Mark of the Beast

I want to bring you a message today, and I realize that it's been some time since I've brought you a message touching on prophecy. And I would like to talk about that today. We in the United Church of God try to broaden our messages, dealing with doctrine, dealing with Christian living, and also at times dealing with prophecy. And I felt that today it would be good to touch on prophecy, recognizing that many of the things that we have been speaking about over the years are not further away, but nearer. And not only nearer, but sometimes actually around us and have been since the time Jesus Christ first spoke some of the words that he did.

It's very interesting when you look at Scripture, you recognize the term Mark. And Mark is a word that actually spans the Scriptures from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation. Interesting that one of the first things that occurred in the book of Genesis is that when Cain distanced himself from the ways of God, that God created a mark that distinguished that he was confronting and distancing himself from the sovereignty of God.

Later on in the book of Exodus, you understand again that there was a great empire, the Egyptian Empire, the greatest empire on earth at that time, and to recognize that they were in that sense opposed to God, and especially the Pharaoh. And to recognize that God told his people, the children of Israel in Goshen, to set a mark that would distinguish them from those people that were opposed to God. There's another mark that is mentioned in Scripture, and that's in the book of Revelation. But that mark in the book of Revelation actually moves forward from what God first did in Genesis and then later on in Exodus, that at times there is a mark that is set upon people that are opposed to God, and there is also a mark and or a seal as ancient Israel sealed the doorpost of their domiciles that God might pass over them.

And so to recognize in fairness and in balance through the Scripture, there is a time when there is a mark or a seal placed upon people that are opposed and or confronting God, and at times there is also a mark and a seal that is placed upon God's chosen elect. And it is to that that I would like to speak to today, and that is the aspect, and we're going to be talking about, the mark of the beast.

That is a term that many, many people know about, even in today's secular society, the term the mark of the beast. There have been novels written about it. There have been movies written about it. I think even the most dedicated, sincere atheist has heard about and understands in a sense the significance, or at least the the trembling, of when you say 666.

It's a very known factor as far as what that is about. The mark of the beast is something that I like to talk to you all about today, but we're going to actually move beyond that, and I want to for just a second, because it's very important to get our balance and to be steady when we're studying the Bible. And that is simply that, that when you read the book of Revelation, and when you read the end of the book of Revelation, we do realize that God wins.

Absolutely. And if God wins, those that have given themselves to God and to Jesus Christ can know that at the end, everything is going to be all right. But, but in the world history that is yet ahead of us, there is no doubt that there is some rough sledding along the way. And if ever the phrase, the devil is in the details, is a truism, this would be in part in discussing the subject of the mark of the beast. So we're going to talk about it.

There's two things we're going to talk about. If you want to make this kind of as a class and follow along taking notes, there's two different aspects that we're going to be talking about. Number one, we're going to be talking about the mark of the beast. Number two, then we're going to be talking about an associated term, and that is the number of the beast. One thing is the mark of the beast.

The other is the numbering of the beast. And I'm, I'm looking forward to sharing this with you, not just simply the subject of 666 and or the mark of the beast. I hope that it is also more than that, but shows you how to study the Bible and to how to explore the scriptures and to be allowed where God is loud, to be quiet where God is quiet, and in between appropriate and be measured in what our comments are.

So that's what we're going to do today. We're going to talk about this, because this term, the mark of the beast, is something that is not going to go away. There is a reason why it is in scripture, and it is ultimately down the line going to affect tomorrow's headlines in the newspapers of this earth.

And the mark of the beast is not just something that is yet in the future, it is something that has been occurring down through the ages, but is going to have an ultimate fulfillment in the future. And so we want to talk about it. Now, to set the stage, may I? Let's understand something, because we're going to be moving to the book of Revelation. And it's very important to understand when reading and studying the book of Revelation, that it is in what we call apocalyptic form. It's a style. It's a type of Jewish literature that was extant from about 200 BC through 200 AD.

There are a lot of colorful words. There are different aspects of symbolic imagery. The purpose for that kind of writing, called apocalyptic writing, was to give hope and to give encouragement to those that did not have hope and or encouragement at that time. It was basically often written to a remnant people or a people that were being downtrodden to help them recognize that there was a day and that there was a way and that there was an answer that was going to be forthcoming.

And that when it was all said and done, that God, as sovereign, was going to win. So that's number one that I want to get across to you. We need to understand the book of Revelation of that which is literal and that which has imagery. One thing about the book of Revelation that's very important, take it too literal.

That might be a y to the margin. Take it to a serial imagery, a story that's way far wider than margin. That is why, number two, I want to bring this up to you. The book of Revelation is not only a book that deals with prophecy, it is a book of wisdom. Join me if you would for a moment as we explore Revelation 3. Join me if you would in Revelation 3, verse 22. In Revelation 3, verse 22, notice what it says. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

This would be read in that circular route in Asia Minor between the seven churches that basically, like an old Marine Corps term, listen up. Listen up because God's going to be saying something. Join me then if you would for a moment in Revelation 13. In Revelation 13.

And let's pick up the thought if we could in verse 16.

He... no, let's actually go to verse 18. 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.

So we need to understand that when we're dealing with apocalyptic literature, when we're dealing with books of prophecy that are written this way, it is not just simply a jigsaw puzzle that we fit together because this part goes with this part, this part goes with this part, this part goes with this part, and so we try to put it all together. It takes humility and it takes wisdom in doing such. Join me if you would. One more verse. Revelation 17 in verse 9. In Revelation 17 in verse 9. Let's pick up the thought here. Here is the mind which has wisdom. Oftentimes we think of wisdom literature being like the book of Ecclesiastes, the song of Solomon. We think of it as being the book of Proverbs. Revelation, which in a great sense is a compilation of the book of Daniel and the book of Ezekiel, with Christ now as the main personality, is a book not only of prophecy and as a GPS guiding us towards the future, but in using that GPS and understanding the symbols and the thoughts and the imagery of the book of Revelation, it demands wisdom and wisdom that does come from above. Very important because what we do, we bring in timelines, we bring in personalities, we bring in facts, we bring in historical episodes. And in doing so, brethren, and I again share this with you, it begs humility on our part to allow God to fill in the pieces. The one thing that I want to share with you is simply this, and it's something that Mr. Beatty brought out in his message. And over the years I've had the opportunity of traveling through the United States, traveling through Canada, dealing with prophetic lectures and tours, and that is simply this. It is for we Christians as an article of faith, and this speaks to what you were talking about, an article of faith, that God is going to win, and number two, that God at this time, please hear me, will give us enough to consider. It's a key word. He gives us enough to consider in the scriptures, and when the time comes, as the time comes, as the Spirit guides us, He will indeed give us enough to comprehend. For now, He gives us enough to consider as we look to the past, understand where we are in the present, and recognizing that where this world is headed is apart from God, and He does speak about factors that are going to occur in the future that we need to be aware of. So let's move into this now. There's two things that we're going to do in the course of this message. Number one, as best as possible, we're going to define the mark of the beast. We're going to define the mark of the beast to give us enough to consider. Number two, number two, and just as important, is to define the responsibilities of those who will face this threat in the future. So two definitions. Number one, the mark of the beast. Number two is to understand, define, and explore our responsibilities as members of the body of Christ.

So with that all established, talking of imagery, wisdom, and humility, let's go into the message here a little bit and proceed. Number one, I want to share with you this when we're talking about this subject of the mark of the beast. When we're talking about the book of Revelation in general, let's appreciate that Revelation is what we might call it. You might want to jot this down if you've never really opened up the word and explored prophecy. The book of Revelation is a layered message. It's a layered message. There is a certain amount of what we call dualism in it. There is a past and there is a future we need to understand. We need to understand, first and foremost, when we read any book of the Bible, that it is first directed to those that were living, living at the time of that writing. When the book of Revelation was being written, there were, number one, there were Christians. Number two, there was a beast power. Rome, its empire, was extant around the Mediterranean basin. And the Christian community was undergoing its second great persecution under the Flavian emperor Domician. The first great persecution had been under Nero in the 60s. And that's where you have the exiting of the apostle Paul and the apostle Peter and many of the others. But John is still alive. He's an old man now. It's somewhere between 85 and the early 90s AD. And Domician, who believes that he himself is a God in the flesh and that he is Lord, is alive and is persecuting Christians. And people are literally dying. So when this is being written to those Christians in 85 to 90 AD, they are under the beast. And to a degree, they are not, they are either being marked or not being marked by that system, which we'll talk about a little bit later in the course of this message. So as we move forward to our time, recognizing that prophecy is layered, that there's a type and an anti-type, we're going to move it forward a little bit. One thing that you want to always understand with biblical study, there are types and there are anti-types. Not all types carry over into anti-types. Not everything that was will yet be, but there's a general framework that we need to understand as we go through this subject. What is interesting is that the greatest and the final assault is yet to occur on the faithful saints of God. And that's given structure in Revelation 12. Join me if you would there in Revelation 12 as we understand that there is going to be a conflict that is destined to dominate the world stage in what the Scripture generally calls the last days. That's a term that you will see again and again in Scripture. It's called the last days. That isn't a time yet to be. And we need to understand that as we move to Revelation 12 and through 14 to recognize that this is literally a battle of life and death between the people of God and the great spiritual adversary, Satan. Satan who uses human beings and governments and associations of kingdoms as his pawn, as we're going to kind of find out a little bit later. One thing that we need to recognize and remember is simply this.

The book of Revelation is about two spiritual forces. Two spiritual forces. The God above, God above, and Jerusalem above, and Babylon below. This is very important.

And it's a theme in a series that starts even before man was, to recognize that it goes again back to that God of heaven that you and I worship before today. To the God of this age is defined in the book of Corinthians. It goes back to two trees. It goes back to two trees that represent it two different variant ways of life. It goes back to, in that sense, also two churches. A great, worldly church as identified in the book of Revelation and a flock of saints that is mentioned in the book of Revelation 12 that we're going to go into for a moment. Really, what you have, if you're with me, is as you go from Genesis all the way over here to Revelation, is you have this thread of two winding its way through the Bible to this culmination, to finally this crescendo of where it all comes together and to recognize that that is yet going to occur in the future. And we need to understand that. We need to respect that. We do not need to fear it. And this is not designed to be a fearful subject. It is actually designed to be an encouragement of faith that God does win and that there is not only a mark of the beast, but there is another mark. There is another seal that we'll be talking about at the end of this message.

The bottom line is this. When you think of having these two gods, the God of this age, Satan, and the God of heaven, and are recognized defined by two trees, two ways, two cities, two churches, bottom line, you might want to jot this down. There are also two outcomes, and two outcomes that we need to be aware of. One is destruction, and the other is salvation.

And all stems from actually what was the first prophecy in all of the Bible when God was speaking to the serpent and said that, your seed, your seed will do this and the woman's seed will do that.

Your seed will bite the ankle and they heal of the seed of the woman, but the seed of the woman will crush your head. Everything that we read in the Bible stems from that first prophecy. Sometimes you think, well, prophecy started in the book of Daniel or Jeremiah or or Habakkuk. No, prophecy started as man and woman were exiting the Garden of Eden, that when they were helpless and when they were hopeless based upon their own actions of cause and effect, the God of hope said, this is going to be the outcome, that when it is all said and done, that your seed, no matter what you have done, but your seed, speaking of Jesus, the Christ, is going to trample upon and crush the serpent's head. You might look at Romans 1620 as well, which Paul speaks of that. But now let's go a little bit further here and understand then what we're talking about. Do you know how many of you would in Revelation 12? Revelation 12?

And let's pick this thought up that first of all, we see a key earthly player introduced in Revelation 12. Join me in Revelation 12. Now a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun with a moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. And then, being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven, behold, a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head.

And his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, speaking in that sense of angels, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born, speaking, of course, of what occurred in Bethlehem with Herod and the killing of the infants. And then it says, she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and his throne. And then the woman, and woman is a biblical terminology, speaking of a church. A woman is synonymous with church. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there 1,260 days. So here we understand that what is introduced in the book of Revelation to remind the people of them and remind us today on December 7, 2013, is that God has a church. He has a people, and He cares for us individually and collectively. And it is a church that is connected with Jesus Christ and is persecuted by the adversary.

Now, Revelation 12 verse 7 now introduces another player in this, and this is the true antagonist. And we pick up that story in Revelation 12 verse 7. And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. The dragon is synonymous with the serpent. The serpent is synonymous with Satan, the devil. And the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. And so the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. And he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. It's kind of hard sometimes when you recognize what God is saying, that the world is deceived. Sometimes even when in our own personal worlds, we say, well, we're just a little bit itty-bitty to see we're really okay. It's all right, Charlie.

Now, God says the entire world is deceived. I'm just taking God at his word when he says this. And so the great dragon was cast out. It's called the devil and deceives the whole world. And he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ has come for the accuser of our brethren who accuses them before our God day and night has been cast down.

So we look at this and we understand this, that Satan now has play down here in our environment and in this world. Now notice what it says, and they, speaking of Christians, overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Not by simply our own head knowledge or our wisdom or putting together some jigsaw puzzle that satisfies our fancy. The Bible is very clear here. There is nothing humanly that we can do. The only way to overcome the adversary, as we notice here, is by the blood of the Lamb. And that's a whole fascinating study, if you've never done it, to recognize it in the book of Revelation, the term, love. And that's a whole Lamb. The term, Lamb, is mentioned 27 to 28 different times. It's not just simply lost in the book of Exodus, Leviticus, nor in the book of John. Jesus' role as the Lamb is forever.

He is always that Lamb, the Lamb that is in heaven and with all of His other functions, all of His other titles. And it's by the word of their testimony. That testimony has got to come out of the Bible. They overcame them, and they did not love their lives unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you, having great wrath. Because notice at the end, he knows his time is ready, short. Now, please understand there's three things you've got to recognize here, folks. Number one, there is good news, there is bad news, and there is even better news. The good news is Satan was cast out of heaven. Of course he was. He can't win over God. God's uncreated. He is. Satan himself is created. He's insane in that sense to think that he can conquer God and take us thrown away from Him. So the good news, he's no longer up there. Now, some bad news. He's down here. That's not good. It's not good for you. It's not good for me. We all like to live. And without that wavelength. And the really better news is, though, and God offered this to the Christians in 85 and 90 A.D. And to us today that no matter what we're going through, no matter what's going on in this world, it says His time is short. I want you to think about that for a moment. God is not wasting His words here. This is what we need to recognize. Have you ever had days that seem like a year? Have you ever had a year that seemed like a decade? And you go, when will this ever end? You're all looking at me like I'm the only one that's ever had those thoughts. That always makes me nervous.

That's why the book of Revelation is written. To give hope. That no matter what you're going through individually, what the Church is going through collectively, the sadness of the world that is around us, it is going to come to an end. And even though it seems like it's forever, in God's way of thinking, it's going to be short. Now, what we need to understand then is to recognize that this temporal force that Satan is going to use as given definition in Revelation 3. Notice, not Revelation 3, Revelation 13. Join me in Revelation 13. Because again, remember, we can confuse what's going on down here on earth as this is where the action is at. We need to recognize that what is happening down here on earth is given birth by the spiritual forces that are elsewhere, whether it be of God or whether it be of the adversary. Revelation 13. Then I stood on the sand by the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. And on his horns ten crowns and on his heads a blasphemous name. A blasphemous name means that this system that is arising out of the sea is contrary to God, is against God, is ungodly, even though it might even use the term God. And on his horns ten crowns and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. Very multi-faceted, very diverse. And the dragon, that is the serpent, that is the devil, gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. Now notice verse 4. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who is able to make war with him? Let's understand something here as we hopefully use wisdom as we move into the prophecies, is simply this. The big headlines are being made up above, and in a spiritual world. I know we like to think headlines being out of Jerusalem, being out of Aleppo, being out of Baghdad, being out of Tehran, being out of Buenos Aires. And so we say date line or geography line. This is where things are happening. But, brethren, I'm not speaking of this when I truly believe that there is a world that is apart from us. It's a spiritual world that influences that which is happening down here below, and to recognize that, wittingly or unwittingly at times, there are people that are used as pawns. There are people that are used of God at times, such as an epicnesser, such as a Cyrus, who in a sense was even known as a type of Christ. So God uses rulers. Satan also uses rulers for his work and for his gospel. You see, Satan has his own gospel.

He thinks he's got good news. You know what his good news is? You can do your own thing. To a lot of people, that sounds like good news. So there are two different gospels going on here.

One is the gospel of surrender to God and have the life and the indwelling of Jesus Christ and his Spirit in you, and you abide by his commandments and his ways and the teachings of Jesus. You have this system over here, this other good news, this other gospel of, hey, you can do your own thing. And you don't have to go through all of the homework to get there.

God is old. God doesn't understand. You know, we kind of went through that in the 1960s, and we're still recovering from it, aren't we, folks? It's never been the same since the 60s in America. But, you know, to do your own thing did not start at Haight-Ashbury or in the bay. It started in Eden. That's where it started. The serpent came along and said, Eve, you can do your own thing. You can be your own master. You don't have to have anybody tell you what to do. You can have your own, are you ready for this? You can have your own person hudge. And you can go around what that old God is telling you what to do. What is very important to recognize is they worshiped the dragon. You might want to circle. That's very important because the book of Revelation always points us to the spiritual beyond that which we see, but that which God sees, to give us enough to consider, to give us enough to consider, to give us a heads up so that we will have an awareness as these events begin to develop. Now, what's very interesting is that this is a system that goes, as I said, back time and memorial to Babylon. Join me if you would in Daniel 4 and verse 16. Daniel 4 verse 16. Where's this term the beast come from? Well, it comes out of the book of Daniel, actually, in Daniel 4. And I think we're aware of the story where Nebuchadnezzar was, in a sense, turned out into the field. He was walking around the gates of, or the walls of Babylon one night and said, Oh, look at what I've done. I am so good and I am so great. And look at Babylon, which I built. And God brought him a message.

In Daniel 4, let's take a look at this. Daniel 4 verse 16.

Let, speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, let his heart be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the heart of a beast.

There was a change. See, God looks upon the heart. God sees things as if they are. Nebuchadnezzar, who was incredibly talented and incredibly able, and yet there was a bestial quality, an animal-like quality that was underneath that glitter and that gold that is demonstrated in the imagery and the idol that is put up in Daniel 2. That Babylon would be that head of gold. It would be the epitome of the kingdoms and everything else to follow would be out of that system. But God said, it's bestial. It's like a beast. Now, what's very interesting is that those seven years of animal-like behavior revealed his heart. Now, this is a warning, and this is an admonition to the church to consider, because you've got to understand that when these matters develop, either in our lifetime or in the future, is to recognize that the San Diego Union is not going to say, this is what the beast is doing today. The Los Angeles Times is not going to have Beast.com. God is telling us that are spiritually aware and leaning on God's Spirit in humility to help us to recognize that these times are going to come in the future, because everybody else is going to be saying, oh, kumbaya, it's so wonderful. Did you ever see Bugs' life?

Or am I the only one with Susan with it? As the bugs are going to the light, oh, it's so wonderful, then the bug gets popped out by the light. That's how the world's going to be. Who is like the beast? Long live the beast. That's where the world's going to be.

That's not where the saints of God are going to be. Why is this so important for us to understand?

What can we learn from past history to understand the future? I'd like to share a few thoughts here that I think are important. I'm going to borrow a little bit out of Barkley's commentary on the book of Revelation and a little bit from a book by H. H. Skaggs on the Greatness of Babylon that was written in 1962. This will allow us to understand a little bit about this mark and what it's about. Why is this term the mark of the beast's shoes? Let's appreciate and note that what's happening in the book of Revelation, there's a cultural and a religious parody, a miming or a mimic that would have been understood in that day, that original day, to 95 A.D., either by a Jew and or a Gentile. This mark is the grim opposite of the Jewish custom of wearing a flattery. We've all seen flatteries worn by the Hasidim or the Orthodox Jews, where they have an item on their wrist and they have an item on their head because the head is the seal of God working with you and your hand is obviously an extension of what you're doing in your head. So this is a grim opposite of what the Jews were doing at these times. In Judaism, these little leather boxes carry parchments of Scripture. One of those parchments that are in that is the Shema out of Deuteronomy. You might want to jot it down. Deuteronomy 4, 6-9. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord your God is one. That is what a Jew carries with him all the time. And what this is telling us, this term mark is telling us that people that receive this mark of the beast are not worshiping the true God. They've surrendered to something that is counterfeit. The very term mark out of the Greek is a term that is called shiragma. It means to stamp or it means to impress. And I'm going to expand on that a little bit. Skaggs brings this out that in the first century slaves were at times marked by the brand of an owner. Not always.

Sometimes runaway slaves were branded with a brand which was called a stigma. And we know the word stigmatize. That if somebody ran away, they were branded. That was to set them apart. That was to mark them. That was to stigmatize them. Slaves were identified by some kind of mark, either tattooed or branded on the face or the back of their hand. Can you imagine that? What a horrible world that somebody would brand a slave right on their head or on their hand. And with all of this, we can look at a futurality that when this time in the future comes, that seemingly no one is going to escape. Seemingly no one is going to escape as this world system emerges. Also, at the first century AD, at times devoted soldiers would brand their general's name on their their bodies. Because that's who they gave their allegiance to. How many of you ever saw the movie Gladiator? Oh, it's good to know what the audience is watching. But I don't know if you remember when Russell Crowe, Mr. Gladiator, he's had it with Rome and he's in the in the dungeon. And remember where he takes that knife and he's scratching out, cutting out literally the shiragma. He's cutting out the mark. He's cutting out the brand that he is no longer going to be devoted to Rome. That's what he was doing. He was debeasting himself. His allegiance was shattered to Caesar.

Mine probably would be too if it were Commodus. But that's what he was doing.

On contracts of the first century, any buying and selling there was a shiragma with a date and the Emperor's name. When we think about that, such a concept might depict future people that accept the beast official authority and stamp of approval on everything they do. All official coinage in the Roman Empire had an impression or a shiragma or a stamp or a mark of Caesar's likeness.

And such again, again, we're dealing with the economy. We're dealing with the property that seems to be so extant here. When this was the big thing that happened to the Christians in 1985-1980 AD, when you had one man who thought of himself using the Greek term choraleos, he thought of himself as Lord. And yet here were Christians that were worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. You can see where there was a conflict. And what they had to do is, once a year, they would have to go and offer up an offering. And they would have to offer up an offering to Caesar, that he was Lord. You can see where the conflict would come in. And when the offerings of incense were offered to that deity of Caesar, a certificate was granted by the state for the record of the action. Such a mark could signify worship. And we can recognize what happened to some of the Christians that did not. Bottom line, here's some words I'd like to give you. You can go back and think about them in the course of the week. What this picture of what the shiragma, what the mark was like in the first century AD, here are the terms I'd like to share with you. Here we go. Domination, devotion, and ultimately the devastation of a man's inner being and values. Domination, devotion, and devastation of all that you hold within you. That there is no other Lord above you other than the Lord Jesus Christ and his Father.

Now, let's move into the next subject. Now, the number of the beast. 666. Let's talk about that for a moment. It's probably the best known, most studied verse in the Bible to a degree.

Let's again go over here to Revelation 13 for a moment.

Revelation 13. I'll pick up some thoughts here. In Revelation 13, here we go. Let's understand what is happening here.

We're going to read it through and then we'll come back.

Speaking of this beast and also this religious beast that will be with him. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast.

That the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

So there are consequences when you do not worship the image of the beast.

Not only in the first century, but in the future.

He, being known as causes all, might want to circle that.

Both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads. Remember what the Jew did with the flattery? This is a counter to that.

And that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name. This is going to be economic in nature. It's going to be economic in nature. It's going to impact everything that you do. Well, how can anything impact everything that you do? Well, and I'm not striving to be political at this point, but when a government puts out a program of which everybody has to be involved or there is a penalty, there is a fine, there is a tax. Now please understand, I'm not using this as any more.

I'm using this as an analogy of what governments can do. Don't take it of anything about the Affordable Care Act being that. That's not what I'm talking about. Not a not a not a. What I'm saying is I'm talking about what governments can do and how they can dominate a system. Well, I'm not going to sign. I'm not going to. Well, look what's happening. Governments run on a life of their own. And so we recognize this. What's going to happen. Now notice what it says. No one may buy or sell except one has his mark. Here is wisdom. Let him who is understanding calculate the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man and his name is 666. Now why do we have this number in front of us? Ancient people did not have figures for numbers and so letters were assigned numeric value. Remember the the Arabian numerals had not come into play yet. Very important to understand. And so we all think of Roman numerals.

And there's a configuration of them. The early Christians actually the way they put together Nero's name, Nero's name came up to 666, which is interesting. I know sometimes people have configured numbers of people that they don't like since and somehow they come up 666. Maybe your neighbor. I'm just teasing on that point. But people can do that. Here's a big question that is before us. Is this an esoteric coded calculation? Do we have to somehow understand numerology and all of these numbers? Or is it spiritual discernment of that time to determine the contrast of what is of God through Jesus Christ and or of what is of man? Because it doesn't cite mathematics. It cites wisdom as being that difference. And we know what the book of James says that we need to pray for that wisdom that comes from above. I would suggest that this is not dealing with math or logic or some x which marks the beast.

I think it comes to a spiritual discernment and an understanding of what God is doing and our relationship with God through Christ. And in that faith that Mr. Beatty talked about, that God will give us enough to understand, enough to comprehend that when that time comes that we will know and that we will have that faith and that his spirit will not only give us revelation but that same spirit will give us and or those that are in the future backbone to be able to withstand this. I think that's very important to understand.

I think identifying the mark or its corresponding number is not nearly as vital as determining the purpose of that mark and determining what we will do about it. The bottom line about the mark of the beast is something to understand, assembly this. Those who accept it show allegiance to the beast and to a false prophet. Revelation 13 verse 4 says that in the future when people accept that beast and accept that false prophet, they are worshiping Satan the devil and the adversary.

It shows their willingness to operate within an economic system he promotes and thus their rebellion to God. It's very interesting when you look at this to recognize what it means.

The book of Revelation is basically a book about choices. And what the book of Revelation shows is that ultimately there is the world and there are the people of God. And the mark and the speaking of marks and the speaking of sealing really tells us that people have to make a decision of who they're going to worship and who they are going to obey. Refusing the mark means to commit yourself to God, preferring even death as we find that there are those that are going to not have loved their life unto death that are going to give themselves because of their faith. It seems as if the mark is tied into economics, the buying and the selling. We find that in Revelation 18. And economy has a tremendous factor. You say, how could this possibly happen? You know, this almost sounds like a fairy tale, Mr. Weber, and this is in 2013. Things can happen overnight. What is today, by the way? What's the date? And what happened on December 7th? Change the world. Change the world.

September 11th. Change the world.

There was a time in Germany when jewelry were raised and bred as to be good Germans.

They worked for the Kaiser. They fought for the Kaiser. They thought of themselves as German, even with their own Jewish uniqueness. But they looked upon themselves as good Germans. And then overnight you had the, what's the term, gem? Breaking of the glass? Breaking of the glass? Yes. Where all the glass broke. All the stores were raided. All that they worked for was thrown out in the street. I was just reading a book last night by Peter Jennings. Remember the newscaster. He'd written a book about the incredible 20th century. And it talked about an Austrian Jew. It talked about an Austrian Jewess. And she was writing this account that all those things were happening up in Germany. Those are the Bavarians. That Hitler, they're going to take care of him. Those Germans, the Austrians are the happy, nice Germans. Those other Germans up there, they'll take care of that little peep squeak. They'll get rid of him. Certainly he's not going to go anywhere. And then overnight there was the Anschluss of where the Germans came into Austria to unite it. And there was no fight put up. Even the Poles fought. The Poles fought on horses. That was their mistake in 1939. But nothing happened. The Austrians, all of a sudden, oh, you're here, you're there. And there's Austrian Jewess who thought of herself as an Austrian. And her fellow people as an Austrian, all of a sudden the next day the brown shirts came in and then the SS came in. And they took these old Jewish men and old Jewish women. They humiliated them. They put them on the sidewalk and they made them scrub the sidewalk off of all the pro-Austrian slogans. Everybody was really, really going to do everything until it happened. And then there were the Austrians watching their fellow Austrians. Jews humiliated.

And then packed up. And taken to the camps.

Kind of hit me to recognize how things can just happen overnight. And to recognize that what has occurred in the past can occur in the future. Revelation 14 and verse 12.

In Revelation 14 and verse 12, here is the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. What is this mark of the beast?

Today I cannot tell you exactly what the mark of the beast is. We can look at historical examples of shiragmas, which I think give us an impression and a consideration. I know that there are people that write in articles, well, the mark of the beast is a microchip, and it's going to be planted in your head. We'll find out.

We'll find out. Is this still on? Good. There are other people that think that it is the keeping of a day, or the non-keeping of a day, the force of keeping a day that you don't want to keep. I just simply don't know. And neither do you. It could be a collection of all of these things.

It could be in the future where everybody has to work so many days and take off only on Sunday.

There's that thought that is out there. You know, brethren, I simply cannot put my finger on a dime right now. I do know that when we look at history, we recognize that Christians, especially in the fourth century, that for centuries had kept the seventh-day Sabbath, where all of a sudden, in the Council of Laodicea in 363 AD, were told that they could not keep the Sabbath on pain of death. That's out there. That's there. But what we have to do is we need to remain open and flexible and wide. Most of my life that has occurred in my life has not happened as I thought it might happen. Maybe you're different than I am on some of the experiences I've had in the Church.

I think we need to keep our windows, spiritual windows, clean. We need to keep them open. We do need to recognize that there's a system that's going to come that is going to be domineering, that's going to be dominating, that it's going to be spiritually devastating. And we need to be aware of that. We need to understand that not everything that glitters is gold. Not every organization that mentions God or Christ is godly or Christian. And we need to recognize that this conflict continues. One encouragement that I would like to share with you is that there is another mark and another seal given. Join me if you would in Revelation 7. In Revelation 7, you say, well, wow, that sounds, Mr. Weber, that really sounds serious in the future. I'm only sharing what the Bible shares with us to be aware of. What I want to share with you again is that there is another mark and there is another seal that is given. In Revelation 7, after these things, verse 1, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, and the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. And then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having noticed the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea. Notice, saying, do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, till we have sealed.

Isn't that interesting? Till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

See, sometimes we can get over-fascinated and come over to this corner of Revelation. There's a mark of the beast. Let me out of here. Toto, we're going back to Kansas.

Got to read the whole book. It goes back to again that remember Cain had a mark put on him. He was a part. He was confronting God. Later on, in Goshen, Israel was given the seal of the blood of the Lamb on their doorpost, and God passed over them and favored them, knew they were there, had a future in store for them, had good things in store for them. He was their God. He was sovereign. He was greater than that human God known as Pharaoh. The One thing you always want to remember, brethren, is simply this. If someday I fall over tomorrow, I never have another chance to preach to you. There is only one great personality in the Book of Revelation. He is the superstar. It is not the beast. It is not the false prophet. It is not even the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It is the fifth horseman. It is Jesus Christ.

It is the revelation of God through Jesus Christ, about Jesus Christ, how God's saving work is going to be through Jesus Christ, not only our own personal redemption as of today, but as He restores the world under that government, under that kingdom of God. And that's why we need to think about prophecy in this way that sometimes says, oh, there's the mark of the beast. Well, there's also God's seal, and there's God's mark and protection upon His church. Some people say, well, we've got to study. We just got to get into this four horsemen of the apocalypse and get it right on all these days and days and days and scour the scriptures days and days and days, and they focus on the four horsemen. Rather than spending most of their time and dominating their spirit, which then dominates their life, which dominates in their personality, which dominates that they recognize that the joy of God can be in them, that when it's all said and done, the fifth horseman comes down from the heavens with the sword, with the armies, with the angels of heaven, and defeats the serpent, fulfills Genesis 3 verse 15, rescues the saints, and the millennium, the wonderful reign of Jesus Christ on this earth, is going to be a fact. It's going to be a reality. This is our hope. This is what we preach, that the world is not headed for disaster but for destiny. See how we've taken something that seems negative, humanly? And through God's Scripture, and through the wisdom of God, we take it and we make it a positive. That seal, I think, frankly, is the same seal that God speaks about in the book of Ephesians.

God works from the inside out, doesn't he? That seal that God gives us now, and that he's going to give those in the future, I believe is the seal of his Holy Spirit. It's a Holy Spirit that grants us humility to understand him. It's a Holy Spirit that grants us wisdom to be loud about the things that God is loud about, quiet about the things that God is quiet about, and step back and look at the things that he allows us to contemplate. It's a spirit of revelation. It's a spirit of wisdom. It's a spirit of humility. Also, lastly, it's a spirit that gives us a backbone. A backbone.

Let's be confident, brethren, as we move forward, to recognize that as we study the Scriptures, let's see what God is saying rather than what man has said. Let's be confident that what God has begun, that he is going to do a good work and he's going to finish it through to the end, and to recognize that whenever in the future, again, you ever approach the book of Revelation and the subject of the mark of the beast, make sure you look at both marks. Make sure you look at both seals. Make sure you go to that one where God seals his saints, and to recognize that he gives them a future.