The Mark of the Beast
Revelation 13:11-18
This passage and subject is one which has been subjected to a lot of “spiritual acrobatics” throughout history. This has come about because of many different methods of interpretations and cultural situations. The approach we will take in this lesson is twofold: First, interpret it in light of the 1st century church; second, interpret it in light of past, present and future history.
Rev 13:11-18
11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666. NIV
I. Relationship of the Two Beasts (11, 12)
A. Beasts in the 1st Century
1. The “beasts” in Revelation overall represent the power of Satan.
2. Specifically, to the 1st century Christian the 1st beast could represent the power and domain of the Roman Empire.
3. Does the second beast seem equal to or a sub-character of the first beast?
4. Therefore, the second beast could have been part of the first (Roman Empire), thus, making the second beast represent one of the rulers (possibly Nero).
B. Beasts Today
1. When dealing with symbolic literature, it is best to think in terms that would be general
enough to be used over and over again in a similar situation, and yet specific enough to
have a clear and definite meaning to the people at the time in which it was written.
2. All of the beasts, whether in Daniel or in Revelation, should be seen as symbolizing the
“persecuting power of Satan” embodied in all the nations and governments of the world
throughout all history.
3. World-dominion directed against God’s people wherever and whenever it appears in
history: that is the beast (More Than Conquereors,p.176).
II. Actions of the Beast (13-15)
A. 1st Century Audience
1. Verse 13
a. The use of tricks and ventriloquism were all or part of the stock and trade of the cults that abounded in that day.
b. Magicians and the like were part of the emperor’s court. Where do we find this common practice in the Old Testament?
c. The beast (the emperor and his court) could perform many miracles to deceive the people into worshipping the emperor and Rome.
2. Verses 14,15
a. What does it sound like is happening to many people in these verses?
b. This could be an allusion to the common practice of emperor worship in the Roman
Empire. It didn’t begin as emperor worship, but rather as worship of Rome (1st beast
in Revelation 13)
c. By the end of the 1st century all of the cities (churches) mentioned in Revelation had
temples erected in them to worship the emperor.
d. If someone didn’t subject to this they could be killed (Pliny-Trajan correspondence.)
Pliny to the Emperor Trajan
Ep. 10.96
It is my custom, O lord, to refer all questionable issues to you. For who is more capable of resolving my doubts and instructing my ignorance?
I have never been present at a formal inquiry of “Christ-niks.” Consequently, I do not know the nature or the extent of the sanctions usually administered against them, nor the grounds for opening a formal inquiry and how far it should be pressed. Nor am I at all sure whether any distinction should be made between them on the basis of age, or whether young people and adults should be treated identically, whether a pardon ought to be granted to anyone retracting his beliefs, or if he has once professed being a “Christ-nik” he shall gain nothing by renouncing it; and whether it is the mere label that is actionable, even if not guilty of a crime, or rather the crimes associated with the name.
In the meantime, this is the approach I have taken with everyone brought before me on the charge of being “Christ-niks”: I have asked them in person if they are “Christ-niks”; and if they admit it, I repeat the question a second and third time with a warning of the sanction awaiting them. If they persist, I order them to be led away for execution. For, whatever the nature of their admission, I am convinced that their stubbornness and unshakeable obstinacy should not go unpunished. Others as fanatical who are citizens of Rome I have listed to be remanded to "the City" for trial.
Now that I have begun to deal with this problem, as so often happens, the charges are becoming more widespread and increasing in variety. An anonymous writing has circulated that contains the names of several accused individuals. From these, I considered dismissing any who denied that they were or ever had been “Christ-niks” when they had recited after me an invocation of the gods and made offerings of wine and incense to your statue—which I ordered brought into court for this purpose along with the images of the gods—and further reviled the name of Christ: none of which, I understand, any true “Christ-niks” can be induced to do. Others, whose names were given to me by an informant, first admitted the charge and then denied it; they said that they had ceased to be “Christ-niks” two or more years before, and some of them even twenty years ago. They all venerated your statue and the images of the gods in the same way as the others, and cursed the name of Christ.
They also declared that the totality of their guilt or error amounted to no more than this: they had met regularly before dawn on a certain day to chant verses antiphonally amongst themselves in honor of Christ as if to a god, and also to bind themselves with an oath, not in a criminal conspiracy, but to abstain from fraud, banditry, and adulteration, to commit no breach of trust, and not to renege on a deposit. After completing this foolishness, it was their custom to disperse and reassemble later to take food of an common and innocuous type; but they had in fact given up this practice since my edict, issued on your instructions, which banned all associations. This made me decide it was all the more necessary to extract the truth from two female slaves—whom they call "ministers"—by means of torture. I found nothing but a degenerate sort of superstition carried to immoderate lengths.
I have, therefore, put off any further consideration awaiting your counsel. The matter seems worthy of your consideration, especially in light of the number of persons at risk. For numerous persons of every age and every class, both genders, are being brought to trial, and this is likely to continue. It is not only the town, but villages and countryside as well that are infected through contact with this perverse superstition. I think that it is still possible for it to be checked and directed to better ends, for there is no doubt that people have begun to throng the temples, which had been almost entirely abandoned for a long time. And the sacred rites that had been allowed to lapse are again being performed, and the flesh of sacrificial meat is on sale everywhere, though until recently hardly anyone was buying it. It is easy to infer from this that a great many people could be rehabilitated if they were given an opportunity to recant.
Trajan to Pliny
Ep. 10.97
You have followed the correct course, my favored one, in your investigation of the cases of persons charged with being “Christ-niks”; for it is impossible to construct a universal principle applied as a fixed standard. These people should not be hunted down; if they are brought before you and the charge against them is proven, they must be punished. But in the case of anyone who denies that he is a “Christ-niks” and makes it clear that he is not by offering supplications to our gods, he shall be acquitted as a result of his recanting, however suspect his former conduct may be.
B. What about today?
1. Emperor worship is not a vital part of our culture today. How then can this apply to us?
2. The actions the beast described in this section are often called the Anti-Christ. What can we expect out of an Anti-Christ today? (Nero’s example)
3. Is all this in accordance to what the rest of the New Testament teaches?
Mark 13:21,22 - - II Thessalonians 2:9, 10
III. The Mark of the Beast (16,17)
A. Use of the “Mark” in the 1st Century.
The word for the mark of the beast is charagma, and it could come from more than one ancient
custom.
(i) Sometimes domestic slaves were branded with the mark of their owner. But usually they
were branded only if they had run away or were guilty of some grave misdemeanor. Such
a mark was called a stigma; we still use the word in English. If the mark is connected with
this, it means that those who worship the beast are his property,
(ii) Sometimes soldiers branded themselves with the name of their general, if they were devoted to him. This, to some extent, corresponds to the modern custom of tattooing upon one’s person the name of someone specially dear. If the mark is connected with this, it means that those who worship the beast are his devoted followers.
(iii) On every contract of buying or selling there was a charagma, a seal, and on the seal the name of the emperor and the date. If the mark is connected with this, it means that those who worship the beast accept his authority.
(iv) All coinage had the head and inscription of the emperor stamped on it, to show that it was his property. If the mark is connected with this, it again means that those who bear it are the property of the beast.
(v) When a man had burned his pinch of incense to Caesar, he was given a certificate to say that he had done so. The mark of the beast may be the certificate of worship, which a Christian could obtain only at the cost of denying his faith.
B. What is the “Mark” Today?
1. Does it mean that today people will actually receive a visible mark on their body?
a. Is this in harmony or contrast to the seal of the living god in Revelation 7:2, 3?
b. What is the mark of a Christian?
2. It seems most likely that the mark is not a literal mark on the hand or forehead, any more than the seal of the living god was in 7:2, 3.
3. It is a symbolic way of saying that those with the mark of the beast act in such a way as to be seen as Satan’s property, devoted to him.
The forehead symbolizes the mind, the thought life, the philosophy of a person. The right hand indicates his deed, action, trade, industry etc. Hence receiving the mark of the beast on forehead or right hand indicates that the person so characterized belongs to the company of those who persecute the church; and that – either pre-eminently in what he thinks, says, writes; or more emphatically in what he does – this antichristian spirit becomes evident.
IV. The Number of the Beast
A. Use of numbers in the 1st Century
1. Early languages (Hebrew and Greek) did not have separate symbols for numbers. They let letters of the alphabet represent numbers.
2. Therefore, numbers could come to represent names and vice-versa. Ex. – Graffiti on a wall of Pompei – “I love her whose name is 545.”
3. John may have been using this technique in his writing, if so the number 666 can be translated as Nero, but this is done only when his name is translated into Hebrew from the Greek.
B. History of Interpretation
1. This number as entertained many scholars throughout history. Here are some of the suggested meanings:
Different Roman Emperors
Roman Catholic Church and various Popes
Martin Luther
Mohammed
King Louis XIV
Napoleon
Hitler
2. To the 1st century Christian these other interpretations would mean nothing. John may have had in mind Nero and he becomes symbolic of all Anti-Christs.
C. Today
1. Many more guesses will be made by using “spiritual acrobatics” with this number.
2. I think it is safe to say that whoever perverts the truth and persecutes God’s people could bear the number 666!
The Mark of the Beast Handout
Revelation 13 & 14
Today we continue our series in Revelation and venture into maybe one of the most well know phrases from the book – The Mark of the Beast and the number 666.
What do the following verses describe: Revelation 13:4,14,15
Trajan – Pliny correspondence. It is from the Governor of Bythinia to the Roman Emperor Trajan in 112 AD asking what to do about Christians. Available in the foyer.
Chapter 13 presents a picture of oppression and persecution of Christians
There are two beasts that rise up, which in John’s day could clearly be the Roman Empire and it’s emperors.
Look at Rev 13:8-10, What are these verses describing?
I. The Beast Imagery vs.11, 12
a. The “beasts” in Revelation overall represent the power of Satan.
b. Specifically, in the 1st century, 1st Beast - the Roman Empire; 2nd Beast one of the emperors.
c. Beasts Today
i. Think in terms that would be general enough to be used over and over again in a similar situation, and yet specific enough to have a clear and definite meaning to the people at the time in which it was written.
ii. World-dominion directed against God’s people wherever and whenever it appears in history: that is the beast (More Than Conquereors,p.176).
II. Actions of the Beast vs. 13-15
a. 1st Century Audience
i. The beast (the emperor and his court) could perform many miracles to deceive the people into worshipping the emperor and Rome.
ii. What does it sound like is happening to many people in these verses 13 & 14?
iii. This could be an allusion to the common practice of emperor worship in the Roman Empire.
b. What about today?
i. Emperor worship is not a vital part of our culture today. How then can this apply to us?
ii. Is all this in accordance to what the rest of the New Testament teaches? This is what Jesus said: Mark 13:9-10, 21,22
III. The Mark of the Beast vs. 16,17
a. Uses of a “Mark” in the 1st Century.
i. Sometimes domestic slaves were branded with the mark of their owner.
ii. Sometimes soldiers branded themselves with the name of their general
iii. On every contract of buying or selling there was a mark, a seal, and on the seal the name of the emperor and the date.
iv. All coinage had the head and inscription of the emperor stamped on it, to show that it was his property.
v. When a man had burned his pinch of incense to Caesar, he was given a certificate to say that he had done so.
b. What is the “mark” Today?
i. Does it mean that today people will actually receive a visible mark on their body? I don’t know but I think of it like this.
ii. If someone were to ask you, “What is the mark of a Christian?”
iii. It is a symbolic way of saying that those with the mark of the beast act in such a way as to be seen as Satan’s property, devoted to him.
IV. The Number of the Beast
a. Use of numbers in the 1st Century and history
i. Therefore, numbers could come to represent names and vice-versa. Ex. – Graffiti on a wall of Pompei – “I love her whose name is 545.”
ii. This number has entertained many scholars throughout history. Here are some of the suggested meanings: Different Roman Emperors, Roman Catholic Church and various Popes, Martin Luther, Mohammed, King Louis XIV, Napoleon, Hitler
b. Big picture – Satan will manifest himself and his evil power in anyway he can and through as many different means as he can.
i. What is important for us is this: remain faithful and God will take care of you for eternity – Rev 14
c. In Chapter 14 there is victory of the Lamb and victory for those who endure. We see the fulfilling of the pattern which we have talked about in each section –Ch. 12 begins with chaos and turmoil and Ch. 14 ends in a scene of worship and victory.: Rev 14:13-14
Conclusion
I want to leave you today with this image: Revelation 14:9-13 – Victory of the Lamb and those who endure.