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1  And I stood upon the sand of       Daniel 7:3-8  And four great                                                    "Beast out of the sea":  The fourth                                             /
the sea, and saw a beast rise up         beasts came up from the sea,                                                    beast of Daniel is shown to John                                             /
out of the sea, having seven             diverse one from another.                                                       in this vision.  It has character-                                           /
heads and ten horns, and upon his         The first was like a lion,                                                     of the other three beasts which                                              /
horns ten crowns, and upon his           and had eagle's wings: I beheld      I Timothy 1:20 ...whom I have              include swiftness, power and                                                 /
heads the name of blasphemy.             till the wings thereof were             delivered unto Satan, that they         great strength, but it is composed                                           /
2  And the beast which I saw was         plucked, and it was lifted up           may learn not to blaspheme.             of an alliance of ten kingdoms which                                         /
like unto a leopard, and his feet        from the earth, and made stand                                                  some how seem to be combined into                                            /
were as the feet of a bear, and          upon the feet as a man, and a                                                   a grouping with a total of seven.                                            /
his mouth as the mouth of a lion:        man's heart was given to it.                                                    This beast rises up out of the sea                                           /
and the dragon gave him his power,        And behold another beast, a                                                    of nations or gentiles.  This                                                /
and his seat, and great authority.       second, like to a bear, and it                                                  great world ruling alliance receives                                         /
3  And I saw one of his heads as         raised up itself on one side,                                                   it power from satan whom they                                                /
it were wounded to death; and his        and it had three ribs in the                                                    worship.  This kingdom is apparently                                         /
deadly wound was healed: and all         mouth of it between the teeth                                                   the same as the ten toes of iron and                                         /
the world wondered after the beast.      of it: and they said thus unto                                                  clay of the statue of Nebuchadnez-                                           /
                                         it, Arise, devour much flesh.                                                   zar's dream since this is the last                                           /
                                          After this I beheld, and lo                                                    great world ruling empire before                                             /
                                         another like a leopard, which                                                   " the God of heaven set up a kingdom                                         /
                                         had upon the back of it four                                                    which shall never be destroyed".                                             /
                                         wings of a foul; the beast had                                                  One of the leaders will rise to gain                                         /
                                         also four heads; and dominion                                                   control through an apparent miracle                                          /
                                         was given to it.                                                                which causes all the world to wonder                                         /
                                          After this I saw in the night                                                  and he will become an object of wor-                                         /
                                         visions, and behold a fourth                                                    ship for much of the world.  This                                            /
                                         beast, dreadful and terrible,                                                   ruler with great power and very                                              /
                                         and strong exceedingly; and it                                                  elegant speech will reign for 42                                             /
                                         had great teeth: it devoured                                                    months or 1260 days.  This ruler is                                          /
                                         and brake in pieces, and                                                        most often identified as the anti-                                           /
                                         stamped the residue with the                                                    christ who will be the final ruler                                           /
                                         feet of it: and it was diverse                                                  on earth during the ultimate strug-                                          /
                                         from all the beasts that were                                                   gle which will settle once and for                                           /
                                         before it; and it had ten                                                       all the struggle between God and                                             /
                                         horns.                                                                          satan.  A ruler which will lead his                                          /
                                          I considered the horns, and,                                                   followers to  worship himself                                                /
                                         behold, there came up among                                                     instead of God. Of course one leader                                         /
                                         them another little horn,                                                       could not lead for a prophetic per-                                          /
                                         before whom there were three                                                    iod of 1260 years, only a super-                                             /
                                         of the first horns plucked up                                                   natural spirit such as satan or an                                           /
                                         by the roots: and, behold, in                                                   organization with a series of                                                /
                                         this horn were eyes like the                                                    leaders could so rule.  This leads                                           /
                                         eyes of man, and a mouth                                                        many scholars to accept the period                                           /
                                         speaking great things.                                                          of rule to be an actual 1260 days.                                           /
4  And they worshipped the dragon     Daniel 7:19-21&23-25 Then I would                                                  Nearly every generation has its                                              /
which gave power unto the beast:         know the truth of the fourth                                                    candidate for the antichrist and                                             /
and they worshipped the beast,           beast, which was diverse from                                                   most of these are revealed as only                                           /
saying, Who is like unto the             all the others, exceeding dread-                                                a person acting under the spirit of                                          /
beast? who is able to make war           ful, whose teeth were of iron,                                                  the antichrist or the control of                                             /
with him?                                and his nails of brass; which                                                   satan or a false prophet. The true                                           /
5  And there was given unto him a        devoured, brake in pieces, and       II Thessalonians 2:3-12  Let no            antichrist will be a ruler of power                                          /
mouth speaking great things and          stamped the residue with his            man deceive you by any means: for       and blasphemies to an extent that                                            /
blasphemies; and power was given         feet;                                   that day shall not come, except         the earth has never seen before.                                             /
unto him to continue forty and            And of the ten horns that              there come a falling away first,                                                                                     /
two months.                              were in his head, and of the            and that man of sin be revealed,     "Beast coming up out of the earth":                                             /
6  And he opened his mouth in            other which came up, and before         the son of perdition;                   The next beast will have a different                                         /
blasphemy against God, to blas-          whom three fell; even of that            Who opposeth and exalteth him-         nature in that it will appear as a                                           /
pheme his name, and his tabernacle,      horn that had eyes, and a mouth         self above all that is called God,      lamb, a man of peace, with limited                                           /
and them that dwell in heaven.           that spake very great things,           or that is worshiped: so that he        power of only two horns.  Many                                               /
7  And it was given unto him to          whose look was more stout than          as God sitteth in the temple of         scholars interpret this to be a                                              /
make war with the saints, and to         his fellows.                            God, showing himself that he is         religious leader while the first                                             /
overcome them: and power was given        I beheld, and the same horn            God.                                    beast will be a great government                                             /
him over all kindreds, and tongues,      made war with the saints, and            Remember ye not, that, when I          leader.  The second beast is often                                           /
and nations.                             prevailed against them:                 was yet with you, I told you these      referred to as the "false prophet"                                           /
8  And all that dwell upon the            Thus he said, The forth beast          things?                                 as in verses 16:13, 19:20 and 20:10.                                         /
earth shall worship him, whose           shall be the fourth kingdom              And now ye know what withholdeth       He will lead the deceived people to                                          /
names are not written in the book        upon the earth, which shall be          that he might be revealed in his        worship the first beast through                                              /
of life of the Lamb slain from the       diverse from all kingdoms, and          time.                                   miraculous signs and wonders.  He                                            /
foundations of the world.                shall devour the whole earth,            For the mystery of iniquity doth       will also be able to control the                                             /
                                         and shall tread it down, and            already work: only he who now           commerce of the world to the extent                                          /
                                         break it in pieces.                     letteth will let, until he be           that he will allow only his follow-                                          /
                                          And the ten horns out of this          taken out of the way.                   ers who are identified by a mark to                                          /
                                         kingdom are ten kings that               And then shall that Wicked be          buy and sell.  Naturally there has                                           /
                                         shall arise: and another shall          revealed, whom the Lord shall           been much speculation as to the                                              /
                                         rise after them; and he shall           consume with the spirit of his          nature of the mark and how such uni-                                         /
                                         be more diverse from the first,         mouth, and shall destroy with the       versal control could be accomplished.                                        /
                                         and he shall subdue three               brightness of his coming:               Such control seems more feasible                                             /
                                         kings.                                   Even him, whose coming is after        with the advancement of computer                                             /
                                          And he shall speak great               the working of Satan with all           controlled financial systems.                                                /
                                         words against the Most High,            power and signs and lying wonders,                                                                                   /
                                         and shall wear out the saints            And with all deceivableness of      666:  There has been so much specul-                                            /
                                         of the Most High, and think to          unrighteousness in them that            ation concerning the mark or number                                          /
                                         change times and laws: and              perish; because they received not       of the beast that it is tempting to                                          /
                                         they shall be given into his            the love of the truth, that they        avoid the subject.  When Christians                                          /
                                         hand until a time and times             might be saved.                         continue to bring up new theories                                            /
                                         and the dividing of time.                And for this cause God shall send      concerning this matter and time                                              /
                                                                                 them strong delusion, that they         proves these theories to be wrong it                                         /
9 If any man have an ear, let him                                                should believe a lie:                   provides fuel to the nonbelievers                                            /
hear.                                                                             That they all might be damned          and those with the spirit of the                                             /
10 He that leadeth into captivity     Jeremiah 15:2 ..Thus saith the             who believed not the truth, but         antichrist to ridicule the Word and                                          /
shall go into captivity: he that         Lord; Such as are for death,to          had pleasure in unrighteousness.        use this as argument to prove that                                           /
killeth with the sword must be           death; and such as are for the                                                  the Word is in error.  However, when                                         /
killed with the sword. Here is the       sword, to the sword; and such                                                   the Word states "Here is wisdom."                                            /
patience and the faith of the            as are for the famine, to the                                                   the true believer cannot ignore it.                                          /
saints.                                  famine; and such as are for                                                     Nearly all educated people are                                               /
                                         captivity, to the captivity.                                                    familiar with the use of Roman                                               /
11 And I beheld another beast         Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If there arise       I John 2:18 & 22 Little children, it       numerals when letters of the alpha-                                          /
coming up out of the earth; and he       among you a prophet, or a               is the last time: and as ye have        bet are assigned numeric values.                                             /
had two horns like a lamb, and he        dreamer of dreams, and giveth           heard that antichrist shall come,       This system was also used with most                                          /
spake as a dragon.                       thee a sign or a wonder,                even now are there many anti-           of the ancient alphabets including                                           /
12 And he exercised all the power         And the sign or the wonder             christs; whereby we know that it        Greek and Hebrew.  Usually the first                                         /
of the first beast before him,           come to pass, whereof he spake          is the last time.                       letter was assigned the lowest                                               /
and causeth the earth and them           unto thee, saying, let us go             Who is a liar but he that denieth      number and each following letter was                                         /
which dwell therein to worship the       after other gods, which thou            that Jesus is the Christ? He is         assigned increasingly larger numbers.                                        /
first beast, whose deadly wound          hast known, and let us serve            antichrist, that denieth the            We have writings of no less an auth-                                         /
was healed.                              them;                                   Father and the Son.                     ority than Irenaeus, who was a pupil                                         /
13 And he doeth great wonders, so         Thou shalt not harken unto          I John 4:3 And every spirit that           of Polycarp, who was a pupil of John                                         /
that he maketh fire come down from       the words of that prophet, or           confesseth not that Jesus Christ        the Apostle, to inform us that this                                          /
heaven on the earth in the sight         that dreamer of dreams: for             is come in the flesh is not of          was the meaning.  Irenaeus applied                                           /
of men,                                  the Lord your God proveth you,          God: and this is that spirit of         this to the Greek word "Lateinos"                                            /
14 And deceiveth them that dwell         to know whether ye love the             antichrist, whereof ye have heard       which means "The Latin Kingdom" to                                           /
on the earth by the means of those       Lord your God with all your             that it should come; and even now       proclaim that the Roman Empire was                                           /
miracles which he had power to do        heart and all your soul.                already it is in the world.             the kingdom of the antichrist.  And                                          /
in the sight of the beast; saying         Ye shall walk after the Lord        II John 7 For many deceivers are           there is no doubt that the Roman                                             /
to them that dwell on the earth,         your God, and fear him, and             entered into the world, who             Empire at the time of the early                                              /
that they should make an image to        keep his commandments, and              confess not that Jesus Christ is        Christian Church had the spirit of                                           /
the beast, which had the wound by        obey his voice, and ye shall            come in the flesh. This is a            the antichrist.  A safer position is                                         /
a sword, and did live.                   serve him, and cleave unto him.         deceiver and an antichrist.             to interpret the number 6 to be that                                         /
                                          And that prophet, or that           II Corinthians 11:13-15 For such           of fallen man and that 666 is a                                              /
                                         dreamer of dreams, shall be put         are false apostles, deceitful           symbolic trinity of the number of                                            /
                                         to death; because he hath               workers, transforming themselves        man which emphasizes how man falls                                           /
                                         spoken to turn you away from            into the apostles of Christ.            short of the perfection of God who                                           /
                                         the Lord your God, .....                 And no marvel; for Satan himself       would be symbolized by 777, a                                                /
15 And he had power to give life      Daniel 3:5-6 That at what time             is transformed into an angel of         trinity of sevens.  Some scholars                                            /
unto the image of the beast, that        ye hear the sound of the                light.                                  believe that the trinity of evil is                                          /
the image of the beast should both       cornet, flute, harp, sackbut,            Therefore it is no great thing         satan, the antichrist, and the false                                         /
speak, and cause that as many as         psaltery, dulcimer, and all             if his ministers also be trans-         prophet which forms a poor imitation                                         /
would not worship the image of the       kinds of music, ye fall down            formed as the ministers of right-       of the true trinity of the Father,                                           /
beast should be killed.                  and worship the golden image            eousness; whose end shall be            the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Unfor-                                         /
                                         that Nebuchadnezzar the king            according to their works.               tunately the Word provides us with                                           /
                                         hath set up:                         I Timothy 4:1-2 Now the Spirit             little help since 666 appears only                                           /
                                          And whoso falleth not down             speaketh expressly, that in the         two other places in the Word.  In                                            /
                                         and worshippeth shall the               latter times some shall depart          Ezra 2:13 we are informed that                                               /
                                         same hour be cast into the              from the faith, giving heed to          Adonikam has 666 descendants, which                                          /
                                         midst of a burning fiery                seducing spirits, and doctrines         would seem to be no help.  666 was                                           /
                                         furnace.                                of devils;                              also the salary of Solomon the great                                         /
16 And he causeth all, both small     Ezekiel 9:4-6  And the Lord said            Speaking lies in hypocrisy;            king of Israel. In this we could                                             /
and great, rich and poor, free and       unto him, Go through the midst          having their conscience seared          possibly imply that the life of                                              /
bond, to receive a mark in their         of the city, through the midst          with a hot iron;                        Solomon could be in some way a type                                          /
right hand, or in their foreheads:       of Jerusalem, and set a mark         II Peter 2:1-4 But there were false        of the antichrist.  Solomon was                                              /
17 And that no man might buy or          upon the foreheads of the men           prophets also among the people,         world famous for his earthly wisdom                                          /
sell, save he that had the mark,         that sigh and that cry for all          even as there shall be false            and amassed great wealth and it was                                          /
or the name of the beast, or the         the abominations that be done           teachers among you, who privily         during his reign that Israel would                                           /
number of his name.                      in the midst thereof.                   shall bring in damnable heresies,       appear to reach the pinnacle of                                              /
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that           And to the others he said in           even denying the Lord that bought       earthly success.  Could this be the                                          /
hath understanding count the             mine hearing, Go ye after him           them, and bring upon themselves         type of the antichrist that will                                             /
number of the beast: for it is the       through the city, and smite:            swift destruction.                      provide a seemingly very high level                                          /
number of a man; and his number is       let not your eye spare,                  And many shall follow their            of success and peace to his servants.                                        /
Six hundred threescore and six.          neither have ye pity:                   pernicious ways; by reason of           Then as was the case with Solomon,                                           /
                                      II Chronicles 9:13 Now the weight          whom the way of truth shall be          the people will be led slowly into                                           /
                                         of gold that came to Solomon            evil spoken of.                         idol worship and "make our yoke                                              /
                                         in one year was six hundred              And through covetousness shall         grievous" (I Kings 12:4).  Will the                                          /
                                         and threescore and six talents          they with feigned words make            antichrist first appear as a chari-                                          /
                                         of gold:                                merchandise of you: whose judg-         smatic leader of great wisdom, power                                         /
                                      II Chronicles 9:18 And there were          ment now of a long time lingereth       and peace and then lead his follow-                                          /
                                         six steps to the throne, with           not, and their damnation slumber-       ers in the wrong way?  The true                                              /
                                         footstool of gold,                      eth not.                                believer will be instilled with the                                          /
                                      I Kings 11:6 & 8 And Solomon did            For if God spared not the angels       wisdom as required to understand the                                         /
                                         evil in the sight of the Lord,          that sinned but cast them down to       true nature of the antichrist, his                                           /
                                          And likewise did he for all            hell, and delivered them into           kingdom and the number of his name                                           /
                                         his strange wives, which                chains of darkness, to be reserved      when the time for revealing the "                                            /
                                         burnt incense and sacrificed            unto judgment;                          son of perdition" comes.  Until then                                         /
                                         unto their gods.                                                                the Christian should beware of any                                           /
                                                                                                                         organization or man to which the                                             /
                                                                                                                         number 666 seems to apply.  It is                                            /
                                                                                                                         interesting to note that some                                                /
                                                                                                                         scholars have computed the number                                            /
                                                                                                                         of the ordinary Greek form of Jesus                                          /
                                                                                                                         to be 888.  Eight being the number                                           /
                                                                                                                         of "new things".                                                             /
                                                                                                                                                                                                      /
                                                                                                                                                                                                      /
  Matters of contention:  Many scenarios concerning these visions have                                                                                                                                /
        been proposed by many scholars.  We will present only one for                                                                                                                                 /
        your study. We urge the reader to study and develop their own.                                                                                                                                /
             a) A seven year period begins with the rising up of a                 g) The covenant with Israel is broken and the temple is converted to                                               /
                confederation of ten nations from the ruin of the old                 a worship place for the antichrist, probably the site of the                                                    /
                Roman confederacy.                                                    memorial to the antichrist.                                                                                     /
             b) A charismatic leader rises to power over this confeder-            h) Persecution and slaying of the true believers begins.                                                           /
                ation and leads the world to a temporary peace.                    i) Many of the true believers and the remnant of Israel flee to a                                                  /
             c) The leader (the antichrist) makes a covenant with a                   safe haven in the wilderness for the latter half of the seven                                                   /
                remnant of the nation Israel and makes it possible for                years.                                                                                                          /
                them to rebuilt the temple and reinstitute the ancient             j) The antichrist now controls all of the promised land and the                                                    /
                rituals including sacrifice.                                          Holy City.  He forms a large army to pursue the fleeing remnant.                                                /
             d) The antichrist achieves control of most of the world               k) The two witnesses arrive upon the scene and witness to all                                                      /
                and along with this world domination a world religious                the nations of the world.                                                                                       /
                system lead by a false prophet becomes prominent.                  l) The Almighty intervenes to protect the remnant of true believers.                                               /
             e) Near the middle of the seven year period the antichrist            m) The antichrist returns to the Holy City and slays the two witnesses.                                            /
                is apparently slain and miraculously seems to be                   n) After three and one half days of celebration by the wicked the two                                              /
                resurrected. This is accompanied by miracles performed                witnesses are resurrected and taken up into heaven.                                                             /
                by the false prophet.                                              o) The wicked repent not and their blasphemies increase as the time                                                /
             f) The prophet erects a memorial to the antichrist which                 of the final judgments begin.                                                                                   /
                is seemingly alive and to which all the world must                                                                                                                                    /
                worship and accept the symbol of the antichrist or                                                                                                                                    /
                they will not be allowed to participate in commerce.                                                                                                                                  /
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