I know who the Antichrist is!, page 2

Originally posted by Willow_Dryad
First of all I would like to say that this is just my ideas on a possible interpretation. I dont hold the bible to be accurate, and my interpretation may be wrong.

Weeellll...Hello there, Willow Dryad! I'm so glad to see you!
I like the way you think.

Regarding Revelation 13. Firstly we are told about the first beast with 7 heads that arises from the sea, one of the heads had a death-stroke which yet lived. I propose the 7 heads of this beast to represent world religions. 5 that were, one that is, and one to come (at the time of writing, Islam did not exist, and Christianity - the one that is, was well and truly corrupted). Judaism is the head that recieved the death stroke, but yet lived. The horns could be significant world leaders throughout the ages.

My thoughts on the seven heads are that they represent the dynasties of world rule, starting with Egypt, then Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Then there is the current worldly ruler of (perhaps) capitalism and/or the UN and/or global trade (I don't know what I'd call it, I'm just not sure.) This could be the seventh, with the sixth fitting in there as the previous millenia which began with Constantine's christianity and ended with the reformation.... That actually fits the timeline of human social awareness, so hmmmm...

As to the ten horns, I feel they represent the 'rejected' 10 tribes (while the '144,000' represents the gathered remnant)--Judah and Benjamin are not included, since they stayed 'known,' so to speak. I don't think of these things in terms of Jewish nationality, but rather feel that 'Israel' is the name of an angelic host--lost in the fall from consciousness and who also have been a source of 'seeds' for human life. I'm not into aliens or any of that stuff, but I do view most everything from a metaphysical perspective, if that explains the nature of what I'm saying.

LOL

I do not believe that ANY other system upon earth could blaspheme God in the way that Revelation 13:5 talks about, other than religion.

Amen to that! Religion is truly the worst man-made evil in the world. The only evil. My take on the lamb with two horns who speaks like a dragon is that it represent christianity (by taking on the form of a lamb) with one horn (branch of government) being the RCC and the other being the other side started with the Reformation. It is all delusion and cleverly costumed lies and so that is why it 'has the mouth of the dragon'--representative of the original 'liar and murderer'.

Governments ultimately care about themselves, they may well say and do things in the name of their god, but ultimately they dont carry the same weight as religions do.

Underneath all government there is the perpetual current of religion. I read an excellent quote today regarding that, but I can't remember where..

Fighting wars, committing the most disgusting crimes, hiding behind their god so they can molest children and turn their lives into living hell... no political system can do this to the degree religion can.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
--Isaiah 5:20 KJV

Religion has had authority over the entire earth. Its 42 months are over though; people now do not have to worship it they can choose not to and not be killed. This was not the case before. However, the image of the beast excercises the same authority of the first beast.

Agreed. The first beast is man (Adam gave up his sovreignity over the earth to the 'serpent') and the image of that beast is the made-up gods that religion creates according the petty short-sightedness of man, himself.

Now, I think that Christ's second coming occured when he said it would, in the generation of his disciples. He arrived to judge Jerusalem, and the Romans destroyed the temple. I have no evidence though to back this up, so its purely theory.

Do you ever consider that perhaps the holy spirit (as the 'ghost' of Christ's soul?) was the second coming?
Or is it perhaps the just-budding out of the fig tree--the awakening/birth of the son of man (being God in man)? Maybe more aptly referred to as the exodus (from the 'death' of perception limited to material concepts)/restoration (to consciousness?)

Onto the mark of the beast. The beast that gives the mark is not one of the original 7, it is another one that creates an IMAGE of the beast, that all should worshp. It would be a REPLICA of Judaism. It would not be Judaism though, can you think of an organisation that exists like that? This would be the Abomination that causes Desolation... the disgusting thing standing in a holy place. Has this happened? Either I have interpreted this wrong, or it has not happened, or is in the process of happening.

No, I think you're on it--I think the 'abomination of desolation' has been the state of the last '42 months', aka 'the times of the gentiles'--without God in any earthly temple, all religion, then, is basically idolatry. Mankind (in general) tends to discredit the reality within him, preferring not to believe what has been shown (to some) as proof that God is within us.

I seriously dont think that chips will be the mark of the beast. Its too obvious. I do believe that people will always push prophecy to mean what they want it to, people want to be remembered throughout history, and some dont care if its good or bad. In fact, people are more likely to be remembered if they commit evils. I think that if there ever was a mark, we either have already been marked and dont know it, or will be and wont know it. It could also be edited text in the bible, inaccurate.

I think for the most part, it is reliable, just very poorly understood as to it's true purpose. The bible is taken by most to be literal when it is figurative, while missing the allegorical lessons about things that can only be truly explained allegorically--things not seen must be explained through metaphorical use of things seen, to those who only perceive the reality of material existence.

People need to remember that prophecy is rarely correctly interpreted before it happens, its not until afterwards it becomes apparant. ITs also possible that the prophecies are lies, added to the texts by people with an agenda, or parts have been altered/taken away.

I think the word, itself--'prophesy', has been greatly mutated over the course of a few millenia, as far as what it actually means. The word 'prophet' comes from a Hebrew word which means 'to bubble forth.' A prophet was originally regarded not just as a prognosticator (as is the case these days) but as someone who could articulate to man what God was sending. God doesn't send us thoughts in any language--language is for the purpose of human communication, only--and I think that has something to do with the nature of 'original sin' as far as the tree of the knowledge's fruit. The written spoken word is both good and evil--and if a word spoken makes permanent impact on the fabric of the universe, through sound waves, then it only follows (to me, at least) that the predecessor of a spoken word (which is a thought or unspoken word) would also leave some sort of impact on the energy we call reality.

So the antichrist could already be here, may have been and gone, or may not even be born yet. The bible does not explicitly say there is AN antichrist, but many.

That's right, there is no definite article before the word in the Greek, which is actually more than one different word, translated as 'antichrist' and in some newer translations, has morphed into 'the Antichrist.'

There is mention of a significant person, who goes above and beyond what his predecessors did... he even intends to Change Times and law I suspect this is significant... (Daniel 7:25) Maybe there is no antichrist, and there was no christ. There are people in control, and have been since the beginning. Maybe we are just being taken for a ride.

Only if we're doing it ourselves!

Everything has been planned, and people are just grasping at straws.

I think so.