The fourth distinct and common Christian theme concerning the end times is the existence of a powerful entity known as “the Beast” that will play a critical part in the events during the End of Days and whose true identity is known by the number 666 – a mystery that until now has not been revealed. |
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| The “beast” refers to not one, but two entities defined by John of Patmos in Chapter 13 of his Book of Revelation. The first is defined as a beast that arises out of the sea with seven heads and 10 horns. The second beast arises out of the earth having the appearance of a lamb while speaking like a dragon. John of Patmos then challenges the reader the “calculate the number of the Beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is 666” (Rev. 13:18). |
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| While the whole book of Revelation uses such images and descriptions that are vivid and challenging, the passages relating to the Beast have intrigued readers since John first wrote his words. It is because he both hides the identity of the two Beasts in allegory and at the same time challenges each generation of readers to solve the riddle of the number 666. |
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| Today, most modern Christians believe the argument that the first Beast described in Revelation is Rome, while the second is another name for the anti-christ. In spite of many theories of all kinds, the true significance of the number 666 remains a mystery. |
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| While this comfortable packaging and interpretation of Revelation might satisfy most Christians, it is a highly simplistic and wholly false assumption that is neither accurate in the literal reading of Revelation, nor in any basic application of logical reasoning. |
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| John of Patmos is clear- there are two beasts who gain their power from “dragon” an obvious symbol of some great significance. Revelation is clear- neither Beast is the anti-Christ! So who are the beasts, who is the Dragon and what is the significance of 666? |
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| The enigmatic St. John the last Apostle | ||
| The Gospel of John is the most peculiar and unique of the four canon (“approved”) gospels of Christianity. It is for these differences and because of the close similarities that the other three (Matthew, Mark and Luke) share that they are called the “synoptic” gospels and revered as the “most accurate” record of the life of Jesus. |
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| Yet none of the three other gospels have ever been claimed to have been written by one of the original twelve apostles of Jesus, whereas, the Gospel of John has for most of the past two thousand years been firmly believed as the gospel of John the apostle, almost known as John the evangelist and John of Patmos. |
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| It is only in the last hundred years that the Roman Catholic Church has sought to belittle this association by claiming in various ways that this Gospel could not have been written by the apostle John, but by “some other” John. |
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| This is because with new forensic methods of both language analysis and historic investigation, the Gospel of John has started to raise more questions than it answers. |
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| There is a clear undertone of Gnosticism throughout the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation, something of an anomaly when considering John was one of the original twelve apostles and the Christian churches have spent two thousand years killing every possible Gnostic teacher and burning every manuscript they could find. |
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| In the early history of the church when James the Just, the brother of Jesus was still leader and Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) was still alive, there are oblique references in Acts and the writings of early church fathers that not all was happy between them. It seems Paul of Tarsus was regularly overstepping the mark in some way. |
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| In the end it was the forces of Paul of Tarsus that won the battle and the founding disciples of Jesus and the Nazarenes were defeated. John of Patmos remains the last. But what could the significance of the prophecy of the Beast and its number 666 be? |
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| The truth hidden in plain sight | ||
| Sometimes the most obvious truth is best hidden in plain sight. Consider two of the most traumatic events in Jewish history- the destruction of the Great Temple in Jerusalem first by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar at the end of the 6th Century BCE and then the destruction of the Temple of Herod in 70 CE. |
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| Legend says that both temples were destroyed in exactly the same day - a day known as Tisha B'Av or Tish'ah b'Av. Its name denotes the ninth day (Tisha) of the Jewish month of Av, which falls in July or August. It remains an extraordinary coincidence that the two horrendous events for faithful Jews would happen to occur on precisely the same day. |
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| But of course, nothing is said of the significance in terms of years between both events. In most accepted books of history, the Temple of Solomon is various described as being destroyed anytime from 586 to 590 BCE. |
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| It is recorded that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem in 597 BCE, but the circumstances explained for the destruction of the Temple is a dubious story of an apparent rebellion almost ten years after the Babylonians had conquered the city. It is hardly a credible claim. A much more credible timeframe for the destruction of the Temple of Solomon is within one year of the conquering of Jerusalem or 596 BCE. |
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| Why then would scholars and writers go to the lengths in trying to delay the date for the destruction of the Temple of Solomon- any date except 596 BCE? The answer is 666! The number of the beast. |
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| The Sadducees- worshippers of demons and sacrificers to demons |
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| The Gnostics amongst their complex philosophies had some rather controversial things to say regarding the Sadducees and the ancient pagan religions of their day. |
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| They accused the Sadducees, the traditional noble bloodlines from which the Kings of Judah did come of being worshippers of false idols, of demon (satanic) gods and partaking in rituals of human sacrifice. |
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| The Old Testament is littered with direct references of the prophets fighting with the Sadducee Kings and nobles to stop them working demon gods and human sacrifice, so such claims by the Gnostics has foundation even in the Old Testament itself. |
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| The principle pantheon of gods of the Sadducees were mainly derived from their Syrian Ugarit roots- The most senior God was Dagan, the god of agriculture, plenty (food) and good fortune. The priests of Dagan wore fish dress , the archetype of the Mitre (fish) hats of Christian bishops. Next was Ashtoreth the goddess of fertility, sexuality and war. Her most famous temples were on Cyprus as Aphrodite and in Rome on Vatican Hill as Cybele. Then there was Moloch, Hebrew name for Ba’al of the land. |
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| So when John of Patmos in Chapter 13 of Revelation is speaking of the beasts and the “dragon” he is defining the principle demon deity of the Sadducee Jews. Why would he do this? What then is the significance of the destruction of the second temple on precisely the same day 666 years later in 70 CE? |
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| Who then really destroyed the second temple controlled by the Sadducee priests? and why? |
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