The Mark of the Beast?

[Redbaron]

Interesting read about the Mark of the Beast.
Apparently, my next new car is gonna be a Porshe!! (see # 6 in the article)

The Mark of the Beast: some questions

If the Great Tribulation is here, why are you running errands in your Kia Sorento?

www.patheos.com

 

[unsafe]

----there are a lot of things that we could say is the Mark of the Beast ----in this wicked world---
I say ----But what is coming down the pipe when God unleashes His Wrath on this earth and Allows The Beast free reign for 42 months ----it will be no funny matter -----

This is what Dr David Jeremiah says on that -----

Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah

Our mission is to deliver the unchanging Word of God to an ever-changing world.

www.davidjeremiah.org

Why Will Anyone Accept the Mark of the Beast?​

The Purpose of the Mark​

Revelation 13:17 tells us what the mark will do on a day–to–day basis: "No one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Only those who have the mark or the Antichrist's name or his number, identifying them as his followers, will be able to sell goods and services to support themselves and secure what they need. Anyone refusing to wear the mark will struggle to survive.

It's notable that the word mark is translated from the Greek charagma. The charagma was a symbol used somewhat like notary seals are used today. The symbol consisted of a portrait of the emperor and the year of his reign. It was required to complete commercial transactions and was stamped in wax on official documents to authenticate their validity. The mark of the Beast will function in a similar way, identifying those who bear it as worshipers of the Beast and permitting them to conduct financial transactions.

This fusion of government and religion will put the squeeze on rebels, leaving them nowhere to turn. Those who refuse the mark will be shut out of society altogether. No one will buy their products or services. Barred from employment and from shopping in stores or online, they will face bankruptcy and starvation.

Given our modern financial system, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which Christians are shut out like this. But the Bible is clear that Satan's intent is not only to keep them from means of survival, but also to force them to a decision: Will they continue to stand for Christ, refusing the mark despite the hardship promised? Or will they succumb to the loyalty demands of Satan and take on the mark to relieve that hardship?

 

[Luce NDs]

Is the world a dirty place compared to the essence of heaven ... it being absent of airs ... thus a thin space ... thin spaces contrived by donkeys tilting against windmills! Few interpret the myth adequately to see source of the satyr ... Ci ES tired and wishes to rest ... chronic fatigue syndrome of the po' BS!

It is said however in deep space there is much nebulous dust of quantum nature ... too far out for stoic concepts of the subjects! Distant goal for the objects being driven away ... folk-us?

Thus those screwed and cranked about come back at the subjects ... withdrawal effect ... synapsis ...

 

[revjohn]

Interesting read about the Mark of the Beast.
Apparently, my next new car is gonna be a Porshe!! (see # 6 in the article)

The Mark of the Beast: some questions

If the Great Tribulation is here, why are you running errands in your Kia Sorento?

www.patheos.com

It is too easy to go after the low-hanging fruit of self-professed prophets.

Not many end-times prophets, especially those with publishing contracts, take all instructions about false prophecy seriously. Certainly not as seriously as they wish others would take them.

 

[Luce NDs]

It is too easy to go after the low-hanging fruit of self-professed prophets.

Not many end-times prophets, especially those with publishing contracts, take all instructions about false prophecy seriously. Certainly not as seriously as they wish others would take them.

They do not understand the expressed; "I don't know!" Leading to further naivete ... the self-destruction route ...

Should we have known better, or Beta ... in a second light? Tous visionary ...

 

[revjohn]

They do not understand the expressed; "I don't know!" Leading to further naivete ... the self-destruction route ...

Should we have known better, or Beta ... in a second light? Tous visionary ...

If they trusted more in God than their own selves they wouldn't be working to the clock and some imaginary scorekeeper. They'd be out exercising the freedom to love God and their neighbour knowing that God was never going to ask them how many sins Gertie Fencebuster across the street committed on any given day.

 

[Luce NDs]

If they trusted more in God than their own selves they wouldn't be working to the clock and some imaginary scorekeeper. They'd be out exercising the freedom to love God and their neighbour knowing that God was never going to ask them how many sins Gertie Fencebuster across the street committed on any given day.

Is God aboriginal and old ... in a world demanding us to live in the present? Not good to go beyond that or you could learn things that you didn't wish to be responsible about ... before you know it ... there it is!

The coming round statement ... Gybe ... itte yet boatmen ...

 

[revjohn]

Is God aboriginal and old ... in a world demanding us to live in the present? Not good to go beyond that or you could learn things that you didn't wish to be responsible about ... before you know it ... there it is!

The coming round statement ... Gybe ... itte yet boatmen ...

Yes. God is aboriginal and old. God is also modern and young. The mistake most make when trying to grapple with God is to prefer one aspect over the other rather than try to come to terms with both.

And to be candid these chronological terms speak more to our experience of God in time when time itself is a creature of God and not something that constrains God.

 

[Luce NDs]

Does rigid BS indoctrinate us differently?

Yes. God is aboriginal and old. God is also modern and young. The mistake most make when trying to grapple with God is to prefer one aspect over the other rather than try to come to terms with both.

And to be candid these chronological terms speak more to our experience of God in time when time itself is a creature of God and not something that constrains God.

Should knowledge of the dispersal of God take us beyond normal protocol set by powers intending to bring down such nature ... essentially!

The field of Theosophy expands beyond hard hands ... thus irony and metaphor ...

PS: Can the indoctrinated accept this? Not likely ... they are not that dynamic ... moving experiences take us out of places and many churches are noticing the losses! Has WC2 lost something?

 

[revjohn]

Does rigid BS indoctrinate us differently?

Yes, it does. The more rigid we are in the certainty of our beliefs the less likely we are to listen to anything that says otherwise.

Should knowledge of the dispersal of God take us beyond normal protocol set by powers intending to bring down such nature ... essentially!

If knowing all humanity was created in the image and likeness of God isn't enough to stop racism I wouldn't bet on any other knowledge preventing humanity from screwing up in other regards.

The field of Theosophy expands beyond hard hands ... thus irony and metaphor ...

Does it? Maybe it just adds new ways to calcify old things.

PS: Can the indoctrinated accept this? Not likely ... they are not that dynamic ... moving experiences take us out of places and many churches are noticing the losses! Has WC2 lost something?

Rigid BS Indoctinated probably can't

 

[Luce NDs]

I feel seized up here and like many bits of information driven underground! Thus something more is pressed out of sight ... depth vision?

May the great mystery resolve all issues of the powerful and extract me ...

On earth let the great green monster have its way ... Med USA's concerns ...

 

[Luce NDs]

Are there inhospitable portions of all BS ... for the alternate path*s to be inhospitable about as few walk the line?

Thus the arid thing can be rolled into the fire ... for cooking in a devoid place ... home of gnomon ... gnomonic wanders ...

Gnomes: inky cleaners of typeset ... one isolated thing to know in a Kohl field of metaphor (little is absolute)!

 

[unsafe]

John MacArthur's take on the mark of the beast -----


What Is the Mark of the Beast?

The following is an excerpt from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Revelation 13.

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16–17)

As part of his plan to enforce the worship of Antichrist, the false prophet will require all categories of unbelievers, summarized as the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Mark (charagma; from charasso, "I engrave") was the term for images or names of the emperor on Roman coins. In the ancient world, such marks (tattoos or brands) were commonly given to slaves, soldiers, and devotees of religious cults (cf. Gal. 6:17). God sealed, with a mark on the forehead, the 144,000 to preserve them from His wrath against the unbelieving world (7:2–3); the false prophet marks the unsaved to preserve them from Antichrist’s wrath against God’s people. The mark will signify that the person bearing it is a worshiper and loyal follower of the Antichrist. In much the same way, the Roman emperors required their subjects to prove their loyalty by offering sacrifices to Caesar. Those who refused, like those who refuse to take the Antichrist’s mark, were subject to execution.

Besides the constant threat of death, refusing to take the mark of the beast will have dire practical consequences in daily living: no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark. Antichrist’s empire will maintain strict economic control over the world. Food, clothing, medical supplies, and the other necessities of life potentially in demand in the devastated earth, which has felt the judgment of God (6:5–6), will be unobtainable for those without the mark. Currency will probably vanish, to be replaced by controlled credit. Instead of a credit card, which can be lost, people will have a mark (possibly a bar code) in their forehead or hand. Scanning people’s foreheads or hands would identify them to a central computer system. Life under totalitarian governments in our time provides a faint glimpse of what is to come. A man who had lived under Bulgaria’s communist regime remarked:

You cannot understand and you cannot know that the most terrible instrument of persecution ever devised is an innocent ration card. You cannot buy and you cannot sell except according to that little, innocent card. If they please, you can be starved to death, and if they please, you can be dispossessed of everything you have; for you cannot trade, and you cannot buy and you cannot sell, without permission. (Cited in W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation, 4:120–21)

The pressure to give in to the worship of Antichrist will be far worse than anything ever experienced in human history. Life will be virtually unlivable, so the people are forced to bow to the demonized king, not prompted merely by religious deception, but also by economic necessity.

 

[Waterfall]

John MacArthur's take on the mark of the beast -----


What Is the Mark of the Beast?

The following is an excerpt from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Revelation 13.

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16–17)

As part of his plan to enforce the worship of Antichrist, the false prophet will require all categories of unbelievers, summarized as the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Mark (charagma; from charasso, "I engrave") was the term for images or names of the emperor on Roman coins. In the ancient world, such marks (tattoos or brands) were commonly given to slaves, soldiers, and devotees of religious cults (cf. Gal. 6:17). God sealed, with a mark on the forehead, the 144,000 to preserve them from His wrath against the unbelieving world (7:2–3); the false prophet marks the unsaved to preserve them from Antichrist’s wrath against God’s people. The mark will signify that the person bearing it is a worshiper and loyal follower of the Antichrist. In much the same way, the Roman emperors required their subjects to prove their loyalty by offering sacrifices to Caesar. Those who refused, like those who refuse to take the Antichrist’s mark, were subject to execution.

Besides the constant threat of death, refusing to take the mark of the beast will have dire practical consequences in daily living: no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark. Antichrist’s empire will maintain strict economic control over the world. Food, clothing, medical supplies, and the other necessities of life potentially in demand in the devastated earth, which has felt the judgment of God (6:5–6), will be unobtainable for those without the mark. Currency will probably vanish, to be replaced by controlled credit. Instead of a credit card, which can be lost, people will have a mark (possibly a bar code) in their forehead or hand. Scanning people’s foreheads or hands would identify them to a central computer system. Life under totalitarian governments in our time provides a faint glimpse of what is to come. A man who had lived under Bulgaria’s communist regime remarked:

You cannot understand and you cannot know that the most terrible instrument of persecution ever devised is an innocent ration card. You cannot buy and you cannot sell except according to that little, innocent card. If they please, you can be starved to death, and if they please, you can be dispossessed of everything you have; for you cannot trade, and you cannot buy and you cannot sell, without permission. (Cited in W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation, 4:120–21)

The pressure to give in to the worship of Antichrist will be far worse than anything ever experienced in human history. Life will be virtually unlivable, so the people are forced to bow to the demonized king, not prompted merely by religious deception, but also by economic necessity.

Do you think its possible to be loyal to God and still agree to the mark in order to get food for ones family?
And if one ends up being a martyr....isnt that a "work" that should have nothing to do with salvation?

 

[unsafe]

Waterfall -----you said ----Do you think its possible to be loyal to God and still agree to the mark in order to get food for ones family?

Your Quote here --------And if one ends up being a martyr....isnt that a "work" that should have nothing to do with salvation?

I say ---the scripture answers your question ------

--First of all it will be unbelievers that go through the tribulation -----and the people who do come to Christ during that time and refuse the mark will be saved according to scripture -------it is better to die of starvation than to receive the Mark of the Beast -----If anyone takes the Mark of the beast ---they are doomed according to this ------

Revelation 14:9-12 ESV
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.[a]​

 

[Waterfall]

Waterfall -----you said ----Do you think its possible to be loyal to God and still agree to the mark in order to get food for ones family?

Your Quote here --------And if one ends up being a martyr....isnt that a "work" that should have nothing to do with salvation?

I say ---the scripture answers your question ------

--First of all it will be unbelievers that go through the tribulation -----and the people who do come to Christ during that time and refuse the mark will be saved according to scripture -------it is better to die of starvation than to receive the Mark of the Beast -----If anyone takes the Mark of the beast ---they are doomed according to this ------

Revelation 14:9-12 ESV
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.[a]​

Receiving a mark doesnt have to mean you worship "the beast", does'nt God know whats in our hearts?

 

[unsafe]

If your heart was for God You would never --ever --ever take the Mark of the Beast -------you wouldn't want to ----nor would you ----verse 12 above says -----it is a call for endurance for the Saints -----God does know your heart and if anyone takes the Mark of the Beast their heart is with Satan not God ------God will give those who do come to Him and receive His Son as their Lord and Saviour during the 7 year tribulation the Means through His Grace to endure resisting whatever the Satan throws at them ----better to die with God in your heart and reside with Him in the New Earth than go to torment ------

Remember Paul was tormented by Satan and God said in your weakness my Grace is sufficient ---God's Grace gives us power --ability to resist the devil ------

The Book of Revelations is God's last try to save as many souls as HE can as this world has to many False Prophets and wickedness to make people realise they need a Saviour ----This Virus I am sure has made some people realise that they need a Saviour -----but if you read the Book of Revelations you will see that even with all the bad things going on in the first 3 and a half years of the tribulation many still refuse to come to Him to be Saved ----God doesn't want people going to eternal torment ----He wants them with Him ----so through the Tribulation people still have free will to choose to accept Jesus or reject Jesus and God has warned all people through His word that this earth and all in it is going to be destroyed ----so no one is in the dark as to what is coming here ----

You see the Bible is not about who is right or who is wrong -----it is what you believe or disbelieve -----we either believe that God will bring His wrath to this earth as He says He will or we don't believe what God says about what will happen to this world ------so our choice is belief or unbelief ---not who is right or who is wrong ------

God is a God of Love but He is also a God of judgement ------he keep a record ----and the Books were open -----believe it or don't believe it ----that is up to us ----

Revelation 20:11-15 NIV​

The Judgment of the Dead​

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

 

[BetteTheRed]

Receiving a mark doesnt have to mean you worship "the beast", does'nt God know whats in our hearts?

I like your question, Waterfall, about how you would deal with starving your children because of "your" belief. In the real world, we'd call that child abuse, and I certainly couldn't worship a god that demanded such a sacrifice.

What might be more interesting than dropping into this rabbit hole of literalism, is to ask ourselves what, if any, relevance, this particular genre of apocalyptic prophesy, has to us today.

I actually kinda laugh at this "mark of the beast" stuff. If anything is tracking us, it's our smartphones.

 

[unsafe]

So people who believe in Global warming and saving the planet ---would not believe in God's Book of Revelations ------as they feel that the planet is going to be here forever -----which goes against what the Book of Revelations says -----

But just because some people don't believe in what God says about what will happen to this planet does not by any means mean that it won't happen ------

 

[BetteTheRed]

what God says about

God speaks to God's people by the still small voice in their soul. God's Word is the person of the risen Christ, NOT a much (and differently) translated (from at least two languages, although I'd argue that Hebrew to Latin is a 3rd) compilation (and differently compiled of course, according to canon) of a huge array of types of writing, from letters, to written oral stories, often contradictory, to poetry, to apocalyptic imagery, to "prophecy" (which is not fortune-telling, which is forbidden, but the "speaking of truth to power"), to "gospels" (good news targetting a variety of specific groups of people).

If you ask me "what God says about" any specific issue, I could give you at least three differing opinions, all well-substantiated.

(Off the top of my head, e.g.) Murder: 1) thou shalt not kill, in all of the slight variants of the 10 or so Commandments, 2) the slaughter of the Canaanites, men, women, children, slaves, beasts detailed in Joshua, a very clear command from God to the people of God, 3) the command to the religious community from God that people who transgress a variety of rules, like "blasphemy against the name of the Lord" or "being a disobedient child" should be stoned to death. I don't want to start an argument on this particular topic, I'm pointing out that cherry-picking scripture, then taking it literally, CANNOT work.