Participants:
Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL220005A
00:01 As you're well aware,
00:03 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for Today special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:01 Mending broken people 01:15 Hello, welcome to 3ABN. 01:17 This is almost live, I would say because it is pre-recorded. 01:21 Why is it pre-recorded? 01:22 It is because of a heavy winter storm 01:26 in Southern Illinois. 01:28 The plan was to go live 01:30 but we had to pre-record this program 01:32 because the weather is just getting worse and worse. 01:35 And, of course, we are concerned 01:36 for our 3ABN family workers 01:38 and we wanted to get home safely, 01:40 so we have to pre-record this program. 01:42 For this reason, you're not able to send your questions 01:46 so that Pastor Steve Wohlberg 01:48 that is here with us can answer them. 01:50 Pastor Wohlberg, welcome back to 3ABN. 01:53 God bless you for coming 01:54 and you had to kind of just sneak in 01:57 before the storm came in. 01:59 Tell us about your trip and how it worked out for you? 02:02 Yes, I would call this wicked weather, 02:04 I tell you, it's amazing. 02:06 Two nights ago, I was, I got on the phone 02:09 with Alaska and found out that all my flights were canceled. 02:12 My Alaska flights they were not flying into St. Louis 02:14 because of this terrible storm that was coming in. 02:16 So my associate quickly got on the internet 02:19 and found one seat left on a Delta flight 02:22 that left at 6 o'clock in the morning 02:24 the next morning. 02:25 So I got up before three 02:28 and I got to the airport in Spokane 02:30 and got on that flight 02:32 and then made my connection in Salt Lake and flew right in. 02:35 As I think, you know, James Rafferty 02:37 was supposed to come in. 02:38 Yes. And do this program. 02:40 But he's... 02:42 We had one flight canceled, then another flight canceled. 02:44 He got booked on Delta, 02:46 as well, for later flight that was canceled. 02:48 So and I just feel like 02:50 I just snuck in when I got into the airport 02:52 and got my rental car from St. Louis. 02:55 I saw seven accidents on the way here. 02:58 The roads were just very, very treacherous. 03:01 And so I'm just thankful, John, that I'm here, 03:05 and that you're here with me in the pinch. 03:07 And I just trust that the Lord is going to bless 03:11 what we're going to do. 03:12 Amen. Amen. 03:13 Well, my name is John Dinzey for those 03:15 that are listening by radio. 03:16 And we have Pastor Steve Wohlberg with us. 03:18 He is the Speaker and Director of White Horse Media. 03:22 And I know for those watching that his face 03:25 is familiar to you, 03:26 and I believe your voice should be familiar 03:28 to many people because you're also on radio. 03:30 Tell us briefly about White Horse Media? 03:33 What is that? And why is it called White Horse Media? 03:35 Why not the red black, blue or yellow horse? 03:38 Yes, it's the White Horse 03:39 because we picked the name because of Revelation 19:11 03:42 that describes Jesus returning on a white horse. 03:45 We love that verse. 03:47 We'd like the imagery Jesus is coming as the, 03:50 you know, the Holy Hero to get rid of evil. 03:53 And so we are White Horse Media. 03:55 Our goal is to help people to get ready for Jesus to come. 03:58 We're based in Priest River, 03:59 Idaho, we have a wonderful staff there. 04:02 We've got a building, a studio, a lot of offices, 04:05 and we've been working for God as a team for many years. 04:09 We produce radio programs, TV programs, 04:12 we have seminars, I read a lot of books. 04:15 And I just feel so blessed, 04:17 John, to live in the country with my family, 04:20 my family's there, my wife and my two children, 04:22 and to work with a wonderful team 04:25 that is working for God and I'm just, 04:28 I'm a blessed man. 04:29 I really am. 04:31 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 04:32 I think we have a picture also of our staff 04:34 just to show that recent picture. 04:37 I've done this many times 04:39 when I go on 3ABN and show a picture of my wife 04:42 and my children. 04:43 If you look right in the middle of that picture, 04:44 the very top young man that is my son Seth, 04:47 he's actually bigger than me. 04:49 And right next, next to him is Christine 04:52 and right below Christine, 04:54 or right next to Christine is Abby. 04:56 And then I'm right behind Abby. 04:58 Abby is 14, Seth is 17, 05:01 getting ready for college 05:02 and I won't tell you how old my wife is. 05:05 But we just, I'm just so blessed, 05:07 wonderful family, 05:08 and wonderful team of people that I work with. 05:11 And so God is good. And He's good. 05:13 Glad to be back at 3ABN Praise the Lord. 05:16 Praise the Lord. 05:17 You know, Pastor Steve Wohlberg, 05:19 for those of you that are not familiar with him, 05:20 he's the author of over 40 books, 05:23 and has been featured on over 500 radio 05:26 and television programs, interviewed. 05:29 Also has participated, National Geographic, 05:32 History Channel documentaries, 05:34 speaking about the Book of Revelation. 05:36 And speaking about books, I have one here that you wrote, 05:41 not too long ago, 05:43 it's called Approaching Armageddon, 05:45 Approaching Armageddon. 05:46 I want to ask you something about this book, 05:48 but first I'd like to read something really quick here. 05:50 It says on page 91, "To my readers, I say, 05:54 Bible prophecy is being fulfilled 05:56 before our very eyes. 05:58 The words of God recorded in Daniel's book 06:01 and in other Bible books are now unlocked, 06:04 unsealed and are easily accessible for human eyes 06:07 to read like never before. 06:10 You have a personal conviction 06:12 that we are living in the time of the end 06:14 and prophecies being fulfilled before our eyes. 06:17 That's why you wrote this book Approaching Armageddon. 06:19 Tell me something about this book 06:21 and what is your hope as people read this book? 06:23 Yeah, and that book I discussed here, 06:26 the last time I was here, we talked about it. 06:28 And essentially I wrote it because the conviction 06:30 just became overwhelming. 06:32 As I looked at what was continuing 06:33 to develop in the world that Jesus is coming 06:36 and that prophecy is being fulfilled in front of our eyes. 06:39 So I wanted to make it simple. 06:40 So that book is, I call it Prophecy 101. 06:43 It establishes faith in the Bible. 06:45 And then it looks 06:46 at what's happening in the world 06:48 and points to the return of Jesus, 06:50 the battle of Armageddon, and how love will win 06:52 and evil will go down, gives people hope. 06:54 So it's kind of an entry level book 06:57 to be given to people to share and help them to learn 07:00 what's happening in the world. 07:02 Excellent. Excellent. 07:03 You have also a little pamphlet 07:05 that is talking about the time we're living in. 07:07 That's right. 07:09 And it's about Coronavirus, 07:10 obviously, and it says what's next. 07:12 Very small pamphlet, people can get very easily. 07:14 This can, also they can get from White Horse Media. 07:17 Yes, that's just a little tract 07:18 that makes it very simple to give away to people. 07:20 I gave many away on the, 07:22 on my trip here to the person at the ticket counter, 07:26 and the person that dropped me off from the shuttle, 07:29 I hand them a little track. 07:30 So it's just a simple track that, 07:32 you know, people are thinking about the virus 07:33 and about all these crazy things 07:35 that are happening. 07:37 And they're wondering, well, what's coming. 07:38 And that book, or that tract is simply a catchy cover, 07:41 which leads into a Bible study on the time 07:43 when nobody can buy or sell, 07:45 unless he has the mark of the beast, 07:46 and then what the mark of the beast is all about. 07:48 So it's just a little simple study to plant seeds 07:51 about what's coming in the future. 07:54 So our ministry, John, White Horse Media 07:56 is producing programs 07:58 and material to share with the world. 08:01 That's what we're all about. Excellent. 08:04 Now, the reason you are here is because you wrote a book 08:07 called The 666 Beast Identified, 08:12 and what is it? 08:13 What does it means to you? 08:17 So this is a captivating cover, 08:19 written by Pastor Steve Wohlberg. 08:22 And why did you write this particular book 08:25 and what's in your heart? 08:27 You have something to share. We have two hours. 08:29 Well, a little less now to talk about this important topic. 08:33 But why did you feel the need to write this book? 08:36 Right, I write books, John, 08:39 based on what the Holy Spirit convicts me 08:42 about in my own personal study. 08:45 And you mentioned to me a little bit ago 08:46 that you've got a number of books on your list too, 08:49 your mentalist that you want to write 08:51 about and probably there, 08:52 because you've been convicted that these are topics 08:55 that need to be addressed. 08:56 And so that's what happens with me. 08:58 As God works with me, 08:59 I've developed my writing skills. 09:01 And so I write books based on things that I've been studying. 09:04 And Revelation Chapter 13, as most of us know, 09:08 is a critical chapter. 09:09 It talks about the rise of the beast from the sea, 09:12 and then there's a beast from the earth. 09:13 And then they both work together 09:15 to enforce the mark of the beast. 09:17 And there's so many of us that believe 09:18 that we're getting closer 09:20 to the final verses in Revelation 13. 09:24 And when you go down right near the end, 09:26 it talks about, in verse 16, 09:28 that he would cause all both small and great, 09:32 rich and poor, free and bond 09:33 to receive a mark in their right hand 09:36 or in their forehead, 09:37 and that no man might buy or sell, 09:39 save he that had the mark, 09:42 or the name of the beast, 09:45 or the number of his name. 09:49 And then it says hear his wisdom, 09:52 let him calculate that number which comes out to 666 09:55 which we'll talk about more. 09:57 But anyway in answer to your question, 09:59 that conviction has just been deep in my heart, 10:02 that we're getting closer to the final sequence 10:04 in Chapter 13, Revelation 13, 10:07 we're getting closer to the time 10:08 when the mark would be enforced. 10:10 And we also need to know, 10:12 what is the name of the beast 10:14 because it's right in the sequence, 10:16 and what is the number of his name, 10:19 which is right in the sequence. 10:21 So I just feel like as we're getting closer 10:23 to those final events, 10:25 God has been impressing me about these verses 10:29 that lead to 666. 10:32 And so I've been studying this. 10:34 And what I've learned is so powerful, 10:36 that I wanted to share it. 10:38 And so that's why I wrote this book. 10:41 Excellent. Thank you very much. 10:42 Well, you know, 10:43 my wife and I were in a Mexican restaurant, 10:45 I think it was in Texas, and we ordered our food 10:48 and they gave us a receipt with a number on it, 10:52 Pastor Wohlberg. 10:53 And when I looked at the number they were going to call out, 10:57 for us, it was 666. 11:00 Now, I said to my wife, "Look at this, 11:02 this is very interesting." 11:04 Now, we understand about the number 666. 11:09 So, but I believe someone else may have looked at that 11:12 and think I have the mark of the beast now. 11:14 So there's a lot of confusion about this. 11:16 And many theories are out there. 11:20 For example, when Ronald Reagan was president, 11:23 because his name is Ronald Wilson Reagan, 11:25 and there are six letters in his first name, 11:28 six letters in his middle name, 11:29 and six letters in his last name, 11:31 people were saying, "He is the... 11:34 He's got the mark of the beast. 11:36 He's the beast." 11:37 So there's confusion about that. 11:38 Barack Obama, another individual 11:40 that people mentioned that has the beast 11:43 or he's the beast power. 11:45 Some people think it's a computer chip. 11:47 And recently is circulating all over 11:52 that the Coronavirus or the vaccine is 666, 11:57 and it has to do with the mark of the beast. 11:59 So, you have written a book about this, 12:02 we are going to spend time digging into this 12:06 so that all the confusion can be cleared up. 12:09 But before we do this, 12:10 we need to go to the Lord in prayer. 12:12 This is a very important, 12:14 vital topic for the time we're living in. 12:16 And we want to get answers from the Bible, 12:19 Pastor Wohlberg has been studying 12:21 and led by the Holy Spirit to write this book 12:23 so that we hope that by the time you are done, 12:26 you're saying, I understand this topic. 12:28 And you may want to share this with others. 12:30 So we encourage you to consider getting copies of this book. 12:34 Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask for His blessing. 12:37 Let us pray together. 12:40 Our loving Heavenly Father, 12:42 we live in difficult times. 12:45 There is every wind of doctrine blowing. 12:49 And Heavenly Father, we don't want 12:50 to rely on what people say. 12:53 And even in this program, 12:54 the things that your children are going to hear 12:58 we pray that they will be like the Bereans, 13:00 go to the Scriptures to see if these things are true. 13:04 We thank you so much for the Holy Scriptures 13:07 that are able to lead us 13:10 to the light and wonderful salvation. 13:12 Help us to understand what is coming upon us. 13:16 There are a lot of people asking questions. 13:18 There are a lot of people confused about the mark 13:20 of the beast, what is this 666 13:23 and what they should do about it. 13:25 Revelation 13 speaks of this impacting the whole world. 13:30 So it's a message for everyone. 13:31 So we pray that You will bless Pastor Wohlberg 13:33 with Your Holy Spirit. 13:35 And we pray that You will guide him as he explains 13:38 that it may be clear 13:40 and that all confusion will be eliminated. 13:44 We pray that all honor and glory be unto Your name. 13:47 We thank You for providing 3ABN the opportunity 13:50 to broadcast this program. 13:51 And we pray that it will reach people in the time 13:55 of great need and in time of confusion 13:57 so that they will understand that You are our only hope. 14:02 We ask You Heavenly Father in Jesus' holy and blessed name. 14:06 Amen. Amen. 14:07 Amen. 14:09 Well, it's time to fasten your seat belts for a Bible study. 14:13 And we hope you have your Bible handy 14:15 to access it to follow along. 14:18 And, Pastor Wohlberg, 14:20 let's go from the beginning. 14:23 Okay, sure. Thank you, John. 14:25 And it was, you know, 14:26 I appreciated your mentioning 14:27 you being in the Mexican restaurant 14:29 and seeing that. 14:30 It reminds me of my, our, 14:32 we have a mutual friend Doug Batchelor 14:33 and he told a story once a while 14:35 I think he was in a Walmart 14:36 and he was going to the check stand 14:38 and the amount of things that he had purchased. 14:40 It came up on the screen as $6.66, 14:45 just a little purchase. 14:47 And the lady who looked at that, 14:49 Doug tells the story, her eyes got really big. 14:52 And he looked at her and said, "Do you know what that means?" 14:56 And she said, "No, but I know it's bad." 15:01 So, you know, that was just an illustration. 15:03 And the whole topic of 666 is all over the map. 15:07 I mean, as you mentioned, people are, 15:09 they don't really know what it means, 15:10 but most people have heard of 666. 15:12 Yes. 15:14 I think we have a graphic on the screen, 15:15 or we can put on the screen of the time 15:17 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average 15:20 went down 666 points in a day. 15:24 And, you know, people looked at that 15:26 and they started thinking, "Well, you know, 15:29 maybe this is the beginning of the final days, 15:32 because they're 666." 15:34 And again, there's just, you know, 15:36 there's so much speculation about this, 15:38 when Apple first released its first computer, 15:41 the price if I can remember this right 15:44 was $666.66. 15:48 And so people thought, well, maybe computers are evil. 15:51 And people think of 666 connected to a barcode 15:54 or Social Security or people's names or etc. 15:57 Etc. 15:58 Most people have no idea what it really means. 16:00 So we're going to do 16:01 is we're going to look at the Bible, 16:04 Revelation 13:18, 16:07 and we're going to really zero in 16:09 on what this verse actually says. 16:12 And I think we have a graphic also, 16:14 just to put that up, okay. 16:16 Verse 18 says, "Here is wisdom. 16:19 Let him who has understanding 16:22 calculate the number of the beast, 16:25 for it is the number of a man: 16:28 and his number is 666, 16:31 or, as the King James translate this, the New King James, 16:34 six hundred sixty and six. 16:37 So that's the text. 16:41 And the first, I guess, the first point 16:42 I want to make is that God tells us in this verse, 16:47 that we need wisdom to understand it. 16:50 And some people think it's all just speculation, 16:53 it's impossible to understand it. 16:56 But I don't buy that. 16:57 Because this text, you know, God is appealing to us, 17:00 here is wisdom. 17:02 And then He also says, 17:03 let him that has understanding. 17:06 So, John, that implies 17:09 that we can be wise on this topic, 17:12 and we can have understanding of this topic. 17:16 And so that's critical as we really just dissect the text. 17:20 And then it says, 17:22 let him who has understanding count 17:24 or some Bible say calculate, 17:26 the number of the beast. 17:28 So there's some counting, 17:30 some calculation that needs to be involved. 17:33 You know, that's a pillar point. 17:36 We just go, you know, point by point 17:38 and really look at this. 17:39 We need wisdom from God, we need understanding, 17:42 and we need to do some calculation. 17:44 Yes, very important. So, that is. 17:46 And then it says, let him count the number of the beast, 17:50 which we'll look at it a little while that we need to know 17:54 who the beast is. 17:56 You know, as you mentioned Barack Obama, 17:57 he used to be driven around in a big black limousine, 18:02 that people nicknamed the beast. 18:04 And so people thought maybe President Obama is the beast 18:07 because he's driving around in this big beast car. 18:10 But Barack Obama doesn't fit 18:13 all the biblical characteristics 18:16 of the beast in the Bible. 18:17 And so we have to know who the real beast is. 18:22 And then it says, for it is also, 18:23 it is the number of a man. 18:28 And I'm going to build my case that this is a specific man. 18:31 This is not just as some people think, 18:34 mankind, man in general. 18:37 It's not that, 18:38 it's specifically a man that is connected 18:41 to the beast. 18:43 So we need wisdom, understanding, 18:45 we need to calculate, 18:46 we need to know who the beast is. 18:48 And it is also the number of a man and then it says, 18:51 and the reason why I say a man is because it says 18:54 and his number. 18:56 So the number is specifically connected to that man. 19:01 His number is 600 three score, 19:06 the King James says three score, 19:08 a score is 20, so three score is 60. 19:11 And then it also says and 6. 19:13 So the text, many Bible say his number is 666. 19:19 But you know, that's not exactly what the text says. 19:22 The text doesn't say 6, and then another 6, 19:26 and then another 6, 19:27 the text actually says 600, 19:31 60, and 6. 19:34 And there's a subtle difference there 19:36 and we'll go more into that, 19:37 that, you know, some people are looking for 666 19:40 somewhere where they're going to see 666. 19:44 But the text doesn't say 666, 19:48 it says 600, 60 and 6. 19:52 You know, that's very good that you say that 19:55 because Ronald Reagan, of course, is eliminated. 19:59 That's right. 20:00 Because his, the six letters in his first name, 20:01 six letters in the middle name, 20:03 six letters in the last name is not 666, 20:06 it's just 6, 6, 6. Exactly. 20:08 Also, by reading the text, 20:11 for people that are not familiar with the scriptures, 20:13 we read there, that is the number of a man. 20:17 So the idea that it's a computer 20:18 or a computer chip 20:20 that has to be thrown out the window, 20:22 and is not valid, 20:23 it cannot be a computer or a computer chip. 20:27 So already, we see some confusion clearing up 20:29 just by reading the text. 20:30 That's right. Just by reading. 20:32 And you're right. 20:33 And these are all critical points point by point. 20:35 And you mentioned Ronald Reagan. 20:37 And there are some people that take a person's name, 20:40 like Caesar, Nero and different people, 20:43 and they try to use the numerical value 20:46 and they come up with 666. 20:47 But all of those options 20:51 need to be eliminated, 20:53 unless that beast and man lines up 20:59 with every other characteristic 21:01 that is described in Revelation Chapter 13. 21:04 And that's a critical point that we're not just, 21:07 we don't want to speculate and just, 21:09 you know, find some man and some name 21:11 and then see if it calculates out to 666 21:14 using the numerical value, 21:16 but we've got to find a beast 21:18 and a man that fits all the characteristics 21:23 of this beast in Revelation 13. 21:26 And that's a key point. 21:28 I have a question then, I have a question. 21:29 Okay. 21:32 I saw a documentary a few months ago. 21:36 And they brought a person they consider an authority 21:41 on the Scriptures. 21:43 And the question was asked about the 666. 21:48 And you mentioned Nero. 21:51 And the person that was supposed 21:53 to be an authority on the Scripture said, 21:55 oh, this is Nero, 21:56 an individual that lived several hundred years ago, 21:59 almost 2000 years ago. 22:01 Yeah, in the first century. 22:02 So you're saying 22:04 is not a man of the past. 22:07 You're saying is a man of the future, not the past. 22:11 Well, yeah... 22:13 And then you mentioned something 22:14 about the characteristics, because all the number 666 22:18 is just one characteristic. 22:21 There are others. That's right. 22:22 And we'll get into the past, the present, the future, 22:25 but we'll put all these pieces together. 22:26 But one of the common views, 22:30 as you mentioned, is Nero. 22:31 That's really a preterist view 22:33 that Nero was the beast in the first century, 22:36 he persecuted Christians. 22:38 And if you, you know, put together 22:40 Nero with Caesar or Caesarion, 22:43 you can calculate it out to 666. 22:45 And many people think he's the guy, 22:47 he's the 666 man, but he doesn't fit. 22:50 He doesn't fit. He doesn't fit all the other characteristics. 22:53 And it's significant that when he was alive, 22:57 and after that period, for 100 or 200 years, 23:02 the early Christians never associated 23:06 Revelation 13:18 with Nero. 23:09 So this is a novel interpretation 23:12 and there's many of them. 23:14 And, John, I want our listeners, 23:15 our viewers to know that I've looked 23:19 at many different views on this topic. 23:22 And in my book, 666 Beast Identified, 23:25 I actually look at nine different perspectives 23:30 on this topic. 23:32 And I'm convinced 23:33 that when you really look at the text, 23:36 and you really, you know, 23:37 dissect it and look at its details, 23:40 all the other alternative theories 23:45 that have taken the place of what I see as the true view, 23:50 they're just eliminated, they don't fit. 23:53 Now, here's another key point. 23:55 And I know you probably have questions as we go along. 23:57 Oh, yes, questions will be coming to you. 23:58 In Revelation 15:2. 24:01 Revelation 15:2. 24:03 Yeah, 15:2, this is a critical point. 24:06 15:2, John says, 24:08 "I saw as it were a sea of glass, 24:10 mingled with fire. 24:12 And John saw this in vision, and he saw them 24:15 that had gotten the victory over the beast," 24:19 which is the beast of Revelation 13, 24:22 "and over his image," 24:25 which comes in the second part of Revelation 13, 24:28 the second half, "his image and over his mark." 24:32 So the mark has to do with the beast itself. 24:35 And then it says an over the number of his name, 24:40 which calculates out to 666. 24:43 So when you look at this carefully, 24:45 we have the beast mentioned, 24:47 which points us back to Chapter 13. 24:49 And then it's his image, 24:51 it's an image of the original beast. 24:54 Yes. 24:55 And then his mark, the mark of the beast 24:57 is the mark of that first beast 'cause it says his mark, 25:01 and then it says an over the number of his name. 25:04 So when it says his name, 25:05 that points us back to that first beast. 25:08 So 666 or 666 25:12 is connected to that first beast. 25:14 And it also says that 25:16 it has to do with the number of his name. 25:20 Yes. 25:21 So, we're looking for, we need to find the right beast, 25:24 we need to find the right man, his man, its man. 25:27 And then we need to know what the number of his name, 25:31 he has a specific name that is referred to in the Bible, 25:35 and then we need to count it. 25:37 And we need to calculate it, 25:39 which eventually comes out to 666. 25:42 So when you look at this verse, 25:44 you know, it eliminates a lot of other options. 25:47 And then it also tells us, 25:48 which we'll get into farther on, 25:50 is that we need to figure out well, 25:51 how once we know what the number of his name is, 25:55 how do we get the victory over that? 25:59 What does that mean? 26:00 A good friend of mine, asked me, he said, 26:02 "Steve, I've asked a lot of people, 26:04 what that means that we get the victory 26:07 over the number of his name?" 26:09 And he said, "Nobody knows." 26:11 Nobody that he's asked knows the answer to that. 26:15 So we had a Bible study on that, 26:16 which we'll do in a little while. 26:18 And we'll try to decode the mystery. 26:20 So this is part of what's coming during this program? 26:23 Exactly. 26:24 I want to remind our viewers and listeners 26:25 that this is a two hour program, 26:28 we have half an hour, 26:29 about half an hour left in this first part, 26:31 and we're going to come back for a second part. 26:32 So make sure you don't miss a minute of this program 26:36 so to receive the full blessing. 26:38 And so I want to also add for those 26:40 that are watching on Tuesday night, 26:42 that there's a rebroadcast on Sunday at 3pm Central Time. 26:47 So just in case you only saw part of it, 26:49 you can catch the full program on Sunday at 3pm Central Time, 26:54 so make sure you do not miss it. 26:56 And if you can record it, by all means, do so. 27:01 Pastor Wohlberg, the question, now we need to, 27:04 we need to start unfolding this 27:07 so that people can jot down the information, 27:10 continue studying, and all important, 27:13 all important. 27:14 So this is something that we are going to be facing. 27:18 What helps you understand 27:22 that this is something that is coming very soon? 27:24 I mean, is it something that we should be concerned about 27:29 for those of us living right now? 27:31 Or is this something way in the future? 27:32 We already, you already established 27:34 that it's not in the past? 27:36 Is it way in the future? 27:38 Are there signs, indicators that say, 27:41 it's going to be very soon? 27:43 I believe we are getting very close. 27:46 And there's, this is a big topic, 27:48 but I'm sure you know, 27:49 I mean, what's happening in America, 27:51 what's happening in the world. 27:52 We look at the pandemic, 27:53 we look at various signs of the times, 27:56 and many of us are deeply aware of the fact 27:59 that our freedoms are slowly disintegrating. 28:03 Yes. 28:04 You know, we see this with the big tech companies 28:07 clamping down on freedom. 28:09 We see all kinds of things happening 28:11 that our freedoms are disappearing. 28:14 And Revelation 13:16-17 28:17 points to a time when freedom is gone. 28:20 Because nobody will be able to buy or sell this connected 28:24 to the world economy unless they go along 28:27 with the mark or the name of the beast 28:29 or the number of his name. 28:31 And so many people in different churches 28:34 recognize that as we look around us, 28:37 surely we're getting closer to that time. 28:40 And I'm not a prophet, I don't set dates, 28:41 I don't know exactly when it's going to happen. 28:43 But I'm just convicted, that time's running out 28:45 that we're getting closer, and it won't be long, 28:48 until these final verses kick in, 28:50 and freedom completely disappears. 28:53 And this grand global solution will be imposed upon the world, 28:58 in the name of doing what is right, 29:01 you know, the common, good trying to help everybody, 29:04 but it's going to be as phony as a $3 bill. 29:07 It's going to be a proposal from the devil, ultimately, 29:11 it's going to be deception, 29:12 that people will think if they go along with it, 29:13 things are going to get better. 29:15 But it's really in the middle of this is going 29:17 to be the mark of the beast. 29:18 And so, you know, I just think that we're getting much closer. 29:22 And as I mentioned, as I've been pondering this 29:25 and thinking about this, 29:26 and I look at these last verses in Chapter 13, 29:29 I not only see freedom disappearing, 29:31 I not only see seeing it affecting the world's economy, 29:35 but I also see and buying and selling being affected 29:39 and the enforcement of the mark, 29:41 but the name of the beast surfaces as an issue, 29:44 and also the number of his name that also surfaces. 29:50 So that's what led me to really try to figure this out, 29:54 you know, I've been praying and studying 29:56 and researching, God has convicted me, 29:58 study this. 29:59 And once I feel like all the lights went on, 30:01 based on what the text says, and my research in the past, 30:05 and what's happening now, what's coming in the future, 30:08 I felt like, I got to write this book 30:11 and help people to understand. 30:12 And especially when we deal with Revelation 15:2, 30:15 that describes a people that get the victory over the beast, 30:20 the image, the mark, and the number of his name. 30:23 I thought, you know, I need to get the victory. 30:25 And I need to understand 30:27 what I'm getting the victory over. 30:28 That's right. So that's all part of this package. 30:31 That's right. 30:32 Well, Pastor Wohlberg, apparently these people 30:34 that have the victory over the mark or his name, 30:37 apparently, these are the people 30:38 that are saved, that are with the Lord. 30:40 So it's important to get the victory, 30:42 it's important to understand 30:44 that this is a vital topic for everyone. 30:46 I also want to have the victory because obviously, 30:49 if you don't, you're not with the Lord. 30:52 This is very important. 30:54 So how about if we go to Revelation 13, 30:56 because we read verse 18. 30:58 And it's kind of leading us to understand 31:02 that this is something vitally important. 31:05 And we need to have this victory. 31:07 And who is this beast? 31:09 Is identifying this beast? 31:11 How about unpackaging a little more? 31:13 This is one of the... 31:14 Let's go through the characteristics 31:16 that are mentioned so that we can get zero in, 31:19 as you say, focus in on who this is. 31:21 That's right, exactly. And that's a critical point. 31:23 As I've studied this, it's become so clear to me 31:26 that in order to understand Revelation 13:18, 31:30 and have wisdom and understanding, 31:32 we need to know who that beast is. 31:34 And once we look 31:35 at the characteristics in the rest of the chapter, 31:40 then we're pointed in the right direction, 31:42 then we know that it's not Barack Obama's 31:44 big black limousine, it's not Nero, 31:47 you know, who lived in the first century, 31:49 we need to be directed in the right direction. 31:52 And that is a very important point. 31:54 And Revelation 13:18, 31:57 about the number of the beast 31:59 is really kind of like the capstone 32:02 of this whole chapter. 32:04 It's one final identifying 32:08 mark or characteristic of this beast. 32:12 And so, we have to look at the whole chapter context, 32:16 and I'm sure you have too. 32:18 In my ministry, 32:20 I've made it a very major priority in my life, 32:24 to really study Revelation Chapter 13. 32:28 My book on 666 goes into it in detail. 32:31 I've written other books that go into other details. 32:34 And when you read Revelation 13, 32:36 it describes this beast rising up out of the sea, 32:39 and it has all these different characteristics. 32:42 For those who study prophecy, 32:44 many of them realize that the characteristics 32:47 of the beast in Revelation 13 point you back 32:51 to Daniel Chapter 7 in the Old Testament. 32:54 That both chapters talk about beasts, 32:56 both chapters talk about 10 horns, 32:58 both chapters talk about mouth speaking great things 33:02 and war on the saints, and Revelation is like, 33:05 it's like a jigsaw puzzle. 33:07 We need to put the puzzle pieces together. 33:09 And when you look at the puzzle pieces of Chapter 13, 33:11 they clearly go back to Daniel 7. 33:14 And we don't have time to have a whole Bible study 33:17 on this completely. 33:18 But the information is in the book, 33:20 but I'll just give you some quick points. 33:23 Yes. 33:25 In Daniel 7, we have, 33:26 Daniel had a dream of four beasts, 33:28 there was a lion like beast, there was a bear, 33:31 a leopard, and a dragon like beast with 10 horns. 33:34 And then this little horn pops up, 33:37 who has a mouth speaking great things 33:38 and makes war on the saints. 33:40 And in Daniel 7:23, 33:42 the angel clarified that the fourth beast 33:45 is the fourth kingdom upon the earth. 33:47 And most people who have studied prophecy and history, 33:50 they recognize that those four beasts 33:53 represent the great kingdoms or nations of Babylon, 33:57 Persia, Greece and Rome, four beasts, four kingdoms. 34:00 Daniel was living in Babylon when he had the dream. 34:03 Archeology has confirmed that a winged lion was a symbol 34:06 of ancient Babylon. 34:07 So Daniel was in Babylon, 34:09 and there was the Babylonian beast, 34:11 then the Medo-Persian beast, Persia conquered Babylon, 34:14 and then the Greek beast. 34:16 The Greeks, 34:18 under the leadership of Alexander the Great, 34:19 conquered the Persians. 34:21 And then came the Romans with their Caesars, 34:23 Augustus and Tiberius, etc. 34:26 And this is all history, and its Bible history. 34:29 So the fourth beast was the Roman Empire, 34:31 the mighty Roman Empire. 34:33 And then when it finally went down, 34:35 it was divided among, what the Bible calls 10 horns. 34:38 There were 10 horns out of this that came out 34:41 of the head of this beast, 34:42 which represent different nations 34:45 that divided up the Roman Empire in the fourth, 34:47 fifth and sixth centuries, 34:49 leading to the collapse 34:51 of the imperial government in Rome, 34:54 which was in 476 AD. 34:56 And then the text says that this little horn would come up 35:00 among the 10, 35:02 that would have a mouth speaking great things, 35:03 would make war on the saints, would do various things. 35:06 And when you compare Daniel 7, 35:09 that little horn with Revelation 13, 35:11 about the beast, the beast also has a mouth 35:13 speaking great things, 35:14 the beast also makes war on the saints. 35:16 You conclude that the horn of Daniel 7 35:18 and the beast of Revelation 13 are the same power. 35:22 The same power. That's right, just with different symbolism. 35:25 And Protestant scholars in the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, 35:31 they looked at all of this. 35:32 And they finally concluded that there's no other power 35:37 that fits every characteristic of that little horn, 35:40 other than the Roman Catholic Church system 35:44 as a system. 35:46 It's not talking about the individual people, 35:48 because there's a lot of and have been, 35:50 and are today godly Roman Catholic people. 35:52 But it's the system of Catholicism, 35:55 because the Roman Church, 35:57 the system did rise up out of the Roman Empire. 36:00 That's why it's called the Roman Catholic Church. 36:03 It did rise up among the 10 horns 36:05 that divided up the Roman Empire 36:08 in Western Europe settled in, and it was, 36:11 it made its headquarters in Rome. 36:13 And then it did have a man at the head, 36:16 like the scripture says, he would have eyes 36:18 like the eyes of a man. 36:20 There was a man that was eventually designated 36:22 as the head of this power, 36:24 which was given the name the Papa or the Pope. 36:27 And he did make great claims for himself, 36:30 which we'll look at in a little while. 36:32 And then it also says 36:33 that the horn made war on the saints, 36:35 and you look at history, you look at the Inquisition, 36:38 you look at the reasons 36:39 why the Protestant Reformation rose up in Germany. 36:42 And you can just see this history 36:44 and the Protestants looked at history, 36:46 they looked at what was happening in front of them. 36:48 And they finally concluded that the little horn, 36:51 which is the beast is a perfect symbol 36:54 of the Roman Catholic Church system. 36:56 And this was the conclusion that Martin Luther 37:00 the monk of Wittenberg, in the 1500s. 37:03 That's the conclusion that he came to. 37:06 And I think we have a quote from, 37:08 I'd like to put this on the screen, 37:10 which is from a classic Protestant history book 37:12 by d'Aubign,, and it's a quote from Martin Luther, 37:16 where Luther, it's actually a reference 37:19 to his ministry and what he taught. 37:22 And so there is the book called 37:24 The history of the Reformation 37:26 in the 16th century by Merle d'Aubign,, 37:29 and the quote is, it says there that 37:30 Luther proved by the revelations of Daniel, 37:34 from Daniel 7, and St. John, 37:37 which is in the Book of Revelation, 37:38 by the epistles of St. Paul, 37:40 which we'll look at later in 2 Thessalonians 2 37:43 from St. Peter and St. Jude, 37:45 that the reign of Antichrist predicted 37:47 and described in the Bible was the papacy. 37:51 And papacy, meaning the popes, 37:53 and all the people did say Amen! 37:55 A holy terror seized upon their souls. 37:57 It was Antichrist, 37:58 whom they beheld seated on the pontifical throne. 38:02 This new idea which derived greater strength 38:05 from the prophetic descriptions 38:07 launched by Luther into the midst 38:09 of his contemporaries, 38:11 inflicted the most terrible blow on Rome. 38:14 And that is a fact of history. 38:16 There's a statue of Luther from Wittenberg, Germany, 38:19 and I'd like to just, 38:20 let's take a look at Revelation 13... 38:22 Before you do that, 38:23 can give us a little background on who Martin Luther was. 38:27 He was, you said he was a monk from where? 38:30 That's right. He was actually a Roman Catholic. 38:32 He was a Roman Catholic priest. 38:34 He went to, he was an Augustinian monk, 38:36 he trained to be a monk. 38:38 He eventually became a professor 38:41 at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, 38:44 famous town, I went to that town, 38:46 I saw his statue, and he studied the Bible, 38:50 he began to protest against the Roman Catholic practice 38:54 of issuing indulgences. 38:56 If you pay money for an indulgence, 38:58 you can have all your sins forgiven. 39:00 Luther had been studying the Bible. 39:01 He looked at that practice 39:02 and as a good Roman Catholic priest, 39:04 he said, but that's just not right. 39:06 So in 1517, the year 1517, he posted, 39:10 he nailed on to the door of the castle church 39:14 in Wittenberg 95 protests against the practice 39:19 of indulgences. 39:20 And that really was the launching 39:23 of what became known as the Protestant 39:25 or Protestant Reformation. 39:28 And Luther was the famous monk of Wittenberg, 39:33 who launched this reformation, which eventually led, 39:37 it shook Europe and it brought people 39:39 back to the Bible, 39:41 and eventually led to an Exodus 39:43 out of the Catholic Church from millions of people 39:47 and they became Protestants. 39:49 And that's how Protestantism and Catholicism, 39:53 you know, the battle was engaged. 39:55 Now this is a... 39:57 This is very important, very important to understand 39:59 that he was not somebody outside 40:02 of the Roman Catholic Church, 40:03 he was somebody inside the Roman, 40:05 in fact, a priest in the church. 40:08 And he was horrified when he saw the scriptures 40:12 and that his own church, 40:15 whom he was a priest of fit all the descriptions. 40:19 Daniel Chapter 7, and as you read in that quote, 40:22 he was horrified. 40:23 But you mentioned that it was the Protestant Reformation, 40:29 Luther's plan, Luther's desire was for the church, 40:32 the Roman Catholic Church to reform. 40:35 That's right. 40:36 It was supposed to be an effort to reform the church, 40:39 and the protest were for them to look at them, 40:43 study them, and understand 40:45 that the church had departed from the Bible. 40:48 They were practicing things that were not biblical. 40:51 So his desire, his hope, his prayer was, 40:55 the church will reform and walk and live and teach 40:59 according to the light of the Bible. 41:01 Unfortunately, 41:04 there was resistance to these reforms. 41:07 That's right. 41:08 That's why there was a separation. 41:10 That's right. Yeah. 41:11 If you look at the big picture, 41:12 the early church started relatively pure, 41:16 preaching the gospel around the world. 41:18 As history worked its way down the stream of time, 41:22 a lot of traditions came in. 41:24 Eventually, the Roman Catholic Church 41:26 rose up in Europe, 41:28 and became the dominant form of Christianity in Europe. 41:33 We entered into history, entered into the Dark Ages. 41:36 Most people back there had never seen a Bible 41:38 in their lives because they didn't have printing presses. 41:41 And so Bibles were copied by hand and few people had them. 41:44 And so Europe was wrapped in the Dark Ages. 41:46 And in 1450, approximately, 41:49 a German printer Gutenberg invented the printing press. 41:52 Yes. 41:54 And so the first book off the press was, guess what? 41:56 It was the Bible. 41:57 So the Bible began 41:59 to be printed for the first time 42:01 and circulate in Europe and Luther 42:03 as a good Roman Catholic priest, 42:04 teaching in Germany, in Wittenberg, 42:08 he got a hold of a Bible 42:09 and he began to study the Bible, 42:11 and Bibles began to circulate in Europe. 42:13 And that's how, you know, this consciousness 42:15 of what the Bible actually says, grew. 42:19 And then Luther looked at the traditions 42:21 of the church, and what the Bible says, 42:23 realize that they were not the same. 42:24 And as you mentioned, his goal was not to start 42:27 a new movement. 42:29 His goal was to reform the church he loved 42:32 and to bring it back to the Bible. 42:34 But the Roman Catholic hierarchy, 42:37 centered in Rome, resisted. 42:40 And then they began to put the screws on Luther and said, 42:43 "If you don't give up your ideas against indulgences, 42:47 and about the Bible, 42:48 you're going to be burned at the stake." 42:50 And Luther was, he was a tough nut to crack. 42:54 He was pretty bold. 42:55 And he finally decided, all right, 42:57 if you're going to make war on me, 42:59 I'm going to return the favor. 43:00 And I'm going to make war on you based on Scripture. 43:04 And so, and the more he studied, 43:07 then he read verses like Revelation 13:7 43:11 that talks about the beast, 43:13 that it would be given to him to make war with the saints. 43:16 And Daniel 7:21 says the same thing 43:18 that the little horn would make war on the saints. 43:21 And Luther learned about Jesus, 43:25 but as he saw the reaction from Rome, 43:28 and then he began to study prophecy, 43:31 he took the next step. 43:32 And the next step was to not only discover Christ 43:36 in His Word, 43:37 but to identify Antichrist that was against the Word. 43:42 That's a famous Protestant statement 43:43 that Luther discovered Christ and Antichrist. 43:46 And he realized that the Roman Catholic Church 43:49 system centered in the authority of the pope 43:51 was really against the Bible. 43:53 And so that's what launched him in that quote 43:56 that I just put up from d'Aubign,'s book, 43:58 that's just a classic quote, 43:59 many others we could find, 44:00 and there's a lot of quotes in my book, 44:02 when the Protestants put together the pieces, 44:05 and they realized that the Roman Church 44:07 was the little horn, and that it was the beast. 44:11 Then they realized we can't reform this organization, 44:14 we got to get out. 44:15 And that's why they became, 44:17 there became Protestant churches, 44:19 like the Lutheran Church 44:21 and the Methodist Church, etc. 44:22 Etc. 44:24 I'm sure Luther shed many tears, 44:25 as he saw that they were not seeing 44:28 what the Bible says, they were not accepting 44:29 what the Bible says, he shed many tears. 44:32 And it was a painful decision to say, we have to separate, 44:37 painful, painful. 44:39 That's right. And so, take us through. 44:43 You already mentioned some of the characteristics 44:46 pointing to Daniel Chapter 7. 44:48 And you're saying this identifies specifically 44:52 the Roman Catholic Church. 44:54 That's right. 44:55 And for me, one of the capstones 44:57 of that identification 44:58 is back to Revelation 13:1-2. 45:02 John wrote 13:1-2, 45:05 "I stood upon the sand of the sea. 45:07 And I saw beast rising up out of the sea, 45:09 having seven heads and ten horns, 45:11 and upon his horns ten crowns, 45:13 and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." 45:16 And we'll come back to that. 45:17 There's a blasphemous name at the head of this power. 45:20 And then verse 2 says, 45:22 "The beast which I saw was like a leopard," 45:24 meaning it brought characteristics 45:25 in from Daniel 7's leopard like beast, 45:28 which was Greece, it had part of Greece, 45:30 thinking in it, 45:32 "and his feet were like the feet of a bear," 45:34 going back to Daniel 7, the Persian bear, 45:36 it brought Persian ideas into it. 45:39 "And then his mouth was as the mouth of a lion." 45:41 Going back to the lion in Daniel 7, 45:43 which was Babylon. 45:44 So it brought Babylonian elements into it. 45:47 So this beast is a combination 45:48 of different elements from the past. 45:51 And then it says, and the dragon, 45:52 which was the fourth beast of Daniel 7, 45:55 which was the Roman Empire, 45:57 you got Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, 45:59 the fourth beast, and it says, 46:01 "The dragon gave to this beast, this composite beast, 46:05 his power, and his seat, and great authority." 46:08 Who is this dragon? 46:09 Well, the dragon is ultimately the devil in the Bible. 46:12 But in the context of Daniel 7, 46:14 it's the fourth beast in the sequence, 46:16 you've got the lion, the bear, the leopard, 46:19 and then the dragon 46:20 and the dragon was the Roman Empire, 46:21 Satan working through the Roman Empire, 46:23 and the Roman Empire, 46:25 its seat of government was in Rome, 46:28 its headquarters was in Rome. 46:30 And this text says that the dragon would give his seat, 46:33 referring to his seat of government to this beast. 46:35 And Protestants put this together 46:38 and they realized, "Wow, 46:39 the little horn is the Roman Catholic Church, 46:42 it's doing all the things that prophecy says 46:44 it would have a mouth speaking great things, 46:46 it would have a man at its head, 46:47 it would make war on the saints, 46:48 and its seat of government would be right there in Rome, 46:53 the seat of the ancient Roman Empire." 46:55 And they put all these pieces together, 46:57 and they knew for sure, and this is history, John, 46:59 this is basic history, 47:01 that the Roman Catholic Church system fit the prophecy, 47:05 it was the little horn of Daniel 7, 47:07 it was the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians 2, 47:10 it was the woman in Revelation 17, 47:12 riding the beast, the harlot woman, 47:14 and it was the beast of Revelation 13, 47:17 that when you go down to the end of the chapter, 47:20 this is the beast that has the mark, 47:25 and the name, and the number, 47:28 which calculates out to 666. 47:31 This is a fascinating study. 47:34 And, you know, confusion is being cleared up, 47:37 because there is a lot of confusion concerning this. 47:40 And you're saying this mark, 47:42 and the number 666 are all part of the package. 47:47 Exactly. 47:49 All part of the package, Revelation 13:18 47:51 that we started out to study with? 47:53 Exactly. 47:55 And I think we have another graphic, 47:56 we can put up showing a picture of the pope 47:59 speaking in front of the huge crowd, 48:02 as reported by the New York Times. 48:05 And that's just a picture that you can find pictures 48:09 like that in news organizations around the world, 48:11 showing the significance of the Vatican, 48:15 the significance of the pope, 48:18 and of his influence worldwide. 48:21 And so, you know, we see this right now, 48:24 we see the influence of the Roman Catholic Church 48:26 and the influence of the pope. 48:28 As, you know, as big, it's mega big, 48:31 there's no politician, there's no president, 48:34 there's no talk show host, there's no music star, 48:38 there's no basketball player, sports figure, 48:40 nobody who can gather a bigger crowd than the pope. 48:45 And the fact of history is that the Protestant Reformation 48:50 studied all of this, and put the pieces together 48:54 and realized that the beast is right here. 48:57 And its man is right here, 49:00 which is the man 49:01 who is the center of the system. 49:05 And that's what we need to look more closely 49:08 at as we keep going to identify the name, 49:11 and the number that comes out to 666. 49:16 This is a fascinating... This is a fascinating study. 49:18 And you're pointing to Scripture, 49:21 but also you're pointing to history. 49:23 Why do you point to history? 49:27 To get confirmation from about the scriptures. 49:31 You're pointing to history, 49:33 things that have already happened. 49:34 Right. And is this some something secret? 49:36 Can people find this information? 49:38 Oh, yes. 49:40 And the Bible is basically I mean, 49:41 the Bible is God's book, but it's also a history book. 49:44 Somebody once said, history is His story. 49:49 That's what history is. 49:50 So it's the history of God's working in the world. 49:56 And when you look at Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, 49:59 this is a prophecy in Daniel 7. 50:02 But you can also watch documentaries 50:04 on the History Channel about it, 50:06 you can go to any library. 50:07 Jesus, the Bible says was born in Bethlehem. 50:10 It was predicted in Micah 5:2 700 years 50:14 before Jesus was born, 50:16 that He would be born in Bethlehem, 50:18 that He would be betrayed by a friend 50:20 for 30 pieces of silver, 50:22 and that He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. 50:24 And these are all prophecies we don't have time to look at, 50:26 but they were prophecies in the Old Testament, 50:28 that were fulfilled in the life of Jesus, 50:30 and fulfilled in history. 50:32 And it's the same thing with Daniel 7 and Revelation 13. 50:36 It talks about, you know, 50:37 the move of Christianity into the Dark Ages, 50:41 the rise of a beast, 50:42 the rise of this massive apostasy, 50:44 the rise of this little horn, 50:46 that would make war on the saints, 50:48 whatever mouth speaking great things 50:49 that would have eyes like the eyes of a man, 50:53 meaning a man would be at the head. 50:55 And all of these prophecies 50:57 we can see in history had been fulfilled. 51:00 And that was part of what fueled 51:02 and sparked and ignited 51:04 the Protestant Reformation, 51:06 which really continues to this day, 51:08 we consider ourselves to be part of that, 51:12 you know, we're holding up the torch. 51:15 And so, and this is all part of Revelation 13, 51:18 when we finally get down to hear his wisdom, 51:21 let him that has understanding, 51:23 let him count the number of the beast, 51:26 which is the number of a man, 51:29 and his number is 666. 51:31 So we need to know who the beast is, 51:33 we need to know what that man, who that man is, 51:35 and then we need to know, need to know what that name is, 51:37 and what the number is. 51:38 And that's what we're going to do. 51:40 You know, Pastor Wohlberg, we put a picture on the screen, 51:45 and letting people know on the radio, 51:47 it was a picture of the pope in the balcony 51:52 there in the Vatican. 51:53 And they were, he was overlooking 51:57 about how many people, you know, 51:59 it's an estimate, 52:00 tens of thousands of people that he was doing a Mass, 52:05 the Easter Mass it said on the screen. 52:08 I find just like you said there's no rock star, 52:11 no movie star, no singer, 52:13 anyone, not even presidents can go to a country, 52:18 like the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, 52:21 and draw as many people, draw as many people. 52:25 And why do you think there's this interest, 52:30 this massive amount of interest in the pope 52:34 went to Jamaica, let's say, the pope went to Cuba, 52:38 the pope went to Argentina, 52:42 why is there so much interest in the pope? 52:45 Well, because he's... 52:46 He represents a religion that has over a billion members. 52:50 So, he's got a lot of influence, 52:52 a lot of weight, a lot of political power. 52:55 When the pope speaks, people listen. 52:57 And again, we're not against, 52:59 you know, this program is not against Roman Catholic people. 53:02 But we're looking at the system, 53:04 and we're looking at prophecy, and we're trying to figure out 53:07 Revelation 13:18, 53:09 about the number of the beast. 53:10 Now, maybe before we take a break, 53:12 or you're going to go on, I just want to make, 53:14 hope we can get another couple key points 53:15 in before we... 53:17 Well, you know, I wanted to say 53:20 the point you're making is there's a verse 53:22 that says all the world wondered after the beast. 53:25 Exactly. And it's true. 53:27 There is a point to be made about this. 53:30 Like there's, he is the head of a religious denomination. 53:34 That's right. Okay. 53:36 But he's also the head of a country, 53:39 probably one of the smallest countries in the world, 53:41 is the Vatican. 53:43 They have their own government, 53:45 their own system, 53:47 but they have no army of their own. 53:51 But here's the point to be made 53:52 is that he's the head of a religious denomination. 53:57 Can the head of the Baptist Church go to a country 54:01 and all the media is wanting to know where he's going, 54:07 who he's going to meet with and follow him as they do? 54:10 No, there's nobody else. 54:12 No religious leader can receive the media attention 54:16 that the Roman Catholic pope receives. 54:19 Exactly. 54:21 And to me, this is, that's what the Bible says, 54:24 the whole world wondered after the beast. 54:26 And you're talking about 54:27 international television channels that report 54:30 what the pope is doing. 54:32 We arrived in Guatemala for an evangelistic campaign. 54:36 They told us, the hotel, 54:40 the hotel that was sending the vehicle 54:44 to pick us up at the airport. 54:46 They said we cannot pick you up until 8pm. 54:49 And we were arriving like at 1pm. 54:51 Because the pope had arrived that day 54:54 and all the streets were closed to give him free access 54:58 to go to wherever he's going. 55:00 Can the head of any denomination do that? 55:04 No. No, that's right. 55:06 They don't close the streets for the President 55:09 of the United States, the United States like that. 55:10 So this is a unique individual, 55:13 even by, let's say, 55:17 public opinion, 55:18 a unique individual 55:19 and there's no one like that in the world, 55:24 the head of a religious denomination, 55:25 and the head of a country. 55:27 That's right. Exactly. 55:28 And there is a scripture, you kind of, you alluded to it, 55:31 that a woman is riding the beast, 55:33 what does that mean in Bible prophecy? 55:35 That's right. 55:36 Yeah, I've written a whole book on that topic 55:39 about the bloody woman and the seven headed beast, 55:41 and that's a whole other topic. 55:43 But Protestants saw that woman being another symbol 55:46 of the Roman Catholic Church. 55:48 And you're right, I mean, 55:49 we're dealing with a big subject, you know, 55:50 just kind of bring things into perspective. 55:52 The Bible is the world's all time bestselling book. 55:56 Its hero is Jesus Christ, 55:59 who's the most famous person in all of history. 56:02 Christianity, his religion, 56:04 is the largest religion in the world. 56:06 And the largest form of Christianity 56:09 within the Christian world is the Roman Catholic Church. 56:12 And the head of the Roman Catholic Church is the pope. 56:15 And he is the politician who has more influence 56:18 than any other human being on planet Earth. 56:20 So that's what we're dealing with. 56:21 And I'm convinced, and we'll get into this, 56:24 that when we get to Revelation 13, 56:27 and it tells us, 56:28 at the end of all of these characteristics, 56:30 here's wisdom, 56:32 let him that has understanding count the number 56:34 of the beast for it is the number 56:35 of a man that it's the man at the head of the system, 56:39 and his number is 660, and 6. 56:43 And so we'll go deeper in the next section 56:46 and see if that number applies to the pope or not. 56:50 And then what does it mean to me? 56:52 What does it mean to me? 56:53 Well, we are ending our first hour, 56:55 the first hour of this program. 56:57 And there's so much to cover, 56:59 as you have already heard, and where we are going, 57:02 and we're going to, as this book says, 57:05 we're going to identify 666, 57:09 what that is, 57:11 and what does it mean to me as an individual? 57:14 Because, as we already talked about in this program, 57:18 this impacts the whole world 57:21 and you are part of the world, my friend. 57:23 So it's vitally important that you listen, 57:25 and vitally important 57:27 that you consider these things prayerfully 57:29 and understand what your role should be 57:31 and what you should do, 57:33 because there is this part that we have to get victory 57:36 over the beast, over the name and over the number 57:39 and we're going to be right back 57:40 to continue this program. 57:42 We'll see you in a moment. |
Revised 2022-10-20