Notice especially verse 44: "And in the days of these kings [the kings represented by the ten toes] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44). In the vision, Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone seemingly dislodged miraculously, without the intervention of workman's tools, or human hands. Like a plunging meteorite, it seemed to hurtle down from heaven and smash the towering image of gold, silver, brass, iron and miry clay on the feet! In the dream, the entire image toppled to the ground, and seemed to become "like the chaff of the summer threshing floor; and the wind carried them away..." (Daniel 2:35). Then, the stone which had smote the image on the ten toes, (representing the end-time ten governments which are to arise within the confines of the ancient Roman Empire) seemed to become a great mountain which filled the whole earth! Thus, in this one brief chapter, we see a prophecy which predicts the entire span of human history from Nebuchadnezzar until the Second Coming of Christ! The Bible uses the expression "beast" advisedly, since the Gentile leaders of the world-ruling governments were possessed of minds like wild, predatory animals . Nebudchadnezzar's seven years of insanity (Daniel 4) is symbolic of the insane bestiality of such human leaders as those of the four successive world-ruling kingdoms, and, in our time, such men as Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and others. It is very clear that the first beast of Revelation 13 is the same kingdom as the fourth beast of Daniel 7. Notice it: "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. 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" (Revelation 13:1, 2). The beast is a symbol of a great super government. That the beast rose up out of the sea indicates it derived its power from masses of people. The seven heads are seven revivals or stages of this beast power, and the ten horns are symbols of individual governments, each presided over by a king, or absolute ruler, symbolized by the "crowns." That the label on each of these seven successive governments was the "name of blasphemy" indicates its amalgamation with a spiritual power, which is called, in Revelation 17, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." That the beast was "like unto a leopard," meaning that the main part of its body appeared to be like a leopard, is symbolic of the empire of Alexander the Great, as proved by the historical fulfillment of both the second and the seventh chapters of Daniel, which detail the four successive world-ruling empires of history. The feet, "as of a bear," indicate the ancient Persian Empire under Cyrus. The mouth, "as the mouth of a lion," indicates the ancient Roman Empire. The "dragon" is obvious reference to Satan the devil. Notice: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world . . ." (Revelation 12:9). Therefore, this end-time BEAST POWER is the final, end-time resurrection of the same old system which was to reemerge many times down through history, until its final emergence just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord, and the Second Coming of Christ. Notice it is Satan who gives power unto the Beast (Revelation 13:4). The Beast sometimes refers to the human leader; the super-dictator who will rule over ten kings: "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 19:19, 20). Sometimes, the term "Beast" refers to the entire ten-nation combine, together with its human leaders. Now, we know that the "Beast" is a ten-nation combine which will form together prior to the Second Coming of Christ, and which will be the greatest economic and military power the world has ever seen up to that time. This ten-nation combine is the final "resurrection" of the Roman Empire, this time armed with chemical, biological and nuclear weapons; a huge military power which will actually attempt to FIGHT CHRIST at His coming! "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful" (Revelation 17:12-14). The Beast is a ten-nation POLITICAL power, but it is "ridden" or ruled over by a great ECCLESIASTICAL power! This great political, military and ecclesiastical power will have a SIGN; an identifying label, a MARK, which it will seek to impose on all who will submit to its will. It will not be a "secret" sign, or mark, but an obvious, outward, easily recognized sign, which the whole system wears just like a LABEL! The "little horn" of Daniel 7:8, which "has a mouth speaking great things," and which will "think to change TIMES and LAWS" is a symbol of the spokesmen of this evil mystery religion, who, down through the centuries, have done just that! They have CHANGED God's laws; abolished His divinely-appointed Sabbaths and annual holy days. This great false church has adopted the labels associated with SUN worship; has CHANGED God's weekly Sabbaths for SUNDAY, the day of the sun, and foisted upon millions of unsuspecting believers the PAGAN holidays of Ishtar (Easter) and the "Saturnalia" (Christmas). For centuries, countless THOUSANDS were brutally martyred; tortured, burnt alive, killed in the most horrifying ways, for REFUSING to accept the Mark of the Beast, and clinging, instead, to God's holy Sabbath, and His annual holy days. What Is the Image of the Beast? Remember, it is not only those who receive the Mark of the Beast who will suffer God's wrath in the Day of the Lord, but also those who "worship his image." Notice the proof: "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." So, it is not only those who refuse the Mark of the Beast; it is also those who refuse to worship its `image,' or its ecclesiastical counterpart! Let's continue: "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: 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. 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" (Revelation 13:15-18). Therefore, it is NOT ONLY those who refuse to receive the MARK of the Beast who will be martyred, but also those who refuse to worship the IMAGE of the Beast; those who refuse to receive the NAME of the Beast, and those who refuse to receive the NUMBER OF HIS NAME, which is 666. Six is the number of man. Three is a number connoting ultimate finality. Thus, 666, or three 6s connotes utter carnality ; that which is of MAN, and not of God. Seven is God's number which means completion; perfection. Therefore, God designed the weekly cycle around SEVEN days, not six, or eight or thirteen. The weekly cycle is not observable by any astronomical phenomena. We can observe the day and night by the rotation of the earth; the month by the moon, and the year by the journey of the earth with its moon around the sun. But the SABBATH day; the seventh day of creation, has always been handed down from generation to generation from God's righteous patriarchs to the prophets, to the apostles, to God's people from age to age. There is significance in God's use of certain numbers. Now, just what IS the "image of the Beast"? As we read in Revelation 13, it has two horns "like a lamb," yet "speaks as a dragon ," influenced by Satan himself. Therefore, this beast masquerades as if it is of Christ, yet is of Satan! Your Bible plainly warns against counterfeits! Jesus Himself said: "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ: and shall deceive MANY ... and MANY false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold . . . " (Matthew 24:4-12). Paul wrote: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, and no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 11: 13-15). The first of the famed "four horsemen of the Apocalypse" represents false Christs and false prophets. John wrote, "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (Revelation 6:1,2). Never is Christ depicted as carrying a bow. Some have made the mistake of falsely assuming the first horseman is picturing Christ because of the white horse. But the sequence of events depicted by the four horsemen of Revelation 6 is unmistakable when compared to Christ's prophecy of Matthew 24. This second beast of Revelation 13 which has two horns "like a Lamb" and yet speaks "as a dragon," with the forked tongue of Satan, is nothing more than a great false religious system, called "Babylon the great," under the power of the false prophet of biblical prophecy. Obviously, this second beast is able to CAUSE WORSHIP! It is therefore a political and religious system! It encourages state worship ! It points to the great economic, industrial and MILITARY power of the first beast! It urges loyalty, servitude, cooperation, and worship upon all of its followers toward this great ten-nation combine. The false prophet is imbued with satanic power so that " . . . he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men, 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 the sword [reference to the collapse of Rome in 476 until its restoration under General Belisarias in 554] and did live. And he [this great false prophet] 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!" (Revelation 13:11-15). Hideous chapters of history detail the murder of countless millions down through centuries as the Babylonish "mystery" religion was IMPOSED upon many nations by sword and spear. Millions were burnt, skinned alive, impaled, placed on the rack, and tortured to death because they refused to "recant" their religion and embrace the growing power of the image of the beast; to accept its decrees about "times" which were called "sacred," no matter what the Bible said. The great false church has been constructed based upon the same old politico/military system of the ancient Roman Empire! It includes the old Roman Collegia, found in the "College of Cardinals," and rules over great and lesser "dioceses," the Roman term applied to political regions under Roman rulers. Just how filthy, how abominable, this growing political/religious system became is partially illustrated by the life of only one of the many corrupt popes - Leo X, who reigned when Luther began the Reformation. Leo was made an Archbishop at age 8! He was appointed a Cardinal at age 13; was appointed to 27 different church offices. Halley's Bible Handbook says, his appointment to these many offices : " . . . meant vast income before he was 13. Was taught to regard ecclesiastical office purely as a source of revenue [this sounds painfully familiar to me, for I have known many who have been imbued with the same covetous spirit]. Bargained for the papal chair. Sold church honors. All ecclesiastical offices were for sale, and many new ones were created. He appointed Cardinals as young as seven. He was in endless negotiations with kings and princes, jockeying for secular power, utterly indifferent to the religious welfare of the church. He maintained the most luxurious and licentious court in Europe. His cardinals vied with kings and princes in gorgeous palaces and voluptuous entertainment, attended by trains of servants. Yet, this voluptuary reaffirmed the Unam Sanctam, in which it is declared that every human being must be subject to the Roman Pontiff for salvation. He issued indulgences for stipulated fees, and declared burning of heretics a `divine appointment.'" (ibid. p. 780). No wonder God describes such a system thus: " . . . for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth " (Revelation 18:23, 24). Thus, God's Word shows that a great ecclesiastical GOVERNMENT would emerge, which would hold sway over kings and emperors; which would be a STATE, just like any other state, sending ambassadors to all nations, and receiving ambassadors from them; a politico-religious system which would be patterned exactly like ancient Imperial Rome; thus an IMAGE of the Beast! This monstrous system is depicted by the famed "little horn" of Daniel 7:8, which "had a mouth speaking great things," and which would "think to change times and laws." The heads of this great church have done exactly that! They have decreed that, unless one wholly submits to ONE HUMAN LEADER, who takes the blasphemous title of "holy father," one cannot be saved! But the "image of the beast," or the great false church which rules over many nations claims the power to not only "excommunicate" any individual member, thus allegedly consigning them to burn forever in their version of hell fire, but also claims the power of "interdiction," whereby the head of that ecclesiastical government can place an entire nation outside of the "universal church," thus claiming that ALL citizens of the whole nation are going to burn in hell fire! One can imagine the power wielded by such a system. If, for instance, a king or president were to anger the ecclesiastical head, he could place the entire offending nation under interdiction. It would be only a short time until, desperately fearful of burning in hell, the entire population rose up and deposed their king or president in order to get back in the good graces of the ecclesiastical ruler! How did the Universal Church help bring Europe together? The ultimate emergence of the beast power in Europe will absolutely STUN the world! It will truly become the greatest global super-power the world has ever seen! It will be so great, so powerful, so economically viable, productive and successful that it will evoke WORSHIP from the masses under its sway, as well as adoration, adjuration and worship from nations all over the world! The coming super-state in Europe will be mostly of ONE RELIGION! And what is the majority religion of Europe? In most cases, it is ROMAN CATHOLIC. The coming "beast"; the dictator of a United States of Europe, will be hailed as a "deliverer"; he will be worshiped! History proves that many woman fainted at the sight of Adolf Hitler during one of his parades! The adoration of the masses toward Hitler was a kind of pagan idolatry! But the Bible says BOTH the Beast and the False Prophet will be worshiped. Already, there are countless MILLIONS of people in dozens of nations who WORSHIP THE POPE! They adore, revere, and WORSHIP a human being who takes the very titles of God Himself! The present-day pope is no doubt worshiped by more people than any pope in all history! Waiting in the wings, soon to emerge, will be a super-dictator; a new "savior of Europe"; a major POLITICAL figure, who will weld the ten nations together into the greatest power the world has ever seen. He, also, will command adulation; adoration, WORSHIP from his followers. Remember, the Bible says the nations will WORSHIP THE BEAST, just as millions worshiped Adolf Hitler! There will emerge TWO individuals who will command WORSHIP from the nations - the Beast, or the political/military leader, AND the "false prophet," or the ecclesiastical leader. Notice carefully! The POPE in the past called for the forming of a UNITED STATES OF EUROPE! Bible prophecy says the strength of IRON will be in this final resurrection of the Beast, but the weakness of clay. Which nation is IRON? Which nation had the "Iron Chancellor"? Germany, in the person of Bismark! Which nation decorates its soldiers with the IRON cross? Germany! Yet, as any metal-worker knows, clay, if it finds its way into a mold where iron is being poured, will weaken, perhaps ruin the thing being formed. In like fashion, even though the coming ten-nation combine will be formed together by the unifying agent of RELIGION, under the great Universal Church at the behest of the POPE, it will not STAY together for long! Read carefully the eighteenth chapter of Revelation, and see how the BEAST will eventually "hate the whore" and make her desolate! The false prophet will bring about STATE WORSHIP for a time - but it will really be SATAN they will be worshiping! Notice! "And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? ... 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. 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" (Revelation 13: 4-8). Now that you know who, and what, is the BEAST, and you can clearly identify his IMAGE, you can look for his MARK! Is taking the Mark of the Beast a CHOICE?Most of the paranoia associated with false concepts about "the Mark of the Beast" comes from an underlying false assumption. That assumption is that the Mark of the Beast is something which may be IMPOSED upon you unsuspectingly, secretly, by subterfuge. Many people seem to believe that, though they wish to live good Christian lives, want to obey God, and do not want to come under the Mark of the Beast, that some insidious plotters in Europe, or in the Pentagon, or elsewhere, may be able to secretly impose this hated and mysterious Mark of the Beast upon them by causing them to comply with certain laws or requirements involving registration for a social security number, the issuance of a national identity card, or perhaps submitting to the implantation of a microchip, or an invisible tattoo! But, notice this scripture and think deeply about what you will read! "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls [Greek: psuche, meaning "lives"] of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years!" (Revelation 20:4). No one WORSHIPS computer-generated labels on food packages, or identity cards, or computer chips! Notice carefully! The refusal of these individuals to worship the Beast or his image, or to receive his mark, and who are clearly pictured as being in the Kingdom of God - now exalted as co-RULERS with Jesus Christ - literally costs them their lives! BUT, it assured their continued possession of eternal life! Do you see? Here, a conscious choice is to be made! Notice they refused to WORSHIP the Beast, or his image. That tells us they KNEW WHAT IT WAS ! They made a reasoned, conscious choice! Just as happened during the infamous "inquisition", when hundreds of thousands were put to death for refusing to give up their Bible-based faith, so the Beast and the False Prophet will be attempting to FORCE Christians to bow down to them in worship. They will refuse, choosing to OBEY GOD rather than man (Acts 4:10, 19; 5:32), and they will be martyred because of that choice! Actually, there were countless hundreds of thousands who were martyred during the Middle Ages for the very same reasons! Halley says, "...the inquisition was the main agency in the Papacy's effort to crush the Reformation. It is stated that in the 30 years between 1540 and 1570 no fewer than 900,000 Protestants were put to death in the pope's war for the extermination of the Waldenses. Think of monks and priests, in holy garments (sic), directing, with heartless cruelty and inhuman brutality, the work of torturing and burning alive innocent men and women, and doing it in the name of Christ, by the direct order of the `Vicar of Christ.'" (Halley's Bible Handbook, p. 777). These people were put to death for refusing to worship the Beast, his IMAGE (the great false church; and ecclesiastical STATE, formed like a GOVERNMENT; patterned after the ancient Roman civil government), or to receive his identifying MARK. Notice Revelation 6:9, 10, where you see the picture of those who were slain for the Word of God, and who cry out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" These dead saints, pictured as crying out from their graves, were murdered MANY CENTURIES ago. It becomes obvious then, that the Beast; the image of the Beast, and the MARK of the Beast, have been around for a long, long time! Do you see? It is impossible for you to lose salvation "by accident"! It is utterly impossible for some power to so interfere in your life that it imposes upon you a symbol, identifying sign, some "mark" of some kind which causes you to LOSE OUT on salvation! Notice! "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, and all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor POWERS, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 8:35-39). Your Bible absolutely promises that NOTHING - the sword (armed force), principalities, powers - can separate you from the love of God, from salvation in and through Jesus Christ! Read Revelation 20:4 again! Here, resurrected saints are seen as inheriting the thrones promised them by Jesus Christ! (Revelation 2:26; 3:21). They are resurrected because they were martyred. WHY were they martyred? Because they adamantly REFUSED to receive the Mark of the Beast. That should give you the positive reassurance that, even though some brutal men should forcibly hold you down, implant some kind of an identifying microchip under your skin; even though soldiers would literally hold your arms, hands, and legs and tattoo the numbers 666 right across your forehead, in great black ink, two inches high, IT STILL COULD NOT DEPRIVE YOU OF SALVATION! Therefore, such things ARE NOT the Mark of the Beast! However, make no mistake! The Mark of the Beast is definitely something which will be ENFORCED - will become a matter of law, and people will be ordered to obey it! They will have to make a final, ultimate choice! That choice will be to either submit; to give in and cooperate with the coming socio/economic, military/spiritual system, called BABYLON THE GREAT, which is to emerge as a world SUPER POWER, or under pain of DEATH, to refuse to cooperate - to refuse the Mark of the Beast! As we have seen, a mark is a stamp, a sign, a symbol, an identifying label! Anciently, Almighty God designated a great SIGN which would always identify His people! That sign was created at the end of the creation week! Here is what God said about His special SIGN between God and His people: "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:13-17). The CREATOR who pronounced these words was none other than the Person of the divine Elohim; the Godhead, who became Jesus Christ! Notice the proof: "In the beginning was the Word [Greek: Logos, meaning Spokesman] , and the Word was with God, and the Word was God The same was in the beginning with God [Greek: Theos, the exact equivalent of the Hebrew Elohim, meaning MORE than one Person. See Genesis 1:26]. All things were made by him ; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men " (John 1:1-4). John opens his gospel with this profound statement about the divine pre-human origins of Jesus Christ! He continued, "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own [the Jews], and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:...And the Word was made flesh , and dwelt [Greek: "tabernacled"] among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:10-14). The knowledge of the pre-human existence of Christ is obvious, incontrovertible, PLAIN to anyone who honestly reads these passages, and accepts them as the divinely-revealed Word of God! Yet, tens of thousands of professing Christian ministers, and millions of their followers adamantly REFUSE to accept them! Do you realize the CONSEQUENCES to the accepted doctrines of the great false church and her protesting daughters? It means that the God of the Old Testament; the One who WROTE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS with His own finger IS the One who became Jesus Christ! He does not change! Paul wrote, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever!" (Hebrews 13:8). The One who became Christ is the Creator of the Sabbath; the member of the divine Godhead who designated the Sabbath day as a perpetual SIGN between Himself and His people! What is the GREAT Tribulation?Jesus Christ of Nazareth was also the greatest prophet who ever lived. It is He who described the impending GREAT TRIBULATION in His famous Olivet prophecy found in Mark 13, Luke 21 and Matthew 24. Notice that one of the outstanding features of the Great Tribulation is a martyrdom of saints. Jesus said: "Then [during the Great Tribulation] shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one other" (Matthew 24:9, 10). The Satan-inspired false prophet, the great spiritual leader who will appropriate the very titles of God Himself, will use the civil power to persecute true Christians! Study carefully the progressive unveiling of the first five seals of the seven seals of the scroll of Revelation. The first five are found in Revelation, the sixth chapter. Notice that the first seal which is opened to John's vision is a horseman riding on a white horse, seen as carrying a bow, who goes out to conquer. Even as Jesus said the very first thing Christians should watch for is "false Christs and false prophets," so it is obvious that the meaning of the white horse is that of a great wave of religious fervor, the gradual emergence to global prominence of a great FALSE PROPHET, who will eventually fulfill the prophecy of 2 Thessalonians 2, claiming blasphemous titles, and, according to Jesus' prediction, will have the power to perform such mighty miracles that he would deceive, "if it were possible" the very elect! The next horse is red, and symbolizes war. Compare this carefully with the next statement Jesus made in Matthew 24 about "wars and rumors of wars." The third seal reveals a black horse, an obvious reference to extreme scarcity of food and the sustenance of life. The very next thing Jesus said would follow would be famine! The black horse symbolizes global famine - a time into which we are even now entering! The fourth seal is opened, and John sees a "pale horse" whose name is "...death, and hades [the grave] followed with him, and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8). And what immediately followed false Christs, wars, and famines, according to Jesus' prophecy? Christ said "PESTILENCES!" As is always the case, the ravages of warfare, including nuclear fallout and radiation, massive loss of life, the destruction of the infrastructure of cities such as communications, water and electric services, sewage disposal and the like, brings about fearsome injury, terrible pollution of air, water and the land; pollution of surface water, and outbreaks of terrible diseases of all kinds. Notice that each of these overlap each other. As the fifth seal is opened, John sees the figurative lives of martyrs who are crying out, in the same way God told Cain, "Your brother's blood cries to me from the ground." Metaphorically, John sees, in vision, countless tens of thousands of human individuals who were "SLAIN for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (Revelation 6:9). They cry out, saying, "How LONG, Oh Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed AS THEY WERE, should be fulfilled" (Revelation 6:10, 11). Anciently, these Christians were killed because they refused to worship the Beast or his image, or to receive his mark! Notice that they are told they must "wait until their fellow servants also should be killed." And WHEN are their fellow servants to be killed? Why, during the GREAT TRIBULATION of the future - the next great MARTYRDOM OF SAINTS which is prophesied to occur just before the intervention of Almighty God by the heavenly signs! Notice we are dealing with two separate events. First, there was a protracted period of time in history when countless tens of thousands of God's true servants were MARTYRED for their faith! They are pictured as crying out, "How long O Eternal?" waiting until He avenges their blood upon the heads of their tormentor. The second great martyrdom of saints is depicted as occurring in the future, at the time of the opening of the fifth seal, which is called the "Great Tribulation" by Jesus Christ! (Matthew 24:21, 22). They are to "love not their lives unto the death" for the SAME REASON that their fellow servants were killed centuries before - for refusing to worship the Beast, or his image, or receive his mark! What is a Mark?The "Mark" of the Beast is merely its symbol, its identifying sign, or its label. It is a counterfeit for the "mark," or the identifying SIGN between God and His people. As we have seen, Almighty God established a SIGN, an identifying symbol, for His chosen people! The identifying SIGN God placed upon His people Israel was that of His weekly and annual Sabbaths! A complete list of all of God's Sabbaths, both weekly and annual, is found in Leviticus 23. Your Bible plainly tells you that the God of the Old Testament, the One who created the universe, the solar system, the earth and all that is in it; the God who spoke to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; who spoke to Moses, and wrote the Ten Commandments [including the FOURTH commandment to KEEP THE SABBATH HOLY], is the member of the divine Family who became Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary! Notice further proof: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, BY WHOM ALSO HE MADE THE WORLDS; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high..." (Hebrews 1:1-3). The One of the God family, ELOHIM , who MADE THE SABBATH DAY, is none other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth - So SAYS YOUR BIBLE! God says, "For I AM THE EVER-LIVING [Eternal!], I CHANGE NOT; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6). God is consistent. He does not CHANGE His holy laws to suit human rebellion. God does not conveniently alter His precepts to conform to the changing codes and mores of society; to accommodate the whims of carnal, lusting, sinning mankind! It was the member of the Godhead who became CHRIST who created the Sabbath! No wonder then, that Jesus proclaimed, "The Sabbath was MADE FOR MAN, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is LORD also OF THE SABBATH DAY!" (Mark 2:27, 28). In its introduction, Dr. Samuele Bacchiochi's book, From Sabbath to Sunday, says: "The investigation shows that the adoption of Sunday in place of the Sabbath did not occur in the primitive church of Jerusalem by virtue of apostolic authority, but approximately a century later in the Church in Rome. An interplay of Jewish, pagan and Christian factors contributed to the abandonment of the Sabbath and adoption of Sunday observance instead." Remember, God established His Sabbath day as the great IDENTIFYING SIGN, like a stamp, symbol, label, or MARK between Himself and His people! But wait! He said SABBATHS, PLURAL! Naturally He would have! For God also gave His people Israel a series of seven annual Sabbaths, holy days, which progressively, as the seasonal changes unfolded, opened up and revealed God's marvelous plan for humankind, the very plan of salvation! Christ said, "The Sabbath was made for man..." (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath is something which was MADE. It was created time, made HOLY by the Eternal Creator, who injected His very presence into that day, resting from His creation, giving this span of time to mankind for a great blessing; a day of complete REST from his labors, a day of rejuvenation, rehabilitation; a day to contemplate creation, and God's handiwork; to pray, study, fellowship with brethren of like mind - a day of worship toward God. God established the Sabbath as a SIGN, like a symbol, or an identifying label; a "mark" of IDENTITY between Himself and His people! He knew if they continually remembered His Sabbath day, it was pivotal to remembering Him as CREATOR - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Though the Jews rejected Christ, they have clung tenaciously to the Old Testament scriptures, to the weekly Sabbath, and to the annual Sabbaths. Now, let's understand! The Mark of the Beast is not something which can be surreptitiously placed upon you. Can you REFUSE the Mark of the Beast?In vision, John was projected forward in time, forward into our century and beyond - into the time of the Great Tribulation, the Heavenly Signs, and the Day of the Lord. In the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of Revelation, John records his visions of the salvation of the saints of God, and the outpouring of God's wrath on sinning mankind during the seven last plagues. Notice the description of the saints: "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image , and over his mark , and over the number of his name , stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints . . ." (Revelation 15:2-4). Who are these? Why, they are the resurrected saints! They are the "firstfruits" of the earth, the last living generation of Christians, together with all those who had died previously, but who are resurrected at Christ's coming! (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). They represent ALL TRUE, GOD-FEARING, BIBLE-BELIEVING CHRISTIANS. This vision is not portraying just a small PART of the saints of God, but is showing ALL the saints! And what is their description? They are those who have gotten the victory over the BEAST, and over his IMAGE, and over his MARK, and over the NUMBER OF HIS NAME! If you do not know who, or what this beast really IS; if you are ignorant of what is his IMAGE; if you do not know what is his MARK, then HOW CAN YOU GET THE VICTORY OVER IT? How many Christians do you know who are truly AWARE in a daily, workaday sense, of just WHAT IS THE BEAST, who or what is his image, what is his mark, or the number of his name? How was the Image of the Beast formed?Notice that the world WORSHIPS this supranational, powerful economic, political, military union: " . . .and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon [SATAN! Revelation 12:9] which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (Revelation 13:3, 4). The beast John saw was a counterfeit Christ-like creation. It APPEARED like Christ! Yet, it spoke like SATAN! Let's continue: "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 [Rome! And the successive revivals of the so-called "Holy Roman Empire" down through history] before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed" (Revelation 13:11, 12). The "deadly wound" was received when Rome fell, in A.D. 476. It was "healed" when Emperor Justinian sent General Belisarius to Carthage, and later to Rome, to overthrow the Ostrogothic king, in A.D. 543. The "little horn" (Daniel 7:8, 20) which had "plucked up three horns by the roots" was the growing universal church, in the person of Justinian, as well as successive "holy" Roman emperors. Three lesser rulers were ejected from Rome over a long period - the Vandals, Ostrogoths (by Justinian and Belisarius), and the Heruli. Now, notice: "And he [this "lamb-like" beast, which spoke as a dragon, Satan] doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 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. [Rome!] 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" (Revelation 13:11-15). From the beginning, the Roman Catholic Church was organized along the pattern of the Roman Empire! It was an hierarchy , which, at the absolute pinnacle of power, was worshiped, as if divine. The ancient Roman emperors proclaimed themselves "gods," and were commonly addressed as "divinity," a BLASPHEMOUS assertion attached to some of the most obscenely depraved, demented, degenerate, cruel human beings who have ever lived! History proves that the church which emerges from the dark shroud of the second century (during which there is comparatively little written information available) is in most respects TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the church of the apostles. Remember, the church Jesus Christ said He would build (Matthew 16:18) was the "assembly" (Greek: ekklesia) of the early apostles, including Paul, who described himself as "one begotten out of due season," Barnabas and others, besides the original eleven, together with Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot. They observed the Passover exactly as did Christ. But thousands of gentiles were coming into the ranks of the church over the centuries. They were attracted to a church which was increasingly "accommodating," and which easily adapted to various gentile customs and practices. By the time the curtain raises over church history in the beginning of the second century, a completely different church begins to emerge. Paul spoke of what was happening to the Thessalonians. He said: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4). Eventually, an "image" of the Beast had been created! Now, a great universal CHURCH was emerging. It had the Roman Curia, the "College of Cardinals," like the old Roman "Collegia," and it ruled according to the principal of the ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OF ONE MAN - a hierarchy ruled from the top down, with NO checks and balances. History is replete with the gross abuses of many such leaders, a subject so vast it could fill a whole set of encyclopedias. This "image" of the old Roman Empire appeared, to ignorant, uninformed people, "Christ-like," like a lamb. But its message was satanic, the voice of the dragon! The Mysterious Number 666The number 666 has been attached to a great diversity of person, places and things - from the Titans of ancient Greek mythology to U.S. President Ronald Reagan, from Nero to the pope, from the "secret symbol" of the ancient "mysteries" to the intricate circuitry of some modem "super computer." According to some sources, both the Hebrew and Greek names of Romulus, the legendary founder and first king of Rome, add up to 666. This, to some, indicates that everyone called "Roman" has the "name" of the man for whom Rome was named. The Greek word for Romulus is Lateinos, which signifies "Roman," and yields a numerical value of 666. Interestingly, "Lateinos" is mentioned by second century theologian Irenaeus (in his work, Against Heresies) as one of several possible solutions to the numerical riddle. But the problems of transliteration and the fact that we don't know for sure whether a man named Romulus ever even existed - not to mention the fact that literally thousands of names, titles, and words can be made up to add up to 666 - leaves the argument standing on a quavering foundation. But what does the Bible say about the "number of the beast"? What is the purpose of the number? Is "666" the number of a computer? Of a church? Of a religious leader? Turn to and read Revelation 13:15-17, and notice these important points: The number of the Beast is the "number of HIS NAME"! The number is the "number of a MAN"! No one can buy or sell unless he has the mark or name of the Beast, or the number of his name. The number can be "counted" by those with wisdom and understanding. The number is "six hundred threescore and six" - 666.
The number of the Beast is the number of a man, and the number of his name - NOT the number of a computer, the number of "the New Age," or former President Regan, or the number on the label of a can of soup. The BEAST is both the revived ROMAN EMPIRE and the MAN who presides over the revived military and political system. The "image" of the Beast is the great universal ecclesiastical system patterned after the ancient Roman Empire, which was, under its Catholic leaders, called "Holy." When he appears, those who have wisdom and understanding will recognize him, and will find that his name (or epithet) will, by some numerical system, yield the figure 666! And, just because national identity cards or computer chips forcibly inserted beneath the skin are NOT the "Mark of the Beast" does not mean the Beast power will not resort to some form of checking up on all its citizens! The fact that "no man may buy or sell" who does not receive the Mark of the Beast is definitely significant. Remember! The saints of God are those who have gotten the victory over the Beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name. Those who willingly receive it in their minds (foreheads), who cooperate with it (with their right hand), will suffer the WRATH OF GOD and the SEVEN LAST PLAGUES. Those who resist it, who overcome it - who refuse to worship the Beast and his image - may be martyred for their beliefs! Yet, they inherit eternal life; they receive SALVATION, as a result! God commands you and me, "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE." |