Mark of the Beast, Do Not Be Deceived

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: 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 13:16-17 KJV)

This passage has caused a lot of trouble in this time, as we continue in the last days.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
(2 Peter 3:3-4 KJV)

There are many voices claiming to be of God, saying many different things about the Lord and His coming. They are setting dates, which no man can know. (Mat 24:32-36)They are saying the mark of the beast is here and it is a vaccine, or it is a day of worship, or it is cryptocurrencies, or even a micro-chip. This is folly to run after these fables and these clouds without water. (Jude 1)

We have many warnings throughout the New Testament, to not be deceived. This is one of the many places in which that warning is directly applied.

Let us look deeper into the mark of the beast and determine if it is even possible for the mark to be out and in use. For this we need to turn to Revelation Chapter 13, a chapter full of symbolism.

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
(Revelation 13:1 KJV)

In the first part of this chapter we have a blasphemous beast rise up from the waters that causes people to worship the dragon after it has been killed and resurrected.
Remember, the dragon is Satan. So this first beast gets people to openly worship Satan due to this miracle.
All people on the earth worship this beast who are not born-again followers of Christ.
Then in Revelation Chapter 13 a second beast comes out of the earth this time and causes the first beast to be worshipped.

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
(Revelation 13:11-12 KJV)

Then this beast does great wonders by making fire come down from heaven, imitating Elija in 1 Kings 18. Doing this miracle, and more, deceives those who see.
An image is made to the beast and that image is able to speak and cause all who would not worship it to be killed. (Rev 13:15)

After ALL of this the mark is brought into existence and is in the right hand or in the forehead.

Then buying and selling will be restricted to the mark and those who have it.

So lets break this down.

1. Have we had a beast, which could be a kingdom or a ruler himself, that has been wounded to death and healed causing ALL people to wonder and worship Satan?
2. Have all people that are not true Christians worshipped this one entity that has power over all kindreds, all tongues, and nations?
3. Has the second beast, a man, that has all the power of the first beast and causes all in the earth to worship the first beast?
4. Have we had this second entity do great wonders like calling down fire from heaven?
5. And have those mighty miracles causes those that live on the earth to be deceived?
6. Has an image of the second beast been made and does that image have life to speak and cause all who do not worship it to die?

If the answer to ANY of these questions is “no”, then the mark of the beast is not here because the scriptures are explicit; the second beast is the one that gives the mark after the miracles and after the image is given life.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 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 13:13-16 KJV)

Do not be deceived, God gave us the book of Revelation for many reasons. One reason is to protect us from the lies and deceptions of our enemy, the dragon.