Mark of the Beast

In order to figure out what the mark of the beast is we must discover two different things: First who or what is the beast, and second, what is it’s mark? Does God have a mark? Let’s begin with the whole chapter of Revelation 13:1 “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 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: 17 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. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/REV.13.KJV So what does a beast represent in the Bible? Let’s turn to Daniel chapter 7:2 “Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. 17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 20 and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 23 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. 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 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. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/DAN.7.KJV These four beasts are the same as the four beasts found in Nebucadnezer’s dream in  Daniel chapter 2:31 “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.  36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/DAN.2.KJV The first beast of Revelation seems to be a composite of the bear, leopard, and the lion. This composite beast would then have the characteristics of those 3 kingdoms Medo-Persia, Greece and Babylon. Who then is the dragon that gives this beast power? Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/REV.12.KJV 

The first beast of Revelation 13 and the little horn of Daniel 7 have the same characteristics and are the same beast. Let’s look at these characteristics: “A. The little horn would come “up among them”—that is, from among the 10 horns that were the kingdoms of Western Europe (Daniel 7:8). So it would be a little kingdom somewhere in Western Europe. B. It would have a man at its head who could speak for it (Daniel 7:8). C. It would pluck out or uproot three kingdoms (Daniel 7:8). D. It would be different from the other 10 kingdoms (Daniel 7:24). E. It would make war with and persecute the saints (Daniel 7:21, 25). F. It would emerge from the pagan Roman Empire—the fourth kingdom (Daniel 7:7, 8). G. God’s people (the saints) would “be given into his hand” for “a time and times and half a time” (Daniel 7:25). H. It would “speak great words against” or blaspheme God (Daniel 7:25 KJV). In Revelation 13:5, the Bible says the same power speaks “great things and blasphemies.” I. It would “intend to change times and law” (Daniel 7:25). Don’t forget—all these identification points come directly from the Bible. They are not some human opinion or speculation. Historians could tell you quickly what power is being described, because these points fit only one power—the papacy.” https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4992/t/who-is-the-antichrist- 

Points A & C: According to history, the major rulers of the world were: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and then Rome. Rome was not conqured but became divided into ten separate “kingdoms”. These kingdoms were: “The Alemanni, The Franks, The Burgundians, The Vandals, The Suevi, The Visigoths, The Saxons, The Ostrogoths, The Lombards, and The Heruli. The three plucked up were the Heruli in Italy in 493, the Vandals in Africa in 533, and the Ostrogoths in Italy in 538. Therefore, ten kingdoms existed in Western Rome between A.D. 476-493" https://thesureword.org/the-ten-kingdoms-of-rome/ “This history of the plucking up of these powers culminates with Imperial Rome giving it’s seat, power, and authority to papal Rome (Revelation 13:2; Daniel 11:31), making it “more stout than his fellows” (Daniel 7:20).(Points B, D & F) In 533 AD, Justinian made the Western Bishop head of church and state, strengthening its influence across the then known world. Church-wise, this took care of the opposing bishops in the East, who wanted to be ‘fratres’ or brothers—but the Western Bishop wanted to be ‘papa’ or Father (Hence the title pope or Holy Father). However, the Arian powers stood in the way of its state influence in the region, so Justinian helped to destroy these. The last of the three, the Ostrogoths, were uprooted in 538 AD. ... So, ultimately, the... understanding is that other powers “plucked up” the Arian powers to pave the way for the development of papal church-state supremacy in the Old World (Daniel 11:31),... In 1798, the Pope was captured by Napolen’s military commander, Louis-Alexandre Berthier, which... signify the end of the papacy’s dominating state power and ... (received a) “deadly wound” of the sea beast of Revelation 13 .... One of the underlying reasons for the French Revolution was take off the yoke of the Catholic monarchy. Interestingly, when Mousollini gave the papacy sovereignty over the Vatican through the Lateran Treat in 1929, The San Francisco Chronicle of February 12, 1929, exploded with the headline, “Mussolini and Gasparri Sign Historic Roman Pact, Heal Wound of Many Years;” the New York Times also talked about this in its February 12, 1929 issue, in which the abstract says, “The Pope is again an independent sovereign ruler, as he was throughout the Middle Ages, though his temporal realm, established today, is the most microscopic independent State in the world, and probably the smallest in all history.” These headlines allude to the... understanding of the prophecy ... (the little horn power in its papal phase having state power).” https://www.quora.com/According-to-the-SDA-doctrine-the-Arian-Ostrogoths-Heruli-and-vandals-were-uprooted-or-overcome-by-the-papacy-and-became-extinct-Is-this-true  

Now that we have established that the papacy is the little horn power and the first beast in Revelation 13 what would “the Mark” of the papacy be? For that we only need to go to their own writings. I need to emphasize that I am not talking about any one individual, but a system that has set up itself as if they are God on this earth. Does God have a “mark” and what is it? The answer is yes, God has a mark or a seal and the devil has a counterfeit mark. So what are these marks? “In the Bible, the words seal, sign, mark, and token are used interchangeably.” as in Romans 4: 11 “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ROM.4.KJV Exodus 31: 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17It 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.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/EXO.31.KJV Ezekiel 20: 12 “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/EZK.20.KJV Lest you think that this was meant only for the Israelites see my other blog on who are God’s chosen people: https://iodtiger.blogspot.com/2025/04/who-are-gods-chosen-people.html and if you think that God has done away with His laws see my other blog: https://iodtiger.blogspot.com/2025/05/all-governments-have-laws.html 

Now that we understand that the Sabbath is the sign of God’s true-hearted believers let us look at the claims of the Papacy regarding the Sabbath. “Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? 

    A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority. Q. Have you any other proofs that they are not guided by the Scriptures? 

    A. Yes; so many, that we cannot admit more than a mere specimen into this small work.  They reject much that is clearly contained in Scripture, and profess more that is nowhere discoverable in that Divine Book. 

    Q. Give some examples of both? 

    A. They should, if the Scripture were their only rule, wash the feet of one another, according to the command of Christ, in the 13th chap. of St. John;—they should keep, not the Sunday, but the Saturday, according to the commandment, "Remember thou keep holy the SABBATH-day;" for this commandment has not, in Scripture, been changed or abrogated;—they should receive, what they call the sacrament, after supper, and not in the morning, because Christ instituted that sacrament at night, and his Apostles received it after supper;—they should not eat blood or strangled meat, because the Apostles forbid it in the 15th chap. of the Acts;—they should not baptize infants, as there [pg. 102] is no example in Scripture to justify such a practice. Q. What inference would you draw from all this? 

    A. That Protestants ought rather to call themselves Anti-Evangelicals, than Evangelicals, as their doctrines are opposed to, rather than in conformity with, the Gospel. Q. When Protestants do profane work upon Saturday, or the seventh day of the week, do they follow the Scripture as their only rule of faith,—do they find this permission clearly put down in the Sacred Volume? 

    A. On the contrary, they have only the authority of tradition for this practice. In profaning Saturday, they violate one of God's commandments, which he has never clearly abrogated, "Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day." 

    Q. Is the observance of Sunday, as the day of rest, a matter clearly laid down in Scripture? 

    A. It certainly is not; and yet all Protestants consider the observance of this particular day as essentially necessary to salvation. To say, we observe the Sunday, because Christ rose from the dead on that day, is to say we act without warrant of Scripture; and we might as well say, that we should rest on Thursday because Christ ascended to heaven on that day, and rested in reality from the work of redemption. Q. What do you conclude from all this? 

    A. That Protestants have no Scripture for the measure of their day of rest,—that they abolish the observance of Saturday without warrant of Scripture;—that they substitute Sunday in its place without Scriptural authority,—consequently, that for all this, they have only traditional authority. https://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/catechism.htm “How has the papacy tried to change God’s law? In three ways: In her catechisms she has (1) omitted the second commandment against veneration of images, and (2) shortened the fourth (Sabbath) commandment from 94 words to just eight. The Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:8–11) clearly specifies Sabbath as the seventh day of the week. As changed by the papacy in its catechism, the commandment reads, “Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.” Written thus, it can refer to any day. And, finally, she (3) divided the tenth commandment into two commandments.” https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4997/t/the-mark-of-the-beast "Question.-How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days? "Answer.-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of Christian doctrine."- Abridgment by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D.D., page 58. NOTES-In a letter written in November, 1895, Mr. H. F. Thomas, chancellor to Cardinal Gibbons, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath, said: "Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. . . . and the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things," For other statements concerning this, see pages 133, 136. The true Sabbath being a sign of loyalty to the true God, it is but natural that the false Sabbath should be regarded as a sign of allegiance to apostasy. And such we find to be the case. https://a.aolis.aup.edu.ph/wingp/biblereadings/What_does_the_Papacy_set_forth_as_the_mark__or_sign__of_its_power_and_authority_.php 

What does it mean then to receive the mark in the forehead or in the hand? “The forehead represents the mind (Hebrews 10:16 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, And in their minds will I write them;” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/HEB.10.KJV). A person will be marked in the forehead by a decision to keep Sunday as a holy day. The hand is a symbol of work (Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ECC.9.KJV ). A person will be marked in the hand by working on God’s holy Sabbath or by going along with Sunday laws for practical reasons (job, family, etc.). The sign, or mark, for either God or the beast will be invisible to people. You will, in essence, mark yourself by accepting either God’s mark—the Sabbath—or the beast’s mark—Sunday. Though invisible to men, God will know who has which mark (2 Timothy 2:19 “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/2TI.2.KJV ).” https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4997/t/the-mark-of-the-beast 

Does anyone currently have the mark of the beast? NO. Until there is legislation enforcing the papal Sunday over God’s commandment, there is no one who has been “marked”. It is only when the second beast of Revelation 13 “causes” all to worship the first beast that this marking begins to take effect. How does a nation “cause” people to do anything? The answer is by it’s laws. So when this “beast” makes laws that enforce Sunday observance, then people will be brought to a choice of obeying the laws of the land or God’s law. God has true hearted believers in every denomination, and when this law comes into effect they will come together out of all the other denominations. (For more information on this subject please call Harvestime Books 931-692-3777, ask for the book “Sunday is Not the Bible Sabbath” or click link https://harvestimebooks.com/ ).