Parallel Structures and Identifying the Endtime Tyrant/Anti-Messiah: Chapter 2 – Part 4

​This week in our review of Isaiah Decoded we’ll wrap-up our look at chapter 2 – The Archtyrant, Candidate for Perdition. Though not specifically covered in chapter 2 by Dr. Gileadi, we’ll evaluate various aspect of identifying the Anti-Messiah spoken in Revelations 13 in the context of parallel structures with Yehovah-Yeshua.

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The Four Keys of Revelations 13
Chapter 13 of Revelations identifies four keys by which we can identify the Endtime Tyrant. Beginning with verse 16 –
 
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:
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.
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.
 
So here is John giving us four keys for identifying the Endtime Tyrant/Anti-Messiah.

1. A Mark received in the right hand and forehead.
2. Mark of the Beast
3. Name of the Beast
4. Number of his name – 666

 
 
Parallel Structures Defined
Many explanations have been offered to identify what each of these four keys might be. Here, in this analysis, we’ll use parallel structures in the Bible to help us identify these four keys.
 
Here, a parallel structure is using the same pattern of words or concepts to show that the words or concepts are of equal importance, convey similar ideas or are presented as a method of comparison. For example, in Dr. Gileadi’s comparison of the Tyrant and the Servant he illustrates a parallel structure in Figure 21, p.48.
 
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Figure 21 The Servant–Tyrant Parallelism 

​Isaiah 14:4–23	​Isaiah 52:7–53:12
​The Tyrant strikes the nations. The Tyrant subjugates the nations. The Tyrant causes havoc and destruction. The Tyrant keeps people in bondage. Etc.	The nations feel God’s saving “arm.” The Servant purifies the nations. The Servant causes peace and healing. The Servant releases people from bondage. Etc.

We'll use this method of analysis of parallel structures to evaluate each of our four keys.


Law Systems
The first parallel structure we’ll consider are law systems. This concept is embedded in the meaning of something being placed in the hand and on the forehead, which we see indicated in verse 16 of Rev. 13.  We first see this concept mentioned in the Bible in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy where the Israelites are to place the Law in their hands and forehead.
 
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
 
The Hebrew word  “oth” אוֹת can mean sign or mark.
 
Essentially, what is implied here, is that the Law was something the Israelites were to think (head) and do (hand).
 
Likewise, we see this same sort of concept conveyed at Rev 13:16. The concept of the mark of the beast conveys the concept that the Law of the Tyrant is in the hand and the head meaning that he will cause humanity to think and do - the Tyrant’s Law.
 
We should consider this as what we might decide to do during Endtime events as far as what law should we be striving to live. So this structure looks like this.
 

Law System Parallelism

God’s Law	Tyrant’s Law
Deu. 6 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. ​	​Rev. 13 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:

Signs, Symbols and Marks
Another parallelism that we should consider are signs, symbols and marks. We see in Rev. 13 mention of a mark, which also could be a sign – a sign of loyalty, allegiance. In biblical covenant theology, we see a sign for each of God’s covenants.  These signs indicate a person is actively living in that covenant with God. For instance, those who identify as God’s Chosen People under the Abrahamic Covenant bear the sign of circumcision. We also see the sign of the Sinai Covenant as the seventh-day sabbath.

Covenant	Signs
Messianic	Nail Prints
Abrahamic	Circumcision
Threshold	God's Name
Priesthood	Altar
Sinai	Seventh-day Sabbath
Davidic	White Robe
Enochic	Mount/Tabernacle/Temple

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​In contrast, Adolph Hitler implemented the Nazi Salute as a sign. The salute is made by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened hand.
​This is the sign - ​

Symbols
Another type of mark or sign we might consider are symbols. The most important symbol we see in the Bible is the Tree of Life, which is depicted in the Temple lamp – the Menorah. The Menorah represents the perfections and presence of Yehovah-Yeshua.

In Nazi Germany, we see two primary symbols – the Star of David and the Swastika.
 
Another example of a religious symbol is found in the “carpet” page in the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text, the Leningrad Codex, dated 1008 AD. 

Notice that this image has two off-set triangles in the middle – the Star(Shield) of David, which is surrounded by two off-set squares – some consider this the Seal of Melchizedek, which is encompassed in a circle – the Circle of All Truth/Pure Knowledge.
 
In summary, our parallelism looks like this.


​​Signs and Symbols Parallelism​

God's Signs/Symbols	Tyrant's Signs/Symbols
Covenant Signs ​ Tree of Life (Star/Shield of David, Seal of Melchizedek, Circle of Truth/Knowledge)	Man-made signs and symbols ​(Nazi Salute) (Swastika)

Taking Upon a Name
The next parallelism we can examine in connection with the Endtime Tyrant is the taking upon us a name.  In the Gospel of the Messiah, we see the Levites in the Torah place the name of God on Israel – Numbers 6. The name the priests placed on Israel was Yehovah – יהוה – Yehovah.
 
22 ¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
 
Although not specifically stated in the New Testament to take up us the name of Messiah, the concept is implied in Paul’s declaration to “put on Messiah” (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 13:14); Peter’s statement that Yeshua is the only name given “among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; Ex. 15:2; 1 Sam. 2:1; Ps. 27:1).
 
In contrast, we see another example in Adolph Hitler who required oaths of loyalty to him and the salutation of “Heil Hitler” to indicate the name or person of one’s allegiance. So then this parallelism looks like this –
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Name Parallelism

God's Name	Tyrant's Name
​Yehovah-Yeshua ​(Jesus)	​Name of a Man (Hitler)

​(Those in America who work for the government or become US citizens pledge to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, which includes many biblical principles of self-rule.)
 
 
Number of a Name
Our last parallelism that we will consider is the number of a name. The number for the Endtime Tyrant the Bible indicates is 666.  At first glance, we can compare this to the number seven that God uses throughout the Bible and is integrated in with the menorah, which symbolically represents the Tree of Life and Yehovah-Yeshua.
 
Another method some employ to ascertain the number of the Tyrant is to use gematria. Gematria associates numbers with letters. As an example, Gematrix.org on the internet has created various calculators to compute words into numerical values.  One such example is Adolph Hitler’s last name set in a triad of threes using only his last name – Hitler, Hitler, Hitler. Using the Hebrew or Jewish calculator, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler value comes to 666.
 
So in summary, our parallelism looks like this.
 

Number Parallelism

God's Number	Tyrant's Number
7/777	6/666

Conclusion
As we consider identifying the Entime Tyrant, God has given us many methods to help us to know a true messiah from a false one.  We can identify a false messiah by knowing the aspects of the true messiah. These aspects can also be applied to God’s Endtime Servant.
 
In summary, our true messiah looks like this.

​Identifiers of the True Messiah

​Law System Law given in the Torah   Signs/Marks/Symbols Covenants Signs, Tree of Life/Menorah   Name Yehovah-Yeshua (Jesus)   Number 7, 777

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Mormon Temple Rituals and Isaiah 56:4,5

As a previously practicing Mormon for fifty years, I have to compare what I see in the Bible with my Mormon beliefs. Mormonism places a huge emphasis on their temple ceremony. That being said, Dr. Gileadi takes the opportunity to bias Isaiah 56:4,5 with Mormon temple rituals. At verse five, he translates the Hebrew "yad" to mean "handclasp". No where in Isaiah is that translation repeated. By translating this verse with the word "handclasp", Dr. Gileadi is intentionally connecting this verse with the Mormon temple ceremony. Moreover, we have to compare God's true signs - His covenant signs indicated in the table above - with what we see in the Mormon temple ceremony. To me, the handclasps "tokens" and arm positions "signs" that we see in the Mormon temple ceremony look like a diversion away from God's true covenant signs.