The Mark
All people were forced to put a mark on their right hand or forehead. Whether they were powerful or weak, rich or poor, free people or slaves
Revelation 13:16-17 CEV
[16] All people were forced to put a mark on their right hand or forehead. Whether they were powerful or weak, rich or poor, free people or slaves, [17] they all had to have this mark, or else they could not buy or sell anything. This mark stood for the name of the beast and for the number of its name.
Revelation repeatedly connects the Mark of the Beast to the worship of the Antichrist and, through him, worship of Satan.
Revelation 14:9-10 says, "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." Revelation 16:2 says, "A foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image."
The Mark will involve both choice and deception. That is not a contradiction.
The Bible gives us many instances in which people choose and are simultaneously deceived. But let's be clear. That usually means they chose to be deceived.
Being deceived through lack of discernment means that at some point in life, the individual chose to give up the ability to discern truth from lie. In that sense, they willingly rejected future opportunities to see biblical truth.
That's what will happen here. Blasphemy against God will characterize the Antichrist's speech. He will rail against the Christians already in heaven and will make war against their counterparts still on earth.
They will hear an angelic warning and know that they are choosing to side with God's enemy. It will not be a trick and it will not be an accident. They will know!
Romans 1:25 speaks of the choice to be deceived when it says they "exchanged the truth of God for the lie." 2 Timothy 4:3 says that a time is coming when people will "not endure sound doctrine."
The Greek here translated "not endure" literally means they "won't put up with it." Sound doctrine — the thing they won't put up with — is truth. They will choose not to put up with truth.
Continued willful rejection of truth leads to dreadful things. God gives them over to the lies for which they long. Romans 1:28 says, "Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind."
2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 talks about this terrible-yet-just-phenomenon as it relates to the Antichrist (the lawless one). "The coming of the lawless one," it says, "is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
They will fall for unrighteous deception specifically because they do not want the truth. 1 Timothy 4:1 in the English Standard Version says, "The Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits." They will devote themselves to spirits of deceit. This illustrates both the choice to be deceived and the spiritual nature of last days deception.
The Antichrist and false prophet will use deception to promulgate the Mark of the Beast, but again, it will be a deception chosen by the deceived.
What Will Happen to the Unmarked?
The law of that day will require every person on the face of the earth to receive the Mark. No one will be exempt, no matter how wealthy or powerful. "He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark...."
Romans 13:1-2 tells us to obey human law. But Acts 5:29 gives a crucial exception. "Peter and the other apostles answered and said: 'We ought to obey God rather than men. When human law conflicts with God's law, God's law must take precedence.
When it comes to receiving the Mark of the Beast, some people will choose to obey God rather than man. They will refuse the Mark. Revelation 13:17 says people who refuse it will not be allowed to "buy or sell." Think about what that means.
Think about food. The unmarked will initially have to survive on things they can grow or kill. But most people are not farmers or ranchers. And those who are, can expect strict regulation. Also, farming and animal husbandry require many kinds of purchases. In urban areas, most wildlife will quickly disappear, leaving unmarked city dwellers and suburbanites to subsist on rats, mice, and bugs. Even in rural areas, wildlife will become scarce.
What could be more alarming, is that the consequences of not being able to buy or sell goes far beyond food. How many people can make their own insulin, or essential drugs? A person may already own a car, but they will not be able to buy fuel for it or pay for licensing and registration.
With real estate taxes un-paid, government will take homes away. Fortunes will disappear in a matter of days or even hours.
The unmarked will initially suffer incredible hardship, but this will quickly become persecution and death by order of the second beast and all who follow the Antichrist.
Revelation 13:15 says that the beast will cause as many as would not worship his image to be killed.
Does This Mean One-world Government?
Yes. But unknowing to most, the global government prophesied at the end of days won't be the first. So, what was and why does it matter?
In Genesis 11:4, the leaders say to one another, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." But God commanded them to fill the earth.
On those plains, Nimrod founded a great city that he named "Babel" and ordered the construction of a tower that would reach into the heavens. It would be the largest manmade object on the face of the Earth.
The tower meant that Nimrod's city could provide safety against the whims of capricious gods or the judgment of Yah-weh, the God of Nimrod's Great Grandfather, Noah. In the case of another flood, the tower would save them!
Although the world's inhabitants might have seen Nimrod as a type of "savior", with Babel as their safe haven, the true intent for this one world government was an attempt for man to protect himself against the wrath of God and His righteous judgement. Also, this was in clear defiance of God's commandment.
Take a step back from this story and the reason for the tower becomes obvious — it was an attempt to maintain a one-world government by convincing inhabitants to not scatter abroad.
This could be accomplished because Nimrod was providing what no one else could. Peace and safety. Of course, this would only be an illusion.
For God to enforce His command for humanity to fill the earth, He didn't bring forth another great flood (He promised not to). He simply and mercifully confused their language. Breakdowns in communication stopped the tower's construction, and as a result, the people left Babel, scattered to the four corers of the Earth. Nimrod's plan to establish and maintain a one-world government had failed.
How Can a Disjointed World Unite Once Again?
Since then, clashing languages and cultures have segregated populations within opposing nations and regions for millennia — compounding a long history of perception that an overarching world ruler could never succeed again — that is, until recently.
For most of human history, a one-world government was the ambition of dictators and tyrants. But about 150 years ago, it also became a cause célebre among the intelligentsia. It gained momentum during the time when men believed technology was about to turn earth into a paradise. World government making utopia possible was a strong argument for some. But after the two World Wars, they found an even more persuasive argument.
They said world government was necessary for the survival of civilization. Sound familiar?
As we look at the push for global government over the last century and a half, there are several important things to notice. First, note the role that fear of widespread death and destruction plays. It comes up again and again as a motivating factor.
Second, look at the global elite's fear of the masses, their consequent fear of actual democracy, and the extreme measures they take to gain control of regular people. To see their desperation, look at the extreme solutions they tried, including mass sterilization and mass murder. Notice that the advocates of these things were not people from the fringe of society. They were the mainstream... and they still are.
Their solution? World government. But until recently, it was a practical impossibility. Unlike Nimrod's one world government, many today believe the earth is now too populated and complex for a single government or person to control.
For the elites of today to accomplish what Nimrod attempted to do thousands of years ago, drastic changes would have to occur to shrink the world back down to a manageable size.
That is where we are headed today with the intentional “shrinking” of the world’s population from wars, from pandemics, from abortions, from population control such as policies of “one child” from fear and uncertainty influencing couples to not have children and it’s all being orchestrated to enable what is prophesied in Daniel and in Revelation. It’s all a preparation for the 7-year tribulation on the horizon.
But before the tribulation, there is the blessed hope.
Titus 2:13 NASBS
[13] looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
And we know how…
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NASBS
[16] For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. [18] Therefore comfort one another with these words.