The Mark of the Beast

While we're waiting for a few people to come, I thought I'd just talk to you a little bit and share a few thoughts about World News and Prophecy while we're getting everybody settled. Looking around, really nice meeting some of our good news subscribers that are here with us today, and we certainly want to bid you a very, very warm welcome. We're so happy to have you. Thank you for coming and taking the invitation extended to you by either the Seattle and or the Tacoma Church.

As I said, there are two reasons why we really come out, especially on these Prophecy seminars, is to discuss this issue with people that have been handling it for many, many, many years and maybe giving them some new thoughts and some new insights, as well as meeting some of you that are here just recently awakening to the Scriptures. We're really glad to deal with so many different varieties of people that are in our audience today, and thank you.

It's very interesting. I usually mention it at this point that I always like to go to that verse in the Bible that says, "'Blessed is he that endures to the end, for the same shall be saved.' Because I know seminars can get long in the tooth or long on the rear, and the mind can only take sometimes what the rear can endure. But I hope that you're being well served by Mr. Rhodes and myself. Some of you that are taking the Good News magazine may not be fully aware that the United Church of God has a number of periodicals.

I don't really have the time to mention all of them today, but one that you might want to consider subscribing to or looking up on the net is World News and Prophecy. While our flagship publication covers a number of issues, whether it be personal Christianity, whether it be world events, whether it be prophecy, whether it be matters of how a Christian handles finances, and on and on and on, World News and Prophecy basically deals with current events in the light of Bible prophecy.

So it is very specific to its subject. As some of you have already heard that both Mr. Rhodes, myself, and others do write for it. Mr. Rhodes often handles topics that are of current events. I normally deal with subjects in a column that I write called This is the Way and more of a personalized nature. That's why I sometimes like to come out and be on what we call the seminar circuit because it allows me to deal with, shall we say, some of the deep topics of prophetic nature that we're about to deal with.

I normally share stories with you of hopefully inspiration, of encouragement, towards transformation, but there are topics that we need to deal with. Some of those understandings that I mentioned in the first presentation. I also want to mention to all of you, maybe some of you came late, that we all have gifts in the ministry and some are gifted by being able to do PowerPoint.

That's Mr. Rhodes' gift. He does have others, but that's a gift. I do not yet have that gift of PowerPoint. I'm sorry. I am the PowerPoint. This is it. If I move, that's the PowerPoint. Beyond that, because I'm an old school teacher, taught school for 16 years, that I love to give handouts. Make sure that you, before you leave today, at least both of the presentations I gave and I believe, Melvin, you have one handout, that they are there on the information table. I've always found that when we go to seminars, people love to have the handouts. Anyway, we certainly appreciate all of the efforts that are going on behind the scenes.

All the gentlemen, the ladies that are working with the food and the beverage. Have you ever read the Scripture and you see the walk of Christ through the Holy Land? Wherever Christ was, there was normally food, or He provided it. The Church of God does that, so that while we are teaching and sharing a spiritual message, our tummies also need to be fed. It's just not the individuals that are behind the podium today or coming up on this stage. The audio crew, the people that are back there in the kitchen, our greeters, those of you that are all going to volunteer to take down these chairs as soon as Mr. Rhodes is done. Just teasing. It all takes all of us to do this.

So, we're ready to move on. I'm going to look at my watch here for a second. You know what the Bible says about not setting dates, but I'm just kind of looking at my watch and seeing where we're at. I told Mr.

Luker I'd go no more than two hours on this class, and we're set to go. I know right where we are. When fully reading God's Word, we all have that opportunity to read the end of the book.

And if we read the end of the book, the book we're talking about is the Bible, we come to a dazzling conclusion, and that is that God wins. And if God wins, that also means we that are faithful to God also win. But there are some challenging and potentially life-altering events that are going to occur to the people of God between this message that I'm giving today and to that totality of when Jesus Christ comes back to this earth. As has been mentioned already and as mentioned so often with challenging situations, the devil is in the details. And the subject that we're about to move into is one such subject of which truly the devil is in the details. Perhaps there is no single term that sends more ways of chill down our collective spine than the phraseology of the mark of the beast and or its accompanying term, the number of the beast. These terms are not terms. The mark of the beast, the number of the beast, are going to be the focus of this specific class. You know, and I know, that there have been novels written with this subject in them. It seems to have even become more of a fascination over the last 20 or 30 years. Novels have been written. Movies have been read with the number of the beast in it, the beast mentioned, and or 666. But what does the Bible say? That's why we're here today in this prophecy seminar. What does the Bible say about the number of the beast, the mark of the beast? And also, as we broaden the educational scheme here, what does the Bible not say? And what does it not address? Sometimes, in looking into Scripture, it is important to see what it says and also to observe what it does not say. Now, such terms have filled thriller novels, as I've mentioned, mysteries and horror movies. And sometimes it can be cheapened to maybe a late night movie on a Saturday night where you want to turn on the light and not be in a darkened room when it comes to the beast or the mark of the beast or its associated number. But unfortunately, that cheapens the subject because literally these are going to, to a degree, going to be the headlines of tomorrow.

And I am here to tell you on the authority of the Bible that ultimately this mark of the beast, the number of the beast, is going to ultimately affect every human being that is on the earth at that time. So we need to understand what's going on. Do you have a pencil and a pen on you? All of you? If not, get it from the person. No, just teasing.

Here's what I'd like you to do for a moment. It's always good to kind of do a little handwriting, get a little interactive in a class. You ready to go? Here's what I'd like you to write. Are you ready?

Just start with a D. And then I want you to put a C. This is not a seeing test. Okay. And then I want you to put an L. And then an X. Then I want you to put a V. Remember doing this in school? Then I want you to put an I. Now what you might want to do is take the person next to you and take their hand, on the back of the hand, write these...

no, and it's erasable, so it's alright, like a tattoo. Because I don't want you to be marked with what? What's this... what is that? 666. That's what it looks like. Take a good look at it. Roman numerals. And that's what we're going to discuss in the course of this subject.

Now, let's lay some ground rules out when it comes to discussing the mark of the beast, the number of the beast. There's three things that we're going to deal with. You might want to jot them down. If you don't want to, that's alright, because you're going to get the hand out anyway. But by jotting and staying with me as students, and in this class, it'll allow me to bring you to a final, very important, spiritual point at the end of this class.

There's three things that we're not going to deal with for about three or four minutes. Number one, in dealing with this subject, we have to understand the style of the writing. The style of the writing. When we understand the style of the writing, it's going to place a demand on you and on me.

And then number three, it will then create an approach in dealing with this subject. As we begin to deal with the book of Revelation, because that's where we're going to discuss this, it's very important that we understand that the book of Revelation is written in what we call apocalyptic style. That may be, you know, like Homer, you might say, it's all Greek to me. What's that mean? Apocalyptic style was a form of writing that was very popular in religious circles between about 200 BC to 200 AD, especially amongst the Jewish community.

Apocalyptic style writing was basically written to dispossessed people and or a remnant community. And it was written in color, it was written with imagery. You can begin to see where the book of Revelation comes in. And it had one specific purpose, and that was to raise that community to the level of hope. And even as dispossessed as they were at the time, there was a hope-filled future. Why do I mention this? The Bible is written in different sections and in different ways, just like a house has different rooms. There's a living room, there's a dining room, there's a family room, there's a kitchen, there's a restroom.

And while they're all important and while they're all segmented and segue together, you must understand your entrances and exits into those rooms, how they are written, why they are written. The book of Revelation is written in an apocalyptic style with a lot of imagery. Now, this then puts a demand on us. The second point is this. To understand the style of writing it is means that it demands wisdom in being able to tackle the book of Revelation.

Again, like I said in the first class today, not just Googling, but wisdom. We often think of the book of Revelation as a book dealing with specifically prophecy. But allow me just to mention a few verses to you. You might want to jot them down because it grabs our attention. It asks us to pause and to consider Revelation 3.22 says, He that hath an ear. So it's not only what you're reading, but what you're taking in with all of your other senses. Revelation 13 in verse 1 says, Here is wisdom. Revelation 17 in verse 9 says, A mind that has wisdom.

Now in our first class today, we talked about the need to have a heart towards prophecy, as God has a heart towards us. But our heart must also have an ear of wisdom. Because so often what people do with the book of Revelation, they see the apocalyptic nature. And so they make a mistake of either making it too figurative and too allegorical, and then miss the reality, and or they make it too black and white, and they don't understand what's happening over here.

The Spirit of God, hopefully it's moving us this afternoon, is going to plan it right in the middle to where we have a foot on both shores. Thus, when we recognize this apocalyptic style, number two, that it demands a wisdom that comes from that wisdom from above. That takes us to the next step. Allow me to share it with you.

And that's our approach when it comes to the mark of the beast. Here it goes. Humility. Any discussion that you and I are going to have on this subject demands humility from the one that is communicating it to you and your humility in accepting it. That's very, very important. And to recognize that at the right time and in the right way, that God is going to take our biblical considerations and by His Spirit in us, is going to allow us to comprehend what we need to know when we need to know it.

Because, friends, the mark of the beast is going to be a very real thing in the future and we need to be aware of it. You say, well, Mr. Weber, but I'm scared of that. I don't like to hear about that. You know, I can put it up in Roman numerals and, you know, no problem. But when you do this, you do the old 666 thing, and you put it up there, you know, that gives me the shakes. Absolutely. Humanly, it should.

But remember, prophecy is not about simply being human. It's about surrendering ourselves to the kingdom of God and surrendering ourselves to the element that when we need to know that the faithful God is going to give us exactly what we need to know when we need to know it and will not only give us the mind and the heart, but His Spirit will also give us a backbone to be a witness for Jesus Christ. So let's move into the subject now, if you'll come with me. The goal of this class is to define the mark of the beast and additionally is to define the responsibilities who will face that threat in the future. I not only want to share with you what the mark of the beast may be, but I want to share with you what your God desires you to be for Him. So with the ground rules of imagery, wisdom, and humility in place, let's proceed. As we do, let's appreciate that Revelation is what we might call a layered message. That may be a new terminology for some of you that are just awakening to the Scriptures. For those of you that have been in the Church of God community for many years, you may be more familiar with the term dual. That prophecy has a dual nature. That there are occurrences that come along the way. I prefer the term layered, building upon one another. Because sometimes when we just use the word dual, we think two. But oftentimes, if I can use a prophetic discussion piece like the the abomination of desolations, the abomination of desolations has four or five fulfillments already in history. Going back to Nebuchadnezzar, going to Antiochus Epiphanes, going to Titus of the Flavian house, and you can go on and on and on. So sometimes it's not just a one-two scenario. That's why I like to use the term, if you'd like to jot it down, maybe think about some, I like to use the term layered, moving to a grand fulfillment in the future. And when we do understand that, we understand that there is always a positive tension between that which is past and that which is in the future.

So often we either sink one foot in the past and leave it there, but we don't move to the future.

And the Bible has a tension. You might want to jot that down as a student of the Bible. It has a tension between the past and the present that pulls it and tightens the understanding that God wants us to derive from it. Why do I say that? Simply this, the book of Revelation was written to real people in real time with real problems with a real God. When the book of Revelation was first written, and there are terms like the mark of the beast and the number of the beast, things were happening on the ground. If you had been in the church in 85 to 90 AD in Asia Minor, and you had been acquainted with Nero 30 years before, and now with Domician of the Flavian house that was now exercising the second great persecution of the church in fairly strong economic times in the Roman Empire, you would have thought that the book was very relevant to you at that time. That this was your time, this was your call, and this message was written to you. Are you with me? Thus, we understand that there was a fulfillment in the layering, but it is not over, especially when you put Revelation with what Christ said in the Olivet prophecy, recognizing that there are things that yet had to occur that you and I are experiencing right now that Mr. Rhodes is going to bring out later on in his next lecture, as he did now. Things that bring the Bible into focus now in these days and the latter times at the end of the age. But the future and the final assault of the faithful saints of God is given a structure in Revelation 12. Let's begin opening up our textbook here, and let's go to Revelation 12. Notice a few things here.

In Revelation 12, we begin to develop some structure here, because in the future there's going to be a conflict that is going to dominate the world stage in what is called the last days.

Now, what is very important to understand, and I hope you'll get this because this is the foundation of the class, this which is depicted in the book of Revelation is literally a battle to the death between two spiritual forces that vie for humanity's unquestionable and unwavering allegiance to a system, to a standard of values. This is very important. Let's understand something.

Basically, what you have in Scripture is a contrast. Not a contrast between three or five or eight like an octopus's legs, or it gets complicated. Just two. And I think God is just two. Or three, I might have to start juggling. Have you found that two is tough enough for you? The ways of this world versus the ways of God. This is all going to culminate in the future.

There is going to come a time when every human being is going to have to make a decision as to where their devotion lies. There will be no multiple choice. How many of you liked multiple choices when you were growing up on a test? I loved it. I loved multiple choice so much more than fill in the blank. Because the fill in the blank was not good for people that had blanks in their head. But a multiple choice at least gave me hope. It was like gambling. You know, I could roll the dice. Was it A, B, or C, or D? None of the above. But there will be none of that.

There will be none of that. You will have to make a determination and or our children or your children's children or whenever that time comes are going to have to make a determination between two contrasting forces. Forces that go all the way back in the book of Genesis. I've often said friends that the Bible is basically what we might call a thread of two. You might want to jot that term down and stay with me. It's a thread of two. I'm glad it's not a thread of three or a thread of four. When you understand the Bible, you recognize that it is the confrontation between two gods.

The God of heaven and the God of this age. And those two gods, one with the capital G and one with the small G, have two ways. There's the way of give and there's the way of get.

Represented by two trees. The tree of good and evil and the tree of life. Which later on are perpetuated and demonstrated by two cities. Jerusalem, which is above, and Babylon, which is below. Which is perpetuated and illustrated by two cities in this thread of two. There is that great world church, which is given illustration in Revelation 17 and also in Revelation 12.

And then there is that woman that is true, that is small, that is elect, that has to flee into the wilderness, whose reliance is not on man, but on the Christ. All of this basically then comes to determinations, two choices. Whether or not you follow God or whether or not you follow man, which comes down into the book of Revelation between, are you with me? Two seals. I've already told you one that we're going to discuss, the mark of the beast and or the seal, the shargama, which we'll talk about. And there's another seal. And all of that ultimately comes up with two determinations, salvation and the other. So this is a very, very important subject for all of us to grasp and understand. All of this came out, you know, when you look at Genesis 3.15, some of you that are just awakening to prophecy, that the oldest prophecy in the Bible goes back right to when man was going out the garden. Adam and Eve were being escorted. They were being given the angelic escort. And that word came that between the man and the woman, that it says that the seed of the woman would smite the snake. And the seed of that snake would smite the seed of the woman back and forth. But that is very interesting that the snake would but smite the heel, whereas the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, ultimately would smite the head of the snake, the most vulnerable part, right in the very beginning. Can you imagine that? Genesis 3.15. Even as man was being escorted out of the garden, God sends a ray and a signal of hope that Adam and Eve, no matter what you've done, there is hope for your children and for your seed. But there will be struggle in between. The Mark of the Beast is about that struggle. Very interesting. Revelation 12. Come with me, please. Let's move here. Revelation 12.

Let's just introduce some of the key players here in this story of the Mark of the Beast. The key earthly player is revealed in Revelation 12. Now a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman in verse 1 clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. And then, being with child, she quieted out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven diatoms on his head. And his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven 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. And she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God in his throne. In Revelation 12, God begins to speak of a chosen folk, a select people, what scripture calls the elect. And it speaks of one that would come that would be the child, caught up into God in his throne, speaking of the Christ. But in verse 6, it speaks that the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her 1,260 days. The first player that we introduce on the stage in this topic is a church connected with Christ. Very important to understand.

A church connected with Christ, and one that is persecuted by the dragon and or by Satan.

That now takes us to another player in this, and we call this the true antagonist. If you'd like to write that down. The true antagonist, which is defined in Revelation 12, in the same chapter in verse 7. And war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. Again, this is apocalyptic language. Language of image, the dragon, speaking of the one that you and I might call Satan, the adversary. And fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. And it was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with them. Now notice verse 10, 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, have come for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God, day and night, has been cast down. Now, what is interesting, there's some good news, some bad news in all of this. The good news is Satan is cast down. The bad news is that he is on earth.

But you know, when you go to verse 12, you find some more good news at the very end. It says that he has a very short time. What's very interesting, and I remember this nearly 40 or 50 years ago, when I first heard it as a boy, from the preaching of Herbert W. Armstrong. And he directed us as an audience at that time to jolt us from just simply looking at the Seattle Times or the local Tacoma paper, and or where we are, the LA Times down in Southern California. And he reminded us that Jesus Christ is a great revelator. He's a newscaster. He tells us the future today. And not only that, he reminded us and alerted us that the headlines, the really big headlines, are occurring in heaven and are made in heaven. So often we get lost with the details that are down here on earth, worrying simply about the details in the kingdom of men, as if simply men are arranging the chest pieces when there's a far greater stage that is set. The stage between God and the stage between this adversary, which now leads us to the next step here to recognize in Revelation 13 that there is a temporal force. The key player here is the woman, the woman that is persecuted, the woman that is true to Christ. But we also recognize that this key earthly player has this antagonist being the serpent. And the serpent uses pons that we find in Revelation 13 called the beast. Then verse 1, chapter 13, I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on the horns ten crowns, and on his head a blasphemous name. And it goes on to describe the nature of this beast. Now at the end of verse 2 it says, the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. Are you with me, friends?

This is very important. This is not simply about the kingdom of men and what man is doing or hatching here below. There are indeed greater forces at play here. It says, the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. Why is that? As this system emerges that Mr. Rhodes is going to talk about, and I don't mean to steal from his subject, I do want you to focus on verse 4. Please notice. So they worshipped 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? Maybe you've never reflected upon this as you go through Revelation 13, because we get caught up like on a chessboard of trying to figure out who these individuals are, rather than the spiritual discussion that's happening in the book of Revelation. The bottom line of all of this that's going to occur in the future, as you see this Roman Empire emerge once again in relationship with the church-state union, basically comes to this point, gelled in verse 4. So they worshipped the dragon. This system that is bestial. It goes back to the time of Babylon and to Nebuchadnezzar. Remember when he had those seven years that were munching and crunching on grass? When God took the greatest individual on earth, he said, you have the heart of a beast, and so you are, and so you will be, and you will munch on the grass for seven years, and your fingernails will grow, and your hair will grow, because I see things as they are. Beast you are, and beast you shall be, and I will reveal to the world what you are inside. Well, you say, well, he's dead. He's come and gone. So how's that affect me here in Seattle or Tacoma? Because what we're discussing here today, you are not going to see in a headline in the Seattle Times in the years to come. You are not going to see a headline saying, Beast has a meeting in Brussels. Headline Brussels, Beast makes a guest appearance.

You're not going to see that. You're not going to see a headline coming from a capital in Europe saying, The Man of Perdition, The False Prophet arrived at, and I'll let you fill in the date line, Coming Tomorrow, Watch Tonight, Channel 7, 11 o'clock, don't miss it.

Special feature, False Prophet, even the Drudge Report is not going to pick this up. But that's why God says in Amos 3 that He will raise up servants. He will raise up individuals, for surely the Lord God will do nothing but that He does not first reveal it to His servants, the prophets. Now, I'm not calling myself a prophet, unless you think that's what I'm saying.

But we read from the prophets. We learn from the prophets. We serve the great prophet, the Christ.

The Savior. The Revelator. And these words are here to encourage us to understand what is coming.

Now, what is going to occur ultimately in Revelation 13 and Mr. Rhodes is going to bring that out, is ultimately what is going to emerge in the future is a great church-state union. And it's going to be an alliance of temporary mutual convenience, much like the Holy Roman Empire of old. A mixture of German in Italy, a mixture of North and South, a mixture of church and state, a mixture of sword and cross that comes together in a mutual alliance to serve the interest of one another, never ever truly trusting one another but needing one another to have domination over those that they want to dominate. Not a pretty sight. You know, the old historical maxim about the Holy Roman Empire is simply this. I think it was by Voltaire, by mistake, Mr. Rhodes, by Voltaire, that the Holy Roman Empire was neither Holy, Roman, and or an empire. But when it does come together, it does have an impact. This brings us up now to Revelation 13, because this system is going to impose something. And let's begin to pick up the thought in verse 15 of chapter 13. He, speaking of this beast, was granted power to give the breath to the image of the beast. Speaking of this church system that is going to emerge this universal spiritual system. I didn't say godly. I said spiritual system is going to breathe life into this temporal beast, 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. Now, if you're falling asleep, this is the time to wake up, because it says in Scripture that people are going to die over this situation. Now, let's begin to define it and see what it says and see what it doesn't say. Now we can tackle the mark of the beast and the number of the beast. Key consideration. Are you with me in verse 16? Everybody ready to go?

I don't want to lose anybody. Here we go, verse 16. He, speaking of this beast, causes all both small and great and rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand and or on their foreheads. The first thing that we notice here is this system in which it dominates. All that are under it. All is a very important word. Can I ask a question of one of our students out here today? I see the young gentleman here on the road. I got you right there. It's you. What's your first name? Shaney. Did I get it right? Shaney? Nice name. Shaney, I'd just kind of like you to define it for me. What does all mean to you? This is not a trick question. Everybody always looks at me like I'm about to flunk them. I never flunked anybody for 16 years where I taught. I gave a few D's, but no flunking. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, you're on. All. Nice and loud, so we can hear. Would you please stand up? No, no, go ahead. You're all right. We're having fun. You're all waking up out there now, aren't you? Okay. That's your audience out there. What's all? No, you don't have to look. Just tell me what the English definition of all is. Everything. If it's everything, is anybody left out?

Because it says what? All. Okay. Guess what, Shaney? You passed. You're okay. Okay.

Now in all of this, let's understand something. Shaney, you're great at what you're doing. You do this every Sabbath or what? I'm not sure. Okay. Is that, listen, here's the point.

In all seriousness and all laughter now subsiding, this is incredible stuff. It shows the domination and the pervasive nature of the beast power. Every individual, whether great or weak, whether rich or poor, is going to come under this system. Let's notice why. And that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Now this is very important. Verse 17 brings us into the second major consideration. The first consideration being what? All. Everybody. Nobody escapes this which is coming upon the earth. Number two, we notice in the next verse, verse 16, that this has economic considerations. Remember what President Clinton used to say? It's the economy. Stupid. Back in his thing. It is going to be about the economy.

People are going to look to a great world power to rescue them, to bring a, not a Pax Britannica, not a Pax Americana, not a Pax for Romana, but the next Pax, the next piece. Can't we all get along?

As we say in LA, being an Angeleno, if we just have the economy, if we just get over it, if we just give ourself to this power, we notice there is an all factor, we notice there's an economic nature, but there's one more thing I want to show you here in Revelation 14.9.

You might say, so far, so good, but notice. Then a third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and now notice, receives his mark. On his forehead and on his hand he himself shall also drink of the wine or the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength in 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. We notice the inclusiveness of the mark, we notice the economic nature of the mark, we now must understand something of students of the Bible. Are you with me? It deals with salvation. It deals with judgment from God.

Now, we've been having some levity here, haven't we, today? And we've had a smile and a little laughter, and I do that for a purpose, because we're dealing with a very, very serious subject.

And I would not be a true communicator of the words of Christ, if I did not share the gravity of what is before us, friends, that the Scriptures plainly talk about. Sometimes people say, well, why does not the Church of God discuss these things today, and why is there not that warning witness? Have any of you talked about that talk? That conversation? This is in our literature.

This is on our telecast. This is on our World News and Prophecy online material on the Internet. The Church of God is discussing it. You are hearing this word today by a minister of the Church of God in the body of Christ. We discussed today in 2010 as much as we did in 1970, or 1960, or 1990, and it is being fulfilled in your ear today that this system is coming, and we must understand it. We must know what it is. It's all-encompassing. It's economic in nature and is both relevant to physical and spiritual survival. What it does, it represents compromise, complicity, and the ultimate heresy and treason to God. That the allegiance to God, our unswerving devotion to His Son, Jesus Christ, is given over to something that is created, whether it be a beast on this earth or Satan who is created.

That our unswerving allegiance and devotion goes from that which is all-in-all and eternal and uncreated and always is to that which was shaped and that which is created. That's what the Mark of the Beast is about. How can we understand this Mark of the Beast that's going to come upon us?

Perhaps we learn from history. It says those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Let's understand a few things here about what we can about the Mark. It's often been said that when we look at the Mark of the Beast, it might be considered a cultural and or a religious parody that would be understood in its original day both by Jew and by Gentile, which the book of Revelation was written to. A parody means that it mimics something. Are you with me? Mimics something. That this is stated to represent this in a sense and in a type.

Basically, it is the grim opposite of the Jewish custom of wearing falactries on the left arm and on the forehead. Those little leather boxes, parchment that you see. You know, when you see the Jews before the western wall and they're going like this and they have the falactries and the different things, there is a set of scriptures that is in that little leather box.

The key one being this. Would you please join me? Join me in Deuteronomy 6.

In Deuteronomy 6, any observant Jew that has a falacrophy will have this set of scriptures tucked away very small, very, very, very, very, very, very small, tucked away in there. And you will recognize this and know this by the Jewish term, the Shema. Hebrews 6, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. And it goes on to say how you shall teach your children and how you shall put it on your left arm and on your forehead.

The Mark of the Beast, in a grand sense, in a biblical sense, in a apocalyptic sense, mimics what the Jews of that day did that would be understand. Very important.

The term, then, Mark in your Bible comes from a Greek word. The Greek word there is shiragma. I'll write that out for you. The Greek word there is shiragma.

Shiragma. I sure like these white boards today. When I used to teach it was a black board, and you get that chalk going, just start sneezing all the time with the chalk. Isn't it nice to have a white board like this? It's shiragma. That's a Greek word. That means simply to stamp and or impress. To stamp and or impress. Now, what does that mean in the world of that time back in the Roman world? What do we gain from this? The shiragma. Slaves of that time were oftentimes branded by owners. Not always, but if there was a runaway slave, those runaway slaves were branded with a brand that was called a stigma. What we talk today about being stigmatized and or set apart.

H. H. Skaggs in The Greatness of Babylon, his book there of, shares his thoughts. Slaves were identified by some kind of mark either tattooed or branded on the face and or the back of the hand. Now, when we take this all together, the shiragma, a runaway slave, somebody was trying to get away from a system, with all of this we connect the future reality. No one seemingly escapes the mark of the beast. All who worship the beast are his property. An additional thought in this regards. Another form of shiragma. At times, devoted soldiers would either brand on themselves the name of their general or the name of the Caesar or the name of the legion. How many of you have seen the movie Gladiator? Oh, it's nice to see what an audience is watching. Okay. We've all seen that many of us have seen Gladiator. Remember when Russell Crowe, otherwise known as Max, remember when he's trying to take that tattoo, that brand off of his arm as he recognizes that his devotion to Caesar has been for nothing and he's there and the African gentleman is watching him doing that and asking him what he's doing. In a sense, you might say he's taking off the mark of the beast at that time. He is taking off a shiragma. He's taking off an element of devotion. A shiragma denotes devotion. Another way, and another manner back in the Roman times, was a contract of buying or selling. That when you were buying or selling something, a shiragma with the date and the emperor's name was put on it as a seal. When you think of that, such a concept might depict a future people that accept the beast's official authority, especially when it comes to the matters of the economy. It's also of interest to note that another form of shiragma was on the official coinage of the empire. Whenever there was a new Caesar, and sometimes there were a lot of them within one year, the first thing that they would do is they would imprint their face and or their image. The image of the beast? Image on the coins and on the money, showing in a sense that again a matter of property. Now we begin to move into a very spiritual sense. Most importantly, very interesting, when offerings of incense were offered to a deity, and at times the deity of the intelligence of the emperor. Sometimes emperors were not directly worshiped, but their intelligence was worshiped. That once that worship was certified, a document was given for the record, provided by the state, that an individual had actually worshiped the Caesar. Now when you think about it, such a mark could simply signify recognition of worship, that one who has been called to follow Christ in the future is going to give that worship and that devotion and that allegiance over to another kingdom other than the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God that is going to be established on this earth. Now with all of this historical note, what have we developed?

Let's all take a deep breath for a moment. Psi, capture a little breath. Where are we at in this class? What picture is developed? The mark of the beast is about domination. It is about devotion.

It is about the devastation of a man's inner values. It is about a stranglehold on mankind's movements personally, morally, economically, and yes spiritually. Now with all of that stated, that's going to take us to a discussion then. Let's move now right into the factor of the mark of the beast. Let's see what it says. Let's see what it doesn't say.

With that stated, let's move on here. The number of the beast of 666 is probably the best known and most studied verse that we're looking at here. Let's take a look at it where it says, no man can buy or sell. Here's the wisdom. Let him calculate who has understanding. Calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

Very well-known in Scripture. Christians know about it. Atheists themselves have studied it. What does it mean? Ancient people did not have figures for numbers. They did not have numerical figures for numbers. And so letters were assigned numeric value. Just like we had earlier on, they assigned Roman numerals like C for 100 or V for 50, C for 100, L for 50.

What's very interesting is that it's been stated that Nero's name came to 666.

Nero was considered a type of the beast. It's very interesting in the course of history that sometimes people have figured out the names of people that they don't like in their family and have given them 666. But here's the question I want to share with you.

Understanding the mark of the beast, is it an esoteric, coded calculation involving numerology? Or is it spiritual discernment at that time to determine the contrast between that which is of God and that which is of man?

Because remember how we started the class today? That the book of Revelation is not just about the kind of literature it is written in. It is a book of wisdom. Wisdom from above.

I suggest in my understanding, my personal understanding of this scripture, that it is not about math, it is not about logic, or some ex marks the beast.

Like putting it on the pony. It is about a spiritual wisdom of understanding that which is of God and that which is of man.

It's very interesting when you read the language that we've been reading, it doesn't say that people won't know about the number of the beast. There is a difference with me. There is a difference between knowing about the mark and receiving it.

The judgment in that chapter is not towards those that know of it, but those that receive that mark.

Very important to have that done. Consider for a moment, if you would, in the Bible, three is a significant number. Three normally is a number which denotes completion.

Think of Jesus Christ being in the grave. Three days, three nights. He completed what he was supposed to do. Six is often referred to as the number of man. Are you with me? Number of man. Why? Because man was created on the sixth day. Seven is often associated, again, with the aspect of completion and or the divine, the complete week. Seven is a number that depicts divine completion and or divine perfection. So we have completion. Three. We have six. Six. Six. We have three rolls of the dice of man's way, depicted by what? The tree of good and evil, of which there is good and there is evil. There is going to be good in this future system. Not Pax Britannica, not Pax Americana, not Pax Romana. Perhaps Pax Europa.

There's going to be a lot of good. Boy, when you're making money and when the economy is good, everybody can be happy. But it's going to come at a price. Just as it did with the saints of God in the first century under either Nero and or Domician of the Flavian house, they could have enjoyed Pax Romana, but it came at a price. They had had the stamp on their certificate that they worshipped the image of Domician. That is the message of the book of Revelation in real time in 85 and 90 A.D. They had to sacrifice that devotion to the greatest sacrifice of all, the sacrifice of the father of the son, and toss that away to save themselves.

This is not an issue that is going to go away for humanity. God must know who you and I will be devoted to, whether it is that of man or that of God. 666 looks attractive. You know, man can do a lot of things, but at man's best, man travels seven feet. One foot backward, six feet down, and 666 goes nowhere. Even though you have that roll of the dice of 666, 666 will be different than 777. I think strongly that it's going to be a matter of wisdom of picking this up. When I say all of this, and this is just a thought to kind of put in your mind, it's an understanding, it's a thought. I believe that God is going to, on an article of faith, truly reveal to us what that mark and what that number is at the time. Do I know what the mark of the beast is and its corresponding number? No, I do not. Either do you. I dare say no one knows at this point. It could be a multinational identity card. Anybody ever heard that one?

I have. It could be a chip implanted into your head. Has anybody heard that one?

It could be the euro. Has anybody heard that one? I've heard all of these.

It could be the imposition of a day of worship or the forced renouncement of another day of worship because of the ever-present demand to keep up the global economy. Now, it could be A, B, C, D. It could be all the above, none of the above. I do have a sense that it will be, to one degree or another, some of the above that I have mentioned, but I do not know. But identifying the mark or its corresponding number is not nearly as vital as determining the purpose of that mark and determining what you will do about it as a saint of God, as a part of that woman that is defined in Revelation 12.

Those who accept it show allegiance to the beast, to the false prophet, and ultimately to Satan.

And it shows their willingness to operate within the economic system that it promotes in the rebellion against God. I realize that what I talk about today sounds almost Jurassic Park. It sounds, as we say, medieval. Don't you realize that we're on this other side of Darwin? Or don't you realize that we're on this other side of the Enlightenment?

People don't do this kind of thing anymore. Let us understand something. When you deal with the economy and you begin to move human society around the economy, there is a slippery slope to the next step. Some of you in this room were born in the 30s or 20s. Some of you will remember what happened in Germany. Some of you will remember what happened in the nation of Bach and Brahms and Beethoven, the nation of cuckoo clock makers and people like Oompa-Paw bands, that they put economic strictures on an ethnic group of people. First of all, it was only economic, but within years, within five or six years, what went from economic stricture went to the concentration camps. How quickly, how quickly, my friends, can life change? I can say it with two numbers. 9-11.

And the world has never changed.

We've had some laughs today. We've had some smiles. But do not mistake my bringing you along as a class and bringing you along to the point that I want you to, brethren and new friends. We're talking about serious things that are upon the Church of God, things that God warned us about 2,000 years ago. What I want to conclude with is a verse that I would like to lift some hope up.

Join me if you would, and let's conclude by looking at a verse in Revelation 15.

I may not know exactly what the number of the beast is, but I do know what to do about it. I can have that other seal that God provides. There are two seals in Revelation. There's the Mark of the Beast, that's shuragma, and there is the Holy Spirit of God, which is the seal.

And notice what it says in Revelation 15.1-4.

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last pill, plagues for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory of the beast over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name. The mark and the name of the beast are mentioned.

Standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. This is a wonderful part of Scripture. So much of the Old Testament comes out in Revelation. Here is the victory song in a sense of Moses and of Miriam when God intervenes on earth at that time with the greatest empire at that time, Egypt. And now, once again, God is crushing a great Gentile empire. And now it is not only the song of Moses, but the song of the Lamb is intertwined, saying, great and marvelous are your works. Lord God Almighty, just and true are your ways. O King of the saints, who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name. For you alone are holy, for all nations shall come and worship you, for your judgments have been manifested. There are going to be people in the future, friends, who saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. And there is a victory over the beast. There is a victory over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, because their devotion is in none other than God the Father and Jesus Christ. And the seal that was placed upon them at baptism, the earnestness of the seal that gave them the spirit of wisdom and a spiritual backbone to handle anything that comes either in the future or in our lives today, is upon them. And they understand the contrast between that of this world which is passing away and the eternity which is to come. It's been a blessing being with all of you. I hope you know a little bit more about the Mark of the Beast. There is a handout on this subject, which actually has about three times as much as I just discussed with you. If you would like to pick it up at the door when you leave today, and Mr. Rhodes and I will be available later to take any questions right up here in front of the stage.