When all is said and done, there only remains 3 entities: the FP, a beast, and Satan. Does it really matter how it started? We have already established no one knows. The AC is not the FP. The AC is not Satan/the devil/the dragon/that old serpent/accuser of the brethren. The only one left is the beast. And John sticks to the beast to the end. And John knows about and is the antichrist expert. John settled it for me. I just stopped guessing.
Personally the AoD is the image. The image is given life, thus a beast. But in the end still a beast.
Not sure what you mean about "John sticks to the beast to the end.
I agree John is an Antichrist expert.
I think I read something about a Polycarp quote about them discussing it.
"Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
I know it sounds like there's three different guys, but it's not. It's all the same guy. It's like one of those Peter Sellers movies where the bad actor plays three different roles. It's also a poetic way of saying Satan is the dragon, Satan is the beast AND Satan is the false prophet.
I know this because Satan's house is not divided against itself.
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
They only have one king. He is also the Abaddon, the Angel king of the bottomless pit.
"They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
This is Paul's "man" of sin. Is this the "man" that made the nations tremble? The son of perdition. The son of destruction. The destroyer. Satan has a bunch of names in the Bible.
He is also called the beast, the specific "beast", the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit and makes war on and kills the two witnesses.
It can only be Satan.
Out of the mouth of the dragon, means a command.
Out of the mouth of the beast, means a command.
And out of the mouth of the false prophet, means a command.
It's like when a sharp sword comes out of the mouth of the white horse Rider. It's not an actual sword that comes out of His mouth. Jesus issues a command for them to die, and they do it.
Only Satan can give the command, the order, for the unclean spirits to go to the kings of the earth and gather the people to Armageddon.
There's only one angel king of the bottomless pit, our end time Antichrist is Satan.
I don't really like talking about this stuff, but it pays to know your Adversary. Especially if he prowls around like a roaring lion, (mouth LIKE a lion), seeking whom he may devour.
Personally the AoD is the image. The image is given life, thus a beast. But in the end still a beast.
Sorry Tim, this sounds like Hal Lindsey material, or Dave Pack stuff.
The image of the beast is the image of the beast that WAS wounded by the sword, and yet lives.
This is not the hill that I'd want to die on.
But why I think it's important is that if all these things and bad actors need to materialize at some point in the future, then we have a ways to go. Maybe years and years.
But if I'm right, it's happening now. The Antichrist has already taken his seat in the temple of God and is claiming to be God. He has already risen up to the place of God's Sanctuary, like how the sins of Sodom had reached up to heaven, and working through the composite beast has already been given the power to speak, and is blaspheming God's name and His dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
Lord forgive me if I'm wrong, but this is what I truly believe.
