The recent breakthroughs in medical implant chip and RFID technologies have increased the interest in the subject of the “mark of the beast” spoken of in Revelation chapter 13.
There exists a popular belief among evangelicals or even within the secular society regarding the “mark of the beast” being some how related to the implementation of the microchip or some form of device that will be inserted (possibly via vaccines) or an inconspicuous mark to be put on a person’s body (possibly a barcode) as an identifying mark of some sort. Therefore, the suspicious people will do everything they can to avoid the chip or any other “mark” to be physically put on them for fear that those that will receive it would be receiving the “mark of the beast”.
These kinds of interpretation of the “mark of the beast” takes on a literal application, whereas exegetically and more appropriately the mark mentioned in book of Revelation should require symbolic interpretation.
The main passage in the Bible that mentions the “mark of the beast” is Revelation 13:15-18. Other references can be found in Revelation 14:9, 11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, and 20:4. This mark acts as a seal for the followers of Antichrist and the false prophet (the spokesperson for the Antichrist).
But could the microchip or any visible or invisible form of identifying tool be used? It is quite possible that all the aggregate effects of technologies that we are seeing today may represent the beginning stages of how they will ultimately play a role in regulating or enforcing the “mark of the beast.”
The ID 2020 project (global digital identification initiative) promoted by Bill Gates or the national ID program such as the Aadhaar Act launched by the country of India or the China’s ever evolving algorithmic facial recognition surveillance system, or the adoption of digital currency are just a handful of examples we should at least pay attention to on our radars as to how there are forces at work to bring about a tighter control of the world’s population, to facilitate a more efficient way to track its populace and to further encroach the privacy of its citizens’ every day life. The recent coronavirus pandemic also precipitated many of the aforementioned surveillance trends to become more and more viable propositions with yet another recent initiative (H.R. 6666 legislation) enacted by the government along with mobile contact tracing apps being rolled out by both Apple and Google, all in an effort to further aid in the cause of surveying its citizens or even make it easier for each citizen to inform on someone should they fail to comply.
What is equally alarming are all the events transpired by the recent corona virus pandemic, whereby the extreme mandates, likes of which we have not seen previously, were leveled against its citizens by the government, both within the United States and around the world, to effectively control its citizen by leveraging it against the public’s health and safety. The mantra of the day is, “everything is justified, however severe, as long as it is for the common good of the people.” All the while, the policy makers are pushing for nationwide vaccine program as the panacea to end this dreadful pandemic.
Were the actions by the government pre-planned? Was Event 201 one of many “smoking guns” that give credence to what many are dubbing the coronavirus crisis as a “plandemic”? Is there a hidden, global agenda behind this health crisis? Are the “facts” surrounding this pandemic intentionally manipulated to justify the pre-planned agenda? Is mandatory vaccine really the answer? Keep in mind that we’ve had flu vaccines for many decades but many people die each year from it by the thousands; approximately 40 to 65 thousand each year in the US alone.
While there are plenty of conspiracy theories circulating this particular pandemic, and we can certainly debate as to the validity of fatality rates, the projections, efficacy or the adverse effect of vaccines, the legitimacy or the justification of all the subsequent actions taken by the government. But one thing we can all agree on is the fact that this recent pandemic clearly accelerated the world into moving toward a much more closely controlled and regulated society.
It is also important however to realize that a medical implant chip or any other physical mark is not the mark of the beast. According to Scripture, mark of the Beast is a symbolic sign of loyalty of those who will worship the Beast and its dogmas and that the mark itself (sign of loyalty to the beast) will be used as a leverage to help enforce the government policies to either allow or disallow people from buying or selling.
“as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
We read in Revelation chapter 13,
“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. 12 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. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 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. 15 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. 16 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: 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. 18 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. — Revelation 13:11-17
Note: Much has been said about the “mark of the beast”. But to rightly define what is the mark would require knowing who the “beast” is. Furthermore, based on verse 17, it is not merely the receiving of the “mark” but also the “name” or the “number” of the beast, and that the failure to secure any one of them or perhaps combination of them would disallow the person to buy or sell. The noted beast also has a number, 666 which represents a number of “a man”.
Following quotations are mere introduction and to give a quick summary.
“The lamblike horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The “speaking” of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak “as a dragon” and exercise “all the power of the first beast” plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopardlike beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns “causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast” indicates that the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.” Ellen White, Great Controversy 442
The mark of the beast involves the substitution of a human commandment for God’s commandment. The greatest evidence of this fact is the humanly established institution of Sunday (see Dan. 7:25) as the day of worship instead of the seventh-day Sabbath, the day mandated in Scripture by our Creator. The attempt to change the sign of God’s authority to another day is an attempt to usurp the role and power of God Himself.
“The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Romish church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false sabbath in the place of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath, which has been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God’s appointment” – Ellen G. White, Evangelism 234
The central issues in the final crisis will be true worship and obedience to true God in keeping His commandments (Rev 14:12). The Sabbath commandment in particular, will be the test of faithfulness and obedience to God. As the Sabbath is the distinctive sign of the obedience of God’s faithful people (Eze. 20:12; 20:20), so the mark of the beast is the sign of allegiance to the beast.
Question is, are there any people right now who have received the mark of the beast?
“When Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome, and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the beast and his image. As men then reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome,—“the mark of the beast.” And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive “the mark of the beast.’”—The Great Controversy, 449 (1888). {Ev 233.4}
“No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has not yet come. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast.” {Ev 234.2}
“With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.”—Manuscript 51, 1899. {Ev 235.1
“to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads”
In Revelation 13:16, we read, “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:”
The “lamblike beast” will have the leading role in the final crisis. This world power will establish a global system in an attempt to control the beliefs of people. This system will mirror medieval Christianity under papal control.
People of all social classes will be pressured to receive the mark of the beast on their right hands or their foreheads. Just as the seal in the forehead identifies those whom God regards as His (Rev. 7:3, 4; Rev. 14:1), so the mark of the beast identifies the worshipers of the beast.
The mark of the beast is not a visible sign of any kind. Its placement on the right hand or on the forehead counterfeits the instruction that Moses gave the Israelites to bind God’s law as a sign upon their hands or their foreheads (Deut. 6:8). The right hand has to do with behavior, while the forehead has to do with the mind or mental agreement. Some will choose to receive the mark of the beast to escape the threat of death, while others will be fully committed mentally and spiritually to this apostate system of worship.
The central issues in the final crisis will be worship and obedience to God in keeping His commandments (Rev. 14:12). The Sabbath commandment, in particular, will be the test of faithfulness and obedience to God. As the Sabbath is the distinctive sign of the obedience of God’s faithful people (Ezek. 20:12, 20), so the mark of the beast is the sign of allegiance to the beast.
“The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath… . When the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, … then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast.”—Ellen G. White, Evangelism, pp. 234, 235.
Revelation 13:18 (KJV) says:
“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.”
Who is this man? Paul describes him as “the man of sin” (2 Thess. 2:3). This designation points to the papal power symbolized by the sea beast, whose blasphemous name on its heads points to the divine title it claims for itself, supposedly standing in the place of the Son of God on earth.
For further study click links below:
The Mark of the Beast by Walter Veith
Two Beast Become Friends by Walter Veith