The Mark of the Beast is one of the most misunderstood prophecies in the Bible. It is found in chapter 13 of the book of Revelation. It refers to a mark or seal that will be received by every person in the world who conciously or unconciously, willingly or unwillingly, aligns themselves with a power that the book of Revelation refers to as the Beast, also known as the Antichrist.
The Bible tells us that this mark will be enforced throughout the whole world, and that only those who have the mark will be able to buy or sell. It also gives severe warnings against receiving this mark, and tells us that all who receive the mark will suffer the outpouring of God’s full wrath, so it’s vitally important that we understand exactly what this mark is, because otherwise how will we know whether or not we have received it, and how will we be able to avoid receiving it? You can be sure that the Mark of the Beast will affect the eternal destiny of every human being who is alive at the time the mark is received.
The identity of the Beast, or Antichrist, was known by all the early Protestants, yet the churches today that originated from these early Protestants have forgotten this truth, which is why there are many different beliefs today about who or what the Antichrist is. Some believe the Antichrist is a world-wide militant religious movement, like Islam. Others believe it is an individual, perhaps a political leader like the President of the United States. Others believe it is simply a term used to describe every power in the world that is against God.
Likewise there are many widely differing interpretations of what the Mark of the Beast is. Many believe it to be a physical mark that will be received on the body, like a bar-code. Some believe it will be a type of microchip inserted under the skin, like VeriChip. Others believe it will be some kind of a world-wide identity card.
Is there any truth to any of these different interpretations? Is it possible to recover the lost truth that was known to the early Protestants? How can we discover the truth about who or what the Beast or Antichrist really is and what the Mark of the Beast really is?
When seeking to understand any teaching of the Bible, there is an overriding principle that must always be followed, and that is to lay aside our preconceptions and let the Bible interpret itself. We do this by following the Bible’s own rule of interpretation, given in the book of Isaiah:
Isaiah 28:10 "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little."
What this means is that the correct way to interpret the Bible is to find every Bible verse that mentions the subject of interest, compare them all and take the weight of evidence. This is how to avoid developing false theories about what the Bible teaches, and so this is what we will do - we will not offer our own theories or opinions but rather we will let the Bible interpret and explain itself.
In order to understand what the Mark of the Beast is, it’s also necessary to understand who or what the Beast itself is – we will show from the Bible who the Beast or Antichrist is and what the Mark of the Beast is.
So if you’d like to know the Bible truth about all of these things then read on.
But before you proceed, if you have faith in God then we urge you to take a moment to pray and ask God’s Spirit to help you understand and accept the truth so that you will not be deceived, we urge you to take your Bible, put aside your preconceptions, and let God guide you into all truth.
John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
Page 2 - Can The Beast Be Identified?
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