The Revelation of St. John the Divine
I have read your description of the beast and the other information in your article; and while I have no doubt that the apparition you faced is what you have described I feel that you should have a little more information about this subject.
First of all the two beasts of revelation are a three-in-one beast that rises from the Sea and another beast which comes out of the Earth. Looking for precedent we see these two creatures in Job; and in the Talmud these two creatures are said shall be killed and then will be the food for the Righteous on Judgement Day.
The 3-in-one beast from the sea has another name: the Axis; which was Italy as the feet; Germany as the body; and Japan as the head; these three existing in the form of the dragon with 7 heads and ten horns; and this Red Dragon represents Egypt. That Italy is in the shape of a boot even adds to the original picture in which at Daniel the Bear was Medo-Persia; the Leopard was Greece; and the Lion was Babylon. As you may recall the 4th beast was Rome; having 10 horns which was destroyed; the 10 horns being the 10 Ceasar's and their empire which christianity absorbed and devoured from within; what is called the internal providence.
That the Axis came forth can be seen when in Daniel it says that these three creatures who represented the 3 empires were preserved for "a time and a season"; namely the Last Days; the Axis sought world domination by the sword; but he who lives by the sword will die by the sword.
The beast which is just the image of the Dragon as the old advesary of Israel and thus comes forth in the battle for global dominion with Christianity which is the Child of Israel; thus has Italy as the "feet of the Bear" which was Medo-Persia; Germany as the "body of the Leopard" which was Greece: (and it is no surprise that what Greece perfected in their phalanyx and fast formation attacks as the basis for the battle formation of Germany's armor and tanks and also the "lightning fast" blitzkrieg of their planes;) Babylon as the "head of the beast as the Lion" is there because they proclaimed the divinity of their emperor: with that big mouth of theirs; even Germany never said Hitler was divine; they just called him their "Saviour" or "Kaiser" which is german for Caesar.
The Lamb is the creature who represents the Kingdom of God: is thus seen as the one appearing back on earth who defeated the Axis; the second beast which then came up after the demise of the first is the false prophet: Marx and his Marxism; coming out out the earth of dialectical materialism just as the first beast rose from the sea of time at a "time and a season"; the Sea of sensationalism or "confusion" to those lost there; which includes nations as well as individuals. Facism appeals to those who seek final surety to deliver them the actual responsibility of becoming perfect and holy or perishing in the sea of time.
The second beast had two horns like a lamb because Marx stole the two principles of pure communism and pure socialism from the first church; the first being when on Pentecost all the people sold all their goods and put them at the feet of the 12 Apostles: no private property but all in common: pure communism. The 12 Apostles then divided the goods to take care of first the old and sick; then the widows and orphans; and then lastly the poor: this is pure socialism. The second beast can thus be seen to draw it's power from where the christian church deviated from these two principles and did not fulfill the will of the 12 centered on Peter; who was centered on Christ with the keys.
That the second beast speaks like a dragon is what we call "atheism". After Russia converted to christianity in 987 AD it went for 930 years when in 1917 it was taken over by this "second beast" for it's 70 years of Babylonian Captivity. 930 years old was Adam when he died; thus Russia as the largest nation represented Adam on the global level. In 1987 when the 70 years were over Russia was freed and so was the world betwen east and west; but with the scarlet beast or Red China still around we have roughly a fourth of the earth under the dominion of the second beast still: it hasn't gone into the Lake of fire yet: but it will; it's wall betwenn north and south found between North and South Korea will fall as assuredly as the one Iron Curtain between east and west went down. Historically it was the Euphrates which was the old dividing line betwenn east and west in the old days.
Anyway: the number of the beast. To see these two beasts as they are one will notice that the Revelation of Jesus Christ is the Book of Life of the Lamb: through John it was revealed to me in my book "The Revelation of Salvation: the Regeneration of John" that the two beasts represent the "anti-Israel" with the 10 horns and the "anti-Judah" with the 2 horns; this first beast represents the "anti-Israel" figure of the first beast in the position of the global international Canaan; as when Joshua faced the 7-10 tribe/nation confederacy of Canaan; the "anti-Judah" figure of the second beast stands in the position of the global Balaam who Israel once faced coming out of the Desert; Marx and his believers in the S.U. tried to stop the free world from overcoming the "bondsmen" or enslaved nations under the spell of Marx: the false prophet. This has also been shown to be a failure as they all went broke because you can't have the kingdom of God without God as Marx envisioned.
The more difficult part is what the number of the beast really represents; in your dream you saw a horrible vision of this dog stamped iron ring; but the rod of iron inserted horizontally is not of the beast. In fact the "Reed like unto a rod" represents John the Divine himself in the future when he comes to prophesy again; furthermore the number of the beast is a number of a man: Solomon; who received 666 talents of gold in a single year before he fell; and his fall was a disaster since he had been given the Wisdom of God; through his understanding and the fact that God had promised David that Solomon would be unto him "his son" and He would substitute for David as "his father". Solomon's fall was then followed on the national level by the 10 northern tribes called "Ephraim" which is the lost sheep of Israel; as Solomon on the national level. Men have sold their souls to Solomon over the centuries for his knowledge over the spirits in order to become powerful sorcerors and magicians: and worse; like Hitler and Mao and the others. The Koran has plenty to say as well on the subject.
There is much more; but I have little time now; I have to get to work! By the way: every financial transaction on the face of the earth has the mark of the beast because money is his discarnate object itself: it doesn't really exist; only those written in the Book (which I invite you to enter by overcoming in the 7 churches of Revelation which I discuss in my book and show how as well) are free from this "mark", but I can speak of this later.
In the Name of the Lord from the West which is LOVE; as John said: God is Love
christopher
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