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Mark of the Beast Bible Study

Just what is the mark of the beast? Do some already have the mark of the beast and not even know it? Who is the beast? In Revelation chapter 13 there are two different beasts talked about. In Revelation 13:1-10 the first beast is the political system of the last days. The beast that I'm going to be talking about is in verses 11-18. This beast is a person as will shall see, someone that you probably already heard of. To better understand God's word we need to know that God uses symbology to explain some things. This is the beast of the last days and he shall come to this earth before our true Saviour, Jesus Christ does.

Revelation 13:11-18

V11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Horns as it is used here stand for power. In this verse you read that the beast has two horns like a lamb. Not as a lamb but like a lamb. That is very important to understand. Who is our lamb? Our lamb is Jesus Christ of course. He is the Lamb of God and we can read that in the book of John.

John 1:29
V29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:36
V36 And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

So what we have here right from the start is a fake lamb. Some one that thinks he is the Lamb of God but is not. Now this beast spake as a dragon. Who is the dragon in God's word? The dragon is Satan. That is just one of the names Satan goes by in the word of God.

Revelation 12:9
V9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 20:2
V2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

V12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Exerciseth means to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct) Here we have Satan directing the first beast (Rev 13:1-10) which is the political system of the last days. The thing is that he will not be directing it from where you might think he will be. Instead Satan will be here on this earth in person doing his directing. Satan will be cast out of heaven and down to this earth in the last days.

Revelation 12:7-9
V7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
V8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
V9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

V13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

When Satan comes back to this earth he will have supernatural powers able to do miracles that will deceive many. He will be able to have lightning come down from heaven.

V14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Satan is the king of deception. Satan will say that the people should make a image to the 1st beast that was wounded by a sword. The sword is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:17
V17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

V15 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.

This is why so many Christians may be afraid to be here during the tribulation, they think they are going to be killed. Satan is going to be here on earth saying that he is Jesus Christ. Satan can't have people thinking he is Jesus if he is going around having people killed. The only people that will be killed by him are the two witness so that scripture may be fulfilled.

Revelation 11:3-7
V3 And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
V4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
V5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
V6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
V7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Satan may want others that don't worship the image to be killed but it will not happen.

Revelation 9:1-5
V1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
V2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
V3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
V4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
V5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

V16 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:

What is in our foreheads? Our brain, our mind, that which we use to think. What this is saying is that people will receive a mark in their mind and that mark is deception. Believing in things like a rapture so that you will not be here for the tribulation. Believing that the 1st one that comes to this earth with supernatural powers is Jesus Christ. The 1st one back with supernatural powers is not Jesus Christ but Satan himself. He will say that he is Jesus but as always he is lying and is not the true Christ. It clearly tells us in II Thessalonians 2:1-4 that the true Christ will not come until Satan comes back to this earth.

II Thessalonians 2:1-4
V1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
V2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
V3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
V4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

To receive the mark in your hand means that you are doing the work of Satan. Things like spreading the lie of the rapture. Saying that you don't need to read the whole book of Revelation because you think you will be gone. Satan is the antichrist of the last days and will deceive many.

V17 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.

The people that don't get the mark of the beast may not be able to buy or sell in the world that Satan will be running when he comes back. But not to worry, for God will always take care of His own! We do not want anything that Satan has to offer anyway. After all, what can he offer us? Satan is marked for death by God. Therefor, that's all Satan can offer you, is a one way ticket to hell. You don't want that, do you?

V18 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.

No big mystery here, verse 11 already told us who the beast is, Satan. It is not someone on this earth now so don't bother trying to use someone's name that is here now. The beast is Satan. The antichrist is Satan. Satan has been going against God's will from the beginning chapters of Genesis. He is the one that thinks he is God and in the last days he will get some time here on earth to pretend that he is. Count here means a pebble (as worn smooth by handling), i.e. (by implication of use as a counter or ballot) a verdict (of acquittal) or ticket (of admission); a vote. The key word here is pebble. What is a pebble but a very small rock. Who is our Rock? Jesus Christ of course. He is the true Rock. What we have here is the fake rock, the antichrist of the last days. We can read that Jesus is our Rock in I Corinthians 10:4

I Corinthians 10:4
V4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

It takes many years for a pebble to become smooth. The pebble is also symbolic for people, a certain kind of people, the Kenites. The mark of the beast started in the early chapters of Genesis. It is a spiritual mark that was put on Cain, and his offspring the Kenites. To read about the beginning of the mark of the beast, take a look at our Bible study on the Garden of Eden.

Satan will be coming back to this earth some time in the future, claiming to be Jesus Christ. Satan will have supernatural powers when he returns, able to deceive many. The mark of the beast is not a tattoo or some kind of chip that people think will be put in their body at that time. Satan is to smart for that. What we are talking about here, are things on a spiritual level. The mark of the beast is deception. What you think and what you do. Many already have the mark of the beast today. They believe and spread the lie of the rapture, claiming that they will not be here for the tribulation. Claiming they don't need to read the whole book of Revelation because they think they will be gone, that they will be raptured away. Well, God's word says otherwise. There is no rapture and believing that there is, is part of the mark of the beast.

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posted 11-25-97
updated 2-6-98