"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." Revelation 13:11
There are two beasts in Revelation 13, The Beast of the Sea, who is the Antichrist, and the Beast of the Land, who is the false prophet. The false prophet "exerciseth all the powers of the first beast before him," and "doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven in the sight of men."
Everyone on earth will be deceived by the miracles performed by the false prophet. He is able to perform miracles when he is around the Antichrist. People conclude that he is from God because he can perform miracles, not realizing that the power to perform miracles can also come from Satan.
Where does the false prophet come from? How does he gain any prominence? Nothing is said about this. He will come up out of the earth. This means that he is from the Jewish people.
Once the miracles have convinced everyone to pay attention to the false prophet, he tells them to make an image of the beast. It really seems hard to imagine people doing this. It's hard enough to imagine that they accept the Antichrist or the false prophet, but then they decide to make an idol that represents the Antichrist, who is an man under the control of Satan, and worship the idol. It's hard to imagine anyone I know doing that. But not only will a few do that, almost everyone on earth will do that.
The false prophet presents himself as a lamb, but inside he is a serpent. People tend to believe what they want to believe, and they want to believe the false prophet. The Antichrist will have apparent solutions to terrible problems like war and economic collapse. And he is a religious leader. All the religions of the world will be homogenized into one big world religion. People will imagine that finally we will be able to solve all the mysteries of life because we have the Antichrist with us to guide us.
What is the purpose of the Image of the Beast? Why would there need to be an idol? Why wouldn't the Antichrist just make appearances himself? I've wondered that, but I don't have an answer and I haven't heard one. The false prophet will have the power to give life to this idol and it will be able to talk.
I went to Las Vegas once, and stood by a fountain with statutes all around it of what looked like Roman deities. Suddenly one of the statues began to talk to me. I was startled and thought I was losing my mind. I look around carefully to see if this surprised anyone else. Could they see the statue talking to me? No one seemed especially surprised or to even pay much attention to it. I was frightened, and I didn't feel better about it when all the statues began to talk and move. I thought someone would remark about it. No. It was a little mechanized show they put on every 15 minutes. I suppose when people first see the Image of the Beast talking, there will be a horror like I felt, as if they are seeing a ghost. How will they talk themselves out of that?
How will people convince themselves to worship an idol, a thing that they know for sure they made themselves? What kind of conversations will they have with each other about the wisdom of this? The false prophet will instigate people to round up all the infidels that won't worship the Image of the Beast, and put them to death.
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads and that no man might buy or sell save he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
It's no secret that we have microchips in this day that can carry a lot of information and send radio signals that can not only give the location of the microchip, but read the information. They are used for pets sometimes, to track the animal in case it is lost. I'm pretty sure these are the things that will be used to mark people with. In fact, the original word used was "an incision." Until recently, it was thought that the mark of the beast would be a tattoo. No, it will most likely be a microchip.
There is a supercomputer in Belgium that is capable of holding enough information to keep track of everyone on earth. The nickname of this computer is "The Beast." And with the chip, not just to keep track of them when you catch up with them. It can tell where they are. This might seem like a great idea. Criminals can be found and brought to justice. Terrorists can be located. Plots foiled. Imagine the ease of not having to carry a license, money or a credit card. Lost children found. Everyone will have all their medical information right there in the event of emergency.
In reality, the whole world will become one big prison. And the basic means of control will be the monetary system. No one can buy or sell anything without the chip. Scanners will become as common as card readers in stores. In fact, the cards and card readers probably set the stage for the day that people will have microchips in their hand or forehead.
"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and the number is six hundred, three score and six."
Is it a coincidence that every bar code begins, has in the middle, and ends, with the number 6?
Why a number? In Roman times, numbers were assigned to letters of the alphabet. From this a person could take the letters of their name and have his number. And the mystery continues. Whose name is this?
Beware! Revelation 14:9-10 "And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast, and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name, 10. The same shall drink the wine of the wrath of God..."
Don't take the mark of the Beast!!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
The Beast of the Sea
I wrote last time about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I'll skip ahead to Revelation Chapter 13, because it interests me.
Revelation 13:1-2
The Beast of the Sea: "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and he had feet like unto a bear, and a mouth like unto a lion."
Revelation 17:9
"The seven heads are seven mountains....And there are seven kings. Five are fallen, one is and one is yet to come."
The lion represents Babylon, the bear represents Medo-Persia, and the leopard is Greece.
The sea refers to the Gentile or non-Jewish world. Will the Antichrist be Gentile? This is very unlikely, since he seeks to be accepted by the Jews as the Messiah, and the Messiah must be Jewish. However, he will have his rise to power in the Gentile world.
Looking at Revelation 17:9-10, the seven heads are identified as seven kings. These kings are not in power at the same time. There is a succession. These are the empires of the world, leading to the revived Roman Empire, headed by the Antichrist.
In Daniel 7, Daniel describes his dream. Daniel 7:2-6 "I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea. 3. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another....4. The first was like a lion and had eagles wings.....5. a second like to a bear,... 6. and lo another, like a leopard."
Daniel refers first to Babylon, the lion, which was in existence when he lived, and where he lived. The second beast is a bear which represents the Medo-Persian empire, and did not come into existence until after the Babylonian Empire. Then the leopard came, representing the Greek Empire.
But John, in Revelation, puts the order of the beasts backward from Daniel. Why is that? Because Daniel saw the empires from the standpoint of future empires, and in the order from his standpoint in history. John saw the empires from the standpoint of history looking back, and sees them in that order.
But they are the same empires.
What are the ten horns? I used to hear, until lately, that the horns would be ten countries that comprise the revived Roman Empire. Lately, however, it's come to light that there is already a plan on the table to divide the world up into ten regions, the US, Canada, and Mexico being one of them. I've googled it. I think this is the correct view.
The Antichrist is one of two characters in Revelation 13. The other one is the Beast of the Land, which is the False Prophet. There are seven major characters of the Book of the Revelation: 1) the woman of Chapter 12, who is the nation of Israel. 2) the male child of the woman, which is Jesus Christ. 3) the dragon, which is Satan. 4) the archangel Michael. 5) the Jewish remnant. 6) the Antichrist. 7) the false prophet.
Who is the Antichrist? Is he alive today? Oh, I've heard lots of people say "So and so is the Antichrist!" Usually whoever is President. Or the Pope. Doubtful. What will he be like? Most people imagine he will be horrible, ugly, monstrous, crude, and just plain unattractive. Not so. He will be dazzling, the most marvelous leader the earth ever came up with. Suave, sophisticated, persuasive, cultured, intelligent, a fabulous administrator. He will not be merely a charismatic person, he will actually be inspired by Satan.
But what's so exciting about this person? All his coolness? No, more than that. He is murdered and somehow comes back to life. Yes, killed dead as a doornail. Officially pronounced dead most likely. He is killed by a head wound: Revelation 13:3-4 "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. 4. And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" The entire world is astounded by him. I imagine he has achieved prominence first, and people are surprised at the way he struts around making wild claims about himself. Someone has had enough of him and kills him. People suppose that's the end. When he is back to life, it's completely convincing that there's something very special about him. I suppose he'll tell great stories about the happy place he went to when he died, his after death experience.
I also imagine that when he dies, and then returns from the dead, he will no longer be a person controlled by his own spirit, but he will be indwelled by Satan. His power is displayed in three ways: 1) return from the dead. 2) his great mouth. Revelation 13:5 "And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." 3) Worldwide reign over the earth. Revelation 13:7 "and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues and nations."
He performs miracles, bonafide real miracles. People believe that this confirms that God empowers him. However, what many don't realize it that Satan also is capable of performing miracles - signs and wonders that mimic the signs and wonders done by Jesus Christ.
Revelation 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Everyone is so dazzled by this man that they throw their heads down the great bowling alley of life, and worship him.
Next time: 666
Revelation 13:1-2
The Beast of the Sea: "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and he had feet like unto a bear, and a mouth like unto a lion."
Revelation 17:9
"The seven heads are seven mountains....And there are seven kings. Five are fallen, one is and one is yet to come."
The lion represents Babylon, the bear represents Medo-Persia, and the leopard is Greece.
The sea refers to the Gentile or non-Jewish world. Will the Antichrist be Gentile? This is very unlikely, since he seeks to be accepted by the Jews as the Messiah, and the Messiah must be Jewish. However, he will have his rise to power in the Gentile world.
Looking at Revelation 17:9-10, the seven heads are identified as seven kings. These kings are not in power at the same time. There is a succession. These are the empires of the world, leading to the revived Roman Empire, headed by the Antichrist.
In Daniel 7, Daniel describes his dream. Daniel 7:2-6 "I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea. 3. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another....4. The first was like a lion and had eagles wings.....5. a second like to a bear,... 6. and lo another, like a leopard."
Daniel refers first to Babylon, the lion, which was in existence when he lived, and where he lived. The second beast is a bear which represents the Medo-Persian empire, and did not come into existence until after the Babylonian Empire. Then the leopard came, representing the Greek Empire.
But John, in Revelation, puts the order of the beasts backward from Daniel. Why is that? Because Daniel saw the empires from the standpoint of future empires, and in the order from his standpoint in history. John saw the empires from the standpoint of history looking back, and sees them in that order.
But they are the same empires.
What are the ten horns? I used to hear, until lately, that the horns would be ten countries that comprise the revived Roman Empire. Lately, however, it's come to light that there is already a plan on the table to divide the world up into ten regions, the US, Canada, and Mexico being one of them. I've googled it. I think this is the correct view.
The Antichrist is one of two characters in Revelation 13. The other one is the Beast of the Land, which is the False Prophet. There are seven major characters of the Book of the Revelation: 1) the woman of Chapter 12, who is the nation of Israel. 2) the male child of the woman, which is Jesus Christ. 3) the dragon, which is Satan. 4) the archangel Michael. 5) the Jewish remnant. 6) the Antichrist. 7) the false prophet.
Who is the Antichrist? Is he alive today? Oh, I've heard lots of people say "So and so is the Antichrist!" Usually whoever is President. Or the Pope. Doubtful. What will he be like? Most people imagine he will be horrible, ugly, monstrous, crude, and just plain unattractive. Not so. He will be dazzling, the most marvelous leader the earth ever came up with. Suave, sophisticated, persuasive, cultured, intelligent, a fabulous administrator. He will not be merely a charismatic person, he will actually be inspired by Satan.
But what's so exciting about this person? All his coolness? No, more than that. He is murdered and somehow comes back to life. Yes, killed dead as a doornail. Officially pronounced dead most likely. He is killed by a head wound: Revelation 13:3-4 "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. 4. And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" The entire world is astounded by him. I imagine he has achieved prominence first, and people are surprised at the way he struts around making wild claims about himself. Someone has had enough of him and kills him. People suppose that's the end. When he is back to life, it's completely convincing that there's something very special about him. I suppose he'll tell great stories about the happy place he went to when he died, his after death experience.
I also imagine that when he dies, and then returns from the dead, he will no longer be a person controlled by his own spirit, but he will be indwelled by Satan. His power is displayed in three ways: 1) return from the dead. 2) his great mouth. Revelation 13:5 "And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." 3) Worldwide reign over the earth. Revelation 13:7 "and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues and nations."
He performs miracles, bonafide real miracles. People believe that this confirms that God empowers him. However, what many don't realize it that Satan also is capable of performing miracles - signs and wonders that mimic the signs and wonders done by Jesus Christ.
Revelation 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Everyone is so dazzled by this man that they throw their heads down the great bowling alley of life, and worship him.
Next time: 666
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)