We are continuing to look at things we are being confronted with because of the coronavirus so we can have a compass to navigate all these things with a sound mind.  

With all the talk about vaccinations, the idea of microchips being implanted in people is front and center.  Along with that comes all the talk about the mark of the beast.  Today we are going to look at the mark of the beast so we can see what it is all about.  

I’ve talked about the mark of the beast before in different bible studies and also in some Q&A’s.  Gary Vinturella has also preached a message about the mark of the beast several years ago now.  You can go and listen to that also. 

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  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:
Rev 13:17  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.
Rev 13:18  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.

The book of revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ.  It’s the manifestation of the truth that is in Jesus.  It’s the revelation of alpha and omega bringing to completion that which God began in Genesis when He said let there be light and he said let us make man in our image after our likeness.  

Revelation 13

Lots of fantastical language here.  Lots of symbolism being pulled from the entirety of the Spirit of prophecy.  

The system of the world hates those who do not conform to its message.  Jesus said if the world hated him it will also hate those who believe his word and call God their Father.  If we look at Jesus he didn’t buy and sell in the worlds market place because he didn’t conform to the wisdom of the world.  

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire because they would not conform to the message of the beast.  We can say fire was called down upon them.  

Buying and selling

Revelation 13 says in order to buy or sell a person must be marked with the beast. 

We read buying and selling and we think of our market places.  We think of Winn Dixie and rouses or king snoopers or Dillard’s.  And we think, if a person doesn’t get this mark they won’t be able to buy groceries.  Or even worse they won’t be able to buy toilet paper.  

Now there is some reference to a kind of a marketplace in these verses.  But the market place is the kind of market place where you would be shopping for life.  

We arent left to lean on our own understanding of what buying and selling is.  The phrase buying and selling isnt brought up out of nowhere.  The book of revelation establishes the context of what it means to buy and sell. 

Jesus says in Revelation 3:18  I counsel thee to BUY OF ME gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

Jesus says buy gold of me.  As in don’t buy it from somewhere else get it from me because my gold has been tried in the fire and is pure.  

Jesus is drawing a contrast between buying of him and the buying and selling in revelation 13.  You can either buy of Jesus or you can do the buying and selling that comes with being marked by the beast.  So its not about whether you are able to buy or not buy its about whether you buy gold of Jesus or you buy the gold that is of the world. 

It isn’t groceries or computers and things Jesus says to buy of Him.  Jesus says buy of me gold that has been tried in the fire.  

Gold is a treasure.  Jesus is saying there is a treasure in me.  I have a treasure you can buy of me.  But, you cannot buy it with money or with your works.  

Isaiah 55 says every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.  Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

The treasure or the gold we can have from Jesus for free is the life he has in himself seated at the right hand of God.  Its the eternal life he has in Himself. And the riches he has in himself to give has to give has been tried by the fire.  It’s pure it’s incorruptible.   Moth and rust cannot corrupt it.   

In Matthew 6 Jesus said dont lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.  

Jesus has a marketplace if we want to call it that and the world has a market place.  When Jesus says buy gold of me he is saying listen there’s a life that is from above that is incorruptible and a life in the earth that is subject to moth and rust.  Dont go shopping in the worlds marketplace for life.  Don’t buy the life that’s of the world because its corruptible and will leave you naked and ashamed.  Rather, shop in my marketplace, and partake of the life I have in myself, that isn’t bought with money or gold or your works and is incorruptible.  

Revelation 18

Revelation 18 talks about Babylon and the riches and merchandise she offers.  It talks about merchants of the world buying the gold and the silver and the fine linens and the riches of Babylon.  It says the merchants fornicated with Babylon to gain her gold and her riches, and were made rich through their fornication.  It talks about Babylon and the system and riches of Babylon being made desolate and turning into nothingness.  Leaving people in their nakedness and ashamed just as Jesus said in revelation 3.

Babylon represents the world and its wisdom.  It talks about the life that is born of the world and the manner in which you attain to that life.  Theres a certain glory that is of the world and Babylon talks about that glory and the way you would heap that glory unto yourselves.  

A merchant is someone who trades or traffics within a marketplace to attain to the merchandise the marketplace has to offer.  The merchants in revelation 18 are people who are buying the gold and the silver and the precious stones and the linens and the horses and chariots Babylon has to offer.  They are merchants of the world and the life that is of the world.  

Now the gold and the silver and the fine linens and such in revelation 18 are the riches of the world.  Its the life the world has in itself to offer.  Its the treasure Jesus said that was of the earth and subject to decay in Matthew 6.  

Notice revelation 18 describes the buying and selling the merchants are doing as fornication with babylon.  It says the merchants are being intimate with Babylon in order to attain to its fruit.  

What is this fornication with Babylon?

The way of Babylon is to look to the strength contained in your own hand.  Its to look to the riches and honor that is of the world as the power to be exalted unto life.  

Daniel 5 says the king of Babylon Belshazzar worshipped the gods of silver and gold.  He looked to the gold he gathered by his hand and he said this gold I have gathered by my own hand is my life ....and .... In Daniel 4 the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar says “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty”.  

Fornication with Babylon means to be intimate with the wisdom of the world.  It means you are a merchant in the worlds marketplace for life.  You look at the strength contained in your hand and you say by the strength and ability in this hand I will attain to the glory and honor that is of the world and by that I will gather unto myself peace and love and joy.  

If you look at the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28 it talks about this very thing.  Ezekiel says of the king of tyre ...... 

You looked to the multitude of your merchandise and you began to traffic in that.  You corrupted your wisdom.  You didnt buy gold that was tried in the fire.  But, you said I will be exalted by the multitude of the merchandise I can gather unto myself.  I will look to the strength contained in my own hand to gather unto myself the riches of the world.  And by the multitude of my merchandise I will be exalted unto life.  

The merchants in revelation 18 are the ones in revelation 13 who can buy and sell.  They are the ones who are marked by the beast.  Their intimacy is with the wisdom of the world.  They are shopping in the worlds market place trying to buy life through the strength contained in their hand. 

They see the gold and the silver and the precious rubies and stones and linens in the world.  They see the life the world is offering, and just as Daniel 5 says Belshazzar the king of babylon worshipped the vessels of gold ...... They are looking to the riches and the gold and the linens and the horses and the multitude of those things they can gather to themselves as the power to be exalted unto life.  

There is a life being offered by the worlds system.  And the tender used to try and attain to that life is the strength contained in the hand of a man.  Those who buy and sell on account of being marked by the beast.  They see they have an ability in their flesh.  They see there is a strength there.  And they enlist the strength in their own hand to gather unto themselves the glory that is of this world.  Their God is mammon!  

You cannot buy of the world its gold unless your mind is filled with the strength contained in the hand of a man.  

Marked by the beast

You know we actually have someone in the scriptures that became a beast.  Theres a guy that was actually marked by the beast.  

In Daniel the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar built a statue of himself because he said by the power contained in his own hand he built a kingdom.  Daniel says because he was lifted up in his heart he became a beast.  It was the belief in his heart that he built himself a glorious kingdom by the might contained in his own hand that caused him to be turned into a beast.  

The beast in revelation 13 is a man who speaks great blasphemies against God.  He speaks a message that is against the word God spoke in Christ.  His message is anti christ.  His message is the way of Cain.  His message says I will be exalted by the strength contained in my own hand to produce the fruit of life.   

If the beast is known by the great blasphemies he speaks against God then the way a person is marked by the beast is through taking the beasts blasphemies into their heart.  

Nebuchadnezzar spoke great blasphemies against God and he became a beast.  He worshipped the strength contained in his own hand.  He looked at the strength contained in his own hand and said it is by the power contained in my hand that I have built this glorious kingdom.  And he was marked by the beast.  He became a beast.  

Revelation 13 says the number of the beast is 666, and it is the number of a man.  

Something interesting about the statue Nebuchadnezzar made of himself to worship himself is the dimensions of the statue were 66.  6 is the number of a man.  Man was made on the 6th day.  The dimensions of the statue were the number of a man because Nebuchadnezzar’s mind was filled with the strength contained in his own hand.  6 is the number of a man who is lifted up in his own heart and thinks they can be exalted by the strength contained in their own hand.  Goliaths measurements were also 6’s.

The mark of the beast is for your mind to be filled with the strength contained in your own hand.  Its when you see your hand and you say in your heart i will be exalted unto eternal life by the strength contained in my own hand.  You see the riches of the world and you say eternal life is contained in those riches.  And so you look to the strength of your own hand; the strength contained in a man to gather unto yourself the riches of the world.  

When you take the blasphemies of the beast into your heart.  You become as a beast.  Your members are taken captive to labors and annoyances.  Lust is conceived in your heart and you are taken captive to a life of envying and gossiping and backbiting and hatred and murdering and fornication.  A beast does not have control of itself.  It is taken captive by its animal instincts.  Liza jane .....  

There is a scriptural reference for being marked on the hand and on the head.  That language doesnt just come up in the book of revelation.  It has deep significance in Gods history with Israel and with mankind. 

Remember John is jewish according to the flesh.  John gets his metaphor about being marked on the hand and the head from the tephillin or phylacteris Moses told the children of Israel to put on their foreheads and on their hands in the book of Deuteronomy.  

Now the reason God told Moses to have the children of israel put the phylacteries on their forehead and on their hand was to remind them that it was by strength of His hand they came out of Egypt and entered the land flowing with milk and honey.  Not the strength contained in their own hand.

The point was everytime they might think they had the goodly land because of the strength contained in their own hand they would be reminded by the phylacteries on their foreheads and on their hands that it was the strength contained in Gods right hand that gave them the land.  

God was trying to keep them from being conformed to the world and the wisdom of the world.  God was trying to keep them from being marked by the beast.  

When Jesus says buy gold of me and not the gold that is of the world.  He is saying do not be conformed to the wisdom of the world.  Being conformed to the wisdom of the world will leave you marked by the beast.  Yes the world has a market place where it is selling life.  But consider yourself dead to the world and the world to you.  The life you live now in the flesh live knowing your treasure is in heaven seated at the right hand of God in me and not in this earth.  

That is what it means to buy gold of Jesus.  That will leave you marked by the Holy Spirit and not by the beast.  That will leave you written in the lambs book of life.