Doctrines and Practices of the Church
Part 11

The Revelation

The Theories
      The theories about the meaning of the prophecies Jesus revealed to John on the Isle of Patmos are too numerous to calculate.  There are several aspects that dominate the various scenarios presented, which scripture does not support, and it is those we will address.  It is of the utmost importance that the readers not make the mistake many have made before, which has allowed so many myths to be accepted.  The problem is that so many simply accept the word of those theorists without studying the foundations of their concepts. 
      The most popular belief is that the Revelation is the future story of the rise of the Antichrist to world power, his actions to demand loyalty, the creation of a world government and world religion, the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, the rapture, a great battle at Armageddon, the final battle that defeats Satan, Jesus taking the throne, and a new earth being created.  

      Here are the major points most often presented concerning the prophecies of the Revelation to John:
·  The Antichrist is the central figure of the end times. 
·  The Antichrist will establish a world government.
·  The Antichrist will bring peace to the world.
·  The Antichrist will stand in the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt Temple at Jerusalem.
·  The Antichrist will either declare himself as the Messiah or be declared the Messiah by a new World Church.
·  The Antichrist is the author of the “Great Deception”.
·  The Mark of the Beast will be an identifying sign of loyalty to the Antichrist.
·  The Mark of the Beast is 666.
·  A new World Church will be established.
·  The Temple at Jerusalem will be rebuilt.
·  The False Prophet plays a major role in the end times events.
·  The Jews will accept Jesus as the Messiah before he returns.
·  There are two specific groups of 144,000 people each “raptured”.
·  The Beast is a human.
·  The Beast is the Antichrist.
·  There will be a “Great Battle” at Armageddon.
·  Satan will be defeated in a “Great Battle” in heaven just before he is imprisoned in chains. 

The Beast
      One of the first problems in the orthodox view of the "beast" is that it is a person.  Many believe this, but scripture and theological study reveal that this is more likely, an organization, or group of nations.  The word from which the word beast is taken means "dangerous animal".  In our modern society an animal is considered "dangerous" for several reasons, not the least of which is posing a threat to human life or physical harm to humans or their property.        
      Since the beast is mentioned in a social, rather than a natural context, we can assume that whatever the beast is, it is probably not an actual animal, but more likely some other entity that exhibits the traits of a dangerous animal.  The connection of the Mark to global commerce, the institution of that Mark by the image the Beast creates, and the identification of the global corporations as the deceiver of the world place those corporations in the direct spotlight as a prime suspect.  See The Mark of the Beast

      In a recent book, and movie, titled “The Corporation”, the concept of corporate personhood, and its ramifications socially, were closely examined.  A person who is considered dangerous to the society as a whole very often exhibit traits that are defined as psychopathic, and would make that person a threat to society.  In the book, “The Corporation”, a leading expert in forensic psychology was asked to determine how the corporate personality, with its questionable humanlike power under the status of corporate personhood, would be rated psychologically.  His conclusion is that the corporation, as legally structured, by the actions it is mandated to take, and considering its well-publicized performance socially, would qualify it as a severe psychopath.  

      Psychologist Dr. Robert Hare, a leading expert in the study of psychopathic behavior, has developed a checklist of psychopathic traits and these are but a few that represent the aberrant behavior of corporations.
·  The corporation is irresponsible because in an attempt to satisfy the corporate goal, everybody else is put at risk.
·  Corporations try to manipulate everything, including public opinion.
·  Corporations are grandiose, always insisting that "we're number one, we're the best."
·  Corporations refuse to accept responsibility for their own actions and are unable to feel remorse.
      The following is his well-known and implemented psychopathy checklist in its entirety. The reader can easily see that considering what we know about the global behavior of corporations, there are very few aspects of psychopathic behavior corporations do not match.
1. Glibness / superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
4. Pathological lying
5. Conning/manipulative
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
7. Shallow affect
8. Callous/lack of empathy
9.  Parasitic lifestyle
10. Poor behavioral controls
11. Promiscuous sexual behavior
12. Early behavior problems
13. Lack of realistic, long-term plans
14. Impulsivity
15. Irresponsibility
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
17. Many short-term relationships
18. Juvenile delinquency
19. Revocation of conditional release
20. Criminal versatility

 The Antichrist
      There is no reference to a "leader", a person who will "claim to be God", some charismatic leader that will take over as a world ruler, or anything resembling that in the prophecies Jesus revealed to John.  The phrase antichrist, or the plural of it, only appears four times in scripture, the antichrist is not referred to in the Revelation, and was actually described as a living human being during the time he was mentioned:
♦  "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. " (I John 4:3)

The other verses mentioning the antichrist in scripture are:
♦  I John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
♦  I John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
♦  II John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

      Bottom-line; the stories you have heard about this very charismatic man taking over the world, proclaiming himself the Savior, and being the one to make people take the mark are pure tradition and have no foundation in scripture.