EUCHARIST SEEN AS PASSOVER MARK THAT PROTECTS AGAINST 'NUMBER' OF THE BEAST

The idea that numbers carry special significance is of course known from the Bible. We're not talking about Bible "codes." We're speaking of outright numbers. Some point to "seven" as standing for perfection.

This was the belief of ancient Jews. In Hebrew, the word seven is "Sheba," which represents something full and complete. In Genesis 21, there are seven lambs as witness to God's oath with Abraham. And then there is the sign of incompleteness -- six, and especially 666, which is represented in the Apocalypse of John as the sign of the "beast" (Revelation 13:18).

In short, seven is heavenly and six often stands for evil. Don't we all get the willies when we see those three digits together? Road signs have been changed and so have telephone exchanges because of it.

But there is a counter to it, and as viewer Jeffrey S. Alpha, an architect in New Orleans, points out, it comes, coincidentally, in John 6:66 (according to the headings of the Protestant bibles). The reason he uses Protestant bibles is to indicate the importance of the Eucharist.

For interestingly enough it is in that chapter of John that Christ says His "flesh is food indeed, and My Blood drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him."

But in the following verses, especially 66, this offer is rejected by a good number who had been following Him. "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more," it says.

"As a convert to Catholicism, I get very tired of the Old Protestant scripted version of the Book of Revelation so I decided to find out what the early fathers said, you know, the guys that hung out with John who wrote the apocalypse?" writes Jeffrey. "To sum up, it appears very clear that the mark of the beast is the rejection of the real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. God states in Exodus 12 and 13 twice that the Passover Meal is a sign in your hand and forehead every time you eat this meal. The Eucharist is the perfection of this meal as stated throughout the Gospels."

The anti-christ -- the spirit of anti-christ -- is countered every time we take Communion. We are protected!

"The Bible speaks of marks on people in several places," notes Alpha. "In Genesis, God puts a mark on Cain so that no man will kill him. In Revelation, John states that the 'mark' will be the beast name or the number of his name and the number is 666.

In Revelation, angels must wait to have all of the 144,000 received a mark on their foreheads."

Clearly, John is relating the mark of the beast in the hand and the forehead to the Passover meal where when one ate the Passover meal, it was a sign in the head and forehead. Thus we see how important it is to mark and seal ourselves with Christ. The Sign of the Cross also comes into play. This too protects us, especially when used with Holy Water.

And then there are those numbers again. "John is speaking of the Eucharist, instituted by Christ at the Passover meal," says Alpha. "John 6:30-67 speaks of Christ being the bread from Heaven 12 times and states 7 times if you do not eat His body and drink His blood you will not have eternal life."

Considering that 'some' STOPPED following at that point, perhaps the 'eucharist' is part of 'the mark of the beast'?

Ezekiel 33
25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

I remember, back in the days when I was a catholic, taking communion. Opening my mouth to receive the host and as I did so, my eyes being raised and there on the wall behind the altar, a large crucifix with the molten/graven image of Yeshua upon it. Catholics believe that the eucharist becomes the literal body and blood of Christ. Idol worship and eating/drinkin blood as well. A double whammy! *shudder* Yet, we are warned in the Tanakh (The Bible Yeshua used, Old Testament) and in the New Testament, to NOT drink/eat blood.

Leviticus 17:10
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

Acts 15
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Just as there is a mark or sign of the beast, there is a mark or sign of God.

Exodus 13 (KJV)
9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

Exodus 13
16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 6
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Deuteronomy 11
18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

from the Hebrew
226 'owth oth probably from 225 (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:--mark, miracle, (en-)sign, token.
1) sign, signal
a) a distinguishing mark
b) banner
c) remembrance
d) miraculous sign
e) omen
f) warning
2) token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof

from the Hebrew
2903 towphaphah to-faw-faw' from an unused root meaning to go around or bind; a fillet for the forehead:--frontlet.
1) bands, phylacteries, frontlets, marks

Deuteronomy 11
18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

(Obedience is the test of true love for God. Adam and Eve disobeyed, and were kicked out of the Garden. Abraham obeyed and it was counted unto him as righteousness)

Genesis 26
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

(God gives us a choice)

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

The sign of God is His Torah, which in Hebrew means instructions and teachings. Those that accept the Torah are marked as those that are true children of God.

Fascinating!

Yes. I've never heard this before.

I scanned through the OT and the NT and found that there are no other 6:66 verses in the NT, and only two other 6:66 verses in the OT. Altogether they are:

1 Chronicles 6
66 Some of the Kohathite clans were given as their territory towns from the tribe of Ephraim.
Baruch 6
66 They show the nations no signs in the heavens, nor are they brilliant like the sun, nor shining like the moon.
John 6
66 As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

The verses don't seem to form a pattern. The other problem with all of this is that the chapter and verse numbers are fairly arbitrary, and were imposed centuries after the canon of the Bible was determined.

Since Passover is obviously important, why did the church stop observing it? Why did the church change it to Easter?

Because the Passover, like many OT events, foreshadowed the Eucharist. For example, just as it was necessary to eat the lamb in order to complete the Passover meal, so it is necessary to eat The Lamb, i.e., Jesus, in order to complete the "remembrance" of Jesus' death on the cross.

Luke 22:19
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

Notice that Jesus does not drink the final cup of the Seder meal:

Luke 22
17After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

Jesus doesn't drink the "fourth cup" until just before he dies, until just before the Lamb is sacrificed:

John 19:30
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished."

The Seder begun in the upper room is finished. The New Paschal Lamb has been sacrificed. Jesus' work of redemption is completed.

I don't get your point. The number of the beast is 666. How does 66 equate with 666?

66 doesn't equate with 666. But the number 6 was regarded by the Jews (and later the Christians) as a number representing imperfection. Why? Because 6 is one short of 7, the number representing perfection (deriving from the days of creation in Genesis).

Hence, the number 666 is regarded as representing evil since it's a triple imperfection.

Christians also regard the number 3 as symbolizing good because it represents the Trinity. Therefore, it's more than interesting that Luther's canon is comprised of 66 books (doubly imperfect) while the Catholic canon is comprised of 73 books (two numbers representing perfection).

An interesting aside. I once worked for a company called the "37 Design Group." I asked the owner, who wasn't particularly religious, why he chose the numbers. He said, "because they're everybody's favorite numbers."

Considering that 'some' STOPPED following at that point, perhaps the 'eucharist' is part of 'the mark of the beast'?

How do you figure? The ones who couldn't take Jesus literally, the ones who couldn't believe Jesus when he told them to drink his blood and eat his flesh ("this is a hard saying") stopped following Jesus!

And look at what happened to people who didn't recognize the "body and blood of the Lord."

1 Corinthians 11
27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep [died].

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