1 2 The Mark of the Beast Revelation 13:1-18 1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 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. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 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. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 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. 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. 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: 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. 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.
3 4 INTRO: The mark of the beast is something that many people are curious about but have great reservations in trying to fully understand. Superstitions, uncertainty, & fear have gripped the minds of people & have caused society to live in total speculation & in fear of that mysterious mark. People associate the # of the beast, acc. to Rev 13:18 is 666 as the mark of the beast. 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. This is the numerical value of the beast s name NOT THE MARK ITSELF. Before #s became accepted in society, letters were used to represent numbers, which meant that letters have a numeric value Like the Roman numeral system, where letters have a numeric value to them, as I=1, V=5, X=10, L=50, C=100, M=1000 & so on. The Bible, originally written in Gk & Hbw, also use a similar alpha/numeric system; causing letters to have a numeric value to them also. The name of the beast of Rev will have a name that will add up to six hundred threescore & six, the infamous/notorious 666. Now if a person has 6 letters in their 1st name, 6 letters in their middle name & 6 letters in their last name doesn t qualify them as being the anti-christ. & just because you buy something at the store & your bill totals to $6.66 does not mean that you are eternally cursed & headed straight to hell, It s FOR NOW just the # of man. needless to say, there is many interpretations of that infamous number 666, Bible says II Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Let s Look at the meaning of that infamous # 666 The # 6 is the # of Man The # 7 is God s #, (perfection & completeness) of spiritual things. The # 6 is short of perfection & completeness for without God he falls short of perfection & is incomplete w/out Him. Therefore the # 6 is incompleteness # imperfection of man & is the number of man as Rev 13:18 says.
5 6 The # 3, the 2nd most mentioned # in the Bible, represent fullness. The number 3 speaks of solidity which is the symbol of fullness. It denotes Divine testimony & represents the 3 manifestations of God. Fullness means not lacking in any essentials being at the highest or greatest degree. Fullness: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Fullness: Omniscience, Omnipotent, Omnipresence Body, Soul, Spirit, Death, Burial, Resurrection. Outer Court, Inner Court, Holy of Holies, Tabernacle, Temple, The church 30, 60, 100 fold, fruit, more fruit, much fruit Faith, Goodness, Mercy, Peter, James, John, 3 Hebrew children 3 crosses on Calvary, 3 Forms of Lostness LK 15 Lost coin, lost Sheep, Lost Son Fullness 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. The anti-christ tries to imitate Christ in complete reversal. Anti-Christ, the beast, & the false prophet These are the 3 manifestation of the devil Rev; the manifestations of God are the Father, the Son, & the Holy Ghost. The anti-christ will have knowledge, but not be omniscient, he will have power, but will not be omnipotent, He will be present on earth, but not omnipresent. Since the devil, man, or anything can never be complete & perfect w/out God, He will end up w/the number 6, which is the number of man. Since 6 is the number of incompleteness & imperfection 666 is the number of the beast.
7 8 The # 6 for the anti-christ 6 for the beast, 6 for the false prophet which produces the number 666, the 3 manifestations of the devil. which will definitely fall short of perfect This imperfection that I am speaking of Will try to perfectly deceive ALL of mankind, there will be a great multitude that will be deceived & take the mark. The spirit of the mark, which is the spirit of the anti-christ, is now in existence. Like disobedience is sin against God, the Bible speaks much about obedience & disobedience. Obedience is better than sacrifice 1st Samuel 15:22, Children obey you parent Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20, Obey those that have rule over you Colossians 3:6... the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. The spirit of the mark & the mark itself are disobedience to God. What is the mark of the beast? The actual design of the mark of the beast is currently not known, just like the mark placed upon Cain in Gen. 4:15 is not known. However it will be a distinguishable mark that will be recognizable by all. The Bible says in Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Disobedience is the spirit of the anti-christ; it goes contrary to what God desires of His people. To say that the ATM cards, Social Security card, or some micro-computer chip is the mark of the beast is an interpretation & understanding of what it could be, but if we study the Word of God we see that disobedience is in fact the spirit of the mark.
9 10 During the tribulation period when the mark of the beast is taken, those that have taken it have disobeyed God s commandment & must suffer the wrath of God. Those that refuse to take the mark of the beast will be killed, why because it proves obedience toward God. The mark of the beast proves that a person has made the conscious decision to worship the beast instead of God. They have placed the beast before God, which is disobedience to the commandment given back in Exodus 20:3. Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. The Punishment of the mark! Revelations 14:9-11 tells the punishment of those that accept the mark Revelation 14:9-11 9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Those that disobey the commandment of God during the tribulation period & receive the mark will be cast into the lake of fire & tormented throughout all eternity, because they have totally turned their back upon God & were disobedient to His commandments. People say I don t believe that God will allow a person to go to Hell, but He has given you a choice. You can be obedient to the Word of God & serve Him & have everlasting life or disobey His commandments & receive everlasting damnation. The choice is yours!
The place of the mark! The placement of the mark is very significant in the forehead or in the hand. Why the forehead or hand & the answer is Some say, because in these places all can see True to a point but let s look at the spiritual relevance of these two places. Remember the devil tries to portray Christ in total reversal, that is the meaning of anti-christ, the total opposite & against. Deut. 6:1-8 Deuteronomy 6:1-8 1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 11 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Did you see that Look at the 8th verse closely, And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Deut 6:8 (NIV) 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Deut 6:8 (BBE) 8 Let them be fixed as a sign on your hand, and marked on your brow; God commanded that His statutes, commandments, & judgements to be binded upon the hands & forheads between the eyes, as a sign of who they served. Why these two places? The hand represents action the forehead is representative of the mind of man which is comprised of the will, intellect, & emotions. The soul is the crux of all emotions, passions, desires, appetites, & it exercises mental abilities. The soul is the element that makes us aware of our self & our personality. 12
13 14 The soul presses to achieve, social acceptance, personal gratification, & maintain a certain image. The soul of man is comprised of three components, WILL, INTELLECT, & EMOTION. Although the soul is of a spiritual nature it is greatly influenced by the out side mortal desires of the world. The freedom & power to make conscious decisions is our will. Our will then is determined many times by what has control, the spirit or the flesh. Our intellect is the ability to have thoughts, reasoning, knowledge, and wisdom. Our emotions are what determine our likes & dislikes & makes us act the way that we do the Significance of the Mark in the Forehead Shows Who & What Has Control of Our Will, intellect, and emotions, the Significance of the Mark in the Hand Shows Who & What We Work For. Remember the old saying ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. If our hands, which we use to complete the majority of our actions are marked w/disobedience than what actions are we portraying. Take inventory of yourself! Who has control of your mind & your hands? Are the things you think & the actions you take done in obedience to God & His Word or are they done in disobedience? What mark are you bearing NOW, the mark of a Child of God, being obedient to His Word or the mark of the beast, disobedient to all that God desires? It s not to late to make a change, but time is running out. Elijah said it best choose you this day whom you will serve.
NEXT WEEK 15 The Beasts and The Kingdom You think you ve had some bad dreams! Daniel s dream is weird and wonderful to us, and terrifying to him!