The Book Of Revelation
Chapter 13
Who is the Antichrist?
Over the past several hundred years, Bible Scholars and Prophecy experts have tried to predict who the antichrist is:
Some of their guesses have been:
Hitler.
Henry Kissinger.
Bill Gates.
Barack Obama because he is from The zip code in Chicago 60606
But they are all wrong, I know who the antichrist is and I am going to reveal to you here in today’s blog:
He is Barney the cute purple dinosaur!
Just take the Name:
CUTE PURPLE DINOSAUR
Change all of the U’s to V’s (Which is the proper Latin way) CVTE PVRPLE DINOSAVR
Extract all of the Roman Numerals: C V V L D I V
Convert these into Arabic Numeric Values: 100 55 500 1 5 5
Add up these numbers: You get 666
Is Barney the Antichrist?
Of course, I say this is just because given the right formula, you could make almost anyone’s name come up with the numeric value 666.
In reality, no one will know the identity of the one who will be called “The Beast” until he actually appears on the scene to begin his reign by making peace between Israel and the Arab nations.
Chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation is the introduction for us to this man, who will be “The Beast” is and what he is going to do:
In Bill Maher’s new documentary movie called Religulous, where he mocks Jesus, Christians and all religions for that matter, He asks one guest who happens to look like Jesus, Why does God permit satan to exist.
That is actually a really good question actually: “Why does God permit satan to exist?”
Number one, So that you have a choice.
Number two, “That the Lord can be found righteous”.
Satan from the beginning has made the claim that God is really not good, He is not fair, He is not righteous. As the entire scene of satan plays itself out over time, it will be clearly seen that the Lord is more than fair, extremely righteous and loves all human beings with a love that is incomprehensible.
1 John 4:9
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
Here in Revelation Chapter 13, is the introduction to this World ruler who will be empowered by satan himself, and be permitted by God, to rule the world for 7 short years.
He is called “The Beast”, “The Antichrist”, “The man of sin”. At the present time he is hidden from us. At the moment of the Rapture, his identity will be revealed to the whole world. Not his true identity for who he really is, satan incarnate, but as a wonderful, charismatic, intelligent and powerful leader. The world will hail him as the greatest world leader the planet has ever known.
Even Israel will accept him initially as their Messiah. If you ask the Rabbis in Israel today how they will know their Messiah when He comes, they will tell you “That will be easy, He will be the one who will make peace for us and allow our nation to rebuild our Temple on the Temple Mount”.
Who is the antichrist? Daniel introduces him to us as “The King”.
Daniel 11:36
36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.
Paul wrote that he will be a man who will exalt himself above even God himself.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-9
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains (The Holy Spirit working in Jesus’ Church) will do so until He is taken out of the way. (At the Rapture)
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with NOTICE all power, signs, and lying wonders,
He will deny that Jesus is the Savior
1 John 2:22
22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
We first saw him introduced, in chapter 6 at the opening of the first seal.
Revelation 6:2
2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
He will conquer by making peace with many nations, including Israel, that will allow them to build their temple again and begin their daily sacrifices in this new temple.
Daniel 9:27
Then he (antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; (O/T Code word for 7 years) But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.
Here in chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation, he is described as “coming out of the sea”
Revelation 13:1
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea,
“The Sea”, is a code word we first hear of in the Book of Daniel for “The Mediterranean sea”.
Daniel 7:3
And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
Revelation 13
…having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
Remember that the Bible is the best commentary on itself. A little farther along in the Book of Revelation chapter 17, The Lord said, “I’ll tell you about this beast with the seven heads and ten horns.”
Revelation 17:9-12
9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast
The identity of the 7 heads and the 10 horns:
The seven heads are believed to be the seven hills that Rome sits upon
Daniel 7
9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. (Rome Sits on 7 Hills)
The Seven Hills of Rome
Palatine Hill (Palatium)
Capitoline Hill (Capitolium)
Quirinal Hill (Quirinalis)
Viminal Hill (Viminalis)
Esquiline Hill (Esquiliae)
Caelian Hill (Caelius)
Aventine Hill (Aventinus)
The “Ten Horns”
The ten horns, or ten nations come out of the revived roman empire. Daniel saw 4 great worldwide kingdoms, Babylon, Greece, Persia, and Rome, that were perfectly fulfilled in history.
Then a kingdom made up of 10 toes, or 10 nations, called “The Revived Roman Empire” will arise in the Last Days from where the antichrist will arise from a European community.
Then Daniel saw one final kingdom that was ruled by Jesus himself that would come after these first 4 in the last days.
The final kingdom that Daniel saw illustrated in the great statue of his dreams, the ten toes are the final 10 nation European community that come from the revived roman empire.
The ten crowns are the authority that is given to these 10 nations under the antichrist.
This description of the beast looks familiar to the red dragon we saw last in chapter 12
Revelation 13
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
Just as Jesus is God in human flesh, The antichrist will be satan in human flesh. The antichrist’s power will come from satan.
Through the creation of the 10-nation European community, the antichrist will come out of one of these 10 nations who are a revived roman empire during the tribulation period. The leaders of these 10 nations here in Revelation 13, are called the “10 hornsâ€, horns representing power and authority.
Daniel said that he saw these 4 beasts rising out of the sea and they are 4 kingdoms that shall rule over the earth.
Daniel 7:1-7
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.
2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.
3 “And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
4 “The first was like a lion, (Fierce, Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar)
This first world wide kingdom was Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar. It is the kingdom that captured Jerusalem and took Daniel, Shadrach, Meschac and Abed-Nego back to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is called the “Lion” because of the fierceness in which he captured nations.
Daniel 7
5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. (Powerful, Persia, Cyrus) It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: `Arise, devour much flesh!’
The bear raised up on one side refers to the stronger of the Mede and Persian alliance, the Persians.
The three ribs in his mouth are Babylon, Egypt and Lydia, the three nations that Persia had just conquered.
The much flesh that it devoured is the 1 1/2 million men army and 300 ships that are conquered.
Daniel 7
6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, (Fast, Greece, Alexander) which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
The leopard refers to the speed at which Alexander the Great conquered, more land faster than any other man in history. The 4 heads refer to Alexander’s 4 Generals who assumed his kingdom at his death at 32. Upon Alexander’s death he was asked who his kingdom should be given to, his reply was “give it to the strong”.
Daniel 7
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, (Rome, Emperors) exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
This beast we are introduced to here in chapter 13, will be from the final kingdom of these 10 nations of the former Roman Empire. The huge iron teeth are the world wide conquering power he has. The antichrist will defeat 3 of the ten “horns”, 3 of the 10 nations in the European community.
Now notice the amazing similarity between the 4 kingdoms that Daniel described, and the description that is given here in Revelation Chapter 13:
Revelation 13
2 Now the beast (Antichrist) which I saw was like a leopard (Speed), Greece (Alexander The Great) his feet were like the feet of a bear (Strength), Persia (Cyrus) and his mouth like the mouth of a lion (Fierceness world wide dominion). Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) The dragon satan gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
It appears that the antichrist will have some of the same powers as the three former world leaders, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander and Cyrus.
Alexander the great: the leopard: traveled faster and conquered more land than any other man in all of recorded history.
Cyrus: the bear: the strength of the Persian empire had over 1 1/2 million men and 300 ships.
Nebuchadnezzar: the lion: the most powerful and wide spread of all of the world conquering kingdoms.
Revelation 13
3 And 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 the beast.
4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
This is believed to be a reference to an assassination attempt made upon the antichrist at the midway point or 3 1/2 years into the Great Tribulation. Notice in verse 3, that his wound was healed, as a result “all the world marveled and followed the beast”
Notice in verse 4, these same people worshipped the dragon, satan and his son the antichrist because of his military power.
Revelation 13
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (3 1/2 years)
6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.
7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints (CHRISTIANS) and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
8 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.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
He was “Given a mouth”
He was “Given authority”.
Even though satan is working his power through the antichrist, God is still in control. His mouth and his authority are only permitted for a short time, specifically 7 years in which he will be allowed limited power in order to reign about the Lord’s greater purpose.
Revelation 13
6 Then he (antichrist) opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.
The antichrist will blaspheme the name of God and we who are already in heaven with Him.
Revelation 13
7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints, CHRISTIANS, and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Remember that in chapter 12, satan and his angels were thrown out of heaven and no longer have access to heaven.
It says that because of this, “He has great wrath” He will return to the earth to seek to kill all those who commit their lives to Jesus Christ during the last 3 ½ years of the “Great Tribulation”.
It is important here to make the distinction between those who are saved before the seven-year tribulation begins, and those who commit their lives to Jesus Christ during the tribulation period.
Those saved before the Tribulation, satan has no power over these, for “greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.”
Those who are saved during the seven-year tribulation will be killed by the antichrist for their commitment to Jesus.
Revelation 12:9,12,17
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Notice that in verse 7 of Revelation 12 it says that:
Revelation 12:7
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.
“To overcome them”, this is a very interesting statement because we learn in the New Testament:
1 John 4:4
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He (Jesus) who is in you is greater than he (satan) who is in the world.
Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
So, these who are saved during the 7-year Tribulation, are overcome by satan and killed, whereas those who are saved PRIOR to the beginning of the Tribulation, satan cannot overcome, but instead, they overcome satan.
The way that those believers are killed during the Tribulation, is seen in
Revelation 20:4
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 13
8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, NOTICE whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
An encouragement here for those who do accept Jesus during the Great Tribulation, to not loose their patience in waiting for the end of this last 3 ½ years, because at the exact last day of this final 3 ½ years of the 7-year tribulation, Jesus will come again back to the earth, along with all of us who were saved before the Tribulation began, and were Raptured before the Tribulation began.
They will really need this encouragement about this time, because satan has been thrown out of heaven, and has come to the earth with great wrath because he knows he only has a short time till he is thrown into the Abusso for 1,000 years.
Believers during this last 3 ½ years will most likely all but a few be beheaded for their trust in Jesus
Revelation 13
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
This second beast is the 3rd part of the unholy trinity, the false prophet (satan, the antichrist, his son). Some scholars say that the false prophet will be a Jew, as the antichrist will be a gentile. He will lead the apostate church during the tribulation period. As the antichrist will seek to counterfeit Jesus, the false prophet will most likely counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit.
Revelation 13
13 He (the false prophet) performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
The false prophet will do great signs that will cause the people of the earth to stand in amazement. It will be through these amazing wonders that the false prophet does, that the people of the world will be deceived into taking the mark of the beast as being lost forever. Once the mark is taken, there is no turning back, the persons who take the mark are lost for eternity. This is why it is so important for us as believers to not follow after supernatural signs. We just don’t know where the power behind these signs come from. Satan is able to transform himself into an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:13-14
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
Notice in verse 14, that the false prophet will deceive those upon the earth by these signs. Be careful in following supernatural signs, where do they come from, who is behind them. The theory of alien phenomenon, I believe, is a form of these signs and wonders that are demon empowered.
Revelation 13
16 He (The false prophet) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or 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 it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
In Hebrew And Greek, The Letters In The Alphabet Have Their Numeric Values.
A=1 B=2, ETC.
People have tried to apply this method to figuring out who the antichrist is by assigning numeric values to different people’s names.
Nero, Hitler, Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates, all have the number 666 in their names when assigned a numeric value.
6 is the number of fallen man. 7 being the number of perfection, 6 being incomplete, man always comes up incomplete when it comes to measuring up to Gods standard of perfection. God is perfect in Righteousness, and Holiness, man, even on his best day, fails. The triple 6 is the number of this “unholy Trinity” falling short. There is satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet, all 3 falling short of perfection by a long shot.
I believe that it is wrong to try and take this number 666 and use it to try and figure out who the antichrist is. I don’t believe that the intention of this number being given to us, is so that we would try to figure it out. I believe the number 6 being repeated 3 times, just indicates the antichrist, satan and the false prophet being incomplete.
Some have speculated that the new “Bar Coding System” in which all merchandise is scanned and priced, might be using the 666 basis for it’s code.
PICTURE OF 666 BARCODE.
The bar coding system is said to operate on the “666 coding system”.
Literally every single thing that you buy that has a bar code on it, has encoded in that bar code the numbers “666”.
In 1983, Time magazine names the “Computer” as the “Person of the year”.
It is interesting that the total numerical value for the name “Computer” is “666”.
The bar code contains the 666 numerals
The mark of the beast has been speculated to be a recently designed computer “smart chip” that can be implanted under the skin and scanned at the grocery store or for any purchase. It will keep track of every piece of vital information about you, your name, social security number, health problems, religious preference, number of traffic citations, everything.
A product called “Digital Angel” is the implantation of this computer chip into a human being that makes it possible to keep all the important information about a particular person, in one tiny little silicon computer chip. It could keep track of your financial situation, what you have bought and sold, how much money you have.
Digital Angel Micro Chip Implant
Taking implantable chip technology a step further, in October 2006, Digital Angel was granted a patent for an implantable RFID microchip that can determine glucose levels in the bodies of animals and humans. A functioning prototype of this momentous device is expected in 2008.During the tribulation period you would not be able to buy or sell anything without this mark.
Christians will not take the mark because they know that it is equal to worshipping the beast.
Revelation 14:6-11
6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—
9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
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