Although I think she's misinterpreting several minor points, I'm just about sold on this author's central hypothesis.
The clincher for me would be if you language scholars could clarify the relationship between the Hebrew word translated "sign" in Ezekiel 20:12 and the Greek word translated "mark" in Revelation 13:16,17.
Quote:12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.
Quote:16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
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Most of us have read that the Harlot is the Roman Catholic Church (RCC).
Her argument is that the "mark of the beast" is adoption of the RCC liturgical calendar.
She even quotes Vatican II documents stating that the liturgy is the "mark of the authority" of the RCC;
in essence, if you observe (actively or passively) the RCC "holidays", you assent to the authority of the RCC and the pope.
So we're faced with a choice -- take Yahweh's mark, worshiping His way on His days;
or the Pope's mark, worshiping the Catholic way on the Catholic days.
Go get your Bible. Read Revelation 13:1-4, then Daniel 7. Clearly the topics are the same, and Daniel provides an explanation. Daniel 7:24, "he will subdue three kings", as Rome destroyed the Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths.
25:
Quote:He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.
I don't have to say much about how the RCC fits the first part of v. 25. The second part got me -- time, times, and half a time. We usually think of that as 3 1/2 prophetic years, or 1260 days. But get this -- Justinian's Decree establishing the papal monarchy became effective in 538AD; and a "deadly wound" was dealt 1260 years later when General Berthier captured Pope Pius VI in 1798.
Rev 13:11
Quote:Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
So the second beast was rising, around the same time as the "deadly" wound. The US Constitution was ratified in 1789.
Pope Gregory invented the Gregorian Calendar in 1582 to keep the Babylonian Feasts occurring in their seasons;
but it was the US adoption of this in 1800 that set the stage for it to be adopted worldwide; causing the world's economy to literally revolve around Roman Catholic Liturgy (the Babylonian feasts). So the second beast is the USA -- the two horns are two seats of government, our Federal government, and the sovereign Vatican HQ in Baltimore. (According to Rome, American catholics are "dual citizens" of the USA and the Vatican; and your local priests and bishops are Vatican government officials. Think of the opportunities for gathering intelligence, as our public servants go to confession...)
Quote:13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.
We've already mentioned the images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, broadcast on televisions worldwide. (TV invented here in the USA, so that we could "give life to the image" as in v15.)
Quote:16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead
This is symbolic -- you either adopt the liturgy in your heart (mind), or by your actions (hand).
Quote:so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark,
You can't deny the impact of the Catholic calendar on the world's economy. Any who do you see buying and selling on the weekly Sabbath and Yahweh's feast days? Those with the "mark" of the RCC's authority.
Quote:
18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
Many have demonstrated numerological associations with Rome in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek -- the same languages used to identify Yahshua, and his "crime", when he was crucified.
What do you think?
Edited by user Saturday, February 13, 2010 3:12:58 AM(UTC)
| Reason: fix typo