Loving Caesar

The Inhabitants of the Earth willingly venerate the Beast and take its mark, and even believers are not immune from its seductions.

Discussions on the “mark” of the Beast invariably focus on questions about what it is, a medical implant, a barcode, or a tattoo, as well as the significance of the number, ‘666.’ As important as these questions are, far more critical is the issue of how we, as followers of Jesus Christ, avoid taking the mark or the number of the Beast.

We envision “the False Prophet” and “the Beast from the Sea” compelling every man, woman, and child to take “the mark,” using economic pressure, threats of imprisonment, or worse. It seems we will have no choice but to take the beastly number or suffer deadly consequences. Submit or starve.

[Seal USA - Photo by Thought Catalog (New York) on Unsplash]

Almost certainly, when the Beast appears, his tyrannical reign will include the use of coercion, especially economic sanctions. However, the Book of Revelation does not free us from our responsibility for the choices we make.

When the Beast arrives, the False Prophet causes men and women to take its mark and number, and he seduces them to erect an idolatrous image to honor the Beast and the Dragon, “the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole habitable earth” - (Revelation 12:9, 13:11-18).

The False Prophet will impose this idolatrous cult on both the willing and the unwilling. Those who embrace the new State religion will remain free “to buy and sell.” However, those who refuse will suffer economic deprivation.

• “That no man could buy or to sell, except he who has the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name” – (Revelation 13:17).

The False Prophet is the deceiver who puts these things in motion, but the recipients of the Beast’s mark are consciously involved, too. They “take” the mark, and doing so is an integral part of “rendering homage to the Beast.” Men who embrace the Beast and its idolatrous worship are willing participants.

In the series of “the Seven Bowls of Wrath,” the first bowl causes physical suffering to the men who have taken the beastly mark. The English terms “have” and “render homage” in the passage below represent present-tense Greek participles in the active voice. This means that the subject of the sentence is performing the action.

• “And the first went and poured out his bowl onto the earth. And it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who have the mark of the beast, and who are rendering homage to its image” – (Revelation 16:2).

And so, the men who bend the knee to the Beast and its image take the mark or the number voluntarily, if not eagerly, and they themselves erect the idolatrous image (“that they should make an image to the beast”).

THE CHOICE

Because the Inhabitants of the Earth willingly submit to the Beast, they suffer the plagues unleashed by the Seven Bowls of Wrath. They bring this punishment on themselves.

In the vision of “the Rider on a White Horse,” the Beast and the False Prophet are taken and cast alive into “the Lake of Fire” because they seduced those who “received” the mark of the Beast. Once again, an active voice participle is used:

• “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who venerated its image. The two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone”- (Revelation 19:20).

“Who received” or ‘lambanō’ in the Greek text of the preceding passage means “to take,” “to receive,” and even, “to welcome.” And so, men and women welcome the Beast’s mark and number because they love what the Beastly Empire represents and does for them.

• “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his arrival, whose coming is according to the energy of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for those who are perishing, because they did not welcome the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause, God is sending them a working of delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”- (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

In the twentieth chapter of Revelation, the saints reign with Jesus because they refused to compromise their faith by venerating Caesar and his Empire:

• “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given for them. And I saw the souls of those who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as did not venerate the Beast or his image, and did not receive the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” – (Revelation 20:4).

Once again, active voice Greek verbs are used, and in this case, for actions not taken by the true followers of Jesus.

The saints who persevere through persecution and tribulation do so by not betraying their allegiance to Jesus Christ. This is how followers of Christ overcome the Beast, the False Prophet, and their Master, the Dragon.

• “And they overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their life even unto death” – (Revelation 12:11).

• “He that overcomes, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat with my Father on his throne. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches” – (Revelation 3:21-22).

When the Beast ascends from the Abyss, believers and non-believers alike will have a choice whether to embrace the monster and betray their true Lord, or not. The choice is to submit to the Beast or to follow “the Lamb wherever he goes,” even if doing so means impoverishment and death – Christ or Caesar!

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SEE ALSO:

• Venerating the Beast - (The Empire's propagandists encourage men and women to give allegiance to Caesar and to venerate his image, namely, the Beast from the Sea)

• Jesus is the True Emperor - (Jesus, the Slain Lamb, is the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth, the King of Kings who now reigns over all the nations of the Earth)

• Lamb or Beast? - (Humanity is divided into two and only two groups – the followers of the Lamb and the subjects of the Beast)

• César Aimant - (Les habitants de la Terre vénèrent volontiers la Bête et prennent sa marque, et même les croyants ne sont pas à l'abri de ses séductions)