HOW to AVOID the
666 MARK
OF THE BEAST
and Be Set Apart by God
Instead
The true Sabbath,
PLUS God's ANNUAL Holy Days, are GOD'S SIGN showing
WHO are God's people, helping to make
them HOLY, according to the Biblical instruction to "SET
APART (sanctify) YOURSELVES
therefore, and BE YOU HOLY". (Lev
20:7, 23:2, 1Pe 1:15,16, Rev 18:4)
In contrast, the Mark of
the Beast is Satan's sign, branded on those who are NOT YET
called by God to
the extent that they REJECT the Mark of
the Beast, dedicating certain times on
the calendar to God, as explained
below...
Revelation 13:17 talks about the 'Mark of the Beast'.
This MARK --or SIGN--
identifies those currently under Satan's domination:
Revelation 13:16-18 And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the
poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a MARK on their right hand, or upon
their forehead;
and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath
the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of
his name.
Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let
him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his
number is Six hundred and sixty and six.
By contrast, God also gives a sign to
identify His own people:
Exodus 31:13
Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: Surely My Sabbath's you shall
keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations,
that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
Exodus 31:16-17
Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath
throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It
is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord
made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.
Exodus 13:6 Seven days
thou shalt eat unleavened bread
(This occurs within the first season of God's
annual Holy Days.) Continuing in Ex.13:9
And it shall be for
a SIGN unto thee upon thine
hand (people work with their hands, so this involves working), and
for a memorial between thine eyes
(ie. in their forehead, where the mind is, so this also involves thinking).
(BOTH weekly and annual Sabbath's were
established to be kept forever, even though we are now under the New
Covenant. Although the Old Covenant was abolished and replaced, it was separate
to Sabbath keeping, which was established forever, beginning in Genesis 2:3, before
Abraham or Moses and before the Old Covenant. What the Old Covenant did not
introduce, it could not take away when it was abolished. Acts 20:6, 1 Cor. 5:8,
and 1 Cor. 16:8 are example verses that show the annual holy days did not
cease to exist after the crucifixion either. God will actually enforce
these holy days after Christ returns... see Zech. 14:16, and notice it is talking about
the Feast of Tabernacles, and then read Zechariah 14:17.)
God's SIGN includes observing all
of God's commandments, statutes, and judgements: Deut. 6:1, and 6:8.
BOTH THE MARK, AND THE SIGN, IDENTIFY THE WAY
PEOPLE BUY AND SELL, AND WORK AND THINK, AND BOTH ARE IN DIRECT CONTRAST TO EACH
OTHER.
WHY 666?
SEVEN is God's special
number. The book of Revelation lays out a pattern of SEVEN consecutive SEVENS:
There are 7 church eras, 7 seals, 7 trumpet plagues, 7 vial plagues, 7 thunders, 7
kingdoms of the beast, and 7 resurrections of the Roman empire which are needed to
complete the prophecies.
7, often repeated, is God's
number.
Rev. 13:18 says 666 is
the number of a man.
Man falls
short of God.
A certain person may
yet more directly fulfil the number 666 in prophecy,
but that's not the only reason for the use of the number
666.
666
falls short of 777... As does the Mark of the Beast, which FALLS SHORT of God's
requirements.
God expects true Christians to uphold the following three
seven's, in place of 666.
Here are the THREE SEVEN'S, that are
THREE SIGNS of God's chosen people:
The first 7 is keeping the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH. This is the first SIGN which identifies God's people.
The second 7 is found in
God's SEVEN ANNUAL HOLY DAYS (Leviticus 23:1-44) which are
also commanded to be kept. This is the second sign which identifies God's people.
A third 7 is the PREACHING OF THE TRUE
GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM... THE FINISH OF WHICH IS THE SIGN OF CHRIST'S COMING, according to Matthew 24:3
and Matthew 24:14... Jesus will return with the saints, who are God's
people. Much of the symbolism and ultimate fulfilment of the Sabbath and
Holy Days, will be fulfilled AT THIS TIME in the plan of God, ...those who have THIS
SIGN look forward to the establishment of God's rule over this earth, which
is timed to occur near the start of the SEVENTH one thousand year 'day' since Adam was created.
Therefore
keeping ALL God's correct Holy Days on
the correct dates shows the opposite
SIGN to the Mark [or SIGN] of the Beast in people's hand and forehead in Revelation 13:16-18.
Those who fall short in these THREE SEVENS, --those who do not love them,
are AUTOMATICALLY branded with THREE SIXES instead!
Anyone who scoffs at these sevens, who is MORE concerned
about pleasing MAN, rather than GOD, has already taken on the
number of a man. Although it could happen, a microchip*** will NOT be needed -- and if
you observe Christmas, or if you
worship God in any other pagan manner (Deut. 12:30, 31, 32), you will
continue to take on the 666 Mark of the Beast by default.
As
end time events continue to unfold, this
will condemn a LOT of people
...which is why Zephaniah 1:2,3 (NIV) says:
"I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
"I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off MAN
from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
In verse 6 God says this
will happen to "those who neither seek the Lord nor
inquire of him."
*** Read more about why having a microchip implant breaks
God's law here.
Read 'The
Mark of the Beast' booklet by Herbert W. Armstrong here.
Read my
article below, to PROVE (as in 1 Th. 5:21) the dates that followers of Christ should
observe.
Who Keeps The CORRECT Holy
Day Dates?
- The Jews, or the
Original WCG?
If you belong to one of the WCG splits don't answer
this too quickly... Douay-Rheims Bible - Proverbs 18:13 He that answereth before he heareth, sheweth himself to be a fool, and worthy of confusion.
The
seven annual holy days are important because they are God's sign of who are God's people.
The original Worldwide Church of God and most of the modern day splits
from the WCG differ from the Jews in calculating TWO of the main Holy Day
Calendar dates. They should NOT differ!
Determining
the correct holy day count is easy when you simply look at which days are marked
on a Jewish calendar, but to PROVE they are correct to people who will not accept this is
a very complicated subject. I
believe all the URL links on this page give enough proof to prove that
the majority of the WCG
church splits have it wrong.
1. PASSOVER
Update - Frank Borg has now written an excellent
booklet that explains this subject clearly, correctly, and irrefutably... Download it here.
Traditional WCG understanding of the timing of Passover is incorrect.
It is the time period around the end of the 14th. of Nisan, not
the sunset beginning the 14th. Here's proof.
Exodus 12,
verse 6 and Exodus 12 verse 18 in both cases must remain consistent
with each other....
Verse 6 ...and you shall keep it (the lamb) until
the fourteenth day of the same month;
and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. (ie. near the end of the 14th.)
Verse 18
says: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at
evening, (ie. near the end of the
14th.) you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. (talking about the first and last days of U.B., the
last day being towards the end of the 21st.)
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found...
Compare these two verses together. They are talking about the
SAME time period, as will be proved in due course. In verse 18, "until the 21st day" should have the
same rules applied to it as "until
the 14th day" in verse 6, as to which evening. So the fourteenth at evening MUST mean
near the end of the fourteenth, towards the start of the sunset
beginning the FIFTEENTH in
order to make it 7 days.
From
the start of the 14th to the end of the 21st is 8 days... traditional
WCG reasoning keeps the 21st as the last day, and yet tries to tell us that includes
an extra day for Passover, but the Bible says this period
is 7 days, not 8.
The
expression at evening is more
accurately translated between the evenings...
but we'll come to that later.
It's a shame that the Book of Jubilees ( Wikapedia entry ) is not part of the
Bible, as Chapter 49 makes it VERY plain:
- Remember the
commandment which the Lord commanded thee concerning the Passover, that thou shouldst
celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that thou shouldst kill
it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the
evening of the fifteenth from the time of the setting of the sun.
- For on this
night -the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy- ye were eating the
Passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastêmâ had been let loose to slay all the
first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the first-born of the
captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the cattle.
- And this is
the sign which the Lord gave them: Into every house on the lintels of which they saw the
blood of a lamb of the first year, into (that) house they should not enter to slay, but
should pass by (it), that all those should be saved that were in the house because the
sign of the blood was on its lintels.
- And the
powers of the Lord did everything according as the Lord commanded them, and they passed by
all the children of Israel, and the plague came not upon them to destroy from amongst them
any soul either of cattle, or man, or dog.
- And the
plague was very grievous in Egypt, and there was no house in Egypt where there was not one
dead, and weeping and lamentation.
- And all
Israel was eating the flesh of the paschal lamb, and drinking the wine, and was lauding,
and blessing, and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers, and was ready to go
forth from under the yoke of Egypt, and from the evil bondage.
- And remember
thou this day all the days of thy life, and observe it from year to year all the days of
thy life, once a year, on its day, according to all the law thereof, and
do not adjourn (it) from day to day, or from month to month. (An alternate
rendering of this says: and thou shalt not change the day for another day,)
- For it is an
eternal ordinance, and engraven on the heavenly tablets regarding all the children of
Israel that they should observe it every year on its day (not
the day before) once a year, throughout all their generations; and there
is no limit of days, for this is ordained for ever.
- And the man
who is free from unclearness, and does not come to observe it on occasion of its day, so
as to bring an acceptable offering before the Lord, and to eat and to drink before the
Lord on the day of its festival, that man who is clean and close at hand shall be cut off:
because he offered not the oblation of the Lord in its appointed season, he shall take the
guilt upon himself.
- Let the
children of Israel come and observe the passover on the day of its fixed time, on the
fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, from the third part of the day to
the third part of the night, for two portions of the day are given to the light, and a
third part to the evening.
- This is that
which the Lord commanded thee that thou shouldst observe it between the evenings.
- And it is not
permissible to slay it during any period of the light, but during the period bordering on
the evening, and let them eat it at the time of the evening, until the third part of the
night, and whatever is left over of all its flesh from the third part of the night and
onwards, let them burn it with fire.
- And they
shall not cook it with water, nor shall they eat it raw, but roast on the fire: they shall
eat it with diligence, its head with the inwards thereof and its feet they shall roast
with fire, and not break any bone thereof; for of the children of Israel no bone shall be
crushed.
- For this
reason the Lord commanded the children of Israel to observe the passover on the day of its
fixed time, and they shall not break a bone thereof; for it is a festival day, and a day
commanded, and there may be no passing over from day to day, and month to month, but on
the day of its festival let it be observed.
- And do thou
command the children of Israel to observe the passover throughout their days, every year,
once a year on the day of its fixed time, and it shall come for a memorial well pleasing
before the Lord, and no plague shall come upon them to slay or to smite in that year in
which they celebrate the passover in its season in every respect according to His command.
- And they
shall not eat it outside the sanctuary of the Lord, but before the sanctuary of the Lord,
and all the people of the congregation of Israel shall celebrate it in its appointed
season.
- And every man
who has come upon its day shall eat it in the sanctuary of your God before the Lord from
twenty years old and upward; for thus is it written and ordained that they should eat it
in the sanctuary of the Lord.
- And when the
children of Israel come into the land which they are to possess, into the land of Canaan,
and set up the tabernacle of the Lord in the midst of the land in one of their tribes
until the sanctuary of the Lord has been built in the land, let them come and celebrate
the passover in the midst of the tabernacle of the Lord, and let them slay it before the
Lord from year to year.
- And in the
days when the house has been built in the name of the Lord in the land of their
inheritance, they shall go there and slay the passover in the evening, at sunset, at the
third part of the day.
- And they
shall offer its blood on the threshold of the altar, and shall place its fat on the fire
which is upon the altar, and they shall eat its flesh roasted with fire in the court of
the house which has been sanctified in the name of the Lord.
- And they may
not celebrate the passover in their cities, nor in any place save before the tabernacle of
the Lord, or before His house where His name hath dwelt; and they shall not go astray from
the Lord.
- And do thou,
Moses, command the children of Israel to observe the ordinances of the passover, as it was
commanded unto thee; declare thou unto them every year and the day of its days, and the
festival of unleavened bread, that they should eat unleavened bread seven days, (and) that
they should observe its festival, and that they bring an oblation every day during those
seven days of joy before the Lord on the altar of your God.
- For ye
celebrated this festival with haste when ye went forth from Egypt till ye entered into the
wilderness of Shur; for on the shore of the sea ye completed it.
However, the Book of
Jubilees is NOT part of the Bible, but there IS much additional BIBLE PROOF,
including NEW TESTAMENT events.
Download
http://www.nicetiming.com/passover1.pdf
and
http://www.nicetiming.com/passover2.pdf.
Also read
http://darwinlauralee.com/thecogmessenger0048/a2008-048-07.htm.
(The above articles need to be studied, not just read.)
The wording
of Leviticus 23, vs. 5 and 6 in many translations is confusing.
Here is how the
King James version reads:
Verse 5 - In the 14th day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover.
Verse 6 - And on the 15th day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto
the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
To many, this is
saying the beginning of Passover starts on the evening of the 14th day of the first month
and from the 15th to the 21st is Unleavened Bread.
But here is
the Young's Literal Translation of these verses:
Lev 23:5
in the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings,
is the passover to Jehovah;
Lev 23:6 and
on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast of unleavened things to Jehovah; seven
days unleavened things ye do eat;
This
link PROVES that between the evenings means about 3 p.m.
http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Between-the-Evenings
I believe it must
mean that at about 3 p.m. on the 14th the lamb was slain, which Christ fulfilled
exactly at this time as shown in the New Testament. The actual death angel then
passed over at midnight afterwards when the 15th begins as we count dates today, but
again referring to the above link I don't think Lev 23:5 can mean midnight
exclusively here when it refers to the Passover, but rather the reference to the
Passover here is referring to the beginning of the whole sequence of events,
which starts with the slaying of the lamb. Ezekiel 45:21 actually calls
Passover a 7 day feast.
Quoting from this
link http://bibleresearch.org/observancebook5/b5w30.html
(please read the whole page) the original Passover was a ceremonial process that
contained the following events:
- Passover lambs were
killed from approximately 3 p.m. until just before sunset.
- Each lamb was
roasted wholethis roasting took approximately 3 to 4 hours.
- The lamb was eaten
after sunsetperhaps another hour or two.
The
whole ceremonial process could take approximately 12 hours, depending on when the lamb was
killed, how long it took to roast the lamb, and how long it took to eat it.
This
makes it clear that the Passover began on the Preparation day of the 14th. and then just a
few hours later the first day of Unleavened Bread began, which
includes the eating of the lamb and the pass over time when the death angel
passed over. So the first day and the Passover overlap on the sunset to
sunset way of calculating the 15th, but technically Passover begins a few hours
before the evening leading into the 15th. In no way does it begin a
whole 24 hours before on the evening that began the preparation day.
God
gave the Jews the authority to keep track of the correct dates and said in Mat. 23:1-3.
"Then spoke Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples saying, The Scribes
and Pharisees (not the Sadducees which the Church has followed)
sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe,
that observe and do. . ."
You
would think the Jews would know the correct days of their own Holy days.
It is crazy to think God would allow them to get it wrong when Christ said to observe
the days they keep.
To answer those who want to argue about Exodus 16 (the quail
debate) see
http://church-of-yehovah.org/quailcon.htm
When Christ changed
the symbols in the NT it was because he had to fulfil them the next day and
could not very well do it at the same time he was enduring the fulfilment, so the
new symbols should be kept on the same day they picture and were
fulfilled, not the day before.
Christ instituted the bread and wine symbols to replace
the Passover symbols, therefore I believe the New Testament Passover ceremony itself,
taking unleavened bread and wine, should be taken after sunset on the beginning of the 15th
after Christ actually died, as he died towards the END of the 14th
of Nisan... For another URL link on this subject read http://www.davidbenariel.org/cog/passover-memorial.htm
Read more NEWLY REVEALED
UNDERSTANDING
about the SYMBOLISM of Unleavened Bread here. |
2. PENTECOST
The Jewish Pentecost (Shavuot) in 2009 is Friday May 29th. For anyone with a
Church of God /Herbert W. Armstrong - former WCG background, who doubts the Jews (and
my) understanding of which day is actually the correct day to count to,
and then observe Pentecost, they can prove this for themselves. Here are some
very important research links:
http://darwinlauralee.com/a2002-010-02.htm
http://darwinlauralee.com/a2004-024-01.htm
http://darwinlauralee.com/a2005-029-01.htm
http://darwinlauralee.com/a2004-020-01.htm
http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Sivan6
Young's LITERAL
Translation of Luke 24:1 reads as follows: And on the first of the Sabbaths, at
early dawn (which would have been Nisan 17), they came to the tomb, bearing the
spices they made ready, and certain {others} with them. In modern day terminology this is
saying Saturday, near sunrise. The following link http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Jesus-Resurrection
explains in full exactly when Christ was resurrected, which also explains the
above verse.
The wave
sheaf (representing true Christian firstfruits) was waved on (Friday)
Nisan 16. It does NOT refer to Christ, but was offered with a lamb
because it is made possible BY the Sacrifice of Jesus, which precedes it in time
sequence as the following link explains:
http://www.elderwalterprestonjr.com/custom4.html
http://yourarmstoisrael.org/Articles_new/notes/bringing_back.php
http://www.triumphpro.com/wave-sheaf-secret.htm
http://cogpt.org/pentecostacountdowntofreedom.htm
(This is a whole book about the correct count to Pentecost. Note especially chapter 5.)
To verify the Septuagint translation of
Leviticus 23:11 ,
which reads "and he shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted
for you. On the morrow of the first day the
priest shall lift it up." go to http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/
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