11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those[e] who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[f] the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Then I looked, and behold, a[a] Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having[b] His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Dear Jesus,
I want to bear the mark of the Lamb--Your mark!
William Barclay tells how ancient pagans were marked with tattoos on their wrists and necks to identify their affiliation with idolatrous deities and their temples. He writes: "Herodotus (2: 113) tells us that there was a temple of Heracles at the Canopic mouth of the Nile which possessed the right of asylum. Any criminal, slave or free man, was safe there from pursuing vengeance. When such a fugitive reached that temple, he was branded with certain sacred marks in token that he had delivered himself to the god and that none could touch him any more. They were the marks of absolute security. The company of the Lamb are those who have cast themselves on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ and are for ever safe" (William Barclay in The Revelation of John, vol. 2, 1959, p. 135).
William Barclay tells how ancient pagans were marked with tattoos on their wrists and necks to identify their affiliation with idolatrous deities and their temples. He writes: "Herodotus (2: 113) tells us that there was a temple of Heracles at the Canopic mouth of the Nile which possessed the right of asylum. Any criminal, slave or free man, was safe there from pursuing vengeance. When such a fugitive reached that temple, he was branded with certain sacred marks in token that he had delivered himself to the god and that none could touch him any more. They were the marks of absolute security. The company of the Lamb are those who have cast themselves on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ and are for ever safe" (William Barclay in The Revelation of John, vol. 2, 1959, p. 135).
There is a mark of a man that the beast foists upon the nations. It is a mark of control and exploitation emblazoned upon the compromised and co-opted under the threat of starvation and death.
But there is the mark of the Lamb--Jesus--the Son of God. Jesus will mark His faithful disciples with His Father's name written upon their foreheads! When revealed upon His faithful throng, the mark of the Lamb exposes the mark of the beast as a counterfeit.
I flee to the Lamb! I choose to bear Your mark!
In the Name of the Lamb who died, is resurrected, and lives forevermore,
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment