Category Corrupting the Image

Chapter 16 of Corrupting the Image 3 : God’s Plan Versus Gog’s 

We now come to the nail-biting, edge of your seat, hold your breath climax to Satan’s long and terrible war he has waged against his Creator since the Garden of Eden. Satan has the “whole world in his hands” and under his authority, which gives him legal immunity to be able to fight against his all-powerful enemy.  

Gog’s first strategic move: He (Satan / the Beast) has established his army of two hundred million, ferocious Pabilsag-chimeras that can fly, breath fire, and sting (Rev 9). He did so when Satan, the fallen star, “opened the bottomless pit” (Rev 9:2), and a horde of hybridized creatures emerge. They will have “as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon” (Rev 9:11). Satan (the Beast) is getting all of his forces together in order to fight the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  

Gog’s next move: Perhaps more than a billion people have upgraded to “god” status and have taken the mark of the Beast, which Satan used to recreate mankind in his own image. They have been enveloped in the Hive mind, completely under Satan’s control. Upon those not willing to take the mark, Satan has been waging war “and prevailing against them” (Dan 7:21). Billions have died and Satan’s hordes will only stop “when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered” (Dan 12:7). 

Things look very bleak, and the last ray of light is fading into darkness; hope seems lost. It would be like if Hitler were about to destroy the last standing Allied bunker; or as if Sauron were about to cast his shadow completely over Middle Earth. It is only a matter of days or weeks until life—as we know it—on earth is lost; and there is no one on earth left to stop the Beast.  

The Beast’s third move: His attention turns towards the Land of Israel, the modern State of Israel. Why would he need to invade Israel when he seemingly already has the entire world under his control? His dream of usurping and claiming the very Mountain of God, Mount Zion and Jerusalem, where God placed His name, seems to be coming true. The temptation of achieving victory runs high in Gog’s camp—for him to assert his lifelong dream for which he had already been banished:  

“For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north’ (Isa 14:13); ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High’” (Isa 14:14).  

But God has His plan. Unbeknownst to Satan, God has set a trap for him. Satan thinks he will win, but it will be a deadly trap. Notice how God says He will bring the nations to Jerusalem: 

• I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness … I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it (Zech 12:2–3). 
• For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem (Zech 14:2).  

• I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel … (Joel 3:2). 
• “I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army… (Ezek 38:4). It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land” (Ezek 38:16). 

The language in the preceding verses is incredible! God will gather all the nations and “put a hook” into the Beast’s / Gog’s jaws to bring him to the modern state of Israel where he will fall. The Beast thinks he is invincible because he holds the contract of death and Sheol. He thinks he has God in an awkward position to such an extent that he has been blaspheming him and those who dwell in heaven. He has nearly complete victory, but will get sucked into a trap that God is laying for him. He wants to attack the modern state of Israel. And that is exactly where God wants him, by using the “hook” in his jaw to drive him into the trap. Gog does not understand God’s ways, as Micah points out:  

“Now also many nations have gathered against you, who say, ‘Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion’ (Mic 4:11). But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, nor do they understand His counsel; for He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor” (Mic 4:12). 

We will see how God threshes them like sheaves in a dramatic way in a later chapter. The Beast’s plan nevertheless suffers a setback. While extending his power and subjugating Egypt, some shocking information will affect him. The news will be the “hook in his jaw,” the very tool God will use. 

“He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape” (Dan 11:42). “He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt …” (Dan 11:43). “News from the east and the north shall trouble him” (Dan 11:44). 

Whatever the news is, it works. His fury escalates, and he becomes wrathful due to this news. “Therefore, he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many” (Dan 11:44). He sets out for Jerusalem, the holy mountain:  

“And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him” (Dan 11:45). 

He will muster the swarm-hive-mind of the marked horde (Dan 8:12; 11:31)​​ who resemble zombies coming from the world over (Ezek 38:15) to Jerusalem to destroy the last remnant of Jerusalemites (Zech 14:2).  

Assembling Satan’s Army 

Despite the Beast’s strategy, he does not know the mind of the Lord as Ezekiel records: 

You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples [ammim rabbim וְעַמִּ֥ים רַבִּ֖ים] with you (Ezek 38:9). Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan (Ezek 38:10): You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates (Ezek 38:11)—to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land’” (Ezek 38:12). 

Remember, God is putting a hook in his jaw to draw him to Israel. Surprisingly, his evil plan has to do with plunder and booty, possibly general terms for everything that is of value in Israel, including Israel’s advanced achievements in science, works of art, warfare, temple artifacts and their scrolls, which are treasure. Other nations seem surprised by this when they ask: 

“Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?” (Ezek 38:13). 

Their question may be one of incredulity—in other words: You have the entire world, and now you are coming to take plunder? Really? Perhaps they are surprised that such would be his excuse. In any case, we do not precisely know the intent behind the words. Nevertheless, we know for certain that God is drawing him and all the nations together against Jerusalem for a purpose:  

• “You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes” (Ezek 38:16). 

The modern state of Israel will suddenly find itself at the heart of the earth’s ire. While this will not be the first time, it will look to be the last time. After all, who can make war with the Beast? There will be no earthly solution to this incredible predicament. But who is there? There is no one on earth that can do this, though there is One in heaven who can. But He will not come back until invited.  

Gog Attacks Those Brought Back from the Sword 

In the last days, Gog will come against a land restored from war whose people were brought back from the sword.  

Figure 34. Hagana Ship arriving in Israel after WWII. 

“In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war [שׁוֹבֶ֣בֶת מֵחֶ֗רֶב those brought back from the sword], the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples” (Ezek 38:8a).  

There can be no doubt that people of the modern state of Israel are those people who were gathered from many peoples, gathered from the sword, and came back to Israel, which was a continual waste (we will unpack that later).  

Figure 35. Jews being rescued from a Nazi concentration camp. 

Hitler’s Final Solution was a “sword” of the most horrible kind; it was a deliberate, intentional, genocidal mass-murder of the Jewish people. In fact, just before committing suicide, Hitler dictated a document of how he wasn’t responsible for the war, but the Jews were. In his closing line, he stated, “Above all I charge the leaders of the nation and those under them to scrupulous observance of the laws of race and to merciless opposition to the universal poisoner of all peoples, International Jewry.”²⁴⁹ 

Hitler wanted to kill every one of them; thankfully, he failed.  

Modern Israel Dwelling Securely 

A key feature that will be in place when Gog invades Israel is that the people who dwell [labetach] there feel that they are safe. Whether or not it is true, that is the sense.  

And now [וְיָשְׁב֥וּ לָבֶ֖טַח כֻּלָּֽם] dwell securely, all of them [= for the security: labetach לָבֶ֖טַח]. (Ezek 38:8b). 

What does it mean to dwell securely? Is Israel dwelling securely today? There are still people who want to kill them; yet despite that, Israel enjoys a great deal of security. In fact, compared to the conditions the Jewish people have experienced over the past 1,800 years, they have never been more secure than they are today. Despite constant threats from the south and the north, ever since the State of Israel has been established, they have succeeded in developing a system of security that makes their lives practically undisturbed. This has been experienced by countless tourists visiting Israel throughout the years. Even with minor border wars and isolated incidents, the people and visitors to Israel have always pursued their activities unaffected and secure. This is a fact proven many times. Thus, God asks Gog, “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely [labetachלָבֶ֖טַח], will you not know it?” (Ezek 38:14).  

The Security forces in Israel (also known as Israel security establishment) is in Hebrew [מערכת הבטחון‎] Ma’arechetha’Bitachon which comes from the same word betach. The security establishment includes a variety of organizations, including law enforcement, military, paramilitary, governmental, and intelligence agencies. Israel has a strong military; and a well-known secret is that they have nuclear weapons. They have an air force that is often considered to be second to none in the world. It is a tradition that every IDF recruit hikes up Masada to remember how the Romans slaughtered their people in AD 73, and then the recruits vow, “Never again.” 

According to the Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon betach (בֶּטַח) means:  

“(1) confidence, and adv. confidently, with confident mind, Gen. 34:25., (2) security, Isa. 32:17. In other places always (לָבֶ֖טַח) labetach and (בֶּטַח) betach adv.—(a) means without danger and/or fear, securely.”²⁵⁰ 

Israeli Varda Spiegel, who was a Nurse-Director of the Bedouin Mobile Unit of the Negev, stated in the Times of Israel article, “When Israelis feel safe, and Americans don’t”:  

“My friends and relatives in the U.S. were concerned for my safety, but I feel no sense of danger … It dawned on me that Israelis are trained from birth to assume that they are safe and to recite to themselves the reasons that they are in all likelihood safe whenever they face danger.”²⁵¹ 

There is a sense of security, even though it may not be completely real, or completely accurate, but there is a sense of having security. It is a feeling akin to that of a person who is safe in a lighthouse while dangerous waves are crashing around. 

We see this sense of security many times in the Scripture. “For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy” (Ps 61:3). Danger is out there, but in God, a person is safe.  

• Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope [לָבֶֽטַח labetach] (Ps 16:9).  
• And He led them on safely [לָבֶֽטַח labetach], so that they did not fear; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies (Ps 78:53). 

The same phenomenon is described in Jeremiah 49; though Hazor is sitting safely, this security can be potentially threatened. 

“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a plan against you (Jer 49:30). “Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely [לָבֶ֖טַח יוֹשֵׁ֥ב] yoshev labetach]” (Jer 49:31). 

This kind of safety means that life goes on undisturbed—business as usual—and those who dwell there are unsuspecting of changes, and are possibly overconfident in their own ability to defend themselves. Thus, God will destroy those who think they are safe. “And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security [לָבֶ֑טַח labetach] in the coastlands (Ezek 39:6). 

We see in Ezekiel 38:8 that they are sitting, they are dwelling securely [וְיָשְׁב֥וּ לָבֶ֖טַח כֻּלָּֽם yâshavu labetach kulám].  

There have been nations that were dwelling securely only to have it change quickly. Gideon, for example, went to the tents of “Nobah and Jogbehah and he attacked the army while the camp felt secure [וַיַּךְ֙ אֶת־ הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וְהַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה הָ֥יָה בֶֽטַח]” (Judg 8:11). In the Hebrew, the word felt is missing; it actually says, “they were secure.” We see this again regarding five men who went to Laish: “They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely [יוֹשֶֽׁבֶת־ לָ֠בֶטַח] … quiet and secure” (Judg 18:7). In both cases, the people were safe, that is, at least until the Israelites attacked them. 

Labetach does not mean that there is no threat of an enemy. It is the sense of being or feeling safe and secure. Israel will feel secure at the time of Gog’s invasion, but it will not be an overall godly country. Unfortunately, not every Israeli knows God. Some do, with all their heart, passionately and fervently know and love God, but many do not. 

Profaning God’s Name  

We read in Ezekiel 39:7, “… I will give you [Gog] to birds; “I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore… (Ezek 39:7). Israel is profaning God’s name by many who live in contradiction to his Torah. Sadly, He is not known in their midst.  

God will not allow His name to be profaned any longer, which means there are Israelis who are profaning his name. According to Wowtravel.me: “Tel Aviv” is the most gay-friendly city, not only in the Middle East, but in the entire world.²⁵² 

 Unfortunately, many people in Modern Israel, who ought to be living for God, are in many cases, far from him. To be clear, there are many Messianic Jewish believers who love Yeshua with all their heart, with all their strength, with all their soul. There are many Orthodox who fervently love the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We must not paint too broadly here, but we also do not want to ignore the evidence that there are many in the land of Israel who are profaning God’s name. Homosexuality is of course only one example. One of the reasons God says He is going to cause Gog to fall is because “… I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore…” (Ezek 39:7). 

The incredibly sophisticated prophecy of the children of Israel being brought back into their land has been fulfilled, despite Hitler trying to wipe them out. That is an astonishing fulfillment of prophecy that happened in 1948 when the nation was established. So they were brought back, but not everybody knows the name of the Lord. 

Israel was a Continual Waste  

Figure 36. From Jews on the Move – https://bit.ly/3qSkuwW 

“The land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste” (Ezek 38:8a). 

The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD and again in 135 AD. After the second Jewish revolt in 135 AD, the Jews were warned not to return to Jerusalem, upon pain of death. They were then dispersed to the four corners of the earth―without a homeland for nearly 1,900 years in the Diaspora.  

Figure 37. Jerusalem by David Roberts. 

Interestingly, the American writer Mark Twain wrote in 1867 about the land of Israel, which at the time was called Palestine:  

“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes … the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies … Palestine is desolate and unlovely … It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land.”²⁵³ 

The Jerusalem Post writes:  

“Six hundred years before Twain’s visit, another famous visitor with a nom de plume was struck by Jerusalem’s desolation. Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, known as Naḥmanides (1194-1270), fled Christian Spain for the Land of Israel. After a long and perilous journey, Naḥmanides arrived at the Port of Acre before traveling to Jerusalem in 1267, where he couldn’t even find nine other Jews to pray with [He could not find a minion, you need 10 for a minion and he couldn’t not find even nine other Jews]. He wrote to his son, “Many are Israel’s forsaken places, and great is the desecration. The more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has suffered. Jerusalem is the most desolate place of all.” 

Naḥmanides wrote concerning Israel’s desolation, but he said it was a blessing in disguise. Commenting on a verse in Leviticus that describes the curses that will befall the land of Israel, Naḥmanides wrote that the devastation “constitutes a good tiding, proclaiming that during all our exiles, our land will not accept our enemies… Since the time that we left it, [the land] has not accepted any nation or people, and they all try to settle it… This is a great proof and assurance to us.”²⁵⁴ 

Amazing! Even though the land had nothing, Naḥmanides said it was actually good news because nobody could settle there, and nobody would want the land. Not to say that it was completely devoid of people, but there was no major settlement in the area.  

Rabbi Menachem Kohen of Brooklyn discovered that the land of Israel had: “suffered an unprecedented, severe and inexplicable (by anything other than supernatural explanations) drought that lasted from the first century until the 20^th —a period of 1,800 years coinciding with the forced dispersion of the Jews.”²⁵⁵ And just as it says in Ezekiel 38: the land “… which had been a continual waste” (Ezek 38:8). This reminds us of Deuteronomy 29:  

“So that the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid on it: ‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath’” (Deut 29:22–23). 

Journalist Joseph Farah, prompted by the research of Rabbi Kohen, later discovered that only after the Jews returned did the rain begin to come, he says, “For 1,800 years, it hardly ever rained in Israel. This was the barren land discovered by Mark Twain. So-called “Palestine” was a wasteland—nobody lived there. There was no indigenous Arab population to speak of. It only came after the Jews came back. Beginning in AD 70 and lasting until the early 1900s—about 660,000 days—no rain. 

 He examined the rainfall data for 150 years in Israel beginning in the early 1800s and leading up to the 1960s. He discovered “increasing rainfall almost every single year—with the heaviest rainfall coming in and around 1948 and 1967.”²⁵⁶ There was no rain until Judah came back. Jesus said the generation that sees these things will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  

It is amazing when we put scriptures together and we look at the prophecies, how all this has come together. Jesus spoke of the desolation that was to come upon the leadership of Jerusalem because they rejected him as Messiah.  

In the previous chapter, Jesus spoke of how He wanted to gather Jerusalem:  

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt 23:37). “See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matt 23:38). 

Shortly after stating their house would be desolate, as Jesus was coming up to Jerusalem, He cursed a fig tree:  

“And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matt 21:19).  

Jesus cursed that tree Monday morning. He then probably told the parable of the Fig Tree later Monday afternoon, or possibly on Tuesday. 

Figure 38 Fig tree with unripe figs. Image by Vane Monte from Pixabay. 

“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ And his worker replied: ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down’” (Lk 13:6–9).  

Then, He told his disciples, in the Olivet Discourse: “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: (Matt 24:32–33). What are we supposed to learn from a fig tree? Jesus tells us: “When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near” (Matt 24:32–33).  

The disciples who had studied the scriptures would have known that the scriptural references about the fig tree represent the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  

• Speaking there of the House of Israel: 

• “… I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season (Hos 9:10).  

• Speaking of the House of Judah:  

• For a nation has come up against My land, … He has laid waste My vine, and ruined My fig tree; (Joel 1:6-7). 

• Thus says the LORD … “Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good…the bad figs… will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem…” (Jer 24:3, 5, 8).  

When Jesus said, learn a lesson from the fig tree, was He just giving an agricultural lesson? Jesus never wasted words. The parable of the fig tree was to teach us something important about the prophetic future of the whole House of Israel.  

What is a Generation?  

What is a generation? The biblical data suggests it equals the lifetime of a person, somewhere between 60 years and 100 years. Notice in Matthew 1: all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations … (Matt 1:17). Also: “And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation” (Exod 1:6). It equals the lifetime of a person.  

A generation can have many overlapping generations. For example, my parent’s generation lived, and many remain alive in my generation, and my kids can talk about my generation even though we are overlapping. We see this in Numbers 32: 

“…none of the men … from twenty years old and above, shall see the land … He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone” (Num 32:11, 13).  

It is simple math, 20 plus 40 is 60—that seems to be the minimum for a biblical generation. We read in Psalm 90:10, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years …” (Psa 90:10). This seems to be the golden mean―that is 70 or 80—it gives us a realistic picture of a generation.²⁵⁷ We also have an upper limit God said to Abraham: “… your descendants will be strangers … four hundred years (Gen 15:13). But in the fourth generation they shall return here” (Gen 15:16). 400 divided by 4; perhaps a generation is 100 years. It might even be 120 years since that is how long Moses lived. We cannot be dogmatic on this issue.  

Jesus said, “… This²⁵⁸ generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matt 24:34); And, “Learn this parable from the fig tree, when you see its branch become tender and put forth leaves, you know that summer is near, even at the doors.” The generation He was talking about was not the generation that lived in His days, but the generation that sees the things He spoke about; that sees “the time of Jacob’s trouble [tribulation צָרָ֥ה] ….” (Jer 30:7), “… great tribulation, such as has not been [on the earth] since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt 24:21). “That” generation will see how “unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved …” (Matt 24:22a). “That” generation will see how “for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matt 24:22b). “That” generation will be the one that calls upon Jesus.  

Both the prophets and Jesus declared that Israel was a cursed fig tree. Israel’s branches began budding in May 14, 1948. An ancient Christian confirmation of this is the Apocalypse of Peter, penned around the second Jewish revolt in 135 AD, when Hadrian told the Jews if they came back to Jerusalem they would die. The Apocalypse of Peter understood the fig tree to mean Israel, who would come back in the latter days.  

“What are the signs of thy coming and of the end of the world, that we may perceive and mark the time of thy coming […]? The answer is the fig-tree: so soon as the shoot thereof is come forth and the twigs grown, the end of the world shall come. … the fig-tree is the house of Israel … when the twigs thereof have sprouted forth in the last days …” 

Speaking of the birth of the fig tree and all the trees, we read in Isaiah 66:  

“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children” (Isa 66:8). 

Figure 39. Palestine Post 1948: Israel is Born. 

May 14, 1948, modern Israel (the fig tree) declared independence. This was ratified by the United Nations. Could it be that they were literally born in a day and the day in which a generation could be measured against? The evidence suggests ―that Israel was born in a day.  

“Look at the fig tree, and all the trees, When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. You also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place” (Luke 21:29–32). 

Figure 40. Analogy of “all these trees” budding together with Israel. 

If the modern state of Israel is the fig tree, who are “all these trees”? If we are going to be consistent, and if we are going to say the fig tree represents Israel, then we should also deal with all these trees. And what is so astounding about this is that the nations that surround Israel were likewise established as nation states right around the time that Israel was established. Lebanon was established in 1943. Jordan was established in 1946. Egypt, established in 1952, and Syria, was established in 1946. It is amazing how all the other trees—the ones surrounding Israel—are budding as well.  

If the evidence is suggesting that the fig tree is Israel, and that when you see it bud, you know that summer is near. This is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Ezekiel 38:  

“In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword [World War 2] and gathered from many people peoples [They were gathered from many, many nations] on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely” (Ezek 38:8). 

We saw that there was no rain for about 660,000 days. We have confirmation from Mark Twain and from Naḥmanides that the land was desolate. It began to rain right after the modern state of Israel was born. We know that in the modern state of Israel they are not all worshipping God. Many of them, sadly, are profaning his name. Nevertheless, we see these prophecies coming together, which tells us we are close. If we define a generation by taking the numbers from Psalm 90, (70 years are the days of our lives) that year has already passed. That means from 1948 to 2018, if that were the year, then we missed it. Could it be 2028? Maybe! Do not sell your house. Do not quit your job. If a generation is 100 years, that will take us to 2048, which is also incredibly significant if indeed that were the time of the Lord’s return, which in turn would put the abomination of desolation 3.5 years earlier, which would be 2045. Is it just a coincidence that the transhumanists are telling us that they believe we will achieve, or maybe they will achieve, the singularity where man and machine meld into one by 2045? We will have to wait and see. 

Table 9. The Beast’s 1260 days of horror. 

Chapter 15 of Corrupting the Image 3: A Fallen Star Opens the Gates of Hades 

We started the book discussing how some UFO researchers believe the advanced beings inside the UFOs exist behind a “thin psychic dimensional membrane.” And those who claim to have encountered the Draconians report the same thing. The Bible asserts that the portal to that other dimension will eventually be opened.  

In the previous chapter, we learned about the link between the ancient god of death and the coming Beast. Our linguistic study has now brought us to the astounding fact that there is a surviving artifact that depicts the god of death; it is an ancient carving of Nergal, whose epithet was GAG (the arrow) AND who was the god of death, BAD / BAT / GUG. We examined this in Corrupting the Image 2 in the context of Nimrod / Ninurta.  

Yet, we know that the Beast is called the one who will ascend out of the abyss (Rev 17:8). Nimrod merged with Satan to be the Beast who once lived, but died and descended to the abyss to operate as the god of death, Nergal, et al.; and he is waiting to be freed. Nimrod was the first king to rule a kingdom for Satan; it was the first of five world kingdoms that have fallen. As we watch the final decline of the remnants of the Roman (6^th) kingdom, we see the emerging Beast (7^th) kingdom. This seventh king will be a modern-day man who embraces Satan as he is cast from the heavenly realm; and who also embraces Nimrod, as he bursts forth from the underworld of death with its hoards. The resulting merger is an eighth and final king. “The beast that was, and is not, is himself an eighth king and yet is one of the seven, and is going to destruction” (Rev 17:11NET). Make no doubt about it, Jesus will not return until this merger manifests. Paul made it clear: 

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thess 2:3). Therefore: 

Gog (GUG / GAG) must come before the Day of the Lord! 

We noted how Pabilsag / Nergal on the Kudurru stone is depicted having a bow and arrow (see Figure 28 above), in the same fashion as Sagittarius in the Greek tradition—also known as a “manticore.” Nergal, of course, is god of war and is an underworld god who is also equated with Ninurta and the rebel Nimrod. The Dictionary of Deities and Demons notes some of the epithets Ninurta possesses:  

“Ninurta who has qardu ‘fierce,’ ‘heroic’ and qarradu ‘warrior,’ ‘’hero’ among his standard epithets … Astronomers of the 8th-7th century added further connotations, identifying Ninurta (or Pabilsag) with Sagittarius or, alternatively, associating Ninurta with the planet Sirius (called Šukudu ‘arrow’), the major star of Canis major (Akk qatsu ‘bow’).²²²  

Figure 29. Trace of Nergal / Pabilsag from a 12th century entitlement (Kudurru) Stone. 

What emerges from our investigation is the image of the constellation Sagittarius, which is familiar to many of us as a horse-centaur that is armed with a bow and arrow. The centaur-like god, Sagittarius, turns out to be yet another version of Nimrod, whom the Bible revealed as the rebellious person who became a gibbor. The Mesopotamian version portrayed him as Lord of the Earth, the great mountain, the arrow, Sirius, the brightest star. Now we see his appearance as Pabilsag, and we learn he is also known as the chief ancestor and god of the netherworld, like Nergal. 

The ancient Mesopotamian versions reveal a composite being “with a number of features not seen in the Greek version, such as a set of wings, a scorpion’s tail and the head of a dog.”²²³ We know exactly how Nergal looked due to the recently discovered iconography (see Figure 29). Remarkably, the image appears to be the same creature who comes out of the abyss in Revelation 9.  

Table 7. Composite Image of the Chimera in Revelation 9. 

The bow draws our attention to Revelation 6 and the rider of the white horse “who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer” (Rev 6:2). We also see in Ezekiel 39, God declared, “I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand” (Ezek 39:3). This coming warrior is the hero of old: Nimrod, Ninurta, Pabilsag, Nergal (and other epithets) who were known as a warrior and as an archer; and his principal epithets were the arrow and the star, Sirius. “This arrow (Sirius) is frequently depicted on Kassite kudurrus”²²⁵ which we saw in Corrupting the Image 2. 

The rider on the white horse²²⁶ will have a bow, which is representative of his intentions of war made possible by the power that Satan gives to him. He will also be given a crown, and Satan will give the Beast his throne—both of which are symbols of a king. He will go out “conquering and to conquer.” Satan will give him authority and an army will be given to him (Dan 8:12). We recall from Corrupting the Image 2 how Enlil gave Ninurta his power, throne and authority. The rider on the white horse is the same figure. This king will have unique features and will be mighty. He will destroy many and will fight against the saints (the holy people). Comparing Daniel’s descriptions in chapters seven and eight with the rider on the white horse gives us a strong match (see Table 7, below).  

Table 8. Comparison of Rev. 6’s White Rider to Daniel’s Beast/Little Horn. 

John’s description of the king of the abyss called, “Destruction” or Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek (Rev 9:11), is a perfect match to the underworld god, Nergal / Ninurta / son of Enlil, the son of perdition, GAG / GUG, the Beast who ascends from the abyss who brings war and destruction!  

Mars Spreads Plague 

With the number of syncretistic names for the Beast that we have seen so far, we probably should not be surprised to discover further astrological associations of BAD with the planet Mars, which is Nergal’s planet. 

According to Michiel de Vaan, in the Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, the oldest recorded form of Mars is Mamart, and is not Latin but of foreign origin.²²⁷ We have learned already that there was Sumerian influence in the Italian peninsula in our discussion from Corrupting the Image, 2 of BAD being found in a grotto in Mesapia (and the word Haruspex – HAR being Sumerian for liver). Thus, discovering that the name of the Roman god, Mars (Martis, genitive), is from Mesopotamian origins is not surprising.  

Franz Wiggenner provides the etymology of “Nergal’s planet … Mars (salbatanu).” He notes how “according to astrological omens Mars spreads death when he rises or flares up.” He goes on to provide a tentative etymology that explains “this role of MUL tzal (sal) bat-a-nu as mushtabarru (ZAL) mutanu (BAD-a-nu) “(the planet) which spreads plague.”²²⁸ In other words, BAD, also spelled “BAT,” ²²⁹ which is synonymous with Nergal, the god of death.  

Wiggenner’s etymology of “the planet which spreads plague” is incredibly revealing when compared with Bible prophecy.  

“A great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water (Rev 8:10). The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter” (Rev 8:11).  

The Revelation text seems to describe this: John saw a star that was burning while falling from heaven on the rivers and springs. It is significant to understand the ancients considered planets to be wandering stars and “according to astrological omens, Mars spreads death when he rises or flares up.” John then says he saw: a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit” (Rev 9:1). The star he sees “fallen” is the same star that was falling previously. Clearly the reference here it is not to your average night star twinkling in the sky, because this star is given the key to the abyss.  

Open the Abyss—BOR 

This time in chapter 9, John is revealing to us that the “fallen star from heaven” will be given the key to the bottomless pit; and will proceed to open the abyss. Clearly, Satan aka the Beast is ready to gather all his forces together in order to fight the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

“I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit …” (Rev 9:1–2). 

The abyss or Bor (in Hebrew) is the lowest place in Sheol, the place that Peter reveals is the prison that the angels in the days of Noah, who crossed the line, were thrown into what is referred to as Tartarus, and understood to be the lowest rung of Hades: 

“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell [ταρταρόω, tartaroó] and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (2 Pet 2:4).  

This is also the very place where Satan is prophesied to be cast into for one thousand years. “Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol [ᾅδης, hadēs  שְׁא֛וֹל], to the lowest depths of the Pit [בֽוֹר bor]” (Isa 14:15). The rest of the fallen angels will likewise “be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit [בֽוֹר bor], and will be shut up in the prison …” (Isa 24:22).  

Sheol and the bor are closely related and are perhaps the same place. The “key” to the bottomless pit may be the very covenant the world made with Satan. In other words, the key to opening the abyss was getting the world to agree to the covenant with death and Sheol. Instead of submitting to the One who conquered death (Rev. 21:14), people will seek immortality by making their own deal with death and Sheol. These scornful men have the audacity to brag to God that they made a covenant with Death, and that they have an agreement with Sheol, so God cannot touch them (Lit. “When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us”) Isa 28:15. However, the Lord God says:  

”Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overcoming scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it” (Isa 28:18).  

Despite their belief that they are immortal and beyond God’s reach, God tells them that their contract with death won’t protect them, they’re not really immortal, and that they and Death itself will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Death and Sheol cannot offer immunity from the second death.  

Darkness 

“And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit” (Rev 9:2). 

Why will the sky become dark and why will the sun not give its light? The answer is simple: Because the smoke constantly billowing out of the abyss will be like the eruption of a subterranean volcano. When a volcano first erupts, the sun is still visible; but as time progresses more of the light of the sun is blotted out. In 2011, Eyjafjallajökull, an Icelandic volcano, erupted and the effects were felt around the world. Locally and in parts of Europe,²³⁰ the sky was dark with black soot. The sun, when viewed through the smoke, looked like it was covered with sackcloth and the moon became blood red. Scripture alludes to this phenomenon by showing that the darkness starts by effecting “thirds” of the planet, and then it goes to “full blast.”  

“And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night” (Rev 8:12). 

The sun is not giving the fullness of its light, because it has been blocked out by that strong ash; and it looks like it has been covered with sackcloth. The moon looks red due to the ash, which we are told specifically: “The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit (Rev 9:2). That is the reason why the sun and the air will turn dark (not due to a lunar eclipse, as some theorize).  

Figure 30. Extent of ash fallout from the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. 

This is parallel to what we see in Joel:  

“For the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand (Joel 2:1): A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains (Joel 2:2). … the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness” (Joel 2:10). 

There are many passages that talk about the darkening of the sun, moon and sky.  

• For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine (Isa 13:9, 10). 
• the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood (Rev 6:12). 

When the abyss opens, there will be a great deal of smoke and ash; and it will progressively get darker until there is a “thick darkness” on the planet. Humanity is told to fear God; to give him glory for the hour of his judgment has come, but they do not repent. Eventually, the world will be full of darkness: 

“Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds” (Rev 16:10–11). 

The Location of the Abyss, Gates of Hades  

The location of the gates of Hades was squarely in the land of Bashan, at the foot of Mt. Hermon. It was the place where the angels had descended; and also where Og, King of the Bashan and the Amorite king—the kings of the Rephaim—were headquartered. It was at this place that “Canaanite mythology … locates … the abode of its deified dead kings, the mlk(m)/rpu(m) that dwell(s) in ‘Štrt-hdr’y,”²³¹ that is, Og and Sihon, kings of the Rephaim that dwell in Ashtaroth and Edrei. In other words, the underworld was known as a city. 

W. F. Albright identifies “the City” as the netherworld, and equally of interest, the Ugaritic ‘address’ for Mlk, ‘ttrt,’ is likely to be identified with the city, Ashtaroth in Bashan, just north of Ammon. ²³²  

W. F. Albright’s understanding of “the City” as the netherworld is based on the Old Babylonian “irigal.” Iri is like the Hebrew “ir” (city) and “gal” is “big.” It meant the underworld, and in Akkadian it was erşetu; qabru meaning “earth, land; underworld; grave.” Erşetu (ertzetu) was also shorthand for “daltu erṣeti: the door of the underworld.”²³³ Thus, the notion of the underworld having a gate, or a door is ancient and is found in the land of Shinar where Satan established his false religious system.  

There may have been multiple gates to the underworld, just as there are multiple gates into a city. Nevertheless, the cave of Pan was considered to be one of those locations, and Jesus made that clear to his disciples. In his paper, The Gates of Hades and the Keys of the Kingdom, Joel Marcus confirms that Hades was “believed to house not only the human dead but also the demonic agents of death and destruction.”²³⁴ He further notes: “‘gates of Hades’ seems to stand for the entire underworld city of the dead.”²³⁵ Thus, Jesus’ use of “Gates of Hades” is perfectly consistent with how the region of Bashan and Hermon itself have many underworld connections.  

Jesus is not merely speaking about gates, but all of the underworld references represented by the logogram BAD / BAT, such as Enlil, Ninurta, Og, MLK (Milcom / Molech), Nergal, etc. Jesus declared to the great bull god Batios, king of the snake-dragons, stationed in Bashan, that he and his forces will not prevail against God’s kingdom. Jesus’ statement was a declaration of outright war against the rulers of the realm of the dead.  

Marcus notes that:  

The image of Matthew is of rulers of the underworld bursting forward from the gates of their heavily guarded, walled city to attack God’s people on earth. When we speak of demonic powers flooding the earth, we are speaking the language of Jewish apocalypticists. Jewish apocalyptists believed that in the end-time, the powers of cosmic chaos—restrained since creation—would break forth from their restraint and bring unparalleled tribulation upon the world. Indeed, O. Betz has pointed out that there are remarkable parallels in the QL to the basic picture of Matt 16:18. In 1QH 3:17-18, e.g. the gates of Sheol open and the ungodly powers imprisoned in the underworld stream out to flood the earth. 

As A. Cooper renders this passage:  

“They open the gates of [Sheol for all] acts of wickedness; They close the doors of the pit behind the conceiver of mischief; The bars of eternity behind all spirits of wickedness. The gates of Sheol, after opening to release the demonic powers onto the earth, close behind them so that they could not return to the underworld even if they wished to; like wild animals shut up in a gladiatorial arena, they have no choice but to attack the human beings who share their confinement. Similarly, in 1QH 3:26-34 the ‘time of the wrath of Belial’ is described as one in which the gates of Sheol open and ‘arrows of the pit’ fly out.”²³⁶ 

Jesus made the trek up toward Mt. Hermon and spoke to his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, making a direct reference to the “gates of Hell.” This is highly suggestive that Satan had something planned for that time. Jesus went up to the Gates to meet the challenge. The events that Satan had planned might line up with the ideas of the apocalyptists of the day who believed the attack included the Gates of Hades opening and Satan’s hordes flooding out. In the last days, the opening of the abyss may occur at none other than Caesarea Philippi at the base of Mt. Hermon. 

Release of the Demonic Army 

Why does Satan want to open the abyss? Because he will need to build up his forces before the Day of the Lord. Over the course of 3.5 years, the entire world is preparing “to make war against [Jesus] who sat on the horse and against His army” (Rev 19:19). Satan will need every principality and power available to wage war against his Creator.  

In Corrupting the Image 2, we learned that Satan, via his secret name BAD, was the one behind the angels descending on Mt. Hermon (also known as mount Bashan) in the days of Noah. At the base of that mountain was Caesarea Philippi, which was where Jesus took his disciples and proclaimed that the gates of Hades would not prevail against His kingdom. We determined that Satan had likely intended to open the portal at that time, and Jesus quashed his plans. 

Opening the abyss will tap into “the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient … in the days of Noah” (1 Pet 3:19–20). Scripture teaches us that they will be released for the final battle: 

• the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode … reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; (Jude 1:6). 

• For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell [ταρταρόω tartaru] and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; (2 Pet 2:4).  

The four specific angels who have been bound (lit. chained) at the Euphrates River will also be released. 

“‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horses was two hundred million …” (Rev 9:14–16).  

This is the army spoken of by Daniel “because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn” (Dan 8:12). Herman Gunkel notes in Zum religionsgeschichtlichen Verständnis des Neuen Testaments that “The armies of the horsemen in v 16ff. are certainly ‘composite creatures.’”²³⁷ In other words, Gunkel believes that Revelation is speaking of hybridized monsters, as we have noted.  

The four angels that are released are initially “bound”—showing they are wicked principalities (kings) or generals who will serve in Satan’s army. Related to that, “the great river Euphrates, and its water [will be] dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared (Rev 16:12). These four angels who are bound at the Euphrates seem to be the kings of the east. Why the waters need to be dried up is not clear.  

The Day of the Lord 

What is the judgement of the great day? The battle of Armageddon, the Day of the Lord. 

• The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter… (Zeph 1:14). 

• For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? (Rev 6:17). 
• For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty (Rev 16:14). 

The Day of Judgment, referred to in both, texts is not where angels stand before God’s throne and receive their sentence. Rather, it refers to the judgment God will bring upon the world when He “will punish on high the host [army] of exalted ones …” (Isa 24:21). They will be judged when:  

The LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire (Isa 66:15). For by fire and by His sword the LORD will judge all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many (Isa 66:16). 

Thus far, we have seen how these demonic forces will be released from their dark prison BEFORE the return of the Lord. It is quite likely Satan could not find a way to get them out of jail earlier. However, in Corrupting the Image 2, we considered how Satan likely tried to open the abyss in Jesus’ time, but Jesus thwarted that plan. Satan’s next move will be using man’s covenant with death and Sheol as the key that gives him power to open the gates of the underworld and release its denizens in preparation for the “great day.” 

Tormenting the Non-Sealed 

“Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power [authority εξουσια exousia], as the scorpions of the earth have power [authority εξουσια exousia] (Rev 9:3). They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (Rev 9:4). And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man (Rev 9:5). In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them (Rev 9:6). They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months (Rev 9:10). And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon (Rev 9:11).” 

These Nergal-creatures are granted authority to torment all humanity, except for a very select group who have been “sealed … on their foreheads … the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed” (Rev 7:3–4). Thus, no one else will be immune to the locusts’ attacks and torments.  

The word “torment” is the Greek βασανίζω basanizo, which comes from βάσανος basanos. According to BDAG, it means “‘touchstone, test’, then of procedures or ‘torment’ used to extract a confession.” It is also used for:  

Of the tortures in the netherworld (cp. Wsd 3:1; 4 Macc 13:15) and as synon. of ‘unquenchable fire’ 2 Cl 17:7b; ὑπάρχειν ἐν β. be in torment Lk 16:23. Descriptive of place in the nether world τόπος τῆς β. place of torment.²³⁸ 

How significant that the Greek word “basanizo” for “torture” is associated with the netherworld. The word “Basan” in the Septuagint is the transliteration of Bashan (e.g. Num 21:32–33, etc.), which was the abode of the dead and an epithet for Satan, king of the netherworld. We might understand that the Nergal-creatures are coming to “Bashan-ize” the inhabitants of the earth, or to torment them to extract a confession.  

This raises the question of what confession does Satan, the king of the underworld, seek from mankind by torturing them? Based on the authority afforded him through the covenant with Death and Sheol, Satan may use these creatures to incentivize humanity to completely upgrade to god status. We will not know their purpose for sure until the sequence plays out in real time and these creatures emerge from the abyss. Nevertheless, they would serve as a powerful incentive to take the mark, or else face their stings for five months.  

The text tells us: 

“In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them” (Rev 9:5–6). 

Why is it that men will seek death, but will be denied death? A healthy person does not want to die. They want to keep living; they want to have a family, and they want to achieve their dreams and goals. When people are suffering intense emotional or physical pain, sometimes all they can think about is escaping, and death is the escape and end of the suffering.  

What will change in those days that people who want to die, cannot die? Simon & Garfunkel sang the song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”: “You just slip out the back, Jack; Make a new plan, Stan; You don’t need to be coy, Roy; Just get yourself free; Hop on the bus, Gus, etc.” 

Certainly, if someone wanted to die badly enough, it seems like there must be at least fifty ways to leave your life—Jump off a bridge, jump in front of a car, use a gun. Sadly, people often nowadays successfully commit suicide. Again, how could it be that people looking for death cannot find it? Something radical must have happened. The answer is simple: they have overcome their mortality and attained some type of immortality. Based on the research in this book, we conclude that they have taken the mark of the Beast, and it has transformed them into “gods,” so they do not die. They have taken the mark of the Beast and have been transformed, and have achieved the transhumanist dream of immortality and divinity. However, once attained, they regret it. They will want to die; but then, it is too late.  

Mark Takers Become Zombies 

They may want to die once they realize they are not in control of their lives anymore and are being manipulated and enslaved; or, they may realize that there is no undoing the fatal step they have taken. Whatever it may be, though they have become gods, with superhuman strength, intelligence and immortality, they will see that the mixture of Satan’s seed with man’s has a critical failure. The two components do not adhere properly, as Daniel 2 says: 

“As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay” (Dan 2:43). 

This critical failure alters their body so that “ugly and painful sores appeared on the people who had the mark of the Beast and who worshiped his image” (Rev 16:2 NET). 

Figure 31. Necrotizing fasciitis. 

They will suffer from foul and loathsome sores. According to the NET Bible notes, they suffer from “ulcerated sores.”²³⁹ The Greek word, ἕλκος (helkos), is a “wound, or sore, an abscess, ulcer, a foul and vile sore”²⁴⁰ which reminds us of what happened during the 10 plagues of Egypt where there were “boils [שְׁחִין shechin] that break out in sores [אֲבַעְבֻּעֹ֖ת ababu’oth].” Gesenius defines ababu’oth as “pustules, boils, rising up in the skin, Ex. 9:9, 10; verbal from the root בּוּעַ…to boil up, to swell up.”²⁴¹ The word shᵉchîyn is a boil or an inflamed spot²⁴² which is closely related to ababu’oth and is translated as “ἕλκος (helkos)” in the Septuagint.  

These sores are ultimately a consequence of the marktakers’ disregard for God’s warnings and laws. God sent his messengers to warn people against taking the mark: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark …” (Rev 14:9), “he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God …” (Rev 14:10). But just as Pharaoh defiantly went against God and refused to heed warning after warning, and suffered the consequences, so too the world will disregard God’s warning about the mark of the Beast. God finds no pleasure in the things that will happen to those who take the mark; these are simply the choices they will make.  

According to Robertson’s Word Pictures of the New Testament, Helkos is “a noisome and grievous sore; bad and malignant sore. Helkos is an old word for a suppurated wound that is an ulcer or something that opens on your body.” Looking into modern medical descriptions helps us understand boils better:  

“Most boils are caused by staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacterium commonly found in the skin and inside the nose; a bump forms as pus collects under the skin. Boils sometimes develop at sites where the skin has been broken by a small injury, or an insect bite, which gives the bacteria easy entry. If your immune system is weakened for any reason, you are more susceptible to boils and carbuncles.”²⁴³ 

Those people who take the mark (becoming hybrids), suffer from the wasting flesh condition because of the hybridized, demonic-human DNA they carry. When we consider that people will take Satan’s DNA—and he is the god of death—then what they suffer from may be: 

“…necrotizing fasciitis, decaying skin or … a flesh-eating bacteria, flesh-eating disease; a rapid progressing type of bacterial infection that destroys a skin fat and tissue that covers the muscle, in a short time span within 12 to 24 hours. Actually, the flesh is not eaten but the skin is dying as a result of the infection. The bacteria associated with the disease cuts off the blood supply; hence the tissue dies and goes through the process of decay, medically termed as necrosis.”²⁴⁴ 

We may have a sense of what those people who take the Mark will look like based on reports of people who have taken the flesh-eating drug known as “krokodil.”  

Two sisters from Illinois have described how it feels to rot from the inside out, after using the flesh-eating drug krokodil, which emerged in Russia around 10 years ago. It is similar to heroin but is much cheaper as it is made from everyday household products, such as lighter fluid, gasoline, paint thinner and iodine. 

Figure 32. Necrotizing fasciitis after taking Krokodil https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/krokodil-users-describe-rotting-inside-out-blister-514387 

Speaking to ABC, Amber said she first noticed wounds on her skin: “It almost starts like a burn from a cigarette. It starts purple and then goes into a blister after five or six days.” Krokodil has been dubbed a zombie or cannibal drug because it eats users’ flesh from the inside out. The average user has a life expectancy of just three years.²⁴⁵ 

Amber and her sister took the drug because they thought they would feel better. One person offered this reason for those who take it:  

“The people I have seen have not known what they were taking, but I believe some addicts will take it by choice despite the effects. There is an intense high and it’s cheap, if people are desperate enough, they will use it.”²⁴⁶ 

This is probably the same reason people will take the mark. They will believe the only way to stave off the hostile alien invasion (also known as the return of Jesus) is to upgrade to become a god by taking the mark—worshiping the Beast and the image of the Beast and becoming fully integrated into the hive mind.  

However, in the end, taking the mark of the Beast appears to transform the person into a zombie. They will be a race of walking dead with a flesh-eating disease that decays their corpses. They desire death, but they cannot die. 

Figure 33. Zombie Apocalypse Image by Ahmadreza Heidaripoor from Pixabay. 

Not only will they be the walking dead; they will also have an insatiable appetite, like the demons and Nephilim before them. In Corrupting the Image 2, we studied how Satan and demons receive energy, much like in the movie, The Matrix, where people are actually the batteries powering the machines, except Satan’s hordes crave the blood of their victims.  

“They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood” (Ps 106:36–38).  

Thus, with every human sacrifice, every abortion, every war and every murder, Satan and his kin are recharging their batteries. The more innocent the blood, the more energy is derived. This bloodletting could explain why people are beheaded in the tribulation as well, but we cannot be sure. The book of 1 Enoch confirms how the Nephilim drank blood: 

“the women conceiving brought forth giants, … it became impossible to feed them; when they turned themselves against men, in order to devour them; and began to injure birds, beasts, reptiles, and fishes, to eat their flesh one after another, and to drink their blood” (Enoch 7:10, 12, 14). 

Even in medieval times, the notion of giants (Nephilim) eating blood persisted; as you recall, the giant bellowed: “Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishmen.” The rhyme appears in the 1596 pamphlet “Haue with You to Saffron-Walden” written by Thomas Nashe, who mentions that the rhyme was already old and its origins obscure.²⁴⁷ “Fa fe fi fo fum” is actually a coherent phrase of ancient Gaelic meaning, “Behold food, good to eat, sufficient for my hunger!”²⁴⁸ Historically, the places where demons gained a foothold and were worshipped, were also infamous for rites involving human blood.  

People becoming hybrids by taking the mark of the Beast become ravenous. They need energy to satiate themselves, and blood becomes the only food they find satisfying. Such a thirst for blood could be at least part of the reason why there is a judgment of the waters:  

“Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: ‘You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due’” (Rev 16:4–6).  

Taking the mark of the Beast is the future version of becoming a Nephilim. God judged it severely with the near-extinction-level Flood in the days of Noah and will do so again at his second coming.  

Chapter 14 of Corrupting the Image 3 : Gog, Son of Death / Perdition, the Ancient Leader Revealed 

The Bible has a GREAT deal to say about the coming end-times leader who will unite the world in battle against Jesus. In Corrupting the Image 2, we studied about the coming of the Beast who “was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition” (Rev 17:8), the one who is called “the son of perdition” (2 Thess 2:3–4). We determined that Satan and a man will fuse to become the god of death incarnate. We learned that Satan’s many names, such as BAD, Nergal, Pabilsag, and many others, were all related to death. This hybridized individual will lead the world in a war against God Himself.  

Ezekiel also prophesied about this individual known as Gog, who would come against Israel in the last days (Ezek 38:8) with his “great host” (Ezek 38:4), and “his hordes and the many peoples who are with him” whom God will destroy with “torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur” (Ezek 38:22). God declares that Gog’s presence will be overwhelming in Israel and, when he comes, God will be sanctified: 

“You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am sanctified in you, O Gog, before their eyes” (Ezek 38:16).  

According to Ezekiel, God was declaring for years through the prophets that He would bring Gog against Israel. 

“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?’” (Ezek 38:17). 

But where in Scripture was God talking about Gog? By the name Gog we do not find any such occurrence. Gog¹⁹⁰ is used only in Ezekiel 38 and 39, and once in Revelation 20.¹⁹¹  

Modern lexicons, such as the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, the NASB Lexicon, Strong’s, and Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew English Lexicon all comment how the etymology of Gog is uncertain, which is to say, Gog from Ezekiel 38 and 39 is likely not of Hebrew origin. Consequently, scholars have looked for clues about Gog’s identity in other languages, civilizations and events that might qualify linguistically; but ultimately they have failed, assuming they happened before Ezekiel.¹⁹² Josephus suggested Gog as leaders of the Scythians,¹⁹³ a people (after Ezekiel) who lived on the fringe of the Roman Empire and invaded it from the northeast (ca. 3^rd century BC).¹⁹⁴ Yet his suggestion also fails (like the others) because God said Gog would invade Israel, not the Roman Empire! Furthermore, God said Gog would come in the latter years and last days to a people brought back from the sword, whom we will see are the Jews who returned from the Holocaust. 

Second Temple Literature on Gog 

Second Temple literature understood Gog to be the quintessential enemy of Israel, who would emerge in the last days, and then be destroyed by King Messiah. Interestingly, the Septuagint manuscripts seem to equate him with Og, king of [the] Bashan. The Dictionary of Deities and Demons of the Bible explains that Gog “is a cipher for the evil darkness of the north and personifies the powers hostile to the lord.”¹⁹⁵  

The Targum of Palestine (Neofiti) in Numbers 11:26 says: “At the end, the end of the days, will Gog and Magog and his host come up against Jerusalem; but by the hand of the King Meshiha [Messiah] they will fall.” The Babylonian Talmud Abuda Zara 3b (Idolatry) Chapter 1 echoes the Targum: 

“They will see the war of Gog and Magog, and will question them: ‘With whom do you want to fight?’ Whereto the answer will be: ‘With the Lord and his Messiah’ [as it reads [Psalm ii. 2]: ‘Against the Lord and his anointed’]” 

The Jewish Encyclopedia notes that Rabbi R. Eliezer: “Mentions the Gog and Magog war together with the Messianic woes and the Last Judgment as the three modes of divine chastisement preceding the millennium. The destruction of Gog and Magog’s army implies not … the extermination of the Gentile world at the close of the Messianic reign, but the annihilation of the heathen powers who oppose the kingdom of God and the establishing of the Messianic reign.”¹⁹⁶  

In other words, the battle of Gog and Magog is the final conflict; it is the battle of the Day of the Lord as spoken of by Isaiah, Daniel, Habakkuk, and many others. These considerations harmonize perfectly with Revelation, which says that the whole world will make war against Jesus. 

According to Syriac Apocalypse Baruch 11:1–2, Gog alone will survive the battle and will be brought “bound before the Messiah on Mount Zion and judged and slain.” According to II Esd. xiii. 9 et seq., “fire will issue forth from the mouth of the Messiah and consume the whole army.” ¹⁹⁷ 

Such language readily identifies Gog with the Beast in both Daniel and Revelation; and the Son of Perdition from Paul’s writings: 

• the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet … These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur (Rev 19:20). 
• … as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire (Dan 7:11).  
• the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming (2 Thess 2:8).  

Paul was likely drawing upon Isaiah 11 where the Messiah: “with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked [LXX ungodly one]” (Isa 11:4).  

The Babylonian Talmud, tractate Aboth, discusses how the Shekhina—the manifest presence of God—appears ten times throughout history. In the Garden of Eden, at the tower of Babel, at Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. Finally, “it will come down in the days of Gog and Magog, as it is written [Zech. xiv. 4]: “And his feet will stand on that day upon the Mount of Olives.”¹⁹⁸  

 The Babylonian Talmud, tractate Pesachim, chapter 10 pairs the battle of Gog and Magog with the time of Jacob’s trouble in Daniel 12:1 and Jeremiah 30:7: 

R. Johanan said that it refers to the time of the war of Gog and Magog (which will occur just before the coming of the Messiah and will be the worst period for the Israelites to pass through).¹⁹⁹ 

Maimonides, the great medieval Jewish commentator, writes in Guide for the Perplexed about how the Day of the Lord, spoken of in Joel 3:3–5, may be interpreted as “an account of the defeat of Gog and Magog near Jerusalem in the days of the Messiah.”²⁰⁰ 

In the sources we have just reviewed, Gog was clearly understood to be the definitive end-times enemy who will rise up against Israel in the final battle of the Day of the Lord, whom the Messiah would personally destroy with the breath of his mouth just before the establishment of the Messianic reign. Revelation calls this final battle, Armageddon. The names are slightly different, but the set and characters are all the same (which we will examine in more detail later). 

While those ancient sources considered Gog to be equivalent to the Beast of Daniel and Revelation, Gog’s name itself continues to shroud him in mystery. What is amazing is that Gog actually means death, enmity, and is yet another epithet for Satan.  

Gog is the Enemy (Sumerian Evidence)  

Just as we traced the great dragon, the Beast and the woman who rides it back to Shinar (some evidence being a review from Corrupting the Image 2), the solution to the Gog question is also resolved there as well. In 1914, A. Van Hoonacker suggested, “Gog” came from the Sumerian “gug” (‘black spot’, ‘cornelian,’ or ‘shining’) and is thus a metaphor for evil.²⁰¹ His suggestion is confirmed by the University of Pennsylvania Sumerian online lexicon, which lists variations of “gug,” though Hoonacker may have stopped prematurely since he did not mention entries “gug5 “enmity, hostility” and the related gug6 “stick; weapon” and gug6 “tooth; blade; beak; dog bite” (Akk. Nišik).²⁰² 

John A. Halloran, in his Sumerian Lexicon, points out that “gug5: hostility, war (might be reduplicated ug5,7,8, ‘to kill; to die’).”²⁰³ In linguistics, reduplication is the process in which a part of a word is repeated, sometimes with a slight change. Daniel A. Foxvog, in his Introduction to Sumerian Grammar explains the reduplication of a noun: “reduplication may signify either intensification of the adjectival idea or plurality of the modified noun. Thus, diĝir gal-gal might indicate ‘the very great god’ or more usually ‘the great gods.’²⁰⁴ 

In Corrupting the Image Vol 2, we discovered the Sumerian logogram (pictogram, cuneiform symbol) BAD (IDIM) ²⁰⁵ (Akkadian mūtu and ÚŠ / UG) is written on the Mt. Hermon inscription and is the logogram of Enlil, Dagan, Ug (death), Nergal (god of death and the underworld). When the logogram BAD.BAD reduplicated i.e. “ug_x(|BAD.BAD|)”²⁰⁶ it is written “GUG” and means “hostility, war,” otherwise known as enmity.  

This revelation is nothing short of mind-blowing. “Enmity” naturally draws our attention to Genesis 3:15, where Satan the dragon swindled Adam and Eve, and God declared war: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed” (Gen 3:15). This is an accurate description of Satan and his kingdom. He is the enemy; we often refer to him as the adversary. Some of the other lexical entries for GUG reveal the notion of enmity and hostility. Satan, the enemy, has incited his followers to destroy us using weapons gug6 “stick; weapon” (Akk. Kakku) or by using “gug6 “tooth; blade,” and the like. Peter tells us, “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion” (1 Pet 5:8).  

Therefore, we have the attested linguistic evidence, which informs us that “gug” could become “gog,” in addition to the many already noted parallels. Gog comes from Sumerian GUG meaning death, enmity, hostility. What an incredible description of the one who brings the world together to fight against the King of Kings! It is none other than Enmity / Death himself. It is BATios, Satan, the god of death, who we saw in Corrupting the Image 2: “According to the command of the great bull-god (Batios) Satan, those swearing an oath in this place go forth.” Recall that the scribes likely called Satan, BATios because that one term described many conscious syncretisms such as Enlil, Dagan, Ninurta, and Baal.²⁰⁷ 

Hence, Satan, the god known by the logogram BAD (known locally as Enlil and his son Ninurta in Mesopotamia, and as Dagan and his son Ba’al in Syria) was sometimes represented by the reduplicated logogram ug.ug = BAD.BAD which when transliterated (spoken) was / is GUG. If the reduplication indicates intensification, then OG morphing to GOG tells us he is named the “Deadliest Death,” the “Darkest Darkness,” the most hateful hater-of-God and the #1 Enemy of man. Amazingly, there is yet another facet to this mystery!  

Gog is also Ninurta! 

In Corrupting the Image 2, we considered extensive evidence showing that Ninurta was Nimrod, the rebel. We also discovered that Nimrod was the avatar of Satan and held his power, throne, and great authority, as the Beast will do. We have seen that Satan and the Beast are going to fuse into his avatar in the future; and what is so amazing is that the name “Gog” identifies as both Satan and Nimrod! Let’s go back to Amos 5 where the prophet spoke of Nimrod and Satan: 

“You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves” (Amos 5:26 NASB).²⁰⁸ 

Amar Annus notes that some scholars identify the astral divinity Sikkuth (Sakkud= skwt) with BAD (Ninurta):  

“… skwt originates from SAG.KUD and the deity Sakkuth was worshipped in Samaria during Amos’ time (cf. 2 Kgs 17:30). What is curious in the biblical passage is the attribute “your king” (mlkkm) to skwt which fits Ninurta as the god of kingship. One might suggest that the Amos passage reflects peripheral Mesopotamian traditions diffused into Samaria. The second divine element, kywn, [Kiyyun] almost certainly corresponds to Akkadian kajjamanu (SAG.UŠ) “Saturn.”²⁰⁹ 

Chief Head = Rosh SAG.UŠ 

Saturn’s Sumerian name is SAG.UŠ. SAG means “chief, head” saĝ, which in Old Babylonian, means ”head; person; capital” and in Akkadian, qaqqadu; rēšu,²¹⁰ (similar to the Hebrew “rosh.”) UŠ means “death, dead, dying,” related to UG²¹¹ and to GUG and to BATios. Therefore, SAG.UŠ means the “head of death!” Amos reports that Israel was worshiping their “king” Sikkut / Sakkuth. 

The association of chief (head) of death fits very well with what God said to Ezekiel: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him” (Ezek 38:2).  

The question arises as to whether ‘Rosh’²¹² is a place name or a descriptive adjective modifying ‘prince.’ “Aquila, the Targum, and Jerome (Latin Vulgate) viewed rosh adjectively—‘chief prince,’²¹³ which corresponds perfectly with the god Sikkuth / SAG.UŠ or head (rosh) of death. When we recall that Gog is the latest in a long line of epithets for Satan, then it makes sense that he is the chief prince. After all, though lesser demons are doing his bidding, he is king of them all. He is the chief prince of Tyre (Melqart, see Corrupting the Image 2) and the king of Babylon. 

“Take up this proverb against the king of Babylon … (Isa 14:4) “Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the [Rephaim] (the dead), for you, all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations (Isa 14:9). They all shall speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?’” (Isa 14:10) … “How you are fallen from heaven, O Enlil [Heilel (הַלֵּל)], son of the morning! …” (Isa 14:12).  

This is showing that he is the chief above them all. Of course, we recall that Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2) and “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), just as Michael is “one of the chief princes” (Dan 10:13) of the good guys. So too, Satan is the head prince of the bad guys. Further corroboration comes from the name, Pabilsag.  

Pabilsag comes from Old Babylonian and means a “relation.” In Akkadian, it is “abu,” which of course is related to the Hebrew אבAb (father), or Aramaic, Abba. The infix “bilga,” also Old Babylonian, means “male ancestor.” Lastly, SAĜ means “head; person; capital,” (Akkadian, qaqqadu; rēšu, like the Hebrew “rosh”).²¹⁴ 

Pabilsag, then, was the head / chief or “principal ancestor.” Pabilsag, as indicated by his name, was clearly someone the Mesopotamians believed to be of great importance, who was the chief of all their ancestors. He was considered a son of the god Enlil and was syncretized with Ningirsu / Ninurta. Pabilsag’s association with the netherworld could be due to his syncretism with the underworld deity, Nergal.²¹⁵ Thus, he is the principal ancestor and Ninurta / Nimrod, son of Enlil, who became a hybrid. When we compare Pabilsag’s bio with Revelation 9, a startling realization comes into focus: The god that the House of Israel was worshiping will return in the last days.  

Ninurta, Son of Enlil, is the Arrow 

The name Sukuth was, probably from Assyro-Babylonian Shukudu … the brightest star in the night sky”²¹⁶ (recall that gug means “[to be] bright”). Amar Annus notes that “the arrow (šukudu) … Ninurta’s star Sirius and … might be a metaphor for Ninurta himself…”²¹⁷ We learned how the theme of GUG “enmity” is also expressed as (gug6) “stick; weapon” (Akk. Kakku) and (gug6) “tooth; blade; beak; dog bite” (Akk. nišik kalbi; šinnu) which are tools of death, very much like how “Ninurta himself is an ‘arrow.’”  

The first century Jewish apocalyptists used similar language suggesting Belial and his hordes will come out of the underworld with arrows flying. The apocalyptists were seeing what Satan (Mesopotamian Enlil) had been projecting all along; that he, or his proxy, was the great, invincible dragon that you did not want to mess with.²¹⁸ 

 In other words, Ninurta is known as the Arrow, which in an astronomical setting is the star, Sirius. The imagery of gods as stars reminds us of the language of Revelation in which angels are frequently symbolized as stars. In John’s vision of Revelation, Jesus has seven stars in his right hand. Jesus reveals the mystery “… The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches… (Rev 1:20). Thus, there are seven stars or seven angels (messengers) to God’s redeemed people. It is interesting that another word for “arrow” (mulmullu, Sumerian mul.mul) is related to the Pleiades, which again reminds us of Nergal’s planet, Mars (Sal.bat.anu)²¹⁹. Amar Annus explains that:  

The Pleiades were thought to bring war and destruction – “the warlike gods, who carry bow and arrow, whose rising means war.” It is worth noting that the month of Ningirsu in Astrolabe B, Iyyar, is also referred to as “the month of the Pleiades, the Seven Great Gods” (KAV 218 A i 12f and 19).  

The star was a symbol of Ninurta, the arrow, and even known as “gabbar” (like the Hebrew “gibbor” hero). Annus comments that, “Marduk’s arrows (mulmullu) …and šukudu referred to the god’s arrow which killed his enemy.”²²⁰ 

From the previous evidence, we see that Sukkut refers to an arrow, as well as Ninurta. Kiyyun means “steady one.” However, both names also refer to planets or a constellation and both are appellations that involve a hero, a bow, and an arrow. Nimrod was the one who became a gibbor (“hero”); he was a gibbor hunter, and of course, we positively identified him as Ninurta in Corrupting the Image 2. It may be significant that God says He will knock the arrow out of Gog’s hand: 

“Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand” (Ezek 39:3 ESV). 

Conclusion: Gog is the Fusion of Satan and the Beast  

Thus, Ninurta (biblical Nimrod “rebel”) son of Enlil (BAD / BAT (=IDIM) was also known as the star Sirius, Nergal’s Mars star which spreads plague, which was an arrow (šukudu, Sum. GAG); and Ninurta is a syncretism with Nergal, king of the dead. The Sumerian Gug “death, enmity, hostility” is a form of the logogram BAD. 

We have the linguistic evidence that the Sumerian “gug” could become “gog” and “gag” (arrow) could become “gog.” Amazingly, both terms fit perfectly from the evidence we have examined. And what a picture! God said there would be enmity between Satan and the woman, between his seed and her seed (Gen 3:15), and Peter tells us, “your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Pet 5:8)²²¹ 

In other words, GUG is the ancient enemy Satan (Enlil) and his son, Ninurta is GAG. We have determined Satan and a Nimrod / Ninurta antichrist-figure will merge into the Beast hybrid—the god of death and Sheol, the fallen star and king of the abyss. Who is also known as “destruction”: Abaddon, Apollyon, who manifests in the last days as the Beast who ascends out of the abyss in the time of Jacob’s trouble. Hence, together they become Gog (Enmity, Arrow) in the Bible. Thus Gug/Gag/Gog is yet another epithet for Satan / Enlil and or Ninurta / Nimrod, which answers the question: when did God speak by the prophets about Gog? Answer: all the time!  

Satan was the entity behind all those titles and the one of whom the prophets spoke, starting in Genesis 3, “I will cause enmity between you and the woman.” Then every time there was a reference to Satan’s many epithets such as: Heilel / Enlil / Ellil (King of Babylon) Isa 14:12, Melqart (King of Tyre) Ezek 28, Ninurta / Nergal / Pabilsag (2 Kings 17:30), Sikkut (Amos 5:26), Enlil (Satan)—the “father” of Ninurta, which the Bible deliberately transformed into “Nimrod” the Rebel. Enlil and Ninurta had many syncretisms such as Marduk / MARTU / Bel / Baal and many shared a common Sumerian logogram BAD/BAT/BE. Gog will simply be his final alias before being defeated by Jesus. In fact, in Revelation 13, John saw “a beast rising up” and “on his heads a blasphemous name” (Rev 13:1). Later in Revelation 17, John saw a “woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy” (Rev 17:3). The Beast has many names, which defy and slander the good name and character of the God of Israel.  

Chapter 13 of Corrupting the Image 3: Death to Those Siding with the Invaders 

For those who decide not to receive the “upgrade” and finally become gods in the Beast system, life will become increasingly difficult. We see this progression in Scripture where refusing the mark first results in not being able to buy or sell, and then leads to death, specifically by beheading. We see both of these scenarios in Revelation: 

“He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed (Rev 13:15). He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads (Rev 13:16), and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name (Rev 13:17). Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666” (Rev 13:18). 

In fact, we learn the fate of those who refused the mark:  

“I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands” (Rev 20:4). 

These seem contradictory at first since if a person is killed for not worshipping the image of the Beast, then being prohibited from buying or selling is a moot point. We can deduce, therefore, the Beast and/or False Prophet will first use a carrot to encourage compliance, and then later use the stick.  

We need to remember that the implementation of the mark of the Beast comes after the Beast kills the Two Witnesses who terrorized the world for 42 months. The Two Witnesses’ message, and show of power, softened some to God’s message and hardened others. To justify their rejection of the Two Witnesses, a world that largely does not believe in the God of Abraham, and that claims evolution to be the story of man’s origins, will likely interpret them as hostile aliens. Their resurrection and ascension to the sky will possibly be viewed as a temporary departure to get reinforcements. Hence, the need to upgrade to god-status is mandatory for the world to be able to fight.  

The Beast will generously offer everyone the opportunity to take his DNA, which he promises will give everyone powers like his to fight against the coming enemy. If Satan can get the world to take the upgrade voluntarily, then all the better. And the reality is that many will. However, after some people resist and denounce it, his threat is implemented—that people will not be able to buy or sell unless they take it. How could the Beast / Satan effectively enforce such a threat? China’s social credit system provides us with a prototype. 

China’s Social Credit System 

 China’s social credit system is like a FICO score. A person with a FICO score of 820 has great credit, meaning banks are more likely to give a loan for homes, cars, etc. since that person is more trustworthy. Your FICO score indicates that you manage your money well, your debt-to-income ratio is balanced; and loaning you $200,000 is not risky. It makes sense. Whereas a score of 600 or below typically means you do not handle money well and banks will probably not loan you money, or if they do it will be at a higher interest rate because you are a higher risk.  

China has created sort of a FICO score for your whole life—a social credit system. They consider traditional input, such as your income tax payment, loan repayment, credit card bills, utility bills, payment of court judgments. They also factor in social input such as adherence to traffic rules, adherence to family planning limits, paying for public transportation, academic honesty, volunteer activity, filial piety, criminal record, etc. Then lastly, the score indicates your online input, like interactions with other internet users, the reliability of information posted or reposted online, and your shopping habits.  

China’s social credit system expands the idea of a standard credit check to all aspects of life. Each citizen is assigned 1000 points, monitored to judge their behavior, and rated accordingly. You can gain points by donating blood or money, engaging in charity work, praising the government on social media, and helping the poor. You can lose points by not visiting one’s aging parents regularly, cheating in online games, insincere apologies for crimes committed or spreading rumors on the internet, etc.  

Figure 26. Chinese Girls showing their social credit score; starts with 1000. 

Of course, you should go visit your aging parents wherever they are. But would it be the same if your son or daughter came to visit you, and you knew that they were only trying to improve their credit score so they could get ahead in society? You might say, Hey, it is good to see you, son. Tell me: are you here because you love me or because you want to buy a house?  

This system is already in place in China. In Figure 26 above, girls show their scores. Everyone starts with 1000 points. You can go up or down from that. You can gain a total of 1300 points, and you can go down as far as 600 points. These girls have 753, 724, 637, 668, and 690. This score does not merely determine if a person can get credit to buy something based on whether you are likely to pay the bank back or not. This score reflects what kind of person you are.  

The idea makes sense on a certain level. After all, most of us desire a society where people are honest and true, do not jaywalk, and help people. The Chinese government takes the criteria and aggregates the data to determine how good you are. It comes with a cost. If your score goes too low, you could be banned from access to planes, high-speed trains, from access to the internet and other social services. It is kind of like the game of life.  

However, what happens if the government gives an act a value disproportionate with the person’s values? Certainly, some practices will lessen a person’s score dramatically. Things like protesting the government, even for righteous causes, will bring down the score. Being part of the underground church instead of being part of the government-sanctioned Three-self Church will dramatically reduce a person’s score.  

China has close to 300 million cameras in which they use sophisticated facial recognition software to see when you have been naughty or nice, and they are keeping a list and checking it twice. If you jaywalk, you get points deducted. If you say something against the Chinese government, you get points deducted. This is now, and this is real in China. 

None of these things in and of themselves are the Beast System. Yet when we start putting them together and look at the technology already available, we see the Beast System beginning to emerge. We see how it could be incredibly easy to implement globally, and to administer in a short amount of time.  

It is not hard to imagine the addition of a few lines of code to check for the mark. Seeing that distinguishing mark would mean that this person is compliant. If no mark is seen, then your social credit score would be impacted, which could lead to you not being able to buy or sell. 

Figure 27 The essentials of facial recognition. Image by https://pixabay.com/users/tumisu-148124 

The Beast may give people a grace period of six months, for example, to upgrade and exhibit the mark. However, if a person persists in their refusal to be part of the solution, then they become a problem—indeed, a threat that must be dealt with or eliminated.  

The world will take people’s non-compliance very seriously because they will believe the earth will need to fight the coming hostiles (Rev 19:19). After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, many patriotic Japanese Americans were seen as a threat and were rounded up, and sadly, were sent to internment camps. They were baselessly suspected of being Japanese spies. We can imagine the fear the world will have after living through forty-two months of genocidal governments terrorizing planet Earth while Two Witnesses call down plagues on the wicked and then resurrect! If people are not willing to be part of the solution, then they will be branded as Luddites, a danger to humanity and traitorous for siding with Earth’s mortal enemy, the Master of the TWO!  

Non-mark-takers will pose an existential threat to the survival of the Beast system type of the human race. Therefore, for the good of humanity, all traitors will be executed. Some of the Remnant, however, will have been strengthened in their faith because of the TWO. They might pray and lay hands on the executed and raise them back to life as hinted at in Daniel: “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (Dan 11:32). Thus, to ensure the executed stay dead, the Beast will issue a decree to behead non-mark takers; massive persecution will follow and hundreds of millions put to death: 

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands (Rev 7:9), … “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). 

Chapter 12 of Corrupting the Image 3 : Hive Mind and the Image of the Beast  

The mark of the Beast “become-a-god upgrade” is only part of the solution Satan will employ to prepare the world for the great battle against Jesus. Having individual powers is great, but only a one-minded togetherness will defeat the Two Witnesses’ overlord and his armies coming to shake the Earth. Due to the “great fear” (Rev 11:11) that fell on the world when the Two Witnesses resurrected, it will be clear to all that the world must unite like never before. To combat this most serious existential threat to humanity’s very survival, radical steps must be taken.  

Scripture describes with amazing specificity this collective surrendering of mankind to the goals set by the Beast and how they act as one: “These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (Rev 17:13). 

Human Computer Interaction Alien AI 

Dr. Louis Rosenberg, a Stanford graduate who has been awarded more than 350 patents for his technological efforts in AR VR collaborative systems, artificial intelligence, and human computer interaction, describes the coming non-human life: 

“An alien intelligence is heading towards us at breakneck speeds. It will not show up in a rocket ship but will be born right here on Earth, in a research lab. The first sentient AI will be as different from us as any alien we can imagine and we have no reason believe its interests will be even remotely aligned with our own. This intelligence will be flexible and cunning, able to infiltrate our computer networks and permeate our critical infrastructure. It will quickly become smarter than we are and when that happens, humans will struggle to understand how it thinks, feels or acts. But it will understand us completely. After all, we will have told it everything we know and it will have spent decades studying human actions and reactions. And if that sounds incredibly dangerous, that is because it is.”¹⁶⁶ 

Keep in mind we are reviewing the research of people who are not necessarily reading the Book of Revelation, but who are nevertheless telling us things that sound eerily familiar and reminiscent of what we read in Bible prophecy. Dr Rosenberg continues: 

“It is equally likely that it will pursue its own interests. How can we protect ourselves from being intellectually outmatched by our own creation? A good place to look is Mother Nature, where many species have evolved ingenious methods of jointly amplifying their intellects to levels well beyond the capacity of any single individual. Evolution has enabled these species to ‘think as one,’ combining the knowledge, wisdom, intuition and instincts of large groups into closed loop systems that are smarter together than any of the individuals could ever be alone. Biologists call this process ‘swarm intelligence.’” ¹⁶⁷ 

Dr. Rosenberg suggests that the existential reason to become part of the hive mind is to protect ourselves from AI. In 2002, the National Science Foundation within the US Department of Commerce started talking about the mind meld and a collective consciousness coming for humanity. They suggest: 

“With knowledge no longer encapsulated by individuals, the distinction between individuals and the entirety of humanity would blur. Think Vulcan mind meld. Remember Mr. Spock, from Star Trek and he would put his hand on you, transfer his mind or something like that. We would perhaps become more of a hive mind, an enormous, single, intelligent entity.”¹⁶⁸ 

We concluded the Image of the Beast would be a single entity, which will have its own desires and goals. Also in 2002, the Fathers For Life website spoke of a hive mind being brought to life!  

“Not only will the hive mind have been brought to life by the end of this century, but it will also offer the lure of immortality, enhanced body functions and vastly improved brain power for all those who join it, giving them virtually instantaneous communication with one another and making them potentially unimaginably powerful. That’s what makes us human and what comprises mankind, e. g.: individual personalities will then no longer exist.”¹⁶⁹ 

By contrast, Disruption Hub has their own version of how becoming a swarm will help humanity mitigate the effects of AI: 

“These systems are a combination of AI algorithms and real human participants, they will always be inherently aligned with human morals, interests, values and sensibilities. The resulting super-intelligence will not be an alien entity with conflicting values and interests but instead will be the natural evolution of the human intellect.”¹⁷⁰ 

While that sounds good on the surface, what if the morals, interests, values, and sensibilities programmed into this AI are distinctively in conflict against God’s principles and commandments, and against those “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 12:17)? What if those new values would “cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev 13:15)?  

Such a scenario is what end-times Bible prophecy has predicted for the last two millennia.  

Image of the Beast 

“And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived” (Rev 13:14).  

The image [εἰκών eikon / icon] is “an object shaped to resemble the form or appearance of something, likeness, portrait … of the emperor’s head on a coin.” ¹⁷¹ This language is reminiscent of when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen 1:26). In other words, the False Prophet may get the world to make a replica of the Beast or maybe a sophisticated cyborg that looks just like the Beast. However, there may be another way to interpret the text.  

The text says, “He was granted ‘power to give’ [εδοθη αυτω δουναι] breath [πνευμα] to the image of the beast” (Rev 13:15). The Greek word πνευμα “pneuma” can be understood as “air: the movement, blowing, breathing, that which animates or gives life to the body, breathe life, spirit. It is a part of human personality; your spirit, not necessarily your wind.”¹⁷² Then, is it just breath in the lungs? BDAG Lexicon also explains breath as, “An independent noncorporal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses, that is a spirit.” The last definition is, “an independent, transcendent personality.” The Spanish Reina Valera may bring out the sense better “le fué dado que diese espíritu á la imagen de la bestia” (Rev 13:15) … that is, “to him was given that he might give spirit to the image of the beast.” 

In other words, the false prophet gives a transcendent personality to the image—a non-corporeal being that is a spirit. This latter definition seems to fit with the rest of the verse:  

“that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev 13:15). 

The image of the Beast is not merely an animatronic or dumb robot. It is not just a sophisticated AI. Either it breathes with breath in its lungs, or the other option is that it has “an independent, transcendent personality.” It is not just a parlor trick; it will have “the ability to speak” (Rev13:15). If it can speak, that means it has thoughts. He is like an engineered TWIN of the Beast. It seems to be that the Beast and the False Prophet are trying to replicate, copy, counterfeit the process of God’s creation of man in some form or fashion. Many secular thinkers have already concluded that such a “twin” will be transcendent, immune to human weaknesses and look indestructible; and, is coming in the near future. 

Hybridized Thoughts  

Ray Kurzweil suggests in the future, “our thinking then will be a hybrid of biological and non-biological thinking.” ¹⁷³ The implications of what he is saying are huge. Having a non-biological body part is one thing. But to have our thoughts, the most intimate part of what makes us, us —to have our thoughts hybridized potentially by the late 2030s is an incredible consideration indeed. Kurzweil’s predictions are not just pie in the sky ideas, but are quickly becoming a startling reality. 

Elon Musk has a company called Neuralink, which is developing a “neural lace” technology to augment the cognitive abilities of the human brain—to upload and download thoughts.¹⁷⁴ Basically, they drill through the skull and put a tiny mesh apparatus on the brain, which a person can then use to upload and download thoughts to a computer or to a destination of choice. Musk claims the company already has a monkey with “a wireless implant in [his] skull with tiny wires, who can play video games with his mind.” It is not hard to see how such technology could have the ability to help millions of people live more active lives. It may help quadriplegics and untold others who suffer from neurological damage or other motor-skill deficiencies. Such advances are laudable—but history reminds us of how humans can use good technology for evil, and the Bible warns us of what is coming.  

Musk explained that the goal with the brain-linking technology is addressing brain and spinal injuries and making up people’s lost capacity with an implanted chip. “There are primitive versions of this device with wires sticking out of your head, but it’s like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires that go into your brain.”¹⁷⁵  

No one can question such good uses of the nascent technology. Nevertheless, like all technology, it remains to be seen if it will be used for good or to enslave people. Could the therapeutic effects of these procedures be used as a cover for the real purpose that is intended, namely, to engineer a way of remote manipulation of the human mind into a hive-mind entity? 

 Based on what we read in the book of Revelation, it would not be surprising if we were witnessing the building blocks of the Image of the Beast.  

“Cognitive scientists have said that the mind is the software of the brain. Increasingly, physical software has the capacity to meld with, and augment, the human mind. If AI-enabled [Brain Computer Interface] BCI achievements already seem unbelievable, it stands to reason that BCI breakthroughs in the not-too-distant future could be truly momentous. Will the technology be harnessed for positive use cases to cure diseases or for mind control?”¹⁷⁶ 

A form of brain hacking already exists; it occurs when Satan gains access to a mind and starts inserting his ideas. However, we are able to stop him and bring all thoughts captive (2 Cor 10:5). On the other hand, if there is a mesh on our brains, how could we stop the hacker? Losing freewill and the ability, and the right, to make our own decisions might not be far behind.  

It is with incredible irony that Elon Musk has stated that one of the reasons for creating Neuralink was to keep pace with artificial intelligence, which he believes is our biggest existential threat: 

“I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it is probably that. We need to be very careful,” said Musk. “I’m increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish.” 

“With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there is the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it is like—yeah, he is sure he can control the demon. Doesn’t work out.”¹⁷⁷ 

This kind of technology may represent fundamental steppingstones to the image of the Beast, to the number, and the mark of the Beast. The neural lace in and of itself is not evil, but it could be used for evil. If you had a very pleasing image of a person in your head telling you what to do, would you say no? Could you say no? Elon Musk probably has good intentions, but we can easily see how such technology could be used for incredible evil. After all, if someone hacks our computer, it is only a machine that we can disable. But if someone hacks our minds, then what? 

Researchers from Queen Mary University in London are working on using a neural network to read our thoughts and thereby determine a person’s emotional state.  

In this research, participants in the study watched a video while radio signals were sent towards them and measured when they bounced back. Analysis of body movements revealed “hidden” information about an individual’s heart and breathing rates. From these findings, the algorithm can determine one of four basic emotion types: anger, sadness, joy, and pleasure. The researchers proposed this work could help with the management of health and wellbeing and be used to perform tasks like detecting depressive states. 

Ahsan Noor Khan, a PhD student and first author of the study, said: “We’re now looking to investigate how we could use low-cost existing systems, such as Wi-Fi routers, to detect emotions of a large number of people gathered, for instance in an office or work environment.” Among other things, this could be useful for HR departments to assess how new policies introduced in a meeting are being received, regardless of what the recipients might say. Outside of an office, police could use this technology to look for emotional changes in a crowd that might lead to violence. 

The researchers admit that this sounds like 1984—and for good reason. Nevertheless, researchers around the world continue to push the envelope.  

Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan developed a method to “see” inside people’s minds using an fMRI scanner, which detects changes in blood flow in the brain … Though far from polished, this was essentially a reconstruction of what they were thinking about. One prediction estimates this technology could be in use by the 2040s. 

MIT researchers have developed a computer interface that can transcribe words that the user verbalizes internally but does not actually speak aloud. A wearable device with electrodes pick-up neuromuscular signals in the jaw and face that are triggered by internal verbalizations, also referred to as subvocalizations. The signals are fed to a neural network that has been trained to correlate these signals with particular words. The idea behind this development is to meld humans and machines “such that computing, the internet and AI would weave into human personality as a ‘second self.’”¹⁷⁸ 

We must acknowledge that quadriplegics, comatose patients, and others could greatly benefit from such technology. As Biblicists, we are pro technology. Nevertheless, we must also acknowledge how such technology could be used for incredible destruction. The building and assembling of the image of the Beast seems to fit the bill.  

Brain to Brain Communication 

With an effective Brain Computer Interface (BCI), brain-to-brain communication becomes the next logical step. Pascual-Leone explains:  

“By using advanced precision neuro-technologies including wireless EEG and robotized TMS, we were able to directly and noninvasively transmit a thought from one person to another, without them having to speak or write. This in itself is a remarkable step in human communication, but being able to do so across a distance of thousands of miles is a critically important proof-of-principle for the development of brain-to-brain communications.”¹⁷⁹ 

Figure 24. How Brain to brain communication will work. 

The things researchers are able to do today were the science fiction of yesterday. In the popular series Star Trek, Spock was able to use his Vulcan mind meld to impart knowledge directly into someone else’s brain. 

Now it is reality, still in its infancy, but it is happening by creating a device that allows two people to share information through thought. The researchers tested the technology by separating … the users by more than 8000 kilometers, with one user in France and the other in India.¹⁸⁰ 

With brain-to-brain communication, it would then be possible to have something called the hive mind, an idea first proposed in 2007 and dubbed the Technium. Kevin Kelley explains the characteristics of the hive mind.  

“The emergent system of the technium—what we often mean by ‘Technology’ with a capital T—has its own inherent agenda and urges, as does any large complex system, indeed, as does life itself. That is, an individual technological organism has one kind of response, but in an ecology comprised of co-evolving species of technology we find an elevated entity—the technium—that behaves very differently from an individual species. The technium is a superorganism of technology. It has its own force that it exerts. That force is part cultural (influenced by and influencing of humans), but it is also partly non-human, partly indigenous to the physics of technology itself. That is the part that is scary and interesting.”¹⁸¹ 

Scary indeed. We must remember that the authors we are consulting are not speaking of the biblical end times, but of the devasting effects humanity’s own brilliance could have on itself. Once again, it is not any of these technologies that are in and of themselves evil. However, in the hands of a madman—with humanity between a rock and hard place—such technologies could be used for great evil.  

What is a Hive?  

The next question we should consider is what exactly is a hive mind?  

A colony of honeybees is far more than an aggregation of individuals, that is a composite being that functions as an integrated whole. Indeed, one can actually or accurately think of a honeybee colony as a single living entity, weighing as much as five kilograms and performing all of the basic physiological processes … The hive is doing all this. Each one has its own little member part but there is a bigger thing happening.¹⁸² 

Figure 25. Colony of Honeybees Unknown Author licensed under CC BY-SA-NC. 

The notion that a hive (as with the technium) can be considered its own organism, a “single living entity” is very telling. Recall that we discovered that the image of the Beast will have breath, which could be interpreted to mean, “a transcendent being.” With that in mind, we will now turn to some forecasters who are speculating that humanity just may become something like the hive.  

Washington University biologist Joan Strassmann, who has published papers on the topic of the hive mind, including “Beyond society: the evolution of organismality” along with colleague David Queller,¹⁸³ explains in Gizmodo how humans could potentially become a superorganism as clones.  

“So what, exactly, is an organism? There are no hard and fast rules, but Strassmann and Queller call it a ‘social phenomenon.’ What they mean by that is all individuals have evolved from simpler organisms that work cooperatively. Your body is a society of cells that function together to make you walk, clean your blood, and digest your food.  

Now for the real question: What would inspire a group of multicellular organisms like ants or humans to form a superorganism? In their book The Superorganism, biologists Bert Hölldobler and E.O. Wilson argue that it is a complex process involving genetic evolution and environmental pressures. Generally a group of insects like bees will move from behaving as individuals to forming colonies when they are storing food (like honey or pollen) that comes from multiple sources. At that point, a colony has a better chance of surviving than an individual.”¹⁸⁴ 

Thus for humans to even consider merging into a hive mind scenario, there would have to be an existential reason for doing so—that is, something that would cause people to believe they would have better odds of survival as a hive than separately. The 3.5 years of terrors by the Two Witnesses, their resurrection, and forthcoming army of hostile aliens (Jesus and company) could be such a reason to prompt the creation of the hive. Lest we think that once again this is all just fanciful thinking, we ought to note that the technology to create a human hive already exists. 

“The interfaces and algorithms to connect people into real time swarms also exist already and are referred to as ‘artificial swarm intelligence.’ Governed by AI algorithms, these combine the knowledge, wisdom, insights and intuitions of real people and in real time, enabling large groups of networked humans to quickly converge upon optimized decisions, predictions, solutions and evaluations.”¹⁸⁵ 

Becoming a Superorganism  

Joan Strassman continues in her explanation of humans becoming a superorganism. To be fair, she considers the evolution of humans into a colony organism as “rank speculation” at this point. Nevertheless, she points out that: 

“The things that would drive a human group to organismality would be suppression of conflict and an increase in cooperation … That could happen with higher relatedness. But right now there is far too much conflict.”¹⁸⁶ 

If the world, as Ronald Reagan put it, were facing “an alien threat from outside this world,” we would quickly come together. The real terror caused by the Two Witnesses, their subsequent resurrection and threat to return could be just the thing necessary to drive humanity to organismality. Strassman continues mapping out how such a transition to a hive mind might happen stating we would: 

“need a society of human clones to make the complete transition from individuals to colony clones. In order to form a hive mind, humans may have to act more like an integrated neural network.”¹⁸⁷ 

The mark of the Beast could be just the switch necessary to conform individuals into clones. After all, they would all receive hybridized DNA from Satan himself. Strassman points out that one way to bring the human minds together could be to use “wireless brain-to-brain communication, which is not that far off in terms of available technology.” She then asks the million-dollar question:  

“What happens to our individuality if we give rise to a hive mind? Are our individual minds obliterated? Or is it just business as usual while a collective intelligence supervenes on our brains, unbeknownst to us? Giulio Tononi (of the information integration theory) actually thinks that the individual consciousness winks out when the group forms a truly integrated whole … individuals would cease to be conscious.”¹⁸⁸ 

Satan Controls Minds 

So what would Satan do with a hive mind? As we have seen, people who take the mark are superhuman, and the hive would unite them to act as a superorganism. Such a weapon might prove highly effective in the coming battle against man’s Creator. Satan may want to assimilate us into a single living organism to fight Yeshua in a way like the Borg from Star Trek—“resistance is futile; you will be assimilated.”  

However, unlike a hive of honeybees where there is no top-down leadership, Satan would be at the top. He would control it. He wants to take away people’s autonomy and their freewill, their individuality. Satan wants to bind us, and it starts in our minds, as demonstrated by many verses: 

• “These are of one mind [γνώμη, gnōmē], and they will give their power and authority to the beast (Rev 17:13). 
• For to be carnally minded [φρονημα, phronēma] is death (Rom 8:6).  
• do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [νοῦς, nous]… (Rom 12:2). 

• whose minds [νόημα, noēma] the god of this age has blinded… (2 Cor 4:4).  
• as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds [νόημα] may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor 11:3). 
• whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame–who set their mind [φρονέω, phroneō] on earthly things (Phil 3:19). 
• And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind [διανοια, dianoia] by wicked works (Col 1:21). 

What is the common word? It is the mind.¹⁸⁹ Satan is going for our minds because the mind is where we make decisions that lead us to freedom or bondage, to life or to death. The man who was possessed with a legion of demons was in bondage and not in his right mind; his will was suppressed and overpowered. After Jesus freed him, the man was “sitting and clothed and in his right mind [σωφρονέω, sōphroneō]” (Mark 5:15). According to BDAG, “σωφρονέω to be able to think in a sound or sane manner, be of sound mind, of mental health.” 

Think of it like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in which the evil ancient god, Sauron, created a ring in which his essence dwells. From that day, his fate and the ring are intertwined. Others who also received a ring of power were excited about it. But it was a ruse. Their rings simply served to enslave them through his more powerful ring. “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” Satan’s scheme is control, in order to enslave us like Sauron—just the opposite of what Jesus wants to do.  

However, in light of all that we have seen thus far, we can paint a composite image of the initial rush the Marked-ones will experience when they receive their upgrade. They will possess superpowers unlike anything humans have ever experienced. They may feel the dark, overwhelming power rushing through their bodies. Each cell in their bodies will undergo a transformation; their DNA is rewritten with Satan’s DNA. Their speed, strength, and abilities increase a thousandfold; they possess nearly the same powers as the Beast. Their minds flood with knowledge about humanity, the earth, and Satan’s (Enlil’s) ancient struggle against Israel’s God. They may revel in the ecstasy of their power, ability, and knowledge and, along with it, a sense of pride and arrogance may rise to untold heights; each person feels he is the greatest that there ever was. They know they are gods. Everyone plans how he will rule the world, and do what is right in his own eyes; how he or she will ascend above the heights of the clouds and plant his or her throne above God himself. This ethereal moment is interrupted by an impulse to submit to Enlil.  

Jesus Prays 

Just the opposite of Satan’s scheme, Jesus wants to free us rather than enslave us. In his famous prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus expressed his desire for unity for not only his then-current disciples but also for future disciples, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us …” (John 17:21). He wants us to have the same kind of unity that He and the Father have.  

The idea is that when we go to be with the Lord, in His kingdom and under his rule, we as individuals are not annihilated or swallowed up. You do not cease being you; you are not lost into Nirvana. Rather, our historic and genetic traits stay the same, and we will each carry our “luggage” of talents, emotions and past experiences. We will keep our own personalities and preserve our free will as well. But there will no longer be division or philosophies contrary to God and our fellow man. We will enjoy complete harmony with one another, on the same frequency, just like what Jesus and the Father have been experiencing forever. There has never been a conflict of interest; they have always been united, in interest and in purpose.  

That is what He wants for us, without taking away your individuality, without taking away your free will. “You are the body of Christ and members individually” (1 Cor 12:27).  

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor 12:12). Jesus wants us to come into this unit called the body. He does not want to diminish us but to augment and increase us in such a way that we have the same purpose and no conflict; fear that drives people to defensive actions will not be a factor anymore. He wants us to enjoy his glory and the unity He shares with the Father.  

“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17: 22–23). 

When the Holy Spirit comes in us, it is not to make us robots where we have no more choice, and we just do whatever the Father says. He wants to dwell with us, inhabit us, empower us, but not overpower us.  

God has a bigger purpose; He is not trying to make us uniform or automatons. In God’s kingdom, not everyone has to fit the same mold. He wants us all to have our own personalities, expressions, and character. When we come together in unity, He blends it together in such an incredibly masterful way that He creates this harmonic symphony composed of divergent sounds. They say that the human body is composed of about 50 trillion cells all working together; that is you. Teach singular cell does its part. And that is the same idea of how Jesus wants us to be.