The Book of the Apocalypse (aka Revelation)

[LivingWordUnity]

I just discovered today while reading the Apocalypse that the Beast and the False Prophet are two different people rather than two different names for the same man. I was unsure about this until today.

The Beast

"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 sixty-six." - Revelation 13:18

The Beast and the False Prophet

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, who wrought signs before him, wherewith he seduced them who received the character of the beast, and who adored his image. These two were cast alive into the pool of fire, burning with brimstone." - Revelation 19:20

 

[LivingWordUnity]

And I was thinking today that perhaps the 144,000 in chapter 7 of the Apocalypse is about the conversion of the Jews.

 

[Rhamiel]

And I was thinking today that perhaps the 144,000 in the Apocalypse is about the conversion of the Jews.

yes and no
I forget where I read that, but I think that number is related to the Jews, but as more of a symbolic way of showing a great number from the different tribes
144,000 divided by 12 is 12,000

and yes, you are correct, the Beast and False Prophet are two different figures

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

I Have always felt the Beast and False Prophet to be two seperate entities.

 

[ivebeenshown]

And I was thinking today that perhaps the 144,000 in chapter 7 of the Apocalypse is about the conversion of the Jews.

The 144,000 is a collision of symbolic numbers: 1,000 symbolizing completeness and 12 symbolizing the tribes of Israel. Note that Paul mentions "the Israel of God" and talks about how "not all who are of Israel are of Israel", pointing out the fact that God only has one people, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. That particular vision, then, captures the triumph and glory of God's complete number of his people.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

The 144,000 is a collision of symbolic numbers: 1,000 symbolizing completeness and 12 symbolizing the tribes of Israel. Note that Paul mentions "the Israel of God" and talks about how "not all who are of Israel are of Israel", pointing out the fact that God only has one people, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. That particular vision, then, captures the triumph and glory of God's complete number of his people.

It seems to me that in chapter 7 of the Apocalypse the 144,000 is focusing in on the Jewish converts to Christianity in particular, and then it zooms out to the "great multitude which no man could number," all the people of God.

 

[ivebeenshown]

I just discovered today while reading the Apocalypse that the Beast and the False Prophet are two different people rather than two different names for the same man. I was unsure about this until today.

The Beast

"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 sixty-six." - Revelation 13:18

The Beast and the False Prophet

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, who wrought signs before him, wherewith he seduced them who received the character of the beast, and who adored his image. These two were cast alive into the pool of fire, burning with brimstone." - Revelation 19:20

The imagery surrounding the beast -- multiple heads and crowns -- indicates not a mere individual but rather some form of kingdom or government, in similar fashion to those beasts portrayed to Daniel in his visions. Although the beast suffers from a mortal wound, the false prophet manages to convince the people to adore the beast and construct an image to the beast. But unlike the dead idols of Egypt and Rome, this image is given the breath of life and the power to speak.

The beast is the global tangle of governments and economies; the mortal wound is its collapse. The false prophet is some person, the man of sin. The image of the beast is the ultimate culmination of the growing godlessness in all societies combined with the modern marvels of today and tomorrow's technologies. The motive for the people to adore the beast and its image is their great delusion: the love of material goods and money, the love of their lust, fornication, and sorceries, and their desperate desire to preserve these and similar idolatries as the world we know groans and decays around us.

 

[ivebeenshown]

It seems to me that in chapter 7 of the Apocalypse the 144,000 is focusing on the Jewish converts to Christianity in particular, and then it zoom out to the "great multitude," all the people of God.

The footnotes of the NABRE indicate otherwise, but I am not sure that it makes much of a difference; the concept of John envisioning the exact number (still symbolic) of those who are Israelites by their own blood before envisioning the entire, vast quantity of all the faithful is not a bad one to ponder.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

The footnotes of the NABRE indicate otherwise, but I am not sure that it makes much of a difference; the concept of John envisioning the exact number (still symbolic) of those who are Israelites by their own blood before envisioning the entire, vast quantity of all the faithful is not a bad one to ponder.

I agree that there's symbolism in the number 144,000. I understand that. But perhaps it might also be the literal number of Jews that convert to Christianity just before Christ's return. That's the thought that I had today.

 

[pdudgeon]

the beast is part of the unholy trinity.

holy trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit
unholy trinity: Satan, political beast, ecclesastical beast
human trinity: body, soul, spirit.

putting the three side by side in the above manner makes it easier to see where and how
the satanic influences will appear in the first essence (Father, satan, and body).

How in the second essence (Son, satan, man's soul) satan will attack on two fronts both the person of Jesus and His church, and man as God's creations.

And how in the third essence the spiritual side of the satanic trinity--the ecclesestical beast, the mocker of God's church-- is opposed by God the Holy Spirit Himself, as well as by the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in the heart of Christians, and who testifies to the truth of God the Father and God the Son.