Caesar’s “Secret” Weapon

The False Prophet employs economic pressure to coerce men and women to swear allegiance to the Beast from the Sea. The “False Prophet,” the “Beast from the Earth,” uses economic force against men who refuse to swear fealty to the World Empire, and the “mark of the Beast” is his tracking and enforcement mechanism. The ability to impose monetary penalties and sanctions on nations and individuals is key to the political power of the First Beast.

We assume the success of this beastly empire will be due to its military might. While it may indeed possess the necessary might to subdue nations militarily, according to Revelation, the domination of the World Empire over the “inhabitants of the earth” will be dependent on its control of global commerce. The same is true of the Beast’s co-conspirator, “Babylon, the Great Whore” – (Revelation 18:11-19).

[World Map - Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash]

The Book of Revelation 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 forehead or “right hand.” The members of the latter have the name of the “Lamb written on their foreheads.” The “mark of the Beast” is Satan’s counterfeit of the “Seal of God” - (Revelation 7:1-3, 14:1-4).

All the “Inhabitants of the Earth” take this beastly “mark,” therefore, they are legally authorized to engage in trade and commerce – “To buy and sell.” In contrast, the followers of the “Lamb” bear his name and are therefore prohibited from participating in the economic life of the World Empire - (Revelation 13:16-18).

Humanity is divided into two recognizable groups: the men who follow the “Lamb,” and the “Inhabitants of the Earth” who submit to the “Beast from the Sea.” To which group anyone belongs determines whether his or her name is included in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.” References to the “Earth” and “Zion” are not geographical, but relational.

The beastly “mark” or “number” designates whether anyone has submitted to the authority of the “Beast.” Without this “brand,” no one is permitted to engage in economic life. Your ability to “buy and sell” is dependent on giving allegiance to the First Beast.

Having the “mark of the Beast” also determines whether anyone is excluded from the “Book of Life.” Placing the Beast’s “mark” on the “forehead” or “right hand” mimics the ancient call for Israel to worship Yahweh alone. The Beast’s mark is religious imitation, a counterfeit of God’s call for His children to place His statutes on their foreheads, and an imitation of the seal placed on His saints by God:

• “Yahweh our God is one Yahweh! And you will love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might <…> And you will teach them diligently to your children <…> And you will bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they will be for frontlets between your eyes” - (Deuteronomy 6:4-8).

• “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” - (Revelation 7:3).

If the “Seal of God” is figurative, so is the “mark of the Beast.” Anyone who gives allegiance to the “Beast” rather than Jesus takes its “mark,” just as everyone who follows the “Lamb wherever he goes” is sealed by God.

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

The congregation of Smyrna was experiencing economic deprivation because it refused to compromise with the surrounding culture, and its members were slandered by “the Synagogue of Satan.” Despite appearances, the saints “were rich” because they persevered. If they continued doing so, they would avoid the “Second Death” and receive the “crown of life” in the city of “New Jerusalem”– (Revelation 2:8-11).

The beastly system of John’s time was the Roman Empire (“five kingdoms are fallen, the one is”). Though it was not the final incarnation of the “Beast,” it certainly was a forerunner and possessed many of the attributes of the future “Beast from the Sea.”

Satan has been pushing the same agenda from the beginning, whether at the Tower of Babel, the Neo-Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, or today’s prospective world hegemon. This is in part why Ancient Israel and now the Church often have experienced economic oppression by governments and empires – (Revelation 17:10).

Nevertheless, the Beast’s final form will come, and when a political entity appears on the world scene that uses economic control against nations, peoples, and individuals that refuse to submit to its demands, it will be the first sign that the final “Beast” has started its “Ascent from the Sea.”

We must choose now whether to submit and swear fealty to the “Beast from the Sea” or “to follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” If we do the latter, we will find ourselves marginalized by society, but we also will stand one day before the “Lamb” in the “city of New Jerusalem.”

If we choose the former, we will find to our dismay that our names have been expunged from “the Lamb’s Book of Life.” All men who take the Beast’s mark and pay homage to its image will experience “the Wrath of God” – (Revelation 14:8-10).

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SEE ALSO:

• Loving Caesar - (The Inhabitants of the Earth willingly venerate the Beast and take its mark, and even believers are not immune from its allurements)

• Caesar Wages War - (The language of “war” is used by Revelation to portray the persecution of the saints by the Empire)

• The Recurring Empire - (Babylon is both a historical kingdom and the symbol of the repeated rise of the World Empire)

• Le Pouvoir de César - (Le Faux Prophète emploie la pression économique pour contraindre les hommes et les femmes à prêter allégeance à la Bête de la Mer)