Mark of the Beast!

Mark of the Beast!

By Richard P. Joseph

Rev 13:16-17 He 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 [g]the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name

.

    So who or what was the beast?  There are too many theories for me to answer that but here is all you need to know for now:

    He or it was blasphemous

    He or it received worship from the heathen.

    He or it made war against the saints.

    There is more than one beast.

    He or it is deceivious.

    He or it forces all to receive a mark on their forehead or their hand.

The last item is of interest because it cripples one's ability to even survive.  The word Anti-Christ as John might put it is not an accident. Perhaps what John is telling us here is something that the Jews were well aware of.

    The Jews were well aware of Exodus 13:16 which reads:

It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

    Almost word for word of what the beast requires of his subjects!

    When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He then required the firstborn of animals and men.  The animals were to be sacrificed but the firstborn males were to be redeemed. The idea that YHWH freed the Isrealites out of bondage was to be an everlasting memorial for the Jews and it would be a sign on their foreheads and their hand.  The Pharisees even wore what are called phylacteries on their heads as a reminder of this. This again is the idea that the Isrealites were sealed as God’s chosen people. The Beast in Revelation seems to have had the same idea; that he would copy God and seal his people, not for good, but for destruction.   

For modern Americans to somehow be sitting around and waiting for the Anti-Christ to come and stamp 666 on our foreheads and hand shows a complete ignorance of scripture.   I am old enough to remember when barcodes came out. Those that are confused about scripture had a hayday promoting the barcodes as the mark of the beast. This, of course, would be just another in a continuing line of end times blunders that are not going to stop anytime soon.  Every new presidential election, every blood moon, every war, and every political stunt brings on a new round of endtime prophecies which of course pads the pocketbooks of the scammers. Since Revelation was written to a first century audience , then would it not make more sense to interpret it from their vantage point instead of ours 2,000 years later in a completely different setting and culture?  The Beast in Revelation was an event to take place at a time preceding the parousia which obviously transpired by AD70. This was the time that Jesus warned the pharisees about when their house would be left to them desolate. The Beast was about to mark his people which would separate them from the 

Christians who were sealed by the blood of the lamb.  

    While attempting to understand the New Testament one must refer to the Old Testament.  To read a passage of scripture and then just make something up according to your modern, out of context, thinking will lead you to the wrong interpretation every time.  The mark of the beast is not a barcode or 666 or any other such thing but was something that occurred in the first century and was connected with the final events of AD70.  This is something that would have been readily understood by any faithful Jewish Christian of the day. Once taken out of context it becomes a pandora's box full of anything you can imagine because it is all make believe at that point.  God sealed his people for safety but Satan seals for destruction.

Rev14:9 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.

Zionism and apostasy

Zionism and apostasy

By Richard P. Joseph

    I drive a lot so every now and again I attempt to find a good sermon on the radio to make up for me quitting church but I not only hear the same old tired futurist messages, this time it was full blown.  I happened upon a Zionist who was explaining how they believe they know where the ark and other temple treasures are buried and that once the officials agree to expose this then the “temple” is the only appropriate place for them to be properly displayed; hence a third temple must be built which would of course usher in the second coming scenario replete with the anti-christ etc etc etc.  He made it clear that they are working hard to force this to happen. They can do all of this because their theology is make belief and therefore they can make it up as they go using pieces of scripture to fool the masses. But who will explain this stuff once it runs its course?

    After the resurrection of Jesus, two disciples were traveling to Emmaus discussing the current events of the life of Jesus and his mysterious resurrection from the dead.  Jesus met them and opened the scriptures up to them explaining that the entire message of his ministry is hidden in there. He probably showed them how the seven Jewish holidays embodied the entire suffering, death, resurrection, indwelling of the Holy Spirit and second coming events but that they were such that could not be faked.  There was no way for any human to fake the events that transpired from the birth of Christ until he returned at the AD 70 events. But now we have a bunch of Zionists who are going to do exactly that: fake the second coming of Christ!

    The Zionists believe that they are going to do what God is incapable of doing.  I believe they are sick and tired of waiting for an event that is never going to come because it already had its complete fulfilment 2,000 years ago.  This coming snow job will be one of the largest hoaxes known to mankind even surpassing evolution, global warming, the HIV/AIDS hoax and COVID. The events that the Zionists are pushing for will spawn unnecessary wars and mass chaos.  Most of all it will spin the churches into a great confusion as they fall prey to this false theology. It may even cause them to accept a false earthly Christ. The devastation would be world wide and the confusion would be pushed to hysteria.  So, where will we be in all of this?

My hope is that the conservative branch of the Preterist movement would stand fast as perhaps the only beacon of stability during this time of confusion and eventual apostasy.  I can’t think of another group that is better positioned and able to weather this coming storm. We must pray that God will have his hand on us as we encounter the frantic mess that would be caused by their efforts to force the hand of God with false doctrine.  We might seem insignificant now but our time is coming when we can finally present the unadulterated scripture to the world. It is sad that it might take WWIII to accomplish this but that is where we are heading as the Zionists are influencing world leaders with their faulty theology.

This could all be avoided with sound fulfilled theology. Most people do not understand that the Jewish religion today has absolutely nothing to do with scriptural Judaism which perished in AD 70. What we have today is Rabbinical Judaism. When the Romans leveled the temple in AD70, some Jewish priests asked the Roman general Titus for permission to start a Jewish school. That was the beginning of Rabbinical Judaism as there was no more temple, no more sacrifices, no more genealogical records to prove Levitical priesthood etc. The Judaism of today is a made up religion just like Islam. The New Jerusalem is the church. Zionist eschatology is false and dangerous and needs to be exposed for what it is.

As a postscript I would like to say that I would be ecstatic if they found the temple implements.  I think it would be wonderful to see these items and use them as a wonderful testimony to our faith and the hope of the world.  This would be the greatest archaeological discovery of all time. I just don’t want to lie about these items and use them for destruction or monetary gain.  Our hope is in the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ, not in a false narrative about the end of the world!