There has always been a lot of stuff going around about the “Mark of the Beast”. It seems clear to me that this “mark” issue does not arise until the last half of the tribulation. Therefore it is an idle fear for any church-age believer to think that he or she could some how in error receive this mark. The mark requires a given allegiance to the Antichrist and an acknowledgment that the receiver can only buy and sell based on the reception of this mark. It will be the Antichrist’s means of enforcing his authority.
There is however, something regarding the coming of this mark that I think we should observe and that is the “number” of the mark. The number is 666. It seems also to me that there really is no mystery left regarding this number. Revelation 13:18 declares clearly that is the number of man. Therefore we are looking at a time in the future when man asserts himself in authority over everything, God included. It is a world that is all about man to the exclusion of God.
We have seen some clear steps in this direction within the general culture. The exclusion of the “Ten Commandments” that have served as monuments to our laws throughout the history of America is one thing we could cite. Another would be the clear rejection of Biblical morality by our courts, seen in recent rulings regarding same-sex marriage and abortion. These are easily observed.
Another more subtle thing is what has happened within the evangelical churches of America. This started years ago in what was becoming the “church-growth” movement. I remember being in some of those seminars and hearing these new church gurus tell us young men that, “if it works in the world, it will work in the church”. This was their way of introducing into the lives of our churches the ways of man. And now we see so many churches that reflect the works of man to the neglect of “abiding in the Vine”. It is a subtle and dangerous error. May God preserve us from the ways of man!
