Revelation 14:9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
Revelation 14:10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
Revelation 14:12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
Revelation is a difficult book to understand. There – I said the obvious.
In my early years, I was of the mind that John had written the book of Revelation, his magnum opus of apocalyptic Scripture, for the saints in our modern times. I was so selfish, so self centered that I was convinced John must be speaking of the 21st century, and of the conditions believers would face over 2000 years after his death!
That is until I realized the incredible impact the Old Testament had on John as he wrote the Book of Revelation. Of all the New Testament books, none is so dense with allusions, references and quotations from the Old Testament as is this book we are reading this morning.
A case in point to consider.
John refers to a mark on the head or hand. Is John possibly thinking his readers may know the Old Testament well enough that this reference reminds them of an earlier time, a time that may have similar characteristics?
My first thought would be the mark God called for on the mantle of each Israelites home on the night of the first passover.
Exodus 12:7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
Exodus 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
The Israelites definitely understood the idea of marking, and that it was a representation of protection. But Ezekiel goes even further, and I think John may be reaching back to this prophet for his context!
Ezekiel 9:3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist.
Ezekiel 9:4 And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
Ezekiel 9:5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.
After this man clothed in linen performed his task of identification, judgement fell! But note the very next verse, where those who were to show no pity were to begin the killing!
Ezekiel 9:6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.
At God’s sanctuary! The killing was to begin at the very location where those who have the appearance of godliness congregate. And what was the mark identifying? The mark was on all those who mourned and groaned over the apostacy in the nation, over the abominations the Israelites performed, even in the sanctuary of God.
An incredible judgement of God occurred during Ezekiel’s time.
Is John using this message, and applying it to believers in relation to the taking of a mark, instead of simply accepting a mark of identification? After all, believers are already marked!
Revelation 22:4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
John clearly brings in hints of Ezekiel in this passage, and it may be instructive that Ezekiel’s judgement started in the sanctuary. In the very house of God!
In Ezekiel’s passage, the mark was provided for protection, for those who mourned the condition of the temple and the sanctuary, the religious state of the nation. In Revelation, this mark is accepted by those who chose allegiance against God and Jesus.
Ok – I can hear the question even now. Is it a physical mark we are to fear?
If it gets to that point where a believer is to make a decision of receiving a mark, (whatever that may be), I am afraid we may be too far gone.
You see, for as those in the Ezekiel passage are described, the mark identifies the type of person it is placed on, and it is not the result of a single decision of accepting a mark. As believers, our allegiance is to the Christ today, and though fundamentally this is not an external condition, it is also not simply the absence of a mark, or the absence of a laser imprint, or the absence of a chip inserted into a hand or on your forehead.
Our allegiance, that which “marks us” even today, should be seen in our good works which glorify our Father. These exterior “marks” are sourced from an internal faith buried deep in our minds and hearts. Our faith in the Risen One produces decisions of the mind (represented by the forehead in our passage) and actions in our lives (represented by the right hand in our passage) that reflects a living faith!
We already have His mark on us! We are marked as sons and daughters of the Most High God by the Messiah, and unless some other mark is more appealing, more satisfying, or more desirable in the eye of the beholder, we will not desire any other!
Yet the passage in Revelation does not simply state what I have described and walked away. John continues with a statement that should be accepted for what it is, a challenge that needs to be overcome in the faith.
Revelation 14:12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
His call for endurance is not an idle statement, for their may be days ahead when the enemy makes threats, when the enemy seeks to feed our fears, when the enemy will challenge our resolve to follow the Crucified One.
Story Time
One such time for this family was a few years back, when the world was in the deep confusion of Covid, when all was falling apart and ignorance and misinformation was rampant. There were forces that sought to have control over this family, to take advantage of this condition of fear and confusion.
The threat I speak of for my wife and I was the loss of my career. We are fundamentally a one income family, and when I was challenged to take a jab, I humbly refused. Many temptations and justifications tumbled through my mind, with my boss seeking to help me change my mind. He truly meant well, and at the time, it seemed abundantly clear that the loss of my income would have an immediate impact on my family, causing the loss of home, health and happiness. (That was the pitch!)
Yet the very intensity of the threat was telling, and the continual effort to have everyone take it seemed out of order. As a family, we were convinced this was God’s will for us, stuck to our guns, and refused the jab.
We waited on the Lord.
Not one in our family lost our careers, although a few of us experienced the sickness. Dang I lost almost 30 lbs. to that sickness. (Don’t worry – I found it again!)
The Lord provided a minor test for this family during those days of confusion, and for that I am thankful. He provided us a history of standing up for bodily freedom, for not accepting any demand on our person that we are not convinced of, and of giving us the strength to wait on the mercy of the Lord.
There will be days ahead my friend, when additional challenges may fall onto our lives, impacting our families and loved ones. Take a message from the apostle John, for he knew the way of the believer.
Revelation 14:12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus
Be the marked of the Messiah, for if you are not fully devoted to the One who died for you, you will accept another mark.
Without His life, you have no hope.
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