Structure of Revelation 12 & 13: mark in the right hand or forehead
Study:
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:" Revelation 13:16
What is this "mark in the right hand or in the forehead"? How can we know what it is? Does the Bible have anything similar? Yes!
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
So the parallel to Revelation 13:16's "mark in the hand or in the forehead" is found in Deuteronomy 6:9. The context makes it clear that this is symbolic. It talks of "these words, which I command thee this day ... shall be in thy heart ... upon thy hand...," visible in your actions, moulding them, "...and between your eyes...," in your thoughts, modifying them. But what are "these words, which I command thee..." that are to have this effect on God's people? They are the Ten Commandments which appear in the previous chapter, Deuteronomy 5.
So what is the beast's mark in the right hand or forehead then? And, why does Deuteronomy 6:9 have an AND while Revelation 13:16 has an OR? Starting with the last question! For God, you must have both---Your actions only count if your thoughts or heart is right! This is why the seal of God, the counterpart to the mark of the beast, is only in the forehead.
"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7:2,3
The beast, like God, has a law. For the beast, only obedience and conformity are required and force is used to achieve this. There are two classes obedient to the beast and his law, though. The first class, marked in the hand, believe that the law of the beast is wrong, evil, unholy, etc., but obey out of fear of the consequences... they obey in spite of knowing the truth of the Bible because they lack the required relationship with Christ and thus the necessary patience and faith in God to go through persecution and hardship. The second class, marked in the forehead, obey because they have the mind of the beast and believe the law is right and good and true and holy, etc.
In summary:
- The beast, like God, has a law!
- The mark of the beast "seals" this law in his people, marking them as his! (Just as the seal of God "seals" God's law, the 10 Commandments, in his people, setting them apart as His.)
right hand
---
forehead
Partial Structure:
in their right hand, or
the law of
the beast on
his people
Going on...
"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Revelation 13:17
Parallel Nature of the Mark:
Note the indicator that the mark on the right hand or forehead is the same as and parallel to the mark OF the name of the beast or the number of his name. Apart from Revelation 13:16,17, here are all the verses mentioning the mark.
"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand," Revelation 14:9
"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Revelation 14:11
"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Revelation 15:2
"And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." Revelation 16:2
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Revelation 19:20
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Revelation 20:4
Tabulating the above verses... and simplifying the translation.
(& 19:20)
Notice that "mark" is paired both with "in the right hand/hand/hands or in the forehead" AND with "name of the beast/his name or number of his name." Also, notice that either you have "in the right hand/hand/hands or in the forehead" OR "name of the beast/his name or number of his name" but NOT BOTH. Lastly, notice that there are two varieties for both of these "marks": (1) in the hand or (2) in the forehead AND (i) the name of the beast or (ii) the number of his name. This hints that "in the right hand/hand/hands or in the forehead" AND "name of the beast/his name or number of his name" are the same thing... parallels.
Name is in the Forehead:
The most substantial indicator, at least up to now, that the mark on the right hand or forehead is the same as and parallel to the mark OF the name of the beast or the number of his name is the connection between name and forehead.
"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads." Revelation 14:1
"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." Revelation 17:5
"And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads." Revelation 22:4
So the name is in the forehead! Putting this all together with what we had previously...
Second Partial Structure:
in their right hand, or
the law of
the beast on
his people
the name of the beast, or
But how does this new information fit in with the previous? How does the "mark of the name of the beast" fit into the picture of the "mark on the hand or forehead" or, in other words, the effects/"mark" of the law of the beast on the actions and thoughts?
Name and Character:
"Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send." 1 Samuel 25:25
"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Exodus 3:13,14
"And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." Exodus 34:5-7
According to 1 Samuel 25:25, "as his name is, so is he" or in my own words, "his name is his character or who he is," a statement that finds its ultimate expression in the name of God, Yahweh or Jehovah. According to Exodus 3:13, God's name Yahweh means "I AM" or more fully, "I AM THAT I AM." In other words God's name is who He is. We see this most explicitly in Exodus 34:5-7 where God descends in a cloud proclaiming His name and what he proclaims is His character, "I AM THAT I AM (=Yahweh) ... merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."
Thus,
name == character
But, there is more...
God's Character and His Law:
As we just saw, name is equivalent to character, at least in the case of God, but God's character is in His law. Look at the following parallel texts describing God and His law.
So we get the following then,
name == character == law or its "mark" on thought
Adding this to our previous structure...
Second Partial Structure+:
in their right hand, or
the law of
the beast on
his people
the name of the beast, or
beast's law
on thought
(= character)
We thus have shown that indeed this picture is consistent. But what of the number of his name?
The Number of the Beast and the Number of his Name:
"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." Revelation 13:18
Without evidence to the contrary, the close connection between these two numbers, the number of the beast and the number of his name, would seem to indicate that they are the same number. It should be noted that no other number of the beast is ever mentioned in the book of Revelation, other than these two. No description of the number of his name is ever given and the number of the beast only appears here.
What do we know about the number of his name? From the structure obtained thus far, the number of his name, since it parallels the mark in the hand, is connected to the law of the beast, to be specific, a law that involves the hand or works. Interestingly, so is the number of the beast, 666, for it is a counterfeit sabbath that limits work to 6 days and commands rest on one day (paralleling the 7th-day Sabbath of God's 10 Commandments).
But is there more evidence that our structure is correct? Yes!
Notice it says "...the number of the beast: ... it is the number of a man..." The number of a man is 6 for he was created on the 6th day.
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ... And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Genesis 1:26-31
All things of man (6) fall short of the perfection of God (7). Revelation 12 & 13 is another example of this falling short of man: 666 = a counterfeit sabbath or day of law enforced rest, used to unite 3 human powers (3 x 6), the dragon, the sea beast, and the land beast.
Structure:
of MAN
in their right hand, or
the law of
the beast on
his people
the name of the beast, or
beast's law
on thought
(= character)
666 (= 6 x 3; man-made x 3).
sabbath
Very Important!!! The Number of the beast, 666, and the mark (on the hand or forehead/of the number of his name or the name of the beast) are NOT the same! The number of the beast is the Sunday Law while the mark is the effect of that Law on man... on his thinking process/character (and his actions) or just on his actions.
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