The MARK of the BEAST

(An excerpt from the Letters chapter, page D36-36)

When you ask what I think the mark of the Beast will be you must understand nobody can give you a specific answer because nobody knows. But I can try to help you avoid the mark no matter what it turns out to be. I believe there is a lot more to the mark of the Beast than Christians realize. And I believe democracy is intimately involved.

Yes, democracy is just as evil as the Bible reveals it to be. (People who disagree with that have no inner sanctum.) Do not participate in democracy. Do not vote. Be a law-abiding citizen. (It is legal to not like democracy and to not vote.) It is important to stress that point: Do not break the laws of your country, and do not resist your government. Guns, for example, are helpful tools out on a country farm and are great aids for defending your family against intruders. But if the government passed a law that required me to hand in my guns, my inner sanctum would make a decree and I’d promptly turn in my guns. My only objective is to serve and glorify God. I couldn’t care less about the Second Amendment’s guaranteeing me the “right” to keep and bear arms – or about any other philosophy-based worldly concepts.

If the Antichrist comes to power and rules over the United States of the World, do not break his laws or resist him in any way. God wanted Pharaoh, Saul, and Nebuchadnezzar – all types of the Antichrist – to rule over His people. And He wanted His people to submit to their rule. Look at Daniel as an example. He submissively and properly obeyed and served his government (the Antichrist). The eunuch was so obedient, so helpful, and so trusted by his ungodly bosses that they promoted him to high office (Da 6:1-3). In fact, Daniel was such a model employee of the government – no anti-abortion activities, no “Christian right” political activism, no pro-democracy/anti-tyranny planning, no campaign to have the Bible made the law of the land – that his enemies knew their only chance to get Daniel to resist governmental directives was to make a law that required him to go against the God of the Bible (Da 6:5). Daniel chose to humbly submit to the death penalty rather than comply with their entrapping governmental directive. But those men were crude and obvious, and their only objective was to kill Daniel. Satan, however, cannot win by just killing us all; he must deceive us with subtlety. Let me try to help you see how discernment can be crucial to knowing when God wants us to submissively obey ungodly government and when He wants us to humbly submit to the death penalty rather than take the mark of the Beast.

Item: When Oliver Cromwell (a modern, democracy-embracing type of the Antichrist) beheaded Charles I (a democracy-rejecting type of Tribulation saints) (Re 20:4), Cromwell required that no man might buy or sell, save he that took the Engagement Oath. As you may recall (page H10-14) those who took the oath said, in effect, that they agreed with the Enlightened principles of democracy – including rebellion against the government. Christians today wouldn’t hesitate to sign a similar document because they believe democracy is Christian.

Item: Years ago I ran the high hurdles for the track team at the U.S. Naval Academy. One time we took a long bus ride up to Yale University, which was hosting the Heptagonal Track and Field Championships. When we got there we found that the opening ceremonies would include the reading of an anti-Vietnam War statement. The statement was worded in such a way that the act of participating in the track meet (a harmless enough activity) symbolized complete agreement with the opening statement. We turned right around and went back to Annapolis.

I don’t know what the physical mark of the Beast will be. Whatever it turns out to be I pray that God will give me the discernment to recognize it and the strength to go to my death rather than take it – no matter what laws the Antichrist passes. But take a look at these definitions of mark: A distinctive trait such as an identifying action. An objective or end result that is striven for, a goal (Ph 3:14). To make manifest. By putting the definitions together we can say Satan’s objective is to have Christ’s church mark itself by manifesting Satan’s own distinctive trait.

If we were asked to come up with a one-word definition for the mark Paul was striving for in Ph 3:14 we might say something like obedience or service. If we were to come up with a one-word definition of Satan we might say adversary or rebel in part because the Bible defines Satan’s religion – witchcraft – as rebellion. Now notice that the two sets of definitions are exactly the opposite of – or “anti” – each other.

What we’re doing here is a little inner sanctum meditating. We are mindful of the fact that we don’t know what the mark of the Beast will be, but we’re trying to understand the principles or concepts that will be involved. If we understand the Biblical concepts, then identifying the actual mark, identifying characteristics, end result, or goal of the Antichrist should be more apparent when the time comes.

Keep in mind that physically circumcising the penis turned out not to be a big deal, and it was therefore done away with in the New Testament. But the principle behind it – submissive obedience – was, is, and always will be important.

It is probable that the mark of the Beast will be something simple and easy. But we’ll still avoid it at all costs if we recognize it as unacceptable. However, can we not say that many Christians today in principle already manifest the mark, or distinguishing characteristic, of the Devil? Look at the fundamentals behind Satan’s religion: He believes in equality – which would cause God to no longer be God. Satan also believes in rebellion against authority according to the will of the people. Do not most Christians already believe in those Satanic principles? Have not Biblical concepts – like Daniel, Joseph, Sarah, and Jesus Christ’s submissive obedience to unscriptural orders and authorities – been rejected by the church today in favor of independence, resistance, and rebellion against any authority thought to be evil? Does not participation in democracy encourage Christians to badmouth, resist, and replace “evil” rulers like President Clinton, Hitler, and Charles I? As far as major principles, issues, and doctrines in the Bible are concerned, haven’t the gates of hell already greatly prevailed over the church? Should we not all repent and urgently get about our Father’s business? Is there not a cause?

Is it not possible that when the Antichrist comes to power, Christians will – like the Maccabees – rise up to resist him? That would be resisting the will of God. It would be witchcraft. It would be the distinguishing characteristic – the mark – of Satan. It would be exactly what Satan wants us to do!

So, since Christians today – like their Old Testament brethren – are doing a lousy job developing their inner sanctums, and therefore lack the ability to discern the principles and concepts behind the teachings of the Bible, what makes them think they’ll be able to discern the subtlety of Satan in the end times when, except those days were shortened, even the very elect will be deceived? What if the purpose of philosophy and its offspring – Reason, Enlightenment, democracy, rebellion – is to cause us to take the mark of the Beast – Enlightenment – so Satan can exhibit us as his ideological/doctrinal wives, thereby prevailing over Christ’s church? I’m not thinking about the usual definition of mark here. Look at it this way: We are supposed to take God’s name upon ourselves as His wives. But we now understand that just being a born-again Christian and being physically circumcised are not the final or determinative requirements to be His bride. What the Lord really requires is submissive obedience to His authority, without which we have taken His name in vain. He expects our distinguishing characteristic – our mark – to be submissive obedience to authority. (That’s one reason His word – which teaches submission to authority – is exalted above His name – which teaches nothing.) Satan’s distinguishing characteristic – or mark – is just the opposite, it is antichrist, it is rebellion against authority. Since we choose which of these two husbands we prefer by our works, is it not possible that the very act of resisting the Antichrist – because resistance and rebellion are the characteristic mark of Satan – is itself voluntarily taking the mark of the Beast, voluntarily agreeing and walking with Satan, and thereby making ourselves witches? Could it be that Satan has been preparing us for thousands of years to resist the Antichrist – like he resisted God – because if we do he wins? Could Satan be that deceptive and that subtle? Could it be that we really are in deep trouble because we’ve ignored the real issue in the Bible – authority? Is that why all who take the distinguishing characteristic of Satan – the mark of the carnal Beast – are damned, because Enlightened resistance really is a damnable heresy? And could it be that many Christians have for centuries as individuals already taken the mark of the Beast “in their right hand” via their voluntary works of rebellion against authority, or “in their foreheads” via their voluntary acceptance of the very Enlightened religion of philosophy we were warned about?

I don’t know. None of us does. But I do know that based on what I now know as a Christian about democracy and rebellion I would not take Cromwell’s Engagement Oath. Knowing what I now do about resisting authority I’m glad I didn’t run in that track meet. And I shall not participate in any activities against the Antichrist. If the Antichrist turns out to be an individual who tries to get me to take some kind of physical mark or to in some other way pledge or indicate my agreement with Enlightenment principles – which are anti Christ – I’ll politely and quietly say, “Sir, I mean no disrespect, but my Lord does not allow me to do that.”

However, if laws are ever passed that require me to vote, I’ll obediently comply. But, you object, didn’t I say I wouldn’t participate in democracy? Yes, and I won’t. But if the laws ever require us to vote, voting ceases to be a democratic act and becomes a submissive act of obedience to authority. For that reason the Devil will never make voting mandatory – he has nothing to gain by doing so. (Voting is required in a couple of countries today.) I only bring this up to illustrate again that the action itself – voting or running the high hurdles – is often harmless. But we must, as princes learning how to rule, examine the principles and meanings attached to actions in order to understand them and make proper decisions. In that way when we run the race we can sail over the hurdles in life rather than stumble over them.

For the same reason, the Devil needs our resistance to the Beast to be voluntary; he needs our rebellion to be something we want, something we think is good, something we believe in. He needs us to believe in him. And since we know belief and works are synonyms, we apply all of this to conclude that when we rebel against any authority – maybe especially the Antichrist – we are believing in Satan through our works. A good tree does not produce evil fruit.

As you know, some Christians do not believe the Antichrist will be an actual person. I don’t know the answer; I just pray that my lamp will be full enough with Oil that God’s light will guide me through any and all darkness. But does it even make sense that the Antichrist might not be a definite person? Well, we know that we ourselves – our old man – are beasts (Ec 3:18,19). We know that Christians who speak evil of the truth in accordance with not just what they “know” but what they know naturally are likened unto beasts that perish for their gainsaying (which is resistance!) according to Jude 10,11 and its companion verses we studied in D25, Damnable Heresy. Therefore, you can make a good case that God is looking for servants who demonstrate that they – unlike Satan – are capable of being submissive. If God sees that our distinguishing characteristic is humble submission even unto death, He recognizes that as the way His Son showed us to live. But if God sees that we exalt self over authority via equality, resistance, and rebellion, He recognizes that as Satan’s characteristic mark of carnality, as the beast in all of us. In other words, God cares about concepts, principles, and ideologies; He cares about who or what we are: If our ideology is His, He views us as people. If our ideology is Satan’s, He views us as beasts. Satan’s ideology – if accepted – marks us as beasts whether we live during the end times or not. In other words it may be that “the Antichrist” is the collective democratic (multi-headed) beastly body or bride of Satan – whether you call it the Whore or the Beast. And the Whore, who thinks she is pleasing God, comes to power by riding the democratic beast (Re 17:3), only to find that it turns out to be her downfall (Re 17:16). We don’t know. But we do know walking in the flesh is “that spirit of antichrist”, which has been here for at least two thousand years (1 Jn 4:3).

We also note that the mark of the beast goes all the way back to Lucifer’s rebellion and Adam and Eve: Lucifer was supposed to be a servant of God, but he became independent, carnal. That made him not meet to serve God and caused him to be cursed by God with “mortality” if you will. Because Lucifer is destined for the lake of fire, the “second death”, he – like mortals – has but a limited amount of time to live (Re 12:12). As a “mortal” he is a beast (Ec 3:19).

When God rejected beasts as wives for Adam (and Himself), He did so because first, beasts are independent heads, carnal, at enmity against Him. And second, beasts are going to die and therefore cannot be part of the everlasting Kingdom of God. That’s why God doesn’t consider unsaved/carnal people to be people – they are beasts neither meet nor qualified to be His helpers.

As Christians with two bodies we can walk in the flesh or in the spirit. If we are carnal we have the distinguishing mark of the beast. Therefore, what we have learned about doctrines and about the consistency of the Bible makes us realize the mark of the beast, the whoredom of Peor, the damnable heresy, Achan’s accursed thing, equality, independence, rebellion, witchcraft, covetousness, and idolatry are all part of – or manifestations of – the spirit of antichrist.

God created beasts to teach us something – they are not meet to be His wives/helpers. If our distinguishing characteristic is carnality rather than discernment we have the mark of the beast!

My point in all of this has been to illustrate how important principles, concepts, and ideologies are. Most Christians throughout history have failed because their Biblical involvement has been superficial. And as you know, if a man has a superficial understanding of the Bible, he has a superficial relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, when Old Testament saints read things in the Bible that said to avoid unclean foods, their carnal immaturity caused them to invent “sins” by thinking this way: “Hmm, we need to make sure the physical food we eat stays clean. So we need to wash everything; our hands, our dishes – even the outside of the dishes and the tables. In fact, to not do those things is also a sin.”

They invented long lists of “sins”, and each “sin” was an attempt to please God according to their own understanding. The problem with adding to the word of God like that is those “sins” become a part of tradition and are eventually accepted automatically. Then generations later if you tried to do a Bible study on washing tables you’d find zero Scripture to support it. That frustration would then, when you considered the topic of unclean food, cause you to lose interest in a serious study on it because you’d assume the issue really is right and wrong and therefore some things are just “bad”, and you would think not eating unclean food was probably just another item on a long laundry list of sins that weren’t really meant to teach us anything.

But if you did research clean and unclean meat you’d learn the stuff covered on page D17-1,2. Then you’d connect it with God’s saying His people couldn’t marry dogs because they were unclean. Then you’d find a “contradiction” in the Bible when you saw that God allowed you to marry dogs as long as you took proper steps to ensure you didn’t become apostatized (made unclean) by pagan ideas. Then faith would make you accept the fact that God’s word doesn’t contradict itself, and you’d realize eating unclean meat and leavened bread really only typified the real problem of corrupting the new man with false doctrine (Mt 16:12). Then you’d branch out and study and understand the real significance of circumcision. Then you’d figure out the sabbath. Then you’d understand expediency as your understanding of the word of God began to expand. And all that would make you stop condemning the guiltless and help you realize the issue is not right and wrong.

The same leavening process has happened to us in the New Testament era: For example, Augustine’s superficial understanding of the Bible caused him to incorrectly link sex with carnality. That became a traditional belief in Roman Catholicism, which was carried over into Protestantism by Martin Luther who added a few “sins” to the growing laundry list that was blinding men in their Bible studies just as had happened to Old Testament saints. Soon we had all kinds of new traditional “sins” that, although they weren’t in the Bible, were sincerely intended to prevent us from becoming carnal, unclean, lifted up with pride, etc: Smoking, nudity, drinking, movies, dancing, sex, wearing bright clothes, using English words for bodily functions, etc. Those traditional sins have blinded us and prevented the above-described learning curve. Add to the damage done by tradition the fact that philosophy has exalted scientific knowledge over faith, which caused us to stop believing in a literal interpretation of the Bible – and even to doubt the modern existence of the word of God. So the Bible has become a mere frontlet or phylactery (Mt 23:5) worn on our foreheads or carried in our hands as a sign or mark that we believe its principles are the same ones the Beast wants us to cherish as sacred! (In other words, many Christians actually think the Bible stands for Freedom, Democracy, Equality, and The American Way.) Yes, tradition and philosophy have caused us to get our doctrines and beliefs from flesh and blood because the Bible is no longer the authority in all matters of faith and life. Therefore, our understanding of the Bible is superficial and has caused Christianity to become a confusing, self-righteous, condemning, contradictory, hypocritical, and inconsistent mess full of carnal, self-righteous Pharisees.

(End of excerpt.)