The mark of the beast

Revelation 14

Vision of the Angel with the Gospel

⁶ And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; ⁷ and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

⁸ And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

Doom for Worshipers of the Beast

⁹ Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone 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; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” ¹² Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

I have avoided reflecting on much of the book of Revelation as it has been in the daily readings in the One Year Bible. I've done this not because it isn't important but mainly because there is so much imagery which requires interpretation that it is difficult to discuss it in this type of format. Biblical scholars spend tremendous amount of time trying to interpret much of the prophetic vision, it's meaning and it's timeline. Even with all that there is still much left to opinion and speculation. Jesus says, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."(Matthew 24:36) I am content to trust God with the details of His end time plan and concern myself instead with what He is saying to us through His word.

What stands out to me when I read this passage is first of all what is said in verses 6 and 7. We see in those two verses that the purpose of all the plagues and natural disasters, all the destruction that will take place in the end times is to turn people to God. It is to give them an opportunity to repent  and worship the One who is above all. For those who reject the message of love and grace there is still an opportunity to bow to the majesty and power of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Jesus cames as a child, lived as a man and offered Himself as the spotless lamb, the perfect sacrifice. When He returns He  will no longer be the lamb but rather the Lion of Judah, a conquering King. Phillipians 2:9-10 says,

 God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

There is a choice to bow at the cross and recieve grace, mercy and forgiveness or to bow before the power and majesty and the judgment of the King of kings. One way or the other every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The final thing I want to look at in today's text is this:   “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone 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; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” ¹² Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

There is a lot of attention given to people to try to identify the mark of the beast. There is almost an obsession with knowing what that mark might be in order to avoid it. As we have seen technology advance we can now begin to understand how easy it will be for a government or leader of some type to require people to be marked or chipped in order to participate in society. What gets lost in this obsession with avoiding the mark of the beast is the more important matter of worship of the beast. This idea of bowing to and worshiping the beast, the world systems is spoken of frequently throughout scripture.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24)

"If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.(John 15:19)

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.(James 4:4)

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.(1 John 2:15)

So our attention then should be on our worship and our devotion. The mark we receive is as result of the one we worship.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,(Ephesians 1:13)

21Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.(2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

Our best and only defense against the mark of the beast is the  seal of the Holy Spirit. We will not and can not be of the anti-christ if we are in Christ.

I encourage you to worship your Lord. Join this song and this prayer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6ZAcB_7Im0  

Amen