The reason why Daniel saw four beasts, and John saw one beast, is for the simple reason, in Daniel’s time, these kingdoms were all enemies. In John’s time, the Roman Empire absorbed them all, and all the enemies were destroyed. As Daniel 7:23 says, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all [previous v.7] kingdoms, and shall devour [absorbed] the whole earth [including the previous kingdoms that ruled], and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."

In Rev. 13, sees, not four beasts, but ONE beast. Not a leopard, but LIKE a leopard — possessing all its cunning, cruelty, and speed. But it also possessed the dominant characteristics of the two other most powerful beasts — the FEET of a bear, and the MOUTH of a lion. Daniel’s fourth beast, the Roman Empire, had absorbed and therefore it included the three beasts before it. So Revelation 13 Beast is the Roman Empire from 31B.C-476 A.D.

Who's Mark?

Only Text Usually Read:  This is the sole passage ordinarily quoted: “And he [the second “beast”] causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a MARK in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 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. 13:16-17).

But there are many more passages in the Bible on this subject. Instead of looking at just one passage only, then turning away from God’s own revelation of this mystery, then use MAN’S INTERPRETATION of scripture, instead of the Bible INTERPRETING ITSELF! As Isaiah describes how the Bible is written: “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” (28:9-10). The Bible is like a big jigsaw puzzle, put the pieces together and you get the whole story.

Many a preacher will tell you that the mark of the beast is some identity card that you have to wear under your skin, controlled by a huge computer in Brussels called the “Beast.” But again that’s MAN’S INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE, WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The “mark” is the mark of the “beast” the ROMAN EMPIRE! Not the mark of the church or the False prophet! This is fact number one! Keep that in mind!

But first, what is a mark anyway? According to the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, the Greek word here, charagma, means “a stamp, an imprinted mark... [used] of the mark stamped on the forehead or the right hand as the BADGE of the followers of the [Beast].... [and] the mark branded upon horses” (entry 5480). So it is probably some kind of badge or brand of identification!

We find an equivalent word in the Old Testament as well. The word “sign” in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance says: “owth...a signal, as a flag, beacon...MARK...(entry 226). So this word also is a MARK OF IDENTIFICATION! A flag identifies a country! Is there a mark or a sign in the bible that is on the foreheads and hands of people that is a mark or a sign of identification? THERE IS ONLY ONE! God's Sabbaths! His weekly and annual Sabbath days that HONORS, AND WORSHIPS THE KING, THE YAHWEH OF HOSTS! "I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts" (Malachi 1:14). God's law is the way God governs the universe, and his people. It is how we worship the Lord, and the laws of God identify us as his people!

God says “...Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign [mark, flag beacon of identity] between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am YHWH that doth sanctify you” (Ex 31:12). This is God's Mark, his Sabbaths. These were kept in the worship of the Lord God as Paul said, "But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:" (Acts 24:14).

Is God's mark in the Forehead and Hands? Regarding one of God’s annual SABBATHS, we read: “And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, [Forehead] that the YHWH’s law may be in thy mouth...” (Ex 13:9).

What is the meaning of the forehead and hand in the bible? The Forehead represents the mind, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;" (Hebrews 10:16).

Deuteronomy 6:1, 6-8, “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments...And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart...And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes [Forehead].” God's mark or sign is his laws and his Annual and weekly Sabbath days!

The Mark of Obedience

The Bible says that those who will suffer the wrath of God are those who have the mark of the Beast, "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (Rev 14:9-11). The bible also says that the "...the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:" (Col 3:6). So its mark of obedience. Like God's mark which is a mark of obedience! They must choose to obey the mark of the Beast!

The Beasts Mark

Now that we know God's mark is his laws that must be obeyed and his weekly and annual Sabbaths must be observed, in the WORSHIP OF THE KING, YHWH OF HOSTS, that must be our choice to keep. So what is the beasts mark?

We know that the Beast IS THE ROMAN EMPIRE! We also know that the symbol of the beast is a symbol of the king as well as his kingdom, you cannot have one without the other, "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth...The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth" (Daniel 7:17, 23). What is a kingdom? A government! "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

"Of the increase of his government [Heb. miśrâh] and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, [Heb. mamlâkâh] to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." (Isaiah 9:6-7). Though two different Hebrew words, they have the same meaning,  and used interchangeably, "miśrâh 1) rule, dominion, government (Brown's Driver Briggs Hebrew Definitions). "mamlâkâh  1) kingdom, dominion, reign, sovereignty 1a) kingdom, realm 1b) sovereignty, dominion 1c) reign" (ibid.) A government has laws in which it governs. So the Beast [the Roman Empire's] Mark, like God's mark, must be his laws, weekly and annual Sabbaths must be observed in the WORSHIP OF THE KING, CAESAR that people choose to obey, if not they were killed!

Notice how, in the Bible, they “worshipped the Beast” (Rev 13:4). History is full of accounts of the worship of the EMPERORS! The following is from Robinson’s Medieval and Modern Times, an older College Textbook, p.7, “The worship of the Emperor: In a word the Roman government was not only wonderfully organized...everyone was REQUIRED to join the in the WORSHIP OF THE EMPEROR because he stood for the majesty and the glory of the dominion...all were obliged, as good citizens, to join in the sacrifices to the head of state AS A GOD” (emphasis mine). This is called Roman Imperium, Rome's rule over its subjects, and the Imperator or Emperor was its Supreme Ruler. During this time of Augustus Cesar the Imperial cult was formed, this phenomenon was when "....the Roman Emperors were worshipped like gods....[and] the refusal to take part in emperor worship became one of the black marks against the Christians and cause of their persecution" (Ancient Rome, Don Nardo, p.109, emphasis added). These were killed for not worshiping the Beast [Cesar]. Though there was the Senate during the years of the Empire, it "...operated largely according to the whims of the emperor...And following Octavian's [renamed Augustus] seizure of absolute power...the senators had no choice but to support his sweeping reforms, which rapidly transformed the dead Republic into what became known as the Roman Empire..." (ibid pp.130-131, 139). Cesar was the lawmaker, the King, and god of the republic. If you did not worship Cesar, obey the laws you were killed. What does this have to do with Christmas?

Rome's State Religion

In the time of the Cesar's, this imperial cult worship, these kings were worshipped and they claim they were the SUN-GOD INCARNATE! 

"The identification of the Emperor AS SUN GOD encouraged by eastern theology [Persia] of the KING SUN' and by political considerations, undoubtedly contributed to the diffusion of a public sun-cult" (The Mysteries of Mithra, by Fanz Cumont, p.101, emphasis mine).

"The IDENTIFICATION OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR WITH THE SUN HAS A LONG HISTORY...Nero also erected outside his golden house a colossal statue of Sol Apollo with a radiant crown. The Emperor Aurelian was a devotee of the Syrian cult SOL INVICTUS...A magnificent temple was erected to Sol on the Agrippae and its dedication day (Natalis) [meaning birth] was DECEMBER 25...In the 3rd century the dedicatory inscriptions to Sol, Apollo and MITHRAS WERE SOMETIMES INTERCHANGEABLE..." (From Constantine to Julian, C. lieu and Dominic Montserrat, p.75, emphasis mine).

This sun cult in Rome had its festivals, and weekly day of rest, called the "Day of the Sun.," the day we call Sunday! December 25th was the Sun god's Birthday as well, " "DECEMBER 25TH the god's [Mithra's] BIRTHDAY, SUNDAY, the holy day..."(Holman Bible Dictionary, p.981, emphasis mine).

December 25th was the Feast of Sol Invictus. This festival, the then growing universal church adopted and put a Christian name on this pagan festival, something that God forbids us to do, "...thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

"Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." (Deut 12:30-32). The context of the verses is obvious not to mix paganism with the worship of God. The church did exactly that, As Durant says: "Christianity DID NOT destroy paganism it ADOPTED IT" (vol. 3, p.595, emphasis mine).

Now that we established that God has a mark, His holydays and weekly rest day, that is received in our forehead's [our will to do, and follow], and our hands [to put it into practice in our everyday lives], now we can see that the Beast [Cesar] has his mark as well, his weekly rest day [Sunday] and festivals [Sol Invictus, what we call Christmas today, Easter, New Year's] THIS IS THE MARK OF THE BEAST!

The Second Beast

Revelation 13:11, John sees a second Beast rise, "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.

The Deadly wound-This wound occurred in 476 A.D. when Rome fell to the barbarians, but was healed by Emperor Justinian in 554 A.D. This second Beast receives its power during this time. Its was a church/state government " he exerciseth all the power of the first beast...whose deadly wound was healed" With this power the Catholic Church caused all its subjects to worship the first beast, with the religion of Catholicism! "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark [His holy day, Sunday, and his Festivals, Sol Invictus i.e. Christmas] in their right hand, or in their foreheads:" (v.16). People who did not keep Sunday, and adopt these festivals were persecuted, and put to death. The Quatrodeciman controversy, the issue with Easter or Passover for the churches, the Catholic church forced the other churches to celebrate Easter and not Passover. Sunday, the laws were passed that, " Constantine established the first Sunday law in 321 A.D. He ruled that everyone should rest on Sunday (Venerabili die Solis)” (Britannica 11th ed., “Sunday”).

Around 365, the Catholic Council of Laodicea ruled, “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found Judaizing, let them be anathema from Christ” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 14, p. 148). As we know, this was a virtual death sentence to be anathema from Christ. They were put to death when the Papacy received its power under Justinian.

Powell comments, "Even the Jewish Sabbath, which BOTH JEWISH AND GENTILE CHRISTIANS FIRST OBSERVED ON THE SEVENTH-DAY was given up in favor of the MITHRAIC [Sol, the sun-god] SUNDAY, THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK” (A Powell Davis, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls, p.25, emphasis mine). Here is a more telling quote, from the Roman Church itself: “Sunday is our MARK of authority. The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact” (The Catholic Record, Sept. 1, 1923).

Christmas was “not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church” but “established in the fourth century [And] In the fifth century the WESTERN CHURCH ORDER IT CELEBRATED FOREVER ON THE OLD ROMAN FEAST OF THE BIRTH OF SOL...” (The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944, edition “Christmas.”) So it was by Papal authority that these feasts were established.

Buy or Sell?

"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 13:17). Many preachers says that without this computer chip you cannot buy anything in the stores, they apply this to our modern day way of life, of computers, bar scanners etc... But now that we understand what the mark is, we know this cannot be the case. The Apostle James writes, "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:"(4:13). He is writing here about everyday life, the life of merchants and traders. The buying and selling meaning here is to make a living, as a merchant or traders, to get "gain"! This is why all of us get up in the morning to work and get paid so we can live! Those who do not have the mark of the beast, then, will not be able to make a living. In history, during the reign of the Pope's in Europe, there are accounts of people not willing to follow Catholicism and were slapped with Papal bulls excommunicating them. If anyone was found keeping the Sabbath, they would brand them anathema, and the Papacy “caused them to be killed,” and “exercising the power of the first beast” would call the state police of the Empire and began torturing him. Unless he recanted, he was tortured until he died! Laws became so strict no man could hold a job, or engage in business, unless he worked on Saturday and rested on Sunday. And the world will be so geared that it will be almost impossible for one to “buy or sell” except he receive this MARK OF THE BEAST! This continued until the Protestant Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries!

Clarkes Commentary writes, “If any,” observes Bishop Newton, “dissent from the stated and authorized forms; they are condemned and excommunicated as heretics; and in consequence of that they are no longer suffered to buy or sell; they are interdicted from traffic and commerce, and all the benefits of civil society. So Roger Hoveden relates of William the Conqueror, that he was so dutiful to the pope that he would not permit any one in his power to buy or sell any thing whom he found disobedient to the apostolic see. So the canon of the council of Lateran, under Pope Alexander III., made against the Waldenses and Albigenses, enjoins, upon pain of anathema, that no man presume to entertain or cherish them in his house or land, or exercise traffic with them. The synod of Tours, in France, under the same pope, orders, under the like intermination, that no man should presume to receive or assist them, no, not so much as hold any communion with them, in selling or buying; that, being deprived of the comfort of humanity they may be compelled to repent of the error of their way.” In the tenth and eleventh centuries the severity against the excommunicated was carried to so high a pitch, that nobody might come near them, not even their own wives, children, or servants; they forfeited all their natural legal rights and privileges, and were excluded from all kinds of offices. The form of excommunication in the Romish Church is to take lighted torches, throw them upon the ground with curses and anathemas, and trample them out under foot to the ringing of the bells..." (empahsis added).

What will happen Next?

During the reigns of the Pope's and the emperors, the mark of the beast was enforced, and those were persecuted for not following. The bible says it will happen once more. The bible says those who will receive this mark will be under God's wrath in the end time. Christians will be persecuted, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Rev 20:4). Those who will not heed, and worship God will receive the reward of eternal life. This mark will be enforced once more during the rise of the last resurrection of the empire, (the 7th head of the beast with 10 horns). Today it is not forced, even though its all around us, we resist, and follow God, what about in the latter time, when it is will you follow God still, pray that God gives you the strength.

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