The Mark of the Beast: Revealing the Naked Truth

By Pastor Aubrey Duncan

It is perhaps  the most frequently discussed Biblical doctrine today. Not only is this topic eminent in religious circles; but even the non-religious speculate and make determinations as to what is the Mark of the Beast and its ramifications on society. Regardless of whether you are religious or non-religious, Christian or of any other religious persuasion, you will be affected by the Mark of the Beast. The Holy Bible, the source which introduces the Mark of the Beast, clearly identifies what is the beast. It further portrays the beast most boldly proclaiming to the entire world what is its mark and what are the consequences for not receiving its mark. John the Revelator records: “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: 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” (Revelation 13:16-17).

Many theologians and self-described prophets have attempted to identify the Mark of the Beast. Almost universally, they have concluded that it is some kind of micro-computer chip, sophisticated electronic device or tattoo that would be implanted in the forehead and/or on the right hand. Unfortunately, this is what most of Christendom and the rest of the world have accepted as ‘truth’. But what does the Bible, the only source of Truth on whose pages the Mark of the Beast is introduced, have to say about the matter?

In order to correctly determine what is indeed the Mark of the Beast, we must first discover from the Bible, what is the Beast. The prophet Daniel foretold of the nations that would, from his time in Babylonian captivity to the second coming of Jesus, rule the world and have an impact on God’s plan for the redemption of human souls. In God-inspired prophetic vision, He outlined those nations in the imagery of beasts. In the seventh chapter of his exposition Daniel plainly explained what a beast is. First He portrayed Babylon, the empire in which he was a captive, as a lion with wings like an eagle (Daniel 7:4). Of course the historical record testifies that the Babylonian empire, under its leader Nebuchadnezzar, invaded and captured the Jewish nation in the year 606 BC. The empire that would wrest control from Babylon and then rise to world rulership was that of the Medes and Persians. Their dominance lasted for seventy years until 536 BC. This was in direct fulfillment of  earlier prophecies  given by the prophet Jeremiah who not only predicted how long Babylon would rule; but named the nation that would follow it (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 51:11). Daniel pictured that entity as a bear with three ribs in its mouth. Its conquest was to continue from 536 BC to about 331 BC.

Next, Daniel foretold of the nation of Greece using the imagery of a leopard with four wings on its back and having four heads. This aptly described the Grecian empire under the leadership of the young Alexander the Great who defeated Darius III, king of Persia, at the Battle of Arabella in the fall of 331 BC. Alexander captured the then known world with unimaginable swiftness and amazingly unheard of military tactfulness only to have his kingdom, upon his death at the tender age of 33 years, divided among his four top generals: Ptolemy Lagus, Cassander, Lysimachus and Seleucus Nicator (Daniel 7:6).

What Daniel prophesied next is quite remarkable. He described a beast that is unlike any in the natural world. It was a dominating, seemingly unconquerable power that devoured and ruled the entire earth with determined ruthlessness. It was simply unstoppable (Daniel 7:7). This is a fitting characterization of the invincible Roman Empire which arose out of apparent insignificance to overtake Greece around 168 BC, thereby conquering and dominating all of the previous empires. Rather than being conquered by another nation, Daniel related that it would disintegrate into ten divisions. Out of those ten divisions  which he classified as horns, Daniel foretold of a little horn that would rise out of the divided ten and would develop into a political/religious entity that would rule the world. This little horn was already growing in power and influence by the time the Roman empire began to disintegrate around 476 AD.

Historian Will Durant writes of that little horn, “When Christianity conquered Rome, the ecclesiastical structure of the pagan church, the title and vestments of the Pontifex Maximus, the worship of the Great Mother goddess and a multitude of comforting divinities … the joy and solemnity of old festivals, and the pageantry of immemorial ceremony, passed like maternal blood into the new religion, and captive Rome captured her conqueror. The reigns and skills of government were handed down by a dying empire to a virile Papacy. The lost power of the broken sword was re-won by the magic of the consoling word. The armies of the state were replaced by the missionaries of the church, moving in all directions along the Roman roads; and the revolted provinces, accepting Christianity, again acknowledged the sovereignty of Rome. The church with the shadow of the ancient authority behind it, was the only symbol left of imperial Rome. Its bishop, the pope of Rome, was the city’s only recourse for leadership and protection. The Roman Empire in Europe would be replaced by the spiritual empire, which came to be temporal as well, whose reigning seigneur was the bishop of Rome” (Caesar and Christ, page 672).

Daniel foresaw the successive rulership of the nations mentioned then declared, “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth” (Daniel 7:17). He then focused on the fourth beast, the Pagan Roman Empire, emphasized its transformation into the massive European Ecclesiastical Establishment and the work it would do in opposing God whilst claiming to represent Him. He explained, “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces…And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time” (Revelation 7:23, 25).

Not only does the Roman church deceptively, but boldly, claims to be God’s representative on earth, thereby taking upon itself the prerogatives of God; it has persecuted and slaughtered more than fifty million souls who refused to accept her usurpation of the God of all creation. Primary among her blasphemous claims is that of changing God’s holy Sabbath-day from the seventh to the first day of the week. The God of all creation lovingly admonishes all humanity: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).

But the beast (little horn) of end-time prophecy boastfully proclaims, “Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the church ever did happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed to Sunday … not from any directions noted in Scriptures, but from the church’s sense of its own power…People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become Seventh-day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy” (Saint Catherine Catholic Church Sentinel, May 21, 1995). Then she makes it plain for all to see what is her mark of authority: “Sunday is our mark of authority…the church is above the Bible, and the transference of Sabbath is proof of that fact.” (Catholic Record, Sept 1, 1923).

Jehovah declares that His Sabbath is His sign between He and His people: “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed ” (Exodus 31:16-17). Just in case you may be tempted to think that that was just for the ancient Israelites, do consider the apostle Paul ‘s admonition to fellow Christians: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). One cannot claim to be heirs to the promise and at the same time reject the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments which includes the Sabbath Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11).

Doing such is tantamount to supporting the beast and receiving its mark. Hence, Francis declared to the world in his recent encyclical, Laudato Si’, as he proposed his solution for the world’s problems: “On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. It also proclaims “man’s eternal rest in God” (Laudato Si’, Section, 168).

First, there is no such animal as a Jewish Sabbath. It is the Sabbath of Creator God (Genesis 2:2-3; Mark 2:27-28). Pope Francis also convened a General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to address the topic: The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization. In 2014, the Vatican published the results of these consultations overseen and approved by Pope Francis in a final document which says the following about Sunday in section #49: “Some responses recommend preserving the special character of Sunday as the Lord’s Day — even civilly where possible — and encouraging families to meet on this day, not only individually as a family but collectively with other families” (The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization, Section, 49).

In other words, one will be punished for honoring the God of creation by thus rejecting the Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:16-17). And how does one receive this mark on the forehead and on the right hand? The forehead is the place where the frontal lobe is located. It is the part of the brain  where, among other things, we make moral decisions. When the universal legal proclamation goes forth to honor Sunday, what will your decision be? It will be then that the Mark of the Beast will be enforced. Will your decision be for the God of all creation and His Sabbath; or will it be for the man of sin, the son of perdition who seeks to take the place of God by prescribing Sunday? (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). It is an issue that is just before us.

The apostle warns, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid…Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16-17).

This is the naked truth about the Mark of the Beast. Whether you agree or not, I encourage you to prayerfully consider the sixteenth chapter of the Revelation to understand the consequences of receiving the mark of the beast, and by God’s grace, know what it truly is and avoid it.

You can reach Pastor Aubrey Duncan through email at: adventtruth@yahoo.com