I am posting chapters from my sister's book, "The End is near. End Time Bible Prophecy Anyone Can Understand." Available at lulu.com
Continued from previous post...
Mark of the
Beast: Name or 666
Revelation
14:9 says, “If
anyone worships the beast or his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or
on his hand….” We see that the mark
comes from worshipping the beast or his image.
“And he (the
United States)
causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free
men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their
forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except
the one who had the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his
name. Here is wisdom. Let him who had understanding calculate the
number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six
hundred and sixty-six.”
Rev. 13:16-18
It says here
in the part of Revelation 13 that describes the United States that the mark of
the beast is either his name or the number of his name and those who refuse to
worship the beast or his image will not be able to buy or sell.
We saw in the
last chapter of this book that for every true and good thing from God, Satan
has a counterfeit: God has a church, Satan has a church; God has a Sabbath,
Satan has a Sabbath; God marks his believers, Satan marks his believers. And just as we saw in the last chapter that
the seal of God is not a visible mark, so too the mark of the beast will not be
a visible mark or stamp. The mark of the
beast on the forehead represents those who are unwaveringly committed to
following the false prophet and the beast and its image. They are “named” among the most faithful and
radical followers of the beast.
The
mark of the beast on the hand represents those who follow along simply because
it is easier than fighting and dying for God’s truth. They act a good part and are simply
“numbered” among the throngs of those who follow the beast for the sake of
convenience.
We know that true
and good things from God are counterfeited by Satan. You have probably already noticed that God
uses the number seven a lot when describing true and holy things (seventh day
Sabbath, seven days of creation, seven churches, seven judgments, etc), so a
close counterfeit, signifying those things that are untrue or unholy, would be
the number six. That is all the number
666 probably means.
No sane or half
intelligent person would willingly use, or allow to be used, an identification
as obvious as the number 666. Satan and
his followers are much smarter than that.
We will be able to recognize the false prophet by his actions and words;
a number is irrelevant.
