The Choice

Disciples of Jesus and others who give their allegiance and devotion to the State are at risk of taking the Mark of the Beast.

Humanity is divided into two and only two groups: Those who follow the “Lamb wherever he goes,” and those who submit to the “Beast.” Members of the first group will not experience the “Second Death,” but everyone who takes the Beast’s “mark” and otherwise swears fealty to it will be cast into the “Lake of Fire.” There is no third option, no neutral ground.

What determines our fate is whether we follow the “Lamb” or the “Beast.” The graphic image provided by the Book of Revelation has profound implications for us and our relationship with the State and Society.

[Crossroads - Photo by Einar Storsul on Unsplash]

The group identified in Revelation as the “Inhabitants of the Earth” is composed of men who take the “Number of the Beast” and venerate its “image.” When they do so, they acknowledge and embrace the power behind the imperial throne as their overlord, the “Great Red Dragon, that Ancient Serpent called Satan.”

The Beast’s number or ‘666’ is derived from the dimensions of Nebuchadnezzar’s great golden image described in the Book of Daniel. The Babylonian king commanded his subjects to render homage to “the image I have set up.” It measured sixty cubits by six cubits. Every man who refused to bow before the image would be cast into a “burning fiery furnace.” – (Daniel 3:1-6).

This background is employed by Revelation but in an ironic fashion. The inhabitants of end-time Babylon “render homage” to the “Beast” and its image, and they have his name or number, six hundred sixty and six, “branded” on their right hand or forehead. Their names will be excluded from the “Book of Life,” and they will face the “Second Death” - (Revelation 13:11-18).

• “And all the Inhabitants of the Earth will worship the Beast, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain” - (Revelation 13:8).

• “If any man worships the Beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. And he will 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 ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day and night, those men who worship the Beast and its image, and receive the mark of his name” - (Revelation 14:9-11).

In contrast, the men who follow the “Lamb wherever he goes” will stand with him on Mount Zion. They have the name of God “inscribed” on their foreheads rather than the number of the “Beast,” and instead of the “Lake of Fire,” they will inherit everlasting life in the city of “New Jerusalem.”

What distinguishes the “Inhabitants of the Earth” from the followers of Jesus is their choice to serve the “Beast” rather than the “Lamb,” Caesar rather than Christ. The “Beast from the Sea” is a servant of the “Dragon.” Anyone who swears fealty to the “Beast” pays homage to the power behind the throne.

CHRIST OR CAESAR

The “Beast” is granted authority over “every tribe and people and tongue and nation,” and in the Book of Revelation, “all” means exactly that. Either you “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” and inherit life, or you pledge allegiance to the “Beast” and experience the “Second Death.”

While the story of Nebuchadnezzar plays its part in the narrative, the more prominent figure is the “Little Horn with the mouth speaking great things” from the Book of Daniel. This ruler waged war on and “trampled” the saints of Israel. He defiled the Sanctuary of God with the “abomination that desolates.” Daniel describes him as the “king of fierce countenance” who deceived the people of the covenant with his “flatteries,” and the “contemptible man.” He was “lawless” since he attempted to “change laws and seasons” - (Daniel 7:7-8, 7:21-25, 8:10-13, 8:23-26, 11:21).

Most ominously, this “Little Horn” demanded the worship that belongs to God alone, and the same offense will be committed by the coming “Man of Lawlessness” who will cause many saints to abandon the faith:

• “And the king will do according to his pleasure, and he will exalt himself and magnify himself against every god; indeed, he will speak wonderful things against the God of gods” – (Daniel 11:36).

• “Let no man deceive you in any way, for it will not be, except first the apostasy comes and the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction is revealed, he who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he seats himself in the Sanctuary of God, presenting himself as Divine” – (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

• “And I saw one of his heads as though it had been slain unto death. And his death stroke was healed, and the whole habitable earth wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the Dragon because he gave his authority to the Beast. And they worshipped the Beast, saying, Who is like the Beast, and who can make war with him?  And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and there was given to him authority to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his Tabernacle, those who tabernacle in the heavens. And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and people and tongue and nation” – (2 Thessalonians 13:3-7).

So, what does all this mean for us today? First and foremost, we must decide to whom and what we give our allegiance, whether to the beastly systems of the present age or the Kingdom of God and its sole Sovereign, Jesus Christ.

We may not yet live under the final incarnation of the “Beast from the Sea,” but sooner or later, that imperial system will appear on Earth. Better to decide now who we serve before it is too late.

In God’s Kingdom, there is no concept of “dual citizenship” or room for divided loyalties. Only one kingdom will be left standing. Moreover, the “Beast with the mouth speaking great things” will demand the worship that belongs only to God, he will have the ultimate “god complex.”

The arrival of this final “Beast” will not be something entirely new. History has witnessed many attempts by political leaders to dominate regions and peoples. Such regimes always demand the absolute loyalty of everyone under their dominion.

The “Beast from the Sea” will be the seventh in a long line of empires. By John’s time, the first five had come and gone, the sixth held power in the first century, and the seventh had not yet come (“Five are fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a little while” – Revelation 17:8-10).

When the final embodiment of the “Beast” ascends from the “Sea,” it will not be the Devil’s first attempt at establishing the World Empire, though it will certainly be his last. We must decide now if we will give our allegiance to the Empire or the Kingdom of God, to the tyrannical “Beast” or the self-sacrificial “Lamb.” That is the choice before us.

While we as Christ’s disciples are commanded to obey laws and give proper respect to governing authorities, we must never give the allegiance and veneration that we owe only to Jesus to anyone or anything else.

If we swear fealty to Caesar rather than Christ, we will find ourselves branded with the “Mark of the Beast,” and on the path that leads inevitably to the “Lake of Fire, the Second Death.”

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SEE ALSO:

• The Ancient Regime - (The Beast of Revelation embodies the ancient imperial power that has stalked the saints since the Tower of Babel incident)

• Swearing Allegiance - (In the Book of Revelation, every man and woman must choose between loyalty to the Beast from the Sea or the Sacrificial Lamb)

• Empires Rise and Fall - (Imperial arrogance is the legacy of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first but certainly not last attempt to establish the World Empire)

• Jesus Reigns - (Jesus triumphed over Satan and Sin through his Death and Resurrection, therefore, he now reigns from the Messianic Throne)