The Mark of the Beast is Here!

666, the number of the name of the beast, the mark of the beast. What is this mark of the beast? And what is the meaning of the number 666? Some have associated the number 666 with Nero. In the Hebrew language,.

Every single letter is given a number. And if you add up the numbers of Nero's name, guess what number it adds up to? 666, the mark of the beast.

Is the mark physical or is it spiritual? Joe Kirby recently shared that he used to believe it was spiritual, but now believes it is both spiritual and physical.

And if you asked me five years ago, I would have said it's definitely just spiritual. But right now, as I look at the world, I've been shocked at the changes. And it's led me to my Bible. It's led me to try and find more answers.

And as I look at it now, I've got to say, I believe it's both spiritual and physical. I do think there will be a physical mark on the hand and the foreheads.

How to Interpret Revelation and the Mark of the Beast

To understand the beast and its mark, we need to understand more broadly how to interpret what we read in the book of Revelation. By far, the most popular view of Revelation is that it contains prophecies of future events in such a way that we can compare events that we read about in the newspaper with the events in Revelation.

When we talk about the Battle of Armageddon, there are books and charts and movies. As I've told you before, since we have embarked on this journey in Revelation, there's no shortage of people who are more than happy to give us charts to help us make our way through this book.

Also, as we watch the world, we see and hear again and again the idea of moving toward the Battle of Armageddon. Who is this Antichrist and is this the last battle? World War I was referred to as the war to end all wars.

World War II, widely understood that Hitler was the end times Antichrist. In the first Gulf War, Iraq was the new Babylon and Saddam Hussein, the new Nebuchadnezzar. And we were marching into a war that would eventually culminate in the Battle of Armageddon.

It was the rise of the European Union. And now we're being told that this is that 10 nation federation that we're going to see at the end of the age.

However, it should be clear that the book of Revelation was written to be relevant for all Christians at all times, not just for Christians who are living during the period immediately before Christ's second coming, when the events of Revelation would supposedly be happening.

That is what Revelation 16 is written for. That's why it's here in the book, not to cause you to stick your nose in a newspaper, but to cause you to lift your eyes to the sky, to lift your eyes to the hill from which your help comes, because your help comes from the Lord who is the maker of heaven and earth.

Oh yeah, he's going to drive the Euphrates. The enemies of God will rush in. They will come to harm Megiddo, the Mount of Assembly. They will fight against our God like they have always fought against our God, believing that it is within their power to destroy his church.

And in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, Christ will say, enough. In the meantime, keep your garments on, keep them clean. And remember, the one who gave you those garments and makes those garments clean is the one who fights for us.

This suggests that the wars and events that we see in Revelation are not just prophecies of future events, but are also relevant and true to an extent today. The battle of Armageddon is not just a future battle, it's a battle that's also happening today.

The beast is not just a future enemy of Christians, it's the enemy of Christians today. And the mark of the beast isn't just something that's coming in the future, it's present today. Hey, this is Michael.

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The Number 666 and Nero

In time scholar, Cornelius Venema, author of the excellent book, The Promise of the Future, writes,. G .K. Beale cites several problems with the identification of this figure as Nero, and argues that in its literary context, the number is used metaphorically and figuratively to refer to incompleteness and imperfection.

The beast and his people, by contrast to the perfection and completeness of Christ and the 144 ,000 saints are unable to win the decisive victory. The beast is destined for defeat. In my judgment, Beale has the stronger and more convincing case, one that is based upon a more secure hermeneutical footing in the interpretation of the book of Revelation.

The 144,000 as the People of God

And who are the 144 ,000 saints? While there are numerous interpretations of this number, we believe the most biblical view is that the number 144 ,000 refers to the people of God as a whole.

Some view this list as literal and take it to be a Jewish remnant sealed after the secret rapture of the church. That's the most common view of our day, that this is a literal list and this is the Jewish remnant that's sealed after the secret rapture of the church.

Now, the secret rapture of the church is very important and very necessary because the idea is that God has two peoples. He has the Jews and he has the church, and that originally his people, the Jews, Christ came, offered the kingdom to the Jews, the Jews rejected him, God went to plan B, which was the church, which is only a parentheses in history, and that parentheses has to be closed so that God can go back and finish his work with the ethnic nation of Israel.

So the rapture occurs, the church, the Gentile church is taken out of the world, and then God can go back and deal with his people, ethnic Israel, and this list of 144 ,000, listed specifically here from tribes in Judah, is offered oftentimes as a proof text in that regard.

Again, that is the most common position taken by those in our culture today. Secondly, and related to that, some people think that this list is linked to the prophecy in Romans 11, 24, 26, that says all Israel will be saved, and they go back here to this list and connect it to Romans chapter 11, which is rather difficult, because those who argue that this has to be a literal list of literal ethnic Jews do so because of their insistence that we have to take a literal approach to the book of Revelation, and if they're doing that, and we've only got 144 ,000, that doesn't match with all Israel.

Then it still would have to be a symbolic number, a symbolic number of 144 ,000 representing all of Israel, so you would still have to accept symbolism there. Thirdly, some see this list, very few, but some see this list as a remnant of ethnic Jews living during the first century, and finally, some see this list as figurative, pointing to the people of God as a whole who are sealed and who make it through the tribulation.

I'm arguing for that fourth position. I do not believe that this list of 144 ,000 is literally referring to ethnic Jews.

The Beast, the Mark, and Symbolic Ownership

So the beast and the mark of the beast are symbolic of the war throughout history of Satan and the enemies of Christ against Christ and his saints, of which Christ will certainly be the victor.

Listen, your forehead, your head, in Jewish thought, represented ownership. Who owns you? Yahweh owns you. You're under his authority. A sign on your head was not a literal sign. Some Jews actually thought it was literal and started doing stuff like that.

Silly, right? But that's not what God is saying here. Your head symbolized ownership, authority, right? So having God's name on your head was, I belong to Yahweh. I'm his subject. I worship him. And his mark on your hand, your right hand symbolized your work, your labor.

If you didn't have the use of your right hand, you were useless because it's a right-handed society, right-minded society, right-handed minded society. So your hand symbolized your labor, your work.

Listen, what you do. So what's the point here? Love God with all heart, soul, and might. God's the only God. He's the only one. He is supposed to be on your head and your hand. You're owned by him and everything you do in this world is in him.

That's what God is saying.

All of it. If you're worried about accidentally taking the mark of the beast, stop. Just repent and trust in Christ alone for salvation. Live as a Christian who is submitted to God's word. That's the simple guarantee that you're on the right side of this war.