MARK OF THE BEAST!!!

 MARK  OF  THE  BEAST !!

From  the  "Bible  Advocate"  -  a  publication  of  the  Seventh  Day  Church  of  God,  Denver,  CO.  USA  -  Nov/Dec. 2014

Question

In  Revelation 13:16-18, is John warning against taking microchips into our hand or body? Is that the mark of the beast?

The theme of worship is the background of Revelation 13. Worship is specifically mentioned five times and directed to both the dragon and the beast. The two-horned beast of verse 11ff uses different methods to enforce worship of the first beast: deceive people with impressive miracles, confer death upon the non-compliant, and limit buying and selling to those who would comply.

Many nations in history, including Babylon (Daniel 3), have issued decrees on worship. Financial pressure and the death penalty have often been used for leverage. Worship has not been part of modern talk about microchips for business transactions. If they are used, microchips will not likely be the only option. Business tries to increase the ways to pay a bill, not make it harder. Microchips fit the same category as Social Security cards and bar codes. Both had their turn to be suspects as mark of the beast.

— Elder John Lemley

Given the nature of Revelation, I tend to interpret this entire passage symbolically, rather than literally. The symbol was a powerful one for John's readers, who would likely think of phylacteries worn on Jewish hands and foreheads. These small boxes marked a people that belonged to the one true God and who were committed to worshipping and obeying Him alone. When John speaks of a mark on the forehead or hand that shows one's belonging to the beast, he is referring, not to a literal mark but to an allegiance, a loyalty, a belief system. He is referring to those who have not committed themselves exclusively to God and the Lamb.

Those who insist most strenuously that the "mark of the beast" be taken literally usually insist that "the beast" be interpreted as a smooth-talking, charismatic, human politician! But despite many claims to take the text of Revelation literally, everyone who interprets the book is compelled to interpret its symbols symbolically. As New Testament scholar Craig Koester says, "The question is not whether to read the text symbolically, but how to read its symbolism" (italics his).1 

It is far more consistent to interpret the mark as symbolic along with the beast than it is to arbitrarily decide that the beast is a symbol but the mark is not.

(NOW  THAT  IS  USING  GOOD  OLD  HUMAN  LOGIC;  IF  THE  "MARK"  IS  LITERAL [IN  SOME  WAY]  THEN  THE  "BEAST"  IS  A  LITERAL  BEAST  -  Keith Hunt)

Thus, I think it wise to consider the mark of the beast symbolic of a socio-economic system in which false worship is connected to commerce. Such a situation was familiar to the first readers of Revelation. Koester explains:

Those who sought to advance themselves socially or economically would have wanted to participate in the local trade guilds, although the social life of these guilds often included rituals and meals in honor of a pagan deity. Business contracts typically went to those who were on good terms with Roman authorities, including those who were involved in the deaths of Christians ... As sales were made, people used coins that bore the images of Rome's gods and emperors. Thus each transaction ... was a reminder that people were advancing themselves economically by relying on political powers that did not recognize the true God.2

Such systems exist in modern cultures to varying degrees. However, a microchip in itself hardly qualifies as a link between religion and commerce. Those who desire to avoid the mark of the beast need not fret over technological advances. Rather, they should focus on what is explicitly emphasized in Revelation: unabashed worship and unwavering loyalty to God and the Lamb in the face of a sinful culture that pressures us to worship and serve at the altars of power, money, pleasure, and exploitation.

— Elder Israel Steinmetz

1. Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things, 134.

2. Ibid., 131-32.

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AND  THAT  I  MAINTAIN  IS  THE  TRUTH  OF  THE  MATTER,  AS  I'VE  COMMENTED  BEFORE  ON  THIS  TOPIC,  UNDER  THIS  PROPHECY  SECTION.

IT  IS  NOT  SIN  TO  HAVE  A  SOCIAL  SECURITY  NUMBER;  A  DEBIT  CARD;  TO  DO  MONEY  TRANSACTIONS  ON  YOUR  COMPUTER.  EVEN  HAVING  SOME  LITTLE  TAG  ON  YOUR  WRIST  THAT  YOU  FLASH  AT  A  SCREEN;  OR  HAVE  IM-PLANTED  UNDER  YOUR  SKIN.  IF  THE  GOVERNMENT  GIVES  YOU  FREEDOM  TO  WORSHIP  GOD  ACCORDING  TO  YOUR  FAITH,  NONE  OF  THESE  PHYSICAL  THINGS  TO  DO  COMMERCE  WITH,  ARE  SIN.  

BUT  IF  THE  GOVERNMENT  TELLS  YOU  HOW  TO  THINK [FOREHEAD]  AND  HOW  TO  WORK [HAND],  BY  HAVING  TO  FOLLOW  ITS  LAWS [WHICH  IS  THE  CONTEXT  OF  THIS  WHOLE  BEAST  WORSHIP]  AND  DISOBEY  GOD'S  LAW;  YOU  BECOME  AN  ENEMY  OF  GOD  AND  A  FRIEND  OF  A  SYSTEM  THAT  OPPOSES  GOD'S  TRUTHS  AND  WAY  OF  LIFE.

Keith Hunt

THE TEMPLE AND JESUS' RETURN #10

 LEADING  TO  THE  END  AND  CHRIST'S  RETURN

by  Keith Hunt

I HAVE MORE YET TO EXPLAIN TO YOU IN THE CONTEXT OF "THIS END TIME TEMPLE TEACHING" BUT FOR NOW I'LL DROP IN THIS STUDY.

 MARK  13----- JESUS  LEAVES  THE  TEMPLE  IN  JERUSALEM,  HIS  DISCIPLES  SAY, "MASTER  LOOK  AT  ALL  THESE  STONES  AND  BUILDINGS" - PLURAL.

JESUS  REPLIES, "YOU  SE  THESE  GREAT  BUILDINGS,  WELL  THERE  SHALL  NOT  BE  ONE  STONE  LEFT  ON  ANOTHER,  ALL  WILL  BE  THROWN  DOWN."

AS  JESUS  SAT  ON  THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES,  PETER,  JAMES,  JOHN,  AND  ANDREW,  ASKED  HIM  WHEN,  AND  WHAT  SHALL  BE  WHEN  ALL  THESE  THINGS  WILL  COME  TO  BE  FULFILLED.

JESUS  GIVES  SOME  SIGNS  OF  FALSE  PROPHETS,  WHO  WOULD  INDEED  CLAIM JESUS  IS  THE  CHRIST,  BUT  WILL  DECEIVE  MANY.  NOTE,  MANY  NOT  THE  FEW,  BUT  MANY.

THERE  WILL  BE  WARS,  NATIONS  RISING  AGAINST  NATIONS,  THERE  WILL  BE  EARTHQUAKES,  THERE  WILL  BE  FAMINES....JUST  THE  BEGINNING  OF  SORROWS [verses 2-8].

THESE THINGS  HAVE  BEEN  GOING  ON  FOR  CENTURIES,  BUT  CERTAINLY  IN  THE  LAST  50  YEARS,  ALL  THESE  THINGS  HAVE  INCREASED;  ESPECIALLY  THE  "CHRISTIAN  RELIGION"  -  BROADCASTED  ON  FIRST  RADIO,  THEN  ON  TV  AND  THE  INTERNET,  LIKE  AS  NEVER  BEFORE  IN  THE  LAST  2,000  YEARS.  THERE  ARE  TV  CHANNELS  DEVOTED  TO  24  HOUR  CHRISTIAN  RELIGIOUS  PROGRAMS.  MANY,  INDEED  MANY  AND  MANY,  HAVE  IN  THE  LAST  50  YEARS  BEEN  PROCLAIMING  CHRIST  IS  THE  CHRIST.  JESUS  SAID  IT  WOULD  BE  SO,  AND  THEY,  THE  MANY  HAVE  DECEIVED  THE  MANY!!

VERSES  9-13  SPEAKS  OF  A  LITERAL  PERSECUTION;  TRUE  SAINTS  BEING  BROUGHT  BEFORE  RULERS  AND  KINGS,  PEOPLE  IN  SECULAR  AUTHORITY;  EVEN  FAMILY  MEMBERS  BETRAYING  ONE  ANOTHER;  PEOPLE  HATING  CHRIST'S  DISCIPLES  FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  AND  AT  THE  SAME  TIME  THE  GOSPEL  GOING  TO  THE NATIONS - PLURAL - OF  THE  WORLD.

THIS  MUST  BE [AND  THE  REST  OF  THE  COMING  VERSES  PROVE  IT]  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THIS  AGE,  FOR  AGAIN  IN  THE  LAST  30  YEARS  VIA  TV,  THE  INTERNET,  PRINTED  MATTER,  THE  GOSPEL  IS  GOING  TO  ALL  NATIONS  OF  THE  WORLD  AS  NEVER  BEFORE  IN  HUMAN  HISTORY.  AS  AN  EXAMPLE,  MY  WEBSITE,  B;OG,  YOUTUBE,   GOES  TO  MOST  NATIONS  OF  THE  WORLD,  AND  AS  THE  YEARS  COME,  MORE  AND  MORE  NATIONS,  AS  MORE  NATIONS  HAVE  THE  MODERN  INTERNET  ON  MANY  HIGH  TECH  DEVICES,  THE  GOSPEL  ON  MY  WEBSITE  AND  BLOG  AND  YOUTUBE,  WILL  GO  TO  ALL  NATIONS.  THIS  IS  A  PROPHECY  FOR  THE  VERY  END  TIMES [A  CERTAIN  LENGTH  OF  TIME,  WHICH  WE  HAVE  ENTERED  BUT  DO  NOT  KNOW  ITS  FULL  LENGTH].

YOU  WILL  NOTICE....  A  PERSECUTION  OF  CHRIST'S  TRUE  PEOPLE!  NO  TALK  HERE   OF  A  SECRET  COMING  OF  CHRIST,  AN  INVISIBLE  COMING,  AN  ANY  SECOND  COMING,  TO  TAKE  THE  SAINTS  TO  HEAVEN,  IN  THE  IDEA  OF  A  "SECRET  RAPTURE."  AND  THAT  TEACHING  I  BLOW  TO  A  MILLION  BITS  OF  DUST  IN  OTHER  STUDIES.  IT  IS  ONE  OF  THE  DECEPTIONS  OF  THE  MANY  FALSE  PROPHETS.

VERSE  14  -  A  KEY  VERSE.  THE  "ABOMINATION  OF  DESOLATION,"  SPOKEN  BY  DANIEL  THE  PROPHET,  STANDING  WHERE  IT  OUGHT  NOT;  THOSE  IN  JUDEA  HAD  THEN  BETTER  FLEE  TO  THE  MOUNTAINS.  DANIEL  SPEAKS  OF  THIS  IN  HIS  CHAPTER 12:11 - AN  ABOMINATION  THAT  "MAKES  DESOLATE." 

I  HAVE  FULLY  EXPLAINED  DANIEL  12  IN  OTHER  STUDIES.

THE  BIBLE  INTERPRETS  ITSELF.  LUKE  21,  CONCERNING  THIS  SAME  PROPHECY  OF  MARK  13,  GIVES  YOU  THE  ANSWER  OF   WHAT  IS  THE  ABOMINATION  THAT  MAKES  DESOLATE  -  IT'S  FOUND  IN  VERSE  20.  WHEN  JERUSALEM  IS  SURROUNDED  BY  ARMIES,  THEN  THE  DESOLATION  THEREOF  IS  NIGH  -  JERUSALEM  WILL  BE  DESTROYED,  ENOUGH  THAT  ALL  THE  STONES  OF  THE  TEMPLE  WILL  BE  CAST  TO  THE  GROUND.  THIS  DID  NOT  HAPPEN  IN  70  A.D.  WHEN  THE  ROMAN  ARMIES  DESTROYED  JERUSALEM;  FOR  THE  WAILING  WALL,  IN  JERUSALEM  WAS  PART  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  JESUS'  DAY.  I  PROVE  IN  ANOTHER  STUDY  THAT  THE  TEMPLE  JESUS  AUTHORIZED  INCLUDED  THE  WHOLE  EDIFICE  THAT  HEROD  BUILT. 

THIS  WAILING  WALL  WILL  COME  DOWN  IN  THE  FUTURE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM,  AND  THAT  PART  OF  JESUS'  PROPHECY  WILL  BE  FULFILLED,  SHORTLY  BEFORE  HE  RETURNS,  AS  HE  GOES  ON  TO  EXPLAIN,  AND  GIVES  MORE  SIGNS  TO  LOOK  FOR  JUST  AHEAD  OF  HIS  RETURN.

PEOPLE  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND,  IN  JERUSALEM,  ARE  TO  FLEE,  NOT  EVEN  RETURNING  TO  THE  HOUSE  IF  OUTSIDE,  TO  GATHER  ANYTHING  TOGETHER.  AND  PROVING  THIS  IS  AT  THE  VERY  END  TIME,  SHORTLY  BEFORE  CHRIST  RETURNS,  IS  PROVEN  BY  VERSE  19.  IT  IS  THE  TIME  OF  AFFLICTION  SUCH  AS  WAS  NOT  FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CREATION,  AND  SHALL  NEVER  BE  AGAIN.  WE  HAVE  YET  TO  ENTER  THAT  TIME,  FOR  AS  WE  SHALL  SEE,  AFTER  SOME  OTHER  SIGNS  JESUS  WILL  RETURN.

GOD  WILL  SHORTEN  THOSE  DAYS  OF  AFFLICTION  FOR  IF  HE  DID  NOT,  NO  FLESH  WOULD  BE  SAVED.  AND  DURING  THAT  TIME  MORE  FALSE  PROPHETS  WILL  ARISE,  SOME  DOING  MIRACLES,  WONDERS ,  SIGNS,  TO  DECEIVE  MANY,  YES  NOT  THE  FEW  BUT  THE  MANY!

VERSES  24, 25.  THERE  WILL  BE  HEAVENLY  SIGNS  IN  THE  SUN,  MOON,  IN  THE  STARS;  THE  SUN  DARKENED,  THE  MOON  NOT  GIVING  HER  LIGHT;  THE  STARS  FALLING,  THE  POWERS  OF  HEAVEN  SHAKEN.

NOTICE  WHEN......  VERSE  24......  AFTER  THAT  TRIBULATION.  NOTHING  COULD  BE  CLEARER.  THE  BIBLE  IS  SIMPLE  TO  UNDERSTAND  IF  YOU  WILL  READ  IT  AS  A  CHILD.  I  WAS  READING  THESE  VERSES  AS  A  CHILD  OF  12,  13,  14  ETC.  AND  IT  WAS  EASY  TO  UNDERSTAND.

YOU  HAVE  A  PERSECUTION  OF  TRUE  SAINTS,  A  TIME  OF  TROUBLE  AS  LIKE  NEVER  IN  ALL  OF  EARTH'S  HISTORY.  AFTER  THAT  TRIBULATION  YOU  HAVE  HEAVENLY  SIGNS,  UNMISTAKABLE  IN  SCOPE,  MIGHT,  AND  POWER. NO  WORDS  ABOUT  SAINTS  LEAVING  THIS  EARTH  TO  GO  TO  HEAVEN;  IT  IS  JUST  NOT  THERE!

THEN  NOTICE  IT....VERSE  26!!!

"AND  THEN  SHALL  THEY  SEE  THE  SON  OF  MAN  COMING  IN  THE  CLOUDS  WITH  GREAT  POWER  AND  GLORY!!!"

IT  IS  A  VISIBLE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST;  IT  IS  THE  ONE  AND  ONLY  ONE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST;  NO  TWO-FOLD  RETURN;  NO  ONE  COMING  IN  SECRET  AT  ANY  SECOND  AND  ANOTHER  ONE  LATER  THAT  IS  VISIBLE.  IT  IS  ONE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST  ONLY,  TO  BE  SEEN,  IN  POWER  AND  GLORY !!!

IT'S  EASY  TO  UNDERSTAND!  I  UNDERSTOOD  IT  AT  AGE  14, 15  ETC.  WHEN  READING  WHAT  JESUS  TAUGHT.

AND  WHAT  HAPPENS?

VERSE  27  -  THE  ANGELS  ARE  SENT  TO  GATHER  THE  ELECT  FROM  THE  FOUR  WINDS,  FROM  THE  UTTERMOST  PARTS  OF  THE EARTH  AND  HEAVEN!!!

IT  IS  THE  TIME  OF  THE  RESURRECTION  FOR  ALL  SAINTS  OF  ALL  AGES.  ONE  RESURRECTION  TO  ETERNAL  LIFE [1 COR. 15; 1 THES. 4: 13-18]  TO  MEET  JESUS  IN  THE  AIR,  THE  CLOUDS,  AND  ON  THAT  DAY,  TO  COME  WITH  HIM  TO  THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES--- ZECHARIAH 14.

HOW  SIMPLE  IS  GOD'S  WORD!  IT  IS  A  ONE,  TWO,  THREE,  TEACHING.  EASY  TO  READ  AND  UNDERSTAND.

JESUS  GOES  ON  TO  SAY  THESE  ARE  THE  SIGNS  TO  WATCH FOR,  WHEN  PROPHECY  WILL  COME  UPON  JERUSALEM;  WHEN  SAINTS  WILL  BE  PERSECUTED;  THEN  A  TIME  OF  AFFLICTION  WILL  COME  THAT  HAS  NEVER  BEEN  THE  LIKE  BEFORE,  AND  NEVER  WILL  BE  AGAIN;  WHEN  AFTER  THAT,  THERE  WILL  BE  HEAVENLY  SIGNS  EASY  TO  SEE.  AND  THEN  AFTER  ALL  THAT  JESUS  WILL  RETURN,  TO  BE  SEEN.  THEN  THE  GATHERING  OF  THE  ELECT.

WHEN  YOU  SEE  THESE  ONE,  TWO,  THREE,  SIGNS,  KNOW  THAT  JESUS'  COMING  IS  NIGH,  EVEN  AT  THE  DOOR.

JESUS  FINISHED  BY  SAYING,  NO  ONE,  NOT  THE  ANGELS,  NOT  EVEN  CHRIST,  BUT  ONLY  THE  FATHER  KNOWS  THE  VERY  DAY  OF  CHRIST'S  RETURN.

WE  ARE  TO  BE  READY,  BE  WATCHING,  LOOKING  FOR  THE  SIGNS.

AT  THE  PRESENT  WE  ARE  NO  FURTHER  ALONG  IN  THIS  PROPHECY  THAN  VERSE  8.

NOW,  YOU  MAY  LIKE  TO  ALSO  READ  MATTHEW'S  ACCOUNT [CHAPTER  24]  AND  LUKE'S  ACCOUNT  [CHAPTER  21]  OF  THIS  SAME  PROPHECY.

OTHER  BOOKS  IN  THE  BIBLE  EXPAND,  AMPLIFY,  GO  INTO  DETAIL  ABOUT  END  TIME  PROPHECY;  BUT  MATTHEW  24,  MARK  13,  LUKE  21,  GIVE  IT  ALL  IN  SIMPLE  OUTLINE  FORM,  SO  EVEN  A  CHILD  CAN  UNDERSTAND.

AND  JESUS  SAID  UNLESS  YOU  BECOME  AS  A  CHILD  [IN  BIBLE  READING  AND  FAITH]  YOU  CAN  NOT  ENTER  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD.  FORGET  ABOUT  THE  PhD  PEOPLE  OF  THEOLOGY,  THEY  ARE  IN  THE  MAIN  BLIND  LEADERS  OF  THE  BLIND.  

BE  A  CHILD  IN  MIND  ATTITUDE,  AND  YOU  CAN  UNDERSTAND  THE  SINGS  OF  THE  END  TIMES,  AND  THE  GLORIOUS  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  ON  EARTH.

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