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Chapter
1
HOW WILL WE RECOGNIZE THE MARK?God put prophecies in the Bible for someone who has an ear to hear. Yes, there has always been wild speculation about Bible prophecy. There have been many interpretations that cannot be supported by scripture. And there are many interpretations that agree with scripture that will turn out to be wrong. Only time will tell. If your very salvation is in jeopardy, a prudent person will not dismiss anything that agrees with prophecy. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation, 2nd Peter 1:20. The word "Revelation" (the Greek word is "Apocalypse") means "revealing." It is not a hiding. "Despise" not prophesyings, 1st Thessalonians 5:20. Revelation 13 has many points of identification that we may rely upon to recognize the Mark. We cannot add or subtract from Prophecy. Revelation 13: {1} "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name."
{2} "Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like
the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon
gave him his power, his throne, and great authority."
{3} "And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded,
and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed
the beast."
{4} "So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and
they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who is able to
make war with him?'"
{5} "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies,
and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months."
The first beast, which is not the beast that will cause all to receive a mark, continues in power for 42 months. "Months" could be literal months. But there is another possibility. Year long days are used in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. In the next Chapter, I will show that the historical Protestant position is that the 42 months has already occurred. An alternate translation has this authority "to make war
{6} "Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme
His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven."
Point of identification: Look for worship of an authority of beast powers, once thought of as dead, that exercises worldwide military influence, speaking against God.
{7} "It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome
them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation."
Point of identification: Look for worship (caused by the second beast in verse 12) of an authority of beast powers once thought of as dead, that has military power, worldwide influence, speaks against God, rises up from the multitudes and overcomes saints. I don't think you need to look far.
{8} "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not
been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world."
Comment: Bible believers will not worship (Greek proskuneo = prostrate oneself in homage to) the first Beast. Notice that the verb "worship" refers to a body motion, later I will show that the U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged that a "salute" is worship. It is the assuming of a body position, initiated by the inferior toward the superior. Even today, a courtroom Perjury Oath is given with the right hand raised. Do you worship a beast power when you sign a Perjury Oath on a government form?
{9} "If anyone has an ear, let him hear."
Comment: Verses 9 and 10 changed the subject. These two verses address you, the reader. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. The Revelation 13 message will be difficult to understand by those who do not want to understand. If you want to hear, then you cannot reject anything that agrees with prophecy.
{10} "He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills
with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience
and the faith of the saints."
Comment: The NIV translation says "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go." The original King James added a note that this referred to Matthew 26:52. "Sword" might refer to the military. "Sword" can also refer to the word of God as in Matt 10:34, Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12. Saints (that's you) will patiently endure this captivity. If "sword" is military, saints will endure the sword. If "sword" is spiritual, saints will kill and be killed spiritually.
{11} "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had
two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon."
Comment: This second beast will cause all to receive a Mark in verse 16. "Out of the earth" is contrasted with the first beast's "rising up out of the sea" in verse 1. "Horns" symbolize kings according to DIVINE interpretation in Daniel 7:24 and in Revelation 17:12. [Although it can be argued that horns represent dynasties or kingdoms or personified governments]. As was my comment for verse 4, it is possible that the dragon can symbolize the control of the Roman Empire, as well as for Satan. "Speaking like a dragon" is not necessarily speaking blasphemy. "Speaking like a dragon," if the dragon is Satan, can mean speaking "deception," or promising, as Satan promised Eve, that you could be like God.
{12} "And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence,
and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast,
whose deadly wound was healed."
Comment: The second beast appears as an agent of the first beast. There will be some form of worship of the first beast confederation, the one with military power, that speaks blasphemy and overcomes saints and was once thought of as dead.
{13} "He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down
from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."
{14} "And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which
he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell
on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword
and lived."
{15} "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast,
that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would
not worship the image of the beast to be killed."
Comment: The second beast kingdom breathes life into the image-icon-representation that we were asked to fabricate. The word translated as "killed" is the Greek word "apokteino" that can also be translated as "abolish."
{16} "He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave,
to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,"
Comment: "Beasts" symbolize governments. "Horns" symbolize kings. The personal pronoun "he" in verses 11 through 16 refers to the two-horned beast, not a horn. Nowhere in the Bible do other references to "marks in the right hand and forehead" refer to physical marks. I have devoted an entire Chapter on this topic. If you want to insist that the mark can only be a physical mark, you should state a reason for bible believers to ignore the five other Bible references to tokens, signs and seals that are in both the hand and forehead. The original King James had a note that the words "to receive" could mean "to give."
{17} "and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or
the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
Comment: It is the mark of the beast, just like it says. It is not the mark of an antichrist. Transactions are authorized by a mark, name, or number. Nowhere does it say that a number will be in an identically same format in all countries. As I will show in the next Chapter, it is the number of "its" name, not the number of "his" name. The deliberate mistranslation "his" is due to the influence of the Catholic Church on the King James translators during the Counter Reformation. More about this later. If you are a Protestant who was never told that you were protesting something, go to any Encyclopedia and look up "counter reformation."
{18} "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number
of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666."
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