These are pre-ambles to the true mark.
Hegelian Dialectic thesis/antithesis to produce a synthesis for us to accept little by little.


For those following along on the sidelines...watch the word of God captured in writings from 2000 years ago come true in ways that would have been entirely inconceivable to people of that age.

Revelation 13:11-18
11Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Praying for God to open the hearts of his elect to the truth of what is happening right before our eyes and call us to repentance and faith in Christ.