| THE MARK OF THE BEAST |
|---|
| 16 He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead; |
| Rev 13:16 And he causes all both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave to be given a mark – the mark is the signature mark of the beast, who Daniel told us “shall intend to change time and law” (Dan 7:25). John lists the “economic groups” that will be affected by the mark. In John’s time, it was very difficult for a poor slave to rest on the Sabbath Day as God commanded, unless his master allowed it. Therefore, the commandment of God was written to masters, requiring them also to allow their servants to rest. on the right hand or forehead – the mark against one’s forehead or right hand is a mark against the commandments of God, listed in Deut 5. In Deut 6:8, we read, “you shall bind them as a sign in your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” This goes back to Exod 13:9, “it shall serve to you as a sign on your forehead and a reminder on your hand that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth.” The law in this passage is in verse 6, “seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.” Here, we find the first Sabbath Day, as described in Deut 16:8, “Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work on it.” The mark or scratch of the beast on all men is the violation of the commandment of God to rest on the Sabbath day. This mark was enforced on all men, beginning in the fourth Century. The Catholic Church proudly boasts that moving the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday is its mark: “Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [Saturday Sabbath to Sunday] was her act… And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things” (H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons). “Sunday is our mark of authority… the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact” (Catholic Record of London, Ontario Sept 1, 1923). There are several clues that tell us the changing of the day of rest is “the mark”: ① Daniel said the beast would “intend to change times and law.” There is no greater representation of changing times and law (God’s law), than moving the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday. ② The timing given by John is the fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire began its fall in the Gothic War of 376 to 381. Sunday rest was first enforced in 364 AD, by a council at Laodicea, and its enforcement continued over the next centuries. ③ Changing the Sabbath day is the only thing that would cause “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave” (Rev 13:16) to receive a mark, since the Sabbath day was made for all men, and not only for the church. ④ Satan’s attack is against those who have “the testimony” and “faith of Jesus” (Rev 12:17; Rev 14:12). The keeping of God’s commandments was considered by the Apostles to be the most significant act of a Christian (1 Cor 7:19; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 5:2-3; Acts 5:32). ⑤ If there is anything that would differentiate the Nations or Gentiles from those “who keep the commandments of God” (Rev 14:12) it is forsaking the rest of the Sabbath day. ⑥ Rev 14:11 tells that those who worship the beast, and his image and receive his mark, have “no rest day or night.” ⑦ Keeping the Sabbath Day has always been the sign of the sanctified people of God: “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you’” (Exod 31:13). Only those who keep God’s commandments can be sanctified by the holy spirit (Acts 5:32). |
| 17 and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. |
| Rev 13:17 that no one will be able to buy or sell except the one who has the mark– in other words, “no one can do business (on the Sabbath Day) unless they have the mark.” The same kind of a double negative riddle is found at Rev 9:4, “they were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of the living God on their foreheads.” the name of the beast or the number of his name – the Gentiles were called “beasts” throughout the Old Testament, eg. Hos 2:18, Zech 8:10. The name of the fourth beast of Daniel is the “Latins,” as we shall discover in the next verse. The letters of the Greek,”Lateinos” add to 666. The European States enforced Sunday rest through a barrage of sanctions, including fines, expropriation of property, and even imprisonment. These are comprehensively documented in Thomas Morer’s, “Discourse of the Lord’s Day,” published in 1701. Thomas proudly describes the history of these laws, on page 257, saying, “there are a great many cannons, decrees, edicts and laws..to let you see the Piety of all ages in this particular, and the care they had to have the Lord’s Day kept…I begin with Emperor Constantine…” His book is filled with many testimonies of signs and wonders that attested to the keeping of Sunday rest. Just as John wrote, “he (the false prophet) deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the presence of the beast,” (Rev 13:14). THE LUNAR SABBATH THEORY The expression “Sabbath” is used to describe any day off work, including holidays. The Sabbath of the first day of the feast of unleavened bread was first celebrated on the 15th day of the first month from Egypt. Coincidentally, the first regular weekly (Saturday) Sabbath, was on the 15th day of the second month (Exod 16:1), and the Ten Commandments were instituted on the third day of the third month, of the flight from Egypt (Exod 19:16). Because of this coincidence, some have theorized that the early Israelites kept a lunar weekly Sabbath that began with the first day of the month, and occurred on the 8th, 15th and 22nd. They believe the Jews did not observe the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments every Saturday in the time of Christ, but on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd of each month. This theory is incorrect. We know that Jesus was crucified before the Passover Feast Day, aka First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 15th, and the weekly Sabbath was the next day, which was the 16th, not the 15th. ① From Numb 28:16-17, we learn that the Passover is on the 14th, and the feast day is on the 15th. The Passover is also called the first day of unleavened bread because no leaven can be eaten on it. Mark 14:12 tells us that this was the day of the last supper, the evening before Jesus was crucified. Jesus became the “Passover lamb.” ② From Luke 24:21, we know that the first day of the week was three days after Jesus was crucified, “this now being the third day since all these things happened.” Therefore, He was crucified on Thursday. He was three days and nights in the belly of the earth, as He prophesied (Matt 12:40). ③ From John 19:42, we know that Jesus was crucified before the first Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. ④ The Greek text of Matt 28:1, tells us that Christ rose after the Sabbaths, this is plural as sabbatōn. He rose after two Sabbaths, the first Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the 15th, a Friday, and the weekly Sabbath. There is no reason to doubt whether the Ten Commandments resulted in continuous weekly Sabbaths, occurring every Saturday. |
