What a chapter this is!  In it a beast rises up out of the sea to control the Earth and eventually receives a fatal wound.  A second beast rises up out of the Earth and quickly creates an image, or facsimile, of the first beast and then coerces the people of Earth to worship it.  At the same time it somehow forces them to receive something called the mark of the beast.

My-oh-my, how many discussions have taken place about the beast of Revelation and his dreaded mark?  How many times have you wondered about these things, and how much do you really know about the dreaded beast and its mark?  Most people have at least read or heard something about this subject, but how viable and reliable is the information, and are you comfortable with it?

I recently read a book entitled "Everything You Know Is Wrong" (distributed by the Disinformation Company, Ltd.. New York, NY, edited by Russ Kick) and it is a real eye opener concerning many things about world affairs that I had taken for granted.  I recommend that you read it also.  Maybe the dreaded beast of Revelation is like that.  Maybe most of what you have heard about it is really misinformation and therefore unreliable.  It's very possible, even highly probable, so continue with me now and let's find out about the beast and its dreadful mark
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Rev. 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

This verse can be a little confusing because the beast here is described as looking very much like the dragon in chapter 12.  In that  chapter we had the sign of a great red dragon appearing in the heavens.  That dragon is only one of the many characterizations of Lucifer, but it does show him as the cold-blooded predator that he is.  This beast rising up out of the sea resembles that dragon, perhaps because it is his brainchild and has his stamp upon it.  As we go through this chapter, you will notice that the differences between the beast system and the beast (dragon) that is its constructor and sustainer (Antichrist, Lucifer, Satan) are blurred because of the way John presents them.  Actually, there is little or no difference between them because the beast system mirrors Antichrist's ideas and plans in action.

This unrighteous beast system has ten horns just like the dragon, and from a biblical perspective a horn  symbolically infers power, or in this case rulership because the horns have crowns on them.  The long and short of it is, these horns represent some form of authority or governance.  It also has seven heads and many scholars have taken this to mean seven eras of control and rulership, or seven empires ruling over the world.  That certainly seems to be a viable interpretation.  They would all be part of western civilization, and keeping that in mind they would be:  (1) Egypt,  (2) Assyria, (3) Babylon, (4) Persia, (5) Greece, (6) Rome, and (7) whoever the present head is today.  But regardless of whoever, or whatever they are, or were, they are not good because upon each of the seven heads is what John calls the name of blasphemy.

Blasphemy?  What is blasphemy?  The American Heritage Dictionary Of The English Language, Third Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, gives the following definitions for the word "blasphemy":

1.a.  A contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing concerning God or a sacred entity.

1.b.  The act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God.

2.  An irreverent or impious act, attitude, or utterance in regard to something considered
     inviolable or sacrosanct.

So, on each of these symbolic heads something appears to be written that insults or offends our Father and His Son.  This reference to blasphemous writing is another way of telling us that these symbolic heads are ungodly and unrighteous entities according to God's ways, even though they may seem good according to man's ways.  In other words, these aren't simply the seven heads of some weird apocalyptic beast with far out crazy names written on them, rather they are powerful and respected world entities claiming to be something they are not.  By calling themselves by sanctimonious, pompous, or even religious names, they are testifying to the world that they, and the rest of the beast system, are righteous and good when in fact they are not.  By claiming the moral high ground for themselves while performing heinous acts against God and mankind, they have over the centuries committed a continuous stream of blasphemies of the worst sort.  These heads are actually very crafty and artful deceivers, and that is their blasphemy, pretending to the world to be right and good, or even to represent God while setting up religions, laws, and institutions which deliberately pervert God's truth and cause grievous irreparable harm and suffering to mankind.

This beast rising out of the sea here in chapter 13 is also found in the book of Daniel.  It is one and the same with the fourth beast described in Daniel 7 and comes into full flower at the time of the end, our time now.  Let's go to Daniel 7 and read about it.

Dan. 7:1  In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

Dan. 7:2  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

Dan. 7:4  The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

Jacob's progeny, those people called Israel in ancient times, were originally 12 tribes, or nations.  This number increased to 13 eventually because the numbers of the two sons of Joseph, Ephaim and Mannasseh, grew so large that they each were considered a full tribe.  What do you think happened to all of them?  These 12 tribes probably numbered two to three million when they left Egypt 3,500 years ago, and they number in the hundreds of millions today.  Surely you have heard of the lost tribes of Israel.

NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is their military arm but the real superpower among them today is the United States of America.  The lands that the children of Israel occupy today around the globe are physical fulfillments of God's promise to them that they would possess an inheritance flowing with milk and honey.  Notice that I said physical fulfillments because that is what they are.  There are greater fulfillments of His promise that are spiritual in nature, now in Heaven, and later here on Earth after the second advent of Jesus Christ.

Dan. 7:5  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Their military arm was the Warsaw Pact, and they may seem fragmented, divided, and in disarray now in the year 2004, but don't you believe it.  They are still potentially a military superpower and can reunite in short order if they have to because they are kindred people.

Dan. 7:6  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

Specifically, this third beast represents a group of people made up of Lucifer's offspring through Cain.  Biblically they are called Kenites, and they are also the tares that Jesus Christ talked about in Matthew 13.  Notice the leopard.  They are the children of Cain, who was the son of the Devil himself, and they do their father's work, whether knowingly or unknowingly.  They are now, and have always been, involved in the construction and maintenance of the fourth beast mentioned in Daniel 7:7 below, which is also the beast of Revelation 13:1.  It is western civilization in its full strength and glory now, and these offspring of Lucifer now sit in the catbird's seat watching over it, and to a great extent, the entire world.

Dan. 7:7  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

In Revelation 13 this beast has seven heads which are likely to be seven different periods of rule by an empire, or a superpower.  If this is so, it begs the question     who is its head today?  We who live in the end time desperately need to know the identity of that head.  So, who is it?  It would have to be a true superpower influencing the entire world.  Who is the most likely candidate?  The U.S.A. of course.  Is that idea pleasing to me as an American?  Absolutely not!  The very thought is upsetting to say the least, but it must be considered.  When you put aside your feelings for the moment and look around you to see what is happening in the world, how can you come to any other conclusion?

Rev. 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Rev. 13:3  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.

Men have speculated and have put forth other opinions about who this wounded head is, or possibly, who it was.  I remember hearing a certain well known radio and television preacher and his son, who are now both deceased, teach on this subject.  They thought that it might have been Germany who received the deadly wound by the sword during World War II.  They taught that Adolph Hitler's Third Reich was a modern incarnation of the ancient Roman empire and was either the sixth or seventh head (I can't remember which).  But it probably isn't true because even though Hitler and the Third Reich conquered much of Europe, Germany was by no means considered to be the leader of the western world at that time, or any other time.  Germany is, and always has been, a truly great nation and a world leader in many things but never leader of the world.  Further, the beast is worshipped and admired, and with regards to the Third Reich, I don't see anyone admiring and wondering after that Nazi beast that Hitler created.  Do you?

Japan is a great nation and was dealt a deadly wound in WW2 but they were never the paramount leader of the world.  Great Britain had a monstrous empire and could have once filled the role as leader of the world, but it has never been dealt a deadly wound.  The list could go on and on but nothing in the near past seems to qualify as a fulfillment of this incident, so where does that leave us?  It may actually have been the Roman empire, but that doesn't seem likely.

Follow me closely on this now.  When all the scriptures concerning these heads are put together and analyzed, it seems logical that it is the seventh head that receives the deadly wound.  If we assume, for a moment, that the Roman empire was that seventh head and that it was the one which received the deadly wound, then the beast that exists today would have to be the image of the beast (see verse 14 below) that follows the seventh head.  If that were true, then it follows that Antichrist would have revealed himself to the world already because it is he who creates the image of the beast after he appears de facto. Obviously, that hasn't happened yet.  That is, he has not revealed himself yet.  So, the idea that is was the Roman empire is suspect, and probably bogus.

To me, it makes more sense that the head that receives the wound will be the one which rules in the end time.  Is this the end time that we live in now?  I think so, but Christians throughout time have all thought that they were living in the end time, even those who lived during the early period just after Christ was crucified.  Look at what John said about it a decade before he penned Revelation.

1 John 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Rev. 13:4  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?

Notice in this verse that we have two separate entities.  The dragon and the beast, but they essentially are one in a sense because Lucifer, the dragon, is the power behind the beast.  The dragon has always been around in spirit working behind the scenes through his children, the tares, and it is they who have set up the beast system that controls western civilization and influences most of the world today.  We live in an evil age that he and his offspring have engineered and most people have fallen victim to his allure in one way or another.  That's right, most people love this present evil world and it's way of life, even with all the stress that comes with it.  That is something that this same John who wrote Revelation told us not to do in another of his writings.

1 John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1 John 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Rev. 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

One great prophet even calls Him that.

Malachi 4:2   But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

John 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 1:9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

1 Thes. 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

1Thes. 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Rev. 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Rev. 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Rev. 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.

Rev. 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Rev. 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.  Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

The saints understand destiny and predestination.  In other words, they have ears to hear, and they do not fear the beast system,  Antichrist, or martyrdom.  Do you have ears to hear?

Rev. 13:11  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.

Rev. 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

But there is another underlying reason why the people will flock to him.  They have been led by false shepherds (whether knowingly or unknowingly) who have not prepared them to recognize and reject him.  They have been taught all their lives that Jesus is coming soon, that he is so kind and gentle like a little lamb.  That is how Antichrist will come.  Unfortunately for them, they have not been taught that the first Jesus to come is a fake.  The Bible is literally filled with scriptures that show when the true Jesus returns the Earth and it's carnal inhabitants are destroyed.  See my lessons, Jericho, Rahab, And The Return Of Christ and Sodom, Lot, And The End Of This Age at ourfathersword.org.

Rev. 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Rev. 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Rev. 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Rev. 13:16  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:

Wrong!

There have been countless bogus theories concerning this dreaded mark.  You know them all.  Social security numbers, brands, tattoos, scanner bar-codes, embedded microchips, magnetic strips, etc.  Some have even taught that worshipping on Sunday is the mark of the beast.  Puh-leeze!  We can be pretty stupid, but most of us are not going to line up and be marked for control purposes with things so obvious.  It has to be something hidden and subtle of which we are not aware.  Satan is extremely smart and he knows this, so he has to fool us, at which he is expert.  Look at how God praises his intellect through Ezekiel.

Ezek. 28:3  Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

Rev. 13:17  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.

Rev. 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Six hundred threescore and six in verse 18 is translated from the Greek chi xi stigma (pronounced khee xee stig’-ma, Strong's No. 5516)  and it means six hundred and sixty-six.  Period!  These are letters of the ancient Greek alphabet.  The Greek letter that was stigma is now obsolete and is no longer used in the Greek alphabet, however, the word stigma (Strong's No. 4742) is still used in the English language and means a psychological mark or brand.  How interesting!

So, the number is six hundred and sixty-six, and related to this number I have to wonder how old Cain was when he died, or was killed.  Ancient traditions tell more than one story of his death but one of them states that Tubal-Cain, a descendent of Cain born in the sixth generation from him, received the knowledge of metalworking and weapons from the fallen angels.  He was the first to make metal weapons of war, and the story goes that he killed Cain with one of those weapons, probably a bronze sword.  Genesis 4:23-24 may actually be alluding to this, however the way it is translated seems to indicate that Lamech, not Tubal-Cain, had killed someone.  Regardless of who killed him, or even how he died, could Cain have died in his six hundred sixty-sixth year?  I can't say that, but it is possible and something to wonder about.

In Biblical mathematics the number six (and its multiples) has been construed to be associated with evil, evil men and the evil one himself, and I can further tell you that it was very important in mathematics and accounting in ancient Mesopotamia and Babylonia.  That region of the world is said to be the cradle of civilization, and it was there that the cultural and religious system was born that is yet to this day the underpinnings of modern day churchianity and our western cultures.  Old Nimrod himself was a part of it, and some of the customs that we celebrate today come from that time, such as Easter.  Business accounting within western civilization had its beginning there.

Now, keeping the number 666 in mind, look at what Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia says about the use of numbers and mathematics in ancient Babylonia under the subjects of Babylonia and Alphabets.

Unlike the Egyptians, the Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia developed flexible techniques for dealing with fractions. They also succeeded in developing a more sophisticated base-10 arithmetic that was positional, and they kept mathematical records on clay tablets. The most remarkable feature of Babylonian arithmetic was its use of a sexagesimal (base 60) place-valued system in addition to a decimal system. Thus the Babylonians counted in groups of sixty as well as ten. Babylonian mathematics is still used to tell time     an hour consists of 60 minutes, and each minute is divided into 60 seconds     and circles are measured in divisions of 360 degrees.

From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.
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The pupils also studied arithmetic. The Sumerians based their number system on 10, but they multiplied 10 by 6 to get the next unit. They multiplied 60 by 10, then multiplied 600 by 6, and so on. (The number 60 has the advantage of being divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30.) The Sumerians also divided the circle into 360 degrees. From these early people came the word dozen (a fifth of 60) and the division of the clock to measure hours, minutes, and seconds.

The Sumerians had standard measures, with units of length, area, and capacity. Their standard weight was the mina, made up of 60 shekels--about the same weight as a pound. There was no coined money. Standard weights of silver served as measures of value and as a means of exchange.
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From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.

Using their system of mathematics then, (6) + (6 x 10) + (60 x 10) = 666.  Read the above paragraphs again from Compton's and see how this number would be generated from their system of mathematics.  Many of the cultural and business practices extant today in western civilization had their beginnings in ancient Babylon and Babylonia.  Therefore, if you willingly love and support the cultural and religious system you see about you today, then you have accepted the mark of the beast already.  Later in this book we will take a hard look at something evil called Babylon the Great that is very much germane to this.

Related numerically to this, do you remember the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3?  He built it in Babylon approximately 2,500 years ago, and he commanded all to worship it.  It was an Old Testament type for the image of the beast which Antichrist will build at the end time.  Do you remember the dimensions of old Neb's image?  Yep, combinations of 6 and 10.  Can you tie all this together and get the big picture?  I hope so.  Be like Daniel and his three companions, don't accept the mark of the beast by worshipping Antichrist or his beast image.  You will survive just as surely as they did.
 

God bless with understanding of His word.