ALONE WITH GOD------

QUESTION: Is all this numbering system and everything and everybody having a number and the computerizing of all transactions, banking, etc., which seems to be coming in the near future, the mark of the beast spoken of in the Bible?

ANSWER: No. To my understanding it is not and for the following reasons. The "Mark of the beast" is referred to in Revelation 13:16-17. In this case the mark had a religious signification because those who received it were worshipping the beast verse 12. Also, there were other things these people received besides the mark of the beast: Namely, the number and the name of the beast it was all pertaining to the system.

The first thing to do in interpreting this text is to find out what the beast was. Also we must understand that the book of Revelation is written in symbolic language and the interpretation of it must be by analogy that is; each thing mentioned is a drawn picture not of itself but of something analogous to it.

In this 13^th chapter of Revelation there are two beasts mentioned, but it is clear that the first beast is the one under consideration here because the second beast caused the people to worship the first beast verse 12.

Some of the identifying marks of this beast were seven heads and ten horns. There are others also but we use these marks for special identity. In the 17^th chapter of Revelation we again see this same beast, having seven heads and ten horns, and with a glamorous woman riding upon him this time. This is important because it identifies a dual personality a political-religious system. It is a false, apostate, corrupt system to be sure because this woman is described in verse one as "the great whore" and further in verse five as "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

But this 17^th chapter of Revelation proceeds to identify this beast religion in an unmistakable way. Verse nine says "The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." Verse ten says, "And there are seven kings:..." The seven heads represented both the seven mountains and the seven kings. The city of Rome corresponds to this description because she is situated upon seven hills (mountains) and had seven systems of government during the time of her reign as a universal kingdom. The seven kings refer to these seven different systems of government she had. Verse 12 says: "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet;..." (Revelation 17:10-12) This is a reference to the ten minor kingdoms which came out of the Roman Empire during its decline and fall. These are historical facts.

Rome has been the seat of two major systems of false religion Paganism and Papalism. This is also an historical fact. Paganism is symbolized in the Revelation by a great dragon having seven heads and ten horns Revelation 12:3. Papalism is symbolized by the first beast of Revelation 13:1 which also had seven heads and ten horns which identifies it as the same power but in a different form. It was the mark of this beast which is referred to in Revelation 13:16-17.

An illusion is made here perhaps to the custom of marking or branding slaves to identify them as belonging to certain masters. Also certain cults and groups marked or branded their members. In many instances in the Bible illusions are made to general customs and practices of the time with which the people were familiar to illustrate certain truths.

God also seals or marks His subjects or saints. In Revelation 7:3 it is said "...Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have SEALED [marked] the servants of our God in their foreheads." In Revelation 14:1 we read, "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads." This company represented the great host of triumphant, overcoming saints (the entire company of the redeemed) because we read in Revelation 3:12, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God,..." The votaries of this false religion received the name of the beast. The true people of God are all marked with His name in their foreheads.

"Forehead" is a symbol of intellect or mind and God marks all of His true followers with His law written in their minds and hearts Hebrews 8:10. The members of this or any false religion are all marked with the laws, ordinances, doctrines, rituals and creeds of their respective religions in their minds and hearts the "Mark of the beast." God seals or marks His true saints with His Spirit, the holy Spirit of promise" Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30; II Corinthians 1:22. The Spirit of God with His fruits as described in Galatians 5:22-23 being manifest in the life is the identifying mark of all true Christians. So likewise the false and apostate religions mark all their subjects with their spirit and the fruits of it in their lives. God’s Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 14:7) and guides His followers into all truth (John 16:13) and writes the truth in their hearts (II Corinthians 3:3). The spirit of this false system of religion is a spirit of error and marks its subjects with error, superstition, and doctrines of men.

There have been three major systems of false religion dealt with in the Revelation. One is paganism or heathenism (the dragon). The other two are Papalism and Protestantism symbolized by the two beasts of Revelation 13. The same false spirit runs through the whole line and it is all God-dishonoring. In this way the second beast (Protestantism) caused its subjects to receive the mark of the first beast (Papalism) by injecting into them the same spirit of error, also by copying in their man-made creeds and disciplines some of the errors of the first beast. Also they patterned their system after the human system of man-rule and human government.

It is said that no man could buy nor sell if he did not have the mark of the beast. Buying and selling are symbols of the ordinary pursuits and privileges of an ordinary citizen in intermingling with society. To be forbidden to buy and sell would be equivalent to being banished from society. This same principle has been carried over into human religious systems that one who does not fellowship their spirit and subscribe to their creeds and doctrines of men have no rights or privileges among them. The true ministers of God are not permitted to give out or preach the gospel (sell) in their assemblies and wherever the true ministers of God are preaching the truth the votaries of these religions are warned to not go there or to be affected by their preaching (buy). This idea has been especially pronounced in the Papal system in so much that any of their members who ventured to attend a church service other than the Catholic are required to do penance for it and if they persist in such a practice they are renounced as heretics and excommunicated and consigned to hell and shunned by faithful Catholics as those accursed. I understand that in recent years the Catholic stand on this is being modified as an ecumenical move, but up until recent times one was severely dealt with for failure to recognize the church and its decrees as absolute. They could not buy nor sell engage in the regular pursuits of life and mingle with society.

QUESTION: Please comment on the "mark of the beast."

ANSWER: To intelligently discuss the "mark of the beast" it will be necessary to understand what the beast is. In the 13^th chapter of Revelation there are two beasts brought to view. Also, in the 12^th chapter "a great red dragon" is introduced. This dragon and the two beasts are symbols of the three major systems of false religion which the world has known through the ages of time which have stood diametrically opposed to the true religion of God and the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The dragon was the first one and was on the stage of action at the time Jesus Christ appeared here to introduce His soul-saving gospel and to set up the kingdom of God. Jesus met him head on and the conflict was severe, bloody and deadly. But the followers of the "Lamb of God" eventually overcame him and cast him down and the truth of the true kingdom of God was firmly established. It was Jesus who said that the violent take the kingdom of heaven by force (Matthew 11:12), and we can see a clear picture of this truth through the 12^th chapter of Revelation. This dragon was a symbol of paganism (idolatry, plurality of gods) and was called "the devil and satan" (verse 9) because it was a religion of the devil and actuated by his spirit.

The first beast introduced in the 13^th chapter was a symbol of the next major system of false religion which followed paganism after it went down and it symbolized the apostate, corrupt system of Roman Catholicism (the Papacy). He received his power and authority from the dragon (verses 2 and 4) and worshiped the dragon (verse 4) which makes it clear that the same spirit of the devil permeated this system as did the dragon system.

Then in verse 11 another beast rose up out of the earth (it was of the earth and "manmade" a human system) and did not come down from heaven as Jesus and His true gospel did. This beast was a symbol of the third major system of false religion, "Protestantism," which is a world system of religion today. He exercised all the power of the first beast before him (verse 12). He also caused all of his devotees to worship the first beast (verse 12). This makes it clear that the same satanic spirit that permeated the Papal system also activated the system of Protestantism. In fact, all three of these major systems of false religion can be traced merging each one into the other and all actuated by the same spirit of the devil and satan. Strong efforts are being put forth now through the ecumenical councils being held periodically to bring all of these systems (paganism, Catholicism, and Protestantism) into one world church, and that is the way I understand what I read in the book of Revelation. I believe there will be a vast combining of the three major systems of false religions (the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, which was the name given to the second beast, Protestantism) under one head and dominated by the spirit of the dragon which is called in Revelation 12:9 "the devil, and Satan." This combining is what is called "Gog and Magog" in Revelation 20:8 and is said to encompass the four quarters of the earth.

Well, I have said more about these beasts than I intended to when I started, so I will now proceed to discuss the "mark of the beast." I will kind of come in the back way on it by discussing first how God seals (marks) His people. In II Timothy 2:19 we read, "...The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his...." God has each one of His people clearly marked. In Ezekiel 9:4 we see God had a special concern for all the people who were grieved and burdened over the abominations being done in Jerusalem and sent a man through the city to set a mark upon their foreheads so they would be protected from the judgments which were to come upon that city. In Revelation 7:1 we see four angels standing on the four corners (quarters) of the earth having the four winds of the earth in their hands. In verse 2 is another angel having the seal of the living God. In verse three this angel is commanding those angels to not release their winds which were to hurt the earth until he had sealed (marked) the servants of God in their foreheads. In the following verses, through verse 8, we see there were 12,000 out of each of the 12 tribes of Israel that were sealed. This was 12x12 making a total of 144,000 which was the number given in verse 4. These figures are all symbolic. Scripturally and prophetically twelve is a number denoting fullness or completeness. This then would represent the Church of God, the body of Christ in its fullness and completeness, every member in it marked with the seal of God in their foreheads. What we have in this 7^th chapter of Revelation is a picture of God holding in check all the turbulent, devastating storms and winds of false doctrines and deceptions which were ready to sweep over the earth until His people became sufficiently confirmed and established in His true doctrine to not be swept away by it.

Now the glorious part: After the narrative of the Revelation has brought us through the severe and bloody conflict with paganism in chapter 12, and through the dark ages with more, much more, violence and bloodshed under Papalism, and then through the dark and cloudy time of Protestantism, then it comes out in chapter 14, verse 1 with 144,000 (the complete and entire Church) standing on Mt. Zion with the Lamb of God and all having the name of the Father in their foreheads. The gates of hell had not prevailed against the Church Jesus had built. The term "forehead" in all these texts is a symbol of the mind, intellect and intelligence. Thus God’s Word says in Hebrews 10:16 concerning His New Covenant, "...I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." God’s mark upon His saints, then, is God’s laws written in their hearts and minds and sealed there by the Holy Spirit.

Then it begins to come clear, by way of comparison and in contradistinction with God’s seal or mark upon His true people, what the "mark of the beast" is. It is exactly the same as God’s mark on His people, but the doctrine they are marked with is a false doctrine instead of the true doctrine of God and it is sealed into their hearts and minds by a false spirit instead of God’s Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, it is so sealed in them that it will take a strong manifestation of God’s Spirit upon them to ever get them out of it into the truth. Also it is said in Revelation 13:17 that no man could buy or sell if he did not have the "mark of the beast." Buying and selling would represent just the regular, ordinary pursuits of life giving, receiving, exchanging, communicating with society. If one is not marked with their doctrine and not possessed of their spirit, he cannot go into their services and give his testimony and have freedom there. He is looked upon as a foreigner and ostracized from their society, spiritually speaking. He cannot do as true Christians do or are expected to do. It makes no difference what part of the beast religion; whether the first beast (Roman Catholicism) or the second beast (Protestantism) with all its multiplied fragments, denominations, sects and creeds, the "mark of the beast" is always the same and its effects are forever the same: to seal its people in darkness, deception and error.

However, here again comes the glorious part. In Revelation 15:2 we read, "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Thank God, there is victory and deliverance from the beast religion and its mark for anyone who will open his heart and humble himself before God, earnestly seeking Him to reveal His light and truth to him. God will surely hear his cry and reveal the truth unto him and give grace to walk in the light. But that is the only way out for a soul who has been marked with a beast doctrine and sealed with a beast spirit.