THE MARK OF THE BEAST

Revelation 20:4 (KJV)

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

This passage of scripture shows us many things. As we understand proper hermeneutics, the best kingdom quality to explain this verse is the Amillennial view. The Amillennial view shows us that Christ will not rule a thousand years on an earthly throne on this present earth in Jerusalem; but he reigns in the heavenly Jerusalem now. The thousand years in the book of Revelation is symbolic for an extended period of time. The Bible says in Ephesians that we are seated in heavenly in Christ Jesus (Ephe.2:6). When the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D.70, the heavenly Jerusalem came down out of heaven in the Spirit, but it is yet to appear when Christ returns. Christ rules from this place, and we rule with him because we are seated in heavenly places in Christ, and he rules in us.

Now the dead saints that have already passed away are also with Christ in heaven, “for to be absent from the body is to present with the Lord (2Cor.5:8). Their spirits rule WITH Christ in the heavens, and at the same time Christ rules IN believers through the Spirit who are alive on the earth. But again we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus through the Holy Ghost. John 14:20 says “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, AND YE IN ME, AND I IN YOU.”

At Christ’s Parousia, that’s his second coming, the spirits of those that are dead will reunite with their body’s that will come out of the grave, and we who alive and remain will be caught up with them to meat the Lord in the air and shall forever be with the Lord, and it will happen in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. But when Christ comes he is coming to judge the earth, so we are going to meat him in the air to escort him back to the earth: Jude 1:14-15 says “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord COMETH with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

As we talked about In our second video Paul Joseph Goebbels was in charge of propaganda (another word meaning ‘prophet’) and enlightenment, music and the whole life of the Reich. The Greek word “mark” means charagma, that is a scratch or etching i.e., stamp (as a badge of servitude) or sculptured figure (statue): graven, or mark. This mark was the swastika; for it was every where, in and around Europe during the reign of the little horn: sculpted, statues, graven, stamped, and badges of this mark were on the German people. As stated earlier it was compulsory, not only to raise your hand to the image of Hitler as Der Fuhrer; but also to the swastika flag. This emblem was upon their foreheads in a symbolic sense, because it was ever before them as a symbol of worship. To understand the mark of the beast more clearly we have to understand the Old Testament term of the word “mark”. It is important to understand that the Mark and the number of the beast are not the same, but they compliment each other.

In Genesis 4: 15, Cain kills his brother Abel because; Abel had a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Abel brought the firstlings of his flocks of sheep to God, as a tradition of what God did for Adam and Eve in the previous chapter. Gen. 3: 21, says “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord make coats of skins, and clothed them” Abel tries to do what God does when he kills the animal as a sacrifice in God’s presence. The Bible says God was pleased with his offering; the reason being was because it was a shadow of what Christ would do for the sin of the world. Jesus also was the firstborn of many: Col. 1: 18, says ‘And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” So Abel offered the firstlings of his flock in keeping with what he thought would be pleasing to God. Cain’s offering on the other hand was rejected because it was cursed in God’s sight, for God had cursed the ground, Gen. 3: 17, says “And unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee saying, thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” God latter removes the curse so people in Old Testament times could offer gifts from the ground as well as animal sacrifices: Gen. 8: 21, says “… and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for mans sake: for the imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth;…” So Cain’s offering was rejected, but Abel’s was received. Cain becomes jealous of the favor of God that was placed on Abel’s offering and kills his brother. God banishes Cain from his presence and places a mark on him: Gen. 4: 15 says “And the Lord said unto him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” The word “mark” in this verse means an appearing signal, as a flag, a beacon, a monument, an omen, a prodigy, evidence, a mark, a miracle, sign, or a token. This mark had to be on a prominent place upon Cain so people could see it. This sign was given to Cain as a display of God’s mercy, but some would become confused and use it, and Cain’s crime as a mark of justification for sin. Gen. 4: 23,24, says “And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.” God tells the children of Israel to place a mark, or sign on themselves as a symbol of their deliverance from Egypt. Ex. 13: 6-9, 16, says “Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying this is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a SIGN unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt… and it shall be for a TOKEN upon thine hand, and for FRONTLETS between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt.” The word frontlet means to bind on the forehead. The Children of Israel were to place a mark or sign on their hand and forehead. Ezekiel 9: 4 says that God placed a signature mark of protection on faithful Jews that were sick of disgusting things being done in Jerusalem. “And the Lord said unto him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” This was also a shadow of the Signature mark God places on all believers in Christ, as well as the 144,000, Jews (Rev. 3: 12, 14: 1, 22: 4).

Hitler used the swastika as a sign that he was chosen by providence to lead the German people to their destiny. Hitler and the swastika became synonymous the one with the other. The mark that God placed on Cain was for when people would see him they wouldn’t kill him. This mark was NOT A HOLY MARK, but when people would see him they would respect him and not do him harm. Cain used this mark for his advantage: Gen. 4: 16, says “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.” the land of Nod was a place of wandering. Eden was a large land mass in history called the Fertile Crescent because of the rivers in that area. Eden means plain, and it was comprised of the whole Arabian Desert which at this time was filled with grass. This is the Eden where God placed a garden, which was on the western extremity of the land mass. The garden faced east, or the entrance was facing the east. It was also the same area where Syria, and the land of Israel is today. There were four rivers that came out of Eden to water the garden that was in the west, but the land of Nod was east of these rivers in what is known as Persia (Iran), the Indus Valley, and western India. During the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, excavations were made in the Indus Valley region where it is said that swastikas were found. Of course other civilizations lived there after the early population of the world, but history tells us that the swastika is thousands of years old.

The Bible says Cain built a city and called it Enoch after the name of his son (Gen. 4: 17). This mark drew people to Cain to help him build his city. Hitler raised the swastika as a beacon to be admired by millions of Germans. This ultimately became their destruction. Rev. 13: 17, basically explains that every aspect of German life would be controlled by this mark and the number of the beast. Rev. 6: 9, 20: 4c says “And when I opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held… and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus…” Many Germans didn’t receive the mark of Hitler, so conditions in Nazi Germany became very horrible. Beheading was adopted as the dreaded new punishment of the unappealable peoples court, which did many beheadings in secret. Just like the old days of the Roman Empire, Roman citizens were beheaded for crimes against the state; Germany also operated in Romanesque fashion. Jehovah’s Witnesses were persecuted to a terrible degree under the Nazi Regime. So were a myriad of other religions also. Bertram of Breslau, the first Catholic Cardinal to sound the alarm against the Nazi regime said “Here we are no longer dealing with political questions but with a religious delusion which has to be fought with all possible vigor.” Many Catholics said it was forbidden to join the Nazi party. Many people who refused to give the Hitler salute left their homes with two suitcases in order to not have to raise their right hand. Hitler used the Guillotine to behead many people. These things were done on such a scale that it surpassed the beheading done under the French Revolution. Many of these beheadings went unnoticed in the overwhelming slaughter of World War II. It is reported that between 1933, and 1945, there were 16,500, beheadings in Germany. In a ten month period during 1944, and 1945, over 10,000, heads fell. In 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl, the young anti-Nazi brother and sister of the White Rose group were beheaded. There were many hangings also, for these were counted as enemies of the Reich, and these were also dangerous times.”

Anthony D. Booker