The Mark of the Beast

"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."  Revelation 13:11

There are two beasts in Revelation 13, The Beast of the Sea, who is the Antichrist, and the Beast of the Land, who is the false prophet.  The false prophet "exerciseth all the powers of the first beast before him," and "doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven in the sight of men."
Everyone on earth will be deceived by the miracles performed by the false prophet. He is able to perform miracles when he is around the Antichrist.  People conclude that he is from God because he can perform miracles, not realizing that the power to perform miracles can also come from Satan.

Where does the false prophet come from?  How does he gain any prominence?  Nothing is said about this.  He will come up out of the earth.  This means that he is from the Jewish people.

Once the miracles have convinced everyone to pay attention to the false prophet, he tells them to make an image of the beast.  It really seems hard to imagine people doing this.  It's hard enough to imagine that they accept the Antichrist or the false prophet, but then they decide to make an idol that represents the Antichrist, who is an man under the control of Satan, and worship the idol.  It's hard to imagine anyone I know doing that.  But not only will a few do that, almost everyone on earth will do that.

The false prophet presents himself as a lamb, but inside he is a serpent.  People tend to believe what they want to believe, and they want to believe the false prophet.  The Antichrist will have apparent solutions to terrible problems like war and economic collapse.  And he is a religious leader.  All the religions of the world will be homogenized into one big world religion. People will imagine that finally we will be able to solve all the mysteries of life because we have the Antichrist with us to guide us.

What is the purpose of the Image of the Beast?  Why would there need to be an idol?  Why wouldn't the Antichrist just make appearances himself?  I've wondered that, but I don't have an answer and I haven't heard one.  The false prophet will have the power to give life to this idol and it will be able to talk.

I went to Las Vegas once, and stood by a fountain with statutes all around it of what looked like Roman deities.  Suddenly one of the statues began to talk to me.  I was startled and thought I was losing my mind.  I look around carefully to see if this surprised anyone else.  Could they see the statue talking to me?  No one seemed especially surprised or to even pay much attention to it.  I was frightened, and I didn't feel better about it when all the statues began to talk and move.  I thought someone would remark about it.  No.  It was a little mechanized show they put on every 15 minutes.  I suppose when people first see the Image of the Beast talking, there will be a horror like I felt, as if they are seeing a ghost.  How will they talk themselves out of that?

How will people convince themselves to worship an idol, a thing that they know for sure they made themselves?  What kind of conversations will they have with each other about the wisdom of this?  The false prophet will instigate people to round up all the infidels that won't worship the Image of the Beast, and put them to death.

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads and that no man might buy or sell save he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

It's no secret that we have microchips in this day that can carry a lot of information and send radio signals that can not only give the location of the microchip, but read the information.  They are used for pets sometimes, to track the animal in case it is lost.  I'm pretty sure these are the things that will be used to mark people with.  In fact, the original word used was "an incision."  Until recently, it was thought that the mark of the beast would be a tattoo.  No, it will most likely be a microchip.

There is a supercomputer in Belgium that is capable of holding enough information to keep track of everyone on earth.  The nickname of this computer is "The Beast."  And with the chip, not just to keep track of them when you catch up with them.  It can tell where they are.  This might seem like a great idea.  Criminals can be found and brought to justice.  Terrorists can be located.  Plots foiled.  Imagine the ease of not having to carry a license, money or a credit card.  Lost children found.  Everyone will have all their medical information right there in the event of emergency.  

In reality, the whole world will become one big prison.  And the basic means of control will be the monetary system.  No one can buy or sell anything without the chip.  Scanners will become as common as card readers in stores.  In fact, the cards and card readers probably set the stage for the day that people will have microchips in their hand or forehead.

"Here is wisdom.  Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and the number is six hundred, three score and six."

Is it a coincidence that every bar code begins, has in the middle, and ends, with the number 6?

Why a number?  In Roman times, numbers were assigned to letters of the alphabet.  From this a person could take the letters of their name and have his number.  And the mystery continues.  Whose name is this?

Beware!  Revelation 14:9-10 "And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast, and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name, 10. The same shall drink the wine of the wrath of God..."

Don't take the mark of the Beast!!