by Tim Buck | Mar 7, 2023 | Anti-Christ, Beast, Daniel's Prophecies, Tim's Articles
“DANIEL UNSEALED”
Chapter By Chapter Highlights
3/7/23 By Tim Buck
Fotet.org
Thinking DanielIf you spent any time in Sunday School you know about Daniel with the stories of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego escaping the fiery furnace and Daniel escaping the Lion’s den. But Daniel is more than a Bible character on your teacher’s flannelgraph.
His book accurately prophesied more than 2500 years of world history with astonishing detail. And in the process, students of prophecy discover something very important. God wants us to use Daniel’s prophecies as the standard for interpreting other prophecies. It’s unique design built into every chapter presents it as God’s blueprint for prophetic interpretation. Here’s the best part.The book holds the key to understanding our history and our tumultuous times today and reassures us of God’s absolute authority over the future.
Overview, All Six Classes!
– 2023 Dates –
Four Beasts, 10 Horns and a Little Horn – Daniel 7 (March 14)
The prophecy that was revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2, that there would be four world-ruling empires, was repeated about 50 years later in Daniel 7. This time, however, it was Daniel who had the dream, and there were added details.
In this vision Daniel saw four beasts—representing the same four world-ruling empires described in Daniel 2 that come up out of the sea. The phrase “coming out of the sea” is a purposeful link that coincides with the Beast of Revelation 13 who “comes out of the sea” so we know the four beasts of Daniel 7 are also depicting the final empire of Antichrist.
Daniel noted that there was also a little horn that spoke blasphemous words against God and made war against the saints. God reveals the “little horn” (Antichrist) for the first time in scripture, and dramatic details emerge of the intensity of his war against Israel and the unprecedented evil that will pour out from the empire of Antichrist.
Daniel 7 also gives us a much greater explanation of the fourth beast, which has 10 horns, representing 10 kings that would arise from the fourth kingdom. This prophecy concludes with more details about the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom.
The Ram and the Goat – Daniel 8 (April 18)
One of the unstated themes running throughout Daniel is his search through these empires to identify the bloodline and geographical territory of Antichrist. In the eighth chapter, Daniel begins his journey of narrowing down the search for Antichrist. To accomplish this we are given an expanded vision of just two of the four world-ruling empires, the Persian and Grecian Empires also identified in Daniel 2 and 7. Daniel sees a vision of a ram with two horns (Medes and Persians) and then a male goat with a single notable horn between his eyes (Alexander the Great) conquering the ram.
The historical fulfillment of this vision is Greece under Alexander the Great conquering the Medo-Persian Empire. The search narrows as it then follows the division of Alexander’s kingdom after his untimely death into four new empires ruled by his four generals.
It further narrows with the focus landing on two of the four new Grecian Empires; the Ptolemy and Seleucid empires. In one last twist, Daniel narrows our search for Antichrist down to just one possibility when sees another “little horn,” coming out of one of these two empires but he’s different from the little horn of Antichrist in chapter 7.
This time he’s the rogue and vile Syrian King of the Seleucid Empire who in 167 BC launched severe persecution of the Jewish people in a pattern to be followed by Antichrist. This becomes the model for the rise of Antichrist to emerge from the Middle East land mass of the Seleucid Empire in the territory of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Israel’s Calendar Revealed, 70 Weeks of Daniel – Chapter 9 (June 20)
The 70-weeks prophecy found in Daniel 9 reveals God’s extensive 490 year calendar that unfolds His plans for Israel. This remarkable prophecy dates the coming of Jesus Christ to earth the first time and also identifies significant aspects of Jesus’ ministry. Israel should have known when their Messiah showed up in Galilee.
We learn that the majority of Israel’s calendar events were fulfilled at the time of Jesus’ death covering 483 years, but that seven years still await fulfillment. These final seven years that remain unfulfilled is the seven-year Tribulation period.
The seven years begins with an international peace treaty or covenant, is disrupted when Antichrist invades Israel and breaks the covenant by committing the abomination of desolation in the middle of the seven years, and ends when the disruptor is soundly defeated at the Second Coming of Jesus.
Spiritual Warfare, Fighting the Prince of Persia, Placing Life in the Larger Story – Chapter 10 (August 8)
In Daniel ten, Gabriel pulls the curtain of the unseen spirit-world aside and reveals the battle of spiritual warfare up close and personal. In addition, Gabriel reveals God’s, “Book of Truth” to Daniel, God’s heavenly record of unrevealed end-time events which is kept in heaven.
The chapter reminds us that until we grasp the spiritual realties at work in this world, we will never truly appraise the things in our lives the way that we should. We learn that behind whatever crises or conflicts the world faces, lies a more potent spiritual conflict. A conflict that requires spiritual weapons, prayer and discernment. The chapter reminds us that we have a God who is more than capable of handling any crises of the past, present and future.
Wars of Antichrist – Daniel 11 (September 26)
Of particular interest in this chapter, to students of prophecy is Daniel’s reference to “the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 11:31; 12:11). In Daniel 11 this refers to evil events that the other “little horn,” Antiochus IV Epiphanes did like pouring pig’s broth throughout the Temple and outlawing being Jewish, atrocities he committed in Jerusalem around 167 B.C.
In chapter 12 the abomination is in the context of the “time of the end” (Daniel 12:4) pointing to when Antichrist desolates the temple in the seven-year Tribulation. Jesus later spoke of this same end-time event (Matthew 24:3, 15).
Writing from the location perspective of the land of Israel, Daniel 11 writes of other powers coming into the region he referred to as “the king of the South” and “the king of the North” (Daniel 11:5-6). Of special interest to us, verses 36-45 speak of these same powers becoming the end-time wars of Antichrist (king of the north) as he seeks to conquer all the land of Israel and destroy God’s people. This scenario is rising right before our eyes today as the nations of the Middle East shuffle and are staged for the coming final empire.
Daniel 12 Wrap up!
While previous prophecies in the book of Daniel have touched upon end-time events, the final short chapter gives special emphasis to wrapping up his vision of the Tribulation period. Even though this will be “a time of great trouble” unlike any other, the encouragement for God’s people is that after Christ returns they will receive eternal life and be glorified in the Millennial Kingdom with their beloved King Jesus on the Throne in Jerusalem.
Understanding Daniel’s prophesies is so important today because most interpretation of prophetic events these days, especially on the internet and TV, is based on emotions and current events as opposed to sound doctrine flowing from the study of the Word.
So we invite you to join us for each class this year.
by Tim Buck | Nov 18, 2021 | Anti-Christ, Beast, Tim's Articles
Erdogan’s Quest for a New Sharia-Based Alliance
The Beast in Revelation appears in the two chapters of Revelation 13 and 17. Both chapters give us a symbolic picture of the final empire of Antichrist as a Beast. Our class in January is concerned about the Beast in chapter 17.
When we talk about the Beast we are referring to the coming Islamic Empire to be revived in the last days with the Caliphate headquartered in Turkey. For 500 years until WW1, the Ottoman Empire reined over the religion of Islam from Istanbul, Turkey. Today, Turkey’s President Erdogan is pushing the envelope to reestablish the caliphate once again, just as prophesied.
Erdogan’s Islamist ambitions are seeking an international role in post-U.S. Afghanistan in alliance with the Taliban, Qatar, Pakistan and Malaysia.
Biden has weakened himself and the country so badly that we’ve been reduced to the point of being blackmailed by NATO’s only Islamist member. Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has made it clear: “If the U.S. is to be in the Middle East, it must cooperate with Turkey.”
Afghanistan is not Erdogan’s only pro-sharia ambition after the U.S. withdrawal… Turkey ramped up its drone attacks on Yazidis in Iraq’s Sinjar district….. “The Turkish drone strikes increasingly threaten to undercut refugee repatriation inside Iraq and create space for the Islamic State to regroup, as the most effective Kurdish groups fighting ISIS are Sinjar’s grassroots Kurdish and Yazidi militias,” warned Michael Rubin in the Washington Examiner.
Erdogan’s Islamist, neo-Ottoman ambitions are now taking a pro-sharia turn. That is bad news for the region to Turkey’s south and east. Worse, it is a slow-fuse time bomb for the West.
Turkish President Erdoğan’s Islamist ambitions are seeking an international role in post-U.S. Afghanistan in alliance with the Taliban, Qatar, Pakistan and Malaysia.
by Tim Buck | Oct 21, 2021 | Afghanistan, America, Beast, How to Live the Last Days, Joe Biden
America and AfghanistanIn Bible Prophecy
Tim Buck
Fotet.org
Bad things are taking place in the United States! What are we to make of the Afghanistan debacle and the frenzied takeover by the Talban that unfolded late summer?
For sure it is further evidence on the world stage that America’s leadership and role is greatly diminished. We have an administration in Washington that so mishandled this operation, that the only conclusion is that the catastrophe was deliberate. The message to Israel’s enemies is clear, “we’re leaving… you can take over.”
The details were likely orchestrated by the “useful idiots” in the Biden administration, made up of the haters of America and Israel. Good people were left behind, including an unknown number of Americans as well as the underground church while tens of thousands of Afghanis were allowed to waltz into America, including Muslim men with child brides.
What a contrast. In 2018, Trump harshly sanctioned Turkey until Erdogan released Pastor Andrew Brunson but in 2021 Biden betrayed the Christians in Afghanistan by sentencing them to suffer under the Taliban. It doesn’t get any stranger or any more evil. This is like watching a horror movie play out.
We hear much about the Magog/Armageddon War of Ezekiel 38-39. The 7 “stans” of Central Asia are part of the geography of ancient Magog: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan. The average percentage of the Muslim population throughout the 7 “stan” nations is about 95% per country. These are some of the Muslim countries who will be among the invading armies pouring into Israel in the final war led by Turkey along with Iran, Libya, and Sudan.
Ezekiel 39:9 says Israel will burn the weapons of this war for seven years. The Biden administration chose to leave $85 billion in weaponry behind in Afghanistan. Surely some of this weaponry will soon be burning in the Valley of Megiddo where the pools of blood are so high they sometimes reach up to the horses bridal (Rev. 14:20).
While the Pentagon claims some of this equipment was dismantled, it can easily be re-built by the Russians or the Chinese. Afghanistan borders China so it’s no surprise the Chinese have embraced the Taliban with bribes for their rare mineral resources.
Iran has already set up a trading post with the Taliban in the city of Herat, Afghanistan, near Iran’s border. In Herat, the Iranians are busy trading Iranian gas and oil with the Taliban for weapons. Meanwhile, as our satellite surveillance watches the trucks coming and going, despite the illegal exchanges and despite the UN and USA sanctions, our feckless government says nothing.
In other words, Israel’s enemies have been replenished with some of the most sophisticated military equipment found on the planet thanks to hard-working U.S. taxpayers. It’s enough to make your blood boil!
Sunni and Shite, Working Together
The Taliban are close allies with Pakistan who have 100 nuclear warheads which could be significant to the revived Ottoman Caliphate. Turkey has partnered with Pakistan to build Pakistan a new fleet of “Corvette” swift boats to expand Pakistan’s Navy for the coming Caliphate wars during the Tribulation.
I think we’ll soon find sophisticated U.S. weapons in all the Red Nations below. These are likely 7 of the 10 nations I believe that will join together to form the final empire.
Look closely and you’ll notice the sea of red covers geography from the Mediterranean to the border of India. It precisely overlays 3 ancient empires depicted in Daniel 7:2-6 and Revelation 13:2 that forms the location prophesied for the 8th empire of Antichrist.
America’s Sudden Decline
The passage in Ezekiel says no nation comes to Israel’s aid in the final invasion of Israel. Where is America during Israel’s hour of need? This is striking evidence that the world’s only superpower has fallen and turned away from Israel. She’s too sick to lift a hand.
The prophetic silence concerning America seems to show that power will shift away from the United States to such an extent she has no role in prophecy whatsoever. That means we’re heading into a future season in our country that won’t look anything like our past. It could come suddenly by a financial collapse or any number of calamities or the final shock to America’s system could even be caused by the Rapture.
Three Reasons
Since we’re living in the shadow of the Tribulation there are numerous reasons to suspect why God would allow the decline of America so rapidly. Here are 3.
Judgment for Sin – God hasn’t turned away from America, we have turned away from God. Beginning 50 years ago, we began outlawing God’s Word and His Ways which has brought God’s curse on our nation (Isaiah 10:1-4) and we are now reaping what we’ve sown.
Rise of the Beast – The superpower status of America, on the international level, will need to be weakened to allow for the rise of the Beast. America still has military bases throughout the Middle East with several sitting on nations that likely will be part of the coming Beast empire including Turkey, Iraq, Qatar and until recently, Afghanistan. Up until now theses bases represented the power and might of the Christian nation of the USA that has prevented bad actors from rising against Israel. The nuclear and missile threat emanating from our bases will need to be depleted to clear the path for the Beast… just as what happened in Afghanistan! These countries are thrilled to see the United States, the “Great Satan” leaving the Middle East.
Remove Support for Israel – God doesn’t want the U.S. rescuing Israel or interrupting His promised redemptive plans for Israel during the 7-year Tribulation (Dan. 12:7).
When the leadership of Israel rejected and crucified
Jesus their Messiah, God postponed completing Israel’s calendar (Dan. 9:24-27) by precisely 7 years. After the Rapture, God will begin fulfilling those final 7 years that lead to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant and the salvation of Israel’s remnant.
Aside from judging America for its iniquity and rebellion, the Lord’s judgment is also falling because we’ve turned away from Israel. God is taking away His supernatural protection and blessing so that at the end of the Tribulation the U.S. is but a shell of her former self on the world stage and either unable or uninterested in coming to Israel’s aid.
This is what we’re watching in 2021. The major problems flooding into our country are not just random or accidental. God has sovereignly directed them as His way of judging our country. It’s a pattern God used to judge the ungodly acts of Israel’s Northern Kingdom, “In those days… God was troubling them with every kind of distress” (2 Chron. 15:5-6). Paul says it this way, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people” (Rom. 1:18).
America might not be around to help Israel —but God sure is! He devastates her enemies and because of the miraculous nature of the war’s outcome, Israel realizes God was on her side. For the remnant that remains, this begins the spiritual awakening of God’s chosen people.
So how big is your God? If God doesn’t need America to fulfill His promises on the world stage, think of what God can do through a yielded life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let Him use you!
To evidence the reprobate minds and upside-down thinking that prevails in Washington these days, the Administration is talking about further negotiating with the Taliban. Oh boy! That means U.S. aid! These are heavy handed thugs with a Shariah mindset, motivated by brutality that makes them look more like ISIS than allies. Are we really going to support a regime that rapes women and throw gays off of tall buildings blindfolded? Probably.
Beginning to Unravel
America is in more danger of falling than at any time in its history. Bible prophecy predicts this very decline. From this point on, we believers have to get serious. We are going to face discouragement, disillusionment and, most certainly, persecution in the time between now and the Rapture.
But don’t be discouraged or disillusioned. In fact, there’s good reason to rejoice in that we are the generation God has chosen to stand in this hour! The coming turmoil will provide us unrivaled opportunities to share the good news of the Gospel. So be ready to share your faith and your hope with those who need Christ. We still have time to reap a great harvest of souls for God’s kingdom!
Pray for Those Left Behind in Afghanistan
With the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, more of the end-time stage is being set as the 10-king nations and the Ottoman Caliphate begin to fall into place!
Of particular concern right now in Afghanistan are the many Christians who are in hiding or on the run. The underground Church needs your prayers!
The crisis in Afghanistan has taught us that no number of U.S. resources, training or occupation can change a Muslim nation under Shariah Law. The only way to make a difference is through individual disciple-making.
As death and mayhem continue, one thing is clear: the need for Jesus in the Middle East has never been greater. Now is the time to respond to the cry of our persecuted brothers and sisters in what the Lord is doing to grow His Kingdom.
One underground leader said, “Pray that God puts angels around our home! The Taliban have begun to mark houses with a C for Christian. One of us is always awake during the night, always walking around and praying, so if the Taliban should come and knock on our door, we should alert everyone.”
The Mideast Beast nations are lining up, Israel is being surrounded, America is falling, and the economy is weakening. However, as the Apostle Paul says to the troubled Thessalonians, we can take rest in the fact that Jesus is coming!
And give relief (rest) to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you
(2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
Maranatha!
Even so come Lord Jesus!
by Tim Buck | Apr 19, 2021 | Anti-Christ, Beast, Daniel's Prophecies, Empires, Islam, Prophecy, Tim's Articles, Tribulation
When The Beast Arrives
The most common term for the Empire of Antichrist in the book of Revelation is “beast” where it appears some 36 times. Revelation picks up the term from Daniel 7 where the prophet Daniel uses it to portray the Gentile empires that would follow Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Empire.
Thus far in our studies of the Empire of Antichrist we have determined that the precise identity of the beast is the revived Ottoman Caliphate that fulfills Revelation 17:9-11 as Satan’s 8th and final empire.
What will the beast be like?
When the Caliphate returns after being dormant for 100 years, it may best be described as “ISIS on Steroids” except this time around, when the Jihad conquering begins in the Tribulation, the Ottoman Islamic State will be led by the unholy trinity of Satan, Antichrist and the False Prophet not Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self proclaimed leader of the ISIS Caliphate.
The UNHOLY TRINITY is described as follows,
13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
Revelation 16:13-14
According to Daniel and Revelation the beast is unstoppable! Antichrist and his forces who will be powered by the enemy become so overwhelming they never experience defeat until crushed by Jesus at His Second Coming.
During the unstoppable wars in the Tribulation, the Ottoman Caliphate’s methodology will not have changed since its barbaric 500 year rule from 1453 to 1922.
The Ottoman rule began with genocide against the Romans in 1453 when they slaughtered 10’s of 1,000’s in it’s conquest of Constantinople and the Ottoman rule ended with genocide of the 1-million Armenian’s in the waning days of WWI. The Islamic Caliphate was purely satanic then and will be 7 times worse in the Tribulation!
The horrors the world will soon face is beyond comprehension as Antichrist assaults one nation after another beginning in the Middle East using hatred, enmity, rape, servitude, ethnic cleansing, jihad and genocide.
Islam is NOT the “religion of peace” as Obama/Biden and George Bush would falsely have us believe. That’s a sad attempt to cover the bloodshed commanded by the Quran.
Revelation 17 coins the religious system of Islam as the “MOTHER OF HARLOTS” which is released under the sovereignty of God to set up mankind’s judgment and fulfill Jesus’ prophecy in Mt. 24:21 of the worst period in history.
As a reminder of it’s evil nature, we see all these features prominently displayed in the genocide taking place in Africa today.
While much of the church thinks Antichrist is a man of peace who will rise from Europe, the spirit of Antichrist is already here on full display in the theatres like the Middle East and North Africa. And it’s not pretty.
On March 24, scores of people were massacred or forced to flee during an Islamic terror attack in the city of Palma, Mozambique, near a major gas plant in the Cabo Delgado province. Pictured: Internally displaced people from Palma gather in the Sports Center in the city of Pemba to receive humanitarian aid on April 2, 2021. (Photo by Alfredo Zuniga/AFP via Getty Images)
Imagine the nightmare when millions of similar events detailed below, break out daily, during the reckless reign of the Beast.
- After a mosque leaders’ wife embraced Christianity, and as a form of “retribution,” the imam ordered the rape of three Christian girls related to a local pastor…. — Morning Star News, March 11, 2021, Uganda.
- “Intercourse with a girl below the age of 16 is statutory rape in Pakistan, but in most cases a falsified conversion certificate and Islamic marriage certificate influence police to pardon kidnappers.” — Morning Star News, March 12, 2012, Pakistan.
- On March 20, a court “changed a sentence of life imprisonment to the death penalty for a Christian convicted of sending a blasphemous text message in 2011″…. Such petitions are “seen often as a service to Islam and as jihad or holy war against blasphemers.” according to the report. — Union of Catholic Asian News, March 29, 2021, Pakistan.
- “Muslims demand to make capital punishment the only penalty for blasphemy”…. The courts increasingly seem to be complying. — Union of Catholic Asian News, March 29, 2021, Pakistan.
- “That night, our village was attacked…. I was at home with my four children. We tried to escape to the woods, but they took my eldest son and beheaded him. We couldn’t do anything because we would be killed too.” — Save the Children, March 16, 2021, Mozambique.
- “In one of the worst attacks last year, the jihadists turned a village soccer field into an execution ground where they beheaded more than 50 people in three days of savage violence.” — Barnabas Fund, March 30, 2021, Mozambique.
So Why Study the Empire of Antichrist? What Difference Does it Make? 3 Reasons Why!
Why it is Beneficial to study the meanings behind the 7 “beast images” and the Empire of Antichrist and the various heads and 10 horns found throughout Scripture?
We offer at least three reasons why it is beneficial to study the meanings and discover the proper interpretations of the main players in the end times and their geo-political trends for today.
First, these images give Bible-studying Christians an ability to accurately determine the “season” of the age in which we are living in right now.
For example, were Jews to study Daniel and accept the book of Revelation also as inspired Scripture, they would not be so blind to the coming holocaust of the Tribulation spoken about so vividly in Daniel.
The Jewish people are living on the verge of imminent disaster but an understanding of what the Word says of the last days may be all it takes for some to accept Jesus as their Messiah.
And an understanding of these topics better prepares the Christian to identify the “prophetic season.”
Second, a proper understanding of the beasts provides a bulwark against deception.
God’s clash with Antichrist and the beast is the major theme in the Book of Revelation and the beast’s blasphemous religious system led by the Quran and the enforcement of Sharia is its driving force.
Believers around the world need to wake up to the fact that Islam is also the most dangerous threat to the church today. One only needs to travel to the Middle East and North Africa to see for themselves. Where are all the Christians? Where are Christianity’s historic cultural sights? The slaughter is increasing!
The Last Days are characterized as deceptive and as a trap, and expressly so the last-day ruler and the Dragon (Satan). This time is truly treacherous. Our enemy is the father of lies and deception (John 8:44).
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie.”
2 Thessalonians 2:9
We are convinced that those deception times are already upon us today. Is Christendom ready? Are you?
And Third, not only is Turkey and the 10 kings relevant to our time today, but also Satan’s 7 Empires.
The visions of the world’s 7 empires apply to us today. How so?
All 7 of them, along with the 10 kings, will be in existence and on the world scene during the Last Days when Christ returns. That means they are here now and already rising to their destiny to become part of the beast. The prophet Daniel says that it will be,
“In the time of those kings, that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed”
Daniel 2:44
This gives us all the more reason to sit up and be “on watch” of the movements surrounding Turkey, Syria. Iraq, Iran and Israel and the rapidly developing events of the Middle East before it becomes the “missile-east” in the Tribulation!
These are the days when our generation should be plugged in and watching as never before. Knowing and understanding the aspects of the Beast Empire gives believers stability in the last days.
God knew the relevance of Turkey, and how the accompanying geo-political events surrounding it’s rise would become front and center before the Rapture.
And the Lord knew the church would need discernment for interpreting the developing events to avoid confusion. So the Lord graciously gave us His prophetic Word to point us in the right direction.
Those who aren’t paying attention miss this connection and walk blindly through the end times and therefore will find themselves more vulnerable to deception.
by Tim Buck | Apr 16, 2021 | Anti-Christ, Beast, Mark of the Beast, Tim's Articles, Tribulation
Unlocking the Bible’s Greatest Prophetic Mysteries
What is the Image of the Beast Described in Revelation 13:15?
Few prophecies generate more wild speculation than the image of the beast that speaks!
The interpretation of the image that speaks and how it speaks is one of the topics we will decode this Tuesday related to the Empire of Antichrist.
Prior verses note that the False Prophet will be able to perform false miracles to deceive people (Revelation 13:13–14). Then the False Prophet oversees the construction of something that speaks and is identified as the Image of the Beast.
Is it possible to know what this image is? Not only does the image speak but it commands people to bow down and worship it. If people refuse to bow down and worship the Image they will be killed.
Telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Revelation 13:14-15
The mandatory death sentence to those who refuse to bow and worship the image is a clear parallel to Nebuchadnezzar’s ruling in Daniel 3 that whoever refused to bow down and worship his image must be killed.
At that time, Daniel’s three friends refused to worship the image and were thrown into a white-hot furnace, but God delivered them (Daniel 3). Similarly, a remnant of faithful believers will refuse to bow down and worship the Image of the Beast in the Tribulation will be killed.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Image and the enforcement of mandatory worship in Daniel 3 is a picture that foreshadows the False Prophet’s image in Revelation 13:15.
They go together. Daniel 3 lays the foundation for helping us interpret and better understand Revelation 13:15.
by Tim Buck | May 19, 2020 | Beast, Covid-19, Mark of the Beast, News, Tim's Articles
Where’s the Beast?
I’ve often said that practical obedience to Christ today is more important than speculation about the mark of the beast tomorrow.
I’ve also suggested that COVID-19 may be a forerunner sign of the Tribulation Judgments, but I do not believe that COVID-19 is one of the plagues from the Book of Revelation.
I also don’t believe that a potential COVID-19 vaccine, replete with microchip is the mark of the beast.
Yet the events surrounding the coronavirus have demonstrated how quickly the status quo can be overturned and how dramatically the fortunes of nations can shift.
And what if COVID-19 is followed by a worldwide economic collapse, accompanied by plague and famine?
To say it again, I do not believe we are at that point. But I do believe that, in front of our eyes, we’re seeing how quickly the table can be set.
Despite the lofty aspirations of Bill Gates, believers today have nothing to fear about his vaccination plans being connected to the mark of the beast.
For starters, in Revelation, the “mark of the beast” has nothing to do with a medical procedure.
And contrary to some of the theories being batted around today, the “mark” is not at all something that could be accidentally taken.
Why? Because the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16-18) is a mark that is closely tied to worshipping of the beast (Revelation13:12, 15; 19:20; 20:4).
Thus, the mark of the beast is taken as a symbol of rejecting Jesus Christ for devotion to the beast empire in the Tribulation.
Most importantly, the beast is not here yet!
No beast… no mark!
The beast in Revelation is Satan’s final empire that seeks to bring the world under its control and the beast marking system doesn’t begin until the middle of the Tribulation!
That’s a good way off from 2020.
Since the rapture occurs before the Tribulation, church-age believers will never see the mark of the beast because we will not be here! Hallelujah!
In this recent video, I discuss the two competing marking systems in the book of Revelation and answer two questions, “What really happens when you take the mark of the beast and what does it mean for Christians living in the last days.”
Rumble