Mark of Beast, Seal of Spirit
The arrival of chaos, the presence of the previously inexperienced, creates a sense of unsettledness in the general population. Through millennia, “acts of God” such as windstorms, famines, plagues and even comets have caused mankind to turn to their sacred texts and read the fine print of insurance policies. Passages about blood moons, darkened skies, pestilence, warfare and other signs draw the eye. And as readers seek to place order over the chaos, other forces use the unsettledness to leverage their own agendas.
While there is much to be said about eschatological theories or “end-times” frameworks and reactions, I want to limit this discussion to just the “Mark of the Beast” and the “Seal of God.” I might digress at times into some context pieces, but then I will drill into the phrasing.
Apocalypse of Jesus, the Lamb of God
Ghent Altarpiece
Big and Little Apocalypses
Humanity has always experienced bust and boom, with civilizations rising and falling. In all my Bible studies, I note that while one might be waiting for the Apocalypse, each person will experience their own “apocalypse” or unveiling. For each person, there will be a day when they will have the curtains pulled back and the Lord will be revealed to them. It may be BIG, it may be small, but each person will each experience an “unveiling” of Jesus Christ as Lord. It will be experienced in near death experience, the loss of power, the loss of mobility or at least upon their deathbed. And for each country, there is also a day of reckoning, a moment when the fragility of human governance is laid bare.
While popular culture paints the apocalypse as a time of upheaval, destruction and maybe even sprinkled with a few zombies, true apocalypse has its roots in hope. Biblical apocalypse refers to the moment when heaven’s curtains are pulled back, and the roaring Lion of Judah is revealed as the vulnerable Lamb of Bethlehem. A true “Come to Jesus” moment.
Dispensation of End Times
While Christians have often wondered about the Mark of the Beast and how to anticipate when it is being implemented, we do well to remember that modern Evangelical interpretations have been rooted in Clarence Larkin’s 1920’s illustrations used to illustrate Schofield’s study Bible. The Dispensational view of end times views Revelation as a chronological book, with the first few chapters of churches representing “dispensations of God’s presence.”
Clarence Larkin’s linear attempts to chart out endtimes events
In the Dispensational view, the churches represent ages of the church, with Philadelphia as an image of the faithful and unsoiled church, followed by Laodicea the “end times” church, where everything falls apart. They practice the worst version of Christianity – believing that Jesus is Lord, but they do not walk in the Spirit. Somewhat tongue in cheek, I’ve always said it is awfully convenient for those of the latter half of the 1900’s to popularize this framework while identifying with the Philadelphia church and saying they live in the age of Laodicea. In short, when limit the churches to specific ages, we lose the message each church has for us now. It’s also worth noting that Dispensationalism is close to the ancient heresy of modalism, but that’s another discussion. Let’s just say, Revelation is a graphic book, a vivid kaleidoscope of symbols, layered on top of each other and radiating out like spokes. Attempts to apply an 1800’s rational linear approach to the chapters will create a truncated view - such as needing three returns of Jesus to accomplish what just one Rapture would do. Actually, there is no reference to the word “rapture” in Scripture, but rather the term is shorthand for the return of Jesus.
So much to say about this chart. Another time, perhaps…
Dispensational Theology also teaches the next age of the Tribulation is identifiable by the rising up of the AntiChrist. Of course, there is lots of debate over when the AntiChrist comes, and when the Tribulation (as a seven-year period of persecution) begins and ends. Just remember when those debates arise, that Scripture teaches of multiple antichrists as being those who are over against Jesus as Lord (see I John 2). And since seven is a number of fullness – the age is less about set number of years as a season of completion. And half that amount at 3 1/2 years means that the age is yet to be completed. And any discussion about a terrible seven-year period also neglects the two thousand years of persecution and Christian martyrdom already taking place. But I digress.
One of the hallmarks of the AntiChrist is to say “the mark” is rolling out. Having grown up in the Church, I’ve watched identification of the “mark” be a moving target. It has included everything from barcodes to credit cards, tattoos to microchips. These conversations have also been bundled up with arguments for the UN and NATO being the One World Order, and the Catholic Church being the whore of Babylon. Each decade brings the new suspect organizations and people quickly forget the certainty of the previous decade. Enter Exhibit A “Late Great Planet Earth”
I propose that we take a much more simple look. Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord over all, but the world is also the temporary domain of Satan, who goes about looking to devour. So, Lion of Judah versus Lion of the Accuser. Human princes rule for a season, they roar and rage, they plot and plan, but their breath passes away and a new regime slides into place after them. And during all this, there is always a “New World Order,” in that until the Lord returns, there will always be temptations to put human government in the place of God’s rule within humanity’s hearts. And if that position is taken, we see the Mark in a different light, where the Mark is already among us.
Mark of the Beast.
“MARK”
Let us consider the first word. “Mark.” To engrave, stamp, imprint, seal. To consider the Mark, it must be first be compared to the word Seal, as in “set apart” and “denote as belonging to someone.” Since Revelation is a symbolic book, we forget that a seal might not be something that is easily seen. Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s not unlike the gift of the Holy Spirit – an invisible presence that bears physical fruit. Consider the use of the Holy Spirit to seal and set apart the followers of Jesus Christ – from flames dancing upon the heads of disciples in Acts to the proof of the Lord’s presence in Paul’s letters (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 5:22-23).
The Seal appears in the Revelation before the arrival of the Beast – it’s found in the testimony of the 144,000 redeemed and marked with the seal of God (Rev 7:1-8). Destruction is decreed over all aspects of creation, but the angel is told not to touch the Lamb’s followers until they have all been sealed. And while early Dispensationalists views argue the 144,000 means 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes, John look again and discovers the 144,000 has become a multitude from every tribe, tongue and nation. In traditional numerology, 144,000 becomes a multiple of 12 (tribes) x 12 (disciples) x 1,000 (many many in number). 144,000 is more about the fullness of a great faithful multitude than about a counting of specific tribes (an interesting exercise is to outline the lists of the twelve tribes – you will quickly discover at least 4 different variations on that list. The Bible doesn’t even agree on what those 12 should be. I digress again).
To really appreciate the idea of a seal or a mark – let’s go deep into other ways that God’s people have been marked and set apart. The main one I want to unpack is crucial to understanding the “Mark.” Early on in the creation of the people of Israel, we hear the Shema, “Hear oh Israel, the Lord, your God, is one.” This defining phrase is followed by a comprehensive call to follow God in all areas of one’s life. Some Rabbis even argue that the progression also represents the Lord presence with followers from birth, to walking the road of life, to lying down in the grave.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deut 6:4-9
Look again.
Impress upon (or compel).
Tie them.
Bind them.
Orthodox Jewish tradition did what modern Evangelicals have done. They took a symbolic command and made it a physical reality. They developed a process to bind scripture in Tefillin or boxes, upon one’s arm and head as one prays. This is a deeply physical binding, a stamping, an imprinting with straps that leave indentations remaining long after removal. The way those straps are used on the arm, they spell out YHWH and proclaim allegiance to God via hands and head. A physical reflection of actions and thoughts.
So as modern day theological sleuths search high and low, looking for microchips and digital certificates – all “signs” of the coming Mark of the Beast – I fear they are looking for a tree in the majestic forest. Sure, privacy is an issue. Sure, state control might be misused. Ask that of the Chinese Christians and Muslims who have had their phones used for tracking their locations, leading to their arrest. Or what of the Jewish people who had numbers tattooed on them? Did that mean all was lost? Did that mean their Jewishness disappeared? No – if anything, it deepened their identity as those who were able to maintain their identity in the face of physical oppression.
Is the chip, the barcode or such really the Mark? Or, are we forgetting what Jesus said when he describes the Judgment of all humanity. Humanity isn’t judged by the mark they have received, or even whether they say “Lord, Lord,” but by the way they demonstrate their allegiance to the Lord via their actions towards their neighbors and enemies. The feeding, clothing, advocating for the other are a Mark, a Seal, of ownership. The question is ever before us – “Who owns you? The “Beast” or the Lord?”
Any conversation about receiving the Mark is incomplete without reading Jesus’ warning based in the Shema:
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24
And if we go wider, into the full chapter of chapter 6, suddenly the discussion of the Mark takes on more nuance. We are told not to worry about tomorrow. We are asked to reflect on God’s provision and asked “What does it matter what happens to you?” We are given ways to pray. And then our eyes are opened to how “the two masters” statement rests in the center of Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount which unpacks the whole of Jesus’ teaching ministry and discipleship values.
In short, within the Sermon of the Mount, the hallmarks of those sealed by the Spirit are unpacked.
And I haven’t even touched on the topic of money and how all printed and pressed money have the image of man upon it, and one cannot buy or sell without using that which has full backing of human government. Oh, I get ahead of myself.
BEAST
So let’s consider next the word, “Beast.” It’s really quite simple to define. While Revelation studies point to the Beast from the Sea, we know the Beast as a symbol refers to a human or humanity. 666, or the number of man is one off on each level from 777, the multiples of perfection. Beasts and humanity were created on the sixth day. So when humanity leaves aside allegiance to God, they become like the beasts of whom they share the day of creation. They become just a little higher functioning than the idols they worship (deaf, blind and mute like stone, iron and clay – another interesting study). Try as you may to pin down the Beast or the Antichrist, I believe it is an exercise in chasing the wind, a missed opportunity to ask “Who or what is demanding my allegiance now, in place of Jesus?”
I have a companion observation here. “Why are people (especially believers) afraid of the mark of the Beast?” I mean, the Bible says that early believers would have still had to use imperial coinage to buy things, and navigate markets where even their food could have been sacrificed to idols. We are assured that we should avoid stumbling blocks, but overall these shouldn’t be a source of anxiety. And from a non-biblical perspective, Americans get a Social Security number, place most of our money in institutions with 1’s and 0’s instead of marked bills in each denomination. Our smartphones ping every tower and broadcast all our habits and rhythms to the highest bidder.
We are already Marked, Tagged, Watched. The question shouldn’t be, “Where is the Mark and how should I avoid it?” The question should be, “Since everything I do is within the domain of man’s power, with whom do I ultimately align?”
En Conclusio
Here’s the deal. I believe that Jesus is coming back someday. Whether or not it’s the unveiling that comes when I die or if He comes while I’m alive, I will experience that return. So in the space between, I live without fear of what man can do. I spend zero amount of time wondering about the Mark of the Beast and instead seek the Seal of the Spirit. I recognize that Christians around the world and throughout history have not had the luxury to wonder if persecution and the Mark are coming – to them, it’s already come.
So, I simply say, come what may, “Behold the Lamb who has conquered, let us follow Him.”
