Throughout my life, I’ve heard this term come up time and time again. It seems to have been raised whenever there is a major public concern, or something new of major importance is happening. Like when food prices and everything else went from all individually marked with a price tag to barcode scanning. This was considered the mark of the beast. This and the number 666 always seem to go together, as well as the subject of the Antichrist.
There seem to be various interpretations of the book of Revelation, which is part of the problem. The book of Revelation is a book full of figures of speech like similes, analogies, metaphors, hyperboles, signs and visions, which we call apocalyptic language. The first three chapters contain a mixture of literal language and apocalyptic language. Sometimes it can be a little tricky to figure out which is which. My purpose here is to deal with the mark of the beast and help all understand its meaning as simply as I know how. I have already dealt with the subject of the Antichrist and shown from the Bible how the Antichrist existed in the time of the apostles and the biblical definition is – all who oppose Christ whether as individual or as a group.
In order to understand the mark of the beast, it is perhaps easiest to first understand the seal of God.
“Saying, Do no harm to the earth, or to the sea, or to the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads,” Revelation 7:3.
A very similar verse two chapters later in 9:4. What is this seal? It turns out that the word of God gives us the answer.
“Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God remains, having this seal; The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who calls the name of Christ depart from iniquity,” II Timothy 2:19.
Here we have the seal of God on the foreheads of those who have confessed the name of Jesus and turned from iniquity. The seal is a kind of mark on the forehead. The forehead symbolizes those who have mentally acknowledged Jesus Christ as Lord and King and submitted to his authority. Of course, if you mentally submit to God and Jesus, you will also publicly acknowledge it. The seal is that God knows his faithful followers. Once we understand this, we hope it helps to understand the mark of the beast on the forehead and on the right hand.
“He was given power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and slay all who would not worship the image of the beast. He causes everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slaves, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name,” Revelation 13:15-17.
Other verses regarding the mark of the beast are: Revelation 14:9-11, Revelation 15:1-2 and Revelation 20:4. The beast represents a world power or government that serves the dragon, which is Satan. The image of the beast is said to be a bust of the Caesar of the Roman Empire. In the book of Revelation, this world power was the Roman government, which is also called the beast, set up for the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. This is what the book of Revelation is about, the destruction of Jerusalem. The right hand symbolizes one who is forced to worship the beast, while the forehead symbolizes one who voluntarily chooses to worship the beast. In other words, the mark of the beast are all who reject Christ and live according to the world, whether by force or by their free will. Now, I hope this is starting to make sense. Maybe there are light bulbs going on in our heads when we realize this.
We can perhaps apply this today in the sense that all governments on earth are fundamentally evil. Even modern examples prove these passages of Scripture. As I apply this mark of the beast today, it might be the vaccines against the COVID-19 virus. In some locations in the United States and around the world, if you are not wearing a mask, you are not permitted to enter the store or boutique. You must submit to the beast to buy and sell. You must have documentation proving that you have been vaccinated to travel, go to school, find a job and keep a job. This is all a kind of submission to the beast, or to the WHO, CDC, and government authority. Things are forced upon us when we have God-given rights. This is all under government control. I know I’m stirring a hornet’s nest. It is not my intention. There are those who are very serious about all these things.
Another example of serving the beast would be Hitler in his conquest of the world. He imposed vaccinations on the people and sought to have complete dominion over every group of people under his domain. The beast forced many businesses to close and many people found themselves unemployed as businesses were closed.
If we think about it, we can easily see many other examples throughout our global and local history that would fall into this category. Either we choose to serve Christ, or we choose to serve the beast, or we are forced to serve the beast. There is much at stake here that we choose to serve. Serving the beast and the world has its physical benefits here and now. We can maybe go and do a number of things, buy and sell as we wish.
We can look at other countries that may have an evil dictatorship and apply it. Christianity is under severe persecution in many of these countries. Christianity is the number one persecuted group worldwide. Christians are the good people of the earth. Christians do not persecute anyone. Christians are the benefactors of the world. Please think about these things. Study the word and pray for understanding of the truth of God’s message, through the Bible.
Larry Graves is pastor at Riceville Church of Christ. He can be reached at 865-300-0642.
Larry Graves is pastor at Riceville Church of Christ. He can be reached at 865-300-0642.
