The "mark" will come in two or three forms* and must be visible in order to conduct business.
Observations About The Mark Of The Beast...
*Not all of them will have the hidden numerical feature.
thats a conclusion
It is helpful to recognize that the language describing the mark of the beast is
more rooted in the OT than in first-century conditions. This allows us to keep the
exegesis of the text, rather than questionable historical reconstructions, as the
controhg guide in our interpretations. John draws on the OT imagery and
symbolism of what can be called "sign-cornmandrnents." In the OT, several
commandments are designated as "signs." These include circumcision (Gen
17:ll); the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the law of the firstborn, both ofwhich
are signs on the hand and forehead (Exod 13: 9, 16); and the Sabbath (Exod
31:13,17; Ezek 20:12,20). These are specific practices or commandments that
God gives and identifies as "signs." In companion passages in Deuteronomy, there is a shift of focus. Instead of specific individual commandments as signs, we find that the keeping of all of God's regulations (in obedience to the great command to love God with the whole person [Deut 6:4; 10:12; 11:1,13,22]) is sign on the hand and forehead (Deut 623; 11:18-21). Here stress is laid on the
people's actively binding the commandments as signs on their hands and
foreheads. The context, however, is not simply dutiful commandment-keeping in general, but the people's exclusive loyalty to the one true God."Examination of the passages in Genesis and Exodus reveals that specified sign commandments share the following characteristics:
experience with God and remind the one observing them of this event. The feast of unleavened bread is described as a "reminder" on the forehead of the Exodus deliverance (Exod 13:9). It especially serves to remind the next generation (Exod 13:8,14). Second, sign commandments are identifying signs or symbols of a special relationship between God and the keeper. They are a "sign of the covenant
between me and YOU'' (Gen 17:11); a "sign between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed" (Exod 31:21); and a sign that "with a strong hand theLord brought you out of Egypt" (Exod 13:9). They perform an important role inoutwardly identifying"who" the worshiped God is and "who" the worshipers are. Third, sign commandments are "ceremonial" or "ritual' in nature. Unlike some "moral" commands that simply forbid an action (e.g., 'You shall not steal"), sign
commands entail some ritualized action of obedience and worship. One keeps the commandment by performing some act. This in particular enables them to
function as observable signs. The sign-commandment passages in Deut 6 and 11 are also concerned about remembering God, identifymg the relationship between YHWH and his people to the exclusion of other gods, and the active performance of laws specific to YHWH and not simply the prohibition of immoral conduct. How, then, does God place signs on hs people's hands and foreheads? The answer would not claim that God literally or physically marks people, but rather God gives his people a religious commandment or worship practice to keep. Thats a brief summary helps us understand how the Sabbath functions as the sign
commandment for the whole Covenant (Exod 31:12,17). First, in Exod 20:8-11,the Sabbath is about remembering God's act of creation. Second, the Sabbath identifies the Israelite God as YHWH the Creator and the people as worshipers of this universal Creator God. Third, the Sabbath includes a "ritualized" element that involves setting apart the seventh day as a holy rest day for God.'' The declaration of the Sabbath as a sign is the last thing God says to Moses before handing him the Decalogue (Exod 3 1 : 1 7,18) and the &st thing after giving a new
copy of the Decalogue (Exod 35:l-3). The Sabbath is the sign commandment of the Covenant and appropriately sits in the heart of the Decalogue. The mark of the beast reveals several similarities to a sign commandment. First, the mark explicitly draws on the placement imagery of hands and forehead (Rev 13:16).13 Second, as with sign commandments, the mark of the beast
identifies that the wearer and keeper are in a relationship of obedience to the beast. This sense of identification is of great importance in Revelation, because whoever is identified is also protected. Those marked by the beast and worshiping him will not face his economic boycott and death threats (Rev 13:15-17). In parallel fashion, those sealed by God will be preserved from the wrath of God (Rev 7:l-3; 9:4).15 Thlrd, just as the essence of an OT sign commandment included obedience that involved a ceremonial element, so the mark appears to be a command that involves participation in some manner of ritualized worship. The mark is always connected with the worship of the beast and its image, and is the sign of this very worship (Rev 13:12-16; 14:9-11). Thus the beast marks people on the forehead and hand in the same way God does in the OT, by giving or enforcing a worship practice or commandment. The visions of Rev 12-1 5 provide the context for the mark of the beast and contain three lines of evidence supporting the identification of the mark as a sign commandment. These chapters also narrow the focus on commandments to the first table of the Decalogue, and the Sabbath in particular. fis is a strong foundation for the identification of the mark as a parody of the Sabbath. The first line of evidence looks at the significance of the heavenly scenes of 11 :I 9 and l5:l8, which form the boundaries of the vision discussing the mark. The second he of evidence looks at the language of "commandments" in chapters 12 and 14. The hd line of evidence involves discerning two patterns within chapters 12 and 13 that further reinforce a focus on the Ten Commandments and sharpen this focus on the Sabbath sign commandment.
