The Mark of the Beast & the Unholy Trinity Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, now we're ready to go once again. We're going to pick right up where we left off in our last program, back at Revelation chapter 13, and we left off at verse 14, so we'll pick right up there again. And again, in case we have someone who has never watched our program before, we're just an informal Bible class. I'm just a layman, don't address me as reverend or anything else, I'm just, as the introduction says, I'm just a common, ordinary rancher. I run cattle all the other days of the week, so this is just something the Lord has given us as frosting on the cake. And we do appreciate hearing from you, and if we can ever be of any help, feel free to call. Remember that our programs are all available on videotapes all the way back to Genesis chapter 1. Now, for those, again, of you who have just tuned in recently, we started on a Through the Bible trip back in Genesis, got up through Daniel, and then we had so much demand for a study of Revelation that we stopped through the Bible, and we're going to spend at least a little while in prophecy, and then we'll go back and hopefully start probably in Matthew 1 sometime down the road, and then finish on Through the Gospels, the book of Acts, Paul's letters, and then by that time I hope the Lord has returned and we'll no longer have to teach. But whatever. Let's pick up where we left off now last week in chapter 13 of Revelation, and drop down to verse 14 again. So this false prophet, now maybe we should clarify that again. This false prophet. Now let's see where the Bible delineates that. Come over to chapter 19, because otherwise you may wonder, well, where do you get these words? Well, I have to always maintain, you know, it's in the book. Just have to find where it's at. Over in chapter 19 of Revelation, verse 20, here they're defined very clearly. Revelation 19, verse 20, and this of course is after the tribulation has run its course and Christ has returned, and then the beast, that is the Antichrist again, the one who headed up that bestial empire, the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him. Remember what we just talked about before we ended our last program, and we're going to come back to it in a minute. And the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them who had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image, these, what's the next word? Both. So these are men. And both of these men, born of women, raised up like any other child would be raised, but they become, you might say, tools of Satan. One the political leader, the other religious leader, and they have both been used of Satan, and they both now are cast alive into the lake of burning fire. They don't go to hell. They go immediately to the lake of fire. And then, if you want to take another reference, you come on over to, oh, let's see, chapter 20, verse 10. Revelation, chapter 20, verse 10. Now this, of course, is after the thousand years has now run its course, and we're ready to go into eternity, and we're about to be introduced to the great white throne, the judgment of all the lost of humanity, in verse 11. But in verse 10, the devil who deceived them, old Satan, the dragon, the old devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. Now watch what the rest of the verse says. Where the Antichrist, the beast, and the false prophet, what's the verb? Are. They're still there after a thousand years. They haven't been annihilated. They haven't been destroyed. They're still there. And so now you have these three personalities who made up the unholy trinity of the tribulation go straight to that eternal doom, the lake of fire, which burneth forever and ever. And they go without benefit of the great white throne judgment. They go immediately to it. And then, of course, they'll be joined by all the other lost of the ages, but they at least will have their moment of time before the Lord at the great white throne. All right. Now then, if that clarifies, I'd like to have you come back to chapter 13. We'll pick up exactly the same verse where we left off in our last program, where this false prophet now in verse 14 deceives them. And he's going to have the power to perform miracles and wonders. And he deceives them that dwell on the earth by means of miracles, which he had power to in the sight of, in other words, with the permission of the Antichrist, this political leader of this great world empire. Now, you want to remember that he begins his power base in the revived Roman Empire, in that geographical area around the Mediterranean and Western Europe and so forth. But by the time we get to the midpoint of the tribulation, his power becomes worldwide. And it will be a world government, and the false prophet as well will have a worldwide religious system. Both of them will be global, and the whole earth will be involved, but never lose sight of the fact that the vortex of all the activity in Revelation is still the nation of Israel. Israel is still the vortex, but all of the world will be coming under these various judgments. Now then, verse 15, and he had power, this religious leader, to give life to the image of the beast. I think I made reference to it a long time ago, but I remember several years ago reading that the Japanese have a technology where they are actually going to come out with a biological computer. In other words, it's a computer that won't just be electronic, but it's also going to have living biological cells. Now, what they're driving at, I don't know, but it's going to be a computer that puts the present-day computers to shame. And I think that's just an indication of what we have here, that this image is going to be the brainwork of our technology so that it will actually be able to think and speak and give orders. And it's going to have tremendous power. Again, one of our national news magazines a few weeks ago had a lead article on the electronic explosion that is about to come upon us, where our television sets will not just be the coming in of information, but it'll also be the outflow of information. In other words, that old TV set will just be the center of everything, incoming and outgoing information. And, of course, this is being set up for exactly this kind of a situation, where one world government will have their thumb on every home around the planet. Nobody will be left out. And so this image is going to be able to speak, and it's going to have tremendous power. And it's going to cause that as many as would not worship this image, that they'll be killed. And again, I think it's going to come through the information that the television sets will become, and the powers that be will know the activity of every home on the planet. There'll be no escaping it. And the technology is there. It's scary. Over the years, I've been telling my classes, you know, they know all about you. And more than once, someone has said, well, who are they? Well, I don't know, but I know they have. I've read articles, and so have you. They know all about me. They know all about you. They know your idiosyncrasies. They know where you spend your money. They know where you've got it invested. They know how you spend your money. They know your health. They know everything. And then the question is, well, who are they? Well, the powers that be, insurance companies, financial institutions, magazines. Now, in the farming area, all of our farm magazines will give you a free subscription if you'll just fill out all this information concerning your operation. How many head of cows do I run? How many acres? I've quit filling them out. I'd rather pay for my subscription. They don't have to know. But see, this is what the world is doing. And I imagine it's the same in every other profession or occupation. They want to know everything about your business. And it seems so innocent, but it isn't. It's going to come back to haunt people that somebody out there knows everything about you. Always have to think years back already. Oh, my land, this must go back into the early 70s where a lady I knew was the private secretary of one of the families that owned one of our huge corporations. And her boss asked her to make reservations, I think, here in Tulsa. And they were up in one of the big Midwest cities. And so when she called down to a hotel here in Tulsa, and before she could get any further than giving her boss's name, the gal down here in Tulsa had already punched the computer. And she said, this is the kind of a room he likes. This is the kind of a rented car he wants. This is where he likes to eat. They had it all. And that was 20-some years ago. And so you see today, they know all about you. They. Who are they? Well, anyway, verse 16. So this religious leader, he causeth all. Now, I'll be identifying him a little further. If we got time in this program, we go over to chapter 17 in a minute. But this great religious leader, this what the Bible calls the false prophet, causeth all. Everybody living on the earth, small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead. And that no man, no person. Now, of course, the word man here involves women as well as anybody else. And no one might buy or sell except he has the mark of the beast, or his name, or his number. Verse 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count, or reckon, the number of the beast. That is, of the power, the political system, the religious system, the whole bit. For it is the number of man, and that's always what in Scripture? Six. And so his number is 600, three score, and six. That's where we get the six, six, six. All right, now let's clarify. You and I don't have to worry tonight about receiving the mark of the beast. This is a tribulation event, and you and I, if we're believers tonight, will not be here. So we don't have to worry about it. Anyone who has not taken it for whatever reason, and I always give my classes room to think, everybody isn't immediately going to accept this demand to have this mark placed on their forehead or in their hand, just like Social Security would like to have everybody have direct deposit. But how slow are most people to accept it? They just don't want to do it. They want to see that check come in the mail. They want to be able to deposit themselves. So there's foot dragging. Even though it's probably safer, it's faster. I use it, you know, direct deposit. I'm not afraid of it. But it'll be the same way with this mark of the beast. There will be multitudes of people who will drag their feet, and they're not going to take it right away just simply because human nature being what it is. So it's not going to instantaneously take over. Now that, of course, will be a blessing in disguise. Because, you see, anyone who has not yet taken that mark of the beast will have an opportunity at salvation as those 144,000 Jews will be proclaiming it. But if they have taken the mark, then they can preach their hearts out, and that individual will have no opportunity for salvation. He's doomed the minute he takes that mark of the beast. Now what's the mark of the beast? Well, I've said long before most of the big wheels began to realize it, when I was just really a nobody, that I was convinced that this mark of the beast is nothing more than an 18-digit computer number. In other words, three sets of six numbers or six digits. Now, of course, I think you're all acquainted with the little bars and lines on every product you buy, especially in our supermarkets. What's it called? The universal product code. And even tonight, this is, I think, how close we are, the outside bars and the very middle bar have a value of six. Now, it's not on your boxes of cereal and so forth. Some of the other numbers are. You might see a two or three or four. But unmarked, the outside left hand and the outside right hand bar has a value of six, as does the center one. Now, you see, all they have to do is expand this universal product code just a couple more lines and you will have 18 digits. And that is sufficient digits to give every human being on the face of the earth a separate number. Now, if they can keep track of products in a supermarket down to the last nitty gritty, just by simply running those things over those scanners, then you better bet they're going to be able to keep track of every human being. In fact, from way back in the 60s, there is the largest computer on earth located, I think, in Brussels, Belgium. And of course, it's an ancient, but I think it's still working. At least it was the last I heard. And that thing is so huge that it is, what, I think a city block, the building that houses it, a city block square. And that computer is very capable of keeping track of every human being on earth. So if you just simply bring this whole mark of the beast down to something that is so common already, a number, an 18 -digit number of 666, and you've got the mark of the beast. Now, of course, we know that there have been areas here in America, Scandinavia tried it a couple of years ago, a cashless society. Can a community actually go for 30 or 60 days without ever using a checkbook or a billfold? And it works. But the only problem they've had is that the checkout lines start backing up because the people in these trials can never find their card and their purse and so forth. And so even our secular articles have suggested that if there was some way of putting a mark on the flesh, on the hand or on the forehead, so that all they'd have to do is just like you do with your items in the store, run it over a scanner, and there wouldn't even be a need for a card. It'd be right there. So it's all there. The technology is just simply waiting to be implemented. So the mark of the beast. Have no fear of it. We've got all the evidence in the world that the precursors of it are with us. You and I use it every day. You can't go and get a driver's license without it. You can't file your taxes without it. What is it? Your social security number. Now, that's not the mark of the beast. I'm not trying to scare anyone or anything like that. But America isn't the only nation with a social security system. You know, I was surprised here just a few months ago when I read that even most of the small nations of what we call the third world have social security systems, a welfare system. And every one of their citizens have a number. Germany years ago began tattooing a social security number on the heels of the newborn infant, even before they left the hospital. Great Britain has had it. And so all we're seeing is that the world is getting ready for the fact that they can't do anything without a number. And see, we're already so programmed to it. Kids can't start kindergarten anymore unless they have their social security number. And as I've already mentioned, how much are you limited if you don't have a social security number? All right, now just magnify that. If it gets to the place that it's a completely cashless society, and if you haven't got that number, you can't receive a paycheck. You can't pay a rent bill. You can't pay a car payment. You can't buy gasoline. You can't buy groceries. You can do nothing without that number. Consequently, what's going to happen to the people who haven't got it? Well, they're going to die of starvation. They're going to die of exposure because they can't maintain their home. And it's awfully easy to understand. Now this is why, then, when we get to Matthew 25, and Jesus separates the sheep from the And you've all heard sermons on it. I know you have, but it probably wasn't in the right area. But this is simply the survivors of the tribulation. And some of them are sheep. They're believers in that chapter because they responded to the preaching of the 144,000 and survived. Not very many will, but a few will, Isaiah says. You're also going to have a few who are still lost, who rejected it, and they've survived. So Jesus brings them all before His throne room in Jerusalem. Matthew 25 says, "...and then shall the king..." See? All right. "...the king will now tell the sheep," who represent the believers, "...you're going to enter into the kingdom because when I was in prison you visited me. When I was hungry you fed me. When I was thirsty you gave me to drink. When I was naked you gave me clothes." You remember the verses? You've all read them. All right. What are they? Well, those are believers who, much like the Christians in Nazi Germany who hid the Jews, for only one reason. They had that love of Christ in their heart, and because of it they put their own neck on the block, you might say. And so during the closing day of the tribulation, believers who have heard the gospel from these 144,000 Jews, because of their new relationship and because they have survived, they will minister to their needs. And that's what Jesus means then when He said, "...inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these My brethren." Now remember, nobody's a brethren of Jesus except the Jew. And so He's referring to the 144,000. And then when the goats, the unbelievers say, well, when did we not do this and so on and so forth? And He answers the same way, "...when you did it not to the least of these My brethren." And so they're taken off the scene. Well, anyway, the mark of the beast, it's just simply those who have given in to the rule of the Antichrist. They have given in to the demands of the religious system that's going to absolutely demand that they have it. And if they take it, they may get along with the powers that be, but they seal their eternal doom so far as God is concerned, and they have no more opportunity for salvation. All right, now then let's skip over in the few moments we have left to chapter 17. And again, I've only got a few minutes left. We can't do justice to the chapter, but we'll get started. And as we do in our weekly classes, we'll go as far as we can and we'll stop, and then we'll pick it up in the next half hour. Revelation chapter 17, "...and there came one of the seven angels, who had the seven vials, and they talkedeth me, saying unto me, Come hither, and I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters." Now, the language kind of shocks us, I know, but we want to remember we're not talking about physical adultery here or immorality. We're talking about spiritual. And you see, spiritual adultery is when religions, organizations, take that from the pagan world and mix it with New Testament Christianity. That is spiritual adultery. Any time you mix paganism with Christianity, that's prostituting the truth of the Word of God. All right, so this whore, as the word is used, is not a woman of the street or a woman of the evening. This is a system that has adulterated the things of God. Keep that straight as we enter in, and God's going to judge it. Now verse 2, "...with this system the kings of the earth have committed fornication, immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her immorality. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman." How unfortunate for you ladies that the Scripture so often uses a woman in a bad light, but it does. Now I'll just give you a few examples. Come back to Revelation. Now this is not a put-down, but it just, on the other hand, shows that some of these things are unavoidable. Come all the way back to chapter 3 here in Tribulation. Revelation... No, I said 3... Chapter 2, I'm sorry. Revelation chapter 2, and drop down to verse 20. Revelation chapter 2, verse 20. And Jesus, of course, is speaking to the church of Thyatira, and He says, "...and notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou permittest that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce My servants, to commit fornication, or immorality, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." Would you like to be that woman? Why, no. See, it's in a bad light. All right, now come all the way back to Matthew chapter 13, and then we're going to be out of time. I know we are. Matthew 13, verse 33. Matthew 13, verse 33. And another parable, Matthew 13, verse 33, "...and another parable he spake unto them, The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven..." Now, in Scriptural analogy, leaven is always referred to as what? Something evil, see? Sin is leaven. "...so the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven," or yeast in this case, "...which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole," that is the loaf or the lump, "...was what? Leaven." Now again, would you gals like to be in that position? No. This is used in a bad light, that it was a woman who was guilty of inserting evil into a situation, and consequently, of course, God was displeased with it. So anyway, now just for the few seconds we have left, if you'll come back to Revelation 13, this system then is referred to in the female gender. Revelation 17, weren't we? "...And so he carried me away in the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemies, seven heads and ten horns." Now here we have then a religious system referred to in the female gender, and how many times isn't that so true in our everyday speech, where we refer to a religious system as she or her? Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, OK, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, OK, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time, for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.