Have I beaten Revelation 13 to bits yet? Not quite. I have something to say about the Mark of the Beast, which is the number 666 - "six hundred threescore and six" in King James English.
Do I think King James English is the way God would write the Bible? Is it a better translation? Does it make sense to read Scripture in a dead language? I've heard that King James English was already archaic when it was used to translate the Bible. It's just that I've committed a lot of Scripture to memory, and I decided to memorize the King James version because of the beautiful language. Sorry, the new translations aren't as pretty. Sometimes I struggle with the language, but not much. An example is "threescore." What's wrong with "sixty"? Oh, nothing, but threescore is prettier. How long does it takes to figure out what threescore means? Three seconds? Uhm....three times 20.
The translators did all sorts of odd things, which you would notice if you tried to memorize it. Things that weren't due to the confines of King James English. I can only speculate that they rearranged the words to give it more literary flair, and I feel that they succeeded. So I just like this translation. I have heard that the accuracy to the original is good, also.
Revelation 13:16-18
16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads,
17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18. Here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number of his name, for it is the number of a man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
In these few words are all the description in the Bible of the Mark of the Beast. Yet it is a very well known idea. I don't remember ever hearing of it until I was 19 though. Not a word. Did either of my parents know about it, or anyone in my family? If they did, they didn't tell me. That was all saved to unload on me the moment I got saved. Suddenly people I didn't know were prancing up to me and either asking me or telling me about every strange inexplicable verse in the Bible. And I was a person that didn't know the Ten Commandments or the Twenty third Psalm. I was given a Bible at a Bible study, my first Bible in my life, and it was in King James English. OK, I'll admit. I couldn't read it. But it wasn't very long until I figured out that I was a rare person. EVERYONE else knew. Whaaaaat???
What's wrong with this picture?
The "M" is made of the Hebrew letter Vav, also used for the number 6. Note: there are three of them, hence the number 666 on the Monster drink cans.
Have you ever heard of Holy Joe? Holy Joe gave me my first New Testament. He used to go every Sunday afternoon to Miami Beach and preach to teenagers. One Sunday when I was about 14, he appeared, and he caused a sensation immediately. The whole beach jumped up and ran over to him, and I overheard people saying, "Look! It's Holy Joe." What did he have to say? I don't quite remember. He had a box of New Testaments that he would give to anyone who would promise to read it, and I did. I still have it, signed by Holy Joe.
The Mark of the Beast - the number 666. Why would the Beast have a number? Well, why would the Beast do a lot of things? The number is explained to be what his name would be if a number were assigned to each letter of the alphabet, and then the letters of his name were added up. But which alphabet? Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Cyrillic? Well, one of them I guess. I've often heard people say that so and so's name adds up to 666 by some way of figuring. The President. The Pope. BTW supposedly according to legendary Saint Malachi, the current pope is the evil pope. What do I think about that? Well, so what if he were? I'm not Catholic.
One dark day Mr. 666 and his friend the False Prophet appear almost out of nowhere and panic people into making an idol to represent Mr. 666, and then, in a show of allegiance, to take Mr. 666's name in the form of a "mark." What sort of mark? A tattoo? People used to think that. Probably a microchip with an RF transmitter. In the original language the mark was the word "incision," which would suggest an implant.
Oh, this is marvelous! We all are required by "world law" to have a microchip implanted, or otherwise we aren't allowed to buy or sell. I've heard lots of people speculate on what they would do then. Oh, they would hide. Maybe in Oz. Maybe underground. They would have a lot of food stored up...which is already illegal to do here. Why make a law that it's illegal to have more than six months of food stored? How does that hurt anyone? They would have an alias. One friend of mine told me that her husband had agreed to take the Mark of the Beast to be able to supply the rest of the family. I really imagine that will be the solution of some. It seems like a cruel idea to me. I'd rather eat tree bark. Chipmunks. And that's a solution I've heard other people suggest. How to peel off tree bark. How to catch rabbits. Using gold or silver for money. Bartering. Oh, lots of ideas. I heard one person say, "We could eat the dog." How would I handle it? Probably put a chip in the dog and wave that around whenever I needed to run it over a card reader. But then, I remember the way we were tracked down in the last census. I went to let the dog out and to my surprise there was a census taker at the door! I was so startled I screamed and slammed the door. One day we were sitting outside, and they sent another one. This one had an attitude. We weren't especially trying not to comply either. Just not paying much attention. This one was telling me that the government had come to the point with us that if we would just answer certain parts of the form which were required by the Constitution they would be satisfied. OK OK. And how bizarre will the next census get?
It might seem to some that having a microchip implanted would be great. It would solve so many problems. No more disappearances. No more missing persons. Or missing jumbo jets. Grieving family not knowing what became of their child. Rescues. Apprehensions of criminals. Ease of doing transactions and keeping records. Protection from theft.
In reality, the world would be one big prison. We would all be effectively tied up and put in handcuffs. Many of these handcuffed people would probably sing songs about "freedom" also.
And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
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