666: Ho Hum, Time to Take the Mark of the Beast

yawn

“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: 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. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
–Revelation 13:15-18

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall 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 ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
–Revelation 14:9-11

One remembers that years ago–as an eager, pubescent learner–being amazed at Revelation 13’s account of the mark of the beast.

That long-ago amazement was caused by a few thoughts.

  1. How could so many throw away their eternal happiness by taking on the mark of the beast?
  2. Couldn’t those end times people run away from the obvious evil that was 666, the mark of the beast and the worship of the man of sin’s idol?
  3. With God throwing down all sorts of terrible judgments upon the earth and its inhabitants (Revelation 16), why wouldn’t any save themselves by repenting INSTEAD of their totally-ineffective blaspheming God“?

Having a much better view of end times man presently than that long-ago youth, it is MUCH easier to answer those questions NOW than it was THEN.

How could so many throw away their eternal happiness by taking on the mark of the beast?

It was hard for that young fellow who was learning about the mark of the beast to comprehend just exactly how depraved and wicked end times man would become.  After decades of snide belittling of the Bible by ALL of the world’s many false authorities, end times man no longer believes God’s Word.  Oh, there are LOTS of folks who claim otherwise, but these are usually those who nod vigorously when asked if they believe the Bible–all the while thinking, “As long as it doesn’t contradict science OR my doctor OR the latest research and discoveries OR…”  IF one does not believe God’s Word, one does not believe the warnings in God’s Word.  IF one does not believe the warnings in God’s Word then one is completely surprised by the events which take place.  NOT BELIEVING GOD’S WORD is not an informational problem: it is a SPIRITUAL ONE.  And end times man is so deceived, he is a spiritual mess.

With God throwing down all sorts of terrible judgments upon the earth and its inhabitants, why wouldn’t any save themselves by repenting INSTEAD of their totally-ineffective “blaspheming God“?

“And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”
–Revelation 16:8-9

“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
–Revelation 9:20-21

“And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”
–Revelation 16:2,10-11

“And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent [about 130 pounds]: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”
–Revelation 16:21

That  youth of years-ago never counted on the supreme arrogancy of end times man.

That youth of so many years ago never considered the overarching PRIDE of end times man.

End times man had been told so many times he was a “little god,” that he eventually believed it.

Couldn’t those end times people run away from the obvious evil that was 666, the mark of the beast and the worship of the man of sin’s idol?

Besides the very BIG disadvantages of 1-NOT believing God’s Word and 2-being terribly deceived; end times man also has the GREAT disadvantage of looking at his life as just so many hoops to be jumped through in order to get to where he wants to go.

One can imagine more than one end times “to-do list” with the following–or very similar–items to be checked off: pick up the kids from school, check the oil and gas in the car, stop and get the mark of the beast, pick up Mom’s prescriptions,  get milk and bread.

Receiving the mark of the beast will likely elicit more end times YAWNS than end times TERROR–or even trepidation.

As it was for centuries: the mark of the beast (666) was a topic which caught the attention of the average person, not some small part of one’s daily end times grind.

And that is one result Satan has worked all of these many years to achieve.

“Ho hum.  I had to stop and get the mark of the beast today. What about you?”

“The doctor said I need to eat more broccoli.”

“And they worshipped the dragon [Satan] which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him.  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
–Revelation 13:4,8

HAS the reader ever thought much about whether he will take the mark of the beast?

It is not YET too late: there is still time to change direction (repent), place your faith (hope) for the future entirely on Jesus Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven.

DOES the reader believe he is saved?

Make Your Calling and Election Sure: End Times Survival

DOES the reader believe he is NOT saved?

Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
1 Corinthians 15:1-8

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16

MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report

[Portions of this piece appeared originally in End Times Prophecy Headlines: May 22-24 2020.]

MORE

MORE

RELATED ARTICLES

by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier

images: ETPR/Image by MoteOo from Pixabay.com/ETPR

© Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report, 2012-20. © Mondo Frazier and End Times Prophecy Report, DBKP 2007-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Link Disclaimer: inclusion of links to other blogs/websites is not necessarily an endorsement of all content posted in those blogs/websites.

[NOTE: The following articles are from a service. We neither endorse nor at times have much control over them–although we do, of course, enjoy articles originating from this website on this service. Some articles illustrate points made in ETPR articles; some are merely for the reader’s edification or education.

ALL such links appearing in End Times Prophecy Headlines, such as those below, should originate at ETPR.

RE: our link disclaimer: there are links, from time-to-time which appear on this site which we neither approve nor endorse. The frequency of these types of links will no doubt grow worse. All effort is made to remove such links when we become aware of them.]