Revelation 13:16-18 “And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name. Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666.”
In the vision, those worshiping Caesar had marks on their right hands and on their foreheads. Barclay comments, “This mark is another of the grim parodies which occur in this chapter; it is a parody of a sacred Jewish custom. When a Jew prayed, he wore phylacteries on his left arm and on his forehead. They were little leather boxes with little scrolls of parchment inside them on which were written key scriptures from the Torah.”
Marks and tattoos of various kinds were commonly used in the Roman Empire in a variety of ways. Again, Barclay comments, “The word for the mark of the beast is charagma, and it could come from more than one ancient custom.
(i) Sometimes domestic slaves were branded with the mark of their owner. But usually they were branded only if they had run away or had been guilty of some grave misdemeanor. Such a mark was called a stigma; we still use the word in English. If the mark is connected with this, it means that those who worship the beast are his property.
(ii) Sometimes soldiers branded themselves with the name of their general, if they were very devoted to him. This, to some extent, corresponds to the modern custom of tattooing upon one’s person the name of someone specially dear. If the mark is connected with this, it means that those who worship the beast are his devoted followers.
(iii) On every contract of buying or selling there was a charagma, a seal, and on the seal the name of the emperor and the date. If the mark is connected with this, it means that those who worship the beast accept his authority.
(iv) All coinage had the head and inscription of the emperor stamped upon it, to show that it was his property. If the mark is connected with this, it again means that those who bear it are the property of the beast.
(v) When a man had burned his pinch of incense to Caesar, he was given a certificate to say that he had done so. The mark of the beast may be the certificate of worship, which a Christian could obtain only at the cost of denying his faith.
What form will the mark of the beast take in this present age? Chips or other implants would be very simple and the technology has existed for years. There might be other even more subtle forms of marking and tracking with GPS technology. The question will be the same as it was for the ancient Christians: will we be faithful to the death?
What can be said about the number representing the Beast? Theologians and philosophers have struggled with this for years, coming up with all kinds of codes. Using one numbering system, the Hebrew letters for Nero Caesar add up to 666. Does this mean that Nero will be reborn? Nero was a horribly evil man and was obviously inspired by Satan. Whether or not Nero himself were to return, the import of this statement is that someone every bit as evil as Nero will appear.
J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings was a devout Catholic who truly believed in Jesus Christ. At one point in the story when things look particularly bleak, Frodo and Gandalf the magician are talking.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Nobody is anxious to live during the time when the two beasts and the dragon appear and people are forced to take the mark of the beast or to die painful deaths. But we have no choice about that. What we can choose to do is to follow Jesus Christ as faithfully as possible and to beg God to help us so that we will be found faithful, no matter what.
PRAYER Father God, thank you for loving us! Thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sins and to set us free from Satan’s bondage. Lord, help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives and to love you more each day than we did the day before. Help us to be faithful, no matter the circumstances. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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