Revelation 13
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Revelation 13:15-17, The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
In today’s chapter, we meet the anti-Trinity – the dragon and the two beasts. The dragon certainly represents Satan and each of the beasts represent those who work for him. It’s been said that one of the beasts symbolizes the Roman Empire, which makes sense considering the context. The Roman Empire and its succession of oppressive emperors who harshly persecuted Christians would be large on the mind of John and the original listeners of this text. The other beast, the one with the healed wound, may serve to mimic Christ (the Antichrist). They are blasphemous to God and it says that there are people all over the world who follow them. This begs the question: who do we follow?
Let’s chat for a moment about the mark of the beast. This has taken on a life of its own in popular culture, most of which is not Scripturally-sound. In the ancient Roman world, it was normative to brand or tattoo criminals, prisoners, and sometimes slaves. Some followers of the imperial cult would mark themselves as well. The mark of the beast is in contrast to the mark of God which seals the believers (we read about this in chapter 7). Now, some of the Christians, possibly those who are benefitting from the evil or power of the empire, will be marked by the beast. The true faithful will only have the mark of God.
The real question for all of us: whose mark do we wear?
Let’s pray…Jesus, I belong to you. Help me behave that way. Help me love others as you love them, forgive others as you forgive, and live out your truth. More of you and less of me, Jesus. Amen.