THE MARK OF THE BEAST

The expression...THE MARK OF THE BEAST, is to be found only in the Revelation, in the following passages ...

REVELATION 13:15-16 "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a MARK IN their right hand or in their foreheads". REVELATION 13:17......"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that HAD THE MARK, OR THE NAME OF THE BEAST, or the NUMBER of his name." (V.18 the number is 666)

REVELATION 14:8-9 "And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great City, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the BEAST AND HIS IMAGE and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, V10....the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation: and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.....".

REVELATION 14:11 ".... have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the MARK OF HIS NAME."

REVELATION 15:2 "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.............."

REVELATION 16:2 "And the first (Angel) went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which HAD THE MARK OF THE BEAST, and upon them which WORSHIPPED HIS IMAGE".

REVELATION 19:19-20. "And I saw the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles, before him, with which he deceived them that had received the MARK OF THE BEAST, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.".

REVELATION 20:4. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned with Christ one thousand years." (Part of this verse refers to events which happened to Christians under the condemnation of early Rome, and it is thus amply apparent the MARK OF THE BEAST is not a latter day phenomena , but has existed for nearly 2,000 years.)

COMMENTS:

It is quite plain from all of the above that there are people involved in worshipping something called the Beast and the IMAGE OF THE BEAST and all of these people seem to be quite plainly identified with what the Scripture refers to as a MARK, which Strong's remarks on as follows...No 5480.."A scratch or etching...i.e. stamp (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE) or scuptured figure, (Statue)..GRAVEN,...mark".

Thus it is clear that all of the people carrying or bearing the MARK OF THE BEAST are involved in worshipping something which seems to be unacceptable to the Father because it is apparent that those who have the MARK OF THE BEAST incur the great wrath of the Father, who will force them to drink of His wrath and who will torment them for ever, or in other words ensure they suffer for ever by being thrown into the "lake of fire'.. This is the reward for worshipping something which the Father obviously considers to be in opposition to His will and teaching.

On the other hand, there are those who do NOT worship the beast or accept the MARK OF THE BEAST and these are pictured as sitting on thrones, obviously ruling over something and we are told they live and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ for a thousand years.

These can only be the SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH, the QADDISH of Daniel 7:27, who were given "the Kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the Kingdom, under the whole heaven". Kingdom of God on earth.

THEY WORSHIP:

Those who carry the MARK OF THE BEAST are WORSHIPPERS. Rev 13:15 tells us that everyone, rich and poor, small and great and free and bond, indicating a multitude with no freedom of choice.... is MADE... (CAUSED...Greek word is "POIEO", meaning to make one do something)..... to worship the image of the beast, or be killed. Then, because in Rev 14:8 there is a connection established between..BABYLON ..THE BEAST...AND THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST...who are to be worshipped by all the people OR BE KILLED, then we must look for a religious institution of note, demanding complete obedience under pain of death.

The Revelation is a prophecy of "things which must shortly come to pass" after it was written. It is a description of the ages from the formation of the Ecclesias (Churches) of the true God, their alienation by Rome, judgements on the Roman provinces for the blasphemies and apostacy of the Church, in doctrines, crosses and idols. Because Revelation 17-18 identifies Rome as that apostacy and describes her destruction , we need look no further than to Rome and the Roman Catholic church, to identify the beast power. The "church" at Rome replaced and took unto herself, the all pervading power of pagan Rome and history books are full of the records of the tragic deaths of all who opposed the church of Rome. From AD 533 onwards the "church" ex-communicated, persecuted, tortured and murdered all who disagreed with her doctrines, as she changed all of the truths taught by Jesus and the Apostles. This continued down through the centuries until 1798 when France entered Rome and made the Pope a prisoner, thus destroying the power of the "church", until 1929 when the "Holy See" signed a "concordat".. (an agreement between the Pope and any secular Government for the settlement and control of ecclesiastical affairs)...with the Italian Government, thus restoring the power of the Image of the Beast, the Papacy.

The "Babylon" of Rev 14:8 is quite obviously the same Babylon as that of Rev 18:2 and one cannot escape the obvious conclusion presented by Rev 18, that Rome and the latter day Babylon are one and the same identity. When the Revelation was written, Babylon of ancient

fame and splendour had crumbled into the dust, so there was no way that the Babylon of the Revelation could be or will be, ancient Babylon or ...ancient Babylon restored.

THE FIRST BEAST:

Thus, from all the foregoing, we see the finger of Scripture pointing directly at Rome Pagan as the first beast mentioned, and identified in Rev 12 as the "dragon",.... and Rome Ecclesiastical as the Image of the (first) Beast....... the church at Rome, which is commonly known as the Roman Catholic Church, directed by and organised by the Papacy.

So...we return to the "MARK OF THE BEAST".................

Firstly though, we must recognise an important concept within the Revelation, and that is that the Book employs many signs, such as beasts, for instance, which represent nations or groups of people, an image of a beast which represents another nation or group of people similar to the first one, yet different in detail. We have the word "forehead", which represents the mind..(the area between the eyes), and we have the hand, which represents the actions which the mind sets in place. We have a "Lamb" representative of Christ and we have a ":dragon" which is indeed the first beast which had an image made of it, and which was the original imperial power of Rome, led by an Emperor installed in BC 31. Thus...in Rev 13:15 we read that the "image" of the beast starts to do two things......1...SPEAK. This word is from the Greek word.."Laleo", which also means PREACH. 2.. It kills people who will NOT worship it or it's power.

THE MARK...THE NAME....THE NUMBER:

In Rev 13-16 our attention is directed to the fact that those remaining, representative of an enormous cross section of people and nations, are "CAUSED" ...( Greek word is "POIEO" and means "make one do something") to be identified by a ...."mark in their right hand , or in their foreheads" and we are then told in v.17 that at some period of time , no one would be able to "buy or sell", other than those who ..."had the mark , or the name of the beast, or the number of his name". That number is then described in v.18 as being the full number of sin, which is 666. One translation (Moffatt's) renders the passage...."so that no one can buy or sell unless he bears the mark...that is THE NAME OF THE BEAST, OR, the cipher of his name".

The Collins Dictionary says "cipher" is an "arithmetical symbol". When Pope Vitalian made LATIN the official language of the "church" in AD666, it became the LATEINOS, (Latin kingdom). The numerical value of the Greek word LATEINOS is 666.

THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST:

Now....keeping in mind that "the image of the beast" took over from "the beast", and that in AD 533 the last of the Roman Emperors, Justinian, declared the Bishop of Rome to be..."HEAD OF ALL THE HOLY CHURCHES AND THE CORRECTOR OF HERETICS", we may fairly comment that it was from this time that "the image of the beast" started to "speak "(preach) and commenced to kill people who would not give their full allegiance to the Church of Rome, and likewise only those who who had the imprint of Rome on their personality and person were allowed to prosper in the field of commerce and development.

That THE MARK was not a visible mark must be assumed for there is no record in history to tell us that such people DID have a visible mark on their foreheads and in their hands, and....as well, we read in Rev 14:1 that the redeemed standing before the throne of the Lamb, "HAVE HIS FATHER'S NAME WRITTEN..IN..THEIR FOREHEADS"

WHERE IS THE MARK?

Thus we are forced to accept the fact that THE MARK is something that exists inside the persons head, not outside the head, and that mark is related to the "name of the beast", or his image, and because worship is involved, we can readily understand that what is being spoken of here is SOMETHING THAT IS GOING ON inside THE PERSON'S HEAD.... the set of beliefs which are involved in the worship of the beast, or the Roman Catholic Church. It is the beliefs and loyalties of the person which identifies them as belonging to the beast, and so it is today....all of the adherents of the "church" are known by the doctrines they espouse and for which reason Christ tells us in Rev 14:9-11.....

"IF ANY MAN (OR WOMAN)...WORSHIP THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, AND RECEIVE HIS MARK IN HIS FOREHEAD, OR IN HIS HAND, THE SAME SHALL DRINK OF THE WINE OF THE WRATH OF GOD, WHICH IS POURED OUT WITHOUT MIXTURE (undiluted)...INTO THE CUP OF HIS INDIGNATION; AND HE SHALL BE TORMENTED ETC.."

Contrariwise, in Rev 20:4 we read of the redeemed...."AND I SAW THRONES AND THEY (the redeemed)...SAT ON THEM AND JUDGEMENT WAS GIVEN UNTO THEM. AND I SAW THE SOULS (the people) OF THEM THAT WERE BEHEADED (smitten)..FOR THE WITNESS OF JESUS AND FOR THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST, NEITHER HIS IMAGE, NEITHER HAD RECEIVED HIS MARK UPON...(IN).... THEIR FOREHEADS OR IN THEIR HANDS AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS."

DOCTRINES OF LIFE....OR DEATH:

Thus it is plain to see and understand that any man or woman who desires to be a part of the "redeemed" and live and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God on the earth, must not embrace any of the doctrines of those who are to be denied that very privilege . One set of beliefs leads to eternal condemnation, whilst the other leads to life eternal in a world made new.

LATTER DAY CLAIMS:

In recent years many have put forward some wierd and wonderful ideas on the "mark of the beast" and one of the most recent claims is that the pricing bar code now in common use , or the Eagle pictures on German coins to become legal tender in the E.U in 2002, are the "mark of the beast'. However, these are a vain theories for the Scriptures show conclusively that the "mark of the beast" is something which has been apparent for many centuries, indeed from the beginning of the beast itself, which in truth is representative of pagan apostasy.

ROME: A CHRONOLOGY;

BC753 Rome founded by Romulus, who became it's first King.

BC190 Roman army defeated Antiochus the Great, King of Syria.

BC63 Judea taken by Pompey and required to pay tribute.

BC31 Octavian proclaims himself Emperor of Rome, with the name Augustus.

AD70 Jerusalem destroyed by the Roman Titus, who later became Emperor

AD300 Making the "sign of the cross" instituted.

AD312 Emperor Constantine makes apostate Christianity the state religion.

AD325 The Council of Nicaea proclaims Jesus to be a person within the Godhead.

AD375 Veneration of 'dead saints' and angels and the use of images in the church.

AD381. The Holy Spirit proclaimed to be a person within the Godhead.

AD395 Emperor Theodosius makes apostate Christianity COMPULSORY.

AD395 Last Emperor of the WHOLE Roman Empire, Theodosius, died.

AD395 "Pontifax Maximus" ( formerly a title of Caesar and high priest of heathen religion) taken as title of Bishop of Rome

AD400 Jerome's translation of the Bible.....the Latin 'Vulgate'.

AD402 Innocent 1 calls himself "Ruler of the Church of God."

AD430 Doctrine of 'purgatory' and 'original sin' introduced.

AD431 Exaltation of Mary as 'mother of god'.

AD476 Indulgences for the dead proclaimed.

AD476 Rome fell to the German leader Odoacer, who became ruler of Italy.

AD526 Latin laguage used in prayer and worship established by Gregory 1.

AD600 Prayers directed to Mary, dead saints and angels.

AD610 Decree of Phocas gives pope temporal power.

AD666 Pope Vitalian made Latin the official language of the Catholic Church.

AD709 Kissing of the Pope's foot commences.

AD869 Western and Eastern churches (Rome/Constantinople) mutually excommunicated.

AD819 The 'assumption' of Mary proclaimed.. The claim was that Mary was taken to heaven, 'body and soul', (where she is now 'Queen of heaven'!)

AD995 Canonisation of dead saints begun.

AD1079 Celibacy of the priesthood decreed by Gregory V11.

AD1100 Payment for massess introduced.

AD1184 Inquisition instituted by the Council of Verona.

AD1190 Indulgences sold to repair St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

AD1198 Reading of the Bible in the common vernacular condemned.

AD1572 St Bartholomew massacre...Thousands of Protestants killed by Catholics in France.

AD1641 Thousands of Irish Protestants murdered or tortured to death by the Catholics.

AD1870 Papal infallibility decreed by first Vatican Council

AD1928 Pope Pius X1declares..."I am Holy Father...the representative of God on earth, the Vicar of Christ, which means I AM GOD ON EARTH."

AD1929 Lateran Accord with Mussolini restores Pope's temporal power in the Vatican

AD1950 Pope Pius X11 declares "evolution" to be a serious hypothesis.

AD1954 Queenship of Mary proclaimed....Queen of heaven.

AD1996 Pope Paul proclaims "evolution" compatible with Christian faith.(Soul excluded!)