Is the World about to End?- Part 8. Friday 30 April, 2010 Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, V

Is the World about to End? - Part 8. - Mark of the Beast.

Are we living through the Apocalypse? by Brother Peter Dimond of the Most Holy Family Monastery

( http://www.vaticancatholic.com/ )

A continuing transcription from the video on the Apocalypse by Bro. Peter Dimond

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Bro. Peter Dimond,

" Now I want to move to the Mark of the beast.

In Apocalypse 13: 16-18, we find, what is surely the most famous verse of the Apocalypse - we read, "And he should make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freeman and bondman, to have a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and that no man might buy or sell, but he hath the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name: here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: and the number of him is six hundred and sixty six."

So, we have a number of different statements there, and people, often when considering this verse or verses, join them all together. But there are a number of different statements which will have to be looked at individually, and so, I want to begin by focusing on the second part of this set of statements.

Before I do that, people have to remember the whole point I have been making, throughout this discussion, is that if something is done by the empire itself, the beast coming out of the sea, that is done by the beast. And if something is done by the head of the beast, that is done by the beast.

But that which is done by the beast of the empire itself, doesn't necessarily have to be done by the head of the beast.

Now, I want move to the second statement: "And that no man might buy or sell, but he hath the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

Here is a coin of the EU - on the Euro coin, we can see the image or mark of the European Union - we see the map of the Empire area, the Mediterranean, Italy, and the boot - on every single Euro coin.

It's also on every single European cash note - here's a picture of a Euro cash note - you can see the map of the European Union ( EU ), with the Mediterranean etc.

On some of the smaller denominations of money, they don't have a full map, but they have an image or mark of the different countries so they have the Union represented.

The mark is on every single Euro coin or cash note - it's also interesting, that when you look at this Euro coin, you see six stars at the top and six stars at the bottom, and you see six lines connecting them - so you have 666 on all coins!

However, there's a much more interesting 666 connection, which I will discuss.

In the Eurozone, even though the Eurozone isn't directly identical to the European Union, there are a few countries which are in the EU, which are not in the Eurozone, and there are a few countries which are in the Eurozone which are not in the EU.

Here is a map of the Eurozone - you can see basically the whole western area - this whole block of continental Europe is part of the Eurozone.

So, no man can buy or sell , whether you are using cash or coins without the Mark of the Beast, the beast coming out of the sea.

So, St. John saw the Roman Empire, the beast arising out of the sea, and then he sees the new Roman Empire arising out of the sea; then he sees its currency and he sees the mark of the beast on every single coin and cash note - so one can see how this fits precisely with what he said.

It's also interesting, that with the Euros, you have, on the coins, a national side and a common side.

For instance, if you are in France, you would have a side specialized for France, but it will have a common side, which will have the map of the Union, the mark of what I believe is the beast out of the sea.

And, a country can't modify the common side which has the mark without that money ceasing to be legal tender.

Now, what's very interesting is that there was a Euro released in Greece, with its national side and the common side - on the national side you had the "woman on the beast."

St. John sees the woman on the beast - that's how he depicts the beast with seven heads and ten horns. We showed that Europa, from Greek mythology, was depicted as a woman riding on a beast.

The EU uses that very symbol for itself - "the woman on a beast" - and we have it on the Greek Euro coin, the national side, a woman on a beast. And this is even more important to consider, because St. John was receiving this vision on the Island of Patmos, which is in modern day Greece.

And so, if he were alive today, when he was receiving this vision, he would be in Greece - he would be part of the EU - in which the specialised coin they released, had the image of the woman on a beast.

So, you can see what he's prophesying about the beast coming out of the sea, and it has its mark on all of its currency - you can't buy or sell without it - could very well, I believe, be fulfilled here.

Some people might say, "Well, what about payment in other ways, outside of cash or coins, such as credit cards or other kinds of payments?" What's interesting is that it says in this verse, "No man might buy or sell unless he has the mark of the beast, the name of the beast or the number of his name."

And the name of the beast, means the authority of the beast - so that would be a way of indicating payment in other ways - but we have to remember, this is a general statement about what's going on - it's not necessarily all exclusive, and so if no one can buy or sell, in cash and coins, without the mark of the beast, I believe that's fulfilled.

It's also worth noting that people who comment on the Greek in this passage, point out that though it's usually translated, "No man might buy or sell," it it doesn't necessarily mean every man - it could be a general prohibition, or a large portion or some.

So, if there are any exceptions at all to that, it doesn't disprove what has been prophesized, or show that it cannot be the fulfillment, because even those who imagine that a system will come in which there is a total universal prohibition, of buying and selling without some kind of mark, they would have to admit there would probably be some people who were trading, or buying and selling outside of the system.

So, even if there are a few exceptions, it does not invalidate the point, because we have to remember St. John is writing from the Mediterranean Sea, the Roman Empire - he's writing to people within the Roman Empire - he's concerned with what's going to happen in Europe and in the area of the Mediterranean.

Some people are also under the impression that the Bible says, that"whosoever buys or sells with the mark of the beast, is damned." The Bible doesn't teach that, as we will see.

The passages which talk about those who are damned, for having the mark, are damned for having the mark in their hand or forehead, and adoring the image - so there is a link between the mark and the hand and the forehead, which I am going to discuss, and adoring the image of the beast.

It doesn't say those who buy or sell with the mark of the beast are damned. Not once! And so, I believe this is the fulfillment of what St. John was prophesying concerning the buying and selling, and the mark of the beast.

Now, moving back to the first part of the statement concerning how the second beast causes all, great and small to have a mark or character in their right hand or on their foreheads - and it goes on to say, that the number of the beast, is the number of a man, and the number of the man is six hundred and sixty six.

There is overwhelming scriptural evidence, that the mark of the beast is a spiritual fulfillment, in addition to what I believe is the physical fulfillment, concerning the buying and selling - but before I get to that, I want to point out that Benedict XVI's name in Greek, "Benediktos" = 666 !

That is stunning!

If he is the second beast, as I believe he is, and if he is the seventh king, the final one who will cause people to worship the first beast "whose deadly wound was healed," and causes people to worship the Antichrist, because most commentators identify the first beast who was wounded as the Antichrist, and the second beast who causes people to worship him as the false prophet, that also would fit with John Paul II and Benedict XVI, because John Paul II fits precisely with the figure of Antichrist, Benedict XVI because of his false reputaton as a conservative, fits with the title of "false prophet," causing people to worship the Antichrist.

So, it has the seventh king, the second beast, the last king causing people to worship the king who was wounded, could it be the reason his name equals 666, is a signal that he is the seventh king, because as we saw in Apoc. 7, " FIVE are fallen, one is" - the sixth is, when the beast comes into existence - " the other has not yet come, and when he is come, he must remain a short time."

And so, if he is the seventh king, the fact that his name in Greek = 666, is that a signal that he is the final individual causing people to worship the Antichrist? - I believe so.

People throughout history have always speculated who the beast might be - "Was it Nero, or someone else?" - and they have tried to force fit the name usually by adding letters so as to get the numerical value to come out to 666 - sometimes it would be in a different language, like Latin or Hebrew .

But, Benedict XVI's name comes out to exactly 666, and it does so in Greek, and that's the crucial language - St. John wrote the Apocalypse in Greek!