The Antichrist

What does the Bible say about the Antichrist?

1 John 2:18 states “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”

1 John 2:22 states “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”

1 John 4:3 states “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

2 John 1:7 states “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”

Now, of course there are plenty of religions in the world that deny the Trinity, and that Jesus is the Son of God. Many of them are “Christian cults” ie cults that derive from the teachings of Christianity, such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses etc

However, there is ONE religion that specifically targets this teaching of the Trinity as the ONE unforgivable sin. The Trinity is THE MOST ABHORRENT teaching in this religion

In Islam, the teaching of the Trinity is the ONLY unforgivable sin. There is even a name for it, “Shirk”

O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.

- Quran 4:171

And say, "All Praise is due to Allah Who begets not an offspring, and has no partner in His Dominion, and has absolutely no weakness, hence no need of any aid." And so, extol His limitless Greatness.

- Quran 17:111

(The Sender of this Criterion is) He to Whom belongs the Kingship of the heavens and the earth. He has chosen no son, nor does He have a partner in His Kingship. He it is Who creates all things in precise design and gives them the potential to become what they are meant to be.

- Quran 25:2

On the inside and outside of many mosques around the world, especially in mosques that were conquered and built on the conquered churches is written:

“Allah is the father of none and that he has no begotten son”

Mosaic inscription both inside and out on the Dome of the Rock declare that God has no Son

Looking at the scriptures, I find it very hard to believe that the long held views by some that the Pope is the Antichrist, is credible. Do you know how often Catholics pray and preach about the Trinity and about Jesus being the Son of God? There may be many criticisms to many of the Catholic practices and beliefs, but denying the Trinity and Jesus being the Son of God CLEARLY isn't among them

The Beast and the Mark of the Beast

What is the Mark of the Beast?

Revelations 13:16-18 states "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

Furthermore,

Revelations 14: 9-10 warns "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb"

For many years, I have read this means 666, or some scholars say its 616. And this led to wild goose chases, with all kinds of inconsistent interpretations.

However, I believe when God gives a prophesy, we are not intended to interpret it until the time comes when God unveils our eyes, lest we go into error

Looking at all the available sources on the internet with clear scans of what it looks like, we can look at where the Mark of the Beast is written

The Oxyrhynchus Papyrus isn't very clear, it doesn't even look like a 6 in Greek at all, let alone 666

The Aramaic Peshitta writes the word out, but being translated, so we don't get to see what it actually looked like in original written form

Now here is where it gets interesting. The Stephanos 1550 text, you can see these symbols.

This is consistent with the Codex Vaticanus

Zoomed in from the Codex Vaticanus, it looks like this:

or as another website nicely draws:

For many years, this is translated to 666, because the greek 6 looks like this:

Consider this: The Mark of the Beast also corresponds to "Servant of Allah" in Arabic

Allah looks like this:

You can clearly see the comparison between the greek no 6 and Allah in Arabic, sideways:

Why sideways you ask? I do not know. What we do know is that John saw all these in a vision from God. Being a vision, the mark, if it is indeed in Arabic, is of a language and phrase from a religion that wasn't in existence yet. Perhaps he drew what he saw, or he did indeed think it was the Greek 6. However what is sure is that this was what he saw, whether or not he understood what it actually was.

Now, you compare the Codex Vaticanus and Bismillah (In the Name of Allah) and the Jihad symbol:

That’s quite something, isn’t it?

Now of course there are critics, dogmatically holding on to their obsolete understanding, insisting on 666 and waiting for this

However, I do not even have to look for barcodes and microchips, if you really want to see the Mark of the Beast, look no further to the mark on arms and heads below. They are everywhere, just google for pictures.

However, if you still have your doubts, consider this. If Islam is really the Beast, lets look into THEIR scriptures shall we? Are you surprised that there is a Beast in Islam, or that in Islam, the Beast is a GOOD creature?

“And when the Word (of torment) is fulfilled against them, We shall bring out from the earth a beast to them, which will speak to them because mankind believed not with certainty in Our Signs” Quran 27:82 (al-Naml 27:82)

The purpose of the Beast is to distinguish the believers from the unbelievers

“The beast will appear and he will brand the people on their noses. The people will then go on living with this branding such that a person will buy a camel and when he is asked, ‘From whom did you buy it?’ he will reply, ‘From one of the branded people.’” (Al-Albani)

Source:

http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/626/

Another website states:

The task of the Beast will be to distinguish the believers from the non-believers, with Prophet Moosa's staff it will draw a line on the forehead of every believer whereby his face will become bright and luminous and with the ring of Sulaman it will seal the nose of every non-believer where by his whole face will become black. Thus there will be complete distinction between the Muslim and non-Muslirn, so that if many parties sit at a dinner table, the Muslim and non-Muslirn will be distinguished.

(Abu Huraira-Musnad Ahmad/Tirmidhi)

Source:

http://www.inter-islam.org/faith/Majorsigns.html#beast

Now, compare this with what is written in Revelations:

“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 or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16-17

Both the Bible and the Islamic scriptures talk about a Beast branding its Beast’s followers, and arguably only the branded ones are able to trade.

Compelling? Or should we still be worried about microchips and bar codes?