The Mark of the Beast
By
Bishop M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Revelation 13
STATEMENT:- My assignment today is not to make you shout, it’s not to excite your emotions or to stimulate your senses. My assignment today is to mess you up, to destroy your preconceived ideas and to cause you to question yourself to the point that you make sure your soul is anchored in the Lord.
Because where we are headed a shout isn’t going to work, a prayer will cost your life, and churches will be just old buildings, so you need to make your calling an election sure. Playtime is over, choose you this day whom you will serve, rather the world or God, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
The Bible says a double minded man is unstable in all his ways, if you are double minded you will be deceived.
It’s sad but true nonetheless, if the rapture were to take place before I finish this message I believe that there are some here right now that would go through the tribulation. Although you may be sitting here in the church saying thank you Jesus and Hallelujah with their lips their hearts are far from God. Isaiah 29:13 says “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men”.
So it is my duty to mess you up so that prayerfully it will scare you out of hell.
OPENING:- Today I am going to talk a bit about “the Mark of the Beast”. It is something that many people are curious about but have great reservation in trying to understand it. For centuries people have speculated about the meaning of the Mark of the Beast and the infamous number 666. Superstitions, fear, uncertainty, and incorrect teachings have gripped the minds of people causing ideologies to be developed and to have people believe all kinds of things, like the computer, ATM cards, or some RFID micro-chip implanted in your hand is the mark of the beast and if you have a bill that cost 666 or receive change in the amount of 6.66 that you are doomed and on your way to hell.
LISTEN:- Technology can NEVER be the mark of the beast! Micro-chips, satellites, I.D. cards, etc. may be used to help track and keep count of, but it cannot be the mark itself. Therefore there is no reason to fear or believe that because you have an ATM card or if you were to receive the RFID chip that you are on a fast track to hell.
TODAY:- I am going to talk about:
1. The Beast who/what it is.
2. The 2nd beast which is the False Prophet who/what it is
3. The number of the Beast its meaning
4. The Mark of the Beast what it is
5. The Punishment for receiving the Mark.
Ω In order to figure out any part of the Mark or the Number of the Beast we first need to understand who & what the beast is.
REVELATION 13 vs 1-10.
1. THE TERM BEAST when dealing with prophecy refers to either a kingdom, empire, governing system as a whole or the dictator leading it – just as the king or president represents his country symbolically. Proof is Revelation 17:8. The Bible will interpret and explain itself.
2. Out of the sea – represents power rising amid people, multitudes, nations, and tongues. Proof Revelation 17:15. Jews looked at the sea as something troublesome and dangerous.
3. 7 Heads and 10 Horns – Heads = headquarters of government. Horns = Kings or rulers. Proof Revelation 17:12.
4. Beast has the name of Blasphemy Revelation 13:1. What is blasphemy Mark 2:3-11. The very leaders of this power claim to be God on earth and able to forgive sins.
5. Gets its seat and authority from the dragon. Who is the dragon Revelation 12:9.
6. They that dwell upon earth worship him. Revelation 13:8.
7. Has characteristic of the nations before it. Revelation 17:8 & Daniel 7:1-9.
So the beast is a governmental alliance that come together and unite an attack God, His temple, and those that dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:6.
REVELATION 13 vs 11-18.
The 1st beast is a political power, the revised roman Empire, that is lead by a world dictator who is empowered by the dragon Satan himself. You may be familiar with the term New World Order, that is a term used to basically describe the 1st beast.
This 2nd beast comes from the earth not the sea like the 1st beast this is symbolic of Babylon because this is a religious system lead by the false prophet. Babylon was the place that false religion started. The Tower of Babel, Nimrod, and the false religious system started here Genesis 11.
WATCH THIS:- Now we see that the Dragon is Satan Revelation 12:9. The 1st Beast is the Political system that has come together and receives its power from the dragon Revelation 13:4. The 2nd Beast/False Prophet is the religious system that causeth those that dwell on earth to worship the beast, its image or be killed Revelation 13:14-15.
UNDERSTAND THIS:- numbers paly a very important part in understanding scripture. We use the 1 – 10 scale with 10 being what we call perfect. It’s different Biblically. The number 7 = perfection and completeness. God created everything and finished His work in 7 days Genesis 1. The number 7 is the most mentioned number in the Bible, revelation contains the most symbolisms of 7, 7 trumpet, 7vials, 7 bowls, 7 last plagues, 7 candlesticks, 7 churches and many more.
The number 3 is the second most mentioned number in the Bible, it represents fullness. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Death, burial, resurrection. Past, present, future. Outer court, inner court, Holy of holies. Fullness.
The number 6 is the number of man. Man was created on the 6th day of creation Genesis 1:26-31. 6 is 1 less than 7 meaning man is imperfect without God for 1 = God, beginning. One Lord One Faith One baptism Ephesian 4:5.
The fullness of God, remember 3 = fullness is Father, Son, Holy Ghost Colossian 2:9. The number of God is 777. 7 for the fullness of Father, 7 for the fullness of the son, 7 for the fullness of the Holy Ghost.
THE WORD MANIFESTATION means to make known. God has revealed Himself or made Himself known to man in 3 ways Father, Son, Holy Ghost in each manifestation He is perfect Father 7, Son 7, Holy Ghost 7.
The devil who is antichrist, which means against God tries to counter everything that God is so he is manifested (made known) in 3 (fullness) way as the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.
Although he has power as the dragon he is not all powerful for without God he is imperfect which is the number value of 6.
As the beast he is manifested yet imperfect so the numeric value of the beast is 6.
As the false prophet he is manifested yet still imperfect so the numeric value of the false prophet is 6.
The 3 manifestations are Dragon 6, Beast 6, False Prophet 6 the fullness is 666. That is the number of his name. So what is his name Lucifer, Satan, devil, dragon, snake, serpent, etc.
When those left here worship the beast their worship is false, imperfect.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST. Revelation 13:16-17.
Vs#16 “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads”.
I need to park here for a little while. We understand the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. We understand the number 666 is imperfection in 3 stages or the fullness of imperfection, but what about that infamous mark.
666 is not the mark itself, that is the number, the number of complete imperfection.
The actual design of the mark of the beast is currently not known; however, the spirit of the beast is now in existence 1 John 4:1-6 & 2 Thessalonians 2:7. The spirit of the mark is disobedience 1 John 3:4, 1 Samuel 15:22.
A mark or sign identifies who someone is or what something is such as a logo or trademark. When we read about the mark of the beast nothing is ever mention about some high technological devise, so that computer, micro-chip, ATM card or any technology can never be the mark of the beast. It may be used to track, account for, or used in other ways but can never be the mark itself.
The real mark of the beast is a spiritual mark that is received as a result of going against God and His laws. It’s a spiritual way of identifying who someone is and who they belong and pledge their allegiance to.
The Greek word for mark is “Charagma” (khar-ag-ma) it’s the term used for the Roman imperial stamp. The Charagma was seal stamped with the name and date of the emperor. It also stood for the emperor’s head stamped on coins, thus the Charagma represents the likeness or name of the emperor – Remember That.
The Charagma is a type of brand, slaves were branded with marks of ownership much like cattle today is. I think it is possible that the Mark could be a visible mark seen by everyone; however, I strongly believe the mark is a spiritual symbol that identifies who belongs to the beast and who belongs to God.
Ezekiel 9:4 says “And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof”. This is talking about how the Lord told a man with the inkhorn to go and mark on the forehead of those that sigh and cry as a symbol of protection. The word mark here is the Hebrew Tav. The Tav is the 23 letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it is symbolized in the pictograph by the crossing of 2 sticks in the form of a cross. There are two letters in the Hebrew alphabet Aleph and Tav, it would be like our A & Z or Alpha & Omega. Whenever the Aleph Tav is found in scripture it is Jesus Christ personal signature, when the man with the inkhorn is told to mark them or Tav them he his telling him to put my initial on them showing that they belong to me, a seal of protection.
In Exodus 12:21-23 Israel was marked by the Lamb’s blood and escaped the death angel in Egypt. It is said that the mark made with the blood was Aleph Tav, the cross. It was a seal of protection.
In Revelation 7:2-3 144,000 Jews are sealed (marked – sfrag-ece) with a seal of God for protection, I believe this seal is a cross the Aleph Tav.
So since the AntiChrist is the counter opposite of God he tries to copy everything that God has done. Since God marked his people for protection, the mark of the beast is supposed to protect the people from harm against the wrath of God, but it’s a deception.
Now I said that I think the mark is more spiritual than physical. I think there will be a physical mark, but I believe it is dealing more with the spiritual than anything else. Why do I feel its more spiritual than physical it’s because of the placement of the mark. Sure the forehead and the hand are highly visible; however, this is a spiritual battle. Paul said in Ephesian 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high place”.
The placement of the mark is significant.
Deuteronomy 6:6-8 says “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes”.
Deuteronomy 11: 18 says “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes”.
What does it mean to bind Gods Words, His laws upon our hands and forehead? God wasn’t asking them to literally write them on their hands and heads, He wanted them to keep His commandments in their mind to stop them from sinning.
WATCH THIS:- The front of your brain is where our thoughts and decisions are made! The right hand means power and represents our actions. Therefore if people had the mark of Gods law in their hands and foreheads, then it meant they were keeping their minds spiritual and their actions did the same. So the mark is how we think and act. People should know you are a Christian not because you say you are but because they can see your actions and thoughts are different than others. You don’t look like, talk like, act like everyone else.
People should look at you and see a difference because you carry the mark of God, is it a visible mark NO, but they should notice a difference in you.
Vs#17 says “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads”. Now if the mark of the beast was just a physical mark, man being intelligent could come up with a counterfeit mark that would deceive people. They do it with money all the time that’s why they change the appearance of money so often. So it would be possible to counterfeit a physical mark.
However, your action and thoughts you would not be able to fake.
EXAMPLE:- It’s like going to Sam’s Club, when you card expires and it has to be renewed in order for you to purchase anything, if not you are not able to buy anything in Sam’s club. When you got to the check out with an expired card the casher says your card is expired you have to pay $50.00 to have it renewed, you must make a decision right then do I pay the money and renew my membership and by the stuff or do I just leave and forget everything I came in here for.
I the Tribulation period if you try to buy or sell anything the question will be “Do you worship the beast” or “Do your worship God”!!!!!!!!
Now the mark will be seen spiritually and physically. If you say you worship the beast you are lost for all eternity in hell and will experience the full wrath of God. If you say you worship God you will no doubt be captured, tortured, and put to death. You will however spend eternity with God Matthew 10:39 says “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it”.
So the true mark of the beast is disobedience. So you don’t have to fear the government forcing some kind of micro-chip on you as the mark of the beast, you don’t have to fear receiving change back in the amount of $6.66 or paying a bill of 666 because that is not the mark of the beast.
Colossians 3 says “1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. 8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him”.
Take inventory of yourself!
Who has control of your mind and your actions?
Are the things you think and the actions you take done in obedience to God and His Word or are they done in disobedience?
What mark are you bearing Now the mark of the beast, disobedient to all that God desires or the Mark (Tav) of a Child of God, being obedient to His Word?
It’s not too late to make a change, but time is running out. Elijah said it best chose you this day whom you will serve.
Bishop M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Apostolic Glorious Church
