seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 13:11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.
e. Revelation 13:18 Or is humanity’s number
I don't want to mess this up.... so this is from the easy English Commentary Site.
The beast who came out of the earth was the false prophet. He had two horns like a lamb. He gave the impression that he was gentle like a lamb. When he spoke, he was like a dragon. He was clever with lies. He could easily persuade people to do what he wanted them to do.
Jesus warned about false prophets. He said, ‘They seem as gentle as sheep when they come to you. But inside they behave like wild animals.’ (Matthew 7:15).
The false prophet did all kinds of magic acts. He even made fire come down out of the skies. All the people could see the fire. These deeds caused people to believe the false prophet.
He used the powers that he had for the benefit of the Antichrist. He did many great deeds that astonished the people. They believed the lies of the false prophet.
Those who trusted God did not believe the false prophet. They knew that the false prophet’s words were lies.
The false prophet told the people to make an image of Antichrist. And the people obeyed him. They made an image of the first beast. This was the beast that had a sword injury. He should have died. But he lived again.
The false prophet was able to make the image of Antichrist to come alive. This was powerful magic. But the power came from Satan. And the image could even speak. It demanded that all people should worship it. It ordered the death of any person who refused to worship the beast.
The false prophet made an order that all people must accept a mark. Each person must have the mark either on the right hand or on the front of the head. It did not matter who they were. Every person must have the mark.
The mark was the name of Antichrist or the number of that name. Sometimes people used numbers instead of letters for a name. This method was called ‘gematria’. We do not know how they calculated a name. A number was equal to the name of Antichrist. That number was the mark.
Any people who did not have that mark could not trade. They could not buy from the shops. They could not sell anything. Normal life would not be possible for them.
The only people who refused to have the mark were those who trusted God. They would rather die than have the mark of Antichrist. They remained loyal to Christ even if they had to die for it.
The mark showed that the person trusted Antichrist rather than Christ.
The number of the name of the person is 666. This seems to be a puzzle. The number has a meaning. And that meaning is the name of the beast. That beast means the man called Antichrist. An intelligent person should calculate what his real name is. He should work out the name from the number.
Perhaps one day an intelligent person will be able to find the answer. We do not yet know who the Antichrist will be.
In the first letter of John, we read this. ‘You have heard that the Antichrist is coming. Even now many antichrists have come’ (1 John 2:18). Before the Antichrist comes, there will be many antichrists. Some had already come at the time when John was writing. There have been many *antichrists since then. Some are working in the world today. They are people who oppose Christ. They try to destroy all that Christ has done. They are the enemies of the church and of Christians. The antichrists have the same evil purpose as we will see in the Antichrist. They hate the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate all those who belong to him.
Well let's just sculpt up a nice stature.... cover it in golden color.... role it out on the stage and worship it! If you want to belong to this party.... you have to get a tattoo..... it must be either the name of the head Anti-Christ..... or the number that represents the head Anti-Christ. Oh there are plenty of plain old anti-christs...... there was one back in John's day.... John called him out.... He was Diotrephes, who called John, the Apostle and close personal friend of Jesus the Messiah.... a liar..... when in fact.... Diotrephes, was the liar. That's how they work... they make you believe that they are on the same path as the average good Christian.... and then they feed them little lies.... and before you know it.... those good little "Christian wannabe" are bowing to the golden statue they rolled out on the stage.... and they are lining up to get that tattoo the liar is touting as the next best financial set up that will make everyone a perfect follower! They will become a number the dragon can count on..... all those wonderful pew warmers.
Yesterday, while I was working on the posting.... for some reason the KJV translation came up in the software that I use to read the Bible. I have been using the NIV interpretation ever since a preacher from the Church of the Nazarene showed it to me. It's easy to read. I can understand it.... but the KJV... well it might as well be written in Klingon. I'm sure someone will say I've been reading the wrong interpretation.... and I might have agreed.... way back when.... but now... I see that reading the Bible.... and understanding what the authors are saying is fundamental.... picking the right interpretation.... well that has to come from the Spirit. See... I'm a Southern Baptist.... I believe the Holy Spirit talks to me and interprets for me..... I'm not interpreting anything.... the Spirit is. It's what we Believe... we are directly responsible for our actions.... God will guide us.... to show us the path.
Let me put it this way.... if you were going to drive from Lusby to Phoenix.... you would either get a map or fire up the GPS.
For a Christian.... the Bible and the Holy Spirit are the map or the GPS. For the dragon people.... well they don't need no stinking map... they have the image.... that's all they need. They don't trust the Bible... only the preacher... the preacher knows.... just like Diotrephes.
So.... we're all afraid of the 666..... but [3x2][3x2][3x2] on the hand or forehead is still 666 if you are worshipping that image they rolled out on the stage.... sure it can talk..... but think friends.... someone had to role it onto the stage.... would God need someone to role Him onto the stage?
So.... that image is coming... and it will talk.... will you line up to get the mark?
Will you sport the number 666?
