Part 1 The Beast from the Sea
The meaning of Armageddon
“For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.”
Revelation 16:14-16 NKJV
Armageddon is neither a battle of flesh and blood nor a sensational cataclysmic event, as often portrayed by Hollywood. The word Armageddon in Hebrew simply means “A place of crowds”, or “A crowded place”. It appears only once in the Bible, in the Book of Revelation chapter 16.
Armageddon is a place of trial where the entire human race is subjected to. No one escapes Armageddon. Neither rich nor poor, free nor slave. Changing ones geographic location does not free one from the test of Armageddon.
Deception by Corrupted Wisdom and Signs
The trial of Armageddon will test the hearts of men. Paul the Apostle, during his time said,
“For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,”
I Corinthians 1:22-23 NKJV
One group seeks to find explanation through signs and wonders, often with high emotional affinity to supernatural phenomenons, mythologies and folklores.
Another group seeks logic and reason, with the majority subscribing to various theories from “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution”, “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” and even to something less scientific like “Kiyosaki’s Cashflow Quadrant”.
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”;”
I Corinthians 3:19 NKJV
The test of Armageddon is designed to expose the hearts of those who seek signs and those who seek wisdom without Christ, because the Way of Life does not lie in worldly wisdom nor signs. It belongs to Christ (thus the Paul the Apostle said we are to preach Christ crucified).
The Beast from the Sea emerges to test the garments of those who rely on corrupted wisdom, whilst the Beast of the Earth emerges to test the garments of those who seek after “signs and wonders” (Read Part 2: Beast of the Earth)
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6
The Beast of the Sea
The two beasts are distinguished by the symbolic area where they rose.
Thus, it is crucial to understand symbolic meaning of the Sea.
A miniature version of the symbolic Sea is reflected in Ezekiel’s lamentation of the City of Tyre (Ezekiel 27 and 28).
“The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, “Now, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre, and say to Tyre, ‘You who are situated at the entrance of the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, thus says the Lord God: “O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’”
Ezekiel 27:1-3
A detailed study of Ezekiel 27 gives us a clue that the Beast of the Sea is a globalized version of the City of Tyre.
Tyre symbolises a great nation, built by tradesmen across the entire world.
“They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; They took a cedar from Lebanon to make you a mast. Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; The company of Ashurites have inlaid your planks With ivory from the coasts of Cyprus. Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was what you spread for your sail; Blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was what covered you. “Inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; Your wise men, O Tyre, were in you; They became your pilots. Elders of Gebal and its wise men Were in you to caulk your seams; All the ships of the sea And their oarsmen were in you To market your merchandise. “Those from Persia, Lydia, and Libya Were in your army as men of war; They hung shield and helmet in you; They gave splendor to you. Men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, And the men of Gammad were in your towers; They hung their shields on your walls all around; They made your beauty perfect.”
Ezekiel 27:5-11 NKJV
Tyre also symbolises a great commercial hub, and people from all nations and all walks of life found their Way of Life in the affluent city of Tyre.
““Tarshish was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. They gave you silver, iron, tin, and lead for your goods. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders. They bartered human lives and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. Those from the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses, steeds, and mules. The men of Dedan were your traders; many isles were the market of your hand. They brought you ivory tusks and ebony as payment. Syria was your merchant because of the abundance of goods you made. They gave you for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidery, fine linen, corals, and rubies. Judah and the land of Israel were your traders. They traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, millet, honey, oil, and balm. Damascus was your merchant because of the abundance of goods you made, because of your many luxury items, with the wine of Helbon and with white wool. Dan and Javan paid for your wares, traversing back and forth. Wrought iron, cassia, and cane were among your merchandise. Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding. Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your regular merchants. They traded with you in lambs, rams, and goats. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah were your merchants. They traded for your wares the choicest spices, all kinds of precious stones, and gold. Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Assyria, and Chilmad were your merchants. These were your merchants in choice items—in purple clothes, in embroidered garments, in chests of multicolored apparel, in sturdy woven cords, which were in your marketplace.”
Ezekiel 27:12-24 NKJV
The Beast’s Way of Life
Men of Tyre, with great worldly wisdom, built an affluent, perfect and beautiful city in their sight and they are filled with various sorts of industries, they are second to none. Inhabitants of Tyre are seen as financially successful career and businessmen.
With their financial and commercial success, these men called themselves God.
““Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god”
Ezekiel 28:2 NKJV
Today, globalism has unfolded in a perfectly natural order. Men of all nations strive for financial success. Those who have achieved great wealth have become gods in the eyes of many. The love for money has become a common denominator for the entire human race who worships the Beast of the Sea.
Their false Way of Life, is measured by their commercial and financial success, enabled by a political entity that supports Globalism, under the banner of “Peace and Security”.
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.
“For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.”
I Thessalonians 5:3 NKJV
The mantra of the Beast’s Way of Life: “Study hard, get a good college degree, find a good job, take a 30 year mortgage to buy real estate”.
The beast has an in-built captive mechanism in the form of a financial loan, in order to enslave those who worship the Beast and its Way of Life. Those who are not aligned with the nature of the Beast, is often labelled as “lacking ambition”.
Paradoxically, these men who worship the beast have been led captive whilsts seeking financial freedom.
“He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”
Revelation 13:10 NKJV
The True Way of Life
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6 NKJV
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””
Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
The Beast of the Sea and its Total Dominion
“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”
Revelation 13:1
The Beast of the Sea, its seven heads and ten horns, symbolises total dominion of mankind. During the reign of Tiberius Caesar, seven heads ruled the most powerful nation during that time.
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.”
Luke 3:1-2 NKJV
“And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.”
Revelation 13:5 NKJV
The Beast of the Sea was given a mouth. It comes with a dedicated media propaganda tool and it speaks with its own agenda. Anyone who speaks against the narrative of the “mouth” is either censored or cancelled.
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.”
Revelation 16:13 NKJV
The symbolic frog is used to depict what comes out of the mouth (media). Why? Because for many years it lay dormant as an innocent tadpole, reporting news as it is. It has now matured into a frog, running its own nefarious agenda.
The 42 months
“And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.”
Revelation 13:5 NKJV
The symbolic 42 months, or 1260 days, points to 3.5 years, and similar to many prophetic symbols, must not be taken literally. The number seven usually means “complete”.
There are two Beasts in Revelation 13. One beast is given authority for 42 months (3.5 years = half of 7 years), symbolising “half of the deception”. The beast of the Sea is designed is test those with corrupted wisdom, whilst the beast of the earth will test those who seek “signs and wonders” (Read Part 2: Beast of the Earth)
The second half of the plan shall be carried out by the Beast of the Earth as spoken by Daniel.
“Thus [the angel] said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth, tread it down, and break it in pieces and crush it. And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise; and another shall arise after them, and he shall be different from the former ones, and he shall subdue and put down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High [God] and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change the time [of sacred feasts and holy days] and the law; and the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, two times, and half a time [three and one-half years].”
Daniel 7:23-25 (Classic Amplified version)
Note that Daniel introduced four Beasts, but the first 3 beasts (a Lion, a Bear and a Leopard) in Daniel’s vision is equivalent of the Beast of the Sea as seen in the scripture below.
“Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.”
Daniel 7:2-6 NKJV
“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.”
Revelation 13:1-2 NKJV
The Destruction of Tyre
The sudden destruction of Tyre is brought forth by their corrupted wisdom.
“By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),””
Ezekiel 28:5 NKJV
““Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.”
Ezekiel 28:17 NKJV
“Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor. They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas.”
Ezekiel 28:7-8 NKJV
“And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.”
Revelation 9:11
Apollyon means “Destruction”.
The September 11 attacks, also commonly referred to as 9/11, were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
The 9/11 attack serves as a prelude to the destruction.
“Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.”
Revelation 9:3-10 NKJV
Then suddenly, out of the microscopic realm, locusts came upon them as scorpions with stings in their tails. Those who do not have the seal of God and have accepted the false Way of Life is threatened. They will find ways to sustain their false Way of Life. The corrupted wisdom that brought them riches suddenly turned into foolishness. With an experimental drug together with a dedicated mouth (media), all men were subjected to its torment for five months.
“The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”
Revelation 18:23 NKJV
Prior to the translation of the King James Bible, the Greek version often used the word “Pharmakeia”, in the place of sorcery.
It is to be read “… by your Pharmakeia, all nations were deceived”.
Pharmakeia = “use of drugs”.
Again the five months is not to be taken literally.
Five months = 150 days, it brings us to God’s judgement when He flooded the entire earth during the time of Noah.
“And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.”
Genesis 7:24 NKJV
The meaning: There is no escape for anyone who have embraced the false and deceptive Way of Life.
The Warning(trumpet) and Judgement(bowl) to the Sea
“Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
Revelation 8:8-9 NKJV
“Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.”
Revelation 16:3 NKJV
“In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.”
Revelation 9:6 NKJV
The Destiny of the Sea
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”
Revelation 21:1 NKJV
“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”
Revelation 18:4 NKJV
Michael / Sep 2021