Insights into the mark of the beast and the crucial test to recognize the mark in whatever form it takes

READ TIME: 6 Minutes

Identifying the Mark of the Beast

People have been trying to identify the nature of the mark of the beast for many years. And over these years, the theories about the mark have changed over time as technology has evolved. In the 1980s, many people thought the mark would be a tattoo or a bar code. As microchips became common, speculation shifted to RFID tags that would be embedded in people’s skin. Now with advances in DNA research, people are surmising that the mark involves the modification of one’s DNA, even through the use of nanobots.

Any of these theories are possible, but the existence of these technologies alone will not qualify them as the mark of the beast.

When the time comes, recognizing the real mark will be of the utmost importance. To take the mark will damn one’s soul for eternity in the lake of fire. So how will we reliably distinguish the real mark from distractions?

The only way is to know scripture and test every potential mark to see if it meets the traits of the mark of the beast.

The Significance of Numbers

To understand the number of the beast, 666, we need to understand the meaning of the number six in the Bible.

The number six is the number of mankind. It is a number of imperfection. The number seven is a number of God and represents completion. Man and woman with God are complete (6+1=7). Here is just a sampling of Biblical examples:

• God created man on the sixth day, and on the seventh, God rested.
• God commanded the Jews to work for six days but then have a sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord.
• Under the law, a person could be enslaved or in debt for six years but given grace and released on the seventh.
• Mankind will strive upon the earth subject to evil for six thousand years, followed by a sabbath millennium when Jesus Christ will rule over the earth.
• The lampstand or menora has six branches to the sides and the seventh in the middle (God in the center).
• The Israelite army marched around Jericho for six days, and on the seventh, the Lord’s army tore down the walls.

There are many more examples of the number six in the Bible, but to my knowedge, only two places where the Bible groups three sixes together.

• The Nephilim giant Goliath had six digits on his hands and feet, was six cubits tall and held a spear weighing six hundred shekels of iron (6x6x600).
• The golden image Nebuchadnezzar erected had a base of six cubits by six cubits and a height of sixty cubits (6x6x60).

The use of three sixes in the examples above hint that these events foreshadow the Antichrist. (more on this later)

So now that we have established the significance of the numbers six and seven, let’s consider how the Bible describes a mark.

The Meaning of the Mark

The first place in the Bible we read about a mark is in Genesis. After Cain murdered his brother Abel, and God pronounced judgment upon him, God gave Cain a mark. The mark’s purpose was to let everyone know not to kill Cain, or God would avenge his death on them seven times over. So the mark indicated Cain’s Godly protection and must have included the number seven to indicate the penalty. Think about this… Did God mark Cain with the number of His name?

We read of a similar concept at the end of this age. An angel will seal the 144,000 Jews in Revelation 7 by placing the seal of the Son of God on their foreheads. Revelation 14 tells us that this seal is Jesus’ name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And further tells us that these Jews will be purchased as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. Revelation 9 then revels that the seal will protect these Jews from God’s judgment upon the earth.

So from these scriptures, we know the mark of God is a mark of ownership and a mark of protection.

The same concept applies to the mark of the beast. Like God, the Antichrist will place a mark on the foreheads (or right hands) of those who elect to be his. The mark will protect them from death in the sight of the image; however, it will not protect them from God’s wrath.

So how does one elect to be the property of the beast?

The Election to Take the Mark of the Beast

People will take the mark and become the property of the Beast through worship; by bowing down to the image of the beast. And the image will be able to cause the death of anyone who refuses to worship it.

This is highly reminiscent of Daniel 3, when Nebuchadnezzar required the people to bow down before the great image he created. Nebuchadnezzar also commanded his men to throw all those who refused to bow down into a furnace. Daniel wrote that “all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image.”

We can learn a few things from Daniel 3 to help prepare us for the Antichrist. As I mentioned previously, the dimensions of Nebuchadnezzar’s image were 6x6x60. These are the relative dimensions of an obelisk, making it likely that the image was a monument rather than a statue of Nebuchadnezzar as most assume.

There are three important points we can take from this event:

1. As in Daniel’s day, the majority of people will bow down to the image of the beast. Only the few will resist in the face of death.
2. Even in facing death at the hand of the Antichrist, God will be with the saints who refuse to worship the beast’s image. (as He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to bow down)  
3. Because worship is required, we will not accidentally accept the mark of the Beast as long as we never bow down and worship anyone but the one true God.

To be the mark, a mark must require worship and carry a penalty of death.

There are many forms this mark can take, but none of those forms seem to meet the requirements of worship or death except one. And this one is already upon the earth.

Is the Mark of the Beast Already Upon Us?

In the Greek text, the number 666 is written as six-hundred, sixty, six. A simple font of this number looks like this: χξϛ. Below is a copy from the Codex Vaticanus from 350 A.D. showing these numbers handwritten:

In Greek and all western languages, people read from left to right. But in Israel and all lands east of Israel, people read from right to left. So it took an Arab man who converted to Christianity to look at this and see that it states, “in the name of Allah” in Arabic with the addition of crossed swords. Here is a comparison of the two.

The crossed swords is a common image included in Islamic symbolism, such as the Hamas icon, shown below.

When the apostle John first heard Jesus on the island of Patmos, Jesus instructed him to “write in a book what you see.” From this, John wrote what we know as the book of Revelation. John would not have likely known Arabic, and Allah was not a known god at the time. Had John seen this symbol, he most likely would have described it as something familiar; six-hundred, sixty, and six, i.e. 666.

What is also intriguing about this theory is that this mark requires worship under the penalty of death.

The Mark of the Beast and Islam

In Islam, denying Allah carries a penalty of death. As we have seen with jihadists in the Middle East, when they defeat non-muslims they give them a choice. Accept Allah, accept death, or pay a penalty tax in lieu of death.

And the mark of Allah, the bismillah, which contains the phrase “in the name of Allah” is written on the headbands that jihadists wear on their foreheads and, at times, on their right arms.

And unlike most of the possible marks on the earth today, this is one can be associated with the worship of an image.

Remember what I wrote about how Nebuchadnezzar required all the people to bow down to his golden image (likely an obelisk monument) as a foreshadowing of the Antichrist? Are not Muslims required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and bow down to their monument, the Kaaba?

My point is not to specifically identify Islam as the beast religious system, but to show a model in society today that may be a paradigm of what we will see in the future.

Regardless of what plays out in the future, the only way to identify the mark of the beast is to run it through the Revelation 13 test.

The Test for the Mark of the Beast

Fortunately, Revelation 13 gives us a checklist of conditions that qualify a mark as the mark of the beast.

Notice that each of these statements begins with an “and.” This tells us that All of these conditions must be present for a candidate mark to be the mark of the beast.

We will know the mark when we see the following circumstances occurring:

1. An empire that existed in the past will be resurrected (with a leader resurrected from a mortal wound), AND
2. A (false) prophet will display great signs, including making fire come down from heaven, AND
3. The false prophet will tell us to create an image of the resurrected beast, AND
4. The false prophet will require us to worship the image, AND
5. If we do not worship the image, we will be killed, AND
6. The beast/false prophet will require us to take the mark, AND
7. If we do not take the mark, we will not be able to buy or sell, AND
8. The mark will contain the beast’s name or the number of his name (six hundred, sixty and six, χξϛ)

If these conditions are not present, a mark is not the mark of the beast. If they are present, any believer must avoid the mark even at the cost of their own life.

Related Posts:

Is the COVID-19 Vaccine the Mark of the Beast?

Democratic Crises in Israel, UK, and the US Portend the Beast’s Rise

Ottoman Empire – The Beast Reviving and Claiming Former Territories

Ways the Coronavirus COVID-19 has Prepared the Way for the Antichrist

The Identity of the Beast of Revelation

Are the Beast and Antichrist Among Us Today?

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