Page 10 - The Mark of the Beast

and horns. We should not take these things literally, for they are merely prophetic types
that represent truth. Those things that do have some literal fulfillment, also serve as
prophetic types of spiritual truth.
In the opening words of Revelation we are told that what is written is conveyed in
signs and parables, and these things are shadows of spiritual realities.

Revelation 1:1-2
The Revelation of Yahshua Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants --
things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to
His servant John...

The word rendered as ‘signified’ is the Greek word ‘semaino’ and it occurs 23 times in
the New Testament. Of these 23 occurrences, 16 times it has been rendered as the word
‘signs’ by the KJV translators. Following is one example:

Luke 21:25
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars...

Now a sign is something that points to something else. The sign is not the reality of
a thing. A sign in the sun, moon, or stars is something that gives warning of some spiritual
truth of the kingdom of God, some act of God, such as a coming judgment. Suppose some
heavenly sign, such as a great solar flare, was given that indicated that a great judgment was
coming, but all men wanted to talk about was the solar flare. If they were to focus upon the
physical sign, while ignoring the spiritual truth it represented, they would have fallen far
short of God’s will and their actions would not represent godly wisdom. What folly it would
be for the church to go around speaking endlessly about solar flares while never mentioning
the judgment for which the sign was given to warn them.
Revelation is a book whose message is delivered in signs. Consider for a moment the
purpose of a road sign. A road sign might tell you that there is a stop ahead, or that a
winding section of road is upcoming. The sign, although a tangible physical reality, is not
to be confused with the substance to which it points. It would be calamitous for the driver
and passengers of a car to speak incessantly of the signs they are seeing while they drive
right through the intersection at which they were supposed to stop. The mark of the beast
may truly make an appearance as some technology employed to regulate those who can buy
and sell. As such it is real and tangible, even as road signs are real, and the sun and moon
and stars are real, but this physical mark serves as a sign pointing to a much deeper
spiritual truth.
I would like to shout it out loud where every saint could hear it that there is a spiritual
reality that this sign points to that is far more important than a physical mark. If the saints
focus only on the sign (and they are doing so), and they fail to heed the message of the sign,
they will be met with disaster. Multitudes of saints are in danger of being imprinted with
the spiritual mark of the beast, and this mark has nothing to do with technologies now
being developed. If they should receive the spiritual imprint of the beast they will fall under
the judgment of God more surely than if they receive a physical mark in the forehead or on
the hand. The consequences of receiving this mark are terrible.