Thoughts on the End Times [18]: The Mark of the Beast
In the time I’ve spent in evangelicalism there’s always been much ado about “the mark of the beast”. According to Revelation (13.17, 14.9), it’s a mark of some sort on the right hand or forehead related to the name of the beast (Revelation 14.11 – “the mark of its name”) that will indicate your loyalty to the Antichrist. If you possess the mark, you can buy and sell and live normally in the Antichrist’s world, but you are also condemned to an eternity in hell. Followers of Jesus do not receive the mark of the beast.
When tattoos became stylish for the general public some Christians imagined that the mark would be a tattoo. As technology developed, others suggested the mark would be a sort of credit card strip put on your skin or forehead. More recently, people were certain it would be some sort of microchip or implant in your body.
Amidst all the fears of taking the mark of the beast literally, I never heard anyone address these verses:
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (Revelation 3.12)
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14.1)
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22.3-4)
Are these references to tattoos or inserted microchips on believers? Is God going to tattoo multiple names on the foreheads of the faithful? It is far easier to understand this as an image depicting the abstract concept of where one’s loyalties lie. One is not saved by getting a tattoo, and one is not condemned merely for inserting a microchip into one’s body. The question is where one’s loyalties lie – and loyalty is a matter of the heart, an abstract represented through an image in the visions of Revelation – a ‘mark’ on the body. Both saints and the wicked have them in the vision.
People miss this because they’ve been taught interpretation must be ‘literal’. But the literal interpretation of figurative speech requires that images represent something else -- and many seem to have missed that.
We understand the beast of Revelation isn’t really a beast but a political leader. But we continue to take the mark to be some sort of literal technology for which we must be on lookout. Why?
If the names on faithful believers will be real tattoos, does that also mean that we will be made literal pillars in God’s temple – condemned to standing still and holding up the roof for all eternity (Revelation 3.12)?
When you’re reading Revelation, almost everything is a picture representing something else. The real-world representation may not look like the image in the vision at all.
I don’t believe the issue to be concerned about is tattoos, microchips, or implants. The issue is whether you faithfully and wholeheartedly follow Jesus Christ.
When tattoos became stylish for the general public some Christians imagined that the mark would be a tattoo. As technology developed, others suggested the mark would be a sort of credit card strip put on your skin or forehead. More recently, people were certain it would be some sort of microchip or implant in your body.
Amidst all the fears of taking the mark of the beast literally, I never heard anyone address these verses:
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (Revelation 3.12)
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14.1)
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22.3-4)
Are these references to tattoos or inserted microchips on believers? Is God going to tattoo multiple names on the foreheads of the faithful? It is far easier to understand this as an image depicting the abstract concept of where one’s loyalties lie. One is not saved by getting a tattoo, and one is not condemned merely for inserting a microchip into one’s body. The question is where one’s loyalties lie – and loyalty is a matter of the heart, an abstract represented through an image in the visions of Revelation – a ‘mark’ on the body. Both saints and the wicked have them in the vision.
People miss this because they’ve been taught interpretation must be ‘literal’. But the literal interpretation of figurative speech requires that images represent something else -- and many seem to have missed that.
We understand the beast of Revelation isn’t really a beast but a political leader. But we continue to take the mark to be some sort of literal technology for which we must be on lookout. Why?
If the names on faithful believers will be real tattoos, does that also mean that we will be made literal pillars in God’s temple – condemned to standing still and holding up the roof for all eternity (Revelation 3.12)?
When you’re reading Revelation, almost everything is a picture representing something else. The real-world representation may not look like the image in the vision at all.
I don’t believe the issue to be concerned about is tattoos, microchips, or implants. The issue is whether you faithfully and wholeheartedly follow Jesus Christ.