Swearing Allegiance

In the Book of Revelation, every man and woman must choose between loyalty to the Beast from the Sea or the Sacrificial Lamb.

Discussions on the “Mark of the Beast” focus on the significance of its number, ‘666.’ We wish to understand it so we may avoid taking it. To better appreciate the ramifications of taking its “Mark,” we must perceive that the Book of Revelation contrasts the “Mark of the Beast” with the “Seal of God.”

Every man and woman must choose between two irreconcilable alternatives, two radically different kingdoms. To which ruler and king will we swear allegiance? The choice we make carries everlasting consequences. Either Jesus alone is Lord and Sovereign over all things, or the Beast and its surrogates.

[Rome - Photo by Maria Dolores Vazquez on Unsplash]

The demand of the “Beast” for absolute allegiance has characterized virtually every human government. Since Jesus is the absolute Lord and King of his followers, the conflict presented graphically in Revelation between Church and State becomes inevitable. The Book also describes the dire consequences faced by every man who gives his allegiance to the “Beast from the Sea,” the ultimate incarnation of the World Empire.

The “Mark of the Beast” is the satanic counterpart to the “Seal of God.” Everyone who takes this beastly mark pledges fealty to the “Beast.” In contrast, men and women who receive the “Seal of God” are those who follow the “Lamb wherever he goes.”

Humanity is divided into two groups: Men whose “names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life,” and those whose names are not. Everyone falling into the latter category is destined for the “Second Death.”

The Book of Revelation was addressed to churches in the Roman Empire where believers were pressured to conform to local religious practices, especially the imperial cult that paid divine honors to the Emperor and offered incense to Caesar’s image.

The ancient world had no concept of separation of Religion and State. Political ideology and religious practices were intermingled. Your religion was determined by your place of origin and nationality. The Roman government left local populations alone to practice their native religions, but Rome expected all citizens and subjects to pay homage to Caesar on public occasions.

Venerating the Emperor was a religious act and a political duty. Doing so demonstrated your allegiance to the World Empire. Refusal constituted disloyalty to the State. Christians were taught to be law-abiding citizens, but their faith prevented them from acknowledging anyone as “Lord” other than Jesus Christ. Conflict and persecution were inevitable - (Romans 13:1-7).

The choice facing believers is reflected in the Greek verbs used for “worship” in Revelation - The verbs ‘latreuō’ and ‘proskuneō’. The former denotes the “rendering of divine service” to a divine person or image. In the Greek scriptures, it is applied to priests serving in the Tabernacle and Temple. It is applied twice in the Book to priestly service to God.

The second verb or ‘proskuneō’ occurs twenty-four times. It is a compound of the preposition pros or “toward” and the verb ‘kuneō’ or “kiss.” The idea is “to kiss towards,” to prostrate yourself before someone. Derived meanings include “render homage,” “give obeisance,” “revere,” “give fealty,” and “venerate.”

The term ‘proskuneō’ describes the deference and honor men pay to a superior being or rank, human or divine. To “render homage” is to give allegiance, whether to God, Jesus, or the “Beast from the Sea” - (Revelation 7:15, 22:3).

THE DIVIDING LINE

Two groups are presented in Chapter 13 of Revelation - The “Inhabitants of the Earth” and those who “Tabernacle in Heaven.” Awed by the “Beast,” the first group “renders homage to the Beast,” therefore, their names “are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb” - (Revelation 13:6-7, 12:12).

Those who “tabernacle in Heaven” are the “saints,” the same group targeted for persecution by the “Dragon” and “war” by the “Beast” – “Those who have the faith of Jesus.” Their names are “written in the Book of Life” - (“It was given to the Beast to make war with the saints” - Revelation 12:17, 13:7-10).

The “Mark of the Beast” is the counterfeit of the “Seal of God.”  The Seal identifies those men who belong to the Lamb. They endure persecution but also are preserved through the Great Tribulation. Their identification with the “Lamb” exempts them from the “Second Death,” not from suffering for his name - (Revelation 2:11, 7:1-3, 7:9-17, 20:6).

In contrast, any man who “swears fealty to the image of the Beast” is “branded” with its “mark,” which entitles him or her to participate in the economic life of society. Everyone who refuses the beastly brand is ostracized and faces economic deprivation, impoverishment, and possibly martyrdom.

The men who belong to the “Lamb” and “follow him wherever he goes” have “his name written on their foreheads.” Consequently, they will be found before the Throne in the “Holy City, New Jerusalem.” They have been “purchased from the Earth by the Lamb,” and thus their names are written in his “Book of Life.”

Everyone who “renders homage to the image of the Beast” automatically takes its “mark” and his name is accordingly “blotted out of the Book of Life.”

If the “Seal of God” is figurative, so is the “Mark of the Beast.” In this way, Revelation divides humanity into two groups. An individual belongs to the “Lamb” or the “Beast.” There is no third alternative.

This is made clear when the angel warns one and all: “Anyone who renders homage to the Beast and his Image and receives its Mark will drink of the wine of the Wrath of God.” Giving allegiance to the beastly World Empire is to take its “mark” and “number,” and that will mean partaking of the “wrath of God” - (Revelation 14:9-11).

This coming “wrath” is not a series of plagues, but the full and everlasting “wrath” “prepared unmixed” and poured out at the final judgment before the “Great White Throne of Judgment” when the wicked all those who gave their allegiance to the “Beast” are cast into the “Lake of Fire” - (Revelation 20:11-15).

The “Saints” who “keep the faithfulness of Jesus” will overcome the “Beast” and find themselves “standing on the glassy sea” before the Throne and “singing the Song of the Lamb.” They will participate in the “First Resurrection” and “live and reign with Christ.”

[PDF Copy]

SEE ALSO:

• The Ancient Regime - (The Beast of Revelation embodies the ancient imperial power that has stalked the saints since the Tower of Babel incident)

• Vanishing Empire - (Only God’s kingdom will prevail and endure. All other political powers and regimes are fleeting. Already they are passing away)

• Empires Rise and Fall - (Imperial arrogance is the legacy of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first but certainly not last attempt to establish the World Empire)

• Jesus Reigns - (Jesus triumphed over Satan and Sin through his Death and Resurrection, therefore, he now reigns from the Messianic Throne)