Revelation

The Mark of the Beast

Valerie Cullers 11 Comments

A few weeks ago, my brother called me. He had just read an MSN article titled, “Bill Gates Declares the End of the Smartphone Era and Unveils its Surprising Replacement.” The article talks about a new kind of electronic tattoo that has been developed. It uses invisible ink and has nanocapacitors that are integrated into the body. “Instead of holding a phone in our hands, these tattoos could allow us to communicate, access the internet, and even monitor our health, all without a screen in sight.” He wanted to know if I thought this new technology was “the mark of the beast.”

At the moment, I don’t believe that it is “the mark of the beast,” but that doesn’t mean that the technology couldn’t be used for it in the future. In fact, several technologies have been in place for well over a decade. A 2018 NPR article, “Thousands of Swedes Are Inserting Microchips Under Their Skin,” informs us that microchips are being used in Sweden to help people “speed up their daily routines and make lives more convenient – accessing their homes, offices and gyms is as easy as swiping their hands against digital readers.” No longer is this kind of biotechnology in the realm of science fiction or wild conspiracy theories. It is here and is being used and tested in several countries. It has been so popular in Sweden that the owner of the firm, Biohax, was “developing training materials so he can hire Swedish doctors and nurses to help take on some of his heavy workload.”

If you want to know if something is “the mark of the beast,” your best bet is first of all to read Chapter 13 in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. It talks about a man who will deceive those who dwell on the earth. He will make an image of the beast, and he “causes as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He 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 of the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

In my mind, in order for something to be “the mark of the beast,” you first have to have the beast, or the AntiChrist as he is called by many, on the earth and exercising power. This mark is about allegiance to this powerful man. An image will be made of him and “as many as would not worship the image of the beast will be killed.”

Make no mistake, should that person come on the earth, the technology is already here to make these prophecies a reality. In the meantime, what am I going to do? For starters, I am not going to have a microchip implanted in my body. I am also not going to have an invisible tattoo placed on my skin with all of my personal information on it. We should all be very aware as to where this technology could eventually lead and who it could be used by.

On the prophetic timeline, I see us standing at the beginning of chapter six in the book of Revelation. Many significant events are coming in the future, and the Lord’s judgments will come upon the earth before His Second Coming. It’s time to wake up and look around at what is happening in the world. Especially look at what is happening in the realm of technology. The brave new world is already here; it is not waiting in the wings. We need to familiarize ourselves with the scriptures so we are not caught off guard by events that will soon take place.

If you are interested in this subject, one of the most informative books I have read is “Revealing Revelation” by Amir Tsarfati. It is written for everyone and is easy to understand. The book is very well written and the author is humble enough to admit he and other scholars do not know what certain allegorical references mean. I would highly recommend it.

Image by Suj026. Courtesy of Pixabay.

Is America “Babylon the Great?”

Valerie Cullers 23 Comments

Every year, I try to read through the Bible. As I was nearing the end of Revelation in November, I wondered, “Is America “Babylon the Great?” For years, people have asked, “Where is America in Scripture?” They couldn’t find her and thought that perhaps she would have receded in power and would no longer be part of the End Times Scenario.

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

But what if she is there under another name?

“Some great scholars believe that America and Babylon the great are one and the same because of the information presented in the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, plus the words of John the Seer in Revelation, chapter 18.

Consider the following momentarily. Isaiah 18:1,2 depicts a latter-day nation that amazingly resembles modern America. This nation (1) has the insignia of wings – similar to our national emblem, the bald eagle; (2) is a land that is beyond the sea from Israel; (3) is scattered and peeled – meaning it is widely spread out or has great land areas; (4) is meted out – or staked out – by acres and miles; and (5) is a land whose rivers are spoiled – or polluted.

As one studies Jeremiah’s remarks, he is amazed to see that modern America seems to be the fulfillment of these predictions because : (1) she is a nation of mingled people (Jeremiah 50:37); (2) she is a nation whose mother shall be sorely confounded and who coexists with the “mother” at the hour of her decline (50:12);  (3) she dwellest upon many waters (51:13); (4) her wealth plagues the nations of the earth to the point of insane jealousy (51:17); (5) her space exploits are so utterly fantastic that she tries to mount up to heaven (51:53) and (6) she exists when Israel is back in the land.”  from Revelation Revealed by Jack Van Impe.

I thought about these references a lot and decided to reread a book I had read a few years ago. “The Bablyon Code” by Paul McGuire and Troy Anderson delves into these questions and covers: Mystery Babylon, Geopolitical-Military Babylon, Economic Babylon and Spiritual-Technical Babylon. It is a really interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in this subject.  

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Is America “Babylon the Great?”  I don’t know, but I am convinced more and more that she just might be.

I Saw a Red Horse

Valerie Cullers 13 Comments

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About twenty years ago, I was going to the bank to make a deposit. I looked up in the sky, and in the middle of the sky, there was a red cloud that was shaped like a horse’s head. It was stunning…all alone in the middle of the sky, and it just stayed there. I parked the car and pulled over to look at it. I didn’t have a camera with me, so I couldn’t take a picture of it. After a few minutes, I went into the bank and made my deposit. The cloud was still there when I came out, and I watched it again. It had not dissipated or changed at all. It was striking and I will never forget it. 

I continued on my errands, went home, and cooked dinner for my family. Later that night, a friend of mine called. She was going to a university about 70 miles away on the other side of the mountains. I told her what I had seen, and she said she had also seen the same cloud. I thought that was pretty remarkable. I have looked at clouds since I was a child. You can see a shape in them, but sooner or later, the shape will change and dissipate. Nothing of the sort happened that day with the red horse’s head.

It made me think about the book of Revelation. I had never heard of the book of Revelation before I was a senior in high school. I was in an upper-level English class and we were reading a poem by William Butler Yeats entitled, “The Second Coming.” We discussed the poem, and people mentioned the book of Revelation and the Antichrist. I had never heard of those terms because I was Biblically illiterate. I wanted to check them out, so I went upstairs to the school library and took a Bible off the shelf. I turned to the book of Revelation, and words just started jumping off the page at me. I read about the city on seven hills and immediately knew it was Rome. To say the book caught my attention was an understatement. 

Since that time, I have read the book of Revelation many times. I have read several books and commentaries about it. Some people believe it is allegorical and that it describes the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. or the persecution of the Christians in the first centuries by the Roman emperors. Others, like me, take it literally and look for future signs of its fulfillment. 

For those of you who have not actually read the book of Revelation, it is the last book in the Bible written by the Apostle John while he was in exile on the Isle of Patmos. It describes the visions he saw while on Patmos. It is filled with lots of symbolism describing God’s final judgments on the earth and the restoration of all things. There are three sets of judgments that come on the earth, and the first set opens with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse being unleashed. The first horse is white and carries a figure that many believe to be the Antichrist, who will go forth to rule and reign on the earth. The second horse is red, and its rider brings war to the earth. The third horse is black, and its rider brings famine to the earth. The last horse is pale (chlorus in the Greek), and it brings death upon the earth. Certainly a frightening scenario from any standpoint of view. 

The scholars who take the Book of Revelation literally fall into several camps. Some believe that all of the judgments will happen within a seven-year period that will culminate in a final battle being fought on the plains of Megiddo in Israel. Most people refer to this battle as the Battle of Armageddon, (Har Megiddo in Hebrew -meaning the Mountain of Megiddo). Others believe the judgments will take place over a more prolonged period of time and look back to say World War I as possibly the beginning of the fulfillment of these prophecies. 

Because the book is so symbolic, no one knows for sure exactly how it will unfold. Almost all of the symbols in the book are found in the Old Testament. The book of Daniel has many symbols that are directly related to the book of Revelation.

I, for one, don’t know for sure when all of these events will take place. There are, however, some very interesting things in the book. For example, in Chapter 8, the third trumpet judgment describes a great burning star falling to earth and polluting the waters. It states that many men will die because of the water pollution. The name of the star is Wormwood. Wormwood in the Russian and Ukrainian Bibles is translated as Chernobyl. I find that interesting, to say the least.

For those of you who haven’t read the book, I would highly recommend it. You will be reading it with fresh eyes, and who knows how it will speak to you. There are lots of commentaries and viewpoints about the book of Revelation. I think it is important to read many of the different viewpoints so a person can make an informed decision about what they believe and how they choose to interpret it.