Revelation 13:11-18 - The mark of the beast and 666

We now get a second bear, this one coming out of the earth. He is generally seen as a false prophet and his role is to be supportive of the beast in the previous section. He has some semblance to a lamb, but speaks like a dragon. So despite appearances he is demonic. He exercised authority over the whole earth and made people worship the first beast. Religion becoming the servant of the state is a dangerous mix. In Islam there is a very close relationship between religion and political power, and we see the consequences. In history we have seen the times when the church has been closely allied to the state. The church must never become the servant of the state. If the church is to be true to Christ then it will constantly challenge the state.

The second beast was given power to perform all sorts of signs, but it did these on behalf of the first beast. And the inhabitants of the earth were deceived.

This beast set up an image in honour of the first beast, and forced people to worship the image. Remember what happened in Daniel. It also gave life to the image. The penalty for refusing to worship the image was death.

This compulsion applied to all, rich and poor, slave and free. They were all to receive a mark and needed this in order to exist economically. Now some say this mark could be a chip inserted into us. This might be involved, but I don't think it is the main point. Remember earlier in Revelation that it speaks of God's people being marked. There will be a sharp distinction between those who worship the Lord and those who worship the beast. We perhaps see an example of this in some being forced to celebrate homosexuality or lose their job. This is still relatively mild. When the state becomes all powerful it demands absolute allegiance from all, as the Roman Empire did.

Then we get the famous number of the beast, 666. Actually one or two old manuscripts have 616! However, it seems that 666 is the favoured number. It is the number of man. The beast is the natural and logical conclusion of man taking authority for himself instead of living under God's authority.