WHY DID GOD?

Why did God say that we would go to Hell if we took the Mark of the Beast? And why is it called the Mark of the Beast? There must be more to it that we do not understand at this point. Without it we can not feed our family or provide a place to live.

Since our Lord Jesus was Baptized, He, and His disciples have declared Him. First He has been declared as having died so that men may escape God's wrath in time of judgment (the gospel of grace), and secondly He has been preached as the coming universl King of the whole earth (the gospel of the Kingdom). Towards the end of this age, Christ will have been preached to all nations as the coming King (Matt.24:14). The Beast appears on the scene and has the following attributes:

• He is a Gentile
• He is a Roman king
• He was not born in Israel, nor in Bethlehem
• He does not come from the sky
• He breaks the Covenant of Law by occupying a Temple in Jerusalem
• He breaks the Covenant of Law by setting up an idol in this Temple

That is, before the Nations he is OBVIOUSLY not the Jesus taught in the gospel of the Kingdom. And before the Jews he is an imposter in total - but readily accepted. He is king over all nations, peoples and tongues and wields universal power. Thus, the choice of KING over all the earth is narrowed down to TWO PEOPLE. That is, whoever chooses one, automatically rejects the other. And whoever swears allegiance to one denies and rejects the other as his/her source of well-being on earth. It was our Lord Jesus that said that one can only choose one Master (Matt.6:24, Lk.16:14) and the result will be to HATE the other. Thus, to take the mark of the Beast is to declare openly and freely that he is your source and you cast your lot with him. It is a total rejection of Jesus as King, and a total rejection of Jehovah as your source of life and its necessities.

But within this grim picture, there is a small ray of hope. I say small because if you are a Christian, you cannot be the friend of the Beast. The Beast does not ask you to take his mark if you are a Christian. He MAKES WAR WITH YOU (Rev.13:7). Just as God ordained Israel and Amalek to be mortal enemies and be at war from generation to generation (Ex.17:16), the Beast will try to eradicate the Christian. So in Revelation 12 "those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ" are given to flee to a "wilderness" and be helped "by the earth".

But there is another way out. Both Luke 21:36 and Revelation 3:10 show a way out of all this. But both verses are CONDITIONAL. That is, unlike your salvation from, which is for free and by faith, to escape the wrath of the Beast, you have to be found "WORTHY". You have to earn it. Paul gives a hint in Philippians 3:7-14. Verse 14 in the King James has a slight miss-translation. The word "High" is not the exact meaning. The Greek word does not describe the position of the calling, but the DIRECTION of the calling. It correctly reads;

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the UPWARD call of God in Christ Jesus."

It has been corrected in the New King James. The "UPWARD CALL", which is connected to a special resurrection in verse 11, is a PRIZE! The prize is for:-

1. losing all things for Christ (.v7)
2. suffering for Christ (v.8)
3. enjoying and embracing God's righteousness which He imputes to the faithful (v.9)
4. knowing Christ. Not intellectual knowledge - but experiential and experimental intimate personal knowledge (v.10)
5. knowing Christ's sufferings. That is, you have walked the same road as He did (V.10)
6. being made conformable to His death. It is not that you die to save men as He did. That only He can do. But His death was the result of Christ making decisions in favor of His Father in heaven and not Himself. In Gethsemane, He died in His soul - the thing to be feared above physical death by men (Matt.10:28). His decision to obey His Father caused Hi to sweat blood even before men laid a hand on Him. He was rejected by men and deserted by His disciples. He was denied by His chiefest friend. He was sold by an intimate companion. He did not claim His rights. He was falsely accused. He was blasphemed. He was falsely sentenced. He was murdered illegally. He lost His reputation. He has been hated and reviled for nearly 2,000 years.

Is it not sobering that Paul, who has served the Lord diligently through many sufferings for decades, counts himself not yet to be counted "WORTHY". He must still STRIVE although he is just about 3 years from martyrdom.

Makes one think.

I think the answer is simple? I could be wrong, but it seems that the person would be worshipping the beast and therefore rejecting God.

A mark denotes ownership. ie when a slave wanted to stay with his master after his service for a certain length of time was ended, he would take a mark from his master

2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges.[a] He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
Exodus 21

The Bible does speak of 'worshiping the beast'

Count the number of the beast and you will understand exactly what the mark of the beast is and why people who don't have that mark wont buy nor sell what the beast sells.

Rev_13:18 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.

The very word mark is character in scripture. The ”characters” worn on the headband and arm sleeve of soldiers in Islam are the same as the Bible’s 666. Ive forgotten the name of the former Muslim now Christian who has interpreted this. Will find and post it too later.

Think of the attributes of the religion of Islam and you’ll understand the mark of the beast.

Exactly Magenta. Have you heard of the warnings about the vaccine for the Corona Virus? There’s warnings that something could affect the DNA of a person and not to take it.

Ive never had a flu shot. I just ”had a feeling” thatbi should reject it. That the only way I can explain why not.

Walid Shoebat is the former Muslim now Christian who made the interpretation,

pardon the play on words here, but that is a true and interesting thought

allegorical hell? are you a preterist or perhaps a universalist?

interesting. Andy's post disappeared after I asked him about it. ho hum it is Friday after all

It is only Thursday where I am...

Oh! HAHAHAHA! I keep thinking about what we are doing tomorrow and my mind is on Friday.

Yup. Thursday.

No. He is a renegade Jew. That is why he will have full access to the temple in Jerusalem.

Actually, I've had a problem with naps myself. I can't nap.. I fall asleep and then I am in a fog when I wake up. Solution? one more cup of coffee after lunch. So far so good, no naps and try to go to bed a little earlier.

The days do tend to whiz by lately.

That was just an allegorical vision. Its purpose was to scare people into obedience to God by reminding them of how bad evil can get when people don’t have strong faith in the Lord and are thus easily swayed by the likes of the antichrist. If you’re already obedient, you have nothing to worry about. I wouldn’t read too much into it otherwise.

oh look. Andy's back.

instant replay too. So Andy, gonna answer what I asked you? you think hell is allegorical?

I was talking about Revelation. Hell is real. I would have assumed that was obvious from affirming the need for obedience to God. Godspeed.

By the way, allegorical doesn’t mean there won’t be literal manifestation of similar events to Revelation. But, the point is to be obedient to God, and as long as you are, you will be safe regardless.