The Image & Name of the Beast

How is it possible the Jesuit originated schools of Futurism and Preterism have, in most Evangelical churches, eclipsed that of the Historicist school as expounded in fact-based minute detail by the ancient Christians, Waldenses, Lollards, Protestant Reformers, Puritans and Reformed Baptists?

To find the answers we must go to God’s Word.

Although persistence and diligence in the study of the Revelation is an obvious asset, there are several other factors which must be recognized for their importance in discovering the meanings behind the symbolism of this last book.

1. Strong knowledge of the Old Testament is essential since the Revelation is replete with OT symbols and nomenclature.

2. Not all symbols or visions are to be taken literally. For example, in Rev. 1 we are told the seven stars represent seven angels, and in Rev. 22 we are told the angel is of John’s brethren, the prophets. Thus, the seven angels are seven prophets.

3. The very definition of the original Greek noun apokalupsis signifies ‘uncover, reveal’ not ‘conceal.’ But to whom is it revealed?

4. Certainly, Jesus was not revealed to all Israel, though He walked among them, performing innumerable miracles while teaching eternal divine truths like no other.

5. The same is true of the Antichrist, who walks among us performing fake miracles while teaching damnable heresies in the name of Jesus Christ.

6. It is God who gives the eyes to see and the ears to hear that which opposes Christ’s life, theology and moral doctrines. Unless this gift is given one cannot perceive the Antichrist, who is the exact contrary of Jesus Christ. This truth is amplified in several Scriptures:

· He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

· Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him.

· But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

· Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 

Temple of God: Literal?

Futurists would have us believe the temple of God found in Rev. 11 is a literal future re-built Jewish Temple located in Jerusalem.

However, Jesus’ statement contradicts that teaching:

And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple [Gr: hieron] and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple [Gr: hieron].

And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.k

Rather than illustrate the destruction of the Temple in vague terms Jesus specifically details the destruction in such a way as to lead the unbiased reader to conclude that the Temple shall not only be thrown down, but it will stay down.

And down it has stayed…..for nigh unto 2,000 years thus far.

To further guarantee it stays down, the Lord has sovereignly raised up the Palestinian Sunni Muslims so that they would build their most sacred mosque, Dome on the Rock, on the very grounds upon which the Jewish Temple once stood.

So then what does the temple of Rev. 11 refer to if not a literal re-built Jewish Temple?

Scripture gives us the answer.

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, [Gr: naon] and in three days I will raise it up.

Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

But he spake of the temple [Gr: naou] of his body.

(See Strong’s Concordance # 3485, naos.)

Please note that the literal temple of which Jesus was speaking in Matt. 24 uses the Greek noun hieron (Strong’s Concordance # 2411).

When speaking of the ‘temple of the body’ the Greek noun naos is always used.

Know ye not that ye are the temple [Gr: naos] of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

If any man defile the temple [Gr: naon] of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple [Gr: naos] of God is holy, which (temple) ye are.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple [Gr: naos] of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

And what agreement hath the temple [Gr: naou] of God with idols? for ye are the temple [Gr: naos] of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple [Gr: naon] in the Lord.

Let us now examine Rev. 11 to determine whether the Temple cited in the Greek text is that of hieron – the literal temple – or naos, the anti-type of the Jewish Temple……….the body of Christians in whom the Spirit of God dwells.

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple [Gr: naon] of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

But the court which is without the temple [Gr: naou] leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

In point of fact, the temple of Rev. 11 and all other references to the Temple of God in the Revelation speak of the spiritual temple of believers.

I encourage the reader to discover for himself the only Greek noun used in the Revelation referring to the temple of God is naos.

Now let us consider, another prophetic Scripture in which the phrase temple of God is utilized:

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple [Gr: naon] of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Once again, we have confirmation the temple of God of which the Holy Spirit speaks is the spiritual temple of God: the Body of Christ: the professing Christian Church…..not a literal re-built Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

Antichrist will be a fraudulent professing Christian who will claim rule over the professing universal Christian Church.

That fraud is the Bishop of Rome: the reigning Pope holding the Papal office who claims preeminence above all Christians.

 

Tabernacle of David = Tabernacle of God = Temple of God = Church of God = House of God

14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things (Acts 15:14-17).

Despite the insistence of our Dispensational friends that there is a clear division between the Jews and Gentiles allegedly described in the Revelation, James puts the matter to rest. Both elect Jews and Gentiles were always intended to be brought together into the House of God because they were always intended to be part of His eternal holy family.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God (Revelation 21:3).

 

One Significant Biblical Example Proving Papal Rome is Babylon

By examining the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, as recorded in Daniel 3, we find the following:

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

The King thought so highly of himself (cf. Daniel 4:30) that he demanded his image of gold be worshipped as a god:

Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,

5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Now when we fast forward 2,000 years to 15th century Roman Catholic England, we discover the command for all citizens to fall down and worship a false god is still in effect with the same dire consequences for disobedience.

John Foxe, Martyrologist, relates the following true, yet tragic story of 22-year-old Joan Waste. Though blind from birth physically, her disability did not curtail her ability to work for a living. Joan became adept at knitting and turning ropes for her father, a barber. Uneducated and unable to read, Joan saved her earnings to purchase a New Testament. One John Hurt, in debtor's prison, was willing to read to her one chapter a day. The days John was unable to accommodate her thirst for the Word, Joan would hire other readers for a penny or two. Able to recite, by memory, many chapters of the New Testament, she was also competent to impugn false doctrine, using Scripture as proof texts.

Soon after the death of King Edward VI, with Mary's accession as Queen, blind Miss Waste became a marked woman. Refusing to discontinue her Bible studies, preaching, and contending for the faith, while unwilling to compromise with the unbiblical Romanists, Joan soon found herself before the Inquisition chaired by Roman Catholic Bishop Rafe Bayne and Dr. Draicot, his chancellor. Her charges included:

· First, That she did hold the sacrament of the altar to be but only a memory or representation of Christ's body, and material bread and wine, but not his natural body……

· Item, That she did hold, in the receiving of the sacrament of the altar, she did not receive the same body that was born of the Virgin Mary, and suffered upon the cross for our redemption.

· Item, She did hold, that Christ at his last supper did not bless the bread that he had then in his hands, but was blessed himself; and, by virtue of the words of consecration, the substance of the bread and wine is not converted and turned into the substance of the body and blood of Christ.

In answering these charges, Miss Waste replied she believed only as the Holy Scriptures taught and as learned men had taught her. Men who were imprisoned and even suffered death for the same doctrine. She named specifically Lollard pastor, Dr. Rowland Taylor, who died for his faith, asking the Inquisitors if they would likewise prove their doctrine by dying for it: "which if they would not, she desired them for God's sake not to trouble her, being a blind, poor and unlearned woman, with any further talk, saying that - by God's assistance - she was ready to yield up her life in that faith, in such sort as they should appoint."

Threatened with imprisonment, torture and death unless she renounce her Lollard doctrine and agree to the fraudulent and blasphemous Roman doctrine of Transubstantiation, blind Joan Waste asked if the Bishop would answer to God on the Day of Judgment in her stead, if she believed as he commanded. Whereupon promptly she was condemned a heretic, and delivered to prison five weeks prior to her death. On the day of her martyrdom, Dr. Draicot delivered a sermon before the populace, in her presence: "...that that woman was condemned for denying the blessed sacrament of the altar to be the very body and blood of Christ really and substantially, and was thereby cut off from the Catholic Church; and said that she was not only blind of her bodily eyes, but also blind in the eyes of her soul. And he said, that as her body should be presently consumed with material fire, so her soul should be burned in hell with everlasting fire, as soon as it shall be separated from the body, and there to remain world without end; and said that it was not lawful for the people to pray for her."

Led to the Windmill-Pit outside town, she was accompanied by her brother, Roger, who held her hand to comfort her while she prayed, calling on Christ to have mercy upon her soul. Martyrologist John Foxe adds that Dr. Draicot slept soundly in his room at the Inn while Joan Waste burned. Testifying to the veracity of his eyewitness sources, Mr. Foxe states, "I have been here for the more bold to commit this story to posterity, for all good men to consider and judge upon." (Acts & Monuments, Volume 8, pp. 247-250).

Joan Waste refused to bow down and worship the image of the beastly Roman Catholic god, whom they call ‘Jesus.’ She chose death by fire over dishonoring her Lord and Savior.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.