Ephesians 6:16

Psalm 27:1

Matthew.all thing possible

The Beast is more than a system. He is a man.

..........Even though it represents a kingdom, a
kingdom must have a king. An empire must
have an emperor.

..........Paul speaks of the Man of Sin, the Son of
Perdition. We are dealing with a man.

Imperial Rome of John's day
was the sixth head of the Dragon.


..............The Antichrist and his ten kings represent the Seventh Head.


.................................When the Seventh Head is
"wounded to death", the wound is healed and it becomes the eighth head.

The Mark of the Beast will be the Antichrist's way to enforce the people's loyalty.

.......He sets up a supreme welfare state and man must obey the state or else.

..................There are no exceptions to this decree. "Small and great, rich and poor, free and bond", all must "receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads".

..........Without the mark people cannot buy or sell.
..........This is the hour of the Great Tribulation.

The Beast has given them only one ultimatum, either take the mark or die.

........The mark is the best way to test the people's loyalty.

....The False Prophet will have smoothe words and arguments.

.........The people will have to choose life or death!

The decree the Antichrist issues to the people will cause the most awful crisis the world has ever know.

................Multitudes will wake up to the fact that there is something terribly wrong about this man's leadership.

..................................The Two Witnesses and others will unmask the character of the Beast and it will make him anger.

The Antichrist is playing for keeps.

.........................He realizes that many people have become suspicious and alarmed at his dictatorship, but he knows that they have families to provide for.

.........................So he issues a decree, around the world, that no man will be able to buy or sell, unless he has the mark of the Beast.

The False Prophet comes in like a lamb, with gentle ways and smooth words.

................But when the power of the Beast is established, he speaks like a Dragon.

......................By clever means, he starts a program to brainwash the minds of the people.

..........................His purpose is to get absolute control over the souls and bodies of the citizens of the world.

The "mark" in the Greek is the figure of a crooked serpent.

This reminds us of Adolph Hiltler and his crooked cross, the Swastika.

The devil has his mark and seal also.

God's seal is of grace and divine protection.

The Antichrist's is a seal of doom.
He has the brand of hell.
Revelation 14:9-10

During the Church Age, God has certain ordinances for the believer.

................Water baptism is one. It's a symbol of a Christian's burial and raising again in the likeness of Christ's death and resurrection.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Afterward, the believer is "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise".

God gives His people a seal and a mark.

The 144,000 of Revelation 7:1-3, are given a mark in their foreheads to protect them from the judgments which are about to come upon the earth.

The 144,000 of Revelation 14:1 have their Father's name written in the foreheads.

There is a group of nations under the king of the South.

.............Most Bible scholars see Great Britian and the English speaking nations in Ezekiel 38:13, where it speaks of the "merchants of Tarshish and all the young lions thereof" opposing the invasion of Israel.

......................These facts indicate beyond question that the Antichrist will not have direct control over all the nations.

........................................This is important to be able to know where the "wilderness" is.

". . . . and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon."
....................Daniel 11:41

....................Edom, Moab and Ammon will escape out of the Antichrist's hands.

.........These countries will probably serve as a place of refuge for Jews who heed the Lord's warning in Matthew 24:15-22 and flee in time.

"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."
..........................Revelation 6:8

..............When the "beasts" destroyed the earth during the days of the Fourth Horseman, the territory allowed was "over a fourth part of the earth".

...........................This is very close around the area of the Old Roman Empire.

The Antichrist's territories will include the territories of "ten kings" which holds the area of the Old Roman Empire.

............Ten kingdoms represent a huge empire, but not all the earth.

........................Today with atomic warfare, with intercontinental missiles makes it possible for a dictator to destroy any point on earth. But the Beast forces will not occupy the whole earth.

The Antichrist will have control of the earth.

.........................Revelation 13:7 says,
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, an tongues, and nations."

It seems from this, that he will control the entire earth.

..............In Luke 2:1 Augustus Ceasar made a decree that "all the world should be taxed". This was limited to the Roman world. The expression "all the world" spoke only of the known world.

.............................It didn't include North and South America or many other countries.