Thursday, April 23, 2020

EmmDev 2020-04-23 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Clear thinking#3 - Beasts and their numbers


Clear thinking#3 - Beasts and their numbers

I've had a number of queries about people being "chipped" as part of the rolling out process of the Covid19 vaccine or as part of contact-tracing and this has fueled all the concerns about the "Mark of the Beast."
Let's do some clear thinking about this:

First, let me reiterate a point from yesterday which is that Revelation isn't true only once. (Otherwise, what comfort would the book have been to Christians 2000 years ago?) It is true every time history goes through a "contraction". (Using Jesus' analogy that the End Times are like a woman in labour.)

In his commentary on Revelation, Michael Wilcock sees Revelation as a series of "acts" in a play. (If you think of Romeo and Juliet, one act tells the story from the Capulet perspective while the next act, which could describe events that happen at the same time is the Montague perspective.) This means that one doesn't read the book in a linear fashion, but rather that different "acts" look at the "End Times" from different perspectives (By now we know we mean the period from Ascension to Second Coming when we use the phrase "End Times".)

The "Act" that today's reading is part of is an overview of the history of the church, and these visions are firmly rooted in John's own historical experience.

In the previous chapter we saw how the dragon (Satan) tried to destroy the Child (Christ) but failed. Now he is trying to destroy the woman (the church.)
The dragon calls forth two beasts: one is a figure of authority. The other is the quasi-religious system that serves the first beast. In John's historical context, the first beast was Caesar who declared himself as god, and the second beast was Roman culture and military power that enforced "Emperor Worship." Christians could be required by law to burn a pinch of incense before the statue of Caesar and bow down before it. Failure to do this resulted in removal of their right to have a business in the marketplace, at the least, and being thrown to the lions in the arena at the worst. (You burned incense with your hand and you bowed your head to Caesar's statue - hence John's anatomical references.)

Like most of the numbers in Revelation, the "mark of the beast" is symbolic. If seven is a symbol of God's holiness and perfection then six is to fall short of that. 666 is a trinity of imperfection. It is a "man's number" and Paul reminds us that as far as humankind goes "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 666 is a human god-wannabe. Wearing the mark of the beast is to worship an imperfect human god-wannabe. There is a touch of humour in the mark - it indicates a triune failure to be God.

Many conspiracy theorists have panicked about the barcodes on food, chip implants or the implementation of the European Union arguing that these are the 666, but the point is that you don't get the mark of the beast by accident, you get it by worshipping the first beast through the system of the second.

Two nice examples of how this repeats itself through history would be:

  • Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: The first beast was Nebuchadnezzar who wanted to be honoured as God, the second beast was the religious system with its "band" - trumpet, horn, zither etc. Now bear in mind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were in Nebuchadnezzar's employ. They worked for him. But this was not the problem. The problem came when they were asked to bow down (the 666).

  • Then there's the way Hitler (first beast) created a cult around himself ("Heil Hitler" implied that salvation came from him) and set up the Getstapo (second beast) to enforce the Hitler Salute in society and establish the state church where people sacrificed true faith for obsessive nationalism (the 666).

  • (As an aside, you even see this reflected in the fiction and movies - look at "Star Wars" with the Emperor, Darth Vader and the shift from Republic to Empire)
Throughout history we have seen and will see these beasts and their mark.
The important things to understand are:

  • The Mark of the Beast is about worship and allegiance to someone who is pretending to be God.
  • You don't get this mark by accident - it requires a decision about worship and allegiance.
  • It's not about the number 666 itself, but rather this idea of being a God-wannabe.
Where does our comfort come from?
Three important thoughts:

  1. God was with the three in the fiery furnace and he closed mouths in Daniel's den of lions.
  2. His Holy Spirit gives us the words to speak when we are brought before authorities (Mark 13:11)
  3. And even if the worst happens and we have to die for our faith, then Paul's words are true - "To live is Christ and to die is gain."

1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ... 11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast ... 16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.       (Revelation13:1-18)