A) INTRODUCTION.

B) THE NAME OR NUMBER.

C) WHO THE BEAST IS.

D) WHAT THE MARK IS.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

In order to know what the “Mark Of The Beast” is, we must determine that the “Mark” is that which belongs to, is the property of, or symbol of, “The Beast.”  Thus, establishing who or what the “Beast” is, will tell us what this “Beast” determines as it “Mark.”  Only then can we determine what will be the “Mark Of The Beast.”  Or better, the “Mark” that the “Beast” imposes upon the world.

 

According to the last message before the Coming of our Lord (Rev. Chp. 14):

1) Don’t Worship The Beast = Violation of Commandment Number One.

2) Don’t Make An Image To The Beast = Violation of Commandment Number Two.

3) Don’t Take The Name Of The Beast = Violation of Commandment Number Three.

4) Don’t Take The Mark Of The Beast = Violation of Commandment Number Four.

 

 

B) THE NAME OR NUMBER

 

 

According to Revelation 13:17; 16:2; 19:20, the “mark of the beast” will be put upon those who have “the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”  Just like the name “Christian” identifies oneself as one who worships Christ.  Now we can see how important it is to have God’s Name imprinted into our “foreheads” (Rev. 7:3; 14:1; 20:4; 22:4), or the “beasts” name written in their “foreheads” (Rev. 9:4; 13:16; 14:9).

 

Taking note that this “666” number is “the number of the beast” and the “number of a man,” Revelation 13:18, who is the head of the “beast,”  we can then go to Revelation 14:9, where we find out that those who “worship the beast and his image,” shall “receive his mark.”  This also points out where the “Mark” will be placed; in one’s “forehead” and “hand.”  The difference is, the “forehead” equals your thought process or belief system.  Whereas the “hand” is equivalent to what your do.

 

Since the “Mark Of The Beast” is the “number of the man,” Revelation 13:18, it cannot be a physical bar code or the such like none-sense.  It is a “mark” that identifies your allegiance to that “man.”  Such as who’s law will you keep?  Gods Law or mankind’s Law?

 

 

C) WHO THE BEAST IS

 

 

Keep in mind that according to Revelation 13:2, “the dragon [Satan]” gives the “beast” its power.  And mentioned there are “a leopard” “a bear,” and “a lion.”  This is in reverse order in the Book of Revelation, compared to Daniel, Chapter 7, because John is looking back in history, while Daniel was looking forward in history.  Thus, in order to bring us up to date in the Book of Revelation, we must first have understood the Book of Daniel.  The “lion” is Babylon (Jeremiah 50:17; Daniel 2:38; 7:4), the “bear” is Medea-Persia (Daniel 5:28; 8:20), the “leopard” is Greece (Daniel 8:21).

 

For Identification of this “beast,” according to Daniel 7:17, this “beast” will come forth from “kings.”  Or better, be a “kingdom.”  And the “fourth beast,” Daniel 7:19, of the Books of Daniel and Revelation, is Rome; with a “little horn,” Daniel 7:8; 8:9, coming forth out of Rome.  This is equal to the “Papacy.”  And now that we have identified the “beast,” what would be his “mark.”  See my Bible Study:  “CATHOLIC CHURCH CLAIMS,” for their “claims” of authority to change God’s Laws.

 

According to Daniel 7:25, this entity (Papacy) will “think to change [God’s] times and Laws.”  Moving forward, according to Revelation 13:16, this “beast will put “a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.”  The Greek word for “mark” is, “G5480; charagma.”  It signifies an imprinted or engraved “mark.”  It also signified a graven image (see Acts 17:29).  It was also a technical term used for the imperial stamp on commercial documents and the royal impression on Roman coins.  It was also used as a technological term for the branding of animals (see Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, by Ulrich Wilckens, comments on Rev. 13:16).

 

By contrast, no evidence indicates any ancient practice of placing “charagma” physically on a person, such as might be expected in those times of the branding of slaves.  In those cases, the Greek word “stigmata” was used (see Gal. 6:17).

 

 

D) WHAT THE MARK IS

 

 

Therefore, I believe this “mark” to be a spiritual branding.  The “Mark Of The Beast” in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 13, stands in sharp and direct contrast to the “seal of God,” in Revelation 9:4, and clearly stands as a counterfeit to it.  However, both function as a “mark” of ownership.  Both are signs of loyalty to God or loyalty to the “beast.”  And the emphasis in the final crisis is about those who “keep the Commandments of God,” Revelation 12:17 & 14:12, and those who give their obedience to the “beast,” Revelation 13:4 & 8.

 

The sealed person, who belongs to God, is displayed in Second Timothy 2:19:  “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.”  See also Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; Second Timothy 2:19; Revelation 7:2-3; 14:1.  By contrast, the symbolic “mark” of ownership and loyalty to Satan and his entity, the “beast,” is found in the Book of Revelation (13:16-17; 14:9-10; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4).

 

Notice that the children of God are sealed in their “foreheads” ONLY, indicating that their minds are made up and they will only serve God and keep His Commandments.  While the unrighteous are sealed both in their “foreheads” and “hands,” Revelation 20:4, meaning they have chosen to believe they have the correct truth and will serve whom they believe to be right (they believe they are truly worshiping God); and also, that they will use their might (“hand,” equaling force) to ensure that they get their way against the people of God.

 

We can cross reference this “mark” to Ezekiel 9:4 & 6, where the “mark” spoken of there is the Hebrew word “H8420; tav,” which is a masculine noun meaning, “a mark, a signature.”  It is the name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  It indicates a spiritual marking put on a person as an identifying “mark” or signature, such as in Job 31:35, where his “desire,” or character is implicated.  In the case of The Book of Ezekiel, it was a sign of exemption from judgment.

 

Bottom Line:  The “mark of the beast” is received by those who disobey God’s Commandments and accept and obey mankind’s commandments.  Thus, the “Mark Of The Beast” is who you give your allegiance to, or which “authority” you are obedient to.  If you are keeping one or more of those commandments of mankind’s, you have their “mark.”  By contrast, if you are keeping ALL of God’s Commandments, you receive His “seal/mark.”

 

Thus, the ONLY Commandment of God that deals with “times and Laws,” Daniel 7:25, specifically “times,” is the Biblical Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment.  No other Commandment deals with “time.”  Only one entity claims the ability to change God’s Law from Sabbath to Sunday, thus identifying it as the “beast.”  And as such, we now know what the “mark” is.  Obedience to mans law (Sunday Sabbath) or God’s Holy Law[s].