In Chapter 13:16-18 of the Book of Revelation we find the infamous passage of prophetic Scriptures which foretells of the day when mankind will be forced to physically receive the mark of the beast. It is in these few verses where we are also told that the number of this beastly dictator will be 666.
It is amazing how many people mock or disregard this incredible prophecy and ignore the significance of such a revelation. One can search all of the religions of the world and nowhere will it be found that this information has been given elsewhere. God is fully aware of the confusion Satan has spawned with all his false religions in an effort to hide the true word of God in a bewildering mountain of spiritual trash.
The soon to be fulfilled prophecies of the coming Anti-Christ, his mark and his number are just a few of hundreds upon hundreds of Bible prophecies that have come to pass precisely as written over thousands upon thousands of years. Satan and his followers have strong reasons to discourage the study and acceptance of Bible prophecy since all of his counterfeit religions are woefully inadequate in this area of divine validation.
Since Bible prophecy cannot be undermined and is eventually always proven true over the passage of time, Satan attacks and attempts to discredit, belittle and misrepresent those who study and expound on the prophecies of God. This is to be expected as a logical tactic from a being who cannot abide in a frontal assault against the power of the Word of God.
Contrary to what is sometimes taught, it is not a sin to indulge in analysis, theorizing, computations or commentary regarding difficult subjects or passages in the Bible. Far removed from the false prophets who turn people from Christ or prophesy falsely in God's name, stands the devoted, expectant students who study Bible prophecy. These are those who like Daniel, a man of God, apply themselves to understand by the books the number of years specified by the word of the Lord.
The Scripture found in Daniel 9:2 shows us that Daniel studied and researched prophecies given in Scripture and had faithfully computed that the time was at hand for their fulfillment. There is not a word of condemnation given in the Bible for someone who has devotedly tried to interpret clues given by God as to the timing or manner in which He was going to fulfill a prophetic event.
A perfect example is the hand-picked Apostles of the Lord. Not only did the Lord Jesus Christ not condemn them for wrongly interpreting the purpose of His first coming, but He also did not condemn them for incorrectly speculating about the timing of when He would establish His earthly reign.
It is recorded in Acts 1:6-7 that the Lord took their desire for knowledge and enlightened them to the fact that they were not to be the ones who would be alive to see the signs He had told them would herald His coming. These are recorded in Matthew 24 & Luke 17.
John the Baptist is one of the most poignant examples of Christ's high regard for someone who had honestly, though incorrectly, tried to figure out the prophecies concerning His coming. John the Baptist not only had misconceptions regarding the purpose of His ministry and the "time of His establishing the kingdom" but had even questioned the Lord Himself as to whether or not He truly was the Messiah.
John the Baptist's confusion is recorded for us in Matt. 11:2-3. "And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
Reading on in verses 4-11 we find that Jesus first reassures John, then directs him back to the Scriptures. "Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: "The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. "But what did you go ut to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. "For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face who will prepare Your way before You" Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist: but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
As many things as John had wrong, the Lord voiced no condemnation for John's misunderstanding of the prophetic puzzle. There was not even a mild rebuke given by Jesus for John's apparently serious misunderstandings. Why? Because there is no record of John falsely prophesying.
We can reasonably assume that John taught, theorized and shared in his limited capacity on these matters even though he did not have the full grasp of the awesome meaning of his divinely inspired words found in Matthew 3:2, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." John was careful to keep his prophesying in the name of the Lord separate from his own interpretations.
Now on the other hand, let us consider what Jesus had to say to those who did not bother to look into the prophetic Scriptures and observe the signs which were foretold would herald His coming.
Any reasonable Israelite who would have applied themselves to understand Daniel ch. 9 could have found more than enough justification to anticipate that the Messiah would be arriving in Israel in 69 sets of 7 years from the time that the announcement to rebuild Jerusalem was given in 445 BC.
This total of 483 years would have brought their calculations to 30 AD, the very year that Jesus made His glorious entry into Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey as was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9.
In Luke 19:41-44 Jesus first expressed sorrow then proclaimed judgment on Jerusalem. The reason for the pronouncement was simply summed up in Jesus' words when He proclaimed, "because you did not know the time of your visitation." If they had studied and believed the Word of God they could have been ready to receive Him at His coming, but they weren't.
In another instance Christ strongly rebuked those who wasted precious time interpreting sings concerning paltry earthly things, but neglected the prophetic signs which heralded glorious, heavenly things.
Quoting from Matthew 16:3 we read, "Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times." Jesus then went on and condemned them further for their requirement for more signs while rejecting the overwhelming amount of Scripture and signs which had already been provided for them.
The point being made was that they would never be satisfied, nor would they ever understand, no matter how many signs were given to them because their hearts were hardened and their eyes were closed to spiritual matters concerning God. Jesus told them that at that point, judgment would be the only sign they would understand. Like Satan desiring signs from Christ in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-7), they were only hoping to control and manipulate Jesus and were in fact in defiance of the Word of God.
God did not give His signs to be mocked nor ignored. Believers should consider themselves blessed and honored to be counted among those who study the biblical prophecies which encourage us to look each passing day with growing expectancy for the Lord's inevitable, soon return.
There is a book titled Soothsayers of the Second Advent which is devoted to grouping every person who researches biblical numbers concerning the time of Christ's return with occult-based numerology and divination.
The author deftly moves his book from condemning obvious, blatant false prophets to include every student of Bible prophecy who ever made a suppositional remark. The author even goes so far as to convolute the condemnation found in II Peter 3:1-9 made against those who mock God's Holy Word with believers who proclaim Christ's soon return. The author committedly redirects the condemnation of this Scripture towards those who theorize that Christ's return is near at hand. The author totally disregards that the problem being addressed is that of an unbelieving heart . There is absolutely no rebuke in this or anyother Scripture against speculations and commentaries made by prophecy Students.
On page 61 the author declares "He could come today!" Yet the author shows no tolerance for anyone who uses the same disclaiming language if they should even dare suggest something like, "Jesus could come in 2004 or 2005."
In our opening we spoke of the prophecies found in Revelation 13:16-18 and how Bible prophecy is always proven true over the passage of time. In this prophecy of Rev. 13, which was written almost 2,000 years ago, we were told that at the very close of the age, just before the return of Jesus Christ, a new money system would have power over the world's population. With this new system we are told it will be possible to monitor and control the buying and selling ability of every individual on earth.
Remember, this prophecy was written 2,000 years ago for our age by a man led by God. A man whose most modern innovation he beheld was animal or wind powered. He had nothing besides God's Revelation to show him of our day in which laser scanners can instantaneously register every buying and selling transaction while computers can record and process every contract taking place on the earth in minutes, seconds and even parts of a second.
All that is missing is the plan to replace existing money with a global money that can be controlled by the modern age wonders of electronic commerce, but as we have stated, "Bible prophecy is always proven true over the passage of time."
Quoting from an Oct. 24, ‘03 Denver Post article which headlined, "Go-creator of the euro offers terra" we read, "A co-architect of the euro, Bernard Lietaer, will unveil a new global currency called the "terra" next week in Denver as an antidote to a worsening economic slump.
For Lietaer, alternatives need to be found to the current "faith-based" money system or else the U.S., Europe and the rest of the world risk following Japan down the path of economic stagnation...One solution, which Lietaer will detail at the Future of Money Summit at the Omni Interlocken Resort Wednesday, is to create a currency backed by about a dozen commodities, such as oil, grains and metals.
The summit is a gathering of futurists and strategists in the money world who will discuss topics such as security of the money supply, banking fees, smart cards that store money and new technologies such as payment by fingerprint.
Consumers won't see paper terras in their pockets because the terra would remain entirely electronic, with distribution through Internet accounts...A stable trading currency would eliminate the large costs corporations incur to protect against fluctuations in the value of the goods and services they trade..."The terra is simply a standardization of international barter." Lietaer said...Lietaer began working on the euro in 1978 while at the Central Bank of Belgium The hardest part was not coming up with one currency, but getting 15 countries to agree how the currency should work, he said...He sees social needs as driving many of the new currencies, but doesn't expect acceptance to come quickly. He believe the terra could be a functioning currency within five to 10 years versus the 23 years the euro required."
It is intriguing to note that in this day that we are witnessing the prophesied restoration of the Roman Empire in the form of the European Union, we now find plans being made for a global money called "Terra." Terra is the Roman word for earth.
In closing let us quote from II Timothy 4:8, "Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."
If you are not living with expectant love for the Lord Jesus Christ's return, then perhaps your spirit has not been born again. God's perfect love will cast out any fear which is depriving you of this expectant joy you should be experiencing in the knowledge that your sins will forever be left behind when you meet Him in the air with divinely endowed perfection (Heb. 10:10-17).
Today, this very moment you can have this wonderful peace by trusting with faith in the name of God's only begotten son Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
If you would like some free information which more thoroughly explains how and why Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for every believer's sins then write and ask for "God's Plan for Salvation."