All those who live on the earth will worship it…
Revelation 13:8
This post is in the context of worship of the Beast, but the underlying principles are applicable to all areas of life.
What does it mean to worship? Can you worship two things? Can you unknowingly worship something?
Christians are inclined to think worship of the beast will be like Christian worship such as songs and praises, hymns, and church services. But worship is far, far broader than that, and far less than that.
As Christians, we talk about idols of the heart: ourselves, money, work, spouses, children, sports, children. But for some reason, we do not apply the same understanding about the nature of worship when it comes to the worship of the Beast.
Revelation talks about worship of the beast, as well as people having idols:
And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
Revelation 9:20
Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly says that our idols are gold and silver and things made with out hands or in our hearts (Ezekiel 14:3-5). These are things we sacrifice for, we labour for, in belief and trust. As Paul says in Romans 1: “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.“
More pointedly, Paul writes:
Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which are idolatry.
Colossians 3:5
And again:
33 They feared the Lord, but they also worshipped their own gods according to the practice of the nations from which they had been deported.
2 Kings 17:33
It can be seen then that we do not always recognise idolatry or worship for what it is, and that we can worship God and idols at the same time. So perhaps some more concrete examples of a life lived in worship:
| Christian Worship | Beast Worship |
|---|---|
| Telling a someone to not blaspheme or to not swear, curse, or take the name of the Lord in vain, is an act of worship. | Rebuking those who tell uncomfortable or unpopular truths that the Beast system has declared “misinformation”. Calling the Mark of the Beast: the Mark of the Beast, is an excellent example. |
| Telling someone about the love of God and of salvation offered through his Son, is an act of worship. | Advocating that they participate in the system, take a mark or vaccine, out of “love thy neighbour” is an act of worship. |
| Refuting arguments and knowledge against the Gospel, is an act of worship. | Refuting arguments and knowledge against the mark/system/leader, is an act of worship. |
| Wearing a cross or modifying what you wear, is an act of worship. | Wearing a badge to declare allegiance for a system/leader/mark/vaccine is an act of worship |
| Obedience to Scriptural commands and wishes are acts of worship. | Obedience to commands from leaders (especially over and against commands of God), especially where they unjustly oppress those who disagree out of a desire to obey God. |
| Following out commands of discipline within the church and advocating for Biblical discipline. | Support the punishment or exclusion of those who do not follow or accept the system/leader/mark/vaccine. |
| Giving God honour and glory for the blessings in your life, and trusting in his providence to see you through difficult times. | Giving honour/credit to the leader/system/mark/vaccine rather than to God & trusting the leader/system/mark/vaccine, rather than God to see you through difficult times. |
| Does not compel people to act against their conscience. Does not judge those who act according to their conscience. | Compels, advocates for Christians to submit to the beast/leader/system/mark/vaccine – even against their own conscience. |
Genuineness of heart is not required
For those of us who believe they are not worshipping the beast as the above examples, perhaps a reminder that worship need not be voluntary, nor heart-felt, nor rational.
Jesus says that many people worship God with their lips but their hearts are far from Him (Matt 5:18; Isa 29:13). Going through the motions, and participating, regardless of whether it is genuinely held, is still worship. Nebuchadnezzar is a perfect illustration. In Daniel 3, he had a statue made of himself, and required that the government officials (satraps), great and small, bow down and worship the statue. Those who refused were to be cast in a furnace. It is reasonable to believe that a large number of people who bowed down did so out of fear, rather than of genuine adoration, or belief in his deity. Nevertheless, the satraps and other officials who may not have agreed with the mandate, nevertheless told people to gather and bow down to the statue, and reported on those who did not comply.
In such a way, when the Mark is introduced, people may dislike, or even thoroughly and angrily disagree, but will still comply. In recent times, compelling people to wear a mask, or get vaccinated to buy/sell or have a job, is a great example. The system didn’t care whether you believed in the system, but whether you obeyed. Obedience is worship.
When Jesus returns and conquers his foes, as God promises, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:11). The vast majority will honour Jesus under duress.
Rationality is not required
When Aaron made the golden calf and announced to Israel that the calf brought them out of Egypt, (Exodus 32), did the Israelites literally believe that this golden calf they had just made brought them out of Egypt? No. But they gave credit to the calf, rather than the Lord who brought them out. In a truly astonishing twist, after making the calf, they declared that the next day would be a feat to honour Yahweh, who brought them out of Egypt. They claimed to honour Yahweh, while depicting him as a golden calf.
King Asa who sought physicians rather than the Lord (2 Chronicles 16:12). If there were a pandemic, and a vaccine was brought in and the pandemic ended. To whom would we give credit to? God? Or the vaccine and those who brought the vaccine to us?
Cognisance is not required
Sometimes, people don’t realise that they are actually worshipping. Perhaps they don’t realise that they worship their job, money, sports. Perhaps they even deny that they worship Mary or Mohammad or some other idol such as a vaccine or state leader. They will deny that their greed, lust, and evil desires are idolatry (Col 3:5).
Paul warned of eating food that had been sacrificed to idols. He reveals (1 Corinthians 10) that they are actually demons. Are the participants aware that the idols they made with their hands are demons? No. They may even genuinely believe they really worship a god, or no God at all. That the true nature of the object of their worship is hidden, does not change whether they worship it.
A key method of identifying whether an object is worshipped is to criticise it. In recent times , to oppose the vaccine or the leaders, is to face a barrage of criticism, punishment, ostracism. That bears all the marks of worship. Worship videos with songs of praises and great adulation were made of the vaccine, scientists and leaders who forced this upon our neighbours.
Belief is not required
A person who disbelieves the leader, yet obeys contrary to their conscience or doubts, is still worshipping. They have rejected God’s commands on their heart, and followed the commands of the leader.
Summary
Many believe that everyone will fall over themselves to worship – Christian style – the antiChrist or Beast. This is untrue. Christians need to recognise that worship of the Beast need not be heartfelt, genuine, or willing, and still regarded as worship of the Beast.