The mark of the beast has been a subject of great interest to Bible students for a very long time. Revelation tells us of a time soon coming when every single living person will be forced to choose a side. Those who worship the beast and its image will receive its mark and those who worship God will receive His seal. As with all important matters, Satan is trying hard to mislead people to accept a false understanding of the mark of the beast so that when the true mark arrives they will be unprepared for it.
It has long been accepted by many in the Christian community that the mark of the beast will be a microchip or bar code that will be placed on/in the right hand or forehead. Since the arrival of COVID-19 many have been led to believe that the mark will be forced upon the world through the administration of a compulsory COVID-19 vaccine. This theory is being promoted by some very famous and influential people. One particular more recent mouthpiece for this theory is Kanye West. On July 8, 2020, in an interview with Forbes magazine Kanye described a COVID-19 vaccine in this way:
“So when they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven.”
The problem with this theory is that it simply does not make any sense and is contrary to the Biblical description of the mark and who receives it. To better understand what the mark of the beast is, we need to first understand why the mark is going to be placed on people, and why others will receive God’s seal.
This world will not continue on as it is forever; a time must come when God will bring the world, with all of its problems, to an end. In order for Him to do this, He must find a way to justly decide who among the living will go to heaven and who will perish. Normally each person has a lifetime to accept or reject Jesus, but now God needs to suddenly divide all people into one of two groups. For this reason, a test will be brought upon every living person on the face of the earth. Through the work of the three angels of Revelation 14, all will be given a clear understanding of the issue and be made to choose a side. A global law will be passed forcing all to worship the beast and its image, those who obey will receive its mark, while those who refuse, instead maintaining their allegiance to God, will receive His seal. Once every case is decided probation will close upon the living and it will be announced,
He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. Revelation 22:11
At this point in time, our destiny is eternally sealed. Either we have accepted Jesus as our Saviour and are eternally secure, or we have accepted the worship of the beast and are eternally lost.
To unwrap this further we need to consider what it means to worship something. Worship is a broad term that covers attitudes and actions towards something that we reverence or hold in high regard. In the Bible, worship is often coupled with service.
Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, Deuteronomy 11:16
When we worship God, we not only intellectually acknowledge and reverence Him, but we serve Him obediently. Those who receive the mark of the beast must deviate from serving God to instead serve this power in a way that is contrary to God. It is no wonder that in Revelation 14, after giving the warning against worshipping the beast and receiving its mark, God reveals the defining features of the saints,
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12
Here we have the description of those who worship God; they keep His commandments. These commandment-keeping people are the ones who will receive His seal.
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Isaiah 8:16
In order to receive the mark of the beast, we must deviate from obedience to God's law to obey the beast in God’s place.
In other articles, we have already shown that the beast is the Roman Catholic Church (see Unmasking the Antichrist). The Catholic Church unapologetically claims Sunday observance as their ‘mark of ecclesiastical power and authority.’ In contrast to this the fourth commandment states,
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11
To keep Sunday, instead of the Sabbath (Saturday) of God’s law, is to worship the beast in the place of God. However, Sunday observance will not become the mark of the beast until it is enforced by law under threat of persecution and even death. Until this time, God will continue to spread the truth of His Sabbath and call people out of this false system of worship.
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen… Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. Revelation 18:2, 4
This call out of ‘Babylon’ does not only refer to the Catholic Church but all churches that continue to hold onto the wine of Babylon in the form of its false laws and doctrines. Babylon the Great is the Mother of harlots (daughters) (Revelation 17:5). In the symbol of the harlot daughters is represented all churches who have turned aside from true worship to God to follow a false system of worship in its place.
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, Revelation 13:16
What does it mean that the mark will be placed in the right hand or forehead? The mention of specific parts of the body here has led many to believe it will be a literal physical mark. As with many things in the book of Revelation, this is to be taken symbolically.
Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 11:18
The 'words' here spoken of are God’s commandments. In the New Covenant God has written His law in our hearts and minds (forehead).
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Hebrews 8:10
Unlike the mark of the beast, which is placed on either the forehead OR the right hand, God’s seal is ONLY placed on the forehead.
Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. Revelation 7:3
The reason for this is that God has written His law in our mind and we serve Him willingly because we love Him. The mark on the hand represents forced obedience. As God never forces us to follow Him, His seal can never be placed on the hand. In the case of the beast, some will worship out of true reverence (forehead), while others will worship/obey to avoid persecution (right hand).
There are some who consider the number 666 to be the mark of the beast. It is believed that this number will be part of a bar-code or chip serial number. However, the Bible tells us that this number is the number of the beast and the number of a man.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. Revelation 13:18
As we know that the beast is the Roman Catholic Church, this number relates to one of the titles for the Pope. The Douay Bible comments that the ‘numeral letters of his name shall make up this number.’ If we take the Roman numerals of the title of the Pope, ‘Vicarius Filii Dei’ (Vicar of the Son of God) we can find the number 666. This may seem an odd thing to do but the practice of representing names as numbers was common in ancient times. Those letters that do not exist in Roman numerals are given the value of zero. The 666 is not a part of any bar-code or serial number, it is the number of the man who stands at the head of the beast.
The defining factor between those who receive God’s seal and those who receive the mark of the beast is worship and service. It is an invisible mark that only God can see. The reason it cannot be a microchip or bar code that is forced upon us or hidden in a vaccine is because God is judging us based on our worship, not based on our luck or intelligence or understanding of worldly systems. God will by no means allow us to be implanted with a chip that will control our mind and force us to worship the beast. To be fair, God's judgment must be just, and this requires us to be given a fair opportunity to make our own decision. Satan is artfully using this incorrect teaching of the mark of the beast to distract people from the true mark so that they will be unprepared when it comes.
To find out more about how the mark will be enforced read our article 'The USA in Bible Prophecy.'
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