MARK OF THE BEAST - REVELATION 13-14; 17; 18
- By eclipsenow
- Eschatology - Endtimes & Prophecy Forum
- 626 Replies
A8. The kingdom of the beast in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 are the kingdoms of the world. 1+2+3+4=10. Therefore the ten horns represent global authority. These are the ones Babylon runs after.
I thought the number 10 itself signified completeness - where 7 represents God's perfection.
Interesting. Have you seen the Bible Project on this? he has a Phd in Hebrew Apocalyptic Symbolism.A9. See A3. A mark on the forehead represents a testimony while a mark on the right hand represents deeds.
He basically thinks it's the Shema prayer - but a worldly version.
The image seems to be of someone so trusting in the power of the state and wealth they are almost "praying" to the authorities of this world for their security!
It's obviously an image - because there's a Christian image of the Christian martyrs having a WHITE stone on their foreheads in heaven in the very next chapter. Apocalyptic Symbolism does a lot of 'compare and contrast' to draw out the nuances and sometimes starker comparisons.
Yes! As certain Caesars did, and Mohammad, and Hitler and Stalin and North Korea.A10. The mark of the beast is the antithesis of keeping God's commandments and bearing testimony of Jesus. Believers who don't heed the seven messages will take the mark of the beast after the worldly messiah, the false messiah that seeks power over the kingdoms of this world (the four beasts/ten horns), presents himself as the world's savior, using miraculous signs to deceive people who love lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 13).
It's not about predicting one future anti-Christ - but a symbolic sermon on suffering to Christians in ANY age that might face one.
(Revelation has a bunch of warnings. EG: Against the temptation us in the rich western democracies might have - to worship Babylon in all her wealth - and trust in her for security!)
Exactly! In any age.A11. We get the seal of God by heeding the messages to the seven stars and loving Jesus more than anything this world can offer.
Exactly.A12. Jesus is Lord of all the days of the week. He is our the rest, the second Adam, the new creation. If we make anything about us, we stop following Jesus. He went to the cross. No servant is above his master, so we go to the cross as well. If we aren't willing to follow Jesus to the cross, what good does it do to debate whether one day is holier than another? We stand convicted as hypocrites.
A13. The beast, the antichrist and son of perdition, is the ruler of the kingdoms of this world. 666 is the gematria calculation of the false messiah (656) that rules over the kingdoms of this world (10). The transliteration of the Hebrew word for mashiach (messiah) into Greek language is messias. M(40)+E(5)+S(200)+S(200)+I(10)+A(1)+S(200)=656. The kingdoms of this world, as explained in A8 are the four beasts added together: 1+2+3+4=10. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36) The false messiah is the one that fails to the temptations Jesus endured in the wilderness. He gives everything up for worldly power. That is how Satan gives the beast is authority and dominion. At the time the Apocalypse was received by John, the beast was Caesar.
I don't know I would say Babylon sits in the pew with us - but more that potential followers of Babylon do.A14-A15. The Papacy. Homey don't play that. Babylon is everywhere. She is sitting next to Zion in the pews at every church this Advent morning. The only way to tell the difference is by her fruit. She lives for this world and not the kingdom to come. The wheat and tares will both be harvested at the end of the age.
Which is the scary message of Revelation.
We've got to keep checking our own hearts for this stuff!
But so many turn Revelation into a B-Grade Sci-Fi movie - and spend all their time trying to calculate the end times tables. They've seen "The Omen" or "Numbers" or some other Hollywood lie that says Revelation has a secret coded message for the last generation. (Which of course would make it utterly irrelevant to the church for the last 2000 years!)
Then when their precious end-times-tables inevitably fail with the passage of time, how many people who trusted in these self-proclaimed "prophets" just fall away as Christianity to them has lost all credibility?
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