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. 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: 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. (Rev 13:15-17)
The acceptance of that mark seems to be politically motivated: Satan, the first Beast, will give power to the Antichrist, the second Beast. The mark’s utility is in the ability to buy and sell. Since the Antichrist will be a government leader, taking the mark will seem to be merely dependence on the government to provide, and the rejection of God’s Covenant with mankind. As a side-note (or is it?), socialism is sole dependence on the government for nourishment and safety. Gods are not a hallmark of socialism, but they will use religion until its helpfulness is depleted. That occurs in the end as the first 3-1/2 years of the Great Tribulation is an alliance between Church and State. There will appear to be peace on earth goodwill toward men, but it is only a device of Satan to achieve his purpose.
Most of us know God’s Purpose (or do we?). His Purpose is two-fold: (1) To commune with mankind in a loving relationship, and (2) to keep us from destroying ourselves. Satan can never kill us, but we can kill ourselves on his behalf, as God limited Satan in his power; “Put not forth thine hand” (Job 1:12). (I always took that to mean that Satan could not kill him, and that is validated by Job 2:6, “And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life”).
What then is Satan’s purpose? He has one – TO BE as God (Isa 14:13). To be as God, Satan needs God out of the way. Since he can’t even kill Job, he knows that he surely cannot kill God, so Satan must be satisfied with making us “Jobs” doubt God. The entire Book of Job is about Satan’s endeavor to rob God of His kingship by Job giving up his faith. All Satan’s works were to make Job doubt God and trust in him, or at least Job trusting in his own devices for safety.
Although Satan will use politics to exert his authority, his purpose is not political. His “useful tool” – the Antichrist’s, purpose is to “cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Satan will be as cunning as he was in the beginning! He sought to have Adam and Eve to perceive themselves as God (Gen 3:5) by giving them the chance to use their own will, which was incidentally from God! Satan uses his cunning in the end to be accepted, with people thinking it was only a mere governor who some will perceive as a god.
Accepting the mark of the beast is defining. Using his cunningness, Satan and his helper will beguile people, including any that would linger on thoughts of Jesus. What did the Serpent (Satan’s first appearance as Beast) do in the beginning? He offered material things. What will the Antichrist (Satan’s last appearance as Beast) offer? Material things in buying and selling. That’s all that Satan has to offer. To persuade people to take his mark, all he needs to do is dissuade those with a little faith or persuade those with no faith to denounce God as non-Existent, knowing that God IS (Existence)!
Christians testify that they belong to the Lord with Holy Baptism. I placed the adjective “holy” before baptism for a purpose. It must be done for right reasons. Catholics believe that baptism washes away inborn sin. That action belongs to the Holy Spirit. Baptism credits God for what He has done – that His Holy Ghost whp is the Power-washer washing away the sins, and creating a new creature from the old. Water can’t do that, but Living Water can! Jesus said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
That is not living water flowing from the believers’ bellies, but living water flowing from Jesus’s belly. We know that because as Jesus was crucified to ensure his death, it is written, “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” (John 19:34). The other two on their crosses bled, but only Jesus was pierced. Satan needed to know that God was dead; The water was Satan’s backup plan, an insurance policy, which governing officials seem to have for all undesirable leaders!
Baptism leaves no physical mark. It is a spiritual mark only. It demonstrates (or should demonstrate) a change in heart. Baptism is the believer showing others his wound – his circumcised heart (Deut 10:16). However, the Antichrist needs to be certain Christians are dead. He wants Christians to validate their faith. Therefore, he requires of everyone the mark of the beast (666). Those who take the mark are his because they have so little faith in their Savior that they would trade their souls for material things. (What Faust traded to the Devil for prosperity is the decision all will make.)
Many have speculated on what the mark will be. I merely ask, Who says that they will have the ”seal” to make the mark? The Muslims know all about the that; to wit in Mohammad’s words, “And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), we shall produce from the earth a beast to (face) them: He will speak to them, for that mankind did not believe with assurance in Our Signs (Qur'an, sura 27). Their “Jesus” is called “Isa.” He returns to the world with a vengeance. He will again claim to have the “face” of God, but be a “beast.” Islam describes the Antichrist, thinking he is Isa. “He will mark the believers with the staff and the seal will mark the unbelievers” ("Sunan Ibn Majah” - Book of Tribulations (31) Chapter: The Beast of the Earth". Sunnah.com). (The Antichrist – Isa - will do a lot of marking!)
To many Muslims, the Qu’ran (Koran) is from the root word meaning “666.” The staff is Moses’s, and the seal is Solomon’s. The latter is a pentagram – a perversion of the star of David. Jews have historically been identified with the Star of David. In history, it had been mandated. In the end, it will be a choice. The Antichrist will surely require everyone to take the pentagram (also a symbol of Satan) to buy and sell. Since it is also a spiritual presentation, everyone must accept the Koran as truth and have faith in Allah, their false God.
I have identified, perhaps accurately, the mark of the Beast. God has a mark as well; Isaiah saw it coming:
KEY VERSE: One
shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of
Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and
surname himself by the name of Israel. (Isa 44:5).
John saw the mark of God as the seal of God, when he wrote, “It was commanded them (destroying locusts) that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads” (Rev 9:4).
The seal of God is Divine protection. Where is it applied? The mark of the Beast is in either one of two places: the hand or the forehead. We find that the seal or mark of God is also on the hand or the forehead. How are we to know whose seal is which since both could be in the same places? Let’s look for hints.
And I saw
another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and
he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the
earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till
we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the
number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty
and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (Rev 7:2-4)
The 144,000 are those Hebrews who turn to Jesus during the Great Tribulation. They become God’s servants and get the seal of God as they finally deserve the salvation of Jesus.
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed (or on whom the Father has set His seal). (John 6:27).Jesus received the seal of God; just what is it? Another clue: “Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim 2:19-20).
Well, Jesus had it, and so can we? God’s “Name” throughout the Bible is to whom He refers. Jesus received God’s Name, and He was called Jesus, as is written, “And he (Joseph) called his name Jesus” (Mat 1:25). Jesus was sealed when he was born. God’s “mark” was already on Jesus’s forehead because he was “the Word” who spoke to mankind throughout the Old Testament (John 1).
Jesus’s name is important! “There is none other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). For the 144,000 Jews to be saved, they must have Jehovah’s Name marked on their foreheads. The question is, Is that a physical mark or not? I think not. It’s God’s Light coming to them for them to be born again. Jesus name is required for that (John 3:7).
I believe that the seal of God is not a physical mark of any type, but that God shines forth unto their minds: “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:21). Jews believe the Old Testament because it is all about the Messiah. In the Torah, what had God promised, or What had God wrought? (Num 23:23) “Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain” (Num 23:24).
The 144,000 would lift up a “young lion.” Who would that lion be?
And one of the
elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. (Rev 5:5)
The “Lion of Judah” is Jesus Christ. Elsewhere in scripture, the Devil is accused of acting like a lion, but at the end of the story, Jesus is the Lion, and Satan is a mere pretender to lion-hood!
Again, from the Book of Numbers, it is written Jesus as the Lion of Judah, “devoured its prey” – The beastly Serpent of old who is represented as dead in John 3:14. Jesus “devoured” the Serpent at the crucifixion.
At the Last Supper, Jesus never drank of the cup. However, his crucifixion was for all mankind. With that action, Jesus vicariously drank the blood of the slain, as it was his blood that was shed instead of mankind’s.
We may be getting close! A easily recognizable hallmark is the lion. The lion, in scripture, represents the Name of God, Jesus. Of course, Jesus’s Name must be stamped in their minds, thus the mention of a seal on their foreheads. In other words, it is symbolically stamped on their foreheads. They picture Jesus as the Lion of Judah promised all those centuries ago to save the Hebrew people. Save from whom? Not really Satan, but themselves as “great lions” – not really great lions, but perceiving their own works as saving.
What about the hand from the key verse? Is it to be alternately marked? Examine the English Standard Version of the key verse; it is much clearer:
This one will
say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will
call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.
I believe the “hand” is a figure of speech. Accustomed to works for safety, hands for Jews was the way that they thought salvation would come about. Perhaps, as the Lord’s Name (Jesus) is written on their hearts, they will write it on their hands. Jews need that! They always have.
Is the mark of God the Lion? It may be. Not that it will be seen by the eyes of men or even of Beasts, but God sees all things. He sees right now whether Christians trust in the Lion of Judah or not. What changes between now and then?
Are we beginning
to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of
recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of
recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And
you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with
ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of human hearts. (2 Cor 3:1-3)
It should be clear that what is written on our hands is not as important as what is written on our hearts. (The “heart” represents the human will that is a faculty of the mind.) Perhaps the 144,000 Jews will have the mark of God written in Jesus’s blood, by Jesus’s Holy Ghost, onto their human hearts! They would write it on their hand, but Jesus’s Holy Ghost would write it on their hearts. Write what? Jesus’s Name or symbol of the Great Lion.
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