The Mark

[Jay Dub]

After reading revelation chapter 7

7:2 I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, 3 saying, "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.

I started wondering about Gods seal on the forehead of his people. When we see this we never think that it is an actual mark or seal, we take it figuratively .

We see in scriptures that we are marked or sealed by God
2Cr 1:21
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
2Cr 1:22
set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

We are told in Rev 7:2 the seal of God is on his servants foreheads

This caused me to start thinking about the mark of the best on the right hand or on the forehead


Rev 13:16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,

The fact that the seal of God is on their forehead caused me to think, if this is considered symbolic then maybe the mark of the beast is symbolic also. If Revelation is symbolic, then why do we assume this mark of the beast is to be taken literally?

If we look in the scriptures we can find this symbolism in other verses

Exd 13:9 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.

Exd 13:16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

I know it does not mean anything but thought the fact that the verses I am using Rev 13:16 and Exodus 13:16 was a neat coincidence

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deu 6:8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Deu 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Deu 11:19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

What is God telling us here? tie them as symbols on your hand and bind them to your fore head

I believe the hand represents our actions. We should act and do as the word teaches us. The forehead, symbolizes the fact that we should always be thinking of his word
I would like to ask what are your thoughts? Is it possible that the mark of the beast is symbolic?

The mark on the right hand, people who act in ungodly ways, Antichrist.
The mark on the forehead, people who think about their sinful desires

2Ti 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2Ti 3:2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self‑control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–
2Ti 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Couldn't’ this be the mark, those who live for their sins? Those who act and think about their sinful desires. Those living in disobedience to God

I have also thought of the fact, that if the mark of the beast was a tattoo or a bar code or a micro chip then why does God try to get them to repent when he pours out his wrath?

Rev 16:9 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.

Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

If the mark of the beast was a permanent mark, bar code microchip, then their could not be repentance, but we see here that God is still looking for people to repent

Just something to think about

[onesiphorus]

Dear JayDub , you are entering a very dangerous area here if you are seeking symbolism in the bible .

REvelation 14:9 and 10...If any man worship the beast and his image and receive "his mark".....the same shaall drink of the wine of wrath of God which is poured out .....and he shall be tormented .... PLease read in full

Revelation 13:17 clearly states no man might buy or sell except that he has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name

No symbolism mentioned here

Dear Jay dub you may find this attachment interesting , you can probably find a better one on the net but it seems to fit ..scroll down to TEFILLIN
Judaism 101: Signs and Symbols

[GloryB]

JayDub....you come up with the most interesting questions for discussion! Here is my thought on this subject:

You know how the Priests used to wear scrolls of scripture tied up in the hem of their garments and hanging over their forehead...well, I think this was a 'type of' of how the body of Christ today is supposed to keep God's Word ever present in their life always on their lips, minds, hearts and in their reaction to the world around them.

By looking at one of the scriptures you posted:
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and mindsand then goes on to saytie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ....it is clear God is referring to His Word and instructing His people (both past and present) to ever keep His Word (promises and instruction) in every area of their/our life.

Just as the Jewish priests though, we have to be careful not to carry or wear God's Word without LIVING it. Just as they toted around those scrolls, but did not commune with God personally in love and therefore missed the Messiah when He arrived, many Christians who tote Bibles can make the same mistakes.

So maybe the 'seal' referred to is the same sort of thing and may be more 'spiritual' than 'physical'.

[onesiphorus]

Lets run with this then , Revelation 13:8...and all who 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 ....

Is the book of life symbolic ? are the names real or just spiritual
The names written in the book..are they actually names or are they symbols /
The Lamb slain ..I am not even going to ask this question

Luke 23:45 and 46 symbolism or real and physical ?

[ByHisGrace]

Originally Posted by onesiphorus

Lets run with this then , Revelation 13:8...and all who 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 ....

Is the book of life symbolic ? are the names real or just spiritual
The names written in the book..are they actually names or are they symbols /
The Lamb slain ..I am not even going to ask this question

Luke 23:45 and 46 symbolism or real and physical ?

Why the question regarding the curtain onesi? I for one have always taken that as real albeit that man could never have torn that curtain considering the dimentions or the thickness of the material. With God ALL things are possible.

[onesiphorus]

I have a problem with scripture being broken down and symbolised , initially it may be an interesting game but you start to spiritualise and say well this scripture actually is not a real physical event but is symbolic of something else then why not symbolise the tearing of the curtain , or the perfect sacrifice , or the death on the cross , I know it appears an extreme view but you see the liberalising of the scriptures and the truths of Christ being disregarded by this very philosophical attitude of well 'the bible did not actually mean that " attitude are seen everywhere in religion today and in the newer translations of the bible and the combination of the two is demeaning the Word of God
Usually you will find that if a verse does not fit ones dogma then the easiest way to put forward endorsement of that dogma is to say that the passage does not actually mean that , well usually the passage referred to does actually say that

[GloryB]

Originally Posted by onesiphorus

Lets run with this then , Revelation 13:8...and all who 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 ....

Is the book of life symbolic ? are the names real or just spiritual
The names written in the book..are they actually names or are they symbols /
The Lamb slain ..I am not even going to ask this question

Luke 23:45 and 46 symbolism or real and physical ?

I'm not sure what you are saying Onesiphorus.
The spiritual realm is more real and eternal than the physical realm. There are MANY 'types of' and 'symbols' in the Bible to connect both the physical and spiritual worlds.
It is not dangerous or a game to study any of these things.

As far as the Book of Life....it is a real book written in and stored in the spiritual world. Until we pass over into the spiritual realm...we won't be able to see it because we are sort of stuck in this 3D world until the time of our physical redemption.

[onesiphorus]

BUt my question still is if you say the mark is not a mark you are justified in saying the book is not the book , the cross was not the cross and so on , until you are in aposition where anyone can see anything they want to in the truth

[onesiphorus]

BUt my point still is if you say the mark is not a mark you are justified in saying the book is not the book , the cross was not the cross and so on , until you are in aposition where anyone can see anything they want to in the truth

[GloryB]

When someone gets Born Again....this is a change in the spiritual realm....not the physical. Our physical bodies still get old and die. However, it is as real as our physical hand.
It isn't so much that there is a division of real or unreal....there is only a division of spiritual and physical.
I don't know if the 'mark' will also be visible in the physical realm because the only person who needs to see it is God and He is in the spiritual realm.