The Mark of the Beast
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Understanding the purpose of the 'Mark'
To be sure, at first glance, the book of Revelation can be almost too much to even consider attempting to consume. With so much symbolism and allegory, one might also be tempted to chalk it up to a fairy tale that is purely symbolic with no eschatological value. Yet the Bible is clear, God is the same yesterday, today and forever - so, one must also conclude that 'not one jot nor one tittle will pass away until all these things come to pass' - since a perfect God would never leave us with an imperfect Word. There are legitimate explanations for every symbol and allegorical reference in the Holy Bible and the Apocalypse is no different. As always we must interpret Scripture by using other Scripture as our compass.
The 'Mark of the Beast' found in the sixteenth chapter of the book of Revelation has mystified men for millenia. Since the beloved disciple John became the pen of Christ and spelled out the vision given by our Lord, the church has sought to decode the pictures so richly presented in his vision. This mark is actually not hard at all to decipher as will be evident in the body of this text, as the Word of God pours forth It's Light and provides an excellent description for this insidious tool that will be employed by the antichrist, who is Satan incarnate.
The text of the discussion reads as follows:
Revelation 13:16-18 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. 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. KJV
Our first priority when trying to understand this passage is to see the text in the light of modern day verbage. Below is a summarized version of the previous:
1 - The antichrist will force all of the inhabitants of the earth during the second half of the tribulation period - the 3.5 years known as "the Time of Jacob's Trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7) - to either receive this 'mark' or die by a lack of sustenance if they are able to escape from the authorities, or execution if found to not have received the 'mark' in there flesh.
2 - This 'mark' has a distinct characteristic in that while it is called the number of the beast, it is the number of a man.
Since the first part of this explanation is clearly evident in meaning, our next task is to decode number 2 in the above modern verbage. We can use the New Testament Greek lexicon and a little common sense to figure this one out.
χάραγμα = (transliteration) charagma
pronounced - khä'-räg-mä
neuter noun
1) a stamp, an imprinted mark
a) of the mark stamped on the forehead or the right hand as the badge of the followers of the Antichrist
b) the mark branded upon horses
2) thing carved, sculpture, graven work
a) of idolatrous images
We will hold to the description found in letter B above and make the argument that this is the actual meaning of this mark; that it is a 'branding' of the children of Satan. Why? Because of a characteristic in the flow of the text that when turned around helps us to see what we may have missed before. For example, you may know the old rhyme, "Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man's father is my father's son. To understand who 'that man' is we can turn the sentences around and read them in this way; My father's son is that man's father, I have no brothers or sisters. It becomes clear that that man is my son because I am my father's only son and that is who his father is. Likewise we can parse out the text from Revelation 13:18 and discover a very simple meaning; the number of a man, is the number of the beast. The number of a man is usually characterized as a census, however, if you are now of the flock of Satan, you have become a beast in his manger. Therefore, the number of a beast (θηρίον = thā-rē'-on = metaphorically; a brutal, bestial man, savage, ferocious) - the census taking apparatus used to keep track of the beasts of this world - with which you have been branded - it is now also the number of a man. When looking at this in a cyclical view it makes perfect sense. The number of the beast is the number of a man is the number of the beast. Consider the following...
I Chronicals 21:1-17 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, "Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it." And Joab answered, "May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?" Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem. Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword. But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king's word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. So David said to God, "I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly." Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, "Go and tell David, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: "I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you."' " So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: 'Choose for yourself, either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the Lord--the plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me." And David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man." So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, "Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my father's house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued." NKJV
Not only do we have a clear Biblical precedence established, but it is almost exactly in the same vein as what will take place during the tribulation period. The difference is that David (whom the Messiah is modeled after in Jewish theology a.k.a, the Son of David) was repentant and broken hearted over his sin, while antichrist will thumb his nose at the Father and be lead by his father Satan.
Another difference between David's fiasco and the script that antichrist will follow is in the marking of these "sheep" as David so aptly put it. These beasts in David's kingdom were merely counted, but antichrist will want allegiance at all cost. Since he cannot see into our hearts as the Father can, to determine our motives and faithfulness, he will force upon all men the 'mark'. So what exactly will this mark be? Some say a tattoo, others say "the 'Real I.D.' card that our U.S. government is soon to issue will be this mark". I say neither of these. There is another, more obvious choice in my view.
The Branding of Beasts - The Census of Animals - The Number of a Man
In this age of technology, the art of burning an image, number or letters into the hide of an animal has become outdated and will more than likely, in the very near future, become considered 'animal cruelty' with legislation to back it up. In the spirit of globalism and secular humanism, mankind has developed a way of marking these animals without the use of a branding iron heated to hundreds of degrees - keeping the PETA crowd happy, placating the Green activists and turning out a serious profit. Everything the World could possibly look for in an implement of beast branding.
Since the scare of mad cow disease, hoof and mouth, bird flu, anthrax, ecoli and several other public health issues, the governments of the world, under the reins of the WHO (World Health Organization) have been taking rapid and drastic steps to make sweeping changes in a relatively short period of time. In order to keep track of domestic pets, animals in the human food chain and migratory fish and fowl, the WHO has recommended (somewhat forcefully) the use of implantable RFID microchips. With a quick browsing of the website of one of the leaders in this field, we can see fairly quickly that a tsunami of Biblical proportions is building and will soon flood the entire earth with this mandated technology:
I wrote an article in 2005 explaining where I believed things were headed regarding this technology and below is a re-examination of that effort:
It is my honest and humble opinion that the scenario soon to play out on the world stage will run along these lines. The first area in which RFID chips will take hold will be in the domestic food-chain. Because of the latest threats of bird flu and the scare of mad-cow in previous years in the UK and Canada, the United States government will enact legislation requiring all producers of animal products use implant technology to track these animals from birth to death under the guise of public health safety. As this becomes accepted and implemented, probably and eventually on a world-wide scale, there will come yet another twist. Hospitals, who already use RFID bracelets for mothers, fathers and newborns, to prevent the theft of infants from their nurseries, will begin to offer the implant as readily available and widely accepted as male circumcision, and the medical community will tout the wonders of this technology for Alzheimer's patients and them that suffer from unrelated dementia. I also see a doing away with medical ID bracelets that provide important information in case of an emergency for those who might be unable to alert first responders at the scene of an accident, in people with seizures, in mentally ill patients and the list goes on. The next area I believe that will run with this new marking method is the prison system as well as our military branches.....
Only time will tell exactly how Revelation 13:16 will unfold and prophecy is designed to make perfect sense at the exact moment the information is needed as though we were looking through a translucent glass; the light still comes through and forms are visible, yet the precise image is not yet totally clear. One thing that I am certain of though, the Bride of Christ will not be on the earth when Satan as the puppet master of the antichrist calls for a worldwide census, demanding all who inhabit the earth recieve this mark in his or her flesh to show allegiance to him, cowering in the shadow of the beast, desiring their finite lives over eternal life. Even so, Lord Jesus...come quickly.