The Mark#
This is a part of our 666, Counted, Weighed, Divided study.
Revelation 13:16-17
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.
The mark is mentioned in Ezekiel and is expounded upon by the study we have just done in Daniel:
Ezekiel 9:4
And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Appropriately, the opposite can be said of Cain:
Genesis 4:15
And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
Bringing these symbols into a composite understanding, the mark is similar to the writing on the wall of Babylon, but instead of being written on plaster, it is written upon the people themselves.
Why?
Because the actual kingdom is the people who comprise it – not the walls or buildings of that kingdom.
Just as the Kingdom of God is known to exist within the people of God, the opposite is true of those who belong to the kingdom of the harlot and the beast. That is why it is said:
Psalms 9:17
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
This is profound: In Revelation chapter 13, at the height of human wickedness and power, a mark that is a sentence is applied to the very flesh of the people whose fists are clenched toward heaven.
It is said that the people are “caused” to receive the mark. This is very likely the seduction of the people into wickedness, idolatry, fornication, and so on – “causing” them to do evil and receive that mark from heaven, like Cain. Cain was guilty of murdering his brother in a similar drama. The common ideas of a tattoo, barcode, or microchip voluntarily received are almost certainly wrong.
Consider the following:
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.
This is expounded upon in the following prophecy found in Psalms:
Psalms 94:17-23
Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
This is understood more clearly through intuition, given the pattern of events in Daniel, where a law was passed to trap Daniel through the Law of God that he followed. Daniel would be forced either to cease praying to God or be put to death.
However, in this case, the conditions could also involve exclusion from society unless certain requirements are met that represent a serious compromise of faith, such as service to idols or worship of another power. The resulting economic exclusion would also resemble the anti-poor laws attributed to Sodom in Jewish tradition, where targeted people were denied the ability to obtain food and those who helped them were punished.
In conclusion of this point: The 144,000 are marked from heaven based on their good works and faith as seen at Revelation 7:3. So the same can be understood in the case of the sinners. They are marked for punishment.
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