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The Mark of the Beast Part 9 First, I want to read a message I received. “Thank you for your faithful teaching in rightly dividing the Word of God. Your translation of Revelation 13:18 sheds new meaning as one considers to determine what the mark of the beast might be. Based upon your translation of the original Greek language, verse 18 should read, “Here is a riddle. Let him that hath understanding determine or decide the multitude of the beast: for it is the multitude of man and this multitude is…” I did not finish verse 18. Now hopefully I will. The three key words are: riddle, determine or decide, and multitude. Since the beast is Islam and the multitude is also Islamic, it points to the followers of Islam, Allah and Muhammad. That is for sure. Therefore, the mark or sign has to be also related to Islam as you have previously attested to. We cannot wait for the final piece of the riddle to be revealed by you. Thanks, and we are all eyes and ears. God bless.” God willing, I will get that far but before I do I want to read something. The understanding held by most with respect to the mark of the beast or “666,” is that this “mark” or “number” is the identifying sign of the Antichrist and his followers. That is what they assume. Many also believe that Mark will somehow be tattooed on or physically implanted into the antichrist minions. Yet, beyond these basic notions, few have given the matter much thought. For those who seek the answers however, the Bible does provide some crucial information about this mark. First and foremost, according to scripture, the mark is essentially used as a means to distinguish the followers of the Beast from the followers of God. By accepting the mark of the beast, one displays a dedication to antichrist… This is where I disagree with this author. He still has the notion that antichrist still has yet to come. You cannot find that anywhere in Scripture. That is unless you make up a possible scenario and convert it into what you believe is true doctrine, or what I have called for what it is, Christian Science Fiction. There is a spirit of antichrist and that has been in the land since shortly after Jesus left the first time; and, it is going to be a prevailing force until He comes back. But “‘A’ Antichrist”, no. I would follow ‘the mark of the beast, one displays a dedication to’ with “the Beast and his false prophet, Muhammad”—which worshipped the moon god and just created a different way of presenting it, and that is now why the driving force behind it is Islam. By accepting the mark of the beast, one displays a dedication to [my correction follows] the beast, and his false prophet, and Allah and, at the same time his opposition to God of the Bible. The Scriptures also tell us that those that take the Mark will be subject to some unique benefits, as well as some extreme punishments. For instance, the Book of Revelation speaks of a time where the only ones allowed to buy or sell will be those who have taken the Mark of the Beast: And, of course, everyone assumes that it will be a worldwide situation. Are you sure? “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark...” (Rev. 13:17). Conversely, we learn that these same people will be subject to God’s divine punishment for taking the mark. I will have more to say about that later if I have time. With the advent of modern technology, some students of prophesy have assumed that the mark may somehow be related to a type of invisible barcode system, or perhaps the microchip implant with the numbers 666 encoded into it. Although, these scenarios do not seem very realistic or practical, when one considers the fact that most of the world’s population, particularly many of the remote areas in the Middle East, have yet to see a credit card or a barcode scanner for that matter. Still other problems crop up that seem to render technology-based scenarios implausible. To begin with, there is the obvious difficulty associated with implanting untold numbers of people with a microchip or marking them with some type of barcode. I am not even too sure that the hard-line Islamists would even allow a barcode on or a chip in their body. Still other problems crop up that seem to render the technology-based scenarios implausible. To begin with, there is the obvious difficulty associated with implanting untold numbers of people with a microchip or marking them with some type of barcode. Further, if the microchip tracking system became a reality, it is conceivable that one could approach a person who was sleeping—or in an otherwise vulnerable position—and literally force the mark upon them, thus labeling them as a follower of the Beast without the individual ever having a choice in the matter. “Well, that is why they will not be able to buy or sell, so therefore they would have no choice if they want to keep on existing.” I know the other side’s argument. They will have to succumb and get the mark. The Bible makes it clear that those who take the mark will be cast into hell. Considering this, it does not stand to reason that God would allow this fate to befall those who were forced to take the mark and therefore rob them of the opportunity to exercise their free will and refuse it. That is actually a very interesting thought that raises a question. What if someone pinned you down and forced you to take the mark and you could do nothing about it? What would happen then? Are you damned to hell because you have that mark, whether an implant or tattoo (whatever kind of system it is) somewhere on your body, on your head, your hand, or whatever according to Christian Science Fiction doctrine? Think about it. I do not think you have to worry about being forced down against your own will and somebody implanting the mark on you because I do not think that is going to happen. I know it is not going to happen. I do not think it is a chip or an identification number. I do not think it is any of those things. Why? Because we can see more than the translators could see and Scripture gives us an option when rightly dividing the Word. That does not mean the translators were not inspired by the Holy Spirit. Somebody asked me, “Well then is Scripture reliable because you said it is the inspired Word of God. If it is the inspired Word of God, why didn’t the translators get it right?” As I said before, the time was still sealed for the prophetic events recorded in Daniel’s day, that He said would happen, but Daniel had no understanding of how that was going to happen. When that time period came, 1948 and 1967 for instance, the knowledge then was released. It is like the curtain just opened up and you could see all the information behind it. The translators did not have that option. That does not mean they were not inspired. In fact if you think about it, the inspiration was for it to not be translate correctly otherwise God’s Word would not be reliable, because it says until the time of the end it was to be sealed. Just take the 1611 King James people, that time was not yet when they put the Holy Bible together or any other translation prior to the King James or after. It was sealed until a set time. That is why it is important to really understand what these verses are saying. Remember I told you the translators had two choices when translating verses 17 and 18. They could go the numerical way - arithmos. Or, they could look at it in a different way. Well, if they would have gone with Option B, they really would have no idea what to translate because the time was not right. It was not the time for this to be understood, period. Revelation 13:17 and 18, “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 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.” Let’s look at the accurate translation: HERE IS A RIDDLE. LET HIM THAT HATH UNDERSTANDING DETERMINE OR DECIDE THE MULTITUDE OF THE BEAST: FOR IT IS A MULTITUDE OF MAN; AND THIS MULTITUDE IS CHI XI STIGMA. Here is a riddle. That is how it should be read because that was an option there for the King James people. Instead of Here is wisdom, “here is a riddle”, because they were trying to figure out what exactly this 666 is. They did not know. Here is a riddle. Let him that hath understanding… I said you can either use determine or decide, either one fits, so: Here is a riddle. Let him that hath understanding determine or decide the multitude of the beast. There were two ways this could have been translated: Either “number”; or when it is referring to people, “multitude” of the beast.

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