Mark of the Beast (No. 25)

Throughout the last 1900 years or so people have wondered about the mark of the beast. What is this mark that people are so afraid of receiving, this mark without which they will not be able to buy or sell? Is it a computer chip implanted in the forehead or hand? Is it some sort of tattoo or a brand? Just what is this mark of the beast?

The warnings of the mark of the beast come from several prophecies in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 13:16-17 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 ¹⁷And 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. (KJV)

Revelation 14:9-11 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, ¹⁰The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (KJV)

So what does this mark refer to? What is the name of the beast and the number of his name? In order to understand these questions we need to analyse the concepts of the mark and the beast as they are explained throughout the Bible. It will not do us any good to guess or hypothesise about the meaning of the words. Peter said, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation” (2Pet. 1:20). This is a key point as to why the topic of the mark of the beast has been so misunderstood and misapplied. Instead of letting Scripture interpret itself, people want to interpret the Bible according to their own beliefs and paradigms. For this very reason the world has seen one false prophet after another uttering false prophecies in regard to the mark of the beast. The only way to understand what is meant by the term “mark of the beast” is to study the Scriptures as Isaiah says and let the Bible interpret itself.

Isaiah 28:9-13 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. ¹⁰ For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a ttle: ¹¹For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. ¹²To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. ¹³But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (KJV)

By taking a closer look and putting precept upon precept, line upon line, we can gain a better understanding of this subject. In doing so we will see what the biblical usage of the word mark is when used in the context of having a mark upon the forehead or hand. We will also see what the biblical usage of the word beast is as it is used throughout prophecy.

We will need to take a look at the spiritual intent of many different Scriptures in order to fully understand the mark of the beast. These concepts are cloaked in symbolism and allegory from which they need to be extracted in order to adequately understand the full ramifications of these prophecies. It is impossible to understand what’s going on with the mark of the beast by taking a purely literal interpretation of the Bible. There are concepts involved which are revealed only when one digs through the literal layer into the spiritual layer.

The city of New Jerusalem has gates of pearls (Rev. 21:21). The symbolism which applies to these gates of pearls is as follows. The gates of the city are the entry way into the city. A physical pearl is made by an oyster which has taken in a piece of grit and then proceeded to place layer after layer of nacre around the grit until a priceless pearl is formed. So too the mysteries of God are understood as a speck of physical truth upon which is layered the spiritual intents and meanings. To understand these spiritual meanings is to see the gates of the city of God (see also the paper The City of God (No. 180)). That is also why Christ said not to cast pearls in front of swine, lest they trample them underfoot and turn and rend you.

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. (KJV)

Christ was saying not to reveal spiritual layers of the mysteries of God unto the swine who are, as will be shown later, the fallen Host and their cohorts, lest they use that knowledge against us and all of the elect. That is why the mysteries of God are revealed in sequence and in order, all according to the will of God. Indeed the angels themselves long to see these mysteries.

1Peter 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Many of the mysteries have been kept sealed until the very time of the end, which time we are in (cf. the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272)).

The Mark

The Greek word in Revelation that's translated as mark in the English is the word charagma {khar'-ag-mah} from Strong’s Greek Dictionary #5480 meaning:

1) a stamp, an imprinted mark

1a) of the mark stamped on the forehead or the right hand as the badge of the followers of the Antichrist

1b) the mark branded upon horses

2) thing carved, sculpture, graven work

2a) of idolatrous images

The Hebrew equivalent of the word mark in the Old Testament is the word 'owth' {oth} from Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary #0226 meaning:

1) sign, signal

1a) a distinguishing mark

1b) banner

1c) remembrance

1d) miraculous sign

1e) omen

1f) warning

2) token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof

This word is translated as a sign in many instances, but it also means a distinguishing mark. There is a mark or sign given by God to those that keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Law.

Exodus 13:6-10 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. ⁷Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. ⁸And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. ⁹And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. ¹⁰Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. (KJV)

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 Now these are the orders and the laws and the decisions which the Lord your God gave me for your teaching, so that you might do them in the land of your heritage to which you are going: ²So that living in the fear of the Lord your God, you may keep all his laws and his orders, which I give you: you and your son and your son's son, all the days of your life; and so that your life may be long. ³So give ear, O Israel, and take care to do this; so that it may be well for you, and you may be greatly increased, as the Lord the God of your fathers has given you his word, in a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁴Give ear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: ⁵And the Lord your God is to be loved with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶Keep these words, which I say to you this day, deep in your hearts; ⁷Teaching them to your children with all care, talking of them when you are at rest in your house or walking by the way, when you go to sleep and when you get up. ⁸Let them be fixed as a sign on your hand, and marked on your brow; ⁹Have them lettered on the pillars of your houses and over the doors of your towns. (KJV)

Just as the beast of Revelation has a mark which is put upon the foreheads and hands of those who worship it, so too does God have a mark which is put upon the foreheads and hands of those who worship Him. This concept is examined in more detail in the paper The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170). The mark is upon the forehead because that is where one’s thoughts are established. The mark is also on the hand because that is where the thoughts of the mind are exercised and put into action. It is by following the commandments of God, both in mind and in action, that one receives the mark of God. As stated in Exodus 13:6-10, these commandments include the keeping of God’s system of worship, for example, by keeping the Feasts such as Unleavened Bread.

This mark or sign of God is not physical; rather it is a spiritual mark. None of the prophets nor Jesus Christ had a physical mark on their foreheads or hands that showed they belonged to God; however, they were servants of the living God. Rather, it is a spiritual mark, which, like its physical counterpart in a brand used on cattle, denotes ownership and possession by the issuer of the mark, and obedience and allegiance by the one having the mark or sign.

We see elsewhere in Exodus that the Sabbath is also a sign.

Exodus 31:12-17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ¹³Speak 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. ¹⁴Ye 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. ¹⁵Six 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. ¹⁶Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷It 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. (KJV)

The Sabbath, being one of the commanded days of observance by God, is a sign between God and his people (cf. The Sabbath (No. 031)). Notice too that it is a sign forever. It did not cease with the advent of the Messiah. It was never changed to Sunday by God or Jesus Christ. Sunday always was and still is the day of worship of those who are in rebellion to God and His laws. Ironically, most of modern day Christianity consider Sunday to be the Lord's Day. Jesus Christ himself said that he was Lord of the Sabbath, not the Lord of Sunday or any other day (cf. also the paper The Day of the Lord and the Last Days (No. 192)).

Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. (KJV)

Neither was the keeping of and worshipping on the Sabbath to be negated by the keeping of the Juma'ah on Friday instead, as Islam is guilty of doing. The prophet, called Mohammed, never intended to have his followers neglect the Sabbath and in its stead enshrine the preparation day as a holy day in its own right (cf. the paper The Juma'ah: Preparing for the Sabbath (No. 285)).

The Sabbath is to commemorate the seventh day of creation, a day in which God rested from all his works. It also points forward to the millennial rest of 1,000 years. The Sabbath was made for man, not vice-versa, and not any other day (Mk. 2:27).

The mark of God then is given to those who keep the commandments of God and who worship Him according to the way He commands and not how they see fit to worship Him. Those who receive the mark of God worship Him by keeping His commandments and keeping His appointed Feasts and not by adopting the practices of the pagans and calling them Christian. We know that God does not wish to be worshipped in this way.

Deuteronomy 12:29-32 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; ³⁰Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. ³¹Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. ³²What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. (KJV)

We are to do and observe that which God commands. This cannot be done by claiming that both the Old and New Testaments have been altered to the point that we don't know what the original texts say, as does Islam. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove that we have the exact same writings now as were in existence even before the birth of the prophet called Mohammed. The Qur’an (Koran) cannot be understood in isolation from the Bible. Only by having an understanding of the law and testimony of the prophets of both Old and New Testaments can the Qur’an be properly understood. That's why the prophet himself commanded the reading of the Scriptures.

The meaning of Deuteronomy 12 should be plain enough for all to see. It applies to Christians (spiritual Israel), every bit as much as it applied to the physical nation of Israel. As true Islam, being that which was taught by the prophet and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, was in its beginnings a branch of Christianity, this applies equally to those professing the Moslem faith. God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The pagan practices that He abhorred before the advent of the Messiah, He also abhorred after the death of the Messiah. As physical Israel was not to be snared by pagan practices, so too was spiritual Israel, the Church, not to be snared by pagan practices.

By changing the commandments and appointed Feasts of God, both mainstream Christianity and Islam have denied themselves the very seal of God. Nowhere does the Bible say that God gives His mark to anyone worshipping Him according to the ways of the pagan nations. By default, so-called Christians and Moslems have denied themselves the very mark of God. They do not keep the Sabbaths, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the laws of God, all of which Scripture says confers the mark of God. Instead we have mainstream Christianity claiming that the law was nailed to the cross when it was the chierographon — the bill of indebtedness which we owed God for our sins – that was nailed to the cross. Alternately, they claim that the law does have to be kept and then proceed to say that the first day of the week is now the Sabbath in place of the true seventh-day Sabbath. They refuse to listen to the plain and simple words of the Messiah when he said that he did not come to do away with the law.

Matthew 5:17-19 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. ¹⁸For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. ¹⁹Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

The Roman Catholic Church claims it has the authority to change the law. However, the Messiah says that those who do so, and teach others to do so, will be the least in the kingdom of God.

In the end times the earth is not allowed to be harmed until the full number of the servants of God are sealed with His mark.

Revelation 7:2-3 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, ³Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (KJV)

These servants of God in the last days are sealed on their foreheads because they have the laws of God in their minds, and, by extension they keep these laws by their actions. These are they that were prophesied by Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD; I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (RSV)

The congregation of God in the end times are those of the renewed covenant. They are those within whom God has put His law. This was the purpose of the symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant. That ark, which God had Moses and the people construct, was to point towards the elect. As Paul said the elect are the temple of God.

2Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (KJV)

The ark stood inside the temple. The ark symbolised the hearts of the elect (cf. the paper The Ark of the Covenant (No. 196)). It is within the hearts of the elect that God puts His law, just as the tablets of the law were put into the physical ark. The law of God starts with the two great commandments. These two great commandments were enunciated by Christ.

Mark 12:28-31 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? ²⁹And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: ³⁰And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. ³¹And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (KJV)

Jesus said that all of the law and all that was said by the prophets hung on these two great commandments. The whole system of worship is encompassed in these two great commandments. They are themselves further broken down into the Ten Commandments, which were written on the tablets that went into the Ark of the Covenant. Each of these Ten Commandments is further delineated by Moses and the prophets. The worship of God by keeping the Sabbaths, appointed Feasts, and Holy Days, is directly tied into the First of the Ten Commandments, which is itself directly tied into the First Great Commandment. So just as Jesus said, in order to enter into eternal life, one must keep the commandments.

Matthew19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (KJV)

Those who are sealed by the Angel of God carrying the seal of God are those who will be keeping the Sabbath, the New Moons, and the Feasts that God has commanded, as well as all of the rest of the commandments (see the paper The Law of God (No. L1)).

By contrast, the mark of the beast is a mark on those who do not worship God as He commands, but rather worship a false God according to a false system of worship. But just what is this beast that almost the whole world worships? In order to understand the beast system in the latter days we need to go back to Genesis.

The Beasts of the Field

We all know the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (cf. the paper The Doctrine of Original Sin Part I The Garden of Eden (No. 246)). There is much more going on in this story than is apparent on the surface. Unless one digs into the spiritual aspects of this story, on the surface it appears to be just a tale told to make a little sense out of the origins of mankind and why we’re different from the other creatures on the planet. In Genesis 3:1 the serpent who deceived Eve is described as being “more subtil than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made”.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (KJV)

This was not a physical serpent speaking, but rather the being which was the covering Cherub that rebelled against God. The Hebrew word for serpent, nachash {naw-khawsh'}, is derived from the root word nachash {naw-khash'} which means shining one and is rendered as serpent in the English.

This shining one is the Covering Cherub; the Angel of Light or Light Bearer or Lucifer of Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel 28:13-17.

The same sense is used of the fiery serpents in Numbers 21:6,9. They are referred to as nachashim saraphim. The fiery serpents were so called because of the burning sensations from the bites, but also probably because they were directed by angels when Israel spoke against God and Moses for bringing them to the wilderness. The term saraph means to burn. The seraphim of Isaiah 6:2 were called burning ones. Thus the angelic Host were of a fiery or shining bronzed countenance.

The old serpent (2Cor. 11:3) is transformed as an angel of light (2Cor. 11:14). Thus the serpent is used as an allegory for Satan who spoke with the woman and deceived her.

This serpent or covering cherub was said to be more subtle (meaning cunning or wise) than any other of the beast of the field. There is something about this statement that seems a bit odd. We know that the serpent is a reference to Satan, the anointed covering Cherub. We are told in Ezekiel of his wisdom.

Ezekiel 28:12-15 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. ¹³Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. ¹⁴Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. ¹⁵Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. (KJV)

This king of Tyre mentioned here is another allegory for Satan. It was he who was in the Garden of Eden, who was perfect from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him. This covering Cherub sealed up the sum, full of wisdom. From this it would seem a rather ludicrous statement to compare his wisdom with that of the beasts of the field, if this phrase beasts of the field is to be taken literally to mean animals. The explanation here is that these other beasts of the field are a reference to the other spirit beings that rebelled along with Satan. We will see later how these beasts of the field are related to the beasts of Revelation and Daniel. This type of symbolism is also seen in the reference to the trees in the garden (cf. the paper Lucifer: Light Bearer and Morning Star (No. 223)). From Ezekiel 31 we see that the Pharaoh and the Assyrians are compared to trees.

Ezekiel 31:2-18 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? ³Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. ⁴The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. ⁵Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. ⁶All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. ⁷Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. ⁸The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. ⁹I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. ¹⁰Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; ¹¹I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. ¹²And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. ¹³Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: ¹⁴To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. ¹⁵Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. ¹⁶I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. ¹⁷They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. ¹⁸To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD. (KJV)

These trees and the beasts of the field have spiritual symbolism, which is examined in the paper The Fall of Egypt (No. 036). This kind of symbolism is seen throughout the Bible and is revealed to the servants of God in these last days (Dan. 12:9-10). These concepts are not easy to understand and are not revealed unless one puts precept upon precept, line upon line. One can also see the link here between the beasts of the field and the fallen Host when looking at the actions of Messiah.

Matthew 8:28-32 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes (NIV & NRSV say Gadarenes), there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. ²⁹And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? ³⁰And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. ³¹So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. ³²And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. (KJV)

Mark 5:1-13 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes (NIV & NRSV say Gerasenes). ²And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, ³Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: ⁴Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. ⁵And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. ⁶But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, ⁷And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. ⁸For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. ⁹And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. ¹⁰ And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. ¹¹Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. ¹²And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. ¹³And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. (KJV)

Several times Jesus Christ is recorded as casting demons out of people. Where did he send these demons? They were sent into herds of swine, beasts of the field, which then ran down into the waters and were killed. The waters that these physical beasts went into symbolised the waters of the spirit, which will overtake and destroy the fallen Host, just as the waters of the Red Sea overtook and destroyed the Egyptian army. Jesus Christ was in fact giving a prophecy of what would eventually happen to the fallen Host. By sending the demons (the spiritual beasts of the field) into the swine (the physical beasts of the field) the Messiah was showing what fate would befall Satan and the demons. Thus it is the power of Messiah, as delegated to him by God, to put an end to the rebellious Host by turning them back into physical beings and killing them in the waters, just as the old man is put to death in the waters of baptism and given a newness of life. The rebellious Host will also be given that baptism to a new life. The rebellion will be crushed and those responsible will be brought down to the sides of the pit, becoming physical beings, and upon repentance and baptism in the waters of the Holy Spirit will be brought back to a newness of life through the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit. That it what is described here with the casting out of the demons. This concept is also seen in the book of Judges when Samson takes honey from the carcass of a lion which he had previously slain.

Judges 14:5-11 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and he came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him; ⁶and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. ⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. ⁸And after a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.⁹He scraped it out into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion. ¹⁰And his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there; for so the young men used to do. ¹¹And when the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. (RSV)

The thirty companions is an allusion to the inner council of the Host. The taking of honey from the body of the lion represents the making clean and edible that which is unclean of itself.

There we have two parables both pointing towards the Messiah dealing with the rebellion in the Host and turning the unclean into the clean (cf. the paper Samson and the Judges (No. 073)).

Now back to the concept of the beast. The word for beast in Genesis 3:1 is the Hebrew word chay {khah'-ee} from Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary #2416. This word is used as follows in the King James Version: live 197, life 144, beast 76, alive 31, creature 15, running 7, living thing 6, raw 6, misc 19.

Thus, it has meaning beyond what we would refer to as a beast. The serpent (or nachash) was cursed more than any other beast of the field. The beasts of the field were cursed also, but the serpent was to be cursed even more so than the beasts.

Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. (KJV)

The word cursed is the Hebrew word 'arar {aw-rar'} from Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary #0776 meaning:

1) to curse
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to curse
1a2) cursed be he (participle used as in curses)
1b) (Niphal) to be cursed, cursed
1c) (Piel) to curse, lay under a curse, put a curse on
1d) (Hophal) to be made a curse, be cursed

It is used in the sense of God cursing those that turn from His ways.

Psalms: 119:21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. (KJV)

Jeremiah 11:3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant (KJV)

Malachi 2:2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. (KJV)

Now going back to Genesis 1:26, we see that man was created in the image of God (that is of Elohim), and was to have dominion over every creeping thing.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (KJV)

There were two aspects to this verse. Firstly, it was in the physical sense a fact of the creation of man that he had the capacity to subdue and have dominion over all the other animals on the planet. This meaning is well recognized. Secondly, this verse was also a prophecy with a spiritual application, in that man would eventually have dominion over these fallen Host that rebelled – the spiritual beasts of the field. When the full number of the elect are redeemed from the earth and are made as kings and priests in the kingdom of God, they will then reign over this planet with Jesus Christ.

Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped 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. ⁵But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (KJV)

It is at this time that the prophecy of 1Corinthians will also be fulfilled, and the rebellious Host will be judged by the saints (cf. also the paper The Judgment of the Demons (No. 080)).

1Corinthians 6:2-3 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ³Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (KJV)

By becoming the watchers or guardians of this planet with Jesus Christ and instituting the righteous laws of God, the conduct of the elect will be used to judge the conduct of the fallen Host. Then when they are judged and found wanting, they will be dealt with by God. This will be in the Second Resurrection. It is possible that this could have taken place much sooner if Adam and Eve had not rebelled and followed Satan. However, we know that their rebellion was foreseen by God and that He already had a plan that would finally succeed in accomplishing His purpose, including that which was stated in Genesis 1:26.

At the time of the Second Resurrection, the rebellious Host will be brought down to the sides of the pit (Ezek. 31). They will be forcibly turned into human beings in a similar way that the Messiah emptied himself, giving up his heavenly spiritual existence, taking on the form of a bond servant and becoming a man (Phil. 2:6-8). The fact is Jesus Christ did it by willing obedience to his God, whereas the fallen Host will be forcibly changed by the power of God. It is at this time that they will see the wages of their sin of rebellion. They will at this time be given the chance to repent and to be forgiven by a merciful and loving God (cf. the paper Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199)).

They will then have to be retrained in how to follow and implement the laws of God, as they will be implemented by Jesus Christ and the elect. So the second aspect of the prophecy in Genesis 1:26 will be fulfilled seven thousand years from the time of Adam. Thus, the fate of the fallen Host was symbolised by the actions of Messiah when he cast out demons and sent them into the swine, and by Samson when he ate honey from the lion's carcass. Once again we see the physical events as recorded in the Bible give way to their spiritual fulfillment.

The Beast

The term beast is used again in Daniel chapter 7. Here we see there are four beasts that come up from the sea.

Daniel 7:2-7 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. ³And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. ⁴The 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. ⁵And 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. ⁶After 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. ⁷After 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. (KJV)

These four beasts again are not references to physical oddities, but rather there is a host of symbolism here. We are told in Daniel 7:17 that these beasts are four kings that will rise up on the earth. These four beasts are synonymous with the four different sections of the image in the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2:31-45 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. ³²This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, ³³His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. ³⁴Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. ³⁵Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. ³⁶This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. ³⁷Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. ³⁸And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. ³⁹And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. ⁴¹And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. ⁴³And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of these kings 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 for ever. ⁴⁵Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (KJV)

These sections of the image, composed of metals of decreasing quality from the head down to the toes, symbolise the four kingdoms that would rule this earth, from Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon as the head, down to the kingdom of the ten toes, which would be destroyed at the end of this age. This last kingdom is destroyed by the rock from heaven which was uncut by human hands. This rock is none other than Messiah. He is the chief cornerstone of the temple.

Acts 4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.¹¹This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. ¹²Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (KJV)

So we have the beast of Revelation having seven heads and ten horns, and we have the final kingdom of the image in Daniel chapter two having ten toes. These are two representations of the same concept. That is, in the end days just before the Messiah returns to rule the planet, there will be a kingdom referred to as the beast, which will be comprised of ten rulers that will give their authority over to the one beast system for one hour (Rev. 17:13). These ten rulers are synonymous with the ten sons of Haman who were hung on the gallows in the book of Esther (cf. the paper Commentary on Esther (No. 063)). They were all hung together because together they make up the union of the ten toes of Daniel chapter 2, and the ten horns of Revelation 13 in the last days.

Revelation 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.

They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them.

Revelation 17:14: 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. (KJV)

These beasts then are seen as kingdoms on this earth, which come to have power over the people of the earth. A key point which applies here is found in Deuteronomy 32:8.

Deuteronomy 32:8-9When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. ⁹For the LORD's (Yahovah’s) portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. (RSV)

Here we are told that when the sons of Adam were separated and given their inheritance (that is, at the tower of Babel) their bounds were set according to the number of the sons of God. This appears in the RSV, the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This was well understood in ancient times. It was understood there were seventy nations, each one under the control of a particular spirit being, a watcher, one of the sons of God. One of these nations was Israel, which was apportioned to Yahovah. We know this being as the Son of God who became a man and died for the sins of the world, the one who in the English language is called Jesus Christ (cf. the paper The Angel of YHVH (No. 024)).

These spirit beings who had control over the nations were the beasts of the field referred to in Genesis. According to Daniel there would be four of these beasts that would rise up to form great kingdoms. The last of these four would have seven heads and ten horns. These seven heads are said to be the seven mountains on which the woman (the harlot of Revelation who is drunk on the blood of the saints) sits, but they are also seven kings. These seven mountains are both in the physical sense of seven mountains or hills of earth, but also figuratively as seven kingdoms or revivals of the same kingdom throughout a protracted period of time. The ten horns are also ten kings, who will give all power and authority over to the beast.

A critical point to remember here is the image of Daniel in chapter 2. There we saw one image of four different metals. It was one whole and complete unit with every part connected to the previous and succeeding parts. So these four kingdoms were not totally separate kingdoms, having nothing in common with each other but, rather, they were all connected and part of one whole system. This one system started with the Babylonians, went through to the Medo-Persian, through the Greco-Macedonian, and finally will end with the last beast, which is the Roman system (cf. the paper Mysticism Chapter 1 Spreading the Babylonian Mysteries (No. B7_1)). During these empires, false systems of worship have thrived. Just as stated in Daniel 7:25, the beast would seek to change times and laws. This is just what happened under the Roman beast system with the whore riding it.

The times that were changed were those of the calendar. The calendar in use today throughout most of the world is taken for granted, but it is the invention of this Roman system. No longer would the day start at dark as the Bible states, but rather it would commence from the middle of the night. No longer would the year start on the New Moon closest to the vernal equinox so that the Passover would be kept in its season, but it would begin in the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere. The months would no longer start on the New Moons as the word of God states, but would be arbitrary, depending on the number of days in the designated month of the Roman calendar.

This beast is said to have a woman who is a harlot riding on it. The term harlot is used in the Old Testament as a reference to God’s chosen people, Israel. So, just as physical Israel played the harlot with Egypt and Babylon, so too would spiritual Israel play the harlot. This harlot itself has a name on its forehead, which is MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (Rev. 17:1-5). It should be easy to see why this is the name of this harlot. She is stamped with the mark of Babylon on her forehead. Her teachings are that of the Babylonian mystery religions. The beliefs and the false teachings of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon flowed from the head of gold down through the entire series of empires as portrayed in Daniel chapter 2.

While incorporating the Babylonian mysteries into her brand of so-called Christianity, this great harlot would proceed to change the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day. This alone would cause those claiming to worship the One True God to lose the conferrance of the mark of God. This whore riding atop the beast would not stop there. She would also seek to change the laws of God. She would combine the Second commandment of God with the First then split the Tenth commandment into two to make up the difference. All this to allow her to covet pagan idols and artefacts of gold and silver with which to adorn herself, just as the apostle John had seen in vision in Revelation 17:4. She would blaspheme God by turning to all of the ways of the pagan nations that she would conquer. She would incorporate all of their evil ways into what she would call Christianity and then proceed to deceive all those who were not called and chosen by God. By giving so-called Christian values or themes to the ways that the heathen nations worshipped their gods, she would completely corrupt Christianity. No longer would those calling themselves Christian keep the Feasts of God as holy days, but would keep the feast days of pagan gods (cf. the papers The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277) and The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235)). The consequences of this would be the loss of the understanding of God’s plan of salvation for mankind, which can only be understood by the keeping of His appointed Feasts.

The food laws of God would be disregarded and the eating of unclean foods would abound (cf. the paper The Food Laws (No. 015)). Perhaps the eating of clean and unclean foods has a spiritual application that is tied in to obedience to God’s Laws. For just as Eve followed Satan in disobedience to God and ate from the forbidden tree, so too do the worshippers of this system follow Satan in disobedience to God and eat unclean foods. The unclean foods are synonymous with unclean worship. Again we can see the symbolism of the beasts of the field in reference to unclean foods. Just as some physical beasts of the field are clean to eat and some are not, so too are some of the spiritual Host clean and some are not. Those that are clean such as Messiah are good for spiritual food. He is the spiritual bread of life. That is why the food laws were set up as they were. Once again, the physical pointed towards the spiritual.

All of these abominable things would this harlot do for power and glory, not knowing that the pagan practices and forms of worship that she would incorporate from the gentile nations and keep as her own, were done under the influence of these pagan gods, the fallen Host, that had authority over these same gentile nations. Instead of keeping pure and holy and following the straight and narrow path and keeping the commandments of God, not deviating to the right or to the left, she took her own path. She committed fornication with the kings of the earth, and with spiritual powers in high places. If that wasn’t enough, she would wear out the true saints of the most high God as was prophesied in Daniel 7:25. She would be given authority for a time, times, and half a time. This is the 1260 years of the Holy Roman Empire from 590 CE to 1850 CE. During this time she would be drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus Christ (Rev. 17:7) (cf. the papers General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping Churches (No. 122) and The Unitarian/Trinitarian Wars (No. 268). In turn she would make those who dwelt upon the earth drunk with the wine of her immorality (Rev. 17:2). This wine is her doctrines, her teachings, and her system of worship, which were all adopted from heathen worship of foreign gods.

Eventually this harlot would become so corrupt that many of those drunk with her wine could no longer follow her. They would seek to break away from her and become separate. These Protestant churches are the daughters of the harlot referred to in Revelation 17:5. Instead of throwing out all of her heresies and returning to the straight and narrow path (the true faith delivered by Jesus Christ) they would in the end only rid themselves of her most indulgent practices while retaining most of her doctrines and her thirst for the blood of the saints. In vain would they worship God, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men (Mat. 15:9).

So the final beast of Daniel and Revelation would for 1260 years be ridden on and controlled by this harlot. She would change laws and times such that the whole earth would be deceived. This final system will be so different from the system of the kingdom of God that it will be extremely difficult for the people of God to come out of her as they are commanded to do (Rev. 18:4). In order to come out of her one has to follow a system which is diametrically opposed to the system of the beast. One has to keep God’s Feast days that He appointed, not pagan holy days appointed by pagan gods. That is the choice: the mark of God by keeping his commandments and Holy Days, or the mark of the beast by following its commandments and pagan holy days. In the end there would be a final persecution under the Fifth Seal of Revelation. This was the Great Holocaust of the 20^th century and will continue on into the 21^st century and will finally see the whore destroyed by the beast itself (cf. the paper The Messages of Revelation 14 (No. 270)).

At the present time it is difficult to be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast. For many, it is very difficult to not work or do business on the Sabbath, New Moons, and Holy Days of God, and to remain gainfully employed. However, the time is soon coming when according to Revelation 13:17, no one may buy or sell without this mark. That is, unless one is willing to work on Sabbaths, New Moons, and Holy Days, one will not be able to remain employed or in business. With all of the necessities of modern life, such as taxes, rent, insurance, etc. it will be impossible to retain the mark of God and to function within the beast system.

Will the mark of the beast be a physical mark such as a computer chip embedded in people? Perhaps it will come to that, but that will just be a physical sign. The real mark is the spiritual one, which people do and will have without even knowing! So, while many worry that they may someday be required to receive the physical mark of the beast on their foreheads and hands, they are already sealed with it spiritually on their foreheads and hands. That is how Revelation 12:9 can say: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” The great dragon does indeed deceive the whole world, even those who are so wary about receiving his mark.

The Number of the Beast

Another source of false prophecies over the years centers around the number of the beast. We are told in Revelation 13:18 that he who has wisdom can calculate the number of the beast as the number of a man, whose number is 666. It is well understood and well documented that the number 666 is associated with the Babylonian mysteries. The symbol of Isis is SSS which has a numerical equivalent of 666. This number has been embedded in the sun cults from the time of Babel until the present. The ancient Babylonian priests divided the heavens into thirty-six constellations. It is noted that the sum of the first thirty-six numbers is 666. The pagan priests had a way of representing these thirty-six divisions by arranging each of the thirty-six numbers in a table of six rows by six columns, which they had inscribed onto amulets that they wore around their neck. Each row and each column as well as each diagonal would add up to 111. The sum of all rows and all columns thus was 666. So we see that the ancient pagan priests were not only familiar with this number but also used it as part of their astrology and as a divination tool. Astrology and divination are part of the Babylonian system.

Revelation 13:8 states that this number 666 is not only the number of the beast, but that it is also the number of a man. The understanding of this concept is given by Isaiah.

Isaiah 14:4-17 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! ⁵The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. ⁶He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. ⁷The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. ⁸Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. ⁹Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. ¹⁰All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? ¹¹Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. ¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. ¹⁵Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. ¹⁶They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; ¹⁷That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? (KJV)

The key to the understanding is in verse sixteen: "is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms". Indeed, Satan will be looked on as the man that made the earth tremble. He was the covering Cherub representing the man-headed system (cf. the paper The Government of God (No. 174)). This reduction of Satan is at the end of the Millennium for the Second Resurrection of the dead (verse 9).

It was Satan as the head or Archangel of this man-headed system who fell from grace and from heaven. He is the man whose number is 666. This number has been used by and stamped on all of his worldly kingdoms starting from Babel.

While there is no doubt as to the number 666 being associated with the satanic mystery cults, there is another number written in one of the best early manuscripts that is used in the place of the 666. As stated by Del Washburn in his book, Theomatics II on page 500, “in a book published in London in 1932, and entitled The Book of Revelation, A Key to Christian Origins, this positively incredible footnote appears.

The figure 616 is given in one of the two best manuscripts. C (Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, Paris), by the Latin version of Tyconius (DCXVI. ed. Souter in the Journal of Theo., SE April, 1913), and by an ancient Armenian version (ed. Conybeare, 1907). Irenaeus knew about it [the 616 reading], but did not adopt it (Haer. v, 30,3); Jerome adopted it (De Monogramm, ed. Dom G. Morin in the Rev. Benedictine, 1903) It is probably original. The number 666 has been substituted for 616 either by analogy with 888, the number of Jesus (Deissmann), or because it is a triangular number, the sum of the first 36 numbers (1+2+3+4+5+6...+36=666).”

There may be some value here in looking into a subject called Theomatics. Theomatics is described by Washburn as the numbers or mathematics of God. It is similar to Gematria, but it is not identical to it. Theomatics is the study of how similar concepts in the Bible, whether in Hebrew or Greek, occur in writing in such a way that the value of the letters of the words within a specific concept add up to a particular number or a multiple of that number. For instance, there are multiple references to Satan in both Hebrew and Greek which all have values centering on the number 276. These values are not always exact, but are clustered around a number within a value of plus or minus two. In his book, Washburn was able to show quite convincingly (and according to established scientific analysis principles) that these clusterings of word and phrase values were by design, and could not have been by chance occurrence.

Now if we take 616 to be the number of the beast, we will see a host of phrases and words from both the Old and New Testaments which will have a theomatic value equal to 616 or a multiple of 616. Here are just some of the phrases that show a theomatic value of 616:

Genesis 1:25 made the beast of the earth after their kind; Genesis 1:26 made every creature that crawleth upon the ground; Genesis 1:28 rule over every living crawler; Genesis 2:19 from the ground every beast; Genesis 3:1 beast of the field which; 2Corinthians 11:3 lest somehow as the serpent deceived; 2Corinthians 11:3 should be seduced; 1Timothy 2:14 deceived; Revelation 17:1 the great harlot sitting upon; 1Corinthians 6:16 the harlot; Revelation 17:5 mystery Babylon and the abominations of the earth; Matthew 10:15 each Sodom and Gomorrah; Revelation 18:4 share in her sins; Revelation 17:17 each of the following the beast, the harlot, evil (wickedness); Genesis 3:14 you cursed beast; Ezekiel 28:14 the anointed cherub; Leviticus 11:41 every creature crawling; Mark 1:23 unclean; Romans 1:23 beasts and crawlers; Matthew 6:32 darkness; John 3:6 of the flesh; Daniel 7:17 great beasts; Luke 16:8 for the sons of this age; Ephesians 5:6 upon the sons of disobedience; Matthew 13:38 the tares are the sons.

Is it any wonder that the anointed covering Cherub, the serpent, is associated with the beasts, with darkness, with the harlot, with deceit, with Mystery Babylon, with Sodom and Gomorrah, and on and on? From all of these references we are able to see the spiritual implications. We know that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. We know that he has deceived the whole world. We also know that the events of the Old Testament are there for our education and discernment. It is only by understanding these events that we are able to see how the whole world has been deceived. The physical events of the Old Testament were to give way to their spiritual fulfillment in the New Testament. Just one example of this is the Passover. The physical blood of the Passover lamb which protected the Israelites from the death Angel was to symbolise the blood of the Messiah, which would save the elect from the second death. We can also see this when we compare the physical events of Genesis with their spiritual fulfillment in Revelation. The serpent who deceived Eve in Genesis is the same beast that deceives the harlot and the whole world as seen in Revelation. Just as he enticed Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit through his cunning and wisdom and subtlety, so too would he deceive the whore through these same traits as they were expressed by his beast kingdoms. It was by the Babylonian mysteries, as they were incorporated into all of the worldly kingdoms of the beast, that the Church was seduced into following the serpent. Just as the woman Eve was fashioned from Adam, the first man, and was deceived by the serpent, so too was the woman who was the Church taken from the nation that was the first born of God, Israel, and was deceived by this same serpent. As Eve ate of the forbidden tree against the express will of God, so too did the harlot eat of the forbidden spiritual food of the unclean beasts, and incorporate forbidden practices and worship false gods in direct opposition to the will of God. As Eve caused Adam to commit sin, so too did this harlot cause man to sin by following her ways. And just as a remnant was taken out of the offspring of Eve and set apart as God’s chosen people, so too is a remnant taken out of this beast system that is controlled by the harlot and set apart as God’s chosen people.

The dragon has attempted to deceive mankind from the beginning and to eliminate those he can't deceive. He has tried by all means possible to destroy mankind and keep them from their God-purposed destiny. While it is too vast a subject to deal with in this paper, just a few examples of attempts by Satan will suffice to show how he has tried to change his prophesied fate of Genesis 1:26, and Genesis 3:6.

Seducing Eve was his first attempt. Perhaps he was shortsighted in not knowing that God already had a plan to redeem mankind from the wages of their sin, or perhaps he thought that he would be able to successfully thwart that plan. Next, he had Abel (whose sacrifices were acceptable to God) killed by his brother Cain whose sacrifices were not acceptable. This story itself was an analogy of the two sons of God, Jesus Christ (or Yahovah Elohim) and Satan. For it is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the lamb of God which is acceptable to God. Satan was not prepared to lay down his life in sacrifice. So, just as Cain killed Abel, Satan killed Christ. By the time of Noah most of the genetic pool of mankind was so polluted and corrupted by the Sons of God interbreeding with the daughters of men (Gen. 6:4) that only Noah was pure in his generations, that is, in genetic makeup. That is why God had to destroy the planet by flood so that only Noah and his family would continue to fill the Earth with uncorrupted seed. By the time of the Church, after trying again and again for some 4,000 years to destroy God's chosen people, he would then pursue the remnant of the woman of Revelation 12:6. He would use the adulterous harlot of mainstream Christianity to incessantly pursue and horrendously exterminate those few of the remnant of the true Ekklesia, those that still keep the commandments of God and testimony of Christ.

So, getting back to the concept of the number of the beast, we have the number 666 which Satan himself has stamped on his own kingdoms, and the number 616, which when taken theomatically seems to point directly to Satan and his deceit of mankind. Perhaps both numbers are to be associated with the beast, one which Satan himself prefers to use and one which fits in theomatically with Scriptures that point directly to Satan as the spiritual beast in control of the earthly beast kingdoms. Interestingly, by gematria the number 666 reduces to nine and the number 616 to four (cf. the paper Symbolism of Numbers (No. 007)). Four denotes the creative works and refers to the earth and the physical things of the creation. Six denotes the Human number. Man was created on the sixth day. The use of this number and all multiples of it are connected with the creation and are products of man and the created system. Nine denotes finality of sequence or judgment. It is 3 x 3 and thus a completed structure of activity. This number is found in all factors of judgment. The number three denotes completeness in the sense of three lines to a figure. The Third day completed the fundamentals of the creation. So it appears that, by associating the number 666 with his false religious systems, Satan is trying to take mankind (6) and by completing his false religious systems (3) bring all of mankind under judgement (9) to a point that they will fail that judgement and not be able to replace him and those that rebelled with him. However, we know that Jesus Christ will not fail, and so by using the number 616 to describe Satan and his works, God is saying that Satan will fail and will himself become part of the physical creation (4).

When we put Deuteronomy 32:8 together with Revelation and Daniel, we are able to see that the beasts that are prophesied are the kingdoms of this world that are controlled by spiritual beings. There is one being in particular, Satan, who has the ultimate control of all these kingdoms. He even offered his whole kingdom to the Messiah if only he would worship him. That is why Paul made reference to the fact that we fight a spiritual battle against spiritual forces. These spiritual forces are able to control the minds of men. It is this control that enables the fallen Host to set up false systems of worship amongst our people. These fallen Host (beasts of the field) are purposely trying to thwart the plan of God which was, as we saw in Genesis 1:28, to give man dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. This dominion includes dominion over the rebellious Host. In order to keep that from happening, they have tried for some 6,000 years to keep mankind separated from God. They have raised one kingdom after another on this earth, which was used to teach men lies and lead them astray.

During this time, Jesus Christ (Yahovah Elohim) has been working to bring the full number of the elect to the point where they’re ready to take over the planet and set up a kingdom ruled by Jesus Christ himself. His work has all been done under the direction of the One True God. This kingdom will be organized and governed according to the laws of God given by the Angel of the Covenant, whom we understand to be Jesus Christ (cf. the papers The Angel of YHVH (No. 024) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243)). He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. At his coming he will gather the elect, those sealed with the mark of God, and he will make war with the beast and those with its mark. He will institute the very laws of God that he himself gave to Moses, those very laws that the harlot and her daughters claim have been done away with and that Islam ignores.

Now we should know enough about the mark of the beast to ask ourselves this question, “Do I worship the beast, or do I worship the One True God according to his will?” Come out of her my people!!

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