The Mark of the Beast: The Number of the Beast: The Image of the Beast
Revelation 13:14-18 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he hath had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live. Vs.15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. Vs.16 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: Vs.17 And 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. Vs.18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of a man; and his number is six hundred three score and six.
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, Vs.10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. Vs.11 And 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.
The word worship means to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand; to fawn or crouch to (literally or figuratively), prostate oneself in homage (do reverence to or adore). This homage is given to the pope and the main image of the European Common Market nations that make up the great beast. The representative image is Mary.
| This is the beast's image. The 12 stars appear on the Euro flag and licence plate. | Yasser Arafat kisses the ring of Pope John II |
Yasser Arafat kisses the ring of Pope John Paul II following the signing of the covenant that declares Jerusalem an international city, Palestine a recognized state, and in anticipation of the signing of the final agreement.
The word Anti-christ can be translated "instead of Christ" - a person who would do religious things instead of the way the scripture say to do them. John Paul II was the Anti-christ during his time as pope.
"The Abomination of Desolation"
The Abomination of desolation means the abomination that brings on the Almighty God's desolating judgements. It will be an idol or image of the moon god, the Queen of Haven, now worshiped as Mary. The word "antichrist" can be translated instead of Christ. It will be a false Christian, a false preacher or prophet, doing so-called Christian things instead of the way the Lord, in His scripture, says to do them.
Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand).
Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to the same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Some time in the future, the false prophet - a Pope, the so-called "Vicar of Christ" (means "instead of Christ") will declare peace and safety in Jerusalem and around the world.
| The pope, in his time, will give credit to Mary, the Queen of Heaven. Just as Pope John Paul II did for the fall of the Iron Curtain in Russia, Poland and East Germany as stated in Time Magazine (12/30/1991). |
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a women with child; and they shall not escape.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his truth, and shall destroy with brightness of his coming: Vs.9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, Vs.10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Vs.11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: Vs.12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The Beast's Image
When her womb was touched by eternity 2,000 years ago, the Virgin Mary of Nazareth uttered a prediction: "All generations will call me blessed." Among all women who have every lived, the mother of Jesus Christ is the most celebrated, the most venerated, the most portrayed, the most honored in the naming of girl babies and churches. Even the Koran praises her chastity and faith.Among Roman Catholics, the Madonna is recognized not only as the Mother of God but also, according to modern Popes, as the Queen of the Heaven, Seat of Wisdom and even the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
Mary may also be history's most controversial women. For centuries Protestants have vehemently opposed her exaltation: papal pronouncements concerning her status have driven a wedge between the Vatican and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Conflict surrounds the notion that she remained ever a virgin, that she as well as Jesus, was born without sin and that her sufferings at the Crucifixion were so great that she participated with her son in the redemption of humanity.
| The world will recognize in due time that the defeat of communism came at the intercession of the mother of Jesus. |
Yet even though the Madonna’s presence has permeated the West of hundreds of years, there is still room for wonder – how perhaps more than ever. In an era when scientists debate the causes of the birth of the universe, both the adoration and the conflict attending Mary have risen to extraordinary levels. A grass-roots revival of faith in the Virgin is taking place worldwide. Millions of worshippers are flocking to her shrines, many of them young people. Even more remarkable of the number of claimed sightings of the Virgin, from Yugoslavia to Colorado, in the past.
These apparitions frequently embrace clerics who have downplayed her role since the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65. “It’s all the fashion” sniffs Father Jacques Fournier of Paris, reflecting skepticism about the populist wave of sightings. The hierarchy is wary about most of the recent claims of miraculous appearances; only seven Marian sightings in this century have received official church blessing.
Church concern has served to highlight the most interesting aspect of the growing popular veneration: the theological tug-of-war taking place over Mary's image. Feminists, liberals and activist have stepped forward with new interpretations of the Virgin’s life and works that challenge the notion of her as a passive handmaid of God’s will and exemplar of some contested traditional family values. “Mary wants to get off the pedestal”, says Kathy Denison, a former nun and current drug-and-alcohol counselor in San Francisco. “She wants to be a vital human being.”
Whether they hold those views or not, people the world over are traveling enormous distances to demonstrate in person their veneration of the Madonna. The late 20th century has become the age of the Marian pilgrimage.
Examples of Marian Pilgrimages
At Lourdes, the biggest of France’s 937 pilgrimage shrines, annual attendance in the past two years has jumped 10%, to 5.5 million. Many new visitors are East Europeans, now free to express their beliefs and to travel. Despite the inevitable attraction of Lourdes for the ill and aged, one-tenth of the faithful these days are 25 or younger.
“We also have new kinds of pilgrimages” reports Loic Bondu, a spokesman at the site. The dance, they praise, they sing out loud. They’re more exuberant.” In Knock, Ireland, where 15 people saw the Virgin a century ago, at the lines of the faithful lengthened dramatically after Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the shrine in 1979. Since then, attendance has doubled, to 1.5 million people each year. To handle the influx, a new international airport was opened at Knock in 1986. At Fatima, Portugal, the shrine making the appearance of Mary before three children in 1917 draws a steady 4.5 million pilgrims a year from an ever widening array of countries. One million devotees turned out last May when Pope John Paul made his second visit.
In Czestochowa, Poland, attendance at the shrine of the Black Madonna has increased to 5 million a year, rivaling Fatima and Lourdes, since John Paul’s visit in 1979. Last August the Pope spoke there to 1 million Catholic youths.
In Emmitsburg, MD attendance has doubled in the past year, to 500,000, at one of the oldest of 43 major Marian sites in the U.S., the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. The boom at such long-established sites is almost overshadowed by the cult of the Virgin that has developed through new reports of her personal apprearances. – By Richard N. Ostling. Printed in TIME Magazine December 30, 1991
This is why Satan, the god of this world (or age, or time) is using people to remove the Ten Commandments from public view, here in America.
Exodus 20:4-5 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Vs.5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Praying to the dead is called necromancy.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Vs.6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Deuteronomy 18:10-11 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Vs.11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
A necromancer is one who prays to the dead.