Revelation 13:18: "Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and
his number is six hundred threescore and six."
You may recall from school days that a score equals 20. Therefore three score would be 60 (20 x 3).
Revelation 13:2: ". . . and the dragon gave him
his power, and his seat, and great authority."
Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:
. . . "
2 Thessalonians 2:3, 8: "Let no man deceive you
by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and
that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; . . . And then shall that Wicked be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming."
Revelation 13:4, 8, 15: "And they worshipped the
dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is
like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? . . . And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. . . . 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."
Daniel 7:17, 23: "These great beasts, which are
four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. . . . Thus he said, The
fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, . . ."
In Bible prophecy political powers are often represented by animals. Even today the United States is represented by an eagle, Russia a bear, etc.
Revelation 13:1: "And I stood upon the sand of the
sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, . . ."
Revelation 17:1: "And there came one of the seven
angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I
will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters;"
Revelation 17:15: "And he saith unto me, The waters
which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations,
and tongues."
The beast came to power in a densely populated area by conquering an established kingdom, not by starting a new civilization.
Revelation 12:4-6, 14: ". . . and the dragon stood
before the woman (the church, Jeremiah 6:2; Isaiah 51:16) which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her child (Christ) as soon as it was born. And she brought
forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was
caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two
hundred and threescore days. . . . And to the woman were given two wings of a great
eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished
for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent."
Jeremiah 6:2 "I have
likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman."
Isaiah 51:16 "And I
have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand,
that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion,
Thou art my people."
The 1260 days of Revelation 12:6 and the time, times, and half a time of verse
14 represents the same time period. Applying the day for a year principle in
time prophecy (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6), 1260 days would literally be 1260
years.
Numbers 14:34 "After the number of the days in
which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your
iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise."
Ezekiel 4:6 "And when thou hast accomplished
them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of
Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year."
Using different terminology Strong's Concordance says "a time is a
year". So a time equals one year, times plural equals two years, and a half a
time equals a half a year. The Jewish calendar has a 30-day month and is
used here to figure this prophecy. One year equals 12 months, two years
equals 24 months, and half a year equals 6 months, totalling 42 months or
1260 days (42 x 30). Out of the ruins of the fallen Roman empire (pagan
Rome) arose the Church of Rome or papal Rome. Since we are dealing with
a time prophecy concerning the Church of Christ (the woman) that is longer
than the reign of the Roman empire, it must be understood as taking place
during the supremacy of papal Rome. The beast power with the pope at its
head came to full power in 538 A.D. by the decree of Justinian and the defeat
of the Ostrogoths in Italy. "1260 years" later in 1798 the French general
Berthier, under Napoleon's army took the pope prisoner (receiving a deadly
wound, Revelation 13:3) returning him to France to live out his remaining days
in exile. Satan used papal Rome as a vehicle to try to destroy God's church by
sending a flood of persecution (known as the Dark Ages) in an attempt to do
away with her. As a result God's church would be forced to flee into the
wilderness (a land sparsely populated) where preparation was made for her
preservation.
Revelation 13:3: "And I saw one of his heads as it
were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after
the beast."
In 1929, Cardinal Gasparri and Benito Mussolini signed the concordat which
restored the temporal power of the papacy. No one can question that since
that time the papacy has regained much of the prestige lost two centuries ago.
When President Harry Truman attempted to appoint General Mark Clark as an
official ambassador to the Vatican, there arose such a protest that it was not
possible for him to follow through. Thirty years later President Reagan would
accomplish this with virtually no opposition. The beast power, it is declared,
would make war with the saints.
Revelation 13:7 "And it was given unto him to make
war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations."
No one can deny that this description also fits the Catholic church. It is conservatively
estimated that the Church of Rome caused over 50 million people to be put to death. What
was their crime? They followed their conscience which was educated by God's word instead
of the traditions of men. While it is true that religious tolerance is more widespread
today than ever, the Bible points to a time when this will not always be so. The Catholic
church once having re-established its lost authority will again revive the persecutions
of the past (Revelation 13:15-17) in an attempt to undo all that Protestantism has done.
Revelation 13:15-17 "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. 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: 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."
In Revelation 18:1-4 we see this same beast power referred to as Babylon along with
apostate protestantism.
Revelation 18:1-4 "And after these things I saw
another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened
with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great
is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every
foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed
fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out
of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues."
A loving God is calling people out of an apostate religious
system of worship, to one that is based on the truths of the Bible. It's time to
examine everything we have ever been taught and compare it with God's Word
and if it doesn't line up reject it, that we partake not of the sins of Babylon and
that we receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 13:18: "Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and
his number is six hundred threescore and six."
We have already determined in this lesson that the beast represents the papacy, the head of which is a man, namely the pope. The official title of the pope in his own language (Latin) is 'Vicarius Filii Dei" or substitute for the Son of God. As you may remember from school, the Latin language has a number assigned to some of its alphabet and these are called Roman Numerals. Here is the solution to the pope's number.
V = 5 F = 0 D = 500
I = 1 I = 1 E = 0
C = 100 L = 50 I = 1
A = 0 I = 1 501
R = 0 I = 1
I = 1 53
U = 5
S = 0
112
The total is: 112
53
501
666
This is no coincidence, friend, this is the number of the beast and the number of a man, the pope. God has sent you this message in mercy because He doesn't want you to be fooled. In part two of this lesson we will discover what the image of the beast is and how to avoid the mark.