Common among Christians, and many non Christians, is the idea that the Mark of the Beast is implemented by some tyrannical one-world government leader, but conversely will be welcomed and even hailed as the world falls down in abject worship of this great leader.
Some acknowledge that the Mark is coerced (Revelation 13:16), while other others think it’s genuine worship (Rev 14:11; 16:2; 19:20).
Firstly it should be noted that every other beast in Revelation and Daniel are considered empires or kingdoms, and never a person. Secondly, it should be emphasised that it is the Image Beast that we create (Revelation 13:14) that demands we have the Mark. It is not pushed upon us by some external singular tyrant, it is the Beast we create that demands the Mark.
Today, I want to consider that the Mark is perpetrated as a deception (Revelation 19:20). People will not realise what they are taking, but will because the Beast causes them to.
There are many other similar verses.
So how do so many Christians believe that the world will recognise the AntiChrist, and the Mark of the Beast, when Scripture records repeatedly that the world will be deceived (Revelation 12:9; 13:14; 18:23; 19:20; 20:3; 20:8; 20:10)?
The argument goes along these lines: true believers won’t be deceived; and God is a god of justice, he wouldn’t be just in punishing someone who was deceived.
Let’s start with the second claim. Hopefully, Eve’s punishment springs to mind. More over, the god of this age has blinded people (2 Corinthians 4:4), and God will punish them for their blindness. Jesus talks repeatedly about following blind guides. Do Christians really believe that the billions who have died as unbelievers were not deceived? This is a stretch of the immagination! Since God does punish those who are deceived, what scriptural argument can be raised that people will knowingly embrace this Beast and its Mark in defiance of God?
As for the first argument that true Christians won’t be deceived, while I agree with the principal, I don’t think it’s that clear.
As all Christians know, there are true Christians, and false “Christians”, people who believe they are saved but are not. It is with great difficulty that we may discern between the two. There will be many who come on the day of judgement, claiming to be Christians and will have great works to demonstrate this, and Jesus will reject them. So how do you know who the “true Christians” are?
And then there is the more perplexing issue, will they recognise the Beast as ‘the Beast’ or the Mark of the Beast as ‘the Mark of the Beast’, or will they simply recognise the Beast as a government being in opposition to God and his Word (even though there is great deception) and recognise that the Mark of the Beast, is just another lie from the Beast?
The Apostle Peter recognised that Jesus was the Son of God in one verse and in the next he refused to allow Jesus to be crucified, and then he ran away. And Judas walked with Christ for 3 years. Annanias and Sophira were active members of the Church. And heresy after heresy entered the church via prominent believers.
In short,I suspect the visible church is going to be terribly divided on this issue, and they in all likelihood not even realise the Biblical importance in what the disagreement is over. Pastors will have divided congregations with very strongly held views, and in today’s management pastor philosophy, they will “manage” the congregation. They will attempt to unify the congregation over some important, but secondary principle (secondary given the momentous importance). As the government(s) will be deceiving the world, the church will not agree on whether to obey the government or not.
On the plus side, receiving the Mark of the Beast is not the unforgivable sin; deceived Christians may repent. I have written in more detail about this elsewhere.
The Mark of the Beast is highly unlikely to be an implant or tattoo, as technology in biometrics has made those obsolete. It is almost certainly an injectable, a medical or pharmaceutical product. This fits with Revelation 18:23 where the world is deceived by a pharmaceutical product(s). 1
Scripture informs us that the Mark will be introduced via deception. In other words, its stated purpose will not match its actual purpose. If this is the case, the Mark of the Beast will most likely be implemented for a contagious disease (real or fake) as a solution (Revelation 18:23). They will not only severely restrict work and employment, travel is likely to be restricted. QR codes on front entrances and carried on phones to prove your vaccination status (as a good neighbour of course). We will receive daily sermons from our neighbours, media, and government telling us how to be good citizens and to love our neighbours.
This is a real problem for the Christian. We’ve been accustomed in the West to see government as good, as God’s representative on earth. Paul in Romans bears this out. However, for most of history including today in the rest of the world, government has been a source of terror for Christians; there are some good laws and just punishment, but more frequently it is pure vindictiveness toward Christians. Western Christians are uncomfortable in seeing the government as “the Beast” if it is a force for God’s justice, and will resist Christians who oppose the Beast and Mark. Non-Western Christians, used to government sponsored terror, will perceive an actual good work – preventing disease – and will oppose Christians who oppose the Beast and Mark.
Of grave concern to me, is Christians who confidently asset they will recognise the Beast and the Mark, against Scripture’s testimony about the extent of deception, and will be deceived into supporting the Beast and Mark, and worse, seek to compel other Christians to support the Beast and Mark.
My suggestion: avoid anything broadly pushed by media and government associated with any implantable or injectable, especially if associated with your ability to work, earn, buy or sell, and if accompanied by QR codes/IDs. My second suggestion: warn your Christian friends to do the same.
REFERENCES & NOTES:
