Mark of the Beast

The Mark of the Beast is predicted in the Bible to be a symbol of allegiance that the Antichrist and the Final World Empire will require of every man, woman, and child.  This Mark will be the dividing line between life and death, Christ and Antichrist, allegiance to God or allegiance to Satan, and it will be given in the right hand or forehead.  All people who obtain the Mark will suffer the wrath of God and be forever damned.  This section explains the prophecies dealing with the Mark as well as the latest events in our world that are leading to its implementation.

Of all the predictions in the Bible concerning the last days, the prophecy of the Mark of the Beast seems to consistently generate the most interest and speculation.  Propelled to prominence by countless books and movies, it’s almost as if this single prediction holds greater fascination than most of the other prophecies of the end times.  Perhaps this interest is partly due to a subconscious realization that its fulfillment now looms closer than we’d like to admit.

Indeed, there is now good evidence that the development of the Antichrist’s economic system is already in the final stages of implementation.  Even as you read these words, the people who control the banking and financial systems of the world are rapidly bringing the monetary structure of the final world order to fruition.  Amazingly, the Empire-Beast of Daniel and Revelation is already constructing the global electronic network and computer technology necessary to fulfill these prophecies.  Of course, this fact should not come as a surprise to those who study Biblical prophecy.  The advent of the Mark of the Beast is one of the primary events that will characterize the Antichrist’s kingdom and the final world empire at the end.

On the other hand, the Mark is also the one aspect of the last days that most people would rather not think about too seriously.  It is an interesting development, but only in so far as it can be studied from a safe distance.  As the prediction starts to become reality, a natural tendency is to turn away from the evidence and pretend that nothing is happening.  This is only a normal defensive mechanism to impending trouble, because unlike some of the other prophecies of the Bible, the Mark cannot be fully realized without directly and negatively affecting everyone’s life.  We may be able to sit back and observe the last world empire as it forms or get excited over the prophecies dealing with Israel being reborn as a nation, yet with those prophetic fulfillments we are still able to go about our day-to-day routines as though nothing has changed.

When the Mark of the Beast is finally fulfilled, however, everything will be radically transformed.  The Mark is the first prophecy on this side of the return of Christ that will completely change every aspect of our lives.  When the Antichrist begins to implement a new system of commerce for the New World Order, the people of the world will be forced to swear allegiance to the empire and get branded for life.  Suddenly, when this happens Christians will find themselves completely cut off from society and its way of life, because the Bible unmistakably prohibits the followers of Christ from obtaining the Mark.

It will be a fearful thing to have our lives uprooted and made uncertain, but this is exactly what is going to happen when the Antichrist arises.  This is why it is so important to understand the development of the Mark and how close it is to being fulfilled.  If we can determine what will happen from Biblical prophecy well in advance and prepare for it, then nothing will be able to take us by surprise.  As we shall soon see, for those who live to experience the deception and ruthlessness of the final world empire, a foreknowledge of how the Mark will develop will turn out to be indispensable for survival.  In truth, it is the Mark of the Beast more than anything else that will brand people for all time as to whether they are for or against the Lord.  For this reason, we are going to study the evidence for its rise in great detail.

Let us begin by reading the well-known prophecy concerning the Mark from chapter thirteen of the book of Revelation:

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and enslaved, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads,

“And that no man might buy or sell, except he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

“Here is wisdom.  Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast;  for it is the number of a man;  and his number is six hundred threescore and six.”

Rev. 13:16-18

Branded for Life

The rise of the Antichrist as the sole dictator of the New World Order will radically change the way the entire world system operates (see the sections on the Antichrist).  Daniel tells us that he will “think to change the times and the laws” (Dan. 7:25).  This is similar to the authority described for God in an earlier chapter of Daniel (Dan. 2:21).  It is clear that the Antichrist will attempt to take to himself the authority reserved for God and try to control every aspect of the world system and the people within it.  Not only will the world be united under one ruler and one government in that day, but its citizens will also be forced into a drastic change in the way they do business.

When the Apostle John wrote down these prophecies in the Book of Revelation he did so in Greek, which was the international language of the day.  In verse 16 quoted above, the word mark is actually the Greek word charagma (χαραγμα).  According to the NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, the definition of charagma is a “stamp or an imprinted mark“.  Strong’s Concordance calls it “properly, an engraving (etching); (figuratively) a mark providing undeniable identification, like a symbol giving irrefutable connection between parties“.  The meaning is also extended to the personal “impress on a coin or a seal“, such as a wax seal used to provide proof of authorship to a letter sent between two individuals or parties.  The Mark of the Beast on the hand or forehead is thus a seal of ownership demonstrating that the holder belongs to the Empire of the Antichrist.  Those who get the final Mark are therefore branding themselves and showing their allegiance to the Beast, while at the same time signifying their absolute rebellion against God.

To be an approved citizen of that new world you will have to receive some kind of physical mark, which will identify you as legally able to participate in society.  John says that virtually every person within the empire will be required to get an identifying imprint on his or her body.  He further says that neither the influence of the rich nor the relative obscurity of the poor will let an individual escape from the Antichrist’s new system and his demand to be marked.

Where does he say this mark will be located?  The prophecy is very specific in this regard.  People will be marked either in their right hand or in their forehead.

The reason for two locations on the surface seems to be logical.  The best place to put an indelible imprint on your body is where anyone who needs to verify your identity can easily find it.  Naturally, the hand would be the first choice.  To create uniformity in the system of marking people, the prophecy says that they will choose the right hand to be the primary point of application.  Probably the secondary place to put it will be the forehead for those who may not have a hand (obviously, many people in the world do not have right hands, but every living person must have a head!).  Why the left hand will not be used is likely a matter of convenience: to limit the choices so that someone looking for the Mark will only have to search in two possible locations.

Another reason that these locations will be chosen for the Mark has to do with the development of an important identification technology over the last thirty years.  Biometrics is the science of analyzing and identifying people based upon their unique physical characteristics.  Our ability to recognize friends and family is based on our brains being able to associate certain physical attributes with recognition and names.  Biometric scanning is similar in that it involves mapping certain bodily characteristics with a person’s identity to validate that a person is who they say they are.  Examples of biometric information may involve facial recognition, height and build, finger prints, iris scans, hand markings and shape, and voice recognition.  The biometrics industry is moving toward standards that can allow recognition and identification of anyone with a high degree of accuracy.  The two main biometric characteristics that are rapidly becoming standards are iris (eye) scans and hand or fingerprint scans.  Many devices have already been deployed to read irises or hands or fingers.  Even laptops have been designed with fingerprint readers built in as an optional security device for logging onto the system.  The standardization of biometrics to hands and eyes is no doubt in preparation for the Mark of the Beast being placed in the hand or the forehead in perfect fulfillment of John’s prophecy (see also the section on biometrics for additional information).

The primary thrust of having the Mark will be to physically identify for legal purposes all those people who voluntarily become members and citizens of the final world empire.  If every nation within the Western Alliance were to suddenly find themselves with a common leader, all citizenship papers would have to be modified or re-issued.  Instead of using a simple registration program to record the followers of the new government, the Antichrist will decide to do something much more radical.  He will attempt to permanently brand each person for life.  Just like cattle, the Bible says that the deceived of the world will line up to get this new Mark and swear allegiance to the Empire.  Unfortunately, they will do this not knowing or not caring about the eternal consequence of their action.

To make matters worse, the government will enforce the Antichrist’s decree and make it seem as though people have no choice.  Not only will the receipt of the Mark become law, but anyone who ignores the mandate for it will have a difficult time even living.  John plainly says that no one will be able to buy or sell without it.  That means that if you decide to rebel against the establishment of the one-world government, then the result will be complete exclusion of your participation in society.  Some without thinking may say, “Big deal,” however, just consider for a moment how difficult life would be if you were not able to participate in even the most basic commerce.

Everyone has a tendency to take the currency of modern commerce for granted.  We don’t stop to think about our willingness to participate in it by using the dollar or the Euro or the Pound or the Yen or the Yuan (or any other official currency) when we buy and sell; we just do it.  However, if one day you decided not to use the legal tender of your country, you would soon discover the difficulty the average person will experience by refusing the Mark.

Without having the official medium of exchange, you couldn’t purchase anything.  Lacking the ability to buy, either by credit, debit, or cash, you couldn’t even obtain the basic necessities of life.  Going to the grocery store to pick up some food would be impossible.  Rent or mortgage bills would go unpaid.  Utility companies would be forced to turn off your services because of overdue bills.  Even filling up your tank at the gas or petrol station would become a thing of the past.  No one would be willing to sell you anything, because you wouldn’t have the means to pay for their goods.  In addition, no one could buy anything from you, because you couldn’t receive payment through the Beast’s Mark system.

Of course, you would also be fired from your job, because just like the social security number of today, the mark of the Beast will be required for employment.  Besides, how could anyone pay you for your services if you refused to take the payment in “Marks”?  Most employers have already forced their employees to take paychecks as electronically deposited payments.  Even the practice of getting salaries in the form of a check had long ago replaced receiving payment in cash.  Refusing the Mark would mean no job, no income, no social security, no welfare, no food stamps, no assistance programs, no medical benefits, no health care, no use of public transportation, and no official identity that is approved by the government.  You would become an illegal citizen and identified as a threat to the New World Order.

We are going to see in this section that there is only a fine line between the growing system of electronic payments and the establishment of the mark of the Beast.  Just as we can see the skeleton of the seven-headed, ten-horned Empire-Beast already taking shape, so too is the world moving ever closer to having the capability to inaugurate the Mark.

Can you imagine how difficult it will be not to receive the mark?  Refusing the mark will be like trying to use play money in the real world.  You would suddenly find yourself a castaway from society with nothing but the things you could carry on your back.  Having the basic necessities of life is something that every person needs in order to feel secure.  Of course, in the Western world we have pushed far beyond the requirement for just the basics.  The coming of the Antichrist and the establishment of the Mark will cause Christians everywhere to abandon everything they have ever known to follow Christ.

Next: Branded for Death