It will be known without doubt who the Antichrist is when he sits in the Jewish temple and proclaims himself God: "That man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
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The Abomination Of Desolation
I believe the Jewish temple will be rebuilt (Revelation 11:1-2), daily sacrifices will be reinstituted (Daniel 9:27, 11:31), a false Messiah will arise to rule Israel whom the Antichrist will "break" (Daniel 11:22, Ezekiel 21:25) and make a 7-year treaty with (Daniel 11:23; 9:26-27), in the midst of which 7 years the Antichrist will break the treaty (Daniel 9:27) and sit in the temple and proclaim himself God above all gods (Daniel 11:36; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:6, 8), and so commit "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 11:31, 36).
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Many Antichrists And The Antichrist
Anyone who currently denies that Jesus is the Christ or denies that Jesus came in the flesh is an antichrist: "Even now are there many antichrists... Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son... And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world... For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist" (1 John 2:18, 1 John 2:22, 1 John 4:3, 2 John 1:7).
But even though the "spirit of antichrist" is already in the world (1 John 4:3), this doesn't mean the Antichrist himself has necessarily already come, just as the "Spirit of Christ" is already in the world (Romans 8:9, Matthew 28:20) but this doesn't mean Christ himself has necessarily already come again.
John does not deny that "antichrist shall come" (1 John 2:18), and I believe he refers to this same man in Revelation: "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 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... 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 13:5-8, 18). I believe Daniel refers to this same individual: "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High... and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time" (Daniel 7:25). "It shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished" (Daniel 12:7). I believe that each of the last three passages above state this individual will rule and make war against the church for 3 1/2 years.
I believe this individual will sit in a rebuilt Jewish temple and proclaim himself God: "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 worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). "And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate... And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished" (Daniel 11:31, 36). "He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate" (Daniel 9:27). "Ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)" (Matthew 24:15).
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An Individual Man And His Kingdom
I believe Revelation 13:1 describes the kingdom of the beast, referred to elsewhere as "his kingdom": "The fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat [throne] of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness" (Revelation 16:10).
I believe the beast of Revelation is referred to as an individual man: "No man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 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 13:17-18). "They have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:11). "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" (Revelation 15:2). "I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet" (Revelation 16:13). Note that they have 3 separate mouths.
I believe this individual man will be destroyed by Jesus at the 2nd coming (parousia): "That man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition... whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming (parousia)" (2 Thessalonians 2:2, 8). "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).
In the Greek, is there an "a" in front of "man" in verses such as Matthew 8:9 and Matthew 27:32?
Note that in Revelation 13:6, the same Greek pronoun "autos" (he, his, him) is used to refer to both God and the beast: "And he [autos] opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his [autos] name, and his [autos] tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven" (Revelation 13:6). Is God an "it?"
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him [autos], and will sup with him [autos], and he [autos] with me" (Revelation 3:20). Was Jesus referring to "it?"
Note that men can be referred to as beasts (therion): the Cretians are referred to as therions (Titus 1:12), and the therion from the land that performs deceiving miracles in Revelation 13:11-14 is later referred to as the false prophet (Revelation 19:20), or pseudoprophetes in Greek, which word is always used in the NT to refer to men (Matthew 7:15, 24:11, 24:24; Mark 13:22; Luke 6:26; Acts 13:6; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1).
I believe the two beasts of Revelation 13 are two individual men with mouths (Revelation 16:13) who will be cast alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20).
Note that both beasts are men because they both are referred to as speaking: "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven" (Revelation 13:5-6); "and he spake as a dragon" (Revelation 13:11); "saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast" (Revelation 13:14). Only men speak.
Note that the one world government will be the kingdom of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:1, Revelation 16:10), and the one world religion will be the worship of Satan and the Antichrist and his image (Revelation 13:4, 8, 15).
"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast... And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him... worship the image of the beast" (Revelation 13:4, 8, 15).
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The Beast From The Sea Is The Man Of Sin
Note that the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 is "that man of sin" in 2 Thessalonians and "the king" in Daniel 11.
He will be the man who will proclaim himself God above all gods: "That man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4); "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods" (Daniel 11:36); "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven... And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him" (Revelation 13:6, 8).
He will be the man who will receive power from Satan and for whom false miracles will be performed to deceive the world into worshipping him: "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11); "And the dragon gave him his power" (Revelation 13:2); "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do" (Revelation 13:14); "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" (Revelation 19:20).
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The Beast From The Land Is The False Prophet
Note that Revelation refers to the beast from the land as the one performing the miracles, just as it refers to the false prophet as the one performing the miracles: "And he 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" (Revelation 13:13-14); "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" (Revelation 19:20). Only men can perform miracles.
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Name Of The Beast = 666
Note that in the past, OT and NT, God has always spoken in the most common alphabet of the people he is speaking to at the time he is speaking. If Revelation 13:18 is meant for our time, then I believe it's possible that the calculation it refers to should be done in the most common alphabet of the people who will need to perform the calculation.
But how are we to "count the number of the beast" (Revelation 13:18), "the number of his name" (Revelation 13:17, 15:2)? Note that the letters of the Hebrew and Greek alphabets also stand for numbers; it's possible that we are to apply the same numbering system to the letters of our Roman alphabet:
A = 1
B = 2
C = 3
D = 4
E = 5
F = 6
G = 7
H = 8
I = 9
J = 10
K = 20
L = 30
M = 40
N = 50
O = 60
P = 70
Q = 80
R = 90
S = 100
T = 200
U = 300
V = 400
W = 500
X = 600
Y = 700
Z = 800
Under a system like this, the name "JOHN SMITH" would equal 10 plus 60 plus 8 plus 50 plus 100 plus 40 plus 9 plus 200 plus 8, for a total of 485. So the number of the name "JOHN SMITH" would be 485.
When the Bible refers to the Antichrist and the "number of his name," it says "his number is 666" (Revelation 13:17-18).
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Mark Of The Beast
I believe the mark of the Antichrist will be a literal, visible symbol, "or" the Antichrist's name "or" the number of his name, 666 (Revelation 13:17-18), which will be marked on the hand "or" the forehead (Revelation 13:16). It will involve "all" people within his empire (Revelation 13:16), and "no man" will be excepted from the economic restrictions for not taking the mark (Revelation 13:17). It will be a counterfeit of Christ's mark, which will be Christ's name (Revelation 22:4 and 3:12), and it may become a sore spot in the 1st vial (Revelation 16:2).
I don't believe the mark's being forced on us will in any way excuse us from keeping it in any recognizable state, for "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead" (Revelation 13:16, NIV).
If the mark is placed on us while we are under restraint, or while we are drugged or unconscious, I believe that once we are released, or recover our senses, it will be a time to take Jesus' command literally: "If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell" (Matthew 5:30). Of course, the mark probably will not involve the entire hand. If it is a tattoo, as I expect, it may be possible to deface the mark to where it will no longer be recognizable, such as with a hot iron, or by slicing rows across it with a knife, or in some other way. Any implanted chip could be removed with a point of a knife. If one is in a jail cell, with no access to irons or knives, scraping the back of the hand back and forth against any rough surface such as a concrete wall or floor for an extended period of time will deface the mark somewhat, and biting the skin on the back of the hand hard enough will break it so that one can remove any implanted chip. The bottom line is, I believe the mark is an ownership-mark, like the brands animals receive (the Liddell, Scott Greek Lexicon shows that the Greek word for the mark was used to refer to brands placed on camels) or slaves received (one definition Strong's Greek Dictionary gives for the Greek word for the mark, #5480, is "a badge of servitude"), so that anything that we can do to obliterate that mark so that someone cannot identify us as one of the Antichrist's possessions, will be sufficient to show that we haven't "received" the mark (Revelation 14:9), but have utterly rejected it after its application. I think of it as if an unwanted package were placed on our doorstep by a mail-order company which charged our credit card. If we keep the package, what excuse would we have for not paying for it, when we can send the package back and demand credit?
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Bar Codes = 666?
The Bible says that under the Antichrist "no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... his number is 666" (Revelation 13:17-18). Note that it says his mark "or" his name "or" his number.
It's already true that no man might buy or sell without employing the number of the Antichrist. In order to facilitate their proper scanning, the bar codes on most products we currently buy or sell now have three control bars consisting of two narrow lines at the beginning, middle, and end of every code: the three control bars are identical to the two narrow lines used to indicate the number 6 in the codes themselves.
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WWW = 666?
I find it interesting that in Hebrew the letter transliterated as W is also used to refer to the number 6, and that most URL's on the Internet now begin with WWW.
Will Christians who receive implanted chips in their hand or forehead for medical or financial security purposes only, and not in any way to worship the Antichrist, nonetheless be receiving his number without knowing it? If implantable chips currently hold only a somewhat limited number of characters, the characters would have to contain a URL in order to access the complicated medical histories and long lists of medications of those who receive the chips for "medical safety" purposes, and most URL's begin with WWW.
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Image OF The Beast
See FalseProphet.html
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Antichrist Cont'd
See Antichrist2.html