The Mark Of The Beast
THE MARK OF THE BEAST
REVELATION 13:11-18
One of the Christian’s greatest problems is to hold in balance subjection to the authorities with a rejection of the satanic powers that use them.
The very fact that the second beast rises out of “the earth” (13:11) suggests its nature. It represents every organization that claims to accept God’s law, but is opposed to its spirit. Very much ingenuity has been used in interpreting the number of the beast (13:18), and some of the interpretations may have a limited validity. But “wisdom,” and not a knowledge of Greek, or even Hebrew, is called for (13:18). The RSV is among the few translations that realizes that “the number of a man” is a false translation; “it is a human number,” or the number of humanity. Seven is symbolically the perfect number, God’s number; six is the number of humanity at their best. 666 is humanity at the climax of their achievement, but still falling short of the perfection of 777. The details of the vision are not so important as the realization that we have essentially the worship of humanity depicted, which is indirectly the worship of Satan, as lord of the world.
There are times when the killing of those who refuse to worship (13:15) is to be taken literally; sometimes no more than the squeezing out of the nonconformist is involved. The reference is not to ration cards, though these show how easily the vision can be carried out, but to the raising of human organizations, particularly those of the State, to complete power. There was a time, when either by the inefficiency of the State machine, or by moving to virgin lands, people could opt out. Today this has become impossible, and it is merely a question of how much authority the State chooses to exert. The fact that in almost every land liberal, not necessarily Christian, people are alarmed by the growth of State power is a great cause for concern.
Perhaps our greatest danger is the belief that we extend our influence by increasing and strengthening our Christian organizations. However pure their doctrine, they are in danger of being caught up in the orbit of the second beast. One of the saddest lessons from the Communist and Nazi dictatorships is the way in which they were able to capture and, in great measure, use completely admirable church organizations.