In Revelation 12 and 13, the Apostle John described an unholy trinity – an imitation of the triune God – consisting of the Dragon or Satan, the first beast who is the anti-christ; and the second beast – the false prophet. The second beast makes all the earth worship the first beast, performing great signs and deceptions, and causes those who wouldn’t worship the beast to be slain.
Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number o f a man, and his number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18)
The most popular theories about the mark the beast pop-up in end times fiction. In the old film A Thief in the Night, the mark is a binary code for 666. In the Left Behind series, it is a computer chip in the back of the hand or the forehead.
But is it possible this mark is not something physical but spiritual?
Notice the beast causes all people to be marked and the mark is on the right hand or the forehead.
In Deuteronomy, God told Israel:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on your doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
Isaiah 41:13 says,
For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you,
“Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
We are marked by the deeds we do with our hands and the thoughts we think with our mind. Are you doing the works of God or the works of the devil?
By this it’s evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God… (1 John 3:10)
Are you thinking with the mind of man or with the mind of Christ?
Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. (Mark 8:33)
This calls for wisdom and something we should consider all the time. Though, it may also have a future fulfillment… when we understand the Text.
(Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don’t! When We Understand the Text is an internet-based video ministry committed to righting some of the wrong understanding of scripture, all while advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Check out more at WWUTT.com!)