To Mark or Not to Mark? That is the Question.
Left Behind, Part 6
After the rapture of the church, things are going to get progressively worse, but the progression from normal to horror will start slow and build up to become worse than anyone could possibly imagine. As times get bad and the culture goes from bad to worse, everyone will have to make a choice, to choose Jesus or to choose Satan.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Mathew 6:24)
We will obey Jesus or obey Satan. We will choose a hard life here on Earth and a marvelous, joyous, pain-free eternity in heaven or choose an easier life here on Earth and an eternity of pain and loneliness. This should be an easy choice, but most won’t find it so because they will have trouble seeing beyond the here and now. Just as Esau1 sold his birthright to his brother because he was hungry, most people will do what makes it easy to fill their hungry bellies rather than trusting their creator and making the choice that will lead to the best eternity. Most people aren’t good at looking a month or year in the future. They will find it impossible to see into eternity.
There will be two kinds of mark during the tribulation. God will mark 144,000 Jews with His name to be his witnesses to the world.
Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless. (Revelation 14:1-5)
Satan will also try to mark his followers. The False Prophet will force everyone to make a choice, to get the mark of the beast if they want to be able to buy and sell.
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:11-17) {emphasis mine}
During the seven year tribulation, every person left on Earth will be given the choice: to receive the mark of the beast so they can buy and sell and function in society or to refuse the mark and submit to Jesus, but be unable to buy and sell and provide for themselves and their family. Most people will take the easy path and receive the mark, so they can go on with their lives. Unfortunately this will be a deadly choice that can never be undone or fixed.
Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11) {emphasis mine}
This choice to take the easier path will lead to eternal torment. This refusal to listen to our creator God and our savior God will mean eternal separation. These people will grieve their choice forever.
There will be a good number of people who will choose to follow Jesus and refuse the mark, but they will pay the price for putting off this decision until the time of the tribulation.
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4) {emphasis mine}
Many may wonder, if they experience the tribulation, how can they stand firm on their faith when they know that doing so could (likely will) lead to them and their family either starving to death or being beheaded? The trick is to keep your eye on God and to keep your eye on the prize.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:13)
A perfect example to follow in times when our faith is challenged comes from Daniel (but my idea to use it here came from Dr. David Jeremiah’s book, The Book of Signs, Chapter 25)
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. … Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.” (Daniel 3:1, 4-6)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were given a choice. They had to choose to obey God’s 1st and 2nd commandments:
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God (Genesis 20:3-5a)
and to risk being burn to death in a fiery furnace or they had to choose to disobey God and earn His wrath, but avoid the furnace. When exposed by others, who were jealous of their position, they stood firm and refused to worship the idol. Nebuchadnezzar even gave them a second chance to bow down when faced with the furnace. They chose faithfulness and I love their statement of faith.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18) {emphasis mine}
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego had the faith to know that God was capable of rescuing them from the fiery furnace (which He did), but notice their faith did not depend on being miraculously rescued. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” They served and obeyed God because He is God, not because of what He could do for them. We need to be the same. We need to stand with the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego when we are given the choice between faith and physical death. This is made easier because, if you are a true Christian, death on Earth means life in heaven. It means absolutely everything gets better. Dying in Christ is better than living without Him.
As you can see, if you are left behind after the rapture, it is critical that you choose to trust Jesus and submit to His will and to NOT receive the mark of the beast no matter what it costs you.
For those who trusted Jesus before the tribulation, we’ll all be celebrating at the marriage supper of Christ in heaven and have nothing to worry about. For those who didn’t trust Jesus until the tribulation, your remaining time on Earth will be exceedingly hard, but your reward will actually be great as stated in Revelation 20:4
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4) {emphasis mine}
I hope you won’t put off trusting Jesus and you will live your life like He is coming back any moment. He is coming back soon.
Many may wonder what the mark is.
For most of my life, I assumed the mark would be something like a tattoo, but I never understood how people could be prevented from buying and selling. How do you stop my neighbor and I buying and selling from each other using cash? It didn’t make sense.
Now we have technology that enables the mark. Most of the countries in the world are working on CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is working on a CBDC interface that will let all of the national CBDCs transact with each other. These CBDCs will allow programmable money. Whoever is in control can make your money expire, make it only good for certain purchases, make your money only work in a particular area. The CBDC can make your money completely go away if those in control don’t like what you do, say, or don’t do. If we are moved to a CBDC, all buying and selling could be controlled. As all of the world’s fiat currencies are destroyed by money creation causing massive inflation, it will be easier and easier to get people to switch to the CBDC to rescue them from losing all monetary value.
We also have implantable microchips that can act as ID or credit card or bank account access and all a person has to do is scan their hand to buy or get admittance into a particular place. This technology already exists and is being used in small ways. I believe the mark will be a combination of a CBDC and an implantable microchip that will give you access to your “wallet”. The technology is here in a way that could not have been imagined just a decade or two ago. I believe our time is short. We need to live our lives with this understanding.
Trust Jesus.
your sister in Christ,
Christy
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When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:27-34)