Are You Sealed and Ready for the Prophetic Beast?
By
James Scott Trimm
And after this, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, and holding the four winds so that the wind would not blow on the earth, and not on the sea, and not on any tree.
(Rev. 7:1 HRV)
The land represents Israel, commonly known simply as “The Land,” the sea in the Scriptures generally represents the Gentile nations, and the trees generally represent men (as in Ezkl. 20:45-21:7 where were wicked men are dry trees and good men are green trees).
What are these four winds? What happens with they are let loose? Let us look to Daniel chapter 7:
2 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the
heaven, broke forth upon the great sea.
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea; diverse one from another.
(Daniel 7:1-2 HRV)
The first beast was like a lion with eagle’s wings:
The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld, till the wings thereof were
plucked off. And it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon two feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
(Dan. 7:4 HRV)
The second was like a bear:
And behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear: and it raised up itself on one side,
and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And it was said thus unto it, Arise;
devour much flesh.
(Dan. 7:5 HRV)
The third was like a leopard:
After this I beheld, and behold another, like a leopard, which had upon the sides of it,
four wings of a fowl: the beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it.
(Dan. 7:6 HRV)
Finally Daniel sees a fourth beast:
7 After this, I saw in the night visions: and behold a fourth beast–dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
(Dan. 7:7 HRV)
Now verse 17 tells us that these four beasts represent four kingdoms. This vision parallels a prophetic dream revealed in Daniel chapter two. In this dream, Nebuchadnezzar sees “a great image” with a head made of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass and legs of iron. After the legs come feet with ten toes made partly of iron and partly of clay. This image is demolished by a stone that was cut out of a mountain without human hands. This stone grows into a great kingdom that shall reign forever. This Kingdom, my friend, will finally bring about the world peace that has eluded the leaders of this world and their kingdoms for so long!
In Daniel 2:37-38 Daniel tells us that the first of these kingdoms was the kingdom of Babylon. Babylon is symbolized by a winged lion, the ancient symbol of Babylon. It is symbolized by gold, because the ancients associated gold with the Sun and the Babylonians worshiped the Sun God.
Babylon was overcome by the Medo-Persian Empire. Medo-Persia is represented by a bear and with silver because the Persians worshiped the Moon God and the ancients associated silver with the Moon.
Medo-Persia was overcome by the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great which is symbolized by a leopard with four heads because after the death of Alexander, his kingdom was divided among four of his generals. It is symbolized by bronze. Bronze is a copper alloy and in Hebrew there is only one word for copper or a copper alloy like bronze. That word is NACHASH. Copper was associated by the ancients with Venus or Aphrodite and the Greeks were great worshippers of Aphrodite.
The Greek Empire was overcome by the Roman Empire which is symbolized by a “great and terrible beast” and by iron. Iron was associated by the ancients with Mars, and the Romans were dedicated to the war god Mars.
The next kingdom partially carries forward the Roman Empire, but also replaces it. It is characterized by ten horns and by ten toes. This ruling power rules the world from the time it overcomes the Roman Empire to the time that the Messianic Kingdom is set up and finally brings about World Peace!
Daniel 2:28 tells us that this prophecy pertains to the last days. Who are these “ten toes” of Daniel 2 and ten horns of Daniel 7?
The Roman Empire partially continues into this kingdom of the “ten toes” which correspond with the “ten horns” of the fourth beast of chapter seven. Who were the ten toes? Who are the ten horns? Who were these barbarians of Europe who took over the Roman Empire?
After the time of Solomon the Kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms known as the two Houses of Israel. The Southern Kingdom became known as the Kingdom of Judah. The Northern Kingdom became known as the Kingdom of Israel. This Northern Kingdom was also often called “Ephraim” after its most prominent tribe. 2Kings 17 tells us of how the Assyrian king Sargon II took the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom captive in 723 BCE and resettled them so that “none was left except the tribe of Judah” (17:18). These came to be known as “the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel”. They were divorced by YHWH (Jer. 3:8 ) but there was yet a promise of an eventual reunion of the two houses of Israel ( Is. 11:11-12; Jer. 3:6-18; Hosea 1-3; Amos 9:8-10; Obad. 15-21; Micah 2:12-13; 5:3-15; Zech. 8:13; 9 & 10; Ezekiel 34-37 esp. 37 ).
The greater part of these lost ten tribes migrated into Europe and became European peoples with a lost Israelite identity. They became the barbarians of Europe who overthrew the Roman Empire and dominate the world to this very day.
Ezra saw this fourth culminating beast as an eagle with three heads:
1: Then saw I a dream, and, behold, there came up from the sea an eagle, which had twelve feathered wings, and three heads.
2: And I saw, and, behold, she spread her wings over all the earth, and all the winds of the air blew on her, and were gathered together.
(2Esdras 11:1-2)
Later it is revealed to Ezra:
10: And he said unto me, This is the interpretation of the vision:
11: The eagle, whom you saw come up from the sea, is the kingdom which was seen in the vision of your brother Daniel.
12: But it was not expounded unto him, therefore now I declare it unto you.
13: Behold, the days will come, that there shall rise up a kingdom upon earth, and it shall be feared above all the kingdoms that were before it.
(2Esdras 12:10-13)
Could this eagle with three heads represent the USA and its three branches of government?
In this vision the three heads of the eagle come into conflict with one another. One of the heads dies in its sleep, another head is slain by the other, and the final head remains until it is slain. We are also told that a Lion (which Ezra is told represents Messiah) speaks to the eagle, but the eagle will not listen to him. Then the eagle is no more.
Could this represent the present and growing conflicts between the branches of government with a president writing executive orders and going around congress, and a Supreme Court that legislates from the bench?
In the Book of Revelation we see the culmination of Daniel’s four beasts:
1: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2: And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3: And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
4: And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
(Rev. 13:1-4)
This beast is a composite of four prophetic “beasts” which the prophet Daniel saw in his vision.
Now lets return to Revelation 7:
1 And after this, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, and holding the four winds so that the wind would not blow on the earth, and not on the sea, and not on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel who ascended from the rising of the sun, and he had the seal of the Living Eloah. And he cried aloud with a loud voice to the four angels–those to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea.
3 And he said, Do not harm the earth nor the sea, not even the trees, until we seal the servants of Eloah between their eyes.
4 And I heard the number of those sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand from all the tribes of Yisra’el.
(Rev. 7:1-4 HRV)
So here we see that the rise of the beast is being held back by the “angel who ascended from the rising of the sun” and who has “the seal of the Living Eloah” who is calling to four other angels to restrain these four winds until the 144,000 can be sealed “between their eyes”.
Moreover the vision recorded in the Book of Jasher parallels prophecies and visions given to the prophet Daniel in Daniel Chapters 2 and 7 which point forward to the coming of Messiah.
1 And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night.
2 And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens.
3 And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import.
4 And they said to each other, This only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands.
5 And the wise men and conjurors went home that night, and in the morning all these wise men and conjurors rose up early, and assembled in an appointed house.
6 And they spoke and said to each other, Behold the sight that we saw last night is hidden from the king, it has not been made known to him.
7 And should this thing get known to the king in the latter days, he will say to us, Why have you concealed this matter from me, and then we shall all suffer death; therefore, now let us go and tell the king the sight which we saw, and the interpretation thereof, and we shall then remain clear.
8 And they did so, and they all went to the king and bowed down to him to the ground, and they said, May the king live, may the king live.
9 We heard that a son was born to Terah the son of Nahor, the prince of thy host, and we yesternight came to his house, and we ate and drank and rejoiced with him that night.
10 And when thy servants went out from the house of Terah, to go to our respective homes to abide there for the night, we lifted up our eyes to heaven, and we saw a great star coming from the east, and the same star ran with great speed, and swallowed up four great stars, from the four sides of the heavens.
11 And thy servants were astonished at the sight which we saw, and were greatly terrified, and we made our judgment upon the sight, and knew by our wisdom the proper interpretation thereof, that this thing applies to the child that is born to Terah, who will grow up and multiply greatly, and become powerful, and kill all the kings of the earth,
and inherit all their lands, he and his seed forever.
12 And now our lord and king, behold we have truly acquainted thee with what we have seen concerning this child.
13 If it seemeth good to the king to give his father value for this child, we will slay him before he shall grow up and increase in the land, and his evil increase against us, that we
and our children perish through his evil.
14 And the king heard their words and they seemed good in his sight, and he sent and called for Terah, and Terah came before the king.
(Jasher 8:1-14)
In Daniel Chapter 2 the King of Babylon has a dream. He calls his “magicians, enchanters and sorcerers”. He does not tell them his dream (if he had, they might have connected it to the vision seen by their forefathers in the days of Avraham, and correctly interpreted the vision). In the dream N’vukhadnetzar sees the image of a man, broken down into parts representing four kingdoms. The head of the image is the head of the King of Babylon. In Daniel 2 a stone cut out of a mountain without human hands destroys all four kingdoms and grows itself into a great kingdom.
The Torah is the stone that was cut out of Mt. Sinai without human hands.
In Daniel 7 Daniel sees four beasts representing four living beings who are all overcome by the son of man who comes riding upon the clouds.
Both of these visions in the Book of Daniel parallel the vision seen by the Babylonian “wise men and conjurers” in the days of Nimrod. The ultimate fulfiment of the vision in the Book of Jasher would be fulfilled by the Messiah, represented by the “great stat coming from the east” that “swallowed up four great stars”.
Now the sealing of Revelation 7 recalls another prophecy from the Tanak:
1 Then he called in my ears with a loud voice, saying: Cause you them that have charge over the city, to draw near: every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2 And behold six men came, from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north; every man with his weapon of destruction in his hand: and one man in the midst of them, clothed in linen with a writer’s inkhorn on his side. And they went in and stood beside the brazen altar.
3 And the glory of the Elohim of Yisra’el was gone up from the cheruv, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn on his side.
4 And YHWH said unto him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Yerushalayim, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and that cry, for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.
5 And to the others, He said in my hearing: Go you through the city after him and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have you pity.
6 Slay utterly: the old man, the young man, and the maiden, and little children and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark, and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the elders that were before the house.
7 And He said unto them: Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain; go you forth. And they went forth, and smote in the city.
8 And it came to pass while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face and cried, and said, Ah Adonai YHWH! Will You destroy all the residue of Yisra’el, in Your pouring out of Your fury upon Yerushalayim?
9 Then said He unto me: The iniquity of the House of Yisra’el and Y’hudah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of wresting of judgment. For they say, YHWH has forsaken the land, and YHWH sees not.
10 And as for Me also, My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way upon their head.
11 And behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn on his side, reported, saying, I have done, according to all that You have commanded me.
(Ezek. 9:1-11 HRV)
So here we have a significant event that must happen before the four winds are released and the anti-Messiah arises to power, there takes place a purification of the Assembly of Israel. The man clothed in linen with the writers inkhorn on his side is certainly the angel with the seal in Revelation 7.
Elsewhere in Revelation we read:
1 And the fifth sounded, and I saw a star that fell from heaven upon the earth: and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him.
2 And smoke went up from the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace that is burning: and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
3 And from the smoke, locusts went out upon the earth: and the authority that is to the scorpions of the earth, was given to them.
4 And it was told to them that they should not harm the grass of the earth, or any herb; not even the trees: but only the sons of men who did not have the seal of Eloah between their eyes.
(Rev. 9:1-4 HRV)
Notice that the locusts have no power to harm those with the seal. This must precede the rise of the anti-Messiah who wages war with Elohim’s people (Rev. 12:17).
Who is sealed? The answer is simple, those who “sigh and cry” because of the “abominations” that they see taking place in these last days (those in Ezekiel 8 relate to Easter).
Those being protected in Ezekiel 9 are those who sigh and cry over the “abominations” of Ezekiel 8. The abominations of Ezekiel 8 are all related to Easter and that those who “sigh and cry because of the [Easter] abominations” do so because they have made Passover “a memorial between your eyes” (Ex. 13:9) and thus have received the mark/seal of YHWH on their foreheads.
The tefillin are two black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with certain biblical verses (Ex. 13:1-16; Deut. 6:4-9; 11:13-21). The arm-tefillin, is worn on the upper arm, while the head-tefillin is placed above the forehead in literal fulfillment of the following passages from the Torah:
And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand,
and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
(Deut. 6:8; 11:18; Ex. 13:9; 13:16 HRV)
This custom was followed not only by Pharisees, but by Essenes as well. As several sets of Teffillin were found at Qumran.
The wearing of the Tefillin is mentioned by Yeshua:
And so all their works they do
that they may be seen by the sons of men,
for they make broad the straps of their t’ffila,
and enlarge the corners of their mantles,
(Mt. 23:5 HRV)
Here he does not suggest that wearing Tefillin should not be done, but that one should not broaden the straps to make a big show of using Tefillin. In fact, one cannot follow this rule not to broaden the straps of one’s Teffilin, if one does not use them. This rule from Yeshua presupposes that one is using Teffilin.
We read in the Zohar:
Prayer which is not whole-hearted is pursued by numbers of destructive angels, according to the Scriptural expression: “all her pursuers have overtaken her, etc.” (Lam. I, 3).Therefore it is well to preface one’s prayer with the verse, “but he is merciful and forgiveth iniquity, etc.” (Ps. LXXVIII, 38). The word “iniquity” signifies Samael, who is the serpent; “he will not destroy” signifies the destroyer; “he turneth his anger away” refers to the demon Af (anger); “and doth not stir up all his wrath” refers to the demon Hemah (wrath). To these powers are attached many destructive angels, which are under seven chiefs with seventy under-chiefs, dispersed in every firmament, and under them are myriads of others. When an Israelite wearing tzitzit and tefilln prays with devotion, then the words of the Scripture are fulfilled: “All the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon thee and they shall fear thee” (Deut. 28:10). We have agreed that “the name of the Lord” refers to the tefillin of the head; and when the destructive angels see the name of YHWH on the head of him who is praying, they at once take to flight, as it is written, “a thousand shall fall at thy side” (Ps. 91:7).
(Zohar 1:23b)
Two of the passages concerning the wearing of Tefillin tell us that Tefillin are specifically worn as a remembrance of Passover:
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to YHWH.
Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you, in all your borders.
And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: It is because of that which YHWH did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
And it shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of YHWH may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand has YHWH brought you out of Egypt.
You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
And it shall be when YHWH shall bring you into the land of the Kena’anites, as He swore unto you and to your fathers, and shall give it you,
that you shall set apart unto YHWH all that opens the womb; every firstling that is a male, which you have coming of a beast, shall be YHWH’s.
And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and all the first-born of man among your sons shall you redeem.
And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying: What is this? that you shall say unto him: By strength of hand YHWH brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage;
and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go that YHWH slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast; therefore I sacrifice to YHWH all that opens the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
And it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes; for by strength of hand YHWH brought us forth out of Egypt.’
(Ex. 13:6-16 HRV)
Notice that the 144,000 are the “firstfruits”/“firstborn” (the same word in Hebrew) redeemed by the Passover Lamb:
1 And I looked, and behold, a Lamb was standing on the mountain of Tziyon, and with him [were] one hundred forty-four thousand, who had His Name, and the Name of His Father, written between their eyes.
2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of many waters, and as the sound of great thunder. The sound that I heard was like a harpist who strums his harps.
3 And they were singing as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and before the elders. And no man was able to learn the song, except the one hundred and forty-four thousand, purchased from the earth.
4 These are they, who have not defiled themselves with women: for they are virgins– these who followed the Lamb everywhere He would go. These were purchased from among men–the firstfruits to Eloah, and to the Lamb;
5 In whose mouth, falsehood was not found, for they are without blemish.
(Rev. 14:1-5 HRV)
The other two passages concerning the Tefillin tie them closely to the Mezuzah:
And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
And you shall write them upon the door-posts of your house, and upon your gates.
(Deut. 6:8-9; 11:18-20 HRV)
The Mezuzah is a piece of parchment normally contained in a decorative case and affixed to the doorpost of a Jewish home. I is inscribed with verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21).
The practice of affixing a Mezuzah to the doorpost seems to have been kept by not only Pharisees, but Essenes as well, in fact a Mezuzah parchment containing portions of Deut. 10:1-11:1 was found at Qumran.
The connection of the Mezuzah with Passover is obvious. Like the Mezuzah the blood of the Passover lamb was placed on the doorpost so that the “angel of death” would Passover the home.
Similarly the Mezuzah and Tefillin is seen as a guardian of a Jewish home, keeping the demons outside:
R. Eliezer b. Jacob said, Whosoever has the tefillin on his head,
the tefillin on his arm, the tzitzit on his garment,
and the mezuzah on his doorpost, is protected.
He will not fall into sin, for it is written,
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken;(Eccl. 4:12)
and it is also written, The angel of YHWH encamps
round about them that fear Him, and delivers them. (Ps. 34:8).
(b. Menachot 43b)
In fact the Greek word for “tefillin” is “phylactery” which is a Greek word meaning “guardian”. The head tefillin symbolizes for us the helmet of salvation while the hand teffilin symbolizes the shield of faith.
This judgment is a purification of the Assembly of Elohim that will take place before the rise of the anti-Messiah. This is a judgment that will begin with the “elders that were before the house” (Ezekiel 9:6), it will begin with the leadership and work its way out.
We read in Ephesians:
11 And we were chosen in Him, even as He marked us out beforehand, and He desired:
He who performs everything according to the purpose of His will,
12 That we, those who first hoped in the Messiah, should be to the esteem of His glory.
13 In Him also, you heard the word of truth, which is the Good News of your life,
and in Him, you believed and were sealed with the Ruach HaKodesh which was
promised,
14 Which is the token of our inheritance, unto the redemption of those who have life,
and unto the glory of His honor.
(Ephesians 1:11-14 HRV)
Are you sealed with Elohim’s seal? Do you sigh and cry because of the abominations that you see?
As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall. As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.
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