Mark of
the Beast
The Beast and the Antichrist
One of the most feared events that
are mentioned in the Holy Bible is the Great Tribulation. The reason for this
fear is not only because of the genocide and mass destruction that would occur during the Great Tribulation but also because the Second Beast of Revelation 13 would emerge and
create unimaginable havoc and have absolute control in most aspects of our
civilization. This is the prophecy of
our Lord Jesus Christ. “For then there will be Great Tribulation such as has not
been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall
be. And unless those days were
shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be
shortened.” (Mt. 24:21-22)
Many Christians believe they will
be raptured (taken up) into heaven before the Great Tribulation occurs. That is not what our Lord said. Read this. “Immediately
after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will
not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken. Then the sign
of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth
will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.”(Mt.24:29-30) Our Lord Jesus Christ said that He would return after the
Great Tribulation and not before. This
means Christians will go through the Great Tribulation. It is my personal belief that we are experiencing the Great Tribulation right now.
Of all the subjects concerning the End Time the mark of the
beast is the one that most Christians like to study. First of all we need to understand the nature of the beast
that has the mark. The beast is
distinguished from man who is created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7; Ecc. 3:21). The beast has no spirit therefore has no God
consciousness. In Scripture it is
figurative of the sensual, ferocious and brutal natures that belong to the wild
and untamed animals (Ezek. 5:17; 14:15, 21).
The word “beast” is used figuratively of brutal men (Ecc. 3:18; 2 Pet.
2:12; Jude 10). Hence, the apostle Paul
wrote: “I have fought with beasts at Ephesus” (1
Cor. 15:32). A wild beast is
the symbol of a selfish, tyrannical monarchy.
The four beasts in Daniel 7:3, 17, 23 represent the four kingdoms (Ezek.
34:28; Jer. 12:9). In the book of Revelation the beasts obviously mean worldly powers, whose rising out of the sea and the earth indicate they owe their origin and power to the commotion of the people (Rev. 13:1; 15:2; 17:8)
The beast is also called the Antichrist. Here is the definition of the
Antichrist. “Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God;
because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and
every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is
not of God. And this is the spirit of
the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the
world.” (1 Jn. 4:1-3) “Little children,
it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even
now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.” (1
Jn. 2:18)
Many Christian
eschatologists are looking for one super-powerful individual to fit the role of
the Antichrist. In truth the Holy Bible
informs us there are many antichrists in the End Time. The Antichrists are those that deny the Lord Jesus Christ is God who manifested Himself in the flesh and they are strongly
opposed to Christianity. Antichrists can exist anywhere and in any age.
According to Islam,
the only official prophet of God is Mohammed ben Abdallah. He was born in Mecca in 571 A.D. to poor parents
of the Beduin tribes of Arabia. When he
was twenty-five years old he married a rich widow by the name of Khalidja who
was fifteen years older. They had six
children, two boys and four girls. Unfortunately they all died young except
Fatima. Mohammed carried on as a
merchant until he was forty years old. He then decided to spend his life in the
service of Allah and taught his people to worship a single God whom he called
Allah. Consequently he withdrew to the
caves around Mecca, where he had several visions. Being illiterate, his
assistants wrote down the heavenly messages that were used to codify the holy
book of Islam, the Qur’an.
When one reads the Qur'an what becomes apparent is that
it teaches many things that contradicts what the Holy Bible teaches about our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Sura 19:20,34, Jesus praised his birth and then said,
“I am the servant of Allah.” And Allah teaches, “It is not for God to take a
son unto Him.” Here we have Jesus speaking denying everything he said in the
Bible concerning Himself.
In Sura 10:68-70 They say: “God hath begotten
a son!” - Glory be to Him! He is self- sufficient! His are all things in the
heavens and on earth! No warrant have ye for this! say ye about God what ye
know not? Say: “Those who invent a lie against God will never prosper.” A
little enjoyment in this world!- and then, to Us will be their return, then
shall We make them taste the severest penalty for their blasphemies.” Mohammed denies Jesus is the Son of God.
Sura 5, section 16, verse 119, reads: “And behold!
God will say: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, “Worship me
and my mother as gods in derogation of God”? He will say: “Glory to thee! Never
could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst
indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I have not known
what is in thine. For thou knowest in full all that is hidden.” Mohammed denies Jesus is God.
What we have is a revelation of Mohammad that came
after 550 years of the last revelation by Jesus and his appointed apostles.
It is possible that Mohammad had come to this
same conclusion from his own environment.
Sura 3:59: “The similitude of Jesus
before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him:
“Be.” And he was.”
So it is interpreted Jesus is just a human being that
is a no different than any other except that He had a virgin birth. He is a
prophet as there are other prophets, and that is all that He is.
Any Muslim who believes Jesus Christ is God has
committed the unforgivable sin, that will send him to hell.
Sura 43:59 states
“Jesus was no more than a mortal whom Allah favored and made an example to the
Israelites. They are unbelievers who say God is Messiah, Mary’s
son.” Mohammed is indeed a false prophet and an Antichrist in the very sense of the word. Today's teachers and followers of Mohammed are also the antichrists
Historic Christianity contends
that the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, dead, and buried outside of
Jerusalem. Christians contend that
there is Biblical and historical evidence for the crucifixion, and that it was
significant theologically in providing an atonement for the sins of all who would/will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Muslims dispute the fact of Jesus' crucifixion,
arguing that Allah would never have dishonored His prophet by allowing Him to
undergo such a death. Muslims believe that Jesus was miraculously caught up
into heaven and that someone (perhaps Judas Iscariot) secretly took His
place on the cross. What a big lie! Does it really matter? The historical reality of Jesus' crucifixion is an
essential doctrine of the Christian faith. Without the crucifixion the
resurrection becomes irrelevant, and without the resurrection Christianity
itself is rendered meaningless, i.e. I Corinthians 15:14 "And
if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain, your faith is also
vain." "But what does it say? 'The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." (Rom. 10:8-10) The Qur'an actually contend that Jesus was not
crucified.
Surah 4:157-158 states: "That they said (in
boast), 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah' -- but
they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them,
and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge,
but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not -- nay, Allah
raised him up unto Himself." The Lord Jesus Christ have so often predicted His
crucifixion and resurrection. Matthew 17:22-23 says "Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, 'The Son of Man is
about to be betrayed into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and the
third day He will be raised up.' And they were exceedingly sorrowful." Consider
also Mark 9:31; Luke 9:22; John 12:32-33. Jesus stressed this over and over
again. Believing in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the gospel that saves us. Islam is definitely anti-christian.
In Chapter 13 of Revelation there are two beasts. The first beast rose out of the sea (Rev.
13:1-10). Let us try to identify the
First Beast.
“Then I stood on the sand of the
sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on
his heads a blasphemous name.” (Rev. 13:1)
The beast with seven heads represents 7
previous empires that have ruled in the Middle-East -- Mediterranean region.
The ten horns will be 10 Islamic nations that join forces to conquer the world,
which has been the goal of Islam from its beginning.
When Mohammed came to power in 622 A.D. he
conquered all of Saudi Arabia and made its king subject to his teachings.
Mohammed's followers conquered all the 17 kingdoms of the former Kings that
formed the Arab Muslim Abbasid Empire of 750 A.D. Many of these kingdoms in the Middle East are now powerful members of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
“I saw one of his heads as if it
had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed he
beast.” (Rev. 13:3) In the first battle Mohammed fought against the Meccan
people he was wounded in the head by a sword.
His army thought that Mohammed was dead, but he was only wounded. His recovery was amazing and this gave
credence to his followers that he was a true messenger of Allah. “So they worshiped the dragon
who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, say who is like
the beast? Who is able to make war with
him?” (Rev. 13:4) Ever since
Islam began it has been waging a literal war against Christians and
Christianity. The first Islamic empire started in Arabia and waged war against
the Byzantine Empire, which was officially Christian, for 800 years until
Byzantium was totally defeated under the second Islamic empire that was the
Ottoman Empire. The capital city, Constantinople, was renamed Istanbul. The
Arabic empire went from Morocco to China, and included Spain and the Balkans.
Many millions of Christians have suffered and died at the hands of Muslim
invaders. “And he was given a mouth
speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue
for forty-two months. Then he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and
those who dwell in heaven.” (Rev. 13:5-6) The religion of Mohammed
has darkened the minds of men for centuries. The message of Jesus is either
forbidden or greatly inhibited in the lands associated with The Prophet. Those
lands from Gibraltar to the Indus have been held under the cloud of Islam for
over 1300 years.
The Muslim distinguishes the Allah they worship with the God that Christians
worship. The Muslim’s God did not
manifest Himself in the flesh as the Lord Jesus Christ. Five times every twenty four hours at dawn,
shortly after midday, in late afternoon, at sunset, and at bedtime the muezzin
(Muslim crier) mounts a minaret (tower attached to a mosque) to sound
the adhan, or call to prayer: "Allahu Akbar (God is most great)!
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! I bear witness that there is no God
but Allah. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah. I bear witness that
there is no God but Allah. I bear witness that Mohammed is the Apostle of
Allah. I bear witness that Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah. I bear witness
that Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah. Come to prayer! Come to prayer! Come to
prayer! Come to success! Come to success! Come to success! Allahu Akbar! Allahu
Akbar! Allahu Akbar! There is no God but Allah!" Let us not forget that Allah is not the same God that Christians worship. Every time a Muslim prays: "Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! There is no God but Allah!" he or she is blaspheming the One True God in the Lord Jesus Christ. “And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to
overcome them. And authority was given
him over every tribe, tongue and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will
worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:7-8) When Mohammed went about converting the
world to Islam he did not give people a choice of believing or rejecting his
message. He gave them a choice of
believing or die at the hands of His followers. Mohammed and His followers conquered all of the Middle East. From
Babylon to Africa the same choices faced all whom they came in contact with.
Worship my God or die. Believers in
Christ would not worship and many were killed. Now we come to find out who is the second beast in
Revelation 13. “Then I saw another
beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke
like a dragon.” (Rev. 13:11) Animals use their horns for combat. In
Scripture horns symbolize strength and honor (Psm. 18:2; Dan. 7:7; Lk.
1:69). This Second Beast has the
appearance of a peaceful and docile lamb but he spoke like the devil
(dragon). Remember our Lord Jesus
Christ had given His disciples this warning: “Beware of false prophets, who
come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly the are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or
figs from thistles?” (Mt. 7:15-16) The
second beast is the one that has the mark (Rev. 13:16-17) Who is this Second Beast?
We may have the clue to his identity by going back about four thousand
years to trace the origin of the Semitic race.
Abraham had two sons. The first
son is called Ismael and the second son is Isaac. Here is what the Angel of the LORD prophesied about Ismael: “He
shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand
against him. And he shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren.” (Gen. 16:12)
The prophecy concerning Ismael describes the beast very well. Ismael is the progenitor of the Islamic
people who live in the Middle Eastern countries. In recent times we have seen two persons that fit the role of the
Second Beast. One is Saddam Hussein of
Iraq and the other is Osama bin Laden, an exiled person of Saudi Arabia who now
lives in Afghanistan. Osama is the “wild
man” who has been portrayed as a beast who has no conscience when he was
identified as the person responsible for killing thousands of innocent people
in the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington,
D.C. By his wicked and vile actions
Osama’s “hand is against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” There is a heavy price tag on his head –
dead or alive. The prophecy “And he shall
dwell in the presence of all his brethren” is exactly what happened to Osama
bin Laden who was protected by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. I would like to emphasize that the Second
Beast has reference only to the Muslim extremists who are terrorists and not to
all the Islamic people.
The apostle Paul wrote the descendents of Ismael (Muslim
extremists) would persecute the spiritual descendents of Isaac - Jews and
Christians (Gal.. 4:22-31). Osama bin
Laden and the Al Queda are waging a Jihad - holy war against Israel (Jews) and
America (Christians). Even though Osama bin Laden is captured or killed there will be other beasts to take his place in the Beast Kingdom. The other beast to watch out is Saddam Hussein.
The Second Beast
Prophecy of a
Wild Man