What do you look for in the future for the marks of the beast?

Answer 1

Note: I do not claim to be an expert. This is my own opinion, based upon things I have read and then connected together. Therefore, read with an open mind, but draw your own conclusions!

First: There is no such thing as the 'future'. It doesn't exist. It's an illusion. You can prove this to yourself by realizing that everything which happens, happens now. Although you can visualize something happening in 5 minutes, for example, you will agree that when the 5 minutes is up, it happens now, not in 5 minutes. Nothing 'happens' in the future. It's all just possibilities and potential until it gets to now.

Second: The Mark of the Beast, said to be 666, is merely a representation of any and all humans on Earth. You may begin to realize this by looking at various translations of that particular chapter and verse, which is Revelations 13:18.

There is a Bible translation which puts it this way:

"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding

count the number of the beast: for it is THE NUMBER

OF MAN; and his number is 666" (Rev. xiii. 18)

The number of MAN, not the number of A man. Before explaining further, it will be necessary to shift gears just a little.

Although we use articles in English grammar (a, an, the), there are some languages which don't. Russian, for example.

From Wikipedia:

"Although Ancient Greek language has a definite article (which has survived into Modern Greek and which bears strong resemblance to the German definite article), the earlier Homeric Greek did not. Articles developed independently in several language families."

A definite article would be 'the'. Note that ancient Greek is not mentioned as having indefinite articles, such as 'a' or 'an'.

That little letter 'a' can make a huge difference in the meaning of the sentence. When it is included, it means one thing, and when it is not, it means something else.

For example, the famous quote of Neil Armstrong is, "That's one giant step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

That really doesn't make sense, does it? He is saying the same thing twice. However, in an interview, Armstrong states that he did not say what we heard. The letter 'a' got lost in space!

What he really said was, "That's one small step for A man; one giant leap for Mankind."

Makes much more sense, doesn't it?

In the same way, people who translated The Bible put in that little letter when it was not warranted.

So, getting back to Revelations 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.

Stay with me here as we take one more small detour.

Man cannot exist without carbon. This is because carbon easily combines with many other elements, and many compounds can thus be created. This is why it is said that man is carbon-based.

Again from Wikipedia:

Carbon forms the backbone of Biology for all for all life on Earth. Complex molecules are made up of carbon which bond with other elements, especially oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen and carbon is able to bond with all of these because of its four valence electrons.

Carbon is found in other places as well. Graphite is a form of carbon. This is another name for the 'lead' in a pencil.

Carbon is found in coal. Carbon is found in diamonds. So we write (communicate) with carbon. We heat with it. We cook with it. We trade (diamonds) with it.

It's involved in every facet of our lives. An interesting recent discovery, for which the Nobel prize was awarded is called 'graphene'. This is at this moment the lightest, strongest material known to Man! There are many used for this material, one of which would be the computer chip. It's so strong though, that if a coffee cup were surrounded by a grid of graphene just one molecule thick, it could hold up an entire car!

Until very recently, carbon-12 was used as the benchmark for measuring other elements. Carbon-14 is still used as a way of dating organic materials.

Carbon, then, is an essential part of life on this planet. Without it, we simply would not exist - at least not in this form.

The final thing about carbon is where it sits on the Periodic Table. The elements are numbered according to the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons they contain.

Hydrogen, for example, has one proton and one electron. The atomic number is 1. The number for helium is 2.

The number for carbon is 6.

It has six protons, six neutrons, and six electrons. 6 - 6 - 6.

The number of Man.

What this verse is telling you then, is to watch for the 'beast' in yourself and nothing more!

Tame the beast, and be rewarded. See God. See Peace, Joy, and Love which surpasses all understanding.

It's that simple. In my opinion, of course!