In the last chapter we saw how King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a statue with five body parts (a head, arms, belly, legs, and feet). These represented a succession of earthly empires (Babylon, Medea-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then Christianity and Islam together [as the fifth empire]).

 

 

We also saw how the first three of these empires were likened unto certain animals.

 

 

All of these animals appear again in Revelation 13, as part of a composite beast that comes out of the sea. The beast was like a leopard (Greece), except that the feet were like a bear (Iran), while the mouth was like a lion (Iraq). Together they make up the fourth beast (Rome-Islam), since we saw earlier that the Roman-Islamic beast would subsume all the empires that went before it (i.e., Babylon, Medea-Persia and Alexander’s Macedonian empire).

 

 

The head that was “mortally wounded” in verse 3 may refer to the Ottoman Empire (an Islamic empire out of Turkey). It was “mortally wounded” on 9/11/1683, when the Islamic conquest was stopped at the walls of Vienna. Some might take this to mean that the end-time beast is Islamic (rather than Christian), but we need to remember that the end-time beast is both Islamic and Christian (and not just one or the other).

 

Verse 5 tells us this Roman-Islamic beast will speak great blasphemies against Elohim, and that this will continue 42 months (3-1/2 years). This may be the same 42 months in which the 2 witnesses operate, and it seems to match what we know of the papacy.

 

 

A second beast appears in verse 11, this time coming up out of the earth. It has two horns like a lamb (perhaps symbolic of Yeshua), yet it speaks like a dragon (Satan). This beast seems to fit what we know about the United Nations (UN). The first horn might represent the political legislative assembly of the UN itself, while the second horn might represent the United Religions Initiative (URI). The URI is an effort by the UN to create a united one-world religion that is supposed to bind all the people of earth together.

 

 

Verse 14 might lead us to think that the beast will be Islamic, since it says an image will be made to the beast that was wounded and yet lived (which was the Ottoman Empire). However, Islam and Christianity are both part of the same end-time beast. Therefore, all we can say for certain is that there will be an “image” set up to the Roman-Islamic beast. This “image” may be the URI. While it is supposed to be centered on the papacy, it will doubtless make serious accommodations to satisfy both Muslims, and those of other faiths.

 

Historically, whenever the Roman beast has had the power to declare Catholicism the official state religion, it has persecuted (and even executed) all those who have opposed it. Given Rome’s track record, it seems reasonable to assume that if the UN is brought to full power (perhaps after a nuclear exchange at seal 6), that it will seek to eradicate all who refuse to convert, but especially fundamentalist Christians, Muslims and Jews. While it might be difficult to imagine that such a thing would be supported today, in the wake of a nuclear exchange there might well be a great deal of support for this kind of initiative. There might well be a great deal of public support for making Jerusalem an international city, with a joint temple in which Muslims, Christians and Jews can all worship side by side in “peace and safety” (as overseen by the pope). Those who refuse to convert to this new world religion might be demonized as a threat to joint peace and safety. In later chapters we will see that plans for such a joint temple are already underway.

 

Verse 16 tells us we will have to take a “mark” of the beast, or we will not be able to buy or sell. Many people therefore suggest that the US dollar is this mark of the beast, because of all the satanic imagery on the back.

 

 

 

The unfinished tower with the Luciferic all-seeing eye atop seems reminiscent of the tower of Babylon, and the Latin phrase “Annuit coeptis novus ordo seculorum” means, “Announcing the birth of the secular New World Order” (i.e., without Elohim). Clearly this is Babylonian money, but to suggest that the dollar (or any other physical, tangible thing) is the mark of the beast seems off. Yeshua and His disciples used the Roman currency of the day: did Yeshua and His disciples lose their salvation just because they used Roman money?

 

 

Many people look for a physical, tangible fulfillment of the prophecy over the mark of the beast, suggesting that such things as money, microchips, iris scans, barcodes, the Internet, and other physical things are the mark. But if Babylon is a spiritual empire, then how can it have a simple, physical mark?

 

The unifying factor that all iterations of the Babylonian empire have in common is their desire to circumvent Elohim’s order by establishing their own (new) secular world order. They feel that if they can just establish their own order, then can live without fear of retribution by Yahweh. This has been their goal since early times.

 

 

There are seemingly good arguments as to why we should fear the dollar bill, microchips, barcodes, and all sorts of other physical, visible things as the mark of the beast. Some people tell us that the mark of the beast is when we have a physical RFID microchip implanted in our hands. However, if someone forcibly implants a microchip in our skin, does that mean we lose our salvation? Yeshua tells us that what enters a man from outside cannot defile him.

 

 

It is that which comes from within that defiles a man, not that which comes from without. And, as we study Scripture, time and again what we see is that what Yahweh really cares about is what is in our hearts. This is why it makes more sense to consider that the mark of the beast is loyalty to the beast, as evidenced by our actions. Are we behaving in ways that are loyal to the beast? Then we have the mark of the beast. Yet if we are behaving in ways that are loyal to Yahweh, then we have Yahweh’s mark.

 

Yahweh is big on obedience to His commands. When we read through Scripture, Yahweh and Yeshua both tell us that it is obedience to their commandments that shows our love for Elohim.

 

 

No matter what our surroundings, if our thoughts and our actions are not for Yahweh, and if we are not obeying His commandments, then no microchip (and no barcode) is needed to defile us, for we are already defiled. Similarly, even if the government puts a dozen microchips in our hands, and makes us use Babylonian currency, we can still be set apart unto Him.

 

Verse 18 speaks of the number of the beast. This is the number both of the papacy (as the primary fulfillment), and of Islam (as the secondary fulfillment).

 

 

In Nazarene Israel we show how an “anti-messiah” is someone who pretends to be the Messiah, in order to lead the people away from obedience to Elohim. This is a perfect description of the papacy. In fact, one of the pope’s earliest titles was Vicarius Philii Dei, which means, “Instead of the Son of the Deity,” or “In the place of the Son of the Deity.” This title comes from the Donation of Constantine, which is a forged imperial document attributed to Emperor Constantine himself. It allegedly transferred authority over Rome and the western leg of the empire to the pope. The document was later proved to be a forgery, but the ruse was widely believed for centuries, and many Catholics still call the pope the Vicar of Christ (i.e., “he who stands in for the Messiah”). Beyond this, Latin (like many other languages) assigns numerical values to its letters. When one adds the numerical values of Vicarius Philii Dei together, one gets a numerical value of 666.

 

If the Roman aspect of the beast is primary, the Islamic aspect is also important. The Hadith (Islamic oral law) foretells the arrival of a Mahdi (i.e., Islam’s messiah). Because the Muslims believe their Mahdi will only come after an apocalypse, they are eager for an apocalypse to come. Many believe this is why Islamic nations such as Iran are working to build atomic weapons, is to hasten the coming of this apocalypse (and hence, the arrival of their Mahdi). According to Islamic prophecies, the Mahdi will unite the Islamic world, and lead the people to worship “All-h.” (Clearly this will not come to pass, but we are relating it here so that we can understand what Muslims want.)

 

There are many proofs that the book of Revelation was inspired in Hebrew or Aramaic; yet we know from other studies that the Aramaic Peshitta is not the original text (but that it has been translated from Greek). The Greek texts are older, and since they are older, they are more valuable for textual analysis. Interestingly, one of the oldest Greek texts, Codex Vaticanus, gives us some insight as to how the 666 relates to Islam. Below is a typewritten Interlinear Greek text of the 666 in Revelation 13:18.

 

 

 

Reading from left to right, the first Greek letter, χ (pronounced “chi”) has a numerical value of 600. The middle Greek letter, ξ, is pronounced “xi”, and it has a numerical value of 60. The third Greek letter, ς, is pronounced “stigma.” Although its numerical value has changed since the first century, in the first century the letter stigma had a numerical value of 6. When we put these three letters together we get Χξς, which has a numerical value of 600 + 60 +6 = 666.

 

 

These Greek letters look very much like the Bismillah, which is Arabic for “the name of All-h.” If we flip the Bismillah around, we can see a striking similarity to the Codex Vaticanus, which is widely believed to be the oldest extant Greek manuscript, dated circa 350 CE. The line above the xi (under the words “A.D. 350”) is not an underline, but is actually part of the hand-written text.

 

 

 

If one looks closely, one can see these same letters (Χξς) next to crossed swords (denoting conquest) in the (Islamic) Chechin revolutionary flag, here flipped diagonally.

 

 

The Greek of Revelation 13:18 tells us that the mark of the beast will be worn on the forehead or on the right hand; yet in Hebrew, the word for “hand” is the Hebrew word “yahd” (יַד), means both “hand” and “arm.” This fits Islam perfectly, as Islamic jihadists wear the Bismillah both on their foreheads, and/or on their right arms.

 

 

Below is a picture of a Hamas headband. Similar bands are typically worn on the right arm. If one looks closely and is willing to turn these images on their sides, one can see images that resemble the xi, the chi, and the stigma (Χξς).

 

 

The evidence in favor of the Bismillah is compelling, but there are some linguistic and theological issues. The language of verse 18 does not seem to mesh with the idea that Yochanan was shown a Bismillah, and that he was trying to portray it in Greek letters. Rather, he seems to be trying to express a number.

 

 

Further, the grammar of Revelation works in both Hebrew and Aramaic, but it does not work in Greek. However, there are some rationalizations for this, such as the possibility that Yochanan wrote Revelation in Greek, using Hebraic modes of thought. Another is that he may have written it in Hebrew, and that it was then translated into Greek. In any case, the Bismillah seems to fit.

 

Chapters 12 and 13 have given us a lot of information that will help us make more sense of the timeline as it resumes. When we get to chapter 17 we will see that the Ottoman Empire may soon be restored, and how an ancient temple to Zeus may be set up on the temple mount, as the anti-messiah’s temple.

 

Soon we will rejoin the timeline and the 144,000, but before we do that, first we should talk about the anti-Messiah’s temple.