Bible Verses About The Beast
And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man a human mind also was given to it.And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth and thus they said to it, Arise, devour much meat!read more.After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and they did not repent of their deeds.
Why Do People Call Covid
Evans said that lack of trust in the government and medical field is a driving force behind the “mark of the beast” belief.
” Donald Trump tapped into American populism, and with that comes the disbelief of experts,” Evans told USA TODAY. “There is a small group of people who believe in ‘the mark of the beast,’ and I think what’s driving that thought process is starting with various concerns about receiving the coronavirus vaccine that are not specifically religious.”
Evans said he suspects that the “mark of the beast” popularity stems from an adherence to a social or political identity.
Peter Feaman, a top Republican National Committee official in Florida, said last month that vaccines are “the mark of the beast” and comparable to a “false god.” In May, Feaman wrote on his blog of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer encouraging vaccines in Michigan: “Diabolical Michigan Governor Whiter wants her citizens to get the Mark of the Beast to participate in society.”
According to Evans’ studies, the majority of “mark of the beast” believers appear to be politically conservative and from Protestant Christian backgrounds.
“People with spiritual beliefs that all things are influenced by religion are more likely to believe ‘mark of the beast,’ which is in every Christian’s Bible, but people will focus on particular passages in the Bible to support their belief system,” Evans said.
Who Is Like The Beast
The revived Roman Empire will seem to be an unbeatable monster, with its worldwide political, military and economic power. Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? people will say . But the inhabitants of the world wont just fear the empire they will also love and worship it.
In the book of Revelation, the world is shown to willingly accept the beasts authority, and to give no regard to God. All who dwell on the earth will worship him . The beast captures the hearts and souls of men and women everywhere, but it must not capture the hearts of Christians!
Revelation 13 shows this beast to be the earthly enemy of the true Church. We are told that the beast was given power to make war with the saints and to overcome them . Satan uses the political power of the beast as his agent in an attempt to stamp out and destroy Gods people.
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The Dragon And The Future Beast
In the book of Revelation we find that the beasts agenda corresponds to that of the dragon. The dragon is Satan the devil, the deceiver of the whole world , and the beast in Revelation 13:1-7 carries out this deception.
John implies that the healing of the beasts mortal wound is itself a deception, producing amazement by the whole world and leading people on earth to worship both the dragon and the beast .
The future beasts authority prevails on earth for 42 months, and by the end of that time all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it .
It is clear that the prophecies regarding the beast also apply to a future personality who will have great civil, financial and religious power at the time of the end.
The dragons goal of persecuting Christians is also evident. The beast opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven .
The actual persecution of Christians is mentioned explicitly in verse 7, but persecution is also clearly implied by the prophetic appeal to Johns readers in verse 10, which speaks of saints being led into captivity and being killed with the sword. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of Christians.
The book of Revelation is most emphatically not a call to arms, but a call for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of Gods people.
Reading Revelation With First
The Book of Revelation is a complicated text. Written toward the end of the first century by an author who calls himself John, the text is filled with symbolic imagery that has mystified readers for centuries.
Using visions of angels and demons, death and destruction, John tells a story of an ongoing cosmic battle between good and evil that will end with good triumphing eventually. The beast and its mark are both understood by this author to be evil, and they are some of the most well-known and most misunderstood parts of his story.
In Revelation 13, John describes the beast as having seven heads and 10 horns, a leopards body, the feet of a bear and a lions mouth. The beast in this text is powerful, Satanic and is an object of worship.
There is also a second beast that promotes worship of the first. The most notable thing about the second beast is that it causes people to receive a mark on their forehead or right hand with the name of the beast or the number of its name.
John concludes this chapter with a riddle: Let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six. .
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What Does The ‘mark Of The Beast’ Scripture In Revelation Say
The apocalyptic biblical term comes from Revelation 13: 16-18. According to the Apostle John in the New International Version Bible, a pair of beasts will rule the Earth with cruelty. Their evil reach which can be interpreted as hidden manipulation will require all people who engage in commerce to wear the mark of the beast. The Apostle John did not identify what the mark looks like, although some theologians translate Scripture to associate the number “666” with it.
Pastor Darin Wood of First Baptist Church in the oil town of Midland, Texas, wrote an op-ed in August for the Midland Reporter-Telegram that said, “One of my church family posed an honest question: ‘Pastor, is the COVID vaccine the mark of the beast? Ive been told it is.’ Their question was an honest and heartfelt one, and clearly, they were anguished about it. In kindness, I answered, ‘no’ and thought little more about it. Until the question came again. And again. And again.
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What Do Health Care Workers Say Do People Actually Cite This As A Reason To Avoid The Shot
Nicole Williams, a traveling intensive care unit nurse, said she has heard the “mark of the beast” as a reason not to get vaccinated many times.
“I get being hesitant because it is new and we don’t know the long-term effects, but calling it the ‘mark of the beast’ is crazy,” Williams told USA TODAY.
Williams has worked in hospitals in Texas, New York, California and Hawaii in her three years as a nurse.
She said the latest surge of COVID-19 cases has been “hell,” and a lot of younger people have died. She said vaccines are not a magical shot that cures all, but they’re one of many tools to fight the virus.
“I understand that people want to get back to how things were, but calling something you don’t understand the ‘mark of the beast’ is extreme and harmful,” she said. “I’m exhausted and tired of seeing so many people die, but I will do my damnedest to try and keep my patients alive.”
Emergency room physician Stephen Smith at Hennepin Healthcare told USA TODAY he hasn’t heard the ‘mark of the beast’ as a reason to not get vaccinated but a few other outlandish reasons.
Smith said one woman brought her child in for a fever and cough, and he explained that the toddler might have COVID-19. When he asked the mother if she had been vaccinated, Smith said her response was “Oh no, that turns you into a zombie.”
“Social media plays a 100% role in the misconceptions about the vaccine,” Smith said. “They get all their information off Facebook and get all this garbage.
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What Do Religious Leaders Say
Harvest Christian Fellowship Pastor Greg Laurie said COVID-19 vaccines are not “the mark of the beast,” but many Christians may believe they are, thinking the world is in what the Bible calls “the last days.”
“The Bible speaks of someone identified as the ‘Antichrist’ and he will require people have a ‘mark’ that people will receive to buy and sell,” Laurie told USA TODAY in an email. “The COVID-19 vaccine or any vaccines have nothing to do with any of this.”
Laurie, who has been vaccinated, said the mark will be a pledge of loyalty to the Antichrist, and no one would take the mark unknowingly.
“In Revelation 14, we learn that those who take the mark are doomed,” he said. “God will not doom people for taking something unwittingly.”
Misinterpretations of Revelation 13:16-18 can stem from social media where people can spread unreliable information, according to Laurie.
“People read erroneous comments and believe they are true,” he said.
“Sometimes these statements are packaged to look like Bible Prophecy,” he said, “but they are false and misapplied because many people do not understand what the Bible actually says about these things.”
The Mark Of The Beast Represents Disobedience To God
The mark of the beast will separate people into two groups. One group will accept the mark and the other group will reject it.
The apostle John writes, Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb .
This shows great suffering will come on those who receive this mark of the beast.
In verse 12 we see the group of people who do not receive this mark. Here is the patience of the saints here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This is speaking of the saints of Godall those who are obedient and faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
Throughout the Bible obeying God is a mark or sign of those who are Gods.
For example, in instructing the ancient Israelites how to observe His annual festival the Days of Unleavened Bread, God said this act of obedience to His law would be as a sign to you on your hand . The apostle Paul reinforced this in telling the Christians in Corinth to continue to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth .
The mark of the beast thus represents disobedience to Gods commandments and rejection of the faith of Jesus.
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Who Is The Beast In Revelation
There are actually three beasts who make up what Thomas R. Schreiner calls The Unholy Trinity of monsters. One is a dragon, Satan, who stands on the seashore summoning another beast rising out of the sea. The one Satan summons behaves as a demonic ruler but takes his orders from the evil one.
The third member of this group claims to speak for God but is a false prophet. He represents religious authority contrary to Gods Word and ways. He returns to life after a death blow, mimicking Christs resurrection and lending credibility to his lies. Much of the world will worship this miraculous beast who enforces the power of the first through economic discrimination.
A fourth beast is mentioned. Perhaps John pictured this beast as Rome, still a powerful empire in the late first century. None of these beasts has ultimate control, however, God ordains what the beast does and His judgment is his strange work referenced in Isaiah 28:21. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way .
What We Know About The Covid
Peer-reviewed data has deemed the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines safe, and they demonstrated 94% to 95% effectiveness against the virus, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The same journal single dose shot provided protection against the virus and was effective against hospitalization and death.
On Sept. 20, Pfizer BioNTech released data that its vaccine was safe for children ages 5 to 11. The company received its full stamp of approval from the Food and Drug Administration late last month.
Moderna has begun the process of applying to get a full license, and Johnson & Johnson plans to apply this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 54.7% of Americans are vaccinated and 63.9% have received at least one dose.
By the end of September, 56% of people in the USA are projected to be fully vaccinated and 59% by Jan. 1, 2022, according to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
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Understanding The Symbolism Of The Beast
To understand this passage of Scripture, we need to understand the symbolism. A fundamental principle of Bible study is to let the Bible interpret itself . In other words, look to other sections of Scripture or to the context itself in order to understand the meaning.
The symbol of beasts representing civil governments is also found in the book of Daniel. The prophet Daniel received a vision from God of four great beasts: the first like a lion with eagles wings, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard, and the fourthdifferent and more terrible than the otherswith 10 horns .
Daniel was told that these great beasts were symbolic of four kings . History reveals that the beasts of Daniel were four great empires: the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greco-Macedonian and Roman Empires.
Is Nero The Beast
Some commentators doubt that the spelling of Nero Caesar, which comes out to 666, was the most natural way to spell the name in Hebrew. But archaeologists have uncovered a document from the Judean desert that spells the name precisely this way. Interestingly, some copyists preferred for 666 the questionable reading 616, which is another way that one could count Nero Caesar .
Another objection comes from those who say Revelation was written in Greeknot Hebrew. While that may be true, its likely Johns audience would have been familiar with Hebrew. Many Jewish Christians moved to Asia after the fall of Judea in the war of A.D. 6670, and many of them would have known some Hebrew.
Even though we cant know for sure, a majority of commentators do find an allusion to Nero Caesars name in this passage.
Learn more in Craig Keener’s Revelation online course.
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How The Mark Of The Beast Is Misunderstood
One error in applying Revelation 13:1718 to todays world is to ignore its broader message for the sake of a particular prophetic reading that requires one to read many apocalyptic-prophetic texts literally.
Another danger is to fixate on this text apart from its context in the rest of Revelation. Thus, some who rightly warn of end-time deception unfortunately issue a blanket condemnation of all signs and wonders.
But this is an inconsistent application of the text. If we take seriously the false signs of the devils agents , we should also take seriously the true signs of Christs agents . Signs by themselves can be positive or negative what enables us to discern true prophets from false ones is not to discard prophets altogether, but to evaluate them by their moral character. The point is that we know them by their message and their fruit, not by their gifts .
Additionally, some have associated restraint from buying and selling with a sophisticated banking system.
Revelation 13:17 says they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
You could do little in commerce in the ancient world without handling such a mark, because allusions to the emperors divinity appeared on many coins and even shipping bills and other documents.
In fact, a mid-third-century emperor demanded certificates of sacrifice to the emperor to participate in commerce and escape prosecution he likely sought to eradicate Christians.