Revelation 13 and COVID-19 Quarantine

As I was reading through Revelations chapter 13, some ideas came to my mind as the world goes through home quarantine due to COVID-19. Below are the verses that struck me.

¹⁴ This second beast fooled the people living on earth by using the miracles that he had been given the power to do for the first beast. He ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast, the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first beast. Then the idol could speak and order all those who did not worship it to be killed. ¹⁶ The second beast also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell without this mark. (This mark is the name of the beast or the number of its name.)

¹⁸ Anyone who has understanding can find the meaning of the beast’s number. This requires wisdom. This number is the number of a man. It is 666.

The first beast is the Antichrist. He was wounded by the sword but did not die. He might imitate Jesus Christ's resurrection to fool the world into believing that he is the chosen one, the one people should follow.

The second beast is the false prophet of the Antichrist. He is given power to give life to the idol of the first beast. With technology today, and shows like West World, it is not hard to imagine how an individual can produce an idol of a person and give it power to speak. With animatronics and computer programming, you could easily program a robot to order the killings of people who will not worship it. Or instead of a robot, this could be a hologram - like that of Whitney Houston which is performing long after her death.

Verses 16 and 17 are something we can now all relate to after this worldwide quarantine. For the first time since I was born, my rights to purchase basic necessities have been restricted. I could not do it without a quarantine pass. In a way, I could not buy without a 'mark'. Now, this mark is not yet on my right hand or forehead. But it gives you an idea why COVID-19 had to happen. The Antichrist will need to have a system of control. How do you control people? You have to have an international identification system so that you could easily restrict their purchase of basic necessities. If you deprive people of the basic things they need to live - for example, food and water - you can easily sway them into doing whatever you want - including worshiping you. People who reach desperation are bound to do anything to survive. To have an international I.D. system, you probably need a national I.D. system which is what our leaders are pushing for. While people might be swayed into the benefits of having such a system, they should also be wary for it will hasten the plans of the Antichrist for control and domination. Easy identification means easy capture, persecution and deprivation. No wonder some have resorted to doomsday prepping. Perhaps they can live a little while longer under the radar.

An international I.D. system might also be the key to identifying who the Antichrist is. If this system already existed, would it be possible that the individual with I.D. 666 is the Antichrist? 

Bethlehem

The little town of Bethlehem is probably most famous for being the birth place of the Lord Jesus Christ. But did you know that it is also the place where a young shepherd boy named David was anointed by the prophet Samuel as the next king of Israel?

You can read about this in 1st Samuel Chapter 16.

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you feel sorry for Saul? I have rejected him as king of Israel. Fill your horn with oil and go to Bethlehem. I am sending you to Jesse who lives in Bethlehem, because I have chosen one of his sons to be the new king.”

We can find Bethlehem in Google Maps. It is to the south of Jerusalem and west of the Dead Sea.

I pray that your faith is strengthened knowing that the locations in the Bible are real places. It is not a book of fiction. It is God's Word. If you haven't committed your life to Jesus Christ, I would like to invite you to do so by reading this post. 

Gaza

If we read Judges 16, we will encounter the city of Gaza.

Samson Goes to the City of Gaza

16 One day Samson went to the city of Gaza. He saw a prostitute there and went in to stay the night with her. 2 Someone told the people of Gaza, “Samson has come here.” They wanted to kill him, so they surrounded the city. They hid near the city gate and waited all night for him. They were very quiet all night long. They had said to each other, “When morning comes, we will kill Samson.”

3 But Samson only stayed with the prostitute until midnight. Then he got up and grabbed the doors of the city gate and pulled them loose from the wall. He pulled down the doors, the two posts, and the bars that lock the doors shut. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill near the city of Hebron.

Below is the location of Gaza based on Google Maps. It is located west of the Dead Sea, near the coastline of Israel.

Samson is probably the basis for many super heroes with tremendous strength. Hercules was probably based on him. Cerberus, a two headed dog that breathed fire was probably based on the account where Samson took two pairs of foxes, tied their tails together with a torch, to put the fields of the Philistines on fire. We can read about that in Judges 15.

4 So Samson went out and caught 300 foxes. He took two foxes at a time and tied their tails together to make pairs. Then he tied a torch between the tails of each pair of foxes. 5 He lit the torches that were between the foxes’ tails and let them run through the grain fields of the Philistines. In this way he burned up the plants growing in their fields and the stacks of grain they had cut. He also burned up their vineyards and their olive trees.

I pray that your faith is strengthened knowing that the locations in the Bible are real places. It is not a book of fiction. It is God's Word. If you haven't committed your life to Jesus Christ, I would like to invite you to do so by reading this post. 

Kadesh

Numbers Chapter 20 verse 1 states:

The Israelites arrived at the desert of Zin in the first month of the year. The people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.

Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron.

We can find the location of Kadesh on bible-history.com.

 

Let's see where this is in Google Maps.

I pray that your faith is strengthened knowing that the locations in the Bible are real places. It is not a book of fiction. It is God's Word. If you haven't committed your life to Jesus Christ, I would like to invite you to do so by reading this post.

Red Sea

The Red Sea is mentioned in Exodus Chapter 10. This was the account of the plague of locusts, one of the ten plagues brought upon Egypt since Pharaoh would not let the the Israelites go.

The following verses are from Exodus 10:12-19:

¹² The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come! They will spread all over the land of Egypt and will eat all the plants that the hail did not destroy.”
¹³ So Moses raised his walking stick over the land of Egypt, and the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. The wind blew all that day and night. When morning came, the wind had brought the locusts to the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ The locusts flew into the country of Egypt and landed on the ground. There were more locusts than there had ever been in Egypt. And there will never again be that many locusts there. ¹⁵ They covered the ground, and the whole country became dark. The locusts ate every plant on the ground and all the fruit in the trees that the hail had not destroyed. There were no leaves left on any of the trees or plants anywhere in Egypt.
¹⁶ Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now, forgive me for my sins this time. Ask the Lord to remove this ‘death’ from me.”
¹⁸ Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind blow from the west, and it blew the locusts out of Egypt and into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left in Egypt!

We can easily find the Red Sea on today's Google Maps.

But if you want to determine the point where the Israelites crossed a body of water by God's power, further study is necessary. I would recommend this site http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-red-sea-miracles.htm.

You can also watch the following video which provides evidence of the remnants of Pharoah's army under the sea.

I pray that your faith is strengthened knowing that God is always concerned about the safety of His people. If you haven't committed your life to Jesus Christ, I would like to invite you to do so by reading this post.

The Land of Midian and Mount Horeb

This time, we look at the journey of Moses. From being a prince in Egypt, he was forced to flee to the land of Midian. And later on, he meets the Lord on Mount Horeb (also known as Mount Sinai). You can read about this in Exodus chapters 1 to 3.

Below is a location of the land of Midian according to www.keyway.ca.

Based on this, we can see where these locations are on modern day Google maps.

The Bible is truth. If you are searching for true answers to life's toughest questions, ask Jesus into your life. He can give you the peace that surpasses understanding. If you haven't committed your life to Jesus Christ, I would like to invite you to do so by reading this post.

Goshen, Egypt

If you are familiar with the story of Joseph the dreamer in Genesis, you will remember that Joseph's father and brothers settled in the land of Goshen.

From Genesis 46:28-34

²⁸ Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.

³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”
³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

Here's a map from www.keyway.ca indicating where Goshen was in ancient times.

Based on the map above, below is my estimate of where Goshen would be in maps.google .com.

I thank the Lord for He provides for our needs long before trouble comes, just as He used Joseph to save his family during a time of severe famine. God can use even the worst of situations and circumstances to rescue His people.

If you haven't committed your life to Jesus Christ, I would like to invite you to do so by reading this post.

Shechem, Israel

I was reading about the story of Joseph in Genesis chapter 37. In verse 12 and 13, it reads

¹² One day Joseph’s brothers went to Shechem to care for their father’s sheep. ¹³ Jacob said to Joseph, “Go to Shechem. Your brothers are there with my sheep.”
Joseph answered, “I will go.”

Where in modern day maps would Shechem be?

from www.bible-history.com

With the help of maps.google.com, we can estimate the location of Shechem in a modern day map.

I thank the Lord for the people responsible for our historical records and for the people who develop new technologies. These are exciting times to study the Bible because the tools are easily available. I hope that at some point in my life, I will actually be able to visit Israel and walk where the Lord walked.

If you to receive Jesus into your life, please take some time to read about His gift of salvation.