09 - The Six Angels And The Seven Bowls 2009

Last time we saw God’s two witnesses who prophesied during the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. They are martyred and subsequently rise from the dead while the whole world watches.

We also saw what John called “The Woman” who is Israel and the Jewish people. And we were also introduced to “The Dragon” who is Satan. John described how the dragon persecuted the woman, but she succeeded in bringing forth a “Wonder Child”, Jesus Himself.

Chapter 12 concluded with Satan being cast from heaven and coming to earth in great anger. In his anger, he empowers his antichrist to do signs and wonders, and to seize control of the world. A persecution madness erupts in the final 3 ½ years of the Tribulation, where many of God’s saints are martyred.

Next, John records:

13:1 “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”

The phrase “rising up out of the sea” is a description of how the antichrist will rise out of the massive sea of humanity.

The time frame is still at the middle of the Tribulation. Chapter 13 describes the “beast-king,” elsewhere called the “antichrist” (1 John 2:28, 3:3), the man of sin and son of perdition (2 Thes. 2:3-10), the little horn-king (Daniel 7: 8, 25), the prince that shall come (Daniel 9: 26, 27), and the “abomination of desolation” (Matthew 15: 25).

Antichrist’s Personality

John next describes the characteristics of the antichrist:

“2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.”

LEOPARD: MOVES QUICKLY, STEALTH LIKE

BEAR: STRONG AND POWERFUL

LION: ROARS AND IS KINGLY

John says his kingdom will be strong and powerful, will take over quickly (seemingly overnight), and he will be stately, ruling by the roar of powerful words.

No question, the antichrist at this time will be possessed of the devil like no other human being in the history of the world.

Halfway through the Tribulation, he will commit the abomination of desolation we discussed in earlier chapters. He will walk into the rebuilt Temple, into the Holy of Holies, and will declare himself to be God.

It is very likely that at this time an assassination attempt is made on him:

“ 3I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast.”

The Bible says, “One of the heads…SEEMED wounded beyond recovery…”

I believe the Bible is suggesting that it is a ruse. It only appears to be a literal resurrection. Satan, being the ultimate liar and deceiver, would love to lead the world to believe that his guy resurrected just like Jesus did.

The result of this “Resurrection” is universal adulation:

4“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?”

Antichrist is now at the height of his diabolical career. He uses his popularity for pure evil:

“5And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

7And 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.

8And 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.

9If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

Then John lets us know that anyone trying to stop the antichrist’s reign of terror will be imprisoned or slain:

10 Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people (Tribulation Saints) must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.”

The Second Beast

Next, John sees a second beast:

11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon.”

This beast has horns like a lamb. This means that he appears gently and innocent. But he speaks under Satan’s power with “the voice of a dragon.”

This is antichrist’s John the Baptist. He is obviously a religious leader of some sort, and his job is to point the world to the antichrist. John goes on to describe him:

12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching” (replicating the miracle of Elijah).

Interestingly, for 2,500 years the Jews have longed for the coming of Elijah, primarily because Malachi prophesied his return:

5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.”—Mal. 4:5

For the last 2,500 years Jewish families, when observing their annual “Passover” meal, have left a door or window open for Elijah to enter and join them in their anticipation of Messiah!

This 2nd beast will be the ultimate impostor. John continues:

“14 And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life” (just like Nebuchadnezzar did).

But a simple statue won’t do. The 2nd beast takes is a step further:

15 “He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.”

For centuries, Bible students were perplexed as to how such a thing could be. But no longer. We now live in the age of animation. Statues can easily be made to talk, move, gesture, and so on.

2-way T.V. systems are now in place where the entire world could see a life like image on their own computer screens, and be commanded to worship it. Not only would you see him, but even George Orwell in his book “1984” envisioned a system whereby Big Brother could also see you!

The 2nd beast will likely place this animated statue of the antichrist in the Holy of Holies, commanding the world to worship him or suffer the death penalty.

At this point the screw is really being tightened. The world is now brought under total demonic domination. Worship antichrist or die. But then it gets even worse:

16 He (the 2nd beast) required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.”

The “mark of the beast” is likely a laser imprint on the hand or forehead, visible only to a scanner. This technology is in place right now. It only awaits the right timing.

Fingers likely to replace ID cards in U.S.

Beginning in March, students at University of California, Irvine were no longer required to show their ID cards to gain access to the Anteater Recreation Center, instead, they only had to place their hands in a scanner and type in their personal identification numbers. Campus officials said the "hand geometry" system has been available for less than two months and almost 9,000 students have signed up to use it. With it, people no longer have to worry whether they have carried their ID or not. Their fingers are their IDs. The hand scanner does not take fingerprints of handprints. It records a series of specific measurements and analyzes more than 31,000 points and 90 measurements on the hand, including length, width, thickness and surface area and compares the data with that on file for a member's personal identification number (PIN). It is also called the "hand geometry" system. Although the university currently does not have any public plans to use the scanners at other major venues, it is possible that such scanners will go into wider use if they continue to prove to be fast and efficient. The California State University in Fullerton, Southern California, started to use the system at its fitness center a year ago. Right now, only a few special facilities or places have used the hand geometry system. But possibly people will soon find they do not have to bring their ID cards with them when they go to the airport, check in at hotels or draw money from banks. The system will have a wider application in the military. The Pentagon has developed its own Defense Biometric Identification System, also called DBIDS, which has already been introduced to U.S. Air Force bases around the world. With the DBIDS, gate guards use a hand-held wireless scanner, which has an instant, always-on connection to a database at the U.S. Department of Defense, to read the bar codes of personnel and instantly tell whether or not they are allowed into the base. Hand scanners will also be used in law enforcement agencies. Last week, Texas contracted with the L-1 Identity Solutions company to provide full hand biometric scanning technology for use in criminal investigations. In addition to electronic finger and facial images, law enforcement and investigators across the state can capture full hand prints sent to the state-wide criminal automated fingerprint identification system. However, there are some security concerns over the hand geometry system. Some worried that criminals could kidnap a person to place this person's hands in the scanners to force the withdrawal of money from a bank or get entry to a place which is restricted. Criminals could also cut the hand or fingers off a key person to gain entry to a secured area. Others worried that the increased use of hand scanners would greatly increase the chances of people spreading or contracting diseases.

The mark of the beast will usher in a world-wide cashless society. All financial transactions will be computer generated. One will simply go to the supermarket, gather your groceries, and at the checkout counter a scanner will be swept across your hand or forehead. The money will then be withdrawn from your bank account. You will receive a receipt showing how much was removed and what you have left.

Without this mark, you will not be able to buy or sell. No doubt such a system will be made viable as a way to do away with credit card and I.D. theft.

John said that the mark was a number:

18 Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.”

Again, for centuries no one really understood what this meant. That is, until computers came along. Now we know that the entire world could be marked by three sets of six digits each, much like a city of millions can all have their own phone numbers out of just ten digits—one through zero.

Using the extended meanings of the original Greek text, Michael E. O'Brien of highpraise.com (now a dead link) created an alternate possible translation given of Rev. 13, that indicates a biochip implant containing a number like the social security number could fulfill the prophecy very precisely:

Rev 13: 16 “He [the second beast] caused everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive an etching of servitude (made with a sharp point) in their right hand, or in their foreheads; 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless they had the etching of servitude, or the authority of the beast, or the number of his authority. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the pebbles as the number of the beast, for it is an individual's [identification] number. His number is incised with a pricking action - willingly - by one claiming to possess the Godhead...”

In the USA, 98-99% of all transactions are already cashless, and cash represents about 1-4% of bank deposits. Smart cards and biochip pet implants are in wide use in Europe. Many Christians strongly suspect that this "mark of the beast" prophesy will be implemented by technology that exists today, the biochip implant (syringe implantable microchip/lithium transponder), or an invisible tatoo designed to go in the right hand or forehead.

The Mark of the Beast MUST NOT BE RECEIVED.

““Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand 10 must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.”—Revelation 14:9,10