When the Thunders Speak: Unmasking the 666

With a logically coherent approach supported by facts and biblical passages, When the Thunders Speak: Unmasking the 666 answers crucial, previously unresolved questions about the Book of Revelation, including the identity of the mysterious figure referred to as the second beast or False Prophet, and the meaning of the number 666. It also provides a foundation based on Jesus’ teachings to help readers understand the implications of the controversial message in the ancient text.

In the past, several theories have become widespread regarding the identity of the second beast, popularly known as the Antichrist; however, they are highly speculative, sensationalist and logically flawed. For instance, some scholars use gematria to claim that Nero was the False Prophet; however, this methodology is problematic, as arbitrary steps and complexity must be added to force a 666 result. Additionally, Nero was never considered a prophet and did not meet any of the other criteria outlined in the Book of Revelation, except that he persecuted early Christians.

Similarly flawed are the many theories that overlook the clear sense of immediacy emphasized in the first and last chapters of Revelation. These theories erroneously conclude that the False Prophet is a political-religious leader who emerges—or will emerge—hundreds of years after the letter was written, with little evidence to support their claims.

On the other hand, without vague assumptions or complex equations, When the Thunders Speak: Unmasking the 666 reveals how the Moses depicted in the Old Testament is the only figure who fits perfectly all of the seven characteristics listed by the Book of Revelation describing the beast. A brief summary of Chapter 9 of When the Thunders Speak is shown below, outlining how the Moses of the Old Testament meets the criteria textually, contextually, logically and even spiritually, considering that many of the stories and laws found in the Pentateuch are clearly antithetical to Jesus’ teachings. However, due to the Mosaic Law that condemned to death by stoning anyone who spoke against the God described in the Pentateuch (Leviticus 24:16 and Deuteronomy 13:6-10), the author of Revelation was forced write the letter in a cryptic manner to prevent it from being destroyed by the priests of Jerusalem who were using the name of Moses and his commandments to lead the first brutal and probably most consequential persecution against the early followers of Jesus (Acts 6:11–14).

Many may ask, 'How could Moses be the second beast if he is one of the most revered figures in biblical writings?' But that is precisely the point that the Book of Revelation makes when it says, “he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast” (Revelation 13:14). And while some scholars and religious leaders will always come back to the verse in which Jesus says he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it, it is not an objective claim to say that with this statement he validated the entirety of the Pentateuch with its 613 laws included, considering that time after time, with his actions and words, Jesus showed a strong disapproval of many of those laws and attitudes. It is important to note that When the Thunders Speak makes a distinction between the Moses of the Pentateuch and the true Moses, as there are historical records of first-century Jews and Christians (i.e. Ebionites and the Nasaraeans) that believed that the Moses of the Torah was a fabricated version and not the actual Moses of their forefathers.

THE BEAST FROM THE EARTH
Moses of the Pentateuch, a 100% Match

Below is a summary of Chapter 9th of When the Thunders Speak, outlining how the Moses of the Pentateuch meets each one of the seven characteristics of the False Prophet or second beast.

Counting the number of the second beast (False Prophet) results in 666 (Revelation 13:18): In the version of the Old Testament that was used by the early followers of Jesus, the name of Moses is repeated 666 times from the time of his birth (Exodus 2:10) to the time of his death (Deuteronomy 34:5). The count must be done using the version of the Old Testament that contains the Greek Pentateuch of that time word-by-word. The Rahlfs edition of the Septuagint is the right candidate because it is based on textual criticism, which the scholarly discipline of reconstructing the original ancient manuscripts word-by-word without any type of alterations. The fact that in the most accurate version of the Greek Old Testament the name of Moses is repeated exactly 666 times from the time of his birth to the time of his death is striking evidence that cannot be attributed to mere coincidence, considering that the same Moses meets all the remaining criteria. When the Thunders Speak lists how many times the name of Moses is repeated in each chapter from the time of his birth in Exodus 2:10 to the time of his death in Deuteronomy 34:5.
He causes fire come down from heaven to earth (Revelation 13:13): According to the Old Testament, in multiple occasions Moses performed miracles where fire descended from heaven (Exodus 19:18, Leviticus 9:23-24, Leviticus 10:2-3, Numbers 16:35-37).
He uses great miracles to persuade men to follow him (Revelation 13:14): Leading multitudes with miracles is one of the main factors that made Moses so influential and revered by major religions (Exodus 14:21 is one example among many others), and many people continue to follow him because of those miracles.
He causes men to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads and no one could buy or sell except the ones with the mark (Revelation 13:16-17): Regarding the adherence to Mosaic law, Deuteronomy 6:8 says, “thou shalt bind them for a sign on thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes”. In addition, a key characteristic of the Temple of Jerusalem was the large number of transactions that occurred around its premises to buy and sell the items required for the offerings and sacrifices (i.e. animals, oil and flour); however, during times of conflict, the most radical Jewish prohibited non-adherents (those lacking the “mark”) from partaking in those activities, as Gentiles were believed to be ritually impure and often seen as enemies. This is illustrated by records from the first century (Wars of the Jews Book 2, Chapter 17, Paragraph 2).
He had two horns like a lamb but spoke as a dragon (Revelation 13:11): Considering that in biblical literature the lamb is symbol for meekness (Isaiah 53:7), it is clear that this Revelation verse means that the second beast was meek in appearance but his words were severe and unforgiving. Numbers 12:13 alleges that Moses was meeker than anyone (“very meek, above all men”), while Numbers 31:17 and Exodus 32:27-28 show how he commands men to perform actions that by most standards can be labeled as extremely cruel and violent.
He is a False Prophet (Revelation 19:20), deception is one of his key characteristics: The skeptics will argue that Moses could not be the second beast because he is revered as the greatest prophet of antiquity by so many people, but such an argument only strengthens the Book of Revelation’s point stating that the False Prophet “deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles” (Revelation 13:14). For something to be considered a great deception, it must first be perceived as something good by most people, otherwise it would not be deceptive at all. Likewise, for someone to be a False Prophet, he must be considered a prophet by those whom he deceived (Deuteronomy 18:15). The stories and more than 600 commands contained in the Pentateuch are believed to be good because it is claimed they all come from God, but their deceptive nature lies on the fact that, although in a few instances the word “mercy” is mentioned, most of those self-glorifying violent stories and oppressive laws clearly teach men to be unforgiving, cruel and violent towards each other, in clear opposition to Jesus’ teachings of loving even your enemy, self-control, true kindness, forgiveness and meekness.
Persecution against those who did not worship the beast or its image (Revelation 13:15): “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause to be killed as many as would not worship the image of the beast”. During the first century, Mosaic Law became the tool that was used to persecute and kill the early followers of Jesus; it was as if the writing itself had life, as if it could speak and kill, since Leviticus 24:16 and Deuteronomy 13:6-10 stated that anyone who blasphemed or led you to another God should be put to death by stoning. People worshipped the Mosaic law to such an extent, that they were willing to take the life of their brothers and sisters if they disagreed with anything that was written there. This meant that anyone who openly opposed or wrote against any of the decrees found in the Pentateuch was killed, since it was claimed that those laws came directly from God and, according Pentateuch itself, disrespecting them merited death. The first ruthless persecutions against early Christians used the name of Moses and his laws to condemn them to death. These were the most consequential persecutions because they occurred at a very early stage and could have led to the destruction of many of their early writings and a more biased angle favoring the Moses of the Old Testament in order to survive. Acts 6:11–14 provides a clear example of how the Law of Moses was being used to persecute and kill the early followers of Jesus throughout the region, alleging that they were blasphemous because they intended to change the customs written in the Pentateuch. It could be naïve to think that after these vicious and cruel persecutions, writings openly criticizing the Pentateuch could have survived, specially without a modern and fast way to reproduce the letters, but the Book of Revelation found a way to do it by hiding its message.

ADDITIONAL CRITERIA
Context, Intent and Meaning

Context consistency: Contrary to popular belief, the Book of Revelation central theme is related to Jerusalem, not Rome, as it makes a direct reference to Jerusalem by saying “where also our Lord was crucified” (Revelation 11:8). The author’s strong critique of Jerusalem aligns with Jesus words when he said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Matthew 23:37). Since Mosaic Law is the foundation of the Temple of Jerusalem, and the high priests were the religious-political authority that often ordered the killings by following Moses’ words (Leviticus 24:16 and Deuteronomy 13:6-10), the general context fully supports the argument that the Moses depicted in the Old Testament is the second beast (False Prophet). Furthermore, When the Thunders Speak explains how the rare creatures described in Revelation as “locusts over the earth” are an exact representation of the high priest and ordinary priests of the Temple of Jerusalem, which demonstrates a direct relation between the different supporting themes in the Book Revelation.

Intent and meaning: Once we are able to put ourselves in the shoes of the early Christians who suffered never-ending persecutions and were killed and labelled enemies of God simply because they disagreed with many of the customs of the Old Testament (particularly the Pentateuch), we will understand the importance that the Book of Revelation had back then and still has for us today. It also becomes clear why the ancient letter had to be written in a cryptic or coded manner, since any writing that openly criticized the Law of Moses was destroyed by the High Priest. But the main message is this: commandments such as “"Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye…” cannot be reconciled with the valuable principle of loving even your enemy; stories of vainglory and violence cannot be reconciled with teachings of humility and meekness; idolatrous laws of animal sacrifices and rituals cannot be reconciled with inner growth and truth. When the Thunders Speak argues that anyone who tries to reconcile one with the other ends up numbing his/her own conscience and downplays the sacrifice that Jesus made in his efforts to teach us what is the true nature of God.

FLAWS IN PAST THEORIES

For the sake of clearing out preconceived ideas about this subject, it is necessary to explain, at least briefly, the serious logical flaws that have plagued the numerous theories that emerged throughout the years. For instance, the gematria theory that alleges that this dark figure was Nero completely ignores many of the descriptive elements provided by the Book of Revelation and requires a very contrived methodology, as its proponents have to add complexity and arbitrary steps to make it work. First, such a theory is flawed because gematria can be conveniently tweaked, and has been, to force the result to be 666 for different political or religious figures. Similar gematria manipulations have been made to force the same result for emperor Domitian, for instance. In the case of Nero, to make it work not only the title of “Caesar” had to be added to the name but also requires a Hebrew transliteration despite the fact that the Book of Revelation was written in Greek for a widely Greek-speaking audience; let alone the fact that his name and titles actually consist of 5 words, which gives plenty of room to play with if one combination does not lead to the desired result. While the later variant that contains the number 616 for the Hebrew transliteration of “Nero” is a reflection of the scribe’s opinion and bias rather than the original author’s intent. Second, although Nero persecuted Christians, as many others did, he does not meet any of the other criteria mentioned in the Book of a Revelation. The ancient letter says that the second beast performs miracles, is considered a prophet by many and deceives many people, but Nero never claimed to be a prophet nor did he claim to perform miracles nor did he deceive the world; his intentions were cruel but his ill-acts were based on coercion rather than deception.

Other equally flawed theories alleged that the False Prophet was going to emerge in a future conflict relative to when the book was written, with each generation for two thousand years having a different candidate that lived during their lifetime; however, when the Book of Revelation is read without a self-centered mindset, it is evident that the author uses words such as “soon” or “near” several times in the first and last chapters because he wanted people of his time to see through the smoke and deceptions that were already taking place among them. Although it can be said with certainty that the influence of this figure has continued until this very day, the theories that believe the second beast is someone from the modern era are mere speculations with no logical arguments or facts to support them.

On the other hand, if we perform an objective and straight-forward analysis based on all the criteria clearly laid out by the Book of Revelation and the facts and logical arguments brought forth in When the Thunders Speak, the Moses depicted in the Old Testament is a 100% match, making him, with certainty, the beast that arose from the earth (the False Prophet), while all other candidates or theories barely reach a match of 20-30%.

REMARKS

The implications are serious, but they are also a constructive and vindicating statement. Despite being labeled enemies of God and often killed simply because they disagreed with many of the laws and stories written in the Old Testament, the early followers of Jesus wanted their message to reach others for the sake of understanding and spiritual growth. When the Thunders Speak: Unmasking the 666 shows how the author of the Book of Revelation did a splendid job trying to deliver a crucial message that was almost impossible to pass along, considering that any writing of its kind was destined to be destroyed by those who considered them to be blasphemous toward Mosaic law. The deception of the beast lies in cruel Mosaic laws and self-glorifying violent stories that directly and indirectly continue to undermine Jesus’ teachings of love, self-control, meekness and humility, making it impossible for people to fully assimilate the true beauty and reformative power of Christ’s words.