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The beast, mark and number of the beast revealed according to a popular modern gnostic writer, Joe Kovac. WND (world net daily) advertises this view, and book on their website. https://youtu.be/PKBSg3PTXnM The article states, 'There's no reason to fear, we shouldn't fear anything as believers' I agree that we should not fear this. However I must say that I fear for those who listen to his FALSE teaching they are promotong. “Finally emerging: The beast, mark and number of the beast revealed ”“For thousands of years, millions of Christians have been intrigued by mysterious Scriptures discussing the beast, the number of the beast, and mark of the beast. But what do these cryptic terms really mean? “Now, clear answers are finally breaking through thick clouds of speculation and misunderstanding, as a popular Bible television show probed the matter in depth.” I agree there is much speculation and misunderstanding, and what Kovac is saying brings even more misunderstanding. He promotes himself, insinuating that few if any have come close to clarity on this topic until his interview on "Shabbat Night Live" . Joe Kovacs, author of the new bestseller, "Reaching God Speed: Unlocking the Secret Broadcast Revealing the Mystery of Everything" will tell you what has eluded so many throughout church history. His teaching does not help clarify it but adds further confusion, as this man does not know what he speaks of. Listen to him “ shed the light of truth on what Scripture means by the beast and everything associated with it to Host Scott Laird, (who was filling in for Michael Rood). When most people think of the beast, "We think of automatically the devil. Evil. Everything bad. The beast. What is the beast? There's all kinds of mystery behind the beast. Nobody can seem to figure out, everyone has conjecture about what the beast is. ” Everyone has conjecture except him! He claims he is to straighten out what everyone else out can’t, and immediately plugs his new book. What we hear is that the beast is not evil, not the devil. Which is the very opposite of what the Scripture states, he is so evil toward humanity which is the reason he is called the Beast. It’s hard to consider that WND would actually promote this on their website. One reason is that the Bible warns of severest punishment for taking the mark and following ‘the beast.’ Rv. 14:9- 10 " If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.” Kovac: “ Just like everything in God speed, you see this as a very child-like way, simple way of looking at something and I think we can find it very refreshing ." And we will see that his God speed, not just oversimplifies the matter, it is a childish interpretation that takes one away from the true intent and meaning of what is actually written. This is very serious portion of Scripture that when changed can be dangerous to an individual listening to his exclusive analysis. Here are the key verses he lists that he believes reveal the answers. "Here's some famous Bible verses: some quite obscure: "Nevertheless MAN, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the BEASTS that perish " (Psalm 49:12 NKJV). “ You have made MANKIND like the FISH of the sea” (Habakkuk 1:14 CSB). “You are My FLOCK, the flock of My pasture; you are MEN ” (Ezekiel 34:31 NKJV). “Feed my LAMBS” (John 21:15 KJV). “I send YOU forth as LAMBS among WOLVES” (Luke 10:3 KJV). “ Do not fear, YOU WORM Jacob, YOU MEN of Israel ” (Isaiah 41:14 CSB). “ For the law of Moses says, ‘You must not muzzle an OX to keep it from eating a s it treads out the grain.’ Was God thinking only about OXEN when he said this? Wasn’t he actually speaking to US? Yes, it was written for US ” (1 Corinthians 9:9–10 NLT). Now for the passage that actually contains the word ‘beast.’ "A MAN who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the BEASTS that perish " (Psalm 49:20 NKJV). This collage of Bible words Kovac uses misleads the reader into a false interpretation and takes one away from the true meaning. This is no different than those who say that "Sunday worship" is the "mark of 35 the Beast," his is just as an atrocious interpretation. "Are you picking up on a theme here?" asked Kovacs, "The beasts are [in metaphoric fashion] mankind. It says it outright, a man is like the beasts, and we're like the fish and we're [a] flock and lambs .” What I’m picking up is someone who is scraping the Bible for verses that contain a word of similarity but are not words relative to the actual meaning of the one called the Beast in Revelation. The majority of Scriptures are collected detour one from the actual meaning of the person called the Beast and his activity. In fact some of the Scriptures in his list are so absurd it shows this man is incapable of using an accurate way of interpretation, especially when applied to the harder scriptures. Whether this is intentional or just plain ineptitude cannot be determined. Does this mean all metaphors fish, a flock, lambs are applicable as word beast is? Kovac actually says, " Samson's wife is called a COW, a HEIFER. Because human beings, even though we're in the image of God andlook like God and have eyes and hands and all that, we're in the form of a beast, in the body of a beast. We have flesh and blood, just like the beast. It's especially referring to mankind in rebellion against God. If we're in in rebellion against God, we're gonna stay in the flesh, in this burning place, in this Sodom and Egypt that we're in .” First of all God is not a human, we do not look like God, He does NOT have a physical form, (God is Spirit.) This is what Mormonism teaches. We are made in his spiritual, moral image and likeness. And we are not in Sodom, that was a real city you can’t make everything into a metaphor. And, we are not “the Beast mentioned in Revelation,” it is not intended to be a metaphor for all humans but a certain man, and his system that he oversees. Kovac: "So WE are the beast. It's that simple. It's just not in the Bible, it's in regular conversation. People are called beasts all the time," he noted, such as when parents call their children 'kids,' which are young beasts. "Our sports teams are called Lions and Tigers and Bears." There’s a good argument; not! So his conclusion is that we are all the Beast. This is beyond absurd how this man mangles the meaning of the word. One needs to be careful how they teach on this crucial Bible verse that will affect mankind’s future. What of the beasts of the field, the ones that God made before man? (Gn.1:24; 2:19-20; 3:1). They definitely show man is not considered a beast, or the beast, since he was made separately and in the image of God (which they were not). God distinguished man from the beasts. Gen. 6:7 ”I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast .” After the flood man is allowed to eat the animals; Gen. 9:2 “ the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth.” Laird then asks and affirms what Kovac stated, " This even refers to, when we're talking about Revelation, and the beast that we think is Satan or some creature or maybe one particular person is actually all of us? We're the beast ?" This statement is repeated numerous times. Bible texts that actually refer to this Beast in Revelation disprove this cultic interpretations. The Beast is a singular person who becomes a world ruler. The people Rv. 14:9 “ worship the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand.” Rv. 16:2 “a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image .” The Beast has a throne and a kingdom (Rv. 16:10) Rv.16:13 “ 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.” The unity of religions represented as a woman is built upon the Beast. Rv. 17:3 “woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” Rv. 17:7-8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.” Rev 17:12-13 “ The ten horns are ten kings receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” Rv. 19:20 “ the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet.” Both are individuals. Kovacs instead explains: " If anyone [is] in rebellion against God, whether it's a government, which is made up of mankind, or an individual person, that is the beast. We can see more proof when we talk about the NUMBER of the beast, which is found in Revelation 13:1 . "Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the BEAST, for it is the number of a MAN. His number is 666” (Revelation 13:18 NLT) . Yes we need wisdom, which comes from the Word not from ones imagination, or some revelatory application called ‘God speed.’ To be in rebellion means we are sinful, actively resisting his will. What it does not mean is that we are the Beast of Revelation (singular), which is what he is trying to explain and failing miserably. There are several different factors describing this person, the Beast; It is he number of his name; the number of the Beast; the number of a man; singular, not the number of mankind. The number is 666. "Well, right at the start of this verse," the author said, " it tells us that wisdom is needed here. It's telling us to make the jump to God speed, to the Spirit level, the parable level, the metaphor level, however you wish to say it. We have to connect the dots from the rest of there Bible and it tells us outright THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST IS THE NUMBER OF MAN, the number of ANY PERSON, the number of MANKIND in general . So it's not hard, especially when you see all the other examples that I mentioned moments ago about humankind resembling beasts or being called outright beasts .” Underline mine Is that what John meant by having wisdom? This is Kovac’s God speed in action? He says it’s not hard, but supposedly everyone before Kovac missed it? This is not wisdom he is giving but the opposite. Forget about this being the number of a certain man, at a certain time, he says it’s all mankind. A completely mendacious conclusion. The mark of the beast, mentioned in Rv. 13:14-15, has mankind subject themselves to the authority of the Antichrist and accept him as Christ/God. As the Antichrist who “ takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God ” (2 Thess. 2:4). Seems that he overlooked this very important part of Scripture that describes the Beasts activity and who he is. Furthermore, the mark of the Beast officially begins in the middle of the Tribulation. The mark is connected to the person, who is neither present, nor in power today—so this description could hardly be the mark that Scripture is referring to. which makes his interpretation null and void. What is Kovac talking about? We are warned not to take the mark as it means one will worship him. At a certain time, the whole unbelieving world goes after this person because they are deceived. Revelation 13:16-18, is saying the true identity of the Antichrist is revealed to God’s people if they exercise wisdom and understanding—so they will not be deceived as others into taking the mark of the beast. When this time comes they can calculate the number of the beast for identification, because he is present in politics. Taking the Mark has one forfeit the opportunity to ever be saved they are eternallycondemned. John writes in Rv.14:9-10 “ If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God .” The Scripture says there is no repentance for taking the mark, one cannot change their mind, so if we (you) are the beast as Kovac teaches, you are doomed. Kovac, then moved on to further explain the meaning of the triple six number. You can put aside the Bible writings and let this gnostic lead you into his exclusive spirit revelation that he calls ‘God speed.’ I recommend putting on the brakes. " Why is the number 666? That's a fascinating question," he said. "Well, what day of the week was mankind made on?""He was on the sixth day," Laird responded." And we were told to do our work in how many days?" Kovacs asked. "Six days," Laird correctly answered. "This is not hard for people to understand. Everybody knows that mankind was made on the sixth day. Our work was to be done in six days. It's repeated, though, three times: six and six and six. Why is it repeated? Because it's what I mentioned early on about Hebrews 13:8 . 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.' There's three days involved here. Three times . If you're in rebellion against God in the past, the present or in the future, you have the number of the beast, because six is the number of man in rebellion against God. It's as simple as that .” This is such nonsense, and this passes for the content of clarity (God speed he calls it) in his book. His God speed is a grand canyon leap of interpretation that fails and falls to the bottom of the canyon. “six is the number of man in rebellion against God” is not what it says in Gen 1:31 “God saw everything that He had made, and indeedit was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” If man was made on the 6th day and all was pronounced good how is the number 6 rebellion? The beasts of the earth were also made on the 6th day as man was. The terminology of 6 days is repeated twelve times (not three) and it has to do with Israel working and its relationship to the Sabbath day (which Israel were to rest on). Referring to God resting after 6 days of his creation work. Kovac’s gnostic interpretation of multiplying the number six does not present truth from the Scripture but introduces a false interpretation that if applied to everywhere the number 6 is seen, changes the Word’s meaning. So in the end you should have a lot to fear if his interpretation is accurate, because YOU are the Beast (if you were once rebelled against God). Which we all had done to some extent until we submitted to him through the gospel. To all who will rebel, according to Kovak the placing of the mark will be on the forehead or on the right hand (Rv.13:16). Better check to see you don’t have it. “the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse ” (Rv 19:19). V:20 “ Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence ” The Beast is literally a single person, not hundreds, thousands or millions of people. Gnostics like joe Kovac are now writing books to teach you the Bible as symbols and metaphors just as the ancient Gnostics did. This has to be one of the most grievous interpretations I have ever come across, shame on you WND. Scripture is nothing like what Kovac describes and this puts people in danger understanding it the way Kovac portrays it. |
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