Caesar's Power
The False Prophet uses economic power against the saints who refuse to give total allegiance to the Beast. In Revelation, the “False Prophet” wields the economic might of the “Beast” against anyone who refuses to submit
to imperial edicts. The ability to level economic sanctions against nations,
communities, and individuals is key to the Empire’s power.
We often assume the success of this beastly
Empire lies in its military might. And while it may indeed possess the necessary
might to subdue nations through naked force, in Revelation, its
domination over the “inhabitants of the earth” is dependent on its control
over global commerce.
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| [Photo by Dmitry Demidko on Unsplash] |
The book contrasts the “inhabitants of the earth” with the followers of the “Lamb.” Members of the former group have the “number of the Beast” branded on their “right hand,” but the “saints” have the name of the “Lamb written on their foreheads,” and therefore, their names are written in his “book of life.”
And so, the “mark of the Beast” is the
Devil’s counterfeit of the “seal of God,” just as the Beast’s “name”
is a pale imitation of the “name” of the Father that identifies the men
who belong to Him - (Revelation 7:1-3, 14:1-4).
ECONOMIC CONTROL
Except for overcoming “saints,” all
the “inhabitants of the earth” take the “mark of the Beast,” and
therefore, they remain legally authorized to engage in trade - to “buy and
sell.” But the men who belong to the “Lamb” suffer economic deprivation
and even martyrdom - (Revelation 13:16-18).
In contrast, the followers of the “Lamb”
have been “purchased from the earth,” and because they bear his name, they
are prohibited by the “False Prophet” from participating in the economic
life of the empire. Their reward lies elsewhere.
In the book, humanity is divided into two recognizable groups - the men who follow the “Lamb” and the “inhabitants of the earth.” And the latter is comprised of the men who give fealty to the “Beast from the sea,” and by proxy, to the “Dragon.” There is no middle ground, no neutral position.
To which group one belongs determines whether
one’s name is included in the “Lamb’s book of life” or erased from it. And
in the relevant passages, references to the “earth” and “Zion”
are NOT geographical, but
relational. One’s final fate is determined by how he or she responds
to the “Lamb.”
And it is the “Beast from the earth,”
the “False Prophet,” who uses the authority of the first “Beast”
to determine who may engage in commerce and who may not. The “False Prophet”
imposes the “mark of the Beast” on one and all to enforce and maintain imperial
economic control over the earth.
THE BEAST’S MARK
The “mark” or “number” of this
beastly system designates whether one belongs to the “Beast.” Without
it, no one may participate in the imperial economy. The “mark” or “brand”
is also called the Beast’s “name” and the “number of its name.”
Functionally, each designation accomplishes
the same thing – whether anyone may engage in trade. One’s ability to “buy
and sell” is dependent on submission to and cooperation with the “Beast.”
But, in the end, what is far more important
is that having the Beast’s “mark” will exclude a man or woman from the “book
of life.” And placing the “mark” on the “forehead” or “right
hand” is a twisted counterfeit of the ancient summons for Israel to
worship Yahweh alone - “You will bind [His commandments] for a sign upon your hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between your eyes” - (Deuteronomy 6:5-8).
And if the “seal of God” is
figurative, so is the “mark of the Beast.” And anyone who gives
allegiance to the “Beast” takes its “mark” and “number,”
just as everyone who follows the “Lamb” receives the “seal of God”
and the “name of the Lamb.”
The fundamental choice of every man is
between who or what he worships – To whom he gives his allegiance – the “Dragon”
or the “Lamb” - (Revelation 14:9-11).
AN ANCIENT NUMBER
The description of the “Beast from the earth” in chapter 13
of Revelation utilizes language from the third and seventh chapters of Daniel
(“These
four great BEASTS are four kings that will
ascend from the earth” – Daniel 7:17).
The Babylonian ruler erected a “golden
image” and required everyone in his empire to “bow down and render
homage to the image I have erected.”
The same passage is the source for the
number 666 in Revelation, and it is derived from the measurements of
Nebuchadnezzar’s great “golden image” - “Its height was sixty and its breadth six cubits.” The
link to this story emphasizes the idolatrous nature of the Empire and the
homage it demands - (Daniel 3:1-7).
Those who are “wise” must “count”
(psephizō) the “number of the Beast.” The Greek verb signifies the
tallying up of two or more numbers; in this case, the numbers 6, 60, and 600, or
666.
In Revelation, numbers are figurative
and often tripled and even cubed. For instance, the number 12 is compounded
into 144,000 (12 x 12 x 1000). The “ten days of tribulation” become the
“thousand years” (10 x 10 x 10).
In the Greek text, the “number of the Beast”
is listed as “six-hundred
sixty and six,”
or exakosioi (600) exékonta (60) ex (6), three distinct
whole numbers. They, in turn, represent
the three entities that plot against the “Lamb” - The “Dragon,”
the “Beast from the sea,” and the “Beast from the earth.”
“For its number is also of man” (anthrōpou
estin kai ho arithmos autou). Here, anthrōpou is used for “humanity”
in general, not for “a man” or “the man.” The point is not to
identify an individual by decoding the number, but to link it to humanity in
some capacity, to show the reader the true significance of the number.
Just as the “golden image” of Nebuchadnezzar was “his image,” so, also, the “number of the Beast” is linked to humanity in its idolatrous political and civic religion.
What distinguishes the “image of the Beast”
is not its shape, size, or form, but the total allegiance it requires, the
absolute loyalty that belongs to God alone. It is the ultimate form of
idolatry, in this case, state idolatry, the political order demanding the
absolute allegiance that belongs to the Creator of all things, including
government.
NAME OF THE BEAST
The “name of the Beast” is just that
– “Beast.” The book of Revelation uses the diminutive form of the
Greek noun for “beast” or ‘thérion,’ and it corresponds to the
diminutive form applied to the “Lamb” (‘arnion’). Thus, the “Beast
from the sea” is an imposter, a false Christ who mimics Jesus and
his lordship. The “Beast” is the satanic counterpart to the “Lamb of
God,” a false messiah.
The last paragraph of chapter 13 alludes to
the conclusion of the book of Daniel:
- (Revelation 13:17) - “Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast.”
- (Daniel 12:9-10) - “Shut up and seal the prophecy until the season of the end. Many will purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined…but none of the wicked will understand, but they that are wise shall understand.”
Only those with wisdom from above understand
the significance of the “number of the Beast.” It cannot be decoded or
calculated by mathematical formulas or mystical interpretations.
When a political entity appears on the
world scene that uses its economic might promiscuously against nations,
peoples, and individuals that do not submit to its demands, that will be the
first clue that the “Beast” is beginning to “ascend from the sea.”
We should especially take note when religious figures and “false prophets”
within the church provide ideological support for the policies and actions of the
beastly Empire.
When the “Beast” does appear, we
must choose whether to submit to it or “follow the Lamb wherever he goes.”
If we do the latter, we will find ourselves marginalized in the economic sphere,
if not persecuted. But we will also find ourselves standing one day before the
“Lamb” and the “throne” in the “city of New Jerusalem.”
But if we submit to the “Beast” and
its imperial designs to preserve our economic standing, we will find our names expunged
- “blotted out” - from “the book of life of the Lamb.”
If there is a relevant message, it is the
warning to exercise painstaking discernment before blindly embracing the
political and cultural values of the surrounding society. When we imbibe its
ideologies and practices, we begin to take the “mark of the Beast.”
