Demons were bound with Satan – 2 Pet 2:4, Jude 6, but loosed for tribulation – Rev 9:1-12
Image speaks – proclaims false gospels/doctrine (1 John 4:1-3)
Those who do not worship beast = those saved
Christians to be killed – spiritual persecution – see Rev 6:3-8
- Killing by words / tongue – Mat 5:21-22, Pr 11:9, Ro 3:13-15, Jer 9:3, 18:18, Ps 140:3, Ro 3:13, James 3:8, Pr 18:21, s 52:4, 57:4, 64:3, 120:2
- Weapons are not of the flesh, but spiritual (not a political battle) – Eph 6:11-12, Phil 3:20, Mat 24:7, Is 42:6-7, Eph 2:6, 1 Pet 2:5-11,20ff, Mat 16:15-19, Lk 2:14, Hos 1:7, 2 Tim 2:4, 2 Cor 10:3f, Eph 2:19, Mk 8:31-33, 1 Pet 1:1, Rev 1:6, Heb 13:14, Col 1:13, John 18:36-37, Col 3:1-4, Lk 12:14, Mat 10:34, 2 Tim 2:16, Mk 12:17, Ps 73:25, Zech 9:9, Lk 22:36, Ro 12:1-2, Lk 12:13ff, Mat 5:38f, 1 Cor 6:1-8, Hos 8:9, 7:11, Ro 13
- Christians die daily – Mat 24:9, 2 Cor 1:9,4:10-12, 6:9,7:3, Ro 8:35-39, James 5:6, 1 John 3:15, 1 Cor 4:9, 15:31, Mat 5:21-22, Hab 1:2-4, James 2:9-11, Ps 94:1-7, 44:22, Rev 6:9, Mk 8:35
- Old Testament ‘violence’ – persecution of the righteous – Hab 1:2,9, Ob 10, Pr 16:29, Joel 3:19, Gen 27:41, Ez 25:12, Amos 1:11, Jer 20:8, Ps 11:5, Mat 24:9
- Innocent blood – 2 ki 24:4, Jer 22:17
- Christians Have Been Crucified w/ Christ – Gal 2:20, 5:24, 6:14, Ro 6:6
- Great sword – God allows the conflict Ez 30:24-25, Job 1-2
- Christians are living sacrifices – Ro 12:1-2, 1 Pet 2:5, Heb 13:15
What is the image – It is the representation of Satan’s church on earth in the form of demon-possessed individuals who are deceiving and persecuting the elect with false teaching and false prophecy (idolatry, antinomianism, false gospels, etc.)