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"Here is wisdom..." (Rev.13:8)...

• Job.28.12 "But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?"
• Job.28.28 "And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."
• Psa.111.10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."
• Pro.2.6 "For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."
• Pro.9.10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."
• Eze.28.12,17 "Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty...Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."
• Dan.2.20 "Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are His"
• Dan.2.21 "And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding"
• Luke.11.49 "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute"
• 1Cor.1.30 "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption"
• James.1.5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
• James.3.17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
• Rev.17.9 "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth."
• Rev.13.18 "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."

For The Word Of God And For The Testimony Of Jesus Christ

The Island of Patmos off the coast of Asia Minor (Western Turkey) was the location of the Apostle John's exile. There he recorded the visions preserved in the last book of the Bible entitled "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." These visions have been recorded for us.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life", stood before His beloved disciple of truth in "a garment down to the foot", "His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters." The Master and the student were involved in the revealing of important truths that would effect every citizen of the world, especially those who would be living in the last days of earth's history. (1 John1:1; Revelation 1:13-15).

Early Christian Persecution

The Roman Colosseum, one of the sites of early Christian martyrdom begun by Emperor Nero (54-68 A.D. The history of the early church testified to the fulfillment of the Saviour's words. The powers of earth and hell arrayed themselves against Christ in the person of His followers. Paganism foresaw that should the gospel triumph, her temples and altars would be swept away; therefore she summoned her forces to destroy Christianity. The fires of persecution were kindled. Christians were stripped of their possessions and driven from their homes. They "endured a great fight of afflictions." Hebrews 10:32. They "had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment." Hebrews 11:36. Great numbers sealed their testimony with their blood. Noble and slave, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, were alike slain without mercy. These persecutions, beginning under Nero about the time of the martyrdom of Paul, continued with greater or less fury for centuries. Christians were falsely accused of the most dreadful crimes and declared to be the cause of great calamities--famine, pestilence, and earthquake. As they became the objects of popular hatred and suspicion, informers stood ready, for the sake of gain, to betray the innocent. Great numbers were thrown to wild beasts or burned alive in the amphitheaters. Some were crucified; others were covered with the skins of wild animals and thrust into the arena to be torn by dogs. Vast multitudes assembled to enjoy the sight and greeted their dying agonies with laughter and applause.

Paganism Enters The Church

Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, "the mystery of iniquity" carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and His apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Although the worshipers of idols professed to be converted, and united with the church, they still clung to their idolatry, only changing the objects of their worship to images of Jesus, and even of Mary and the saints.[Note: The statues of the 'gods' from the Pantheon are now found in the Vatican Museum with the exception of the great statue of Jupiter, which has been modified, retitled, and seated on a throne in St.Peter's Basilica in Rome as St.Peter. Thousands of pilgrims kiss the foot of Jupiter while thinking it is the statue of Peter.]

[Note: The numbers 1, 6, 12, 36, 111 and 666 were the most sacred numbers in Astrology. Priests of Sun worship used the numbers mathematically by the way the stars travel across the sky to predict future events. They invented magic charts to perform the most popular form of divination. Like the Roulette wheel, the charts were divided into 36 numbered divisions. There were 6 columns in all directions with the numbers 1 to 36 placed inside the entire chart. Any direction you add the columns, they add to 111. There are six squares in each column and 6 x 111 = 666. If you add the numbers from 1 to 36 they will also add to 666. Therefore the number 666 was a summary number of the Sun-god or the Ruler of the Zodiac.]

The Hebrew-Chaldean, Latin, Greek and Arab languages have a numerical value for the letters of their alphabets. Take for instance the original Roman Numerals. They were I V X L C D. If you add these Roman Numerals along with their numerical values we get:-

I     V     X     L     C     D

1     5     10   50   100  500 = 666

(The letter M was not in the original system, it was added later.)

In addition, the New Testament was originally written in the the Greek language, and an ancient Greek name for Satan in its transliterations was Teitan. If you add Teitan in its Greek numerical values for the letters, we get:-

  T     E     I     T     A     N

300   5    10   300   1     50 = 666

The ancient pagans believed that when they died their souls flew up to the Heavens and took possession of the stars. [You will find that a large section of the Christian world have incorporated this false belief of the immortality of the soul as part of their traditional beliefs. However, it is written, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17). ]  The chief gods of the Zodiac, which were emanations of the Sun-god, all had a sacred number. Here is wisdom. Jesus revealed to the Apostle John the mysterious number 666 and warned us to not associate with this false system of worship.

The Winged Serpent

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan..." (Revelation 12:9).

The Origin of SUNday observance, December 25th and the history of the Madonna & Child

"The Pope has raised eyebrows several times in recent months by reinterpreting accepted doctrine. He noted that there was "no evidence" that Jesus had been born at Christmas, a symbolic date which he said was in reality a Christianisation of Ancient Roman mid-winter festivals celebrating the coming rebirth of the Sun." The Times Friday January 15 1999. [Emphasis added]

[Authors comments: If the Pope's sentiments above are sincere, why do these symbols therefore remain in the Roman Catholic churches ?]

"And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them... " ? (Deut 4:19).

The Ancient And Modern Fish-god/Sun-god Leaders

"And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him...

...And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. (1Sam.5:4 & 5:7).

The 666 Mystery

"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." (Rev.13:8).

For further wisdom on this subject from God's Word, please select The Third Angel's Message from the menu below, or click on this hypertext to be launched straight to site - His Third Angel's Message.

Please note carefully: God loves all people regardless of origin, colour, culture, sexual orientation, status in society and personal beliefs. There are sincere individuals that are living up to the light of His truth to the best of their ability even though they may be scattered throughout the innumerable systems of beliefs. Only God can read the heart and know those who worship Him in sincerity and truth. God winks at the ignorance of those who do not know any better. However, although God loves all people, He does not overlook sinful thoughts, words and actions which include false and misleading worship supposedly based on Scripture. All man-made tradition has a foundation that is earthly, devilish and sensual. If there is any good in a system of faith or religious belief, it is because its foundation lays on certain truths derived from God's Holy Bible. Remember - God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin.

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