The April 1st, 2004, Watchtower carries an article on the meaning of Revelation's enigmatic 666 mark of the beast. Under the subheading on page four, the Watchtower asks: "Do you enjoy solving a mystery?" That statement implies that they have already solved the mystery; but have they really? We do well to take a closer look at this important topic. The Watchtower rightly dispels the simplistic notion that the mark of the beast is some sort of microchip implant. But, the reader is left with the idea that anyone who supports the present political system in any way is already stamped with the symbolic 666. For example, on page six it says: "How important, therefore, that we avoid having the deadly mark of the beast." But, how do we avoid getting it? The Watchtower is not very clear. It simply says that, "one who gives worshipful support to the beastlike political systems of the world" or gives "worshipful honor to the political state, its symbols, and its military might" is presumably already stenciled with the mark. Conspicuous in its absence is any mention of the United Nations or even the Anglo-American dual world power. Instead, the Watchtower identifies merely a generic political system under Satan's control. However, given the Watchtower's own criteria of what constitutes getting the mark of the beast; in view of the Watchtower's clearly established support of the United Nations during their NGO years, we would have to conclude that many of the leading brothers at Bethel have already been branded with the indelible 666 tattoo of the beast. Be that as it may, what do the Scriptures really say as regards the mark of the beast? The 13th chapter of Revelation pinpoints a specific development that gives rise to the mark of the beast? What is it? According to God's prophetic word, one of the heads of the seven-headed wild beast suffers a catastrophic death-stroke and then revives. It is after that near-death experience that the two-horned Anglo-American beast conjures up an image of the seven-headed beast and breathes life into it so that the Frankenstein-like image fully comes to life and demands the worship of every person on earth. Apparently, the image will become a world government capable of controlling earth's affairs to the extent that no one will be able to buy or sell without acknowledging the image in some way. The United Nations is the only institution capable of exerting control to that extent. According to the Watchtower's long-held interpretation, the seven-headed beast suffered a death-stroke as a result of the First World War. However, as horrendous and far-reaching as that Great War was, there is simply no historical basis in reality for the notion that the beast-like political system experienced anything even remotely analogous to the prophesied sword-stroke. Going into the First World War, the United States was the world's single greatest industrial power. And it emerged from that war as the greatest political and military power on earth as well. There was no political instability in the United States as a result of Europe's Great War. The government did not totter on the brink. If so, where are the historical facts to document such a thing? Granted, the populations and institutions of Europe were staggered, momentarily; but even the nations impacted most directly by the war did not experience anything resembling the catastrophic collapse envisioned in Revelation. Besides, the League of Nations and even its modern successor, the United Nations, are relatively impotent institutions. In what way can it be claimed that the United Nations 'causes to be killed' all those who will not pay it homage? Not only that, but according to Revelation the beast is given absolute power of all people tribes and nations. How could that apply to any government in the modern era? In view of the fact that the nations still exercise a large measure of sovereignty and independence, thinking persons are forced to conclude that the death-stroke upon the head of the wild beast is yet to be administered. By the forward-shining light of Jehovah's Word, we are enabled to peer beyond the now-looming collapse of the present Anglo-American dominated system of things, to envision the revival of the beast in the form of a totalitarian, absolutist form of world government, which will do away with all the vestiges of democracy and freedom. Such an earth-shaking development will run concurrent with the actual establishment of Jehovah's kingdom; making the revived beast a competing government with Christ's kingdom. That's why the supporters of the beast will be marked as worthy of eternal death because they will outrightly reject Christ as ruler in favor of a human government. According to the Watchtower, the 666 simply means human imperfection as expressed though government. However, we do well to note that much of Revelation draws from the history and prophecy of the Hebrew Scriptures. For example, Armageddon is derived from the Hebrew Megiddo and signifies Jehovah's decisive victory over his earthly enemies. Likewise, the mandatory worship of the image of the beast should remind us of the historical account in the 3rd chapter of Daniel where Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image on the Plains of Dura and ordered representatives from his entire empire to attend the inaugural ceremony of the image. Anyone who refused to bow before the image was to be put to death. Not coincidently, the towering image measured 60 cubits by six cubits. The 666, being "a man's number," ought to evoke in our mind's the man Nebuchadnezzar. So, the 666 of Revelation symbolizes the decisive situation, when, during the last hour the image of the beast will attempt to force all mankind, and especially Jehovah's anointed witnesses, to deny their faith in God. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, those who are sealed with the name of Jehovah and Christ on their foreheads will join their Lord in the fiery furnace of martyrdom for their staunch refusal to worship the image of the beast during the last hour. On a side note: While the Watchtower has apparently dissolved their NGO affiliation with the United Nations, they continued to give credence to the globalists' cause; whose intent is to destroy the nation-state system and establish world government. For example, the Watchtower briefly quotes from Henry Kissinger. But of all historians and statesmen, why choose such a shadowy and despicable character as Henry Kissinger? Can the Watchtower really be unaware that Kissinger is viewed as a war criminal for his part in the Cambodian Khmer Rouge genocide? Are they truly unaware that Kissinger is the author of a policy document that targets Africa for depopulation? Is the Watchtower honestly ignorant of the fact that Kissinger is an admitted British agent who was knighted by the Queen of England in 1995 for services rendered to the imperial Crown? If the Watchtower's Writing Department is ignorant of such facts, they ought not to venture to even comment on such things. However, given the fact that the Watchtower has an ingrained tendency of quoting from British imperialists and Anglophile historians, we must assume that at least some at Bethel are fully aware of the new world order that Henry Kissinger represents. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the Watchtower's teaching is that it puts forward a plausible, albeit watered-down interpretation, of what the 666 mark of the beast represents. Given that the Watchtower enjoys total, unchallenged interpretive authority over the Bible, and according to the Watchtower the mark of the beast is something we can easily avoid by merely not becoming politically involved, Jehovah's Witnesses have no inkling of the great tests that lay ahead. Sadly, instead of using their authority to alert Jehovah's Witnesses and the interested public to the great dangers that loom, the Watchtower is doing the exact opposite. Instead of acting as watchmen, they are lulling Jehovah's Witnesses into a false sense of security. How appropriate the words of Isaiah 56:10: "His watchmen are blind. None of them have taken note. All of them are speechless dogs; they are not able to bark, panting, lying down, loving to slumber." Copyright © 2004, by Robert King |