Bill Gates & the Mark of the Beast?

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Michael Dionisio, I hope I said that right, he says have you heard that Bill Gates and his cohorts are pushing for a chip to be put into people's arms that would carry all of the person's information as well as be their means of buying and selling?

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A cashless society and a new world order, question mark. Would that mean Revelation 13, 16 through 18 should be viewed from a futuristic understanding?

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Michael, it's a fantastic question. What I would encourage everybody to do is, well, start with our series if you really want to get into Great Tribulation stuff, which is where many of the main questions come from in this context.

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Start with our series we did in the Great Tribulation, read the last days according to Jesus, listen to R .C.

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Sproul's lectures on the last days according to Jesus, I think they really bless you all. But in terms of the book of Revelation, again

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I'm trying to do this fast, forgive me everybody for speaking so fast here, but the book of Revelation I believe was written before the destruction of Jerusalem.

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I think that could be demonstrated internally, biblically, from the text itself. The temple is still standing.

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John's told to go measure it in the book of Revelation. You'd be hard -pressed to really believe or defend the fact that that temple is gone.

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It was the central part of their worship, no mention of its destruction, but it's still standing and he's told to measure it in the book of Revelation.

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But also the fact that the time indicators in the book of Revelation demonstrate that these things are soon to take place.

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I mean, as a matter of fact, you read the first chapter of the book of Revelation in the first couple of verses and you're gonna see the time indicators right there on the page up front.

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It says the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

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He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

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Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it for the time is near.

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You also have the fact in verse 7 it says, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.

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And all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Tribe, tribes of the earth, the land, very

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Jewish context. Also, any of those people that pierced Jesus hanging around today? No, they're not.

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But they were before the destruction of Jerusalem. Keep going through the book of Revelation. You'll see the time indicators very clearly.

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These things are soon to take place. The time is near and you also see in the book of Revelation context.

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You have two major antagonists in the book of Revelation. You have Jewish antagonism and you have

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Roman antagonism. The beast, I believe, is Rome. Seven -headed, ten -horned beast.

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Rome is known as the Septimontium. It's on the back of their coins. The city of Seven Hills.

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It had ten imperial provinces. You say seven -headed, ten -horned beast to a first century

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Jewish Christian living under Roman rule? No problems in understanding what's happening there.

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Seven -headed, ten -horned beast. But you also have the fact that there's this discussion about those who say they are

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Jews and are not. They lie. They're a synagogue of Satan. Jesus is addressing the

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Jewish issue very specifically in the book of Revelation right there. But you also have the clear persecution of the

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Jews and the Romans on the Christians. Now, question. When did that take place in history? Well, we know that it took place actually during the 60s of the first century, shortly before the fall of Jerusalem.

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Not the hippie 60s. Not the hippie 60s. 60s first century, baby. No numbers before it. The 60s.

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And it took place before the fall of Jerusalem. You went from primarily

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Jewish persecution of the early Christian Church to now you have the Jewish and Roman persecution of the

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Christian Church. And who really headed all that up? Well, it was Nero. Emperor Nero.

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And Nero was a beast. He was even described as a beast in early writings.

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He was a disgusting, evil man. Just a couple things if you haven't heard before. Nero was known for amplifying the worship cultists of the first century.

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Caligula really got that going in terms of worship of the Emperor as God.

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But Nero just sort of like, let's do that. And made it a real, real thing. Setting up temples all over for himself and all the rest.

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But Nero was a disgusting man. He apparently was a ginger too. Yeah. He was what now? A ginger.

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A ginger. I think he was. Did you see that picture? That was the ugliest picture. If that's what Nero looked like, it's like, ew. Anyway, so Nero castrated and married a ten -year -old boy.

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Nero kicked his pregnant wife to death. There is a whole slew of stories in terms of this man's beastly nature.

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We know that after there was a fire in Rome, that attention was now directed towards the

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Christians. Blame is that direction. But you also have the fact that the early Christians are not saying Kaiser Kyrgios.

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They won't do it. They are saying, no, Jesus is Lord. You're the Emperor. You know, we'll respect you and honor you and obey you, but you're not

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Lord. Kaiser Kyrgios, we can't say. So Nero would have Christians rounded up in the streets and he'd have them brought to his garden parties and they would tie

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Christians up on these stakes and he would ride his chariot through them in the garden parties where they were wrapped in pitch and set on fire like Roman candles.

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You also have the fact that Nero, and if you have little ears, maybe turn it down for a second, but you should hear this in terms of the beastly nature of Nero, the kind of disgusting man he was.

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Nero would have Christians tied to a stake naked and then he would actually wear the skins or the furs of animals, lions, bears, or what have you, and he would actually attack the naked

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Christians that were tied to a stake to eat their bodies or their genitalia. He was a disgusting, evil beast and he was part of the persecution of the

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Christians in the first century. So again, context of Revelation, if you want to read further on this, go read

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Dr. Gentry's book, Before Jerusalem Fell, to see all the historical evidence, the biblical evidence to show the early date of the book of Revelation.

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However, the context of the Jewish persecution and the Roman persecution, and you get into Revelation 13, it's important to note this, and I'll just say this as quickly as possible.

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John, people have said, could be accused of plagiarism by today's standards. What's that mean?

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Over 400 verses in the book of Revelation, over half of those verses are direct quotations or allusions to Old Testament passages.

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So over half the book is taken from the Old Testament and planted into the New and worked out from there, and people say, well that could be plagiarism in today's standards.

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Well, okay, well that means something in terms of how you interpret it. You can't go to the book of Revelation with the

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Gentile understanding of this world and this book and try to import those things into the text, or you're gonna have whores drinking blood riding seven -headed ten -horned beasts.

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Where is she at? Is she anywhere local to you? I think maybe there's a few of those on Van Buren in Phoenix, but I think we get the point, right?

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I don't really think that we're all understanding this, oh this is literal, right. So it's not to say if it's literal, it's meaningful, if it's symbolic, it's not.

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No. Listen, the priesthood was a symbol, and it was meaningful about Jesus.

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The temple was a symbol, and it was meaningful about Jesus. The sacrifice was a symbol, and it was meaningful about Jesus.

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So we can't say, oh, I really want literal rather than symbolic. No, you get both in the Bible, but which book are you in, right?

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You gotta read Luke and his historical narrative differently than you read the book of Revelation.

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I hope you're doing that. So when you look at the book of Revelation, you have to understand that John is a Jewish Christian, Jewish follower of Jesus, enduring persecution from the

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Jews and the Romans at this time, and then John is in the midst of this.

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This is before the fall of Jerusalem, I'm arguing, but he gives you this really amazing thing here.

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Watch this. It says this, in verse 5 of chapter 13,

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And the beast was given a mouth, uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months.

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The beast is allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, and that is those who dwell in heaven.

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Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them, and authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation.

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Well, that could aptly describe, in the day of the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire. Authority over the

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Roman Empire, all those nations, all those peoples, very, very clearly. But note this. I think it's powerful.

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42 months. The beast is given authority for 42 months to make war on the saints and to conquer them.

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Anybody know the amount of time, historically, that was allotted for the

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Neronic persecution of the Christians in the first century? Anyone have a guess of how long that took place in history?

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42 months. 42 months. Now, John says the beast is gonna be given 42 months to make war with the saints, and we know from history that it was 42 months that Nero did actually make war with the saints.

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42 months. But this is amazing, too. It says, if anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes, verse 10 of chapter 13, if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain.

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Is this a prediction about the death of Nero? Well, you've got persecution of the saints.

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Nero did that for 42 months. He killed by the sword. But then there's this prophecy here about this, by the sword he must be slain.

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Anybody know how Nero died? By his own sword. By his own sword.

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So, listen to this. You're a Christian in the first century. You're undergoing intense persecution.

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Many people are on the run. It's a scary time to be a Christian, to be faithful, and you're hearing now, John, he says, hey,

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I got the revelation of Jesus Christ. Don't worry. Hang in there. Soon to take place. Judgment is coming.

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This beast, he's gonna persecute for 42 months, but he's gonna die by the sword. That's an encouraging word to early

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Christians, I would argue. Very encouraging. But here we get into the famous section of the

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Mark of the Beast, and this is very, very important. I would say this. No, Bill Gates, his stupidity and foolishness on many levels, and any chip that he wants, or chips with data in them in terms of like buying and selling, commerce, those sorts of things, has nothing to do with Revelation 13.

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And I think I could demonstrate that to you here. If you look through chapter 13, I'm already going long here, so I'm gonna do my best to go fast, just to give you the bullet points here.

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It says in chapter 13 that, verse 16, also causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark of that, has the mark, that is the name of the beast or the number of its name, of its name, its name.

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And it's interesting, when you actually know the background of the Old Testament here, I just want to ask you a question.

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Okay, just pause for a second and be willing to challenge your traditions. If you don't agree right now, and you're like, this seems crazy and all the rest,

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I just want to encourage you just stop for a second and think about your tradition and challenge it. Test it. Maybe I'm wrong. Okay, so test me.

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Challenge this. You're reading a book that is almost entirely a quotation and pulling from the

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Old Testament, and you've got John pulling from Old Testament imagery and allusions and symbolism, and he says to Jewish Christians living in the first century, he says to them that this beast is going to want a mark on your right hand or your forehead.

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Can you tell me anywhere else in the Bible where that terminology is used about a mark on your head and your hand?

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Anybody? No? It's at the very beginning of Judaism.

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Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4. Here, O Israel, the

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Lord our God, the Lord is one. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the

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Lord is one. But it doesn't end there. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, where God says that, that famous section that was part of the morning and evening prayers, it says, and this is powerful, and this is, so every

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Jew knows this. My point is here is every Jew knows this. He says you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your might, and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

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You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise.

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You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontless between your, frontless between your eyes.

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You shall write them on your, the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So what is, what is supposed to be on the head, the forehead, and the hand of every follower of God, of Yahweh?

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A box with scripture in it. Yeah, exactly. Do you think that God was literally saying like, everyone walk around with this thing bound on your head and your hand, like, jiggling around all day long?

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Is that really what's God saying there? No, no. The point was is that, listen, your forehead, your head, in Jewish thought represented ownership.

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Who owns you? Yahweh owns you. You're under his authority. A sign on your head was not a literal sign.

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Some Jews actually thought it was literal and started doing stuff like that. Silly, right? But that's not what God is saying here.

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Your head symbolized ownership, authority, right? So having God's name on your head was,

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I, I belong to Yahweh. I'm his subject. I worship him. And his, his mark on your hand, your right hand symbolized your work, your labor.

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If you didn't have the use of your right hand, you were useless because it's a right -handed society, right -minded society, right -handed minded society.

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So your hand symbolized your labor, your work. Listen, what you do. So what's the point here?

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Love God with all heart, soul, and might. God's the only God. He's the only one.

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He is supposed to be on your head and your hand. You're owned by him and everything you do in this world is in him.

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That's what God is saying. All of it. When you walk by the way, when you raise your children, teach, put it on your gates.

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God is the only God and I belong to him and everything I do is in him. Now you're a Jew in the first century and you know that you're supposed to have

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God's name on your head and your hand. His mark here and here. You're owned by him and everything you do is in him.

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Now the beast is saying, no, no, I want that place of ownership.

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Kaiser Kyrios, right? Kaiser Kyrios. And what was Caesar Nero, what was he doing to the early

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Christians during the time of the 60s before the destruction of Jerusalem and the war between the Romans and the Jews? What was he doing?

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He was cutting off the Christians ability for life, but also their ability to worship in many ways.

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Buying and selling here, I would argue, is not commerce. It's a symbol that's used in the

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Old Testament actually for worship. It's connected to worship. If you have questions about that,

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I encourage you guys to get the book, The Beast of Revelation by Dr. Kenneth Gentry. I don't have the time to go into all the details here, but this is very worship.

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This is very, this is soaked in worship language. And here's the final summary here.

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I know I'm not supposed to go this long, but I'd love to talk about this stuff and I think it's important. And I guess a lot of people are talking about Bill Gates and the mark and everything.

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So hopefully this will be useful. So it says this, the beast wants to cause them to be marked on their hand and their head.

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And it says so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark of that mark. That is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

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This calls for wisdom. Stop. Okay. Stop. Here's now, here's an understanding.

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Who's the beast? You're being told who the beast is. We're being told divine revelation here.

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Who's the beast? It's not a literal mark because listen, the mark on the head or the hand of the early

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Jews wasn't literal, right? So how all of a sudden does it become a microchip and literal?

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It wasn't literal for the Jews. It wasn't literal here. There's a context to the passage, but listen, it says this calls for wisdom.

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Verse 18, let the one who has understanding. All right, everyone listen up. All my Jewish brothers and sisters,

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Christians like this is, this is a message now, right? Communicated. I'm going to tell you who I'm talking about.

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Okay, here it is. This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is some of you guys just thought 666.

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No, it is not 666. The number is 666.

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Yes, it matters. So here's John saying, I'll tell you, you have wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for its number of a man, a man.

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His number is 666. Now the

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Romans and the Jews, well, ancient cultures did this. They would use their alphabet and it doubled as a numbering system.

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And you already know this. Like if I tell you right now, what's the X? Roman numeral X. You would be like, that's 10.

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What's V? Well, that's five. You know, we get how that works, right? So ancient cultures would use their alphabet as a numbering system as well.

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Well, the Jews did that too. They did. And here's John, a Jewish Christian saying, let him who has wisdom or understanding calculate the number and his number is 666.

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Well, lo and behold, what does 666 come out to? William Gates.

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Bill Gates. What does it come out to in a Hebrew cryptogram? What's it come out to? Neron Caesar.

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Nero Caesar. Why? So John can't in the first century context with the neurotic persecution of the

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Christians, just come out and say, hey everybody, talk about Nero. I'm talking about Nero. He's using very

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Jewish symbolism, very Jewish language to communicate a message about hope for those early Christians. This beast is going to persecute you for 42 months.

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He's going to die by the sword. He wants his name, his mark on your head and your hand. And his number is 666.

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He's about to be destroyed. 666 is Neron Caesar. And isn't it cool? I love this.

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Isn't it cool that there's an early translation of the book of Revelation by Christians, an early translation of the book of Revelation by Christians into Syriac?

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I think it's my mind's going Syriac, the Syriac version, I think. Where for some reason, this is weird, the early translators of that book of Revelation, when they translated into their language, oddly, they changed the numerical value.

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What would possess a Christian to mess with God's word like that? That's crazy. They changed the numerical value in their language to not 666, but to 616.

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How dare you? What are you doing messing with God's word? Well, it is interesting that in their language, their cryptogram to get

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Nero Caesar to spell out has to have the numerical value of 616.

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Isn't that interesting? Early Christians were actually changing in the translation the numerical value so that it could spell

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Nero. Something to think about. And if you want more on this, read The Beast of Revelation by our friend

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Dr. Kenneth Gentry. Read Before Jerusalem Fell by Dr. Kenneth Gentry.

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He's an expert in these areas. Can I go just one more question? I think we're going over.

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Sure. I was just going to say too, you can also go to apologiestudios .com and just in the search bar, put in end times and we have a whole manner of hours worth of shows on this.