Day 5 of Read: Revelation

Monday's reading was Revelation 13-15. In this section we are getting to the end of the judgments upon humans before the final battle takes place and the final judgment comes upon Satan, his angels and humans.
In this section we are introduced to two different beasts that are in league with the devil--one from the sea and one from the earth. It is understood that the first one is the Antichrist and the other is the prophet of the Antichrist. The number of the beast (also known as man's number) is made known at the end of chapter 13, which is 666. This number has confused scholars since the book of Revelation was written, which is probably why John said that it calls for wisdom. One understanding of it is that if 7 is the number of completeness (the number of God... see Rev. 1:12, 1:19 and 4:5), than 6 is a number of incompleteness. Therefore 666 would be a trinity of incompleteness or evil represented by Satan, the Antichrist and his prophet.
We also see the 144,000 Hebrew believers resisting the evil one as the follow Christ, the Lamb.
We also see 3 angels, each given a message.

• This first declares the eternal gospel to all on earth and commands the earth to fear God and give Him glory for his judgment is coming
• The second angel proclaims the destruction of the world's great system that is opposed to God (called "Babylon").
• The third angel warns all humans of the destruction that will come upon them if they worship and follow after the beast. This angel also gives a message of comfort to the followers of Christ who are suffering persecution from the beast.

Finally we see the harvest of the earth, which is a symbol of judgment. It appears that at this time there are many who are taken from the earth before the 7 plagues come upon the earth in chapter 15.
Keep at it. Only 2 more days of reading before our Revelation Pizza Party/Jack's birthday party on Wednesday night.