The “Mark of the beast” by Jeremiah

 

 

 

 

This time, we are going to take a look at the “Mark of the beast”. Revelation tells us that many people will receive a mark of the beast as described below. 

 

Revelation 13:16  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:

 

In my understanding, those people who receive the mark are Christians. It seems that they receive this mark in the end for being rebellious and the Bible is prophesying this terrible future. So let’s think about this together.

 

First, Revelation 13

 

Revelation 13:7 and it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

 

The country of the beast, the U.S.A, will fight against Christians and be allowed to win the battle. This means the evil will win, not the righteous.

 

Why is such unreasonable thing allowed to happen in End Times? We need to understand that it is because of rebellious Christians who don’t follow God. We therefore have to follow the word of God written in the Bible without relying on our own ideas or other doctrines.

 

This scripture says saints are the ones who are defeated so it also means that Christians, and churches including their doctrines and faith are all going to be destroyed. It is so sad, but if that is what is written, we have to accept that.

 

It is so unfortunate but fair enough at the same time if you look back at what happened in the past. The people in the Old Testament killed the only Son of God on the cross, which led to the consequence of Jerusalem being defeated by the Roman army as well as their temple destroyed.

 

Although they were Jews and supposed to be God’s people, they couldn’t win the battle. So it must be correct to understand that the same thing will happen when the Lord returns. What will happen is that the people in the New Testament will drive the Holy One out and crucify Him. Because of the blasphemy, the churches will be destroyed and its foundational doctrine will also be taken away as well as prophets, apostles, and even the teaching of Christ. Indeed, the churches will be completely defeated by the strategy of the country of the beast and get destroyed.

 

There is one more that I am reluctant to write here but believe that I should. It is the fact that none of God’s people survived when they were attacked at Jerusalem by Romans as the judgment. Not a single person escaped death.

 

Again, the same thing will be repeated when the history of the New Testament finishes and an anti-Christ destroys the foundation of Christian churches. What I am saying is that no one will possibly survive if they stay in the rebellious church on the day. This is how we should understand this.

 

Therefore we need to consider “escaping to the mountain” as Lord said. This means going to the underground church to hide to save our lives just like how Christians who “escaped to the mountain” were able to survive when Jerusalem was attacked by Romans．They didn’t stay the rebellious city so in the same way, anyone who escapes from that kind of church will retain the eternal life.

 

Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.

 

The “another beast” means Christian churches which are meant to follow Christ like “a lamb”. The “two horns” are Catholic and Protestant who are the two of the biggest denominations of Christian churches. All churches will become rebellious on the day and be seen as the beast in God’s eye. They will be under the strong oppression of the country of the beast U.S.A and do Satan’s will. Rebellious Christians then receive the seal of the beast and lose eternal life. This is the backbone of Revelation 13 and the most important message. 

 

“he spoke as a dragon”

 

The public churches will turn rebellious on the day, and begin to preach the will of Satan (dragon) instead of the prophesy of Christ. Satan is a liar and it seems that the dragon-turned churches also tell lies which are not mentioned in the Bible.

 

Examples may be accepting the rights of sexual minorities such as homosexuality, considering the opinions of other religions, and denying the “self-centered” teachings like “Salvation is only found in Christ”.

 

Revelation 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed

 

Now, what does “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,” mean? The answer is that Christian churches which have turned into the beast will fully use the authority of the first beast U.S.A to make Christians accept all sorts of doctrines of the beast. I suppose those doctrines will be forced on the Christian churches under the threat and law of the U.S.A.

 

“The first beast, whose deadly wound was healed” is the U.S.A. Therefore, what is written here is not about worshipping a man but a country.

 

This part is not talking about an anti-Christ. We need to read it carefully.

 

Revelation 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.  

 

In terms of the meaning of fire from heaven, it must be easy to understand if you think about the day of Pentecost. Just as the fire from heaven (the Holy Spirit) came down upon each person, another fire will come down from heaven again. However, this time it is not the Holy Spirit but the fire of Satan and this is how Satan tries to confuse Christians. 

 

Revelation 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

 

The signs and wonders will be performed at the churches which turned into beast on the day. “those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast” are the ones approved by the country of the beast. Of course, the country of the beast, the U.S.A will never approve biblical people. Instead, evil people like Benny Hinn will be approved.

 

The image of the beast really is what an anti-Christ will look like. It is a human being as you may already know. The person is someone Satan chooses to be up against “Christ who became a human”. Jesus Christ is a human and possesses the image of God. God who is invisible has revealed Himself through Christ. In the same way, an anti-Christ is a person who reveals and represents the country of the beast.   

 

Therefore, anti-Christ is someone whose aim is to confuse particularly Christians to lose their faith in Christ and receive the mark of beast, sent by Satan. Its target is not non-believers but clearly on Christians and their eternal life.

 

The reason why this person appears in End Times is because it is to be against Christ. He will reflect Satan’s will which are arrogance, blasphemy, and pride. He will be against Christ and demand more respect, faith, and devotion to himself from Christians than to Christ.   

 

“they should make an image to the beast”

 

Make an image is a parable which describes that the rebellious churches and Christians will recommend anti-Christ “by themselves” and nominate as a god at their church. In the Old Testament, people created their “own” idols to worship by carving wood or stone. In the same way, what is significant about anti-Christ worshipping is that this person was chosen by the church people.

 

Revelation 13:15 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.

 

Image of the beast, which means an anti-Christ preaches in the church like Christ did. And people are going to be forced to worship this individual and anyone who doesn’t will be killed. So, we shouldn’t stay at such rebellious churches and instead go into the underground churches.

 

 

 American homosexual couple :It is a rebellious country

 

 

Revelation 13:16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,

 

This part describes that all people in the church received a mark of the beast. It was targeted on Christians and prepared to be up against the covenant of God and His people.

 

Deuteronomy 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

 

This part is where Moses receives the Ten Commandments and God’s word. God then told him to “tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads”. This means as God makes a covenant with His people, we are talking about hands and forehead.

 

And when a mark of an anti-Christ is put on the right hand or forehead, it is to be against the covenant with God. Frankly speaking, this mark is targeting the eternal life which has been promised between God and Christians. So, anyone receiving a mark of beast loses the covenant of the eternal life and heads towards the eternal destruction as written below.

 

Revelation 14:9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 

 

14:10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 

 

14:11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 

 

As it says, “There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image” here, anyone receiving a mark of beast will not have a rest but will be cast into the eternal destruction. We really need to understand this.

 

This is part of the detailed (seven years) covenant described in Daniel.

 

Rebellious God’s people violated the covenant they made with God and make the one with an anti-Christ. As the result, they even receive the mark of beast. “The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed (Daniel 9:26)” perfectly describes this. We have to properly understand that terrible destruction is prophesized at the end of the history of Christian church.

 

Revelation 13:17 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.

 

Buying and selling is a parable. They are related to “redemption” which means buying off as well as salvation and redemption which take place at the church. So, what is talked about here is that unless you receive the mark of the beast, you are not able to take part in important serving roles such as salvation and redemption. This means there will be no one from the rebellious church who can receive salvation or redemption.

 

Revelation 13:18 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.

 

There is a particular number set for an anti-Christ. It is 666. I am guessing that it has got to do with the number of alphabets in an anti-Christ person’s name or something.

We can still see the clue in here anyway.

 

In conclusion, Revelation 13 also talks about complete rebellion, deterioration, and the destruction of the churches in End Times.

 

Once again, the biggest issue in End Times is that unfortunately the churches will go rebellious and gets therefore completely ruined. As the result, salvation and the eternal life which are the most important for Christians are going to be taken away, and the churches will be destroyed as well. This means that the church as the temple of prayer will be totally lost and not a single stone will be left.

 

And what promotes the rebellion is the beast according to the Bible, and it actually is the U.S.A. It is written as below.

 

Revelation 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.  

 

So, this country of the beast, the U.S.A eventually stars to blaspheme the name of God. Indeed, it is actually happening right now. They are starting to criticize anyone who prays in public or displays the scriptures of the Bible. For instance, teachers are sometimes telling students off who give grace at the lunch time.

 

Also, owners of cafe who put the scriptures are getting criticized. This tendency of the beast will go wide spread in the future and it will cover the whole world. Then, the world will worship Satan instead of God. 

 

“blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven”

 

“Tabernacle” means Christians in whom God lives. Also “them that dwell in heaven” actually doesn’t mean the angels in heaven, but rather “heavenly Christians”. This means there will be a massive social movement led by the country of beast, the U.S.A to criticize the righteous Christians. They will call Christians who follow the word of God as narrow minded fundamentalists or simply cults around the world. 

 

Right now in the U.S.A, street evangelists as well as anti-abortionists and the people who are against homosexuality are starting to get arrested. They are judged as guilty based on the American law. This really is nothing but the sign of the U.S.A being the country of beast, and the movements like this will surely spread across the country. This is when the perseverance and faith of the believers are going to be tested, and the true faithful and unfaithful ones will be divided. The Bible is not saying that we will be raised to heaven before the tribulation so we don’t need to worry, but encouraged us to persevere through the tribulation period. Let’s make sure that we get this understanding right.

End.

 

 

 

A high school student arrested by an American police officer for taking part in anti-abortion demo. She was following the teaching of the Bible that tells us not to kill others.