Biblical Prophecy, Financial Armageddon, and why Barack Obama is (not) The Antichrist

It’s not recent at all. Many of my Bibles have that as a footnote explaining that appears in a minority of Greek texts. Why? Because the mixed Hebrew-Greek gematria of NeRON KaiSaR (a Hebraic spelling) is 666, and of NeRO KaiSaR is 616 (the capitalized letters being the Hebrew letters that have a numeric value).

The media announces some big discovery that will rock Christianity & it’s usually something Bible scholars have known for years.

In Revelation 13, the Beast most speak of is the first Beast who comes from the Sea (I think the Mediterranean) and is a composite of the Bestial empires of Daniel 7- Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece & it’s four-fold split, and Rome. The second Beast arises from the Earth (or Land, I think the Land of Israel) & appears Christlike (as a lamb) while inspired by Satan (the Dragon). He’s later referred to as the False Prophet & is kinda the anti-forerunner/Elijah/John the Baptist.

A few interpreters regard the Sea Beast as being the AntiChrist Empire and the Land Beast as the individual who runs it. If indeed there is a future fulfillment, it may work out that way, but the view has never gained popularity. The popular view is of two individuals, one Imperial and one Clerical, who run the State & the Church of the AntiChrist Empire.

To those speculating that this A.C. panic is “because he’s black”-

name ONE End-Times novel that has a black man as the Beast or the False Prophet. It’s never been a factor in End-Times preaching, except maybe in some Identity circles.

Well, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, a chain of islands in the middle of a vast ocean…plus, it’s a volcanic island chain, which makes it a direct connection to the Bowels of the Earth itself, the closest analogy to “the Dragon” (Hades) which actually exists on our planet – OH NOES! IT’S TRUE!! :cool:

I’m also finding an interesting connection between the historical “Beast” (Nero) and the “future” Beast – history always repeats itself, and there are natural “cycles” to civilization and cultural evolution. Especially when you throw Mayan Prophecy into the mix…

Fundie Xtians retcon their predictions all the time. I can remember when the “Seven Trumpets” (1/3 of the earth burned, 1/3 of the water poisoned, etc.) was interpreted to specifically mean Nuclear War – but when the Cold War suddenly thawed out, the passage suddenly became interpreted as “global warming,” and my preachers told me that it was always about global warming, and never about nuclear war (and we’re at war with Eastasia, we’ve always been at war with Eastasia…) It was that sort of retconning that lead directly to my dismissal of Christian faith. :rolleyes: