The Mark of The Beast-A Different View

I am aware this viewpoint will not be accepted by those who have bought into the idea of the modern interpretation of Bible prophecy.  I only want you to give this some thought and consideration.  This viewpoint is a linear historical approach rather than a futuristic viewpoint.

Who does not know the meaning of 666?  The number of the Antichrist is known to both saint and sinner.  Marks on the forehead and hand indicate you are a servant of the Antichrist.  The question I have is how is this going to be carried out? There are those who believe it will be a chip that will allow you to buy and sell.  Others believe it will be an actual mark on the forehead or hand.  Those who do not have the mark will not be allowed to buy or sell.

Let me just suggest that the Mark of the Beast has already been received by many.  Let me explain.  In 606 B.C., when the Kingdom of Judah was about to fall, the prophet Ezekiel saw spiritual marks in a vision. He watched when an archangel said.

Ezekiel 9:4 & 6 " . . . Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof . . . Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house of the Lord."

Later, the writer of Chronicles, a historian, saw the same event, but he didn’t see the mark:

2 Chronicles 36:17 "Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand."

So why was Ezekiel able to see spiritual marks, but the writer of Chronicles wasn’t?  The writer of Chronicles saw things as they were in the material world. Ezekiel saw angels in his vision, so he was seeing the spiritual world, and don't all Christians also have a mark (aren't we sealed) by the Holy Spirit? (2 Co 1:22, Eph 1:13, Eph 4:30) But you don't see that seal on anyone, do you? Then in Revelation:

Revelation 7:3 & 14:1 "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads . . . And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb (Jesus) stood on the mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads."

These seals are on the foreheads of every believing Jew of the Christian Era, but you don’t see them, do you? Of course, not, they are only visible in the spiritual world. They are not physical marks, but spiritual marks, and that’s the key to understanding the Mark of the Beast. Since the Lord's marks on His servants are only visible in the spiritual world, it is reasonable to conclude that Satan’s marks, given to the servants the Leopard-Bear-Lion are only visible in the spiritual world. This is not "spiritualizing" as some would claim, but accepting that figurative language demands a figurative interpretation. Scripture goes on to say . . .

Revelation 14:9-11 ". . . If any man worships the (Islamic) beast and his image (the Kaaba stone?) and receives his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Jesus): And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

The Kaaba Stone

 Every day, five times a day, Muslims across the world face the holy site of Mecca and pray. Mecca is believed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, but when followers visit the site, it is not Mecca they are facing but a building called the Ka’aba. The Ka'aba is a mosque and on one corner of this sacred building, is a cornerstone known as the Black Stone. Its history is shrouded in mystery, and there is much speculation over what the stone might be. Many Muslims believe the stone is, in fact, a meteorite possessing supernatural powers.

Millions of Muslims travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia every year and in a single day, Mecca is capable of attracting over two million Muslim followers for the annual hajj pilgrimage, considered one of the five pillars of Islam. 

There, they gather around the Ka’aba, a cubic-shaped building at the center of Islam’s most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram. During the ritual of the hajj, pilgrims must walk around the Kaaba seven times in a counterclockwise direction, a ceremonial practice that has been going on for fourteen centuries.

The Kaaba measures 50 feet high, 35 feet wide and 40 feet long. It is covered with a black silk cloth, known as the kiswa and decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. On the southeast side of the building is a gold door. Inside, the floor is made of marble and limestone and has three pillars. 

The Kaaba is built around a sacred Black Stone which is in the eastern corner about five feet off the ground. Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammad once kissed the stone and during their mandatory, once in a lifetime, a trip to Kaaba; they try to kiss the Black Stone if possible. If they are unable to, they simply point to it every time they pass on their seven-circle journey around the Kaaba. Each time pilgrims pass the Black Stone they recite a prayer from the Qur’an: 'In the name of God, and God is supreme.'  Non-Muslims are strictly forbidden from touching it, and most of the year the Kaaba is covered in black cloth.

The stone is a dark fragmented rock somewhere around two feet in length. Its surface is blackish in color, but there is speculation that this is due to how much it has been touched, along with the oils with which it is anointed. According to Muslim tradition, the stone was originally white but turned black from being in a world where it absorbed humanity's sins.

Worshiping the Image of the Beast

The first commandment given by God to Moses was “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:”

Before Mohammed’s lifetime, the Kaaba served ancient pagans as a sacrificial alter of human sacrifice. These pagans practiced animism and goddess worship, which were polytheistic religious practices prevalent in ancient Arabia and other surrounding Middle Eastern cultures

Amazingly, the stone was “once the throne of Isis,” an ancient Babylonian goddess. Is it a coincidence that the holiest site in Islam had its very roots in goddess worship, namely the goddess, Isis? The sign of Islam is the Crescent, sometimes along with a star…it was the same sign used for Babylonian goddess worship.  The holiest object in the Kaaba is the black meteorite stone, once the throne of Isis, now connected with Allah.

The stone has an interesting feature, in that it resembles a female vulva, which would certainly fit the narrative of goddess worship and other ancient forms of pagan worship, including fertility rituals wherein virgins were sacrificed to their supposed “gods” in return for their favor for the living.

In what might appear to be an Islamic attempt to recreate the biblical story of David carrying the Ten Commandments to Jerusalem in the Ark of the Covenant. (1 Chronicles 13) Some say that  Mohammed placed the stone on a carpet held at the four corners by representatives of the four tribes so that all would have the honor of lifting it.

Every year, Muslims take the pilgrimage to Mecca known as the “Hajj,” wherein they circle the stone seven times as they pray facing towards it. The pilgrimage is one of the “five pillars of Islam” and Muslim believers are expected to make the journey to at least once in their lifetimes. The gathering in the plain of Arafat symbolizes the climax of the hajj pilgrimage, and in 2010, two million Muslims were at the site together on a single day.

The tenth day (of the pilgrimage) is Eid al-Adha (The Feast of Sacrifice), a major holiday observed by all Muslims. For those participating in the hajj, the day is spent in Mina, where the pilgrim sacrifices an animal to commemorate Abraham’s sacrifice and throws seven small stones at each of three pillars on three consecutive days (the pillars represent sins and devils.

So, who was this ancient pagan goddess, Isis? The answer is that she was an “ancient Egyptian goddess of nature and magic. The goddess is often associated with Wiccan occultism.

Revelation 13:16 "And he (the Leopard-Bear-Lion) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the (Islamic) beast, or the number of his name."

This whole Leopard-Bear-Lion prophecy is about a middle eastern empire. "That no man might buy or sell" is about conditions that have existed for Christians and Jews in Islamic countries ever since the 1st Jihad. Under Islamic Law of Dhimmi.  Those who agree to take the “Mark” become known as Dhimmis.  They were allowed to "practice their religion, subject to certain conditions, and to enjoy a measure of communal autonomy" and guaranteed their personal safety and security of property, in return for paying tribute to Muslims and acknowledging Muslim supremacy.  If you do not submit to Islam, you are killed.  Dhimmi has been going on for centuries.

Maybe the “prophecy experts” have had such a futuristic view that they have failed to see what is happening now.  Has the Church been so blinded to a fantasy that they fail to see the end times fulfilled right now?

 Revelation 19:20 "And the beast was taken, and with him, the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."

You may find this view unacceptable, but it does answer many unanswered questions that are being asked.