Kingdom Come - Episode 10
The Unholy Sacrament - 666, The Number of a Man and the Mark of the Beast
Revelation 13:16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
Revelation 13 begins with a key phrase, “And I saw”. This is an important clue as to how to interpret what comes next, John is seeing a vision. A vision in the bible is usually going to be a communication in symbols that require interpretation. Although they refer to something very real, they aren’t to be taken literally. That’s why the text tells us specifically that understanding what the symbols mean “calls for wisdom”.
The number 6 in biblical numerology is the number of man. It isn’t a specific man, but humankind in general that the number six represents. The reason is traced back to creation, for humans were said to have been created on the 6th day. Because humans were corrupted, the number six in the bible represents sin, unbelief, doubt, weakness and errors.1
Repeating the number 6 three times also has significance. Consider how the living creatures around the throne of God describe what they see in chapter 4 of Revelation:
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
They describe God as Holy 3 times. That signifies completion or perfection. God is holy to perfection and completion. There is no flaw and there is nothing lacking in God’s holiness.2
Regarding the number 6 and the mark of the beast, to repeat the number three times implies something similar. In humanity’s sin and rebellion against God, they will take it further than they ever have. There will be a completion to their sin and rebellion that makes it as such that they would be unable to take it any further if given more time. They will have given themselves over completely to satan’s agenda, offering no resistance to his lies, seduction, and murders.
It may also represent that in creating a global government as an alternative to God’s plan, humans will produce the very best that they are capable of producing, and the end result will be tremendous evil. Remember from Episode 7, even the apostle John marveled at its sight. Those who love the darkness will be seduced and ensnared by its false promises. Those who love the light will be hunted and many crushed by it.
So, the mark of the beast does not function to identify the antichrist. The past two episodes of this series have instructed us in what scripture teaches in regards to that. The mark of the beast is a message from heaven warning us of the dangers of placing our confidence in fallen human leadership . . . . or in politics. And that is why I no longer identify with any political party, they are all on an irreversible trajectory to succumb to the spirit of satan.
The mark of the beast will be the sign of a loyalty oath, just like baptism is for the believer. It will be an unholy sacrament by which reprobate humanity will receive unholy power to participate in evil. An outward and physical sign of an inner decision of the heart. The decision reflects who or what we are going to put our trust in to provide for our hopes, wants, needs, and security. The visible assurances and guarantees of human governance, or the risky invisible faith in God’s man Christ Jesus and the temporary sacrifices that will entail. The sincerity of your faith is going to come under unprecedented fire to determine whether it is really sincere or not.
Ephesians 5:27 “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
As for the mark itself, whether it will literally be on the right hand or forehead is debatable given the symbolic nature of the vision. The forehead might represent the seat of your thought life, which scripture teaches us to guard with all diligence. With our thought life, we establish what or who we will be loyal to. Who or what we are going to get in agreement with.
Likewise, the right hand represents our strong hand. That by which we earn a living and produce value. It represents the seat of action. If we establish our loyalties with our mind and imagination, we practice our loyalty with our words and actions. Our thinking and actions need to be consistent with one another; when they do they reveal authentic loyalty. Jesus demands both of true believers, in imitation satan will demand both from his followers as well. The great tribulation and the mark of the beast will function as a sorting process preceding the great separating of the sheep and the goats. It will be a public and visible sign of whose or what side you are on.
Believe it or not, you are already being groomed for this.
God’s messiah had a forerunner, that is “a person or thing that precedes the coming or development of someone or something else.”3 For Jesus that person was John the baptist, who came preparing the nation of Israel for her messiah. Likewise, there will be a phase of preparation before antichrist finally arrives on the global scene, satan isn't going to throw the frog into a pot of boiling water. Therefore, the time for awareness and resistance starts now.
DOJ, FBI targeting Catholics as 'violent extremists' under scrutiny by state AGs: 'Bigotry' is 'festering'
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and 19 GOP state attorneys general are demanding answers from the FBI and Justice Department and threatening legal action after a leaked internal FBI memo revealed that the agency had efforts underway to identify and treat Catholics as "potential terrorists."
I find the above story disgusting. And you should as well. There is absolutely no reason to consider Catholics as a threat to our country other than getting in agreement with “the accuser” and “the father of lies”. If you think for a second these accusations will stop with Catholics then you are a fool. Satan is preparing the minds and hearts of his followers and henchmen to do the unthinkable once again.
Think of the narrative around the Covid shots. Fear, guilt, and social shame were the primary means by which we were herded into compliance. It was more scientism than science. Via operation warp speed, normal trials were skipped, yet we were berated into “trusting the science” if you want to go to the ballpark. What science? Now even our high priests of scientism (an irrational trust in technocratic leaders) admit the shots aren’t what we were told they were, but many people lost their jobs because they refused to take them. It was a forerunner. A GLOBAL loyalty test.
(For those who struggle with nuance, I'm not saying Covid shots are the mark of the beast. Nor is this necessarily interested in a futile debate about their efficacy. It is about the bullying of global populations into believing a narrative and blindly trusting technocrats based upon false or flimsy premises. It is about being willing to get in agreement with lies and shame and ostrcize those who refuse to do so. It was a [not] subtle loyalty test to governmental technocracy.)
Christian nationalism and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake
Understanding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake is vital for informing public health interventions. Prior U.S. research has found that religious conservatism is positively associated with anti-vaccine attitudes. . . Using a new nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, we find that Christian nationalism is one of the strongest predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and is negatively associated with having received or planning to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Revelation 12:17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
Revelation 13:7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.