Post-Trib Only Observations About the Mark of the Beast...

Sabertooth

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Though I have read and heard a lot of different theories, the part that I have never heard proposed before was that the enigmatic "number of his name"-type mark would only be one of two (or three, in KJV) possible "marks" that will be available.

That would mean that the 666 encryption would NOT be present in every instance, just on those who opted for that particular style. That oversight is huge. It means that it will be possible to have a numberless "mark of the beast."

(Please consider that point [in this thread] rather than re-iterating all of the popular theories on what the number might look like.)
 
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tranquil

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Though I have read and heard a lot of different theories, the part that I have never heard proposed before was that the enigmatic "number of his name"-type mark would only be one of two (or three, in KJV) possible "marks" that will be available.

That would mean that the 666 encryption would NOT be present in every instance, just on those who opted for that particular style. That oversight is huge. It means that it will be possible to have a numberless "mark of the beast."

(Please consider that point [in this thread] rather than re-iterating all of the popular theories on what the number might look like.)

To my thinking, the reason that the mark is divided into 2 camps (the name of the beast, or the number of its name) is a reflection on the differentiation of the beast from the sea or the beast from the earth, ie sea beast kingdom gets the 'name' & earth beast kingdom gets the 'number'. Or vice versa. Boiled down, the mark seems to be allegiance to secularism, and/ or Pharisee-ism.

Because people get trapped into thinking things are 'either/ or', they give allegiance to a different evil. (for example: because Hillary Clinton is evil, then that means Trump is good'. Same mechanism in the end times probably.)

what this means for Christians that refuse the 'obvious' mark (say, 'allegiance to Islam' or 'allegiance to the AI singularity'), they will be tempted with a different mark that goes the exact opposite way that would supposedly indicate that one is 'very holy' (allegiance to the individual 'responsible for defeating alien demons' Matthew 7:21-23).

It is clear from the kingdom of heaven parables that one of the marks of the beast is an allegiance to Pharisee-ism, with phylacteries Phylactery | Judaism

when the 'day of the Lord' occurs, this is the start of the 'kingdom of heaven, on earth'. At the end of the 2nd woe/ 6th Trumpet, the 2 witnesses have been preaching to people who have been exalting themselves. The mark of the beast that the end-time Pharisees have is an indicator that they think they are holy. the 'come up here' at the end of the 2nd woe/ 6th Trumpet occurs at the start of the 'kingdom of heaven on earth' (aka the 'wedding feast') / at the beginning of the 7th Trumpet.

Rev 11

7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.​

the 'come up here' is not being whisked up to heaven, it is being exalted for being humble. (the 'rest that were terrified' are the evil Pharisees that become humbled when the non-marked Christians become exalted.)

Luke 14

7Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.

10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.

11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Matt 23

1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

5They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues


7and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.c 9And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.d 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

[...]
23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. [...]

25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38See, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”​



 
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Sabertooth

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To my thinking, the reason that the mark is divided into 2 camps (the name of the beast, or the number of its name) is a reflection on the differentiation of the beast from the sea or the beast from the earth, ie sea beast kingdom gets the 'name' & earth beast kingdom gets the 'number'. Or vice versa. Boiled down, the mark seems to be allegiance to secularism, and/ or Pharisee-ism.
That's fair, but (whether two or three forms) they are given as multiple expressions
  • mark [KJV],
  • name,
  • number of his name
of a single entity, the revived first beast (v. 15).

Even in your rationale, some would still get a "mark" [his name] that has no hidden numerical qualities. The 666 element (in v. 18) will only be discernible in the "number of his name" form of the mark.
 
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