Revelation 13 - 16 - The Mark of the Beast has been being given to all in the Christian churches who did or will not depart out

Revelation 13:16
The Mark of the Beast has been being given to all in the Christian churches who did or will not depart out!
By Brother Mike (1-19-24; 60 minutes)

Note: you may miss out on some information if you do not listen to this study, but you only read it!

16 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 ...

INTRODUCTION

In our last study , we learned that the one Church-beast that the two beasts of Revelation chapter 13 both represent, which consists of Satan as its ruling part, his demons, and his counterfeit Christians in all the Christian churches worldwide (remember, the context of all of chapter 13 is in the Christian churches) was given to give spirit or life unto the image (or idol) of the beast. And, since we had learned that the image or idol of the beast that the whole corporate Christian Church, which includes all Christian churches worldwide, worshipped during the Great Tribulation from May 21,1988 to May 21,2011, and even to this very day, is the notion or belief that it, this one Church-beast, is the true God, Jesus Christ, who they still think is ruling in and over all the Christian churches when, instead, He is not. No, rather, it is the counterfeit Christ, the true Antichrist

(also called the Man of Sin, the Abomination of Desolation, and the beast), Satan himself, who is ruling as the head or authority part of the beast to deceive those in the Christian churches by the wonders or miracles that he was given to do through his demons and his counterfeit Christians whether they be pastors, teachers, evangelists, so-called prophets, priests, or other so-called Christians of any kind. These wonders or miracles have and are still being done such as counterfeit salvations, supposed miraculous healings, messages supposed to be directly from God in dreams, visions, tongues, voices, so-called words of knowledge, prophesyings, and, of course, the making of fire to descend from heaven into the churches in the sight of human beings, which we had learned in Revelation 13:13 parts 1 , is symbolic of the making of people to fall backward just like we had and have been seeing take place in many of the churches, especially during the Great Tribulation and still, even today, for although Satan's great rule over the world and the corporate Church was taken away from him and given to Christ on May 21,2011 when the many days of Judgment Day began so that He now rules with a Rod of Iron; nevertheless, our Lord has permitted Satan to continue as His own instrument of Judgment and wrath both against the world and all the Christian churches until the very Last Day of this world, which appears to be any day now up to as long as about the year 2035 AD. Yes, there is some evidence for the end to come in the year 2026 AD during the Feast of Tabernacles, or in the years 2033 or 2034 AD, but nothing yet that we can speak of for certain.

in their churches when He is not. This is the same image or idol that all those who will not depart out from their so-called Christian churches have been bowing down to. It is an idol of great deception! It is not an idol or image made from wood, metal, stone, or earth like one might normally think an idol to be made from, but it is an idol of the mind or heart in believing that God is still ruling in and working through the Christian denominations and churches even though according to the Bible that the very accurate , Biblical Timeline of History came out from by careful study in Holy Scripture and guidance through the Holy Spirit who leads God's true people into all truth (John 16:13), the Church Age spiritually ended on May 21,1988, and God's Judgment came upon all the Christian churches worldwide, for His Final Judgment on this whole world [had to] begin at the House of God (1Peter 4:17), also known as the corporate Christian temple or Church, which all Christian churches are a part of. Indeed, God brought His Judgment upon all the Christian churches by giving them over to the perfect counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist (also called the Man of Sin, the Abomination of Desolation, and even the beast), Satan himself, as Judgment against them for their rebellion against His Word in one area or more. And Christ has been saying to us all ever since God's word and the Biblical Timeline of History had revealed the Antichrist, who is the Abomination of Desolation to have begun ruling in the corporate Christian Church at the end of the Church Age on May 21,1988 in Matthew 24:15-18,

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation [the counterfeit

Yet, as already stated, it does seem likely that the end will come no later than about 2035 AD. But, whatever the case, we know, without question, that the end of all things is right at hand, and so it could take place any day now. Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer (1Peter 4:7),

44 ... for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh .
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season ?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing .
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods .
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming ;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken ;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of ,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 24:44-51).

Thus, we had learned that the way the beast gave spirit or life unto its image or idol (its image or idol being the belief that the true Christ is still ruling in and over the Christian churches) was by its working of those wonders or miracles through counterfeit Christians in the corporate Church. Yes, this is what brought spirit or life to the image or idol of the beast to deceive those in the churches into believing that the true Christ is still ruling

Christ, the Antichrist (also called the Man of Sin or beast), Satan himself] , spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place [the Church], (whoso readeth, let him understand :)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea [the Christian churches] flee into the mountains [flee from your church to escape God's wrath upon it to where God is, for He is no longer in your church, for His wrath has come upon it]:
17 Let him which is on the housetop [that place of prayer and meditation, or the declaration of God's Word] not come down to take anything out of his house [out of his church because it has been spiritually polluted by Satan who is now there ruling in place of the true Christ]:
18 Neither let him which is in the field [this world] return back to take his clothes [do not return to your church to obtain your salvation, for salvation is no longer there but only a spiritually polluted counterfeit gospel that can no longer save].

So, God's true people are no longer to be a part of any denomination or church because the Christian churches have all been spiritually polluted by Satan to bring God's Judgment against them for all their rebellion against His Word: some churches rebellious in this or that matter, and other churches rebellious in other matters. In fact, if you remain in any Christian church, you, too, are under God's wrath, and you are not worshipping the true Christ who was spiritually crucified by the Christian churches themselves during the Great Tribulation, which is now past, but you are worshipping that master deceiver and counterfeit Christ, the true Antichrist who

has already come, the dragon and devil, Satan himself.

Now, we had also learned in our previous study that the reason why the beast gave life unto its own image or idol, namely the notion or belief that Christ has still been ruling and working in the Christian Church, was so that this image or idol of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship this image of the beast should be killed. In that the image of the beast has been speaking is due to Satan and his demons working through the counterfeit Christians in the Church to speak his blasphemies (or lies) and to speak Great Things, which Great Things are the very things of Holy Scripture (remember Revelation 13:5 ). And in that the beast has caused that as many as would not worship the image or idol of it to be killed refers to when God's true people were spiritually killed in the Christian churches during the Great Tribulation from May 21,1988 to May 21,2011. They are the ones who, alone, would not bow down to the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist, Satan himself who gained his complete rule over all the Christian churches during the Great Tribulation, and who has been allowed to continue ruling all the Christian churches even to this very day as God's Judgment against them, Sodom and Egypt, which all the Christian churches have become because they are spiritually polluted by their own sins and by the Abomination of Desolation, the Antichrist, the devil, who was revealed to begin ruling in the Christian Church through Holy Scripture on May

21,1988, and this devil had gained complete rule over and caused complete spiritual destruction of all the Christian churches by September 7,1994 of the Great Tribulation from May 21,1988 to May 21,2011, just as the ancient king of Babylon had gained complete rule over and caused complete destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in 587 BC of that ancient Great Tribulation from 609 BC to 539 BC (the 70 years of God's Judgment against Judah, prophesied by Jeremiah, the Prophet), the latter being the foreshadow or type of the previous.

But now, today, we are looking into our next verse of Revelation chapter 13, which is verse 16, and, once again, it reads,

16 And he [the 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 ...

To begin, the beast is called a he in the King James translation just read, but it is better translated as an it because, as we learned in previous studies, this beast is not a male in gender, but it consists of all the counterfeit Christians in the Church (both male and female), as well as Satan who is the ruling part of the beast, and all his demons in the Church. So now our verse reads,

16 And it [the 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 ...

Then, when our verse says, And it [the beast] causes all ... to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads , the verb causes is in the Indicative Mood, Active Voice, and Present Tense of the Greek, and, therefore, it conveys a continuous or ongoing action (see Greek Verbs: Present Tense ), and so we can show this in our verse like this:

And it [the beast] [ongoingly or continuously] causes all ... to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads .

Thus, we know that this beast did not just give this mark one time to all, but, as we have just learned, it gives a mark to them all ongoingly or continuously during the contextual time period of our verse, which is during the Great Tribulation from May 21,1988 to May 21,2011, and even to this very day since Christ is allowing the beast to continue for a season and time to continue bringing His Judgment against all the Christian churches after May 21,20211 ( Daniel 7:12 ). So, if you consider carefully as we have done by recognizing that the verb causes in our verse is in the Indicative Mood, Present Tense, and Active Voice of the Biblical Greek to make the action of this verb to be continuous or ongoing, it immediately reveals that all those in the Christian churches who were given the Mark of the Beast have been continually or ongoingly being given that mark right on up to this very day. That is, the mark was not something that they were just given at one point in time during the Great Tribulation, but they have

been continually being given that Mark, which means this Mark must be something other than some physical marking such as a branding, stamp, computer chip, vaccine passport, nanotechnology, or any other such material or physical thing, unlike most are still looking for and the false prophets are still declaring. Why? Because any material or physical thing put on their right hands or foreheads would not continually be being put on them but only put on them at one given point in time. And remember, the entire book of Revelation, and even the entire word of God itself, is spiritual. We are no longer to be children in understanding to look for the outward physical or material meaning to Holy Scripture, but to look for the spiritual or symbolic meaning by comparing scripture with scripture and letting God's word be its own dictionary to define its own terms while keeping close to the particular context of our study. We are not to look out in the physical and material world as to what the Mark of the Beast is as do the immature and false prophets, but we are to let the Bible define what the mark is as we look for what the mark spiritually represents or symbolizes. And we will discover the meaning of the mark in Holy Scripture shortly, but let's first look a little closer at our verse.

Once again, up to this point, our verse reads,

And it [the beast] [ongoingly or continuously] causes all ... to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads . But actually, in the original Greek, our verse more literally says,

And it [the beast] [ongoingly or continuously] causes all ... that they give to them a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads .

But who is the they that gives to them a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads? I thought it was it [the beast] that causes all ... to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads, so how can it be the they that gives to them a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads? Well, it is because both the it and the they are referring to the beast. To show this in our verse, it can now read,

And it [the beast] [ongoingly or continuously] causes all ... that they [Satan, his demons, and his counterfeit Christians who are all a part of the beast] give to them [all] a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads .

But how can they (plural) refer to the singular beast (it)? Most translators did not know what to do with this, so they do not even show that the they in the Greek text even exists in their English translations. For instance, the King James translators do not even show it, for although they seem to recognize that the they must refer to it (the beast), they did not know how that can be and so do not even show it in the translation. Instead, they just translate the verse without showing the they, like this:

And it [the beast] [ongoingly or continuously] causes all ... to receive [not like it literally states in the Greek: that they give to them] a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads .

Anyway, we must still answer the question, how can they (plural) refer to the singular beast (it)? The answer is really quite simple: the beast is a plurality of beings. In other words, the singular beast (it) consists of more than just one being: it consists of Satan, his other fallen angels or demons, and all his counterfeit Christian as we have been saying all along. Thus, it (the beast) can also be referred to as they because the beast is made up of more than just one being: it is made up of they. And we had already concluded this earlier in our study of Revelation chapter 13. Isn't it wonderful how God further confirms that the way we have been looking at the beast as a plurality of beings as well as a singular Satan is true by our careful examination Holy Scripture?

So now, what we have learned is that, during the Great Tribulation from May 21,1988 until this very day, it (the singular beast), ongoingly or continuously caused itself (Satan, his demons, and his counterfeit Christians, the multiple beings beast) to give them all a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead. And, because the context of our verse has to do with all the Christian churches, sadly, we are being taught that all those in the churches who did and will not depart out from their churches to escape the wrath of God that had come upon them ever since May 21,1988 are all those who are ongoingly or continuously being given a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead. And who has been ongoingly or continuously been giving them that mark? Why we just learned that it is the beast itself (Satan, Satan's demons, and Satan's counterfeit Christians that now fill

the Christian churches, who have been and continue to be involved in giving all those who did or will not depart out from their churches to follow the true Christ in obedience, a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead (see Why leave all Christian churches? ). Wow! This means that all the ones who have been and continue to ongoingly or continuously be given a mark of the beast are all those still in the Christian churches. The focus is not on all those in the world and outside of the Christian churches who have been receiving the mark of the beast, but it is all those in the Christian churches; indeed, the very ones who think they will escape the mark of the beast, which mark they are still all wrongly awaiting to be revealed as some kind of physical or material mark to be mostly given to those outside of the Church. Are you beginning to see just how deceived all the so-called Christians in the Christian churches have been to this very day? For as we have stated many times, as God's Judgment against them, He is feeding them a strong delusion that they would believe a lie that Christ is still ruling in their churches, and that when they go to their churches, they are worshipping the true Christ when, instead, they are actually worshipping the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist (also called the Man of Sin, the Abomination of Desolation, and the beast), the devil himself. Yes, the churches have been given over to the devil for judgment ever since Judgment first began at the House of God on May 21,1988, and he has been allowed by God to show just how great a deceiver he really is to spiritually destroy all the Christian churches

Christian churches, the many days of Judgment Day having begun on May 21,2011 with no more possibility for Eternal Life either in the Church or the world, the end of the world soon to come, and much more.

But now, notice that all those in the Christian churches who have been being given the mark of the beast are described in three different categories: both small and the great, the rich and the poor, free and bond, for our verse reads,

And it [the beast] [ongoingly or continuously] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, that they [Satan, his demons, and his counterfeit Christians who are all a part of it, the beast] give to them [all who are in the Christian churches] a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads .

Why are there three different categories? Well, the number 3 in the Bible often symbolizes the purpose of God (see Bible number 3 ). Therefore, in defining the all in the Christian churches that are given the mark of the beast by three categories, God is revealing, it is His very purpose that all those in the Christian churches be given the mark during the Great Tribulation from May 21,1988 to the end of that Great Tribulation on Judgment Day, May 21,20211, and even to this very day. So, it is God's purpose that all those in the Christian churches be ongoingly given the mark of the beast right up to the Last Day of this world as judgment against them all.

Now, let's look more closely at each category. First, the all in the Christian churches are said to be both small and great. Specifically, we will

focus in on the spiritually small and great because we want to see things from the spiritual perspective that the book of Revelation chapter 13 was obviously written in by the Holy Spirit and not from the physical or literal perspective that all the false prophets have been attempting to see it in and so have ended up proclaiming falsehood. Indeed, we must always remember that the Bible is a spiritual book so that we must let it define its own terms by comparing scripture with scripture, spiritual things with spiritual (1Corinthians 2:13), and we know that the law is spiritual (Romans 7:14). So, by God speaking of the spiritually small and great in the Christian churches, it is just another way for Him to speak of all who are in the Christian churches: in them, there are first those who are both spiritually small ones (little ones) and great ones. Of course, the small ones in the churches would be the vast majority of those in the churches. These are those who do not seem to stand out in the churches as holding any particularly great spiritual gifts or talents, spiritual offices, or having made great spiritual accomplishments that would set them apart as being considered great in the churches. The great, on the other hand, are those who do stand apart from the others by their great apparent spiritual gifts or talents, spiritual offices, or great spiritual accomplishments. They are people such as so-called apostles, great evangelists, great pastors, great teachers, great priests, great prophets, great missionaries, or great others in the Church ...

But we must always remember how Christ defined who the great ones are in the kingdom of heaven: Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 23,

himself who deceived all the churches and congregations worldwide to worship him and receive the Mark of the Beast, and he brought in his counterfeit gospels, counterfeit teachings, and counterfeit signs and wonders to spiritually destroy them.

Now, before moving on further, we should note that Christ, like Satan, is also referred to as a lion in scripture. Remember, we read,

Re 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David [Christ] , hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof .

And, in describing Christ by four beasts (better translated as four living creatures), we read,

Re 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle .

So, Christ and Satan can both be described as a lion in scripture, but Satan is the counterfeit lion. Satan comes looking just like Christ, which is one of the reasons why he is described as a lion in the same way that Christ is. And there are many Old Testament verses that both typify Christ and Satan as a lion that we will not get into for brevity, but with that being said, let's look at one last verse. We read,

Hosea 13:5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought . {great ... : Heb. droughts }

6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me .
7 Therefore I [God] will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I [God] observe them :
8 I [God] will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I [God] devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them . {wild ... : Heb. beast of the field }

Notice that in this verse, because God is bringing judgment on His own people, God describes Himself as all three of the same beasts - the leopard, bear, and lion - which are used to describe Satan coming against God's Church as judgment against them during the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to when Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011 in our verse of study, Revelation 13:2. In fact, Hosea 13:5-8, the verses we just read, typifies God's judgment that would come upon the New Testament Israel, the Church, which we see being described in verse 2 of our study in Revelation 13.

Now, our verse 2 of Revelation 13 ends like this: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. That is, the beast (Satan and his kingdom) that rose up out of the sea (was loosed to rise up out of the bottomless pit in which it was first bound at the cross) to bring God's judgment against all the churches and congregations worldwide beginning on May 21, 1988 according to the well-proven , Biblical Timeline of History got its power from the dragon who we learned is the devil, Satan himself .

8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren .
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven [so why do Catholics do the exact opposite of this verse and call their priest, father? They do, indeed, seem to hold some of their traditions above the very words of God, don't they?].
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ .
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant .

And again, Christ says to His disciples at the Last Supper in Luke 22,

21 But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table .
22 And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed !
23 And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing .
24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest .
25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors .
26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve .

And finally, in Mark 9, we read,

33 And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way ?
34 But they held their peace: for by the way they [Christ's 12 apostles] had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest .
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all .

Thus, Christ defines who the great ones are: they are the ones who are out to serve everyone in the Church with their spiritual gifts or talents, and through their callings, offices, and achievements. On the other hand, the small or the least in the churches are those who do no or little serving of others. Unfortunately, that has usually been most the people in the Christian churches throughout history as Satan worked hard to plant more and more tares amongst God's true people so that once he was loosed from the pit that he had been bound in at the cross on May 21,1988 to be used to bring God's Judgment against Christ's Church, most people in the churches were already his. Thus, when the Holy Spirit who restrained Satan left the Christian churches beginning on May 21,1988, it was easy for Satan to conquer and begin ruling in the Christian churches, for most churches were already virtually filled with counterfeit Christians, ready to do Satan's bidding.

But next, in the 2nd category, the all in the Christian churches are also said to be the rich and the poor. Because we are primarily looking at the spiritual definitions of these words due to

the obviously spiritual context of our verse in Revelation chapter 13, this is basically saying the same thing as the previous category, the small and the great, which is what we would expect since all three categories are being set out to represent the same all who are in the Christian churches during the Great Tribulation, and to this very day. The all is just set out here in 3 different categories, as we had just previously stated, to simply emphasize that it is the very purpose of God that all those in the Christian churches have been ongoingly or continuously being given the mark of the beast during the Great Tribulation that began on May 21,1988. Why is it the purpose of God that all those in the churches continuously or ongoingly be given the mark of the beast from the beast (from Satan, his demons, and his counterfeit Christians)? You know the answer, it is because this is God's Judgment against all the Christian churches, for His Judgment [had to] begin at the House of God (1Peter 4:17), and it did begin on May 21,1988 and continues to this very day.

But then, now we ask, how does this category of the rich and the poor refer to all the same people in the churches as did the previous category of the small and great? Well, the spiritually rich have been those in the churches who, like the great, have been more spiritually endowed with gifts or talents, spiritual offices, or have greatly achieved things to set them apart from most who have been in the churches who are categorized here as being, not only small, but spiritually poor. Thus, in this context,

the rich and the poor refers to all those in the Christian churches in the same way that the small and the great do. That is, either category refers to the same people, namely all those in the Christian churches, although different terminology is employed to do so.

Then also, there is the third category of the free and the bond, which terminology we should expect to refer to the same people as do the other two categories of the small and the great, the rich and the poor because, after all, all three categories are set out in our verse to describe the same one people, namely the all those who are in the Christian churches during the Great Tribulation that began on May 21,1988. All three categories of all the people in the Christian churches have made an image or idol to the beast, and they are, therefore, the unsaved; but the saved have departed out from all the Chrisitan churches in obedience to their Master, Jesus Christ, to escape God's Judgment upon them.

Now, just who are the third category of the free and the bond in the Christian churches in the context of our verse? The free ones must be those who are not servants or slaves to something or others, and the bond ones must be those who are servants or slaves to something or others. And, just as the other two categories of the small and the great, and the poor and the rich, this third category of the free and the bond represents all those in the Christian churches during the Great Tribulation that began on May 21,1988 and ended when the many days of Judgment Day began on May 21,2011.

Well, having made it this far in our study, we must now ask the big question that everyone wants to know: exactly what is the mark of the beast? To begin to answer this question, let's first remember that the Great Tribulation began on May 21,1988 and ended on May 21,2011. And it was during that Great Tribulation that the beast (Satan who is the ruling part of it) was ongoingly or continuously causing itself (Satan himself, his demons, and his counterfeit Christians) to give to all who were in the Christian churches, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Thus, the mark of the beast has already been being given to all those in the Christian churches ever since May 21,1988. And, since Christ has been allowing the beast to continue on as His tool of Judgment against all the Christian churches for a season and time ( Daniel 7:12 ), which is from Judgment Day that began on May 21,20211 to the Last Day of this world, this beast is continuing to cause itself to give the mark to those in the churches right up to the very end.

Yet, although those in the Christian churches have been being given the mark of the beast throughout the Great Tribulation and to this very day, we have seen no kind of physical or material mark literally put on anyone's hand or forehead, so already, we must conclude that the mark of the beast is not physical or material in any way, but it must be completely spiritual, which is in perfect accord with everything we have seen in the context of our verse, Revelation chapter 13. The whole chapter has to do with the Great Tribulation and the Church, and it is all clearly spiritual or symbolic as we had already

strong delusion that they believe a lie (2Thessalonians 2:11), and He has given the whole Christian Church over to the perfect counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist (also known as the Man of Sin, the Abomination of Desolation, and the beast), the devil himself, and they do all worship him, as we have learned in Revelation chapter 13:8 and verse 12 .

Now, there is much more that could be given to show that the mark of the beast is completely spiritual, and it has already been being given to all those in the Christian churches beginning on May 21,1988 when the Church Age ended and the Great Tribulation came upon all the Christian churches, but that would all make this study far too long today. So, let's just mention one more thing before ending this message: it was already mentioned that the mark of the beast was said to be placed on the forehead because the forehead symbolizes the very spiritual essence of who one really is: a saved servant and worshipper of God, or an unsaved servant and worshipper of the devil. And because the forehead houses the mind and intellect, it, therefore, also represents whether one's mind and intellect is ruled over by God, or by Satan .

But now, what does one's right hand symbolize or represent, for we are told that the mark of the beast has been being given to all those in the Christian churches either on their forehead, which we already learned what that meant, or on their right hand. Normally, in the Bible, the right hand of someone is their place of blessing, honor, glory, and even salvation. For instance, we read,

being that although we were given a seal on our foreheads, we were not given a physical or material seal of some kind on our foreheads, but we were given a spiritual seal by the Holy Spirit of promise as we read in Ephesians 1,

Eph 1:13 In whom [in Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom [in Christ] also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise ...

Now, if the seal that God puts on the foreheads of all His true people is completely spiritual, which it obviously is in being the Holy Spirit, what do you think that the mark is that the beast, which includes Satan as its ruling part, puts on his people in all the Christian churches? That's right, it is a completely spiritual mark as well. It cannot be seen; it is not physical or material in any way. It is not a covid passport. It is not a computer chip, or a number engraved on the right hand or forehead. It is not a tattoo of some kind. It is not some kind of nanotechnology. No, it is a completely spiritual mark seen only in the spiritual realm that identifies all those who have been given it as unsaved and ruled over by and serving the beast and Satan. And, since in the context of our verse in study, this mark has been ongoingly or continuously being given to all who are in the Christian churches (those who did and will not depart out from all their churches in obedience to Christ), they are the ones who are unsaved and serving the devil. Of course, they don't even know this because, as God's Judgment against them that first began on May 21,1988, God himself is feeding them a

Mt 25:33 And he [Christ] shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left .
34 Then shall the King [Christ] say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ...

In this parable, the sheep, of course, represent the true believers, and they are set on Christ's right hand while the goats (all the unsaved) are set on His left hand. Obviously, those on His right hand, the true believers, are blessed of the Father because they inherit all the blessings of the kingdom. And so, we can say that to be on the right hand of Christ is to be in a place of blessing, honor, glory, power, and salvation. And again, we read,

Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God .

In this verse, after Jesus was taken up to heaven, we are told He sat down on the right hand of God, which, once again, we can say is that place of blessing, honor, glory, power, and salvation. It is a place of salvation even for Christ because He had been saved from death by having risen from the dead to sit down at the right hand of God in heaven.

And, indeed, we could give many other examples in scripture, but what, then, does it mean that those in the Christian churches have been being given the mark of the beast on their right hand? We already discovered that for them to have been given the spiritual and invisible mark on their forehead simply symbolizes that they are unsaved and rul

over by and serve Satan and the beast because what is on someone's forehead reveals who that someone is. But to have been being given the spiritual and invisible mark of the beast on their right hand; that is, on their place of blessing, honor, power, glory, and salvation that comes by being in Jesus Christ, means that the beast and Satan rules over and so determines these things for them. And as Satan is the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist (also called the Man of Sin, the Abomination of Desolation, and the beast) who is deceiving them to make them think they are in Jesus Christ when they are not, he is actually making them believe they have all the blessing, honor, power, glory, and salvation that comes by being in Jesus Christ. But they are not in Jesus Christ; therefore, to be given the mark of the beast on their right hand means that the beast and Satan rules over them and has deceived them into thinking they have all the wonderful things of being saved and in Jesus Christ, such as eternal blessing, honor, power, glory, and salvation when they actually do not. They are all those to whom Jesus now says in Matthew 7,

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works ?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity .

CONCLUSION

In this particular study of Revelation 13:16, we began with the King James translation that

reads,

16 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 .

We learned that it was better to call the beast an it than a he, and that when our verse says that it causes all ... to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, it is more literally translated, it [the beast] [ongoingly or continuously] causes all [all those in the Christian churches], both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, that they [Satan, his demons, and his counterfeit Christians who are all different beings of it, the beast] give to them [again, all those in the Christian churches] a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.We found that this mark could not possibly be a physical or material mark of any kind, but when applied to their forehead is completely spiritual and symbolic of who all those Christians in the churches from the beginning of the Great Tribulation on May 21,1988 to this very day, that did and will not depart out from their churches, belong to, worship, and serve, namely the beast, Satan. And when the mark has been applied to their right hand, it is completely spiritual and symbolic of what would normally be all the wonderful blessings that they would have in Christ, but they have been deceived and are ruled over by the counterfeit Christ so that they will receive none of those things, for the counterfeit Christ deceives and uses his people, but leaves them in the end with nothing to show for all their service as they are cast into the Lake of Fire along with Satan and all his host.

discovered over and over again. Therefore, we are certainly not out of place to conclude that the mark of the beast is completely spiritual or symbolic in nature. And it makes perfect sense, also, when we compare it to the following verses in Revelation 7 where we read,

Revelation 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in [literally, on] their foreheads .

And again,

Revelation 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in [literally, on] their foreheads .

If you will remember, when we had studied this verse in a previous study, we found that what this verse meant was that before God's Final Judgment could have actually began on May 21,1988 for those in the Church and on May 21,2011 for those in the world, the servants of God (the Elect, also known as the Saints) had to first be sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (they all had to be eternally saved), and this had to take place on their foreheads because, in the Bible, the forehead represents just who one is spiritually and who one serves, whether it be God or Satan. For instance, the Old Testament High Priest wore a pure gold plate on his forehead which said, HOLINESS TO THE LORD (see Exodus 28:36-37). This revealed just who the High Priest was and who he served, namely he was set apart for holiness to serve the

Lord God. Furthermore, as another example, we read,

Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH .

Notice that, once again, what is written on the Great Whore's forehead reveals just who she is, namely she is MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. So, once again, we see that the forehead of someone or something represents what or who that someone or something really is. Of course, the Great Whore is no longer a mystery to us, for we know she is the corporate Christian Church, which all Christian churches are a part of, during the time of the end that we have now been in ever since Judgment began at the House ofGod on May 21,1988 when she has fallen away and been completely taken over by Satan as God's judgment against her. Nevertheless, the Great Harlot or Whore, still today, has written on her forehead, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH because, being on her forehead, it reveals who she is: to most she is a MYSTERY, yes, but she is also BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH because it is written on her forehead.

Now, likewise, as we saw in Revelation 7:3, all God's people had to be sealed on their foreheads before Judgment Day began on May 21,2011 to symbolize that they all had to be eternally saved by that date. The point