Satan’s goal from the beginning has been to be worshipped. In his temporary time of glory, he will finally succeed in garnering worship through the anti-Christ. Even today, Satan is unknowingly worshipped in many ways. In this day, he will not be satisfied with unknown worship, but he will require all to worship the false messiah that represents him. God calls for worship to any who will come and give true worship as an act of love and desire. God never forces anyone to worship, obey or submit; He calls only for those who are willing to do so. Satan on the other hand cares nothing about love, but only to control. Once he is in a position of strength, any who will not submit will be forced to do so or will be killed. This is the whole purpose of the mark of the beast. Look at Revelation 13:
15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Let’s take a little time to discuss the mark of the beast. It is not the mark that is evil – it is what the mark represents. The whole purpose of the mark is to be an act of worship to the beast. Many have questioned the mark and what it represents and we will discuss this in detail shortly. However, I believe we should all be clear on this; the mark cannot be taken unknowingly. I know many people who refuse Social Security Numbers because they are afraid that it might be the mark of the beast. Some resist various technologies for fear that they will unwittingly take the mark and be condemned to hell. This is impossible. Look at Revelation 7:
2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,
3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."
This is not a visible seal but it signifies that God has set apart these believers for His service. Verses 4-8 tell us that those sealed are the 144,000 believers from the 12 tribes of Israel. These who are sealed have a special service to evangelize the world. They are Jews who have believed and now preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Great Tribulation is also the greatest time of evangelism this world will ever see. All believers were not sealed, only those called to deliver the gospel to the world. The seal represented the fact that these servants were set apart for God as His holy ones and for His service.
Now if we look again at Revelation 13, we see the same principle is applied to the beast. There is first a call to worship and then a call to receive the seal of Satan declaring that these who receive the mark have set themselves apart for the beast. It is a willful, knowledgeable choice that must be made by each person on the earth during this time. Those who refuse to receive the mark, by their actions, have refused to worship the beast and the penalty for refusing to worship is death. I firmly believe that everyone who receives the mark will do so with an oath of allegiance to the beast. God is merciful and will never allow anyone to make an irrevocable decision without knowing what they are doing. The mark without submission would mean nothing. When an immigrant requests citizenship in this country, they stand before the government, put their hand over their heart and swear allegiance to our constitution. When the new world government becomes the government of the beast, I believe everyone will have to swear an oath to worship him. This is why Revelation 14:9 warns of the doom of those who receive the mark. To take the mark, each one will make an eternal profession of allegiance to the beast and against God. It is a conscious sealing of judgment which will be clearly warned to the world before the mark is given, yet the majority of the world will choose it because the lie is more appealing to our sinful nature than the truth.
The technology available may provide the ability for the one-world government to exist, but in itself technology is neutral. Some argue that the entire mark is symbolic and therefore will be no physical mark. I disagree. Looking at the context we can’t draw that conclusion. How can a symbolic decision prevent people from buying or selling? I believe there will be a literal mark but it will also represent a literal decision to be set apart as a willing servant of the beast.
The technology is already in place today. Just this week, the FDA approved the unregulated use of implant chips produced by Digital Angel called Verichip. This news release can be read at the website of the Applied Digital Solutions (Digital Angel’s parent company) at http://www.adsx.com/ under the investors press releases. I was very skeptical about Digital Angel when I heard about them 2 years ago. It sounded too eerie to be true and I thought the website was probably a hoax. However, everything on their website was also available on Wall Street and any other financial news resource. If you are not familiar with this company, they have developed a device that is a little smaller than a grain of rice. It has a mini-receiver / transmitter. It uses satellite communication through GPS (Global Positioning System) and can pinpoint the chip implanted under the skin anywhere in the world within 10 feet. It can be used to track the person (such as a prisoner) to alert if they leave a specified boundary; it can be used to relay medical information, and because it is coded with a specified serial number, it can be used for identification and access to a database to be used for information such as medical history, financial history, etc.
It was originally marketed to pet owners and livestock farmers; however, over the years it has advanced to many other uses and definitely provides the technology capable of fulfilling the mark spoken in Revelation 13. Two years ago, Digital Angel released several press releases denying that it would ever be used for human implants. At the time, it was marketed as a device placed outside of the skin in humans but inside the skin of animals. Shortly afterward, new press releases stated that China had begun testing it in human hosts. Today Digital Angel no longer denies that it will be used as implants in humans. In May, Digital Angel made news when several networks agreed to carry live the first ‘Get Chipped’ human implants. During the national rollout of the ‘Get Chipped’ program, Digital Angel offered a discount to each person who purchased and implants the VeriChip (which cost around $200). Below is a picture of the VeriChip implant:
Keep in mind, the VeriChip is not evil in itself and I do not mean to remotely imply that the company that developed this chip is evil. The technology itself is neutral. The only purpose for discussing this chip is to show that the technology is already here. The manufacturer is currently embroiled in lawsuits and has always taken heat from Christians who recognize the reality that the prophecy in Revelation could use this technology. The response of the church should not be to go after Digital Angel, but to pursue God’s call. The only thing that prevents the anti-Christ from beginning his rise to power is the faithfulness of the church. If the church is obedient, there is no force on heaven or earth that can overcome it by God’s own proclamation. If the church is disobedient and falls from her place, all the fighting and resistance in the world will not prevent the man of sin from being revealed. The Bible has made two things very clear: The gates of hell cannot withstand the church, and the man of sin will not be revealed until the church falls away from the faith. God did not give us neutral ground. Either we break down the barriers and share the gospel with the world, or we yield this ground to the devil and allow him to overrun the church. Before the end times, there must be a falling away first.
The Bible tells us exactly how long the kingdom of the beast will last – forty-two months or 3 ½ years. However, his utopia is only a fraction of that time. He storms on the scene with cunning authority and the governments of the world submit to him, but the seams that hold this government together begin to unravel very quickly. In Daniel’s vision of the great image, the anti-Christ’s kingdom is the feet of part iron and part clay. As stated earlier, the iron is strength of might and the clay is weakness in his kingdom’s ability to adhere and sustain itself. Satan appeals to selfish human nature to establish his kingdom, but that same sinful nature prevents loyalty. A world filled with self-seeking leaders cannot be unified for long. The self-serving human nature will only give as long as the hope of gain is greater than the sacrifice required. To gain their part in a 3 ½ year kingdom, the world will sacrifice eternity while believing they are creating permanent peace. The Beast will be troubled throughout his reign but his kingdom is finally stripped of its power with the coming of the Lord. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 foretells that the man of sin will be destroyed by Jesus Christ at the brightness of His coming. This agrees with Daniel 7:
11 "I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.
He will first establish his kingdom and will have a brief moment of glory. However, wars will plague the anti-Christ’s kingdom throughout this false utopia. Daniel 11 gives a detailed account of the wars surrounding this kingdom. The beast will spend much of his time putting down rebellions, fighting off attacks and trying to annihilate his enemies. He claims to be a man of peace, but that peace only abides during the short period of time when everyone remains under his control. After control is lost, it is a never-ending battle to keep the kingdom from eroding. The final sentence describing this troubled kingdom in Daniel 11 states that the beast will come to his end and none will help him. When the true King arrives, there will be no resistance. When the true King arrives, the world will recognize the worthlessness of the world’s kingdoms and the lasting value through the power of God. The beast’s kingdom will make one last-ditch effort to stamp out the heirs of God’s promise at the close of the great tribulation. Look at Joel 2:
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand:
2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.
This is the Day of the Lord. The Bible tells us that the Day of the Lord is for judgment. God uses the world to judge Israel for its sins and then ends the judgment of Israel by allowing the world to come against God so He can judge the world for its sins. The purpose of the tribulation period is to be the final week of judgment for the sins of Israel. They have rebelled all these centuries and rejected God. Yet at the end of Joel 2, God declared that they will call for assemblies, repent and seek God’s face. God calls the people to prayer and then answers with His might. God uses the anti-Christ and his kingdom to ultimately show Israel the worthlessness of their rebellion. He uses evil to cause Israel to seek the good that only God can provide. In Armageddon, Israel and the whole world will see first hand what man becomes when he follows his own nature and resists God’s ways. It is not a pretty sight when God allows man to have his own ways and succeed in his pursuit of self. Look at Amos 5:
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
It is ironic that the dreadful day of the Lord arrives because God has allowed mankind to act without restraint. The greatest judgment man has ever seen will be self-inflicted. God is not harming man, but allowing man who has rejected him to harm himself. Never in the history of the world has God allowed man to act completely unrestrained. In this terrible day, God will allow it. To stop it, He intervenes by destroying those who are on the brink of annihilating His people and eventually themselves. Look at Zechariah 12:
3 "And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
We see this already taking shape today. The tension surrounding Israel grows more each day. From 1948 to 1992 the United Nations security council passed 175 resolutions condemning Israel and of the 690 general assembly resolutions passed, 429 were targeted against Israel. The U.N. has yet to condemn the terrorist attacks against Israel, but quickly condemns Israel when it retaliates. The anti-Christ will offer a promise of peace to end the unrest and wars plaguing the world. Yet in the end, he will break that promise and along with the rest of the world he will launch an all out attack against Israel. His kingdom will end just when he thought victory was in his grasp. Jesus Himself will descend, split the Mount of Olives and make an escape for Israel. The world’s pursuing armies will be destroyed in the same valley and the anti-Christ will be consumed by the fire of the Lord just as stated in Daniel 7:11, “The beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame”. He will come to an end and the great world ruler will find no help from the world. It is here that the war against God will come to an end, but will arise again after Satan is released for one final, but brief time.
The Tribulation Period ends with the destruction of the anti-Christ as we have just seen and the binding of Satan in Revelation 20:
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
This passage is fascinating in that there is not a great battle to subdue Satan. A single, unnamed angel is sent with a chain to bind him. The reason there is not a great battle is that he no longer has power or authority. Satan only operates within the parameters that God allows and he only has power by the hand of God. It is through Adam that the curse of sin entered into the world and Satan was given authority over the sinful world. Through the finished work of Christ it is stripped from him. The power of sin over the believer was disarmed on the cross of Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:15). The world will then be redeemed when Jesus Christ returns to end the age of rebellion. It is then that Satan’s authority over the world system will also be stripped. He will be reduced to nothing and his shame will be open for the whole world to see. Look at Isaiah 14:
9 "Hell from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.'
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
16 "Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?'
This passage makes it clear that after Satan has failed in his attempt to be worshipped as the Most High, he will be stripped and become weak like a man. No longer will he have the power to deceive or stir up strife. He will be cast into the pit and the world will look upon him with amazement. How could this weakling who is now bound as a man have done so much to deceive mankind, cause such destruction and brought so much fear upon the kingdoms of the world. For 1000 years, he will remain as a spectacle to the world. His imprisonment will end the rebellion of the ages and then the new, eternal kingdom will begin.
Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
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