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M.B.C. NOTES
REVELATION: The Time Is Near
Part 66: The Beast from the Earth (part 2)
Revelation 13:11-18
Sunday Evening, November 24, 2013
“And he 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, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell,
except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the
number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding
calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his
number is six hundred and sixty-six.”
Revelation 13:16-18
Satan’s Egregious Details
--Remember – the goal is not just to destroy the people of God,
but to also deceive man into worshipping Satan
--he works through imitation and deception . . . ‘fool me’
“He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out
of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he deceives
those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given
him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell
on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the
sword and has come to life.”
Revelation 13:13-14
--he works through intimidation and devastation . . . ‘fear me’
“And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so
that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as
do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
Revelation 13:15
A recap of this 2nd beast . . . the beast is personified (presented as
a person (he) . . . but that doesn’t mean the beast is a literal man!
The Recap . . .
*He exercises all the authority of the first beast (v. 12)
*He makes the earth (dwellers) to worship the first beast
*He performs great signs – he makes fire come down (v. 13)
*He deceives those who dwell on the earth (v. 14)
BUT THE KICKER . . .
*He causes all, small and great, rich and poor, free and slaves,
to be given a mark (v. 16) . . . no one will be able to buy or to
sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the
beast or the number of his name (v. 17)
“Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia = fear the number 666
What is 666?
The mark is about ownership . . . allegiance!
=allusion to the 1st century practice of the tattooing of slaves,
soldiers and devotees of various religions, indicating that they
are owned by or solely devoted to another
The mark of the beast, taken on the back of the hand or the
forehead is an apocalyptic symbol for the “states’s stamp of
approval,” given only to those who go along with the
religious demands being made by the state
The mark of the beast is the counter to the mark of the Lamb!
How do we explain the number 666? . . . 2 Possibilities
Gematria = letters in many ancient languages were also assigned
a numeric value – think Romans numerals
Apocalyptic symbolism = the meaning of numbers
666 = “6" is the number of man, and repeated 3 times, “666"
consistently falls short of 777
the number 666 is an apocalyptic symbol for those rulers,
nations and false teachers, whose Satanic nature becomes
apparent to the people of God
The mark of the beast (the number 666) is about the beast//false
prophet forcing people to acknowledge that the state and its
ruler are divine.
WISDOM THAT COUNTERS DECEPTION
Absorb the authentic – don’t focus on the fake
Treasure the truth – don’t pursue the pleasant
Understand the unseen – don’t surrender to the seen