Mark of the Beast?

CAUTION

This post is written to Christians who already know their Scripture.  Therefore, it is ‘assumed’ that the reader is already familiar with the majority of what I will be discussing.  If you do not know your Scriptures and you read this post anyway, please do so with caution, and understand that it is predicated upon the understanding that I have no need to explain every concept that will be addressed.

Christians!  Beware!  Do not allow the delusions of our time to trick you into accepting the mark of the beast!

Let me start by confessing that I am not claiming any special authority.  I am not a Scripture scholar.  Nor am I claiming any special revelation or message.  All I am is a humble servant of the Lord who tries to read and study His Word, seeking His understanding and His Wisdom in the process.  I write now to share what I have been shown, and to offer a warning to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.

As Christians, we must understand that the Scriptures are thoroughly Hebrew in nature.  They were written by Hebrews, for other Hebrews and using the Hebrew language.  Where the Scriptures are written in another language, they are still written by Hebrews in the context of the Hebrew culture.  If we wish to learn the greater or fuller understanding present in the Scriptures, it is crucial we understand this fact.  This way, we can know to learn the Hebrew idioms and other figures of speech that are inherent in the Scriptures.  Only by doing so can we hope to catch much of the finer details and understanding conveyed through God’s Word.

For example: if you were reading something written in American society today, and you came upon the phrase:

“My contacts are in the cloud.”

How old you are, what generation you are from, will greatly influence how you might understand this phrase.  Being from Generation X, I might understand this to mean my eye wear is in a cloud in the air, but my parents might think it means their Rolodex (list of personal contact information for family and friends) is in the cloud in the sky, while my grandparents might think it means parts from their car’s ignition system are in the cloud in the sky.  But my child, on the other hand, would assume it means my list of personal contact information is stored ‘on line’ (which would be another culture reference that could cause contextual confusion). You see, figures of speech can make translation difficult — especially when the one translating is unaware that they are translating figures of speech.

Here is why this is important:

Revelation 13:16   New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁶ And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, ^[a]to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,

Setting aside all discussion of what the Beast is, let’s look at this phrase “on their hand or on their head.“

The Greek word translated ‘on’ in this phrase is ‘epi.’  It can have many meanings, and the meaning must be determined by the context of the sentence.  One possible meaning can be ‘in,’ as “in their right hand or on their forehead.”  Either way, modern English speakers see this as an indication that this mark will be something physical — and it may be!  However, if you were a first century Hebrew, you might not assume this is the true meaning of the phrase!

This is because of the nature of the ancient Hebrew language.  Originally, Hebrew was written using pectoral symbols.  One of them was a depiction of a hand and forearm, and it was usually associated with things a person does.  In Scripture, we will find references to ‘my right hand‘ as a reference to a person’s might, and ‘stretching out their arm‘ to mean exercising their power.  Another Hebrew symbol was the head, and it was used in connection to thinking, power and authority (link to some common Biblical Hebrew idioms).

The connection is in the fact that the ancient Hebrew language was concrete in nature — like their culture.  They thought more in real terms, so they associated real things with abstract ideas.  Consequently, where we read ‘on their right hand‘ or ‘on their forehead‘ and assume we are looking for a mark or something material to be tattooed on or inserted into our hand or forehead, the ancient Hebrew may have read these same words and assumed they were a warning not to allow something to affect their thinking and actions.  You see, they might have read ‘in their right hand or in their forehead‘ to mean ‘in the things they do‘ or ‘in the way they think.’

So, why is this important?  Because, while it may not change the core meaning of the Gospel or Old testament teachings, it can change the way we approach Scriptural warnings.  If we have made mistakes in our assumptions, we can be deceived because we are guarding against the wrong thing.  So, whereas many may be determined they will never take a physical mark on their hand or forehead, or an implant, etc., because they love God, if this is the wrong understanding, they could end up accepting a Spiritual mark that affects what they do and how they think.  After all, Scripture does not teach that we are saved or damned by what is on or in our body, but what is in our heart and how it makes us talk and act.

Matthew 15:11  New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹¹ It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

Mark 7:20  New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁰ And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.

And, if you know your Scriptures, you know that Christ said what comes out of our mouth (or the things we do) is driven by what is in our heart (head, thoughts, desires, will, etc).

So, to conclude: the ‘mark of the beast‘ most likely doesn’t refer to a physical mark or even a material thing that will be implanted in our bodies (especially when we understand that beasts are spiritual kingdoms, and the beast of Revelation refers to Satan and his worldly kingdom).  Knowing this, the prudent thing for God’s people to do is not to guard against being physically marked, but to guard against being Spiritually marked.  We do this by knowing God’s Word and by testing all things against it.  This requires diligence and discipline, but it also requires knowledge.  We are to be in, not of the world, but being in the world also means to be aware of it.  Both Jesus and His disciples showed they were aware of the world by their many references to the things happening in it during their time.  So their example teaches us their is no sin in being aware of the things in this world — so long as we stay focused on and cling to the things of God’s.

This brings me to the whole point of this post: Christians need to understand that when they defend or align or ally themselves with Islam or Allah, they are defending with Satan!  I see many people who call themselves Christians who are also defending Islam.  You must not do this.  I am not saying we should not try to share Christ’s Gospel with Muslims.  We should do this even if it costs us our lives!  But Islam is not the person, and Allah is not Yahweh!  Allah is Satan (or one of his demons).  So, I say this again, and heed my warning:

A ‘CHRISTIAN’ WHO DEFENDS ALLAH OR ISLAM IS DEFENDING SATAN!