Purified SEVEN times... refining us as Gold...
"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, PURIFIED SEVEN TIMES." (Psalm 12:6)
"See, I have refined you, though NOT AS SILVER; I HAVE TESTED YOU IN THE FURNACE OF AFFLICTION." (Isaiah 48:10) "THE CRUCIBLE FOR SILVER AND THE FURNACE FOR GOLD, BUT THE LORD TESTS THE HEART." (Prov 17:3)
"He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, IN SEVEN THERE SHALL NO EVIL TOUCH THEE." (Job 5:19) "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, SEVEN ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO HIM..." (Proverbs 6:16) "When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for THERE ARE SEVEN ABOMINATIONS IN HIS HEART."(Prov 26:25)
"For A JUST MAN FALLETH SEVEN TIMES, AND RISETH UP AGAIN..." (Prov 24:16)
The Mark
"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..." (Rev 13:16)
As Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh, we exalt ourselves above all, thus the "mark" on our forehead and right hand ...in direct opposition to God Almighty
God's Seal
"Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and THY FOREHEAD STRONG AGAINST THEIR FOREHEADS." (Ezekiel 3:8)
"Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, TILL WE HAVE SEALED THE SERVANTS OF OUR GOD IN THEIR FOREHEADS." (Rev 7:3)
"And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not THE SEAL OF GOD IN THEIR FOREHEADS." (Rev 9:4)
"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having HIS FATHER'S NAME WRITTEN IN THEIR FOREHEADS." (Rev 14:1)
"And they shall see his face; and HIS NAME SHALL BE IN THEIR FOREHEADS." (Rev 22:4)
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where CHRIST SITTETH ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD."(Colossians 3:1)
We believe OUR "right hand" can save us.
"Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. THEN WILL I ALSO CONFESS UNTO THEE THAT THINE OWN RIGHT HAND CAN SAVE THEE."(Job 40:12-14) "Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and THEIR RIGHT HAND IS A RIGHT HAND OF FALSEHOOD..." (Psalm 144:11)
666
"Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for IT IS THE NUMBER OF MANKIND, and its number is six hundred sixty-six." (Revelation 13:18, CLT)
The Greek word for "mankind" is "anthropos" meaning "a human being, male or female." (Strong's Concordant)
"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." (Rev 13:17)
This is spiritual. This is NOT a physical mark and this is NOT food/merchandise at the local grocery store! It is the merchandise of Mystery Babylon, found in the HEART of MAN
"And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And THE FRUITS THAT THY SOUL LUSTED AFTER..." (Rev 18:13-14)
The Number of Man is 6
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man...'" (Genesis 1:26)
"...the sixth day." (Genesis 1:31)
On the Testimony of Two or Three Witnesses: 666 (3 being the strongest determination)
"And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God." (Exodus 31:18)
"And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written." (Exodus 32:15)
"Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness." (Deuteronomy 17:6)
"Anyone who has rejected Moses law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses." (Hebrews 10:28)
Man is a Beast... Mankind is the Beast
THE BEAST
"Nevertheless man being in honor abides not [does not endure]: he is LIKE THE BEASTS that perish" and he "...is LIKE THE BEASTS that perish." (Ps. 49:12, 20) "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are always liars, EVIL BEASTS, slow bellies [lazy gluttons]. This witness is true." (Titus 1:12-13) "But these, as NATURAL BRUTE BEASTS, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." (2 Pet. 2:12) "So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as A BEAST before thee." (Psalm 73:22) "But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, AS BRUTE BEASTS, in those things they corrupt themselves" (Jude 10).
"I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that THEY THEMSELVES ARE BEASTS." (Ecclesiastes 3:18)
Appointed for the Beast... 42 months, or 7 periods of time, 7 periods of 6
"I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, 'Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. But EXCLUDE THE OUTER COURT; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. THEY WILL TRAMPLE ON THE HOLY CITY for 42 months.'" (Revelation 11:1-2, NIV)
The Beast who opposes and exalts himself above all
"who OPPOSES and EXALTS HIMSELF ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD or that is worshiped, so that HE SITS AS GOD IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, showing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
"for 42 months as a Beast- 7 periods of times"
"...they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?' The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for FORTY-TWO MONTHS." (Rev 13:4-5)
"He proclaimed aloud and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. LET HIS PORTION BE WITH THE BEASTS in the grass of the earth.'" (Daniel 4:14-15, ESV)
For how long?
"Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; and LET SEVEN PERIODS OF TIME PASS OVER HIM." (Dan 4:16, ESV)
Until when?
"The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end THAT THE LIVING MAY KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULES THE KINGDOM OF MEN AND GIVES IT TO WHOM HE WILL AND SETS OVER IT THE LOWLIEST OF MEN." (Dan 4:17)
Why?
"The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that ITS TOP REACHED TO HEAVEN, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, UNDER WHICH BEASTS OF THE FIELD FOUND SHADE, AND IN WHOSE BRANCHES THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS LIVED... it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. YOUR GREATNESS HAS GROWN AND REACHES TO HEAVEN, and your dominion to the ends of the earth." (Dan 4:20-22)
"The king spake, and said, IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON, THAT I HAVE BUILT for the house of the kingdom BY THE MIGHT OF MY POWER, and FOR THE HONOUR OF MY MAJESTY? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee." (Dan 4:30-31)
"And they said, Go to, LET US BUILD US A CITY AND A TOWER, WHOSE TOP MAY REACH UNTO HEAVEN..." (Gen 11:4)
This is the plight of man
"...and LET US MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." (Gen 11:4, ESV)
Leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound
"And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Chop down the tree and destroy it, but LEAVE THE STUMP OF ITS ROOTS IN THE EARTH, BOUND WITH A BAND OF IRON AND BRONZE, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and LET HIS PORTION BE WITH THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD, TILL SEVEN PERIODS OF TIME PASS OVER HIM..." (Dan 4:23, ESV)
"That THEY SHALL DRIVE THEE FROM MEN, and THY DWELLING SHALL BE WITH THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, TILL THOU KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMSOEVER HE WILL." (Dan 4:25)
"And whereas they commanded to LEAVE THE STUMP of the tree roots; THY KINGDOM SHALL BE SURE unto thee, AFTER THAT THOU SHALT HAVE KNOWN THAT THE HEAVENS DO RULE." (Dan 4:26)
This is why Christ dies [in all of us]... The Sovereignty of God
The antithesis of freewill
"...TILL THOU KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMSOEVER HE WILL." (Dan 4:25)
3 days and 3 nights (number of man: 6) in the belly of the whale, in the heart of the earth, dead... as a beast
"AND THE LORD APPOINTED A GREAT FISH TO SWALLOW JONAH, AND JONAH WAS IN THE STOMACH OF THE FISH THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS." -Jonah 1:17 (NASB)
From the depth of Sheol [Place of the Dead]
"Then JONAH PRAYED TO THE LORD HIS GOD FROM THE STOMACH OF THE FISH, and he said, 'I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help FROM THE DEPTH OF SHEOL; You heard my voice.'" -Jonah 2:1-2 (NASB)
Belly of the fish- heart of the earth- Sheol- Realm of the Dead...
"FOR AS JONAH WAS three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, SO THE SON OF MAN WILL BE THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH."(Matthew 12:40)
"Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, 'I called out of my distress to the LORD I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas... All Your breakers and billows passed over me. So I said, I HAVE BEEN EXPELLED FROM YOUR SIGHT Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple. ...Water encompassed me TO THE POINT OF DEATH...'"
The great deep engulfed me..." (Jonah 2:1-5, NASB)
Until when?
"...TILL THOU KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMSOEVER HE WILL." (Dan 4:25)
"Man's goings are OF THE LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?" (Proverbs 20:24) "For IT IS GOD WHICH WORKS IN YOU BOTH TO WILL AND TO DO OF HIS GOOD PLEASURE." (Philippians 2:13) "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being PREDESTINATED according to the PURPOSE of him who worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel OF HIS OWN WILL..." (Ephesians 1:11, KJV) "O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; IT IS NOT IN MAN WHO WALKS TO DIRECT HIS OWN STEPS." (Jeremiah 10:23, NKJV) "DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND, AND I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE...'" (Isaiah 46:10, NKJV)
"THE LOT IS CAST INTO THE LAP, BUT ITS EVERY DECISION IS FROM THE LORD."
(Proverbs 16:33)