THE MARK OF THE BEAST!
A discussion with The WATCHER…
HUMAN: “A lot of Christians seem terribly anxious today about what is occurring around the world and just what constitutes the ‘mark of the beast’ of Revelation 13.”
WATCHER: “Oh...exactly as the enemy of souls would have them be.”
HUMAN: “You mean he wants us focussed on that and talking of it to help him in his mission of side-tracking people and engendering fear within them?”
WATCHER: “That is his ‘stock-in-trade’ as you say. By doing this he is subtly diverting them and making them forget that they already have a ‘mark’…have ALREADY been ‘marked.’”
HUMAN: “We are? With what mark?”
WATCHER: “Why…the one mentioned just a few verses further along, as well as elsewhere in Revelation! Why are you so obsessed with the one you fear instead of speaking of the glorious one you have?”
HUMAN: “Point the way, please!”
WATCHER: “Just look at Revelation 14 and verse 1. Do you not realise that you who believe and trust have been name-marked with the name of both the Lamb and his Father? Identified and identifiable as authentically HIS! You can see it also in Revelation 7:3 and 22:4. It is a ‘seal’ (Greek sphragis) such as those on official documents to prevent tampering and to attest to authenticity. You Christians are already marked and ‘sealed.’”
HUMAN: “So the enemy cannot put his stamp on us?”
WATCHER: “Oh, believe me, he would like to; but to do so, he would somehow have to induce you to stop worshipping the Lamb—switch allegiance, and give your worship, to him. The beast’s ‘mark’ is given to those who ‘worship’ him and whose names have NOT been already written in the Lamb’s ‘Book of Life’ as Revelation 13 makes quite clear! You must know that everything God does, the enemy attempts to rob or substitute or counterfeit.”
HUMAN: “There is a fear amongst some that they might receive ‘it’ secretly or without them realising.”
WATCHER: “Not so. The receiving of the Lamb’s name and seal was a conscious and co-operative activity of yourself, with HIM—and you know that you have it. And…it is in-erasable. You are HIS!”
HUMAN: “I see it! So Christians should be focussed on what the Lamb and the Father have irrevocably given them—not on what the enemy might try to counterfeit among his own following.”
WATCHER: “Hallelujah…you have it! The more irrational fear the evil one can trick you with, the more satisfied he is—because he knows he’s not ever going to get his mark on those the Lord has marked as HIS own—even though there may be some difficult days for those with the Lamb’s mark and name! You will only play into his hands and aid and abet his wicked agenda by giving ‘oxygen’ to irrational and silly fears amongst those already marked and sealed as the LAMB’S!”
A discussion with The WATCHER…
HUMAN: “A lot of Christians seem terribly anxious today about what is occurring around the world and just what constitutes the ‘mark of the beast’ of Revelation 13.”
WATCHER: “Oh...exactly as the enemy of souls would have them be.”
HUMAN: “You mean he wants us focussed on that and talking of it to help him in his mission of side-tracking people and engendering fear within them?”
WATCHER: “That is his ‘stock-in-trade’ as you say. By doing this he is subtly diverting them and making them forget that they already have a ‘mark’…have ALREADY been ‘marked.’”
HUMAN: “We are? With what mark?”
WATCHER: “Why…the one mentioned just a few verses further along, as well as elsewhere in Revelation! Why are you so obsessed with the one you fear instead of speaking of the glorious one you have?”
HUMAN: “Point the way, please!”
WATCHER: “Just look at Revelation 14 and verse 1. Do you not realise that you who believe and trust have been name-marked with the name of both the Lamb and his Father? Identified and identifiable as authentically HIS! You can see it also in Revelation 7:3 and 22:4. It is a ‘seal’ (Greek sphragis) such as those on official documents to prevent tampering and to attest to authenticity. You Christians are already marked and ‘sealed.’”
HUMAN: “So the enemy cannot put his stamp on us?”
WATCHER: “Oh, believe me, he would like to; but to do so, he would somehow have to induce you to stop worshipping the Lamb—switch allegiance, and give your worship, to him. The beast’s ‘mark’ is given to those who ‘worship’ him and whose names have NOT been already written in the Lamb’s ‘Book of Life’ as Revelation 13 makes quite clear! You must know that everything God does, the enemy attempts to rob or substitute or counterfeit.”
HUMAN: “There is a fear amongst some that they might receive ‘it’ secretly or without them realising.”
WATCHER: “Not so. The receiving of the Lamb’s name and seal was a conscious and co-operative activity of yourself, with HIM—and you know that you have it. And…it is in-erasable. You are HIS!”
HUMAN: “I see it! So Christians should be focussed on what the Lamb and the Father have irrevocably given them—not on what the enemy might try to counterfeit among his own following.”
WATCHER: “Hallelujah…you have it! The more irrational fear the evil one can trick you with, the more satisfied he is—because he knows he’s not ever going to get his mark on those the Lord has marked as HIS own—even though there may be some difficult days for those with the Lamb’s mark and name! You will only play into his hands and aid and abet his wicked agenda by giving ‘oxygen’ to irrational and silly fears amongst those already marked and sealed as the LAMB’S!”
The Weight and the Radiance of Glory
Isaiah promised, 'and the glory of the LORD will be revealed '—and, not only revealed, but that 'all flesh will see it together' (Isaiah 40).
How could that become a reality? How could all flesh get to see the glory of the LORD?
Glory in the Bible: many confuse glory with radiance. KABOD in the Old Testament and DOXA in the New, essentially mean ‘weight’ or ‘substance’--that of which a thing is comprised; its fullness, its quintessence! The glory of our nearest star, the Sun is the trillions of tonnes of gases and nuclear fusions that constitute it. That is its glory. Its radiance is the product of the glory— warmth and light. Glory is one thing; radiance another. (Note that Paul, who knew his Hebrew and Greek, spoke in 2 Cor. 4:17 of the 'weight of glory' as something being worked in us)
In Ex. 33 Moses speaks with God at his tent of meeting and God promises His presence. Then Moses audaciously says, 'show me your glory' (KABOD)—in effect, 'show me what you're made of'! And God obliges, saying to Moses 'OK, I will make all my goodness pass before you and proclaim the name (character) of the LORD before you.' Do you see what God is full of? What His glory is? Goodness! He's all goodness! That is His glory. He unpacks that further in 34:6; 'I the LORD (Yahweh) Elohim, compassionate and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth.’ His glory is what He abounds in!
Glory manifested by Jesus: What God abounds in has an ‘out-shining’—a radiance. In fact, Hebrews 1:3 tells us that ‘the Son is the radiance of God’s glory.’ Catch the difference now? The radiance is the product of the glory. Jesus came and manifested the glory. John says (Jn. 1:14) 'and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory—the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' The glory was what He was full of. So, the glory of God was manifested in Jesus. But did all flesh see it? No - Jesus the man was limited to a time and place for a brief 32 or 33 years. How then, was it to be manifested to all flesh?
Glory imparted by Jesus: Yes—glory is something that can be imparted by the Spirit. What Jesus said in John 17 are among His most important words for they are words of succession: He is handing His ministry over. He said, 'Father, the hour has come ....' He said, 'I have finished the work you gave me to do.' And then in His discourse and prayer He talks about what He has provided for the ongoing work—
Isaiah promised, 'and the glory of the LORD will be revealed '—and, not only revealed, but that 'all flesh will see it together' (Isaiah 40).
How could that become a reality? How could all flesh get to see the glory of the LORD?
Glory in the Bible: many confuse glory with radiance. KABOD in the Old Testament and DOXA in the New, essentially mean ‘weight’ or ‘substance’--that of which a thing is comprised; its fullness, its quintessence! The glory of our nearest star, the Sun is the trillions of tonnes of gases and nuclear fusions that constitute it. That is its glory. Its radiance is the product of the glory— warmth and light. Glory is one thing; radiance another. (Note that Paul, who knew his Hebrew and Greek, spoke in 2 Cor. 4:17 of the 'weight of glory' as something being worked in us)
In Ex. 33 Moses speaks with God at his tent of meeting and God promises His presence. Then Moses audaciously says, 'show me your glory' (KABOD)—in effect, 'show me what you're made of'! And God obliges, saying to Moses 'OK, I will make all my goodness pass before you and proclaim the name (character) of the LORD before you.' Do you see what God is full of? What His glory is? Goodness! He's all goodness! That is His glory. He unpacks that further in 34:6; 'I the LORD (Yahweh) Elohim, compassionate and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth.’ His glory is what He abounds in!
Glory manifested by Jesus: What God abounds in has an ‘out-shining’—a radiance. In fact, Hebrews 1:3 tells us that ‘the Son is the radiance of God’s glory.’ Catch the difference now? The radiance is the product of the glory. Jesus came and manifested the glory. John says (Jn. 1:14) 'and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory—the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' The glory was what He was full of. So, the glory of God was manifested in Jesus. But did all flesh see it? No - Jesus the man was limited to a time and place for a brief 32 or 33 years. How then, was it to be manifested to all flesh?
Glory imparted by Jesus: Yes—glory is something that can be imparted by the Spirit. What Jesus said in John 17 are among His most important words for they are words of succession: He is handing His ministry over. He said, 'Father, the hour has come ....' He said, 'I have finished the work you gave me to do.' And then in His discourse and prayer He talks about what He has provided for the ongoing work—
- I have manifested my name—Authority (vv. 6 & 26)
- I have given them your Word—TRUTH that can be trusted (v.14)
- I have given them the glory—the same fullness that was His (v. 22)
God, Science, Creation: some comments
Creation is exceedingly more complex than imaginable. Discoveries of science, far from reducing mystery, frequently serve only to deepen it as each opened door leads into more rooms with more unopened doors. Reverential approach is what is needed; a tiptoe approach, as though treading on holy ground. Instead and sadly, much of what passes as science, approaches from a faithless or worse, anti-faith, prideful or even a God-hating position. The attitude is that only what can be understood with the rational mind can possibly be legitimate. However, God says 'with the heart man believes'. There is such a thing as heart knowledge. (When we are in love it is primarily the 'heart' that knows it, not the head).
Newtonian physics stood for a couple of centuries as a kind of irreducible and undeniable standard to describe the way matter is comprised and behaves. It served mankind well. And in the world of visible particles Newton has been shown correct. We owe him much. But it turns out, this is only part of the picture and the narrative, because the 'picture' is always bigger (and always will be) than the immediate scope and grasp of the mind - in any age. And the narrative is a continuum. It turns out that just as there are particles and objects that are bigger than imaginable in the visible universe, there are also particles that are smaller and smaller in the other direction---that of the invisible worlds. And---they behave unconventionally!
So, It has been found through the discoveries of what has been called the Quantum world and Quantum Mechanics, surprise, surprise, objects in that realm do not necessarily behave in a 'Newtonian' way. In fact, they appear to break rules and to demand a new set of rules of their own. Thus, light quanta or particles are observed to behave both as particles and as waves. Particles that have been in close relationship continue to 'answer' each other's behavior instantly even if separated by vast distance, even light years---and many other 'weird' behaviors, such as a particle being in different locations at the same time! (For info google quantum physics or maybe visit Dr Quantum on you tube).
Here's an extraordinary quote from the well known Profs Brian Cox (somewhat agnostic concerning God) and Jeff Forshaw in their book The Quantum Universe (underlining mine)
P. 28 "with this 'a particle can be in more than one place at once' proposal, we are moving away from our everyday experience and into uncharted territory......... To avoid confusion we should follow Heisenberg and learn to feel comfortable with views of the world that run counter to tangible experience. Feeling 'uncomfortable' can be mistaken for 'confusion' and very often students of quantum physics continue to attempt to understand what is happening in everyday terms. It is the resistance to new ideas that actually leads to confusion, not the inherent difficulty of the ideas themselves, because the real world simply doesn't behave in an everyday way. We must therefore keep an open mind and not be distressed by all the weirdness. Shakespeare had it right when Hamlet says, 'and therefore give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"
So - science too, is becoming something of a 'faith' journey where what cannot always be understood has to be accepted as actually occurring.
And - here's an interesting one from Forshaw:
“By overstating science’s power and not acknowledging its limitations, we risk fostering the growth of a religion-substitute, with the scientists as high priests. Such hubris not only irritates people, but more significantly it risks promoting the misconception that science deals with certainty – and that is the very antithesis of good science.”
It's certainly a cardinal error to sound as though we - the clever people of the 21st century - just about know it all now! If God is the first Cause and Sustainer of all things as the Bible states, it is fairly evident that mystery and 'unknowable-ness' will always remain, since, (in my view) the whole is complex and vast beyond ever coming near understanding fully. I suggest to people that they try to imagine how many pieces of confetti it would take to fill Sydney Opera House (or even your own house!) and to imagine that what is known can be represented by one piece of confetti! Investigation will continue to uncover and may grasp tinier parts of parts and draw conclusions that are sometimes helpful and sometimes useable, about the larger parts or the whole. In my view this is by the grace of God. We can and will only ever know that which the Creator chooses to allow us to discover. It is what some of our fathers called 'common grace', the grace from God that allows humankind to survive and progress in discoveries such as cures for disease and etc.
The Bible says 'His judgements are unsearchable and His ways (how He does things), past finding out' - beyond being able to fathom (see Romans 11:33). Whilst they cannot be 'known' in the sense of explicability or understanding, they can be believed and received in one's heart. This doesn't mean we should stop trying to find out how things work! It does mean however, that the search (science) is intended to have this as its start point. It should begin with wonder - not wonder at 'nature', but at a Creator who is so BiiiiiiiiG as to be able to produce such complexity, balance, function, cohesion and beauty. It should then move from wonder to worship. Just saying it occurred and suddenly exploded into universes from a suit-case sized package doesn't cut it, because one is still left looking for who or what caused the suit-case! When the start point and motive is that of Eve who was told 'in the day you eat thereof you shall be as God' and, 'your eyes will be opened' (meaning that she and Adam could then live by sight rather than by faith), then investigation and search is likely to end as did theirs; making it harder to find truth and productivity. Where science can go wrong is when the motive is to 'be as God' - that is, to understand all in order to be in charge of all. It can never be. For the believer it is obedience to and cooperation with our Creator that actually puts us in charge. Mastery does not require all knowledge: it requires faith in and partnership with, the One who does know all!
Always, the Christian's question of the gods that can come to us using the name 'Science' should be, 'of what spirit are you?'
An update: take a look HERE
Already known but now confirmed by Aussie science - so it must be so!!
Creation is exceedingly more complex than imaginable. Discoveries of science, far from reducing mystery, frequently serve only to deepen it as each opened door leads into more rooms with more unopened doors. Reverential approach is what is needed; a tiptoe approach, as though treading on holy ground. Instead and sadly, much of what passes as science, approaches from a faithless or worse, anti-faith, prideful or even a God-hating position. The attitude is that only what can be understood with the rational mind can possibly be legitimate. However, God says 'with the heart man believes'. There is such a thing as heart knowledge. (When we are in love it is primarily the 'heart' that knows it, not the head).
Newtonian physics stood for a couple of centuries as a kind of irreducible and undeniable standard to describe the way matter is comprised and behaves. It served mankind well. And in the world of visible particles Newton has been shown correct. We owe him much. But it turns out, this is only part of the picture and the narrative, because the 'picture' is always bigger (and always will be) than the immediate scope and grasp of the mind - in any age. And the narrative is a continuum. It turns out that just as there are particles and objects that are bigger than imaginable in the visible universe, there are also particles that are smaller and smaller in the other direction---that of the invisible worlds. And---they behave unconventionally!
So, It has been found through the discoveries of what has been called the Quantum world and Quantum Mechanics, surprise, surprise, objects in that realm do not necessarily behave in a 'Newtonian' way. In fact, they appear to break rules and to demand a new set of rules of their own. Thus, light quanta or particles are observed to behave both as particles and as waves. Particles that have been in close relationship continue to 'answer' each other's behavior instantly even if separated by vast distance, even light years---and many other 'weird' behaviors, such as a particle being in different locations at the same time! (For info google quantum physics or maybe visit Dr Quantum on you tube).
Here's an extraordinary quote from the well known Profs Brian Cox (somewhat agnostic concerning God) and Jeff Forshaw in their book The Quantum Universe (underlining mine)
P. 28 "with this 'a particle can be in more than one place at once' proposal, we are moving away from our everyday experience and into uncharted territory......... To avoid confusion we should follow Heisenberg and learn to feel comfortable with views of the world that run counter to tangible experience. Feeling 'uncomfortable' can be mistaken for 'confusion' and very often students of quantum physics continue to attempt to understand what is happening in everyday terms. It is the resistance to new ideas that actually leads to confusion, not the inherent difficulty of the ideas themselves, because the real world simply doesn't behave in an everyday way. We must therefore keep an open mind and not be distressed by all the weirdness. Shakespeare had it right when Hamlet says, 'and therefore give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"
So - science too, is becoming something of a 'faith' journey where what cannot always be understood has to be accepted as actually occurring.
And - here's an interesting one from Forshaw:
“By overstating science’s power and not acknowledging its limitations, we risk fostering the growth of a religion-substitute, with the scientists as high priests. Such hubris not only irritates people, but more significantly it risks promoting the misconception that science deals with certainty – and that is the very antithesis of good science.”
It's certainly a cardinal error to sound as though we - the clever people of the 21st century - just about know it all now! If God is the first Cause and Sustainer of all things as the Bible states, it is fairly evident that mystery and 'unknowable-ness' will always remain, since, (in my view) the whole is complex and vast beyond ever coming near understanding fully. I suggest to people that they try to imagine how many pieces of confetti it would take to fill Sydney Opera House (or even your own house!) and to imagine that what is known can be represented by one piece of confetti! Investigation will continue to uncover and may grasp tinier parts of parts and draw conclusions that are sometimes helpful and sometimes useable, about the larger parts or the whole. In my view this is by the grace of God. We can and will only ever know that which the Creator chooses to allow us to discover. It is what some of our fathers called 'common grace', the grace from God that allows humankind to survive and progress in discoveries such as cures for disease and etc.
The Bible says 'His judgements are unsearchable and His ways (how He does things), past finding out' - beyond being able to fathom (see Romans 11:33). Whilst they cannot be 'known' in the sense of explicability or understanding, they can be believed and received in one's heart. This doesn't mean we should stop trying to find out how things work! It does mean however, that the search (science) is intended to have this as its start point. It should begin with wonder - not wonder at 'nature', but at a Creator who is so BiiiiiiiiG as to be able to produce such complexity, balance, function, cohesion and beauty. It should then move from wonder to worship. Just saying it occurred and suddenly exploded into universes from a suit-case sized package doesn't cut it, because one is still left looking for who or what caused the suit-case! When the start point and motive is that of Eve who was told 'in the day you eat thereof you shall be as God' and, 'your eyes will be opened' (meaning that she and Adam could then live by sight rather than by faith), then investigation and search is likely to end as did theirs; making it harder to find truth and productivity. Where science can go wrong is when the motive is to 'be as God' - that is, to understand all in order to be in charge of all. It can never be. For the believer it is obedience to and cooperation with our Creator that actually puts us in charge. Mastery does not require all knowledge: it requires faith in and partnership with, the One who does know all!
Always, the Christian's question of the gods that can come to us using the name 'Science' should be, 'of what spirit are you?'
An update: take a look HERE
Already known but now confirmed by Aussie science - so it must be so!!
