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Introduction to the 13^th Chapter:

There are many misconceptions about the antichrist. One of these is the teaching that he will be the leader of a one-world government. In reality he will be far from a one-world leader.

The reason so many people believe that he will be the one world leader is because of a book that was published in 1918 by a man named Clarence Larkin. Many of our Bible prophecy studies today are based on his teachings. He had many accurate things that he taught but he was only a human being and made mistakes the same as anyone of us can and do. Many of our major denominations in America base their teachings from his beliefs.

Clarence Larkin believed that the Antichrist would be the false leader of world peace, who would then take over the whole world forcing everyone to take the mark of the beast. He believed that the League of Nations would be the tool the Antichrist would use. After the League of Nations dissolved, he then believed that it would be the European Common Market or possibly the United Nations itself. His book was revised many times between 1918 and present day teachings. This book is called Dispensational Truth.

Many Bibles to this day use his teaching and drawings in the back to tell about the seven years of tribulation. Since Bible publishers use this in many of their Bibles, most people believe that this teaching must be the absolute truth. But Clarence Larkin was too soon to be dead accurate. God told Daniel to seal up the book until the time of the end. Clarence Larkin was given many things about the endtime from the Lord, but because of God's time-table he was unable to put it all together. I really do believe that Clarence Larkin was a great man of God and I treasure many of the things he taught me through his teachings but he was too early to have the whole message.

If you will research the scriptures with me, you to will realize that the antichrist will not take over the whole world or will he cause everyone in the whole world to take the mark of the beast. He would like to, but he won't be able to.

1: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
"I stood upon the sand of the sea" is in reference to John who is telling about the visions that God gave to him. John saw a beast that had seven heads, ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns. When we saw the great red dragon in chapter 12, it was a little different from this. There were seven heads, ten horns and seven crowns. Which showed us that a short time before the invasion of Israel that occurs at the middle of the Tribulation, that Satan would be cast into this beast and his nations as a final solution to his judgment before the end. Satan will use these nations as a vehicle to accomplish his war against God. He will fail but not without a fight. The difference between the amount of crowns that he is wearing is because before the invasion the Antichrist will only have seven nations out of the ten that are completely allied with him. After the invasion, which is what we are looking at in these scriptures, three other nations are forced to comply with him.

The sea that the beast rises up and out of is speaking of the nations of the World, not all the nations but of the nations.

These beasts each one by itself represents all the authority of one man. This man is the Antichrist. In the book of Daniel, Daniel was told that each one of the four beasts that he saw was a king. (Daniel 7: 17)

The heads on this beast represents "nations."

Revelation 17: 9 Tells us that the heads are "mountains." Although I do believe that Rome is involved with the Antichrist I do not believe that these mountains are the seven hills that Rome was built on. The main reason I do not believe this is because all four of the beasts in Daniel had heads. One of them had four heads. This would mean that this power with four heads would be built on four mountains. I don’t believe this. However God described some nations as being mountains. In Jeremiah: 51: 24-25 God called Babylon and all the inhabitants a destroying mountain, which would have been the nation of Babylon. This is what I believe this to mean that these seven heads are "seven nations." We will see them described again in the description of the beast in the second verse.

The horns on the heads are "the leaders" of these nations.

Revelation 17: 12: And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

In the book of Daniel wings also represent kings. On the back of the Lion were two wings, which were plucked off, this was Nebuchadnezzar and his son. The four wings on the back of the four-headed leopard were the kings of Egypt, Syria, Thrace and Macedonna under Alexander the Great.

The crowns represent "being crowned by the Antichrist," or given their allegiance and his acceptance of them as an ally, "he gives them their authority."

Upon his heads were the names of blasphemy. This tells us that each of these nations is full of blasphemy. These nations are God haters and despise his authority. The seven heads represent the original seven heads in Daniel, Babylon, Persia, the four nations of Alexander and the Roman Empire. All of these nations have opposed God in some way or other and have sought world domination. They never obtained it and the Antichrist and his nations symbolized by this beast will fail as well.

2: And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
The beast is described as looking like a leopard, as having the feet of a bear, the mouth of a lion and the dragon or Satan giving him his power, his kingdom and authority. This takes us immediately back to Daniel the seventh chapter. The Leopard was the four allied nations of Alexander the Great. The bear’s feet are a symbol of Medo-Persia. The Lion’s mouth is a symbol of the nation of Babylon. It is God who is describing this beast and he is pointing his finger at his enemies. They are found in the book of Daniel as well as this chapter to point out who these individuals are. The whole body of this beast is made up of these nations. Many try to say that this is the revised Roman empire, but we will not see Rome come into this until we take a look at the second beast. We will get a little better look at Rome when we see the Harlot in chapter 17 ride out on the back on this same beast who has become red like blood and the color of the dragon.

The image of the man that Nebuchadnezzar saw in the book of Daniel was similar to this. His head of gold represented Babylon, his shoulders of silver represented the Medo-Persian Empire, his stomach of bronze represented Alexander the Great with his four nations and his legs represented the Roman Empire. Although we see a little more about this as we see that the feet and ten toes are made of Iron and Clay.

The main point I would like to stress is that when the Rock that is cut out of a great mountain, rolls down and strikes the image of the man in Daniel. It not only destroys the feet and toes, but the whole image is destroyed. This shows us the same thing that we see in this chapter. The nations that were in that man were the same nations that make up the beast in this verse. They will all be destroyed as one in unity and judgment together in the valley of Megiddo.

Think on this for a moment: There have been many powerful nations in the world in the past and yet God took the time to point to these particular nations. Why? It is because they will eventually come together to form this monster that is called the beast. The Harlot will simply try to ride it. She will attempt to use it for her own gain and purpose.

Once again the seven heads represent this confederation which will eventually become ten nations with ten kings all under the authority of the Antichrist.

3: And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Many teach that the man, who is the Antichrist, will be shot or wounded in the head and will die and is resurrected from the dead as a counterfeit to Jesus and his resurrection. This cannot be because "one of the heads" is speaking of a nation, not a man.

What this is showing is that one of the nations, that is out of the original seven in Daniel who make up the body of this beast, is wounded as unto death. This means that it suffers a terrible military defeat of some kind and will surprise many people when it comes back into power. It will be given support and strengthened by the other nations in this confederation of ten nations, it will come back as a strong nation.

"All the world," in this verse is a synecdoche meaning all of the enemies of God rather than every person in the world. Especially since we will find in this scripture that the elect will not be deceived, all of those whose names are written in the book of life will not wonder after the beast, verse 8.

4: And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
"And they," who worship the dragon is not everyone in the whole world but is speaking of the enemies of God who worship other gods and follow the Antichrist as god. The dragon is Satan. This they will do ignorantly worshipping the Antichrist who will call himself god and will be worshipped by the people of the ¼ part of the earth that he is given power over in the 4^th Seal, which is during the last 3 ½ years before Armageddon.

It is Satan that gives this beast his power and authority as he is often allowed to do. God is in charge of the earth and everything in it. He has the power to destroy or give life. The Antichrist is the scourge of God on God’s enemies not his people. The people of God who perish under the hands of the Antichrist will be appointed unto death as witnesses of God’s great love for all men, they will do it willingly as Peter, Paul, James and Stephen.

The people who follow the Antichrist will follow him as ignorantly as Egypt followed Pharaoh to their deaths. This is the curse of Abraham upon the nations who hate and despise Israel.

The nations that defend Israel during these last days are nations who are trying to protect Israel against this demonic power. They will be blessed in the end but will fight many horrible battles against this beast.

5: And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
This mouth speaking great things and blasphemies against God is also described as the mouth of a lion. This is very descriptive because the lion was Babylon and is the nation of Iraq in our time. I believe that the Antichrist or leader of the beast will come out of Iraq. In Daniel we also see the mouth of the Antichrist described in Daniel 7:
8: I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

The Antichrist will make a lot of promises that he cannot keep and will declare that he is God according to 2^nd Thessalonians,
4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

It is blasphemy to declare himself to be God, it is also blasphemy for him to command others to worship him and the image.

6: And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Once again, declaring himself to be God and to cause others to worship him is blasphemy against God. It is an attempt to steal God’s glory and authority over mankind. He will also blaspheme the tabernacle that is the Church the place that Christ dwells. This he will do as he wages war against the kingdom of God on this earth.

7: And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
In this scripture it says that he is given authority to make war against the saints and to overcome them. This power or authority is not given him by God but by men as they fall in behind the Antichrist to support his ideas, which is all inspired by Satan himself through the lies and deceit that comes from the mouth of the Antichrist.

His support to overcome the Saints coming from the people will only come from the 1/4^th part of the Earth that he is given in the fourth Seal. The word "all," when speaking of "all kindreds, tongues and nations," is a synecdoche and not to be literally taken for everyone in the whole world. There are many things that support what I am saying. Number one is the fact that Israel escapes his persecution for 3 ½ years found in Revelation 12: 14.

His warfare against the Saints will only occur in the part of the world that he is in control of, it will not include the whole world. Great revival will be going on according to Revelation 12: 10.

8: And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Many believe that the Antichrist will conquer the whole world because of this scripture that says "all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him." But this is a synecdoche as well as other places seeing as the Antichrist will be driven out of Israel sometime during the last 3 ½ years and will be forced to call for re-enforcement’s from the kings of the East. These nations will be talked into helping him, not forced or commanded to do so, which shows us that he is not in authority over them. The nations that he is at war with will defend Israel all the way to the time of Armageddon.

This scripture also tells us those people whose names are written in the book of life will not be deceived by the Antichrist, which agrees with Matthew 24: 24 that says this.
24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

And again in Revelation 17 verse 8, which teaches that everyone would wonder after the beast accept the elect of God. Anyone who is born again will not be deceived or follow after the Antichrist, it is a promise from God.

9: If any man have an ear, let him hear.
A general exhortation. Christ's own words of monition calling solemn attention.

10: He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
In this scripture God sends out a warning to the Antichrist and the people who are allied with him. What ever they decide to do to harm others will be their own judgment. Just as Pharaoh pronounced judgment on the first born of Israel, it was the first born of Egypt who was to reap the death.

The Antichrist and his people will be bringing others into captivity by deception and lies. His own lies will be his own destruction.

The sword is speaking of his army. If they are going to kill others with their army, there is going to be another army that is going to destroy them. There will be a terrible war fought during the last 3 ½ years, a struggle over Jerusalem and Israel. Close to the end of the 3 ½ years World War Three will erupt with millions being killed. Just as it has always been with the enemies of Israel, they will suffer the greatest loses. But, at the very end, at the time of Armageddon the army from heaven will come to destroy the army of the Antichrist.

11: And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
To understand this beast that comes up out of the earth, there are several things to consider. The first is that this beast is the false prophet found in Revelation the 19^th chapter.
20: And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

It shows the false prophet as having two horns and I believe that there is a logical answer to this. We know that horns represent leaders or kings. This shows us that the Antichrist who is one of these horns will have another leader who will be there working hand in hand with him to help him with his deception and lies.

I personally believe that the false prophet will be the Pope who is over the Catholic Church at the time of these events. He will be supported by the Ayatollah of Iran a person that the whole Muslim world looks up to. The nations that are described in the beast are all Muslim countries except one and that is Italy. But all of these nations have Muslims and Catholics living in their nations. Most Catholics are tolerated in these Muslim countries. The Muslim faith is becoming stronger and stronger in Italy all the time.

The Iron and the Clay in the feet and toes of the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in Daniel is this; The iron was the Roman Empire that evolved down into a Church the Eastern and Western Catholic Church. The Clay is a different religion. It was in the time of Daniel and didn’t surface until after Jesus came to this earth. It is the Muslim religion that believes in Mohammed. This is the reason that the two are unable to cleave to one another.

12: And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
The power that the second beast uses is the same power that the first beast used. It is lies and deception and it comes from Satan, it is the power that Satan uses all of the time. He is the father of lies and all of those who are using his power will be using this as a tool to accomplish their goals.

Those who follow him will be those spoken about by the apostle Paul in 2^nd Thessalonians the second chapter.
9: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10: And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

It will be the job or goal of the second beast to cause others to worship the Antichrist and his image. I believe that this will be accomplished by two lies from the two leaders that are allied together to this. Remember the two horns. One the Pope, the other the Ayatollah of Iran. Since both faiths are looking for the return of the Messiah it is easy to see how this could be done. The Pope will tell all the Catholics that the Antichrist is Christ returned to bring peace to the earth. The Ayatollah will say that it is Mohammed returned to destroy the wicked and to establish peace on the earth. To accomplish this they will tell everyone that Jesus and Mohammed must be one and the same God after all and that the Antichrist is the one. This is how they will attempt to unite the Muslim and Catholic faiths, which is the iron and clay in the feet of the man in Daniel. Remember they work together but have a hard time doing so. Eventually the clay will destroy the iron, God has put it in their hearts to do so.

13: And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
These second beast or false prophet will have the ability to make fire come down from heaven which is one of the powers of the two witnesses. It is probably a lie or a trick because this is the nature of Satan to lie and deceive. But it will be a counter measure of the false prophet against the two witnesses who use this power to torment the Antichrist and his people. When Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh in Egypt they cast the rod of Moses before Pharaoh and it became a serpent. The two wizards of Pharaoh did the same thing only the serpent of Moses ate their serpents. This is a similar contest between the False prophet and his helper who challenge the two witnesses who will no doubt warn the Antichrist of his coming doom.

14: And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
With his lies and deception along with these so called miracles performed by the False prophet he will be able to convince many people to worship the beast and his image. The fact that it mentions the wounded head is to show us that he is speaking about the beast in verse one that comes up out of the sea. It is not to say that the Antichrist himself has a deadly wound because the heads on this beast is nations. The fact that he has a wound by a sword proves what I was saying about this nation earlier. The sword in Bible prophecy represents armies. This is showing a military defeat that almost destroys one of the nations that will be a part of the beast and recovers from it.

It says that the people of the Antichrist should make an image to the beast.

15: And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
The power to give life to the beast is his lies and deception. I do not believe that they are going to make a statue and at some point it become alive and speak. I believe that this is the image or message of the Antichrist. Such as Hitler in Germany created a dream or a vision for the people of a superior nation that would rule the world. When the people fell into step with this vision and it became a part of their dreams as well, then life was given to the image or vision of Hitler. I believe that this is what this image of the beast will be. Because of this dream those who do not cherish it or ally themselves to it, are ordered to be killed. It will be thought of as a necessary thing to preserve the image or dream that the Antichrist and the false prophet have described to those nations.

16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
I do not know what this mark will be, but the significance of it is obvious. Whether or not it is a computer chip or a literal tat too is not important because God’s elect will not be deceived by the Antichrist. There is no reason to suspect that someone would take this mark by mistake and be cursed for taking it.

It says that he causes all, the unknown, the well known, the wealthy, the poor, those who are in slavery and those who are not will be forced to take the mark. The word "all," in this scripture is a synecdoche only meaning those people that the Antichrist is given power over in his 1/4^th part of the earth. This is all the people that he will be able to deceive not the whole world. He will be fighting wars with other nations all the way to the end at the time of Armageddon. He would have to conquer these nations in order to make everyone receive the mark of the beast.

To receive the mark in their foreheads and hands is a spiritual look at these people giving their mind and service in submission to the Antichrist.

17: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
This mark will be the reason so many people are executed by the Antichrist and his henchmen. God calls these henchmen the beasts of the earth in Revelation 6:
8: And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The mark is the reason that he kills with the sword, which is his army. That he kills with hunger, is because you cannot buy and sell without the mark. He kills with death, because if you take the mark you will never be able to be saved which kills the soul, if you don’t take the mark you will starve or be executed. This is how he kills with death. The beasts of the earth are as I said before, the people who are willing to commit these horrible acts.

Just as Hitler’s henchmen, such as those who killed and tortured the Jews and other people under Hitler’s orders. God calls them animals just like their leader, they are all beasts to him.

18: Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
IRENÆUS, in the second century, disciple of POLYCARP, John's disciple, explained this number as contained in the Greek letters of Lateinos (L being thirty; A, one; T, three hundred; E, five; I, ten; N, fifty; O, seventy; S, two hundred). The Latin is peculiarly the language of the Church of Rome in all her official acts; The last Antichrist may have a close connection with Rome, and so the name Lateinos (666) may apply to him. The Hebrew letters of Balaam amount to 666 [BUNSEN]; a type of the false prophet, whose characteristic, like Balaam's, will be high spiritual knowledge perverted to Satanic ends.

All of these seem to sound in order, I have often wondered if the numbers 666 could simply be in order such as the number 6 by itself is the number of a man. What if the number six is used in a series such as the first six being a man who was a terrible persecutor of God’s people? And the second six was someone like Hitler who was also a notable persecutor. And then followed by a third six which would be the Antichrist himself? I don’t know, but I would certainly like to know along with thousands of others who looked and speculated on this subject. Perhaps God will tell us when the time is right.

footnote#1

The word all in these scriptures is talking about everyone that he his able to get his hands on. In reality the antichrist is fighting wars until the time of Armageddon. In order to force everyone in the earth to take the mark or worship him, he will first have to conquer them. At the time of the end, he and the false prophet will send out spirits of devils to convince other nations to help him go against Israel. If he has to persuade nations through deception to help him, then he doesn't have the power over them to take their lives for not taking the mark of the beast. He would simply say, do it, and they would, if he had the power over them that we imagine.

First I would like to talk to you about the way the Bible uses the word all.

The terms "all the world" and "the whole earth,"and "all" must be understood in a figurative sense when used of a King of a kingdom of men. The figure of speech is a synecdoche by which a part is put for the whole, or the whole for a part. It is used repeatedly in the Bible when only a part is meant. It is used by men daily in such language as "the whole country (state or city) was there last night," or "everybody in town was there." If we meant such a statement literally we would be telling a falsehood unless it could actually be proved. But the Bible does use it in this sense many times and I would like to show you some of these places in the scriptures.

In Dan.2:37-38, Daniel, speaking as an oracle of God, said this:

37: Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38: And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that God had made him ruler over everyplace that men lived, and had given him power over all the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Since we know that God doesn't lie, it is important to understand that God was speaking of only that part of the world being the entire world as a synecdoche. A part is put for the whole, or the whole for a part.

Nebuchadnezzar never conquered Greece, Rome, the rest of Africa, or most of Asia, Europe or the Americas. In fact His Kingdom was smaller than the ones that the Grecians or the Romans would achieve. And they themselves never conquered the whole world.

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that another Kingdom would come that would rule over all the earth, the Grecian Kingdom. (Dan. 2:39) And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. But we know that Greece did not rule over Italy or Spain, of course England, Europe, Asia, most of Africa or the Americas, not to mention Japan, Australia, China, or India, the south Sea Islands, or Australia.

Daniel spoke of the Roman Kingdom in Dan. 7:23. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. It was suppose to conquer the whole world, but this never happened. Once again we are looking at a part for a whole, or a whole for a part. Basically talking about that part of the world that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea.

When John the Baptist was baptizing in Matt. 3: 5-6, we see a similar happening.

5. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
6: And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

This sounds as if every living soul in all of Judea, Jerusalem, and everyone in the region of Jordan were baptized by John. Where in reality it is a synecdoche letting us know that there were a very large number of people who were baptized by John. Judea is the whole Southern Kingdom of Israel, which at that time was Israel. We know for a fact that not everyone in Israel was baptized by John. John ended up being beheaded by his enemies, because He was hated by the Kings mistress and most of the religious leaders in Israel.

Luke said this in the second chapter of Luke talking about the birth of Jesus.

Luke 2:1-3

1: And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2: (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3: And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

This sounds as if the whole world went to pay their taxes to Caesar Augustus. But we know that only the people who were under the dominion of the Roman Empire payed taxes to him. The Indians who lived in America at that time did not pay taxes to him. Neither did many, many other peoples of the world, such as the Chinese, or the people in what we know as Russia today.

On the day of Pentecost we see another such thing.

Acts 2: 5: And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6: Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7: And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8: And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9: Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10: Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11: Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

This says every nation under heaven. If we were to take it literally, we would have to believe every nation in the whole world. But the writer of the book of Acts clearly shows us that it was only the nations around the Mediterranean Sea.

In Romans 1:8 Paul was telling the Romans how their faith was known all around. 8: First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

We should know that there were many nations and people who had never heard of the faith of the Romans. This once again is a synecdoche. It simply means that a lot of people knew that the Romans had a lot of faith.

Romans 10:18

18: But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

This is the same thing in Col 1:23 "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister."

We know that there were many nations at the time of Paul who had not heard the Gospel.

One of the things that I have found very interesting is that the word all is used in the Old Testament 153 times. In the New Testament it is used 192 times. All total it is used 348 times in the Bible. Yet the words nearly or majority are not used in the entire Bible. The word almost is only used 10 times in the whole Bible. The word many is used 334 times in the Bible.

This seems to indicate that the Hebrews and Greeks had difficulty when it came to saying that something was a majority, or almost everyone. The word many does not express majority, nor does the word all. The word all was used to express majority or almost everyone for the lack of a better word.

I believe that God did speak about all in the entire amount sense as long as there were not other scriptures that revealed it in a different sense. For example: That all have sinned and fallen short; That all men can be saved; That Christ died for all. But when it comes to nations and Kings often times God gives us a clearer picture through other scriptures to show us the difference.

God Bless You
Tommie Spurgeon

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