In the same prophecy, Yahweh, the Almighty God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, warns mankind, all who accept the Mark of the Beast will experience the full measure of His wrath, which is to be poured out undiluted, ‘without mixture, into the cup of His indignation.’
It is a terrifying prophecy, to say the least, and one you must understand if you want to escape the wrath of the Almighty God. Bible commentators have, through the centuries, endeavored to interpret this prophecy; and there is no shortage of explanations available.
The Mark of the Beast some say is:
Nevertheless, in spite of this apparent lack, we will soon discover, Yahweh is by no means at fault here. The prophecy concerning the Mark of the Beast deserves careful consideration; for it is a revelation of such awesome prospect, only fools will continue to ignore it. Here, indeed, are divine threatenings, which every man and woman, the world over, should pay special heed to; because they deal with a degree of punishment more severe than we can imagine, let alone describe.
Please understand, we have no wish to dramatize the issue; nor do we want to piously play it down as though it were of little account. The gravity and urgency of this prophecy demands, we fearlessly present the facts to all who genuinely seek to escape the wrath of Yahweh, the Almighty God of Israel.
In our efforts to identify the Mark of the Beast, we will initially confine ourselves to a logical assessment of the scriptures alone; and then adopt the only conclusion the facts allow. To venture beyond this, into the arena of melodramatic fantasy and wild speculation, as seen in many films and books on the subject, is self-deluding and dangerous.
Let us begin by quoting three passages concerning the:
| Revelation 13: |
16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. |
| Revelation 14: |
9: And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man
worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or
in his hand, 10: The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall 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 ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
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| Revelation 16: | 2: And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. |
No one, who holds the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, will doubt here before us, is portrayed the most terrifying threat in all Scripture; a prophecy of unparalleled importance to every soul on earth. And yet, as previously pointed out, the Mark of the Beast is not defined in the Bible. In other words, we are not told in plain language what the Mark is. At this point, one may be tempted to ask:
| 2 Peter 1: |
20: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. 21: For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. |
Origin:
Bible prophecy is not the product of human intellect or will power. It is a gift
from God. Holy men of old were inspired by the Holy Spirit: or, as the text says,
“they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Understanding:
In exactly the same way, the understanding of Bible prophecy is also
not a matter of human intellect or will power. One must be given the
understanding, just as the prophets of old were given the prophecy. In
other words, spiritual eyesight is also a gift from God. This means,
without the Holy Spirit, it is virtually impossible to correctly understand,
appreciate or even believe a Bible prophecy. Understanding must come from above
either through:
Bearing these basic facts in mind, we will now seek to solve the mystery of the Mark of the Beast by comparing Scripture with Scripture. When we do this, we see, Yahweh also places His Name (His seal) in the foreheads of those who follow Him.
| Revelation 7: |
2: And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the
living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom
it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3: Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4: And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
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| Revelation 14: | 1: And I looked and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having the father’s name written in their foreheads. |
After examining these verses about Yahweh’s name, one cannot fail to see a similarity with those verses containing those two clues about the Beast’s Mark or name. For here in this prophecy, we are given a preview of two groups of people.
These facts leads us to the conclusion, the Beast’s Mark is simply a counterfeit or substitute of Yahweh’s signature and seal. It follows, any information, which we obtain concerning the Seal or Signature of Yahweh, will obviously help us decipher the mystery of the Mark of the Beast.
Well, may we now ask, “What then is the Almighty’s Sign? Is it a visible signature, mark or name, He inscribes on the foreheads of His people?” Obviously not. For this is a symbolic prophecy, and besides, Yahweh's law expressly forbids us making or receiving any marks on our bodies (Leviticus 19: 28). The Most High would hardly, therefore, expect His servants to receive a literal mark or tattoo on their foreheads, if His law expressly forbids receiving marks. Oh no, Yahweh’s signature or sign is certainly not a literal inscription or mark on the forehead.
Well then, what is it, and what does it stand for? Yes, what is the special sign or seal, which is to be placed in the foreheads of the servants of the God of Israel? For a sign to be worthy of the name, it must, of necessity, manifest itself in some way. Indeed, if it does not exhibit its presence, even occasionally, it cannot justifiably be called a sign.
And so we ask, “Is Yahweh’s sign love or generosity, speaking in tongues or wonder working power?” No, it is none of these, admirable though they may be. These signs and phenomena, in fact, are found in almost every society known to man - pagan and otherwise. They certainly are in no way peculiar to the servants of the God of Israel. Yahweh's signature or sign is very different from all these things, and because of its strangely unique nature we will allow the Holy Scriptures to tell you what it is.
| Exodus 31: |
13: Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between
me and you throughout your generations; that ye know that I am the Lord that
sanctify you.
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| Ezekiel 20: |
12: Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between
me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify
them. 20: And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. |
And there you have it. The Sabbath days in the Almighty’s law are His signature, the special identifying SIGN He places on His people to signal to the universe, they are His: and that He has set them apart to sanctify them.
| Isaiah 8: | 16: Bind up the testimony, SEAL THE LAW among my disciples. |
In other words, the Almighty seals His people with obedience. Obedience, incidentally, is doing what the Most High commands, following in His steps, endeavoring to behave like Him. Click here for more about the Almighty's Seal.
| Hebrews 8: |
10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write
them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me
a people:
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| Deuteronomy 6: |
8: And thou shalt bind them (the laws of God) for a sign upon thine hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
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| Exodus 13: | 9: And it (the Feast of Unleavened Bread) shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth. |
Take notice: ”between thine eyes“ means; in the forehead, in the mind.
According to these Scriptures, the Almighty's signature is defined as being the Sabbath days in His law: the very same law He has scheduled Himself to inscribe in the believer’s forehead, his mind. Yes, believe it or not, Yahweh's Sabbath days constitute His signature, His sign: and like Himself they cannot be changed or done away with.
The answer is: they are the seventh day of the week (Saturday) and the seven annual Sabbaths mentioned in Leviticus chapter 23.
(The Feasts of Unleavened Bread. Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles)
These Sabbath days are the sacred memorials of Yahweh’s finest achievements in the Plan of Salvation. They are the divinely appointed anniversaries of His work of creation, redemption and sanctification. They represent the Almighty's signature and as part of His holy law, are scheduled to be inscribed in the very minds of His true followers. This means, they will be understood, accepted, appreciated, remembered and observed for all time by the true children of the Most High.
In short, the Almighty is going to seal and sign His people with OBEDIENCE, WITH HOLINESS. When that event occurs, we will bear His Name in our minds and actions: which means we will perfectly reflect our heavenly Father’s holy character.
Why are these Sabbath days so important? They are important because they are a declaration of faith in the Person, the character, the handiwork and the sanctifying power of Yahweh the Almighty God of the Hebrews, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In modern terms, the Sabbath days listed in Leviticus 23 are the Eternal’s trade mark, His signet, His signature, His company seal, His badge, the symbol of His presence, His Name. When they are faithfully remembered, kept in mind (in the forehead), by a true believer, they signal to the universe that person is Yahweh’s property and He is impressing His Name upon that person’s soul.
| Isaiah 8: |
16: Bind up the testimony, SEAL THE LAW among my disciples.
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| Hebrews 10: | 16: This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. |
Now do you understand? Have you begun to grasp the awesome, spiritual significance of Yahweh’s Sabbaths? In truth, they alone constitute the Almighty's Signature which He inscribes upon the minds of believer's; which week by week and feast by feast strikingly sets them apart from all the peoples of this world.
Yes, the Eternal's unchanging signature is the seventh day Sabbath (Saturday) and the seven annual Sabbaths in the Sacred Calendar. Take these Sabbath days away, remove them from the environment of worship and you will lose the one and only identifying sign that distinguishes the servants of the God of Israel, from the rest of humanity. That is a fact, which will increasingly amaze you the more you consider it.
Now that you know what Yahweh's Sign is, it only remains for us to decipher the Mark of the Beast; bearing in mind, it must be some clever substitute or forgery of the Almighty's Sign. To do this, we will again rely on the Holy Scriptures (only) to direct us to the answer.
What is sin? What is iniquity?
According to the Holy Scriptures “sin is
lawlessness.” Sin is breaking one
or more of God's commandments. Sin is an expression of Satan’s
character and in its advanced stages it always manifests itself in a
self-deluding enmity and rejection of Yahweh’s law. The Bible
states plainly:
| 1 John 3: | 4: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. |
The ‘Man of Sin,’ as the term implies, is an antagonist of divine law. He absolutely detests the Almighty's law and every commandment in it. He not only breaks Yahweh's law, but his main objective is to lead others into breaking it, into disobedience, into sin. That's why he's called the ‘Man of Sin.’
According to the prophet Daniel (chapter 7: 25), the main thrust of the Beast's hatred is directed against the divine commandment dealing with sacred times. And, this can only mean the Sabbath commandment, which alone deals with the element of time.
| Daniel 7: | 25: And he (the little Horn) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. |
The only laws in Scripture which deal with the element of ‘time’ are the Sabbath laws of the Most High. These laws are directly linked with the Feast days in the sacred calendar. The Little Horn vainly imagines, he can change Jehovah’s law.
“But,” you ask, “What is his Mark?” Yes, what is the signature or Mark of the Beast?
There is only one Bible-based answer to that question and it presents itself as the only conclusion. The foregoing facts allow; and that one inescapable conclusion is this:
As the true weekly Sabbath of Saturday and the seven annual Feast Days (one fast day) in the sacred calendar constitute the Sign of Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel; then, the Mark of the Beast, the Lawless One, the one who vainly thinks, he can change the Sabbath days in God's law, must by process of simple deduction be bogus sabbaths. They are, Sunday and all the other pagan festivals, which are currently pose as Christian Holy Days (Valentine’s Day, St. Patrickvs Day, Mundi Thursday, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, Easter, Whitsun, Hallowe’en, All Saints Day, Christmas, New Years Day, etc.).
These popular holidays are certainly not sanctified by the Almighty: and no where in the scriptures are we commanded to keep them. They are pagan festivals in disguise. They originated with the heathen centuries before the Christian era and were incorporated into the Christian calendar long after the Savior’s resurrection.
Certainly, they now have a few praiseworthy principles veneered onto their make up, and this has deluded millions of genuine Christians into accepting them as the true holy days of God. Deep down in substance and effect, they are the same old festivals of heathenism that Yahweh abhors; festivals of fertility, sexual licence and demon worship.
In short, the popular holidays of Mundi Thursday, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, Sunday, Easter and Christmas, etc. are ALL forgeries of Yahweh’s Signature. They represent the Antichrist’s futile and presumptuous attempt to meddle with the calendar of the Almighty.
The Bible says, of the “Little Horn” power, he would think to change the times of Sacred Feasts, holy days, and the law. Yahweh’s calendar and ordinances he shall think to set aside.
Oh, how true this has proved to be. The Antichrist has already attempted to do just that. But his attempted forgery has been exposed. Throughout the world people are becoming increasingly aware, the festivals of Christendom are nothing more than pagan festivals in disguise.
In the light of these facts, therefore, we cannot help but conclude: the bogus religious festivals (Mundi Thursday, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, Christmas, Easter, Sunday etc.) are, in reality, the Signature of Satan, the Mark of the Beast!
How they originated and came to be adopted by most of the churches is a study in itself. A study you may wish to pursue in the nearest reference library. Indeed, it is now common knowledge, these festivals are inherently pagan. They existed long before the Christian era and were only introduced into the Christian worship several centuries after the resurrection of our Savior. What is not generally known, is they represent the Lawless One’s efforts to change the Sabbath and Feast commandments in Yahweh’s law. They constitute the Mark of the Beast. Comparatively Few Know This fact!
In view of this, it becomes obvious, there can be no room in the church for bunny rabbits, Easter eggs, hot-cross buns, ghost masks, mistletoe and Christmas trees! These heathen symbols and especially the observance of the festivals they adorn and accompany, must be discontinued by all TRUE believers who wish to please God, Israel's God. Why? Because, once they are recognized for what they are, then a person's continued use of them can only mean he/she is unmoved by the severity of God’s warning and has virtually begun to reject the Father’s Name.
It is between the Signature of Yahweh the Holy One of Israel or the Mark of the Beast! Which way will you choose?
However, your present reaction to this message about the True Sabbath Day will go a long way in determining what you will do when that testing time comes. Will you choose Yahweh's signature or the Mark of the Beast'? Whose signature will you allow on the parchment of your soul at that time? That is a question only you can answer. In the past, you may not have known anything about the Almighty's Sabbath days, we didn't. God in His great mercy will, no doubt, allow for our ignorance. But, now you know. Never again can you truthfully say, “I didn’t know.”
You now know what the Mark of the Beast is, and with that knowledge comes the added responsibility to obey God's commandments. In your own interests, therefore, you should carefully consider the conditions and consequences this article has brought to your attention, before making a choice. Do not needlessly delay; for time is short and the patience of the God of Israel has almost run out. The spirit of the Lawless One, the Antichrist, is already at work deceiving millions of Christians into thinking, Yahweh's law, the irrevocable constitution of the mighty universe, is obsolete. Beware of that subtle and dangerous deception: for it has already tricked millions of Christians into sin.
The Holy Scriptures abound with examples of how the servants of the Most High were tested on the matter of obedience. The longest Psalm in the Bible (Psalm 119), extols obedience in virtually every verse. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior magnifies obedience to a degree few, if any, individuals had previously imagined. The Savior's advice concerning the Commandments was as follows:
| Matthew 19: |
16: And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall
I do, that I may have eternal life? 17: And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18: He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19: Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. |
So dear to His heart are His Sabbath commandments, this fearsome punishment will be meted out to those who knowingly and wilfully break them.
| Revelation 14: |
9: And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man
worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in
his hand, 10: The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: |
When the Antichrist arrives on the world scene, people will be compelled to receive his mark. If you refuse it, you will not be allowed to buy and sell; No matter where on earth you live. But, if you accept it, you will drink of the wine of the wrath of God. That is why it is so important you really understand - in advance - what the Mark of the Beast is. IF you study this paper over and over again, you will see how clearly it identifies the deadly Mark of the Beast.
To be sure, some believers will be martyred when the Antichrist arrives on the world scene. But, the whole church will certainly not be wiped out. Many, many obedient souls will be divinely protected as that prophecy clearly indicates. See A Voice In The Wilderness articles entitled The Coming Exodus and The Time of Trouble for information about this event.
The book of Revelation, awesome though it is, ends with a blissful picture of Yahweh’s obedient people entering the New Jerusalem, to live eternally with Him and His Son.
| Revelation 22: | 14: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. |
Let no one keep you from reaching that eternal goal: because, it is your legal right to be there. Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) has already paid the price for you to enter. Put your faith in him; express that faith in obedience - and live for all time. That is the message of ALL Holy Scripture.
After reading a lesson of this nature you may be interested in further study. The following articles may interest you.
