
                          WHO IS THE PROPHETIC BEAST?

              Major world shaking events are foretold in symbolic 
         language about a mysterious world-dominating beast described 
         in Revelation 13 and 17.  Is the beast a mysterious superman 
         world dictator yet to appear?  Just who or what is the 
         prophetic Beast spoken of in the book of Revelation?  You 
         need to know.  For it is those of this present generation who 
         will be worshiping this beast or his image, or will have 
         received his mark, that will suffer the unspeakable torture 
         of God's seven last plagues described in Revelation 15 and 
         16.  Ignorance will not excuse you. "My people are destroyed 
         for lack of knowledge," says God in Hosea 4:6.  Listen to the 
         warning given in Revelation 14:9, 10: "If any man worship the 
         beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or 
         in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the  wrath of  
          God , which is poured out full strength into the cup of His 
         indignation.  He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone 
         in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the 
         Lamb." 

              The prophecies we have discussed in this book are real.  
         They are imminent.  Every sign tells us these things will 
         happen very soon.  The world will soon be plunged into the 
         most frantic, frenzied state of anguish ever known.  Those 
         who will suffer the wrath of God in the terrible Day of the 
         Lord, are those who worship the beast, or his image, or have 
         his mark.  

              It is futile to try to imagine what the mark of the 
         beast may be.  Too many are trying to speculate in their 
         imaginations.  But God says, "My thoughts are not your 
         thoughts" (Isa. 55:8).  We can't work this out in our minds.  
         There is only one way to learn the truth.  That is to study 
         carefully all the testimony of all the scriptures that bear 
         on this question.  Space does not permit us to quote the full 
         text of all the applicable scriptures so be sure and read 
         these texts in your Bible.  The prophecies and symbols of 
         Daniel and Revelation covered here have been the subject of 
         whole books.  We only have enough space and time to hit the 
         high points.  

                            Description of the Beast

              The beast, the image of the beast and the mark of the 
         beast are all described primarily in the 13th chapter of 
         Revelation.  John saw a beast like a leopard, with the feet 
         of a bear, and the mouth of a lion.  This beast had seven 
         heads and ten horns.  Now if the beast were some superman, or 
         antichrist, soon to appear as a world dictator, he would be a 
         peculair-looking individual.  But, these are all symbols.  
         The very word  beast  is a symbol. These symbols stand for real 
         literal things.  But man cannot interpret these biblical 
         symbols for himself.  If we want the truth, we must be guided 
         soley by the Bible.  The point we want to stress is that the 
         Bible interprets its own symbols.  The Bible itself tells us 
         what they represent.  

                                    Daniel 7


              We find these same symbols described in the 7th chapter 
         of Daniel.  Here again are the beasts, the seven heads and 
         the ten horns.  Daniel sees four beasts: a lion, a bear, a 
         leopard with four heads, and a dreadful and terrible fourth 
         beast with ten horns.  Now the interpretation of these things 
         starts with verse 16.  "These great beasts, which are four, 
         are four kings which shall arise out of the earth," is the 
         interpretation in verse 17.  And the word king is synonymous 
         with kingdom.  In verse 23 we read, "The fourth beast shall 
         be the fourth kingdom upon the earth." 

              Now what do the "horns" represent?  Notice verse 24: 
         "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that 
         shall arise."  Notice the ten horns are ten succeeding 
         kingdoms growing out of the fourth kingdom, which was to rule 
         the world.  The ten succeeding kingdoms come out of a 
         kingdom, not out of a man. This alone makes it plain that the 
         beast is not some mysterious personal superman yet to come.  
         Also the beast is not a church, for no ten kingdoms ever did, 
         or will, come out of a church.  

                                    Daniel 2
                         Identification of the Kingdoms 

              These same four world-ruling kingdoms are described in 
         the 2nd chapter of Daniel.  King Nebuchadnessar had a dream, 
         the meaning of which God revealed to Daniel.  The dream is 
         described in Daniel 2:31-35.  The king saw a great image.  
         Its head was of gold, its brat and arms of siver, its belly 
         and thighs of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet and toes 
         were part iron and part clay.  Finally a stone, cut out 
         without men's hands, smote the image upon his feet and toes.  
         It was broken in pieces and was blown away like chaff.  Then 
         the stone that smashed it became a great mountain and filled 
         the whole earth.  

              "This is the dream.  Now we will tell the interpretation 
         of it before the king...You are this head of gold.  But after 
         you shall rise another kingdom inferior to yours; then 
         another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all 
         the earth.  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as 
         iron...and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in 
         pieces and crush all the others" (Daniel 2:36-40).  

              The interpretation of the stone smashing the image at 
         its toes is found in verse 44: "And in the days of these 
         kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall 
         never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to 
         other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these 
         kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."  The stone is Christ 
         and the kingdom is the world-ruling Kingdom of God.  

              And so we see that here are four world ruling gentile 
         kingdoms.  The first was Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, the 
         Babylonian Empire (625-539 B.C.).  The second kingdom was the 
         Medo-Persian Empire (558-330 B.C.).  The third kingdom was 
         the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great.  Alexander 
         lived only a short year after his conquest and his four 
         generals divided his vast empire into four regions (330-31 
         B.C.).  So these were the four heads of the third beast of 
         Daniel 7.  And the fourth kingdom absorbed all the others and 
         was the Great Roman Empire (31 B.C. to 476 A.D.).  Out of 
         this fourth kingdom grows ten succeeding governments.  These 
         carry us to the time of the Second Coming of Christ, and the 
         setting up of the Kingdom of God to fill the whole earth and 
         last forever.  

                                The Fourth Beast 

              The fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire, had absorbed all 
         the others, occupied all their territory, and was greater and 
         stronger than all of them.  It had all the royal splendor of 
         Babylon, thus having the head of the lion.  It had the 
         powerful army of the Persian Empire, symbolized by the legs 
         of the bear.  It was the greatest war-making machine the 
         world had ever seen, and it also possed the swiftness, 
         cunning, and cruelty symbolized by the leopard (Greece).  And 
         thus, this fourth beast was unlike any wild beast of the 
         earth.  It was stronger, greater, and more terrible than any 
         other.  

              And so John, in Revelation 13, sees, not four beasts, 
         but one beast.  So this beast is like a leopard with the feet 
         of a bear and the mouth of a lion.  Daniel's fourth beast, 
         the Roman Empire, had absorbed the three beasts before it.  
         Thus it included all seven heads.  Therefore in Revelation 13 
         it is seen as one beast with the characteristics of the three 
         it absorbed.  And John's beast also has seven heads.  
         Daniel's fourth beast had ten horns and John's beast also has 
         ten horns.  

              And if we are willing to be guided solely by the Bible 
         description of this beast and let the Bible interpret the 
         symbols used to describe it, we come to the conclusion that 
         the beast of Revelation 13 is the Roman Empire of 31 B.C. to 
         476 A.D.  Of course, many man-imagined or interpreted 
         theories interpret this beat as some mysterious individual 
         superman yet to come.  But these theories will not stand the 
         test of applying Bible interpretation to all the symbols that 
         describe this beast.  Nebucahadnezzar's image, by the two 
         legs, describes the two divisions of the Roman Empire after 
         A.D. 330.  John also pictures this beast as a powerful 
         government having a great army.  For they worshiped the beast 
         saying, "Who is able to make war with him?" (Rev.  13:4).  
         
                           Symbolism of the 10 Horns 
         
         Let us now explain the symbolism of the 10 horns of the 
         fourth beast of Daniel 7 and the beast of Revelation 13.  The 
         ten horns symbolize the ten stages of government continuing 
         out of the Roman Empire after its fall in 476 A.D.  These 
         kingdoms continue from 476 A.D. until the time when the 
         Stone, Christ and His Kingdom, smashes the image on its toes 
         and the kingdom is given to the saints.  There have been 9 
         successive kingdoms ruling the territory of the Roman Empire 
         from 476 to this present day.  
         
                                The Deadly Wound    

              Now let us return to our discussion of the beast in 
         Revelation 13: 
              "And I saw  one of his heads  as if it had been mortally 
         wounded, and his deadly wound was healed.  And all the world 
         marveled and followed the beast.  So they worshiped the 
         dragon [devil] who gave authority to the beast; and they 
          worshiped the beast , saying, `Who is like the beast? Who is 
         able to make war with him?'  And he was given a mouth 
         speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given 
         authority to continue for  forty two months " (Rev. 13:3-5).  

              The beast described in Revelation 13 included 7 heads, 
         but the only head existing at the time John saw this beast 
         was that of the fourth best of Daniel, containing the seventh 
         head, and also the ten horns.  So the specific "one of its 
         heads" that was wounded to death was the seventh head of the 
         Roman Empire.  The deadly wound then, was the one 
         administered to the Roman Empire, when in its last decaying 
         stages, the barbarians overran it, ending its government in 
         476 A.D.  

              Notice they "worshiped the beast" saying "Who is able to 
         make war with him?"  The Roman Empire was the greatest war 
         making power the world had ever known.  The beast killed by 
         the sword (v. 10).  Some do not know that the people 
         worshiped the Roman Empire and its emperors.  History is full 
         of accounts of the worship of the Roman emperors, for 
         paganism was a state religion.  They worshiped the emperor 
         because he stood for the majesty and glory of the dominion 
         and all were obliged to join in the official sacrifices to 
         the emperor as a god. ( Medieval and Modern Times  p.7).  

              The text says one of his heads was wounded to death 
         (seventh) and that "deadly wound was healed."  The ten horns 
         now reign, one by one.  The first three horns are the Vandals 
         (429-523), the Heruli (476-493), and the Ostrogoths (493-554 
         A.D.), respectively.  These three kingdoms filled the period 
         know in history as the transition age.  That is a transition 
         between the wound and the healing.  

              Now Daniel saw a "little horn" coming up among thes ten, 
         before whome these first three horns were "plucked up by the 
         roots" (Dan. 7:8).  That leaves 7 horns to come.  And of the 
         little horn, Daniel 7 says "his look was more stout than his 
         fellows" (verse 20).  The interpretation of this is that the 
         papacy dominated completely all the horns to follow.  

                            The Deadly Wound Healed 

              It was the fourth kingdom, symbolized by the fourth 
         horn, which really healed the deadly wound and restored the 
         empire.  In 554 A.D., Justinian, Emperor of the East, from 
         Constantinople, set up his government at Ravenna, Italy, and 
         brought about what is known in history as the "Imperial 
         Restoration" of the Empire.  

              In Revelation 13:5, power was given to this beast, once 
         healed, to "continue forty and two months."  In the 
         prophecies pertaining to Israel's punishment, each day 
         represents a year in the actual fulfillment (Ezek. 4:4-6, 
         Num. 14:34).  Thus, the healed beast is to continue in power 
         1260 years.  Following the healing, in 554, came the Frankish 
         Kingdom (French), the Holy Roman Empire (German), the 
         Hapsburg Dynasty (Austrian), and finally Napoleon's Kingdom 
         (French).  But when Napoleon was crushed in 1814, the healed 
         beast continued no longer.  So closed a government that dated 
         from Augustus Caesar.  It went into the Abyss.  

              And from 554 to 1814, the duration of the "healed 
         beast," was exactly 1260 years.  At this point, eight of the 
         horns of Daniel 7 have appeared and gone.  The beast itself 
         went into the non-existent condition symbolized in Revelation 
         17:8 as the "bottomless pit."  But by the year 1870, 
         Garibaldi had united the many little divisions of Italy into 
         one nation, and this kingdom began the ninth horn, which 
         culminated in the Fascist rule of Mussolini.  

                            The Heads the Woman Rode 

              The 17th chapter of Revelation describes a woman riding 
         a similar beast with seven heads and ten horns.  Please note 
         that the woman mentioned in this chapter never rode on any 
         part of this beast of Revelation 13 except its last seven 
         horns.  She is the "little horn" of Daniel 7, whose "look was 
         more stout than his fellows," and who caused the first three 
         to be plucked up by the roots.  Note that in the 17th chapter 
         of Revelation the woman rode on all seven of the heads of the 
         beast pictured there.  Yet she rode none of the heads but 
         only the last seven of the horns of the 13th chapter beast.  
         It follows that the  seven horns  of the "healed beast" of the 
         13th chapter form the  seven heads  of the beast of the 17th 
         chapter.  

              Notice, at the time John saw the beast, five are fallen, 
         one is, and one is yet to come (Rev. 17:10).  The five that 
         are fallen are the five during the 1260 years in which power 
         was given, by religious authority, for the healed beast to 
         continue.  The "one that is," is the kingdom that extended 
         from Garibaldi tothe downfall of Mussolini.  It was not in 
         any sense the power wielding old Roman Empire, so during the 
         stage of this ninth horn (Rev.13) or 6th head (Rev. 17) John 
         speaks of it as "the beast that was, and is not," and shall 
         arise once more out to the bottomless pit. (Rev. 17:11).  

              The 7th head with its ten horns, in the 17th chapter, 
         will be the revival of the beast, the Roman Empire, "out of 
         the bottomless pit" by a federation of 10 European nations 
         centered within the bounds of the old Roman Empire (Rev. 
         17:12-18).  This is actually beginning today.  The entire 
         beast of Revelation 17 is a part of the seven heads of 
         Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 because it comprises the last 
         seven horns.  Yet this revived Roman Empire is the "eighth" 
         system, differing from the seven before it (Rev. 17:11).  

                           The Beast is Not the Woman 

              In the 17th chapter of Revelation we find a beast, and a 
         great, wealthy, but fallen woman who was riding the beast.  
         The Bible describes the symbol "woman" to mean a church.  See 
         II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7; and Eph.  5:22-27).  On the other 
         hand, a beast if a symbol of a kingdom or empire.  The beast 
         of Revelation 13 is not the woman who rode the beast.  The 
         beast is the government and the woman is a church.  The beast 
         of Revelation 13 is the Roman Empire.  

                      Ministers of Satan Deceive the World 

              The devil has his own government on earth.  He gave it 
         his power, and his seat, and great authority.  Satan also has 
         organized religion as his instrument in deceiving the world.  
         In II Corinthians 11:14, we find Satan is transformed into an 
         "angel of light."  According to Revelation 12:9 and 20:3, he 
         has deceived the whole world.  How has Satan been able to 
         deceive the world and take over organized religion?  Paul 
         tells us in II Corinthians 11:13-15.  Satan has his ministers 
         who pretend to be the ministers of righteousness, but are 
         actually false apostles, deceitful workers, calling 
         themselves the ministers of Christ.  Therefore they claim to 
         be Christian ministers.  They are the many, not the few, 
         because all prophecies say it is the many, not the few, who 
         have been deceived.  Satan has been deceiving the world for 
         six thousand years.  
         
                              The Two Horned Beast 

              Now turn to verse 11 in the 13th chapter of Revelation.  
         "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he 
         had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon."  Who 
         or what is this beast?  

              Remember a beast is the symbol for a kingdom.  So this 
         beast with two horns is the prophecy of another kingdom.  
         This two horned beast appeared as a lamb.  But actually it 
         spoke as a dragon, its true characteristic.  The word "lamb" 
         in the Bible symbolizes Christ (I John 1:29; Rev. 17:4).  And 
         the word "dragon" is a symbol of the devil (Rev. 12:9, 20:2).  
         So here is some kingdom or government appearing as that of 
         Christ, or the Kingdom of God.  
              
                            Christ's Kingdom Not Yet 

              Christ did not set up a kingdom at His first appearing 
         on earth.  After his resurrection the disciples asked Him if 
         He would at that time restore the kingdom (Acts 1:6), but he 
         did not.  The Church is not the Kingdom.  Because some 
         thought it was, Jesus spoke the parable of Luke 19:11-27 to 
         show that He first must ascend to His Father's throne in 
         heaven to receive the royal power to become King of kings, to 
         set up the world-ruling Kingdom of God.  But Satan is a 
         deceiver, and he has deceived the world into supposing his 
         (Satan's) system of churches is the Kingdom of God.  

                      Pretending to be The Kingdom of God 

              Now notice carefully Revelation 13:12: "And he exercises 
         all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and 
         causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the 
         first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."  The first beast 
         is the Roman Empire.  Here is another government or kingdom 
         pretending to be the Kingdom of God, taking, exercising, 
         using, employing, all the power of the first beast, the Roman 
         Empire.  Notice the second beast exercises all this power of 
         the first beast after the "deadly wound was healed."  It was 
         healed when Justinian brought about the restortation of the 
         Empire in 554 A.D.  Consequently, this religious government 
         exercised power after 554 A.D. when the Roman Empire was 
         restored.  

              So here we have pictured a government, a religious 
         government, appearing as Christ's government, masquerading as 
         the Kingdom of God, actually ruling the civil Roman Emprire 
         after 554.  The teaching in that day of the Roman Empire, was 
         that the Second Coming of Christ is fulfilled in the person 
         of the leaders of the church.  In almost any encylopedia 
         under "Millennium" you will read how the "Holy Roman Empire" 
         was called the "Kingdom of God upon earth."  They claimed the 
         Millennium had arrived!  For the entire 1260 years, the 
         emperors acknowledged the supreme power of religion.  The 
         church was organized as a government, as a two-fold 
         government, symbolized by its two horns or kingdoms.  It 
         embodied church government, and it also was a state or civil 
         government, always occupying a certain amount of territory 
         over which it alone ruled, in addition to ruling over the 
         vast civil kingdom called the Holy Roman Empire.  Now, this 
         second beast was to yield power over all the earth.  

                              All Nations Deceived 

              Notice Revelation 13:13-14: "He performs great signs, so 
         that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in 
         the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the 
         earth by those sign which he was granted to do in the sight 
         of the beast."  So notice these points: The beast performs 
         great miracles.  He perfomed them in the sight of the Holy 
         Roman Empire, the first beast.  With them he deceived all 
         those who dwell on the earth.  

              Where else do we find these same facts in Biblical 
         prophecy?  First, note Revelation 17.  Here is pictured a 
         woman.  This woman is a fallen woman, and apostate church, 
         pictured as ruling over many nations (Rev. 17:1, 15).  In 
         verse 3, this false church is pictured as sitting on a beast 
         "having seven heads and ten horn."  The woman riding the 
         beast guides and controls the beast.  It does her bidding.  
         Verse 18 says she is "that great city which reigns over the 
         kings of the earth."   Verse 1, 2, and verse 15 make it clear 
         that "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues," are "drunk 
         with the wine of her fornication."  The inhabitants of the 
         earth have been deceived by this counterfeit Christianity.  
         Revelation 18:3 also shows she has deceived all nations.  

              Next, notice II Thessalonians 2:3-4: "Let no one deceive 
         you by any means; for the Day will not come unless the 
         falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the 
         son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all 
         that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as 
         God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."  
         The second coming of Christ will not come until there be a 
         falling away, and a "man of sin" be revealed.  This man will 
         sit in a temple claiming it to be the temple of God.  He 
         shows himself to be God, deceiving the people into accepting 
         him as God.  God is our Holy Father.  This final man, in a 
         religious office, will claim the same title.  This wicked man 
         is to be destroyed at Christ's coming (verse 8). "This coming 
         of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with 
         all power, signs, and lying wonders" (II Thess. 2:9).  So 
         here we see an important religious figure prophesied to 
         perform miracles and lying wonders, with which he deceives 
         people everywhere.  Satan is behind this man and gives him 
         the power to do these things.  This deceiving religious ruler 
         will still be active clear to Armageddon and the second 
         coming of Christ.  

                            Counterfeit Christianity 

              Now notice the last battle of "the great day of God 
         Almighty."  In Revelation 19:19-20 is pictured the beast "and 
         with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, 
         with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the 
         beast, and them that worshipped his image."  Compare this 
         beast with the two-horned beast of Revelation 13:11-17.  Both 
         perform miracles.  Both perform them before or in the sight 
         of the beast.  With these miracles, both the false prophet 
         and two-horned beast deceive them that have the mark of the 
         beast or cause them to receive that mark (Rev. 13:16).   Then, 
          this two-horned beast, the false prophet, the man of sin, 
          and the woman that rode the beast are all picturing a 
          counterfeit Christianity.  
          
              This two-horned beast not only caused people to receive 
         the mark of the beast (compare Rev. 19:20), but also 
         perpetrated the forming of an image that caused the martyrdom 
         of saints.  The beast caused "as many as would not worship 
         the image of the beast to be killed" (Rev.  13:15).  This 
         false church did not kill them but she caused them to be 
         killed.  History shows that the civil govermnent of the Roman 
         Empire martyred millions who wer declared "anathema from 
         Christ" or "heretics."  Compare this with the woman who rode 
         the beast in Revelation 17: "I saw the woman, drunk with the 
         blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of 
         Jesus (Rev. 17:6).  Certainly, these are one and the same.  

                             The Image of the Beast 

              Now this ecclesiastical organization, which is a twofold 
         government, deceived the people by saying they should "make 
         an image of the beast" (Rev. 13:14).  What is this image by 
         which this church deceived the people?  The church made an 
         image, model, or likeness of the Roman civil government.  For 
         as we have said the beast was a government or kingdom.  The 
         first pope of this church was Leo I (440-460 A.D.).  To him 
         to form of the government of the Roman Empire was the most 
         marvelous on earth.  He applied its principles to the church 
         and organized the church into a government forming the 
         papacy.  This church government is in fact a model, a 
         counterpart, an image of the beast which is the Roman Empire 
         government.  This church government is the image of the 
         beast.  This image, man-designed and man-ruled church 
         government, compelled people to worship the church!  And 
         since the church was organized into a worldly government, 
         this was worship of the image, false worship, idolatry!  

              In contrast, Jesus Christ proclaimed the Kingdom, or 
         government of God, divine government by will of God and by 
         God's law, not paganized human government by will of man and 
         man's laws.  His Church includes all Spirit-begotten saints 
         who have are are led by the Holy Spirit.  Christ is the only 
         head of this Church.  And Christ said His Kingdom is not of 
         this world!  

                           Mystery, Babylon the Great 

              Speaking of this great false church, Revelation 17:5 
         says, "And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, 
         BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE 
         ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."  So this church became a mother 
         church and daughter churches called "harlots" came out of her 
         in "protest" calling themselves "Protestant."  And all have 
         worldly, political church government.  Together they are 
         called "BABYLON."  They are pagan, teaching pagan doctrines 
         and customs, cloaked in the name of Christianity.  And all 
         nations are deceived.  Yes, they do not realize it though.  

              Yes, human organized churchianity is the image of the 
         beast.  It is the pagan political counterfeit of God's 
         government.  Today, America, Canada, Britain, Israelitish 
         nations descended from the ancient so-called lost ten tribes 
         of Israel, are actually in the ways of this "Babylon." 

              God's last warning is this: "Come out of her, my people, 
         lest your share in her sins, and lest you receive her 
         plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven, and God has 
         remembered her iniquities" (Rev.  18:4-5).  

                        The Mark of the Beast and "666" 
               
              What is the mysterious mark and number of the Beast 
         mentioned in Revelation 13:16-18: "He (the second beast) 
         causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and 
         slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their 
         foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has 
         the mark or the  name of the beast , or the  number of his name .  
         Here is wisdom.  Let him who has understanding, calculate the 
         number of the beast, for is is the  number of a man : His 
         number is 666."?  
         
              The Bible clearly reveals what these things mean.  But 
         to find God's answer we must have before us all of the 
         scriptures referring to this subject.   

                                 The Number 666 

              The number of the Beast is 666.  It is described as the 
         number of a man (v. 18), and we are told to count it.  The 
         expression "the name of the beast," or "the number of his 
         name" makes plain that the number 666 is the number of the 
         name of the kingdom or empire.  The expression "it is the 
         number of a man" shows we must count this number in the name 
         of a king over the kingdom identified as the beast.  
         Therefore 666 must be the name of the kingdom as well as the 
         king who found it or rules it.  The origin of the Roman 
         Empire goes back to the time of king Lateninos who founded 
         the Latin kingdom four centuries before Romulus, the first 
         king of Rome.  In Greek the letters of the alphabet have 
         numerical values.  In the 2nd century A.D., Irenaeus, 
         disciple of Polycarp, the apostle John's disciple, explained 
         that in Greek the word  Lateinos , meaning "latin man" adds up 
         to 666. ( L=30, A=1, T=300, E=5, I=10, N=50, O=70, S=200.)  
         This, he stated, was the intent of the scripture.  Thus, the 
         number 666 identifies the Latin kingdom or Roman Empire and 
         its founder king Lateinos.  

                               What is this Mark?  
                             
              Now, what is the mark of the Beast?  Some claim it is 
         the social security number, others the univeral product code, 
         others a universal credit card, or a computer code.  These 
         are mere guesses and are wrong.  Instead of turning away from 
         God's own revelation of this mystery, and using human 
         imagination and fancy to conjure up the many ridiculous 
         conclusions being foisted upon a deceived public by persons 
         devoid of understanding, let us see what God says this mark 
         really is.  

              Notice what the Bible says about this mark:  The mark of 
         the Beast is received "on their right hand or on their 
         foreheads" of those subject to him (Rev. 13:16).  Without it, 
         one will be unable to conduct business, to "buy or sell" (v. 
         17).  Everyone wants to be able to buy or sell.  The mark is 
         something that will be very popular.  The majority of the 
         people will be in favor of it and will want it.  Note that 
         the one  refusing the mark  would not be able to buy, would not 
         be able to earn a living or a salary.  The mark of the beast 
         then has a direct bearing on your ability to engage in 
         business, or to hold a job and earn a living.  

                               Whose Mark is It?  

              Note this well!  The "mark" is the mark of the BEAST, 
         and the "beast" is the ROMAN EMPIRE.  Revelation 17 pictures 
         a great CHURCH guiding and ruling over the Roman Empire.  But 
         the mark is the mark of the Roman Empire, not the Roman 
         Catholic Church.  This great false church "CAUSES all...to 
         receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads" 
         (Rev. 13:16).  Now here is a deceived church, both herself 
         deceived by, and therefore used by the devil, and also 
         deceiving the world.  It is the church, not the civil 
         government who forces this mark on people.  It brands on 
         people the mark of the "beast", that is the mark of the Roman 
         Empire.  So the MARK is that of the Roman Empire, which this 
         church did cause or shall cause the western world to receive.  

                         One Past Martyrdom, One Future 

              Now back to verse 15 of Revelation 13 where it states 
         that the church would "cause as many as would not worship the 
         image of the beast to be killed."  Next notice when the 
         saints who did not receive the mark were killed.  "And when 
         he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls 
         of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the 
         testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, 
         saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and 
         avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:9-
         10).  This will tell us when the mark of the beast is 
         enforced.  

              Here we find pictured the martyrs of the Middle ages.  
         History tells us that in the Middle Ages more than fifty 
         million were killed, many for their Bible faith and obedience 
         to God instead of obediaence to this church government of man 
         and the devil.  They know that God's judgments against this 
         persecuting, deceiving, false church, as described in 
         Revelation 18, are to be the seven last plagues, poured out 
         in the presence of the Lamb, at the Second Coming of Christ.  
         These dead saints are pictured as crying out to ask how long 
         before the Second Coming of Christ which will avenge their 
         martyrdom.   Notice what must again happen before the seven 
         last plagues and the coming of Christ.  "Then a white robe 
         [symbolizing purity] was given to each of them; and it was 
         said to them that they should rest a little while longer, 
         until both the number of  their  fellow servants and their 
         breathren, who would be  killed as they were , was completed" 
         (Rev. 6:11).  Christ will not come to take vengence on this 
         great false church until another great martyrdom has taken 
         place.  
         
              This coming great martyrdom is the Great Tribulation.  
         This tribulation is not the wrath of God.  It is the wrath of 
         Satan (Rev. 12:12), inflicted at the command of Satan's 
         church by the coming revival of the Roman Empire, against the 
         true people of God.  Notice Revelation 17:6, "And I saw the 
         woman [false church] drunken with the blood of the saints, 
         and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus."  Now compare 
         with Revelation 20:4, "And I saw thrones, and they that sat 
         on them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for 
         the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had 
         not worshiped the beast, neither his image,  neither had  
          received his mark  upon their foreheads, or in their hands; 
         and the lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand year." 

                         The Mark of Beast is Here Now 

              Now we see why these many millions were, and shall still 
         be martyred!  It was because they refused to receive this 
         mark of the beast and refused to join in this worship of 
         church and the Empire.  They obeyed God rather than men.  And 
         at Christ's coming to rule the world as King of kings, they 
         shall be priests and kings under Him and rule the world!  

              Do you see what this plainly reveals?  Those martyrs, 
         over a thousand years ago, were killed because they would not 
         worship the church, conform to its idolatry and pagan beliefs 
         and customs, or worship the so-called "Holy Roman Empire" and 
         because they refused to receive the mark of the beast.  This 
         means the mark of the beast is something that was forced on 
         people, on pain of being killed,  more than a thousand years  
          ago !  The mark of the beast was in existence and enforcement 
         over a thousand years ago.  And the dread mark is once again 
         to be enforced just before the second coming of Christ.  
         Those who have the mark will suffer the seven last plagues of 
         God.  And those who refuse it are those to be martyred in the 
         coming Great Tribulation.  The mark is still the brand of 
         traditional Christianity today, and is once again to be 
         enforced.  

                     Those With Mark To Suffer God's Wrath 

              You must soon chose whom you will obey, this coming 
         revival of the Roman Empire resurrected by a union of 10 
         nations in Europe, ruled by traditional Christianity, or 
         whether you will obey God.  Now we can begin to see that the 
         mark of the beast involves a point of obedience, whether you 
         will obey God, or reject the commandment of God and obey 
         man's rule.  
              
              Those who have this mark of the Beast in their hands or 
         foreheads will suffer the corrective plagues of God's 
         judgement (Rev. 14:9-10; 15:1, 6; 16:1-2).  Notice Revelation 
         14, verses 9 and 10: "...If anyone worships the beast and his 
         image, and  receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand  
         he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God 
         [seven last plagues]...He shall be tormented with fire and 
         brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the 
         presence of the Lamb [Christ]."  If you do have the mark of 
         the beast you will receive the seven last plagues and they 
         will be terrible beyond description!  

                               God's Sign or Mark 

              These individuals are contrasted with the saints who 
         "keep the commandments of God" (Rev. 14:12).  Those who have 
         the mark will suffer divine plagues; those who keep the 
         commandments will not.  The mark is symbolic of forced 
         allegience.  The mark of the beast involves a rejection of 
         the commandments of God, or of one of them, for if we break 
         one we are guilty of all (James 2:10).  The Sabbath 
         commandment is considered a sign of God's people.  Notice 
         Exodus 31:13, "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a 
          sign  between me and you throughout your generations..."  The 
         keeping of God's sabbaths is the sign identifying God's 
         people.  This sign is also received symbolically in one's 
         hand and forehead. (Exod 13:9, Deut. 6:8, 11:18).  

                            Satan's Counterfeit Sign 
                       
             The mark of the Beast is a counterfeit of the sign 
         between God and his people, specifically the observance of 
         man-made holidays in place of those Sabbaths that God 
         originally ordained!  Those who do not fall in line and join 
         in religious conformity, including in its participation in 
         its false religious days, will not be able to hold a job or 
         earn a living.  Those who refuse to receive this mark will 
         suffer martyrdom.  
 
              We can see in Revelation 12:17 that it is those "which 
         keep the commandments of God" that the devil will persecute 
         and martyr through his false church and his reborn Empire.  
         The mark plainly means the rejecting and breaking of God's 
         commandments.  Now Satan is a clever deceiver.  Naturally he 
         would select the one commandment of God which he can 
         counterfeit with a substitute, one in which by human reason 
         alone no man could see where it would make any difference!  
         This is the fourth commandment, which says: "Remember the 
         sabbath day to keep it holy..." 
              
              Sunday did not originate with the Church of God, but 
         with the pagan religion of the Roman Empire.  It is the day 
         on which the ancient pagans assembled at sunrise, faced the 
         east, as they do Easter Sunday morning today, and worshiped 
         the rising sun.  It was Constantine, and emperor of the Roman 
         Empire, not a pope, who made sunday the official "christian 
         day of rest."  But it was enforced, people were caused to 
         accept it universally, by the church!  And millions were 
         martyred by this church for obeying God's sabbath.  In Daniel 
         7:25 we read the prophecy of this beast and the little horn 
         (the church) rising up, "which shall intend to change times 
         and law".  That is change God's law and times.  The time for 
         the God's sabbath days.  
         
                     Mark in the Right Hand and in Forehead 

              The Roman church caused people to receive the mark of 
         pagan Rome, the Sunday observed by the pagan Roman Empire, 
         and the penalty for disobedience was death!  Fifty million or 
         more were put to death.  The Sabbath commandment is the only 
         commandment the world will not accept in its mind (forehead) 
         and obey (by work, or rest, with the hand).  It is the only 
         commandment that can distinguish between those who have the 
         mark of the beast or the sign of God.  Now the book of 
         Revelation is written mostly in symbols.  The right hand 
         symbolizes work or labor and the forehead, the intellect or 
         mind.  It has to do with what we believe, in the mind, and 
         whether we obey, with the hand.  
         
              The Sabbath is God's sign or mark, standing more than 
         any commandment, for obedience.  Sunday observence, 
         Christmas, New Years, Easter, etc, is the mark of the beast!  
         Today all nations are deceived by this paganism masquerading 
         under the name "Christianity."  If you are branded by this 
         mark of the beast, you shall be tortured by God's plagues 
         without mercy.  But if you obey God, keeping his Sabbath and 
         his commandments, if you are watching these events take place 
         and praying, "you may be counted worthy to escape all these 
         things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of 
         Man" (Luke 21:36).  God says to those in Babylon, "Come out 
         of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you 
         receive of her plagues (Rev. 18:4).  May God help you to heed 
         this message before its too late.  
  
