Latest / The Remnant Radio's Podcast / 666, Digital ID & the Mark of the Beast: What Revelation Says | Michael Rowntree

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666, Digital ID & the Mark of the Beast: What Revelation Says | Michael Rowntree · The Remnant Radio's Podcast

• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the wonderful world of Remnant Radio.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Michael Roundtree, and today we are going to talk about the mark of the beast.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: The mark of the beast.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the question I want to ask about it is this can you take it by accident?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: We've been circling this question for decades, it seems, because a lot of people seem to think you can, that like, hey, you just innocently receive a certain vaccine or put a RFID chip under your right hand or your forehead, and you're just like, yeah, I just want to buy and sell.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's some kind of barcode or digital ID or biometric technology, whatever it is, then all kinds of speculation, pretty much all centered on technology.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the idea is like, hey, there's this coming government tyrant, government ruler who's going to demand that you can only buy and sell if you receive this technology.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the fear underneath it is, what if the mark is spiritual and I can, or what if the mark is physical?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, and what if I can receive it without even realizing what it is?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Have I lost my salvation?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because I innocently received a chip under my hand, uh, my right hand or on my forehead.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of idea.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So can you receive the mark of the beast by accident?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: To answer this question, first thing we do is we've got to go to the text.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: What does it say?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation 13, verses 16 to 18.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let's read them.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: These verses say, Also, it uh it refers to the beast of the earth, who is sort of also called the the false prophet, and he's sort of like the lieutenant of the beast of the sea, uh, who is the first beast that arose.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Also, it, this beast of the earth or false prophet, causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand and or on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: This calls for wisdom.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six six six.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you have a mark on the right hand or forehead, it's required for buying and selling, it's connected with the beast's name as well as a number six six six.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So at first glance, it seems like the physical interpretation is plausible.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Buying and selling involve transactions of physical goods and physical services.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hands and foreheads are quite clearly physical body parts.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, does it naturally follow that the mark of the beast is physical?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'll say not so fast.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Without, I think the the central question that we need to ask in order to even answer the question of can we receive it accidentally?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And is it even physical?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: The behind all that, before going to any of those places, we need to not look to modern phenomena and modern technologies or any of that.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: We need to look to the biblical data.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: We go to the Bible first, not modern associations.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: The book of Revelation contains over 500 illusions to the Old Testament, and it only has 404 verses.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of illusion.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation is stuffed with the Old Testament, and Revelation also builds on itself, so there are parallel chapters, and we interpret Revelation by comparing it with other parts of Revelation, as well as its primary Old Testament backgrounds.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And in doing this, this is the only way we can really understand what the mark of the beast is.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Again, the central question is what modern tech is not what modern technology resembles the mark.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: The central question is what does scripture tell us about people being marked?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so here's what I would say the first place to go for our interpretation is to look to the book of Revelation itself.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: That'll help us understand the mark of the beast.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now we read about that in Revelation 13, but let's go to Revelation.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start with that actually, Chapter 6 for some context, because it's going to build into chapter 7.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: In chapter 6, it's sort of at the door of Christ's return, and unbelievers are crying out, who can stand before the wrath of God and before the Lamb?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the question is sort of left hanging there.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Who can stand?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: That question isn't answered in chapter six, but it is in chapter seven.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Verse three, it says, Do not harm the earth of the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so coming forth from that, ultimately wrath is going to be poured out on unbelieving humanity.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so the question of chapter six, who can stand before the wrath of God and the lamb, answer in chapter seven is the sealed servants of God and the followers of the Lamb.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, chapter seven and chapter 14 run in parallel.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And what we see, they both talk about this seal of the Lamb or seal of the living God.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And what the seal communicates is three things.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, it pret it speaks of protection, that God's servants are sealed before divine wrath falls.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so many people are afraid of revelation.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to be afraid of revelation.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever divine wrath exists in revelation, if you're a believer in Jesus, and I hope that you are, and if you're not, put your faith in Jesus today, in his life, death, and resurrection.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: He was a substitute who paid the penalty for your sin.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Put your faith in him, and you're saved from divine wrath.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: You just are.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: You are protected.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what the seal means.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's for protection from divine wrath.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Who can stand?
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: The servants of God.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: They've been sealed, they've been protected.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: But also it means ownership.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: They're called servants of our God, and servants belong to their masters.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so God owns us, He protects us.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the third meaning of the seal is it means allegiance.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And we see that in the parallel, Revelation 14, 4, where those who those who have the seal follow the Lamb wherever he goes.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so they have total allegiance to the Lamb.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the key here is that both God and Satan mark and protect their own.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: What are they protected from?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: We've already seen that the seal of the living God protects us from God's wrath.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now some people think that comes by rapture, some people think that comes by other means.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have time for that discussion.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: The seal protects us from God's wrath.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: The mark, the mark of the beast, is the counterfeit of God's seal.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what it protects us from?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: It protects us from Satan's wrath.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: I use Satan's wrath intentionally because Revelation 12, 12 speaks of uh after Satan is cast out of heaven by Michael, it says he he comes down with great wrath, depending on your translation.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's furious, and and what does he do?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: He turns that fury on those who obey the commandments of Jesus, the people of God.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so Satan has real wrath, and and that wrath plays out in chapter 13 through through two of his agents, the beast of the sea, not exclusively these two, but in Revelation 13, it's these two: the beast of the sea, which speaks more of Satan's political arm, and the beast of the earth, which speaks more of a religious arm.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Not time to unpack those fully, but that's generally what they are.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so the seal pro the seal protects us from God's wrath, and the mark protects Satan's followers from Satan's wrath.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: And as it plays out in Revelation 13, that wrath is exhibited in the form of persecution.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Satan, through his human agents, persecutes the saints.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that in this case, you see martyrdom in Revelation 13, you see imprisonment in Revelation 13, and you also see economic persecution.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so the way out of this is hey, I received the mark if I receive the mark of the beast, then I'm not going to have to suffer that kind of persecution.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: But if I give my allegiance to the lamb who was slain, I might have to suffer those kinds of persecution.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh and so that's really the first thing to understand the nature of the seal or of the mark is to contrast it with the seal because these are parallel contrasts one with another.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so we've compared the mark of the beast with other images in revelation.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's let's look at the imagery within the Old Testament.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Probably the primary background for the mark for the seal, we'll go with that, for the seal of the living God, is Ezekiel chapter 9.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And what we see in Ezekiel chapter 9 is Jerusalem is about to face judgment because its leaders are committing all kinds of abominations, and Ezekiel's seeing this play out in vision and uh in a vision, and then he sees a celestial figure come and mark the foreheads of the faithful, and uh and he marks specifically those who grieve over Jerusalem's wickedness.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and and by the way, this is a mark of righteousness.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do you grieve over wickedness?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Are you just kind of cool with it?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of Christians become desensitized and we watch all these movies with all kinds of stuff, and it's like we have such a high threshold for wickedness that it doesn't even bother us anymore.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: No, those the those who are sealed receive the seal of the living God, uh, or at least those who in Ezekiel chapter 9 are marked on the forehead are those who grieved over abominations.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's the primary background, I just hope that you're grieving over the abominations in this world.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: But the point I really want to make is that is that in Ezekiel chapter 9, those faithful believers who are grieving over Jerusalem's wickedness and who are marked by the celestial figure on the forehead, they're they're protected from divine wrath that's about to fall on Jerusalem.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're marked as owned by the living God, and they have pledged their allegiance to God rather than Jerusalem's rebellion.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the point that I want to make even from that is that nobody imagines that in Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel chapter 9, that this celestial figure is going around and physically marking foreheads.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like Ezekiel came to from his vision and he went out into the city, and you know, all those who truly believed were had like a physical tattoo on their foreheads.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: No, this was a spiritual insignia.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really important for understanding the nature of the seal in Revelation because it's the primary background.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's important for understanding the seal in Revelation, it's also important for understanding the counterfeit mark in Revelation.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see how these threads all tie together?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is a spiritual insignia.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't appear to be physical.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Another background is, uh, and it may be tied for primary, is Deuteronomy chapter six, where it again speaks of the forehead and the hand.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: It comes right after the famous Sheman, hero Israel, the Lord your God is one, love the Lord your God.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then it'll say, bind these commandments, the word of God, on your forehead and on your hand.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and the forehead spoke of identity.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, think about it.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: If I got a tattoo on my forehead, it it would be something I was I wanted everybody front and center to identify me as.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm not gonna get a tattoo on my forehead.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Charles Manson did that, didn't work out too well.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: But the forehead is is something you identify by.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's it is it speaks of your identity uh and a sense of your ownership.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: The hand speaks of agency.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: In Deuteronomy chapter 6, the word of God was to mark both their identity, the one to whom they belong, the one who has their allegiance, as well as their agency, their action, their lifestyle.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was a covenant symbolism that was supposed to say God's word governs the whole person.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: It speaks of allegiance.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we take this background summary between Ezekiel and Deuteronomy, we see these same themes ownership, protection, allegiance.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and what Revelation is doing is it's combining this imagery.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so the question we have to ask is this if God's forehead mark signifies spiritual ownership and allegiance, why would Satan's counterfeit mark mean something entirely different?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's a stretch, and the burden of proof is on the person who says the mark of the beast is some kind of technology, and you want to definitively state that kind of thing.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the the seal is is spiritual in the Old Testament background, which means it probably is when John repeats it in Revelation 7 and 14.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you get to the mark of the beast, it follows that the most naturally that this is a spiritual insignia.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so now let's kind of dive into that more deeply, this spiritual insignia, this mark of the beast in Revelation 13.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing we have to understand about Revelation 13 is it's full of counterfeits.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so the beast is counterfeiting the lamb, where the lamb has his seal, the beast has his mark, but there are more counterfeits.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Revelation 13, 3, and actually it occurs in three verses in Revelation 13, where it's referenced a sort of uh deadly wound or fatal wound from which the beast is healed.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and so uh a lot of people will see this, and maybe every commentator I've read, and I've read dozens, all or most, I mean, uh uh commentators will say this is a counterfeit death and resurrection of the beast in Revelation 17.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: You'll actually get to a counterfeit return of the beast.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's counterfeit authority of the beast.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's counterfeit worship.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and and the point is that the beast mark counterfeits the lamb's seal.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and so I don't believe the mark of the beast is fundamentally a physical object, it's a counterfeit of the lamb's spiritual insignia.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: It too is a spiritual insignia.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh and so what this means is if this spiritual insignia symbolizes protection, ownership, and allegiance, that means you can't accidentally take the mark of the beast because you can't accidentally pledge your allegiance to the beast.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, the beast of the sea, the one that the beast of the earth is trying to get everybody to worship.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have time for antichrist debates and all of that, but we can at least say at the baseline, this is anti-Christian governments and tyrannies that would that would play out in time, that uh that that at least you can't accidentally pledge your allegiance to some kind of political ruler, like, oops, I pledge my allegiance to you.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't even make sense.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: But now let's look at that allegiance a little more deeply because there's more Old Testament illusion we have to look to.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this beast of the sea recalls Daniel chapter seven.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is maybe John's favorite chapter to allude to in the book of Revelation, is Daniel chapter seven, a pivotal chapter.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and you see four beasts arising in Daniel chapter seven, and there's some different interpretations on some of these.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you mine.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Babylon, uh Beast One is Babylon, then Medo Persia, then Greece, and then Rome.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is the traditional and church historical interpretation of the four beasts.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Point being that Daniel's beasts represent empires, and then John combines them because in Revelation 13, his vision, right after Satan is Satan is standing on the sea at the end of chapter 12, I think it's verse 18, and then at the beginning of chapter 13, we see that out of the sea comes a beast, and it's a mutant conglomeration of different animals.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And these animals come from the book of Daniel.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And and what seems to be communicated here is that these are some kind of anti-God, anti-Christian political powers and empires.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Some believe this ultimately climaxes in an antichrist regime, but the point is that history gives us a repeated picture of this, and this is going to be important for helping us discern the mark.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so take Nebuchadnezzar.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because what Daniel does, his last half of like Daniel 7 through 12, it's all apocalyptic visions, which John is repeatedly alluding to, as we see here in Revelation 13.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: The first half of the book of Daniel is all narrative, it's story.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: They're both revealing truth in one way or another.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: One is truth through story, the other is truth through apocalyptic vision.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: But let's go to the story.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Daniel chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar says, bow or burn.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: You see how that it's a test of allegiance?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to come into play in the later apocalyptic visions.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Darius chapter 6, he says, Pray only to me or suffer death by lion.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so then if we fast forward to around the time of the New Testament, burn incense to Caesar or be excluded or be persecuted.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then if you fast forward through history, you see Hitler, you know, give the Heil Hitler, and in some cases, you might die by gas chamber, or take anti-Christian Islamic regimes.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: What I what I'm pointing to is that if John sees this mutant conglomeration that speaks of multiple different anti-God, anti-Christ sorts of empires, we've seen these pr play out in biblical history.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: We see this play out through history, and the central issue in each is allegiance, allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, allegiance to Darius, allegiance to Rome, allegiance to Hitler, allegiance to Allah and his prophet.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know the famous Shahada, the confession.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: The Shahada means witness or testimony.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is the this is the confession that many Christians have been killed over because they wouldn't confess it.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so here's kind of where this is all driving to, and I just made it concise here from my book, The World Made Riot.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's coming out October 20th.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what I say.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: I say, in each case, this mark of the beast identifies followers as belonging to the idolatrous government, not by physical markings, but by tests of allegiance.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: The mark is spiritual.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: It cannot be received by accident any more than one can accidentally bow to a statue, burn incense to Caesar, heil Hitler, or dribble out praise to Allah.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Unless they require you to compromise the historic Christian faith, you are not receiving the mark.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: The best protection against the mark of the beast is pledging your allegiance to the lamb who was slain.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so this can shape, take the shape of different governments, different kings, different presidents and prime ministers, different confessions, but it's all the same pattern, conscience allegiance.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Not accidentally, oops, I got a microchip, oops, there's a secret sauce in this vaccine.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's none of that.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing about allegiance is the nature of that allegiance becomes worship when the government claims that which belongs only to God.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: And worship is one of the primary themes of Revelation 13, verse 4, verse 8, verse 12, verse 15.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's again and again demanded that people worship the beast of the sea.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so I know you might be thinking, well, I I live in a secular nation, so that's not a thing.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: But here's here's what I would say.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: When government or political tribes claim ultimate loyalty, ultimate trust, ultimate identity, ultimate authority, it's become cla it's it's begun claiming that which belongs to God alone.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of allegiance, it's like, hey, you have to obey my laws, not your the laws of your God, you're claiming yourself to trump God.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's tantamount to worship.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there we see the logic of the mark.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: It can happen in secular nations, it can happen in theocracies, it can happen in monarchies, it can happen in constitutional republics, it can happen in any kind of government because the tendency of governments, you see this throughout the book of Daniel, is to centralize power.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the logic of the mark comes down to allegiance, and our protection is to pledge our allegiance to the Lamb who was slain.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now you might be saying, well, but Michael, what about technology?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh let's talk about that because the revelation says nobody can buy or sell without the mark.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: And doesn't that imply some kind of technology since we're using cards and we're using computers and we're using Apple Pay and all this technology?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: To which I would say maybe.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And a future Antichrist could use any of those things, certainly is going to use digital currency.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that's going away anytime soon.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe they actually use a chip, maybe they use something that hasn't been invented yet.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: But even if that's the case, technology would become the mechanism, but allegiance is the meaning.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to focus on the meaning.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: How do we interpret revelation?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: How do we interpret the mark?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: I believe we interpret it as a counterfeit to the seal and the mark of the beast is designed to protect us from Satan's wrath, to protect us from persecution.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Problem being, if you if you take the easy way out, then you suffer divine wrath.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Our refuge is in Jesus, not in pledging our allegiance to some kind of government ruler who's making himself out to as a God demanding ultimate allegiance.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you hear from a government ruler like, hey, you can keep your bank account but renounce Jesus, now we're in Revelation 13 territory.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe he has technology toward that end, but the issue isn't the scanner, the issue isn't the chip, the issue is the confession.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: We don't primarily prepare for any kind of mark of the beast by studying technology, but by becoming the kind of Christian who can say, Jesus is Lord and I will follow him wherever he goes, even if it costs me.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk about, we have to talk about 666, because people have had all kinds of calculations about what this means.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is uh the mark of the beast's name, and it's also called the number of his name.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the thing to understand about uh in in ancient times, they would use this to spell words.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Think of it kind of like if a equals one and b equals two and c equals three, you could spell a word using numbers.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: They would do that, and uh and that was commonplace for how they would spell things.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you're calculating the number of his name using numbers, that's probably what it means.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so people have used that mechanism to calculate lots of den potential beasts of the sea.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so Nero is one of them, but the name Nero doesn't really work, so you have to put Caesar Nero in front of it, and and then and then you have other rulers, Titus and Domitian, various popes, and this isn't even all of them for sure, but Hitler, I mean Hillary Clinton, right, Ronald Reagan, they've all been named as an antichrist figure.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Ronald Reagan is like his first, middle, and last name, have the number, uh have like six letters.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so and so people come up with all these different kinds of ways to identify it.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the problem I've seen is I've studied it and how different people have come up with names.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: What they do is they'll they'll try it in the Greek, but it doesn't work, so they'll try it with Hebrew letters and then ha, alas it works.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't work in Hebrew, well, maybe they'll try in Latin, ha, it works.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe they put a title in front of it, like Caesar, oh, okay, now it works.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe they even change the spelling.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one Bible scholar named George Salmon says, A key fits the lock if it is a lock, which almost any key will turn.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, you can shoehorn just about anything into calculating the mark of the beast.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I don't know, maybe I shouldn't admit this online, but when I was in elementary school, My library number was none other than 666.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I'm the beast of the sea.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think 666 was talking about me.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: But that was my library number.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's it's just this same kind of idea.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: There's sort of this frenzy over the number and then an attempt to identify people.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what we need to have is a little bit of interpretive humility.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we're not just throwing out that person's the Antichrist, this person's the Antichrist, left and right.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing I would say about 666 is it's important to consider the possible symbolism here.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of interpreters go this route.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: If seven is the number of completion, six is sort of man's number.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: It falls short of God's complete number.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And since it's repeated three different times, it's almost like man's trying to be like God, trying to be like God, trying to be like God, each time falling short.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's why G.K.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Beale in his commentary refers to 666 as representing the completeness of sinful incompleteness.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's humanity repeatedly trying to become God, but always falling short.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there's more.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Beale also talks about this in his commentary, where this phrase that this is the number of man or the number of a man, it could represent a particular antichrist, but it could be not about a specific human.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: It could be by man that could be rendered humanity.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is the number of humanity.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so some people understand this as just beastly humanity apart from God.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so some say it identifies a particular person, some say it symbolizes fallen humanity, some say both of these converge in a final antichrist and anti-Christian government.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, and I'm not going to pretend that I know.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation does counsel us to have wisdom.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I think when we're supposed to know, we'll know, and God will impart that wisdom.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: But whatever 666 identifies, the larger context tells us what the mark of the beast signifies bul uh identity, or ownership, protection, and allegiance to the beast.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, quick pause here.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: I do want to mention my book.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: I just quoted from it earlier.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's called The World Made Right, Finding Confident Hope in the Book of Revelation.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, we're talking about the mark of the beast here, and there's so much hype and so much speculation surrounding that.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we've turned the book of Revelation into a book of fear, into a book of hype, and in a book of speculation.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: But if God just wanted us to speculate, maybe he could have just put like names and dates on John's cave, but instead he conferred visions.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: And these visions were mysterious.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I say in my book, they pour water on sleepy saints.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they wake us up to divine realities.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: The Greek word for revelation or apocalypse, it means unveiling.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: God's pulling back the curtain on his reality, and his reality is hopeful.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we've largely missed the hope that revelation offers.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I walk through every chapter of Revelation showing us how it points us to hope instead of hype.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I do my best to try to interpret the symbols without going over the top and attacking anyone or having some sort of end time swagger or anytime like anything like that.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and so I I think this book can offer a lot of hope to people.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope I hope that you'll consider pre-ordering it because pre-ordering actually helps us uh it it helps a little bit.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of builds a little bit of momentum, and I and I want this message to get out there because I think too many people are afraid of the end times, and it's actually the opposite message that Revelation is trying to convey.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation has become perhaps my favorite book of the Bible because of how much hope that it gives me.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now we'll close with um with a uh just kind of a almost pastoral closing here, because the thing about the book of Revelation is actually written as a letter, and then seven letters to seven churches with within a broader letter, and it begins with like an epistle and it ends like an epistle.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so the point is this is a letter, and the thing about letters is they're inherently pastoral, and and they're they're intended to shape us into Christ-likeness.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so it gives us hope, it inspires faith, uh, but it also teaches us Christ-like character.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: And and and the central question, when we talk about the mark of the beast, I don't think God is pleased or happy with us having all this endless speculation about uh it might be this or it might be that, or uh, or certainly not dogmatically speculating uh this way and that.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think the real purpose is he's trying to drive home that we pledge our allegiance to the lamb and not the beast, to God over any sort of earthly government, any sort of earthly re of earthly ruler, and that logic of the seal, which protects us from wrath, this is a very hopeful idea.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're protected from divine wrath.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to fear all the like the scary divine wrath of Revelation.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, Revelation 7 and 14, they do talk about the 144,000 being sealed, and some people limit it to the 144,000, like Jehovah's Witnesses are one group that does that.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I I think there's good reason, we don't have time to fully unpack it, why the 144,000 is uh is a symbolic number in the in apocalyptic literature, they traffic in numerology.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: And Leon Morris says you have to grapple with the fact of these wild numbers that are usually symbolic.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: And uh a good hint of that is in Revelation 22, 4, where it says, God's servants, remember, the servants of God are the ones who receive the seal, God's servants will see his face.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: This seems to speak of everybody in the new creation.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: After God wipes away tears, after God takes away death and mourning and crying and pain and all the things that we're used to in this life, it's all going to be wiped away with, and God's going to make all things new, and we'll live forever right here on planet earth with the triune God.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: We will see God's face, it says, and his name will be on our foreheads.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't seem to be limited to a small contingent of 144,000, but to all of God's people who have been sealed from divine wrath and not just protected from, but also protected for our ultimate hope of the new creation.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: So rather than asking, how can I be so knowledgeable of technology that I don't accidentally take the mark?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: I would encourage you to ask, whose name is on my forehead?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Am I ashamed to bear the name of Jesus even if it costs me?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Does the watching world think about that front and center on your forehead?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: Does the watching world know that I am an openly devout Christian?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Think of Daniel praying despite the fact that he knows the result is a lion's den because he wants to be faithful to 1 Kings 8 that says, if you're in exile, face Jerusalem and pray.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he continues his habit.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's not afraid of what comes.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Are you that kind of person, not grandstanding, not doing it for some kind of show like Jesus warns against in Matthew chapter 6?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: No, are you faithful no matter the cost to you?
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Have you pledged your allegiance to the Lamb because that is the ultimate protection?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: As I said before, the best protection against the mark of the beast is pledging your allegiance to the Lamb who was slain.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: So if you enjoyed this episode, I encourage you to hit that like button.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: That helps us out.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Argue with us in your comments, tell us all the reasons you disagree, all the reasons you agree, subscribe to the channel, and uh consider pre-ordering my book.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Also, we have a newsletter, it's right there in the description.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you click on that, uh, you can get discounts to our e-course.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: We have a e-course coming up called the Intro to Spiritual Gifts, and it teaches you about spiritual gifts.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: We also have a conference coming up on prophecy in Houston October 1st to 3rd, and it's gonna be a fantastic time.
• 30:23
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• 30:25
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• 30:26
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• 30:28
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• 30:32
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• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, so guys, thank you so much for uh your time.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, that gives you a little bit better understanding of the mark of the beast.