John B.,
From your Monday post I copied this
statement (in italics):
17..and that no one may
buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of
the (first) beast, or the
number of his (first
beast) name.
18..Here is wisdom. Let
him who has understanding calculate the number of
the (second
beast) beast, for it is
the number of a man: His number is 666.
Kevin, you and I both
agree that God was referring "exclusively" to the
false prophet in verses 11-17. You say that God then
for some reason changed His whole subject
focus from the false prophet
back to the antichrist in verse 18. I say that
God completed His description of the false
prophet in verse 18 and gave those who were wise
from mankind a quiz to determine the
identity of this second beast who we call the false
prophet.
By your own insertions in Chapter 17, YOU
don’t believe that verse 17 is referring to the False
Prophet as you have added to the Scripture in parentheses
“the NUMBER of his (FIRST BEAST) NAME”.
I certainly don’t believe verse 17 “number of his name” is
referring to the False Prophet.
So then in verse 17, where Scripture says
that people will have to be identified with a “NUMBER
OF HIS NAME”, we can ONLY
CONCLUDE IT IS REFERRING TO THE ANTICHRIST.
HOW
COULD WE KNOW WHAT THE NUMBER IN
VERSE 17 WAS REFERRING TO IF VERSE 18 DID NOT TELL
US???????
And NO I don’t agree that verses 11-17
are “EXCLUSIVELY” about the False Prophet: Verse 12 -
the False Prophet exercises the power of the FIRST
BEAST and causes worship of the FIRST
BEAST; Verse 14 – False Prophet can only perform
miracles under the oversight of the FIRST BEAST
and commanding the people to worship the FIRST BEAST;
Verse 15 – gives life to the image of the FIRST
BEAST. Those who don’t worship the image
of the FIRST BEAST; Verse 16 – is the
beginning of the sentence that ends in Verse 17 which is
about the FIRST BEAST.
In conclusion, if you are still
confused: 666 = ANTICHRIST = FIRST BEAST
which IS the WHOLE SUBJECT FOCUS OF THE ENTIRE
CHAPTER. The False Prophet, again is JUST an promoter
and enforcer of the Antichrist, nothing more. What
number would you want to avoid should you find yourself
having to choose? You would want to avoid the number
of his name from being stamped in your hand or on your
forehead. Whose name-number? The
Antichrist. What is his number? 666.
In Christ,
Kevin H.