What is the Satanic Trinity?

Satan will have an imitation of the Trinity in the Roman beast, the false prophet, and himself (Rev. 13:4,11; Rev. 20:10).

But let us turn again to scripture for light on this important subject. In the 13th chapter of Revelation there are three distinct personages who act as one. They are indeed a Satanic anti-trinity. A distinguished writer has remarked that from what the Bible tells us of Satan, he appears to have no originating power: he can only imitate. God sets up a church; Satan has his false church. God has His Christ, Satan his antichrist. And here in this chapter of the Revelation, there is a Satanic anti-trinity, consisting of Satan himself, the Roman prince (eighth head of the beast), and another beast, which has "two horns like a lamb" (imitation of Christ), but "he spake as a dragon" (ver. 11). Satan's grand aim is to get himself acknowledged in the place of God. He is the rival as well as antagonist of God, and seeks to use man as the instrument of his exaltation.

Along with Satan as the unholy spirit, the above two personalities, the two beasts of Revelation 13, form an evil trinity against the true Trinity. God soon puts a stop to it, as we shall see.

[1] Sometimes these three characters (Satan and the two beasts) are designated as “trinity of evil” (and we know what is meant by this). However, it is no real trinity as there is no unity of being.

These three — the dragon, which is the devil, the beast, and the false prophet — will form a terrible trinity of evil; they are brought together in the unity of their purpose in Revelation 16:13-14, and that purpose — war. The present League of Nations, which is a mere shadow, is for peace, the real League of Nations when it appears will be for war. The evil spirits that go out of the mouths of the diabolical trinity are deceptive and inflammatory words and doctrines. And in the conception and broadcasting of these, Antichrist will take the lead. He will be the great deceiver and will probably tell men that the only road to the goal of their ambitions is to blot out God and Christ and that they are able to do it, and aroused by his arrogant and lying words (2 Thess. 2), the cry will be: "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears" (Joel 3:9-10).

The second Beast, or Antichrist, is identical with “the false prophet,” named three times (Rev. 16:13; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10). The respective heads of the rebellion against Christ in His royal and prophetic rights are two men directly controlled and energised by Satan — a trinity of evil. “The dragon has given his external power to the first Beast (Rev. 13:8); to the second he gives his spirit, so that having this spirit it speaks as a dragon” (v. 11).*

This is a difficulty to some, because it is distinctly said that the man of sin will not tolerate any other object of worship. But these wicked personages work together, and are allies. To worship the one is pretty much to worship the other; just as, in regard to the true God, there is no worship of one person in the Godhead without the same homage due to the others. It is in vain for any to pretend to honour the Father without the Son, and he that worships the Father and the Son can only pay it in the power of the Holy Ghost. When we worship God as such, when we say "God," not Father only is meant, but the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. So precisely is this awful counterpart, the fruit of the energy of satanic craft and power at the close. The worshipping of the dragon and of the Beast seems, therefore, consistent with divine worship paid to the man of sin, the contrast to "Jesus Christ the Righteous." They are, as has often been said with justice, the great counter-trinity, the trinity of evil creatures as opposed to the Trinity of the Godhead. The devil is clearly the source of it all; but the public leader of his power politically is the first Beast; and the grand religious agent, who works out crafty plans and even miracles in its support, is the second Beast of this chapter, or the man of sin in the great prophetic Epistle.

This is a difficulty to some, because it is distinctly said that this man of sin will not tolerate any other object of worship. But then you must remember that they are all the same firm. Therefore to worship the one is pretty much to worship the other; just as in regard to the true God, there is no worship of one person in the Godhead without the same homage to the others. It is in vain for any to pretend to worship the Father without worshipping the Son, and he that worships the Father and the Son can only worship in the power of the Holy Ghost. When we worship God as such, — when we say "God," we do not mean Father only, but Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So precisely in this awful counterpart, the fruit of the energy of satanic craft and power at the close. The worshipping of the dragon and of the beast seems therefore quite consistent with divine worship paid to the man of sin. The fact is, they are, as often remarked with justice, the great counter-trinity — the trinity of evil as opposed to the Trinity of the Godhead. The devil is clearly the source of it all; but then the public leader of his power politically is the beast; and the grand religious agent, who works out all plans and even miracles in its support, is the second beast or man of sin.

Next you have the beast and the false prophet; both given to us in the thirteenth chapter. I can only say that the beast represents the satanic head of the revived Roman empire. In this third section you have a satanic character to everything. You have the dragon, Satan himself, the Beast energized by Satan, and the false prophet, or Antichrist, who is the administrator of all the power of the Beast. Everything is satanic. You have a sort of trinity there. First of all Satan, the head of all; then the Beast claiming to be divine, and his image set up to be worshiped; and lastly, the Antichrist, that most loathsome and horrible figure of all prophetic history, because he is usurping the place of the most beautiful, blessed, precious Lamb of God. Here he dares to assume the form of a lamb, yet he speaks like a dragon, and all he does smells of the bottomless pit and the lake of fire, where he gets his retribution. That is all that we can say about these personalities, in connection with the persecutions and judgments that take place described under the seven trumpets, and how incomplete the book would be without a description of them.

On earth he sees in vision a scene of unparalleled horror. Energized by the three unclean spirits emanating from that unholy trinity of evil—the head of the revived Roman Empire, the antichrist and the devil—he beholds “the kings of the earth and of the whole world gathered to the battle of God Almighty” (Rev. 16:14).