Revelation 13:12-15 KJV
[12] And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. [13] And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, [14] And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he 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. [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.
This beast exercises all the power the first beast (in chapter 13) exercised before him. The beast out of the earth makes everyone worship the first beast. In other words, the United States causes everyone to worship ancient Rome, to worship the ancient Roman Empire. This beast/kingdom does great wonders and deceives people with miracles of science and technology.
The latter beast impresses the first beast (The great European powers which are fragments of Ancient Rome), insomuch that a standard was set. The second beast mentioned in Revelation chapter 13, set a standard in something called an image. This image had the power to both speak and cause many people to worship it. Those who would not, well, would be killed.
Confused about worship? Worship is not raising your hands and emotionally getting into the song of the choir. Worship comes from the word worthy! Yes, the Spirit is talking to someone now! When you worship something or someone, you are acknowledging that someone or thing is of great worth to you. So if you do not worship this kingdom’s image, they put a hit out on you. Here’s how it looks in real life.
The strong suggestion to go to school, and get an education, so you can get a good job, is the suggested lifestyle. For a long time, anything outside of this was harshly frowned upon. Right? “This is the image we want,” said the beast, the kingdom. If you go against it we will take your job, your business, your livelihood; in other words, we will kill you. Ask Craig Hodges, Mahmoud Abdul Rauf, and the Colin Kaepernicks of the world if this is true or not. Those are just popular examples, there are many more that we will never hear about in this lifetime.
Now the next couple of verses should make you look at the actions of certain dignitaries and world rulers differently by what they attempted to accomplish. There are heads of state who attempted to take their country off the US dollar. In other words, they were tired of converting their currency into US Dollars before they could trade in the international market. They didn’t want to develop their country by IMF shark loans and spiritually destroy their people. In other words, they didn’t want to worship the standard or image of the beast (kingdom). Let’s look at why this cost many of them their very lives.
Revelation 13:16-17 KJV
[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: [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.
The second beast in the 13th chapter of Revelation that came out of the earth, which is the United States and their cousins, Great Britain, have some nerve. They cause all people to receive a mark on their right hand, and/or in their foreheads. No one could or can buy or sell except if they had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. The mark, name, or number.
This is where the phrase, Mark of the Beast comes to play. But it could also be called the Name of the Beast or the Number of the Beast. Now you need paperwork to play; you need a social security number to participate, you need authority to join in. Now God will throw us a bone!
Revelation 13:18 KJV
[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.
Here is a little wisdom. John gave us the game, but Satan, through his beast system, which are secret combinations, took it away. I’m going to give it back. What is the beast again? Beast equals Kingdom. So no man could buy or sell except they had the mark of the kingdom, name of the kingdom, or the number of his name. Now watch this!
Continue to the next post to follow the Mark of the Beast!
The Mark of the Beast Continued… the Phrase Meaning… click here or next post.