Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 13-16.

I want to write about the two beasts in today’s passage, but I’m not sure what I want to write.  The first beast rises out of the sea and is given authority and power by “the dragon”, which was identified in yesterday’s passage as the devil, as Satan.  People worshiped the dragon because it had given power to this beast.  They also worshiped this beast because of its power.  The beast waged war against God’s people.  This beast will have over all people on the earth.  Everyone who does not belong to the Lamb, everyone who has not committed themselves to serve Jesus, will worship this beast.  Then a second beast will arise.  This beast will emerge from the earth rather than from the sea.  John writes that it has two horns like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon.  Today, that sounds to me like this second beast will appear gentle and innocent, but speak and act harshly.  This second beast exercised authority on behalf of the first beast (which exercised authority on behalf of Satan).  It performed signs and wonders in order to convince all people to yield to it and to worship the first beast.  Those who refused to worship the first beast were killed.  Further, only those who accepted the mark of the first beast, a mark which was a counterfeit of the mark which God had placed on His servants, were able to buy or sell.

I really did not know where I was going with this.  Then I realized that the Mark of the Beast is a counterfeit of God’s mark on His chosen.  In chapter seven of this book, God had 144,000 from the Tribes of Israel marked as His servants.  I believe that this mark was a reminder of the way in which Ezekiel had a vision of God sent an angel through Jerusalem to mark those who grieved because of the detestable things the people there had done.  The Mark of the Beast is the opposite of that.  It marks those who celebrate the detestable things which people do when they worship the beasts which serve Satan.  So, we need to choose between the Mark of God and the Mark of the Beast.  If we accept the Mark of the Beast, he promises to give us all the pleasures which this world offers, and all of the pain which this world can generate if we decline.  On the other hand, if we accept the Mark of God, He offers us eternity spent with Him.  Choose wisely.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.