<p>13:18 <em>Here is wisdom. He that has 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 six</em>- The first beast, representing Babylon, had &quot;the heart of a man&quot; (Dan. 7:4). It was the embodiment of an individual person- Nebuchadnezzar. The latter day Babylon likewise will be centred around a person- the antiChrist figure of the last days, who in turn will profess to be the incarnation or embodiment of the false prophet Mohammed. Nebuchadnezzar in his madness became as a beast- with a body like a beast, hair like an eagle, and nails like those of a beast (Dan. 4:33). This language is all used about the beasts in the later prophetic parts of Daniel's prophecy. They had features of eagles (Dan. 7:4), bodies of beasts (Dan. 7:11), and remarkable nails or claws (Dan. 7:19). Nebuchadnezzar became like such a beast because the latter day beast would be the embodiment of him, just as the image of Daniel 2 had the face of Nebuchadnezzar and was in the form of a man. The beast is epitomized by a man- &quot;the number of the beast...is the number of a man&quot; (Rev. 13:18).</p><p>The little horn takes a stand against the Prince of princes and then is destroyed &ldquo;but not by human power&rdquo; (Dan. 8:25), i.e. he will be destroyed by the stone Jesus cut out without human hands. This is just the language of 2 Thess. 2, of how the Antichrist will be destroyed by the Lord&rsquo;s sudden return. Micah and Isaiah call this individual &ldquo;the Assyrian&rdquo; (Is. 10:5; 14:25). We have shown elsewhere that the description of Lucifer being thrown out of heaven can be read as describing the fall of a future King of Babylon in the last days. The most comfortable understanding of antiChrist as being an Assyrian / Babylonian is that he will be an Assyrian / Babylonian, and ruler of those areas. A leader of Iraq would ideally suit this. And their leadership shows every sign of the aggression, megalomania and anti-Semitism which will characterize the antiChrist. Note too that Gog is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal- areas identified by some as being in present Iran / Iraq. The number of the beast is the number of a man (Rev. 13:18); he becomes personally identified with the system that persecutes the saints and Israel in the last days.</p><p>The black flags carried by the jihadists have a roughly drawn circle with a brief summary of the Moslem creed: 'There is none other God than Allah and Mohammed is His messenger'. The circle is roughly drawn because it is a replica of Mohammed's seal which he attached to his decrees and communications. To receive the mark of the beast may well refer to receiving such a stamp or carrying such an insignia, perhaps literally on the forehead. Because pictures of jihadist fighters show them with this symbol on their foreheads.&nbsp; The seal of Muhammad was held to have magic qualities, and the loss of the seal amounted to the loss of the caliphate and the loss of unity among Muslims. Now, the Islamists are popularizing the seal again, announcing a caliphate and urging Muslim unity- a unity which will ultimately be focused against Israel. The false prophet and beast are Biblically associated with false miracles, so something to look for would be the claims of false miracles or magic, as was once associated with the seal- see Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, <em>Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets</em>, Routledge &amp; Kegan Paul, London, 1980 (chapter 12). The jihadist flag has a name, just as the British flag is called 'the Union Jack', the Canadian flag &lsquo;the maple leaf&rsquo;, the French flag is called the tricolour and the American flag &lsquo;the stars and stripes&rsquo;. It is called The Black Banner or Black Standard, also known as <em>rayat al-`uqab </em>&quot;the banner of the eagle&quot;. The final enemies of Israel are described as coming upon her &quot;as swift as the eagle flies&quot; (Dt. 28:49). Babylon is spoken of as an eagle in Jer. 48:40; Dan. 7:4; Hab. 1:8 and Ez. 17:3,12, as is Assyria (Hos. 8:1) and as are the Ammonites (Jer. 49:16) and Edom (Obadiah 4). The IS flying the banner of the eagle therefore associates them with being a reincarnation of Israel's historical enemies. &nbsp;</p><p>The mark of the beast is to be worn on the hand, yet the Greek word for &quot;hand&quot; is the same as for &quot;arm&quot;. Jihadist fighters are wearing this symbol, the seal of Mohammed, on rings and armbands- and we can expect this to become what they demand of their subject peoples too. We could expect the coinage and other symbols of any such beast entity to include it too, so that literally one could not buy or sell without it, in the earth / land under their control. The mark of the beast in the forehead is clearly intended to be understood as the inverse of the &ldquo;seal of God&rdquo; which is in the forehead of the believers (Rev. 9:4). The word <em>sphragis</em> used there definitely means a seal, and it is matched by the &ldquo;mark&rdquo; of the beast. That mark can be understood, therefore, also as a seal- and what more likely than the seal of Mohammed? It may be that signet rings are used to stamp documents, or it forms part of an insignia without which no business can be done in the land- e.g. on the coins and gold of the earth / land under their domination. The Koran itself speaks of how true Moslems will have the mark of Mohammad on their foreheads as a sign that they worship: &ldquo;Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. Thou O Muhammad seest them bowing and falling prostrate in worship, seeking bounty from Allah and His acceptance. The mark of them is on their foreheads from the traces of prostration&rdquo; (Surah 48.29). In Revelation 14:9,11, having the mark of the beast is connected with worshipping him. The Islamic jihadist movement set to take over Israel is a highly religious movement, seeking to strictly obey the Koran. They are highly conscious of these verses.</p><p>The Biblical data concerning the mark of the beast suggests that this will be used by &quot;the beast&quot; and will be enforced upon those who &quot;dwell upon the earth&quot; (Rev. 13:14,17). &quot;The earth&quot; Biblically refers to either the whole planet, or the land- the land promised to Abraham, from the Nile to the Euphrates. This promised land is the focus of the Bible. The beast of Revelation is another take on the beast of Daniel 7, which in turn is an amplification of the fourth empire of the image of Daniel 2. The empires or kings of Daniel 2 all refer to those entities who reigned over &quot;the whole earth / land&quot;- of Israel, as discussed further in my exposition of Daniel 2. The same earth / land is in view here in Revelation. The latter day Islamic entity can therefore be expected to gain control over that territory and to enforce the acceptance of Islam there. The mark is specifically the mark of a man (Rev. 13:18)- and that man is clearly Mohammed, seeing that the ensign of the jihadists is the seal of Mohammed. And according to some usages of gematria whereby each letter in the Hebrew or Arabic alphabet has a numerical value, Mohammed in Greek, Mahomet, (&Mu;&alpha;&omicron;&mu;&epsilon;&tau;&iota;&sigmaf;has) has a value of 666:</p><p>Mu &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Alpha Omicron&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mu Epsilon&nbsp; Tau &nbsp;Iota&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sigma <br />40 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 70 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;40 &nbsp; 5 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;300 &nbsp;&nbsp; 10 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 200 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />TOTAL: 666</p><p>Don't dismiss gematria too quickly. The Bible itself uses it here in Rev. 13:18. There, the number 666 is not written as it would normally have been, as a number, but rather as three Greek letters, <em>chi xi stigma</em>; which between them add up to 666 by gematria. So it would seem that we are being invited to work out the riddle through the use of gematria. There are some connections in form between the letters of the Greek and Arabic alphabets, just as there are between the letters of the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets (e.g. 'R' in the Latin alphabet is the inverse of '?' in the Cyrillic). When those three Greek letters are turned on their side, they read exactly as the Arabic letters which spell <em>Bis'm Allah</em>- &quot;In the name of Allah&quot;, which is the credo of Islam and the jihadists. This appears to be another connection between Islam and the mark of the beast.</p><p>We note too from Rev. 13:14 that the beast system does apparent 'miracles'; and the seal of Mohammed was historically supposed to be able to perform miracles. We could expect such false claims to be made within the territory dominated by the latter day Islamists also. The Islamic State has already demonstrated how they dealt with areas they conquer- all economic life is controlled by them and people are forced into submission to the new system. Nobody will be able to buy and sell in the territory of the earth / land promised to Abraham without displaying the mark of loyalty to the jihadists- the seal of Mohammed.</p><p>The book of Revelation, like all Bible prophecy, will have particular and acute relevance to those who live in the very last days before Christ comes. There is a particular blessing repeated for those who refuse to accept the mark of the beast. That brave and tiny minority will be comprised of those Jews who refuse to convert, and instead convert to Jesus Christ in their desperation. And for them, the book of Revelation holds out particular blessing (Rev. 14:9-11; 15:2; 20:4).</p><p>The little horn of Daniel 7 is the beast of Revelation 13:</p><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=226 valign=top>            <p><strong>Daniel   7</strong></p>            </td>            <td width=295 valign=top>            <p><strong>Revelation   13</strong></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=226 valign=top>            <p>&quot;... a   mouth speaking great things&quot; (verse 8) &quot;And he shall speak great   words against the most High ...&quot; (verse 25)<br />            &quot;I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed   against them&quot; (verse 21)</p>            </td>            <td width=295 valign=top>            <p>&quot;And there   was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies . . . And he   opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his   tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven&quot; (verses 5,6) &quot;And it was   given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them&quot; (verse   7)</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table><p>Notice that the little horn of Daniel 7 is actually called &quot;the beast&quot;: &quot;I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame&quot; (Dan. 7:11).</p><p>The little horn is also to be connected with the &ldquo;King of the north&rdquo; of Daniel 11, which is based upon Antiochus and the leaders of the northern part of the Greek empire, from Syria. The fact the current jihadist leadership has emerged from Syria is maybe significant in this context:</p><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p><strong>Daniel   7</strong></p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p><strong>Daniel   8</strong></p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p><strong>Daniel   11</strong></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=2 valign=top>            <p>1.</p>            </td>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>The little horn</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>The little horn</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>&quot;The   king&quot;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=2 valign=top>            <p>2.</p>            </td>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>At the end</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>At the end</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>At the end</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>of the times</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>of the times</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>of the times</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>of the Gentiles</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>of the Gentiles</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>of the Gentiles</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=2 valign=top>            <p>3.</p>            </td>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>Very aggressive</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>Very aggressive</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>Very aggressive</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=2 valign=top>            <p>4.</p>            </td>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>&quot;A look   more stout than his fellows&quot;</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>Magnifies himself</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>Magnifies   himself</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=2 valign=top>            <p>5.</p>            </td>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>A mouth   speaking</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>Speaks   marvellous</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>great things   against</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>things against   the</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>the Most High</p>            </td>            <td width=128 valign=top>            <p>God of gods</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=2 valign=top>            <p>6.</p>            </td>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>Makes war   against the saints and prevails</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>Destroys the   holy people</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=2 valign=top>            <p>7.</p>            </td>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>Destroyed by   the</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>Destroyed by   the</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=256 valign=top>            <p>Ancient of days</p>            </td>            <td width=158 valign=top>            <p>Prince of   princes</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table><p>The first beast, representing Babylon, had &quot;the heart of a man&quot; (Dan. 7:4). It was the embodiment of an individual person- Nebuchadnezzar. The latter day Babylon likewise will be centred around a person- the antiChrist figure of the last days, who in turn will profess to be the incarnation or embodiment of the false prophet Mohammed. Nebuchadnezzar in his madness became as a beast- with a body like a beast, hair like an eagle, and nails like those of a beast (Dan. 4:33). This language is all used about the beasts in the later prophetic parts of Daniel's prophecy. They had features of eagles (Dan. 7:4), bodies of beasts (Dan. 7:11), and remarkable nails or claws (Dan. 7:19). Nebuchadnezzar became like such a beast because the latter day beast would be the embodiment of him, just as the image of Daniel 2 had the face of Nebuchadnezzar and was in the form of a man. The beast is epitomized by a man- &quot;the number of the beast...is the number of a man&quot; (Rev. 13:18).</p><p><b><font size=6>&nbsp;</font></b></p>