Revelation 13 (Amplified Bible)
Revelation 13
[AS] I stood on the sandy beach, I saw a beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads. On his horns he had ten royal crowns (diadems) and blasphemous titles (names) on his heads.
2And the beast that I saw resembled a leopard, but his feet were like those of a bear and his mouth was like that of a lion. And to him the dragon gave his [own] might and power and his [own] throne and great dominion.
3And one of his heads seemed to have a deadly wound. But his death stroke was healed; and the whole earth went after the beast in amazement and admiration.
4They fell down and paid homage to the dragon, because he had bestowed on the beast all his dominion and authority; they also praised and worshiped the beast, exclaiming, Who is a match for the beast, and, Who can make war against him?
5And the beast was given the power of speech, uttering boastful and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom to exert his authority and to exercise his will during forty-two months (three and a half years).
6And he opened his mouth to speak slanders against God, blaspheming His name and His abode, [even vilifying] those who live in heaven.
7He was further permitted to wage war on God’s holy people (the saints) and to overcome them. And power was given him to extend his authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation,
8And all the inhabitants of the earth will fall down in adoration and pay him homage, everyone whose name has not been recorded in the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain [in sacrifice] from the foundation of the world.
9If anyone is able to hear, let him listen:
10Whoever leads into captivity will himself go into captivity; if anyone slays with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Herein is [the call for] the patience and the faith and fidelity of the saints (God’s people).
11Then I saw another beast rising up out of the land [itself]; he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke (roared) like a dragon.
12He exerts all the power and right of control of the former beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell upon it to exalt and deify the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed, and to worship him.
13He performs great signs (startling miracles), even making fire fall from the sky to the earth in men’s sight.
14And because of the signs (miracles) which he is allowed to perform in the presence of the [first] beast, he deceives those who inhabit the earth, commanding them to erect a statue (an image) in the likeness of the beast who was wounded by the [small] sword and still lived.
15And he is permitted [also] to impart the breath of life into the beast’s image, so that the statue of the beast could actually talk and cause to be put to death those who would not bow down and worship the image of the beast.
16Also he compels all [alike], both small and great, both the rich and the poor, both free and slave, to be marked with an inscription [stamped] on their right hands or on their foreheads,
17So that no one will have power to buy or sell unless he bears the stamp (mark, inscription), [that is] the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18Here is [room for] discernment [a call for the wisdom of interpretation]. Let anyone who has intelligence (penetration and insight enough) calculate the number of the beast, for it is a human number [the number of a certain man]; his number is 666.
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Who is this man? This is the question that has yet to be answered, the prophecy that has yet to be solved. The Bible is the most prophetic book on the earth - proven to be. It is also the Word of God, and taken as and is the breathed Word of God. Out of all the Bible, the most difficult prophecy remains the man of the number 666. In the scripture above we see that the dragon, in other words Satan, gave this beast all the power that he had including speech which was used to speak slander against the only God Almighty and wage war against everyone who devoted their lives to Christ and were saved. Those who are not saved would worship this beast. From there another beast rises to control the first beast while making fire come from the sky and other miraculous things to deceive people into making a statue like the first beast. From there he breathes life…yes…life into this statue to make it talk! From there, people who don’t worship this monster will die, and those who will worship get the mark of the beast on their foreheads or on their right hands.
Now the number of the beast is to be calculated by anyone who has wisdom of interpretation as this number is a human number. The number is 666. Who is it?
The obvious things are that he will hate God, saints, and anything that has to do with God Almighty. He will have superhuman powers, so much so that many will be deceived except for the saints. This beast will even be able to breathe life into a statue! Talk about deceiving. This antichrist will truly try to make himself or erect himself as if he is God through deceptions.
As far as who he is, no one has a clue really and truly as to the identity…right now. However, one will be able to follow the signs that God gave about him as God has always been on point with hitting it dead on. For example, with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, God gave so many clues centuries prior to Jesus’ birth. Born of a virgin who is young and unmarried, Immanuel(God with us) will be his name - Isaiah 7:14 - okay this is like 1 out of kabillion! God still said this would be and it was so. Therefore, with the clues above, surely saints can call this one when it is time.
For now though, does anyone have a clue as to who 666 is or will be? Do you believe that he is born right now or is not here just yet? One thing is for sure, the Bible doesn’t lie. It will come to pass.