Gold and the Kingdom of the Beast

 "I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots… Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast…and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell… Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." - Daniel 7:8,19,20,23,24

Totally and completely - AWESOME! Nearly 2000 years before the plan was put together, God said it would be so. And there will be an accomplice, a false messiah, bringing the religious order in line with the political order, most likely a Jew, since the Messiah must have a lineage to King David of Israel to be accepted.

 "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast… And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast… And he had power to give breath unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." - Revelation 13:11-15

The "order" has their timetable for the unfolding of events that will bring in this new government of the earth (within the next five years)…for what do we wait in God's reckoning of these things?

 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city… Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks… And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall comeshall destroy the city and the sanctuary… And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate…" - Daniel 9:24-27

The first 69 "weeks" [or literally, sevened, i.e. a week (specifically of years)] were fulfilled between Nehemiah's commission to rebuild Jerusalem and the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus. The people that destroyed Jerusalem were Romans. The prince that shall come will be of them. We wait for a peace treaty between Israel and "many" that reinstates Israel's sacrificial form of worship, which must include the restoration of the temple. In the Jewish mind, this must be in Jerusalem. The Palestinian "problem" must be resolved. Then this man can come forth and confirm (or lit. 'put to more strength') the treaty for the last seven year period. But then something goes horribly wrong. After 3-1/2 years, he breaks it and causes the end of their form of worship of their God. Why?

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God… For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let1, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders..." - II Thessalonians 2:3,4,7-9

"¹Let - [fr. OE lettan to delay, hinder; akin to OHG lezzen to delay, hurt] archaic : HINDER, PREVENT." - Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Copyright 1970

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." - I Thessalonians 5:3

He will require that they, and the whole world, worship him as God. Why the sudden change of heart in this man? What 'hindered' or 'prevented' up to this point?

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down… Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." - Revelation 12:7-10,12

Two world shaking, monumental events have occurred in this last passage of scripture and upon looking at the verses that follow can leave no doubt that they take place at the time in question. The hinderer has been removed - the people of God and with them His Holy Spirit who indwells them, an event more commonly known by the church as 'The Rapture'. And as suddenly without warning, the devil is cast out of heaven into the earth, into this man of perdition, whereupon he establishes the New World Order with his ten kings (receiving their power one hour with the beast), and requiring that the world worship him. Imagine the chaotic state that the world will be in when untold numbers of people suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, disappear…what better launch pad can you construct for a complete and radical change in the structure of the world's governments, financial and commerce systems, and religious order. Unbelievable you say? So was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course these are matters of faith, but as we get closer to seeing these things come to pass you will have to ask yourselves… "What do I believe?"

The detour is complete, bringing us back to gold's role and final connection to the kingdom of the beast. Behold, the new world currency…

"A shocking example of this propaganda campaign to condition us was the publication by one of Great Britain's top financial magazines, The Economist, of a feature article entitled 'Get Ready for a World Currency.' On the front cover…was a picture of a Phoenix bird rising from the ashes of all the world currencies. About the Phoenix bird's neck was a chain and on it a gold coin, printed with the words 'Ten Phoenix.' (The Economist, January 9, 1988) Let me quote from the opening paragraph of the cover article: 'Americans, Japanese, Europeans, and people in many other rich countries, and some relatively poor ones, will probably be paying for their shopping with the same currency. Prices will not be quoted by dollars, yen, or deutschemark, but in, let's say, the Phoenix. The Phoenix will be favored by companies and shoppers because it will be more convenient than today's currencies, which by then will seem a quaint cause of much disruption to economic life in the late 20th century." - Texe Marrs, Millennium, Peace, Promises, and the Day They Take Our Money Away, pgs. 183 & 184, Copyright 1990

"Phoenix - [fr. Gk phoinix purple, crimson, Phoenician, phoenix…fr. phoinos bloodred; akin to Gk phonos murder] : a legendary bird represented by ancient Egyptians as living five or six centuries, being consumed in fire by its own act, and rising in youthful freshness from its own ashes." - Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Copyright 1970

"Now it is gold's turn to rise from the ashes of a long bear market." - David Vaughn, Seabridge Resources, May 2002

"To the ancient Egyptians, the Phoenix represented the Phoenician God 'Phoenix' as well as their own deity who was described as 'Vanu.' The spirit of this deity is a phallic symbol. The Egyptians and the Phoenicians taught that the god represented by the Phoenix bird 'rose to heaven in the form of a morning star, like Lucifer, after his fire-immolation of death and rebirth.' (Barbara Walker, The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, p. 798) - Texe Marrs, Millennium, Peace, Promises, and the Day They Take Our Money Away, pg. 184, Copyright 1990 (emphasis added)

Once again, any support from the scriptures? Well, yes, some clues anyway…

"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns… And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH… And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." - Revelation 17:3,5,18

Here we have the scarlet color, tracing back to the Greek origins for phoenix, connected to the representation of the economic system of the beast, and his central seat of power in those days, that great city, Jerusalem, where he sits in the temple of God receiving worship - the ultimate form of blasphemy and abomination. Scarlet is also symbolic of power and wealth in scripture and on three occasions it is mentioned in direct combination with gold. Details…His Word is filled with details. Let's continue…

We also have the connection to the spiritual condition of those who participate in this system tied to the Phoenix…

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." - Revelation 11:8

The correlation between the phallic symbol/Sodom and Vanu/Egypt surface here, both correlated to the seat of his power, Jerusalem, as two prophets of God are killed upon Satan's arrival. Sadly, the world rejoices over their deaths. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say that they didn't want to listen to anybody preaching their beliefs at them, or something to that effect. These two fall victim to this kind of blind prejudice.

Now we come to the end of our journey. The beast will rule for 3-1/2 years, which brings us to his mark. The Bible makes it clear in the original language that it is an etching or scratch, a stamp (as a badge of servitude), so it will not merely be a symbolic gesture of participation, such as the use of a credit card or memorizing an account number as some have suggested. It is primarily connected to loyalty to him and his economic system. Refusal to take it will bring the punishment of death. It will be a worldwide system of accounting the people and their commerce among one another.

The scripture tells us that the number of the beast will be 666. This number is mentioned only two other times in the Bible.

       "The children of Adonikam2, six hundred sixty and six." - Ezra 2:13

       "Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold…" - I Kings 10:14

Immediately the correlation to gold jumps out of these two. I concede that there is no contextual support in this passage, merely an inference. But I submit that the Bible is at times as a mysterious puzzle…pieces that rightly fit together do not often appear to until you have come near to completing the whole picture and have but a few pieces left at the end that have baffled you all along. A small wisp of adjoining features is on them, but has eluded your critiquing eye. The hint is there, if you can accept it, that gold and 666 have a link. Adonikam's connection to 666 is even more intriguing and establishes the inference pattern.

"²Adonikam (Adoniyqam) - from 'adon; sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine):-lord, master, owner; and quwm (koom); to rise:-abide, accomplish, be clearer, confirm, (help to) lift up (again), rise up (again)." - STRONG'S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE, James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D Riverside Book and Bible House

Here we have the correlation between a sovereign (controller) rising, which goes right back to what we unveiled concerning the Phoenix a moment ago, and 666. Further, I find it tying in the essence of what we found in the II Thessalonians 2:3,4,7-9 passage more profoundly. In other words, we have the sense of an initial revealing of the man of sin, perhaps by way of a coming forth among others before the world. But then, obscurity about his identity is removed entirely once he is possessed by Satan. He is made clearer, confirmed, risen up once he comes forth to be worshipped. It is by this act that the world can know that Satan has entered into him, hence Jesus' warning to the Jews in Judea to flee into the mountains when they 'see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.' (Matthew 24:15)

The thing that is missing is the medium between the mark, gold, and this worldwide economic system - a system that would constrain all to participate. What jells it all together and firms up the argument?

"I think we are witnessing the very earliest signs of an innovation of phenomenal historical importance… DIGITAL GOLD!… Digital gold represents real, tangible physical gold, but is traded via computer and cutting-edge information networks…already exists and is being increasingly used in global commerce today… Digital gold seamlessly merges the best of all money and information worlds, combining the legendary security and strength of physical gold, the ease of use of a credit card, and the convenience of a bank account… Digital gold easily overcomes all the traditional limitations of using gold as currency… With digital gold, buying a can of soda or even an oil supertanker is a piece of cake. To buy a can of soda, you could just stick your digital gold card, just like a credit card, into a machine, use a biometric to uniquely identify you, and automatically a fraction of an ounce of gold is debited from your gold holding…to the gold holding of the soda vendor. Because the gold is traded digitally, it can easily be subdivided almost infinitely." - Adam Hamilton, Gold in the Information Age, March 1, 2002

No offense Adam. I'm sure this wasn't quite what you had in mind when you wrote these words. Under this kind of system, no man could buy or sell without the mark, the biometric Adam suggested. Only in a computer age could this application of the use of gold for commerce be accomplished, from the smallest to the largest of purchases. And it is to this end that the masters, the elite, wealthy, ruling and banking class desire to go themselves. A veritable utopia of man self-governed and stable. Without the one, true God. Without having to account to some mythical standard of holiness and acknowledge that within themselves lies a core of sin; a fallen state. And do not dare mention the sacrifices of our lives, communities, nations, ideologies and freedoms that they have made to their god along the way to bringing in this grandiose system conceived in dark recesses away from public scrutiny.

It is too late to turn them back now. We have entrusted our collective power to them for too long. The time is set, and this New World Order will rise up in our day and subjugate us.

"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord…stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. - James 5:1-7,8

This is the conclusion of the matter and the summation of my argument. Gold will figure prominently in the days ahead - it is certainly far from being dead. But as it progresses ever upward, wiping out the heaps of fiat gladiators that vainly attempted to strangle and subdue it, so will the kingdom of the beast draw ever closer to the fateful day when its glorious leader will arise to position himself center stage and eliminate all competitors that would exalt themselves above him. During his ominous reign, a short time by historical standards, the world will convulse like it never has before…Great Tribulation…as the Word of God describes it. It will be judged! But there is hope and only one chance of escape…

The God of grace and mercy appeals to you by the Gospel of His dear Son to repent of your ways and believe on the one who sacrificed his life, so that you might live abundantly in Him. The escape from these things to come is the Rapture I spoke of before. He confirmed this by two previous examples of His execution of mercy and judgment: Noah built an ark, testified to a condemned world for many years as he finished it, entered the ark with his family, and on the same day the rains came and the fountains of the deep opened up. He and his family alone were saved. And Lot found mercy. He escaped out of Sodom into Zoar with his daughters and the same day God rained fire and brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah and judged their wickedness. First, grace with mercy, then judgment. But to be among those escaping is to belong to the Lord, to know Him and be known of Him. It is a relationship, and I don't have to tell you that it takes time to establish and build them, time we are quickly growing short of.

The kingdom of the beast is fast approaching: a New World Order. But the kingdom of God is at hand. It is a confession and a faithful heart away. I said at the beginning that we must all face the ultimate decision of our lives - will we choose to follow the beast or will we choose to follow Jesus? In our lifetimes it will become a choice this simple thrust to the forefront. And as we progress toward this crux, I will be watching, and waiting, and looking for the call of the Lord to "Come up hither," and praying. Always praying… May the peace of God be with you all as we watch the events unfold.