Revelation 13:16-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“16And the second beast required all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666.”
The Use of Symbols
Now symbols are used much throughout the book of Revelation,
kind of how Jesus used to use parables to illustrate biblical truth. And the Scriptures
teach that a day is like 1000 years to God (2 Peter 3:8). So, when it mentions
10 days (Revelation 2:10), it is probably not referring to 10 literal days, but
to a relatively short and/or limited time period of persecution and suffering. And
when I read this passage in Revelation 13 I also see symbols.
Now, a lot of people get so caught up on the idea of the “mark
of the beast” being an actual physical mark on a human body, or something
implanted underneath the skin, that I believe the real emphasis here gets lost.
For they often focus their attention on the physical while they ignore the
spiritual aspect of this. For God’s greatest concern is not what we have on our
bodies outwardly. His greatest concern is what is happening within us
spiritually.
The Mark of The Beast
So, I am going to walk us through the symbols here. The word
“mark” isn’t just something physical and visible to the human eye. The word “mark”
also means characteristic, attribute, feature, and/or distinguishing trait. So
if we take the mark of the beast on ourselves, we are taking on ourselves his distinguishing
traits and character. So this would be like someone who professes faith in
Jesus with their lips but who is still living in sin, by habit, and who is not
living in submission to God and to his commandments.
And the word “hand” is often used as a symbol pertaining to
our works, to our deeds, having to do with how we live and the things which we
practice. And our foreheads have to do with our thinking, our reasoning, what
we take into our minds habitually and deliberately. So if we receive the
influence and the character traits of the beast (of Satan) into our minds and into
what we entertain and think about in our minds, and onto our deeds and
behaviors, then we are accepting sinful thoughts and behaviors into our lives.
A Call For Wisdom
Wisdom is not just head knowledge. Wisdom involves spiritual
discernment in knowing right from wrong and good from evil, and which follows
after the good and which rejects the evil. So we need spiritual discernment
here with regard to the mark of the beast to make certain that we have not
taken that mark. So, if you have been convinced of man that God does not
require of you that you deny self, die to sin (repent) and obey God’s commands
(New Covenant) as a matter of life practice, that is of the beast, not of God.
If you believe that all you have to do is pray the prayer to
receive Christ into your heart, or to make a verbal acknowledgement of him and
of his death and resurrection, for your salvation from sin, and now you are
saved, sanctified, born again, and on your way to heaven, and that nothing can
take that away from you, and that you do not have to repent of your sin, and
that you do not have to obey God, then you are taking on yourselves the mark of
the beast, for that is not of God. It is of the devil!
A Literal 666?
So, this number may or may not be a literal 666, but the
point is that it is the number (symbol or label or representation) of man (the
flesh) and of the beast (a representative of Satan). So, if we profess faith in
Jesus with our lips, but we deliberately and habitually commit sinful acts, and
we thus turn our backs on God, and refuse to obey him, we have, essentially,
taken upon ourselves the mark (character, influence) of the beast (Satan) and
of the flesh. And we do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God.
And this is what we need to be concerned about. This is what
determines where we will spend eternity, in heaven or in hell. But will there
still be a physical mark? Most likely! It will probably be something inserted
underneath the skin which will be AI controlled and which will manage all our
purchases, banking, paying of bills, etc. And this could include mind control. So,
I definitely would advise against anything of this nature. But make sure you
have died to sin and you are obeying God in practice, in his power.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
What’s the Mark of The Beast?
An Original Work / July 23, 2026
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
Just Are You
Based off Revelation 15-16
An Original Work /
August 26, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Great and marvelous
are Your deeds, O God.
Just and true Your
ways, King of all the earth.
Who will not fear
You; glorify Your name?
You are
righteousness. Praise Your Name!
Just are You, O
Lord, our Eternal ONE,
For You judge the
earth in Your righteousness.
They have shed the
blood of Your righteous ones.
You give their
reward. They’re to blame!
Kings of all the
earth gather, one accord;
Make haste to engage
in a mighty war.
They oppose the Lord
and His holy saints.
They serve
wickedness, to their shame!
Jesus comes again,
to some unforeseen.
Blessed are those
who wait for Him at the gate.
They’ll not be
ashamed. “Glad” be their refrain.
When He comes again,
He’ll remain!
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