The Mark Of The Beast

 

Bible prophecy was never given to create fear or confusion, but to reveal God’s order, timing, and purposes. When Scripture speaks about the Mark of the Beast, it places it within a specific prophetic period and connects it to worship, allegiance, and judgment — not to the present Church Age.

Revelation 13 shows that the Mark is introduced after the midpoint of the Tribulation, once the Antichrist is openly revealed, his image is established, and worship of that image is demanded. Only after these events does Scripture describe restrictions on buying and selling.

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:” (Revelation 13:15–16, KJV)

This sequence matters. The Mark is not vague, gradual, or hidden. It is public, enforced, and unmistakably connected to allegiance. It's almost as if the mark is the effect and the worship of the Beast is the cause; you can't have the one without the other.

THE HEART OF THE ISSUE: WORSHIP, NOT TECHNOLOGY

Scripture consistently emphasizes that God looks at who or what is worshiped. In the Tribulation, the world is divided by a single question: Who will you give your allegiance to?

“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?.” (Revelation 13:4, KJV)

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Revelation 14:6-7)

There are two choices laid out before humanity during this time- worship the Beast and live under God's wrath OR worship Jesus Christ and be prepared to lose your life.

Receiving the Mark is not merely participation in an economic system. It is submission to the authority of the Beast and rejection of God’s truth. Technology may serve as a tool, but the act itself is spiritual allegiance.

WHY THE MARK CANNOT BE RECEIVED ACCIDENTALLY

The Bible never presents the Mark as something taken unknowingly. Revelation 14 makes the order unmistakable- they worship and receive.

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive 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: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11 KJV)

Worship comes first. The Mark follows. The choice is made to swear allegiance to the Beast and then the mark is given. This removes fear-based claims that people today could accidentally receive the Mark through medicine, identification systems, or modern technology. Scripture does not support that idea.

THE CHURCH AND GOD’S WRATH

It is crucial to rightly divide here.

The Mark of the Beast is directly tied to God’s wrath, not merely persecution. But Scripture also clearly states:

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, KJV)

The Church is not present for the outpouring of God's wrath described in these verses in Revelation. The word "church" doesn't even show up in the book after Revelation chapter 3! The warnings about the Mark are recorded so that God’s prophetic program is understood — not to suggest the Church will experience it.

WHY THIS MESSAGE STILL MATTERS TODAY

Although the Mark is future, the present moment is a time of grace. Prophecy points forward, but salvation is offered now. Avoiding a future judgment does not save anyone. Only the gospel does.

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15:1–4  KJV)

This chapter begins with the gospel and ends with the rapture!

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 15:51-57)

Eternal life is received by believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work — not by fear, not by reform, and not by religious association.

FINAL THOUGHT

Prophecy is meant to bring clarity, not panic.
The Mark of the Beast belongs to a future time.
Grace belongs to now.

Believe the gospel while it is freely offered. If millions of people have just vanished all around the world, then you are already in the Tribulation and this devotional applies to you. If that hasn't happened yet, then you still have time!

- Jovelyn Begaso

What Do I Do Now That I Am Saved? (video sermon)

The Founding Father And Deism

 I found this post online, and I thought it had some really good points to it. The title of the poster is under the name Templar Mind.

You've heard it a thousand times. You may have even sat in a university lecture hall, with fluorescent lights humming overhead, while a professor in a tweed jacket dismantled your heritage.

He told you the Founding Fathers were enlightened Deists. He told you they didn’t believe in miracles, didn’t care about the divinity of Christ, and viewed the Creator as a distant “Clockmaker” who wound up the universe and then went on vacation.

You've heard that these men built a secular machine designed to keep God out of the gears. It's the favorite bedtime story of the radical left. It soothes them.

It convinces them that the United States was always intended to be a godless vacuum where the only moral authority is the state.

It's a lazy way to view history, perpetuated by men who are terrified of a God who acts. Sure, they always point to Thomas Jefferson taking a razor to the Gospels or Benjamin Franklin’s youthful indiscretions.

But they stop reading there because the rest of the story destroys their narrative. Jefferson, even while editing the Gospels, could not escape the God who governs.

He still wrote into the Declaration of Independence that men are “endowed by their Creator” with unalienable rights and closed the document with an appeal to “the protection of divine Providence.”

Franklin, who called himself a “thorough deist” in his autobiography, later admitted he found deism “not very useful” and spent his final years quoting Scripture to a room full of statesmen.

The full arc of their lives undermines the secularist case more than any cherry-picked passage. The men who forged this nation did not believe in an absentee landlord.

They believed in Providence. They believed in a God who fights, who judges, and who intervenes in the mud and blood of human history.

George Washington was not a man of many words, he was a man of action. When he took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, In his First Inaugural Address, he offered what he called his “fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations.”

He declared that “No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States.”

A Deist doesn't pray for help because a Deist believes no one is listening. Washington prayed constantly. He credited the survival of the Continental Army not to strategic brilliance, but to the direct action of God.

In a private letter to Brigadier General Thomas Nelson on August 20, 1778, Washington wrote: “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.

That's from a private letter. No audience to impress. No political calculation. Washington is calling anyone who denies divine intervention in the American Revolution “worse than an infidel.”

Then you have Benjamin Franklin. The secularists love him. He is their patron saint of skepticism. Yet, look at the man in the heat of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

The delegates were at each other’s throats. The union was crumbling before it even began. After five weeks of deadlock, tempers had fractured along the fault line of state representation.

Franklin at eighty-one, the oldest man in the room, stood up. He didn’t appeal to reason. He didn’t appeal to the Enlightenment.

He said, “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth...that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”

He quoted Psalm 127: “Except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.” And then he moved that the Convention open each day with prayer, imploring “the assistance of Heaven.”

The motion didn't pass. Alexander Hamilton reportedly objected that calling for prayer might signal desperation. The Convention had no funds to pay clergy. But the procedural failure is irrelevant.

What matters is what Franklin actually believed and said aloud to the men who were building this nation.

This was an old man, staring at the end of his life, telling a room of ambitious politicians that they were fools if they thought they could build without God’s help.

John Adams wasn't at the Constitutional Convention. He was serving as the American Minister to Great Britain in London while the delegates debated in Philadelphia.

But he understood the document they produced better than most of the men who signed it, because he understood its fatal weakness.

Eleven years after the Convention, in October 1798, President Adams wrote to the officers of the Massachusetts Militia. He looked at the Constitution they were all sworn to defend and laid bare its vulnerability:

“Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Gallantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Adams understood human nature. He knew that without the fear of God...a specific, terrifying, and active God. liberty turns into license, and license turns into tyranny.

The secular historian tries to tell you that “religious” just meant “generally nice.” It didn’t.

Adams was explicit that the laws of the republic were “emanations of the Divine mind,” that the moral order was grounded in the Creator.

He meant, people who understood they would answer to a Judgment Seat higher than the Supreme Court.

Washington, the general, says religion and morality are “indispensable supports” of political prosperity.

Franklin, the philosopher, says God governs in the affairs of men.

Adams, the lawyer, says the Constitution is a net that only holds moral and religious fish, everything else tears right through.

Three different men, three different temperaments, three different vocations, and the same conclusion:

without God, the experiment fails.

The Founders understood that rights do not come from the King, and they do not come from the parchment of the Constitution.

They come from the Creator. This aligns with the reality of the Imago Dei. We are made in His image, and therefore we possess a dignity that the state cannot grant and cannot take away.

The Fathers of the Church understood this long before Philadelphia.

St. John Chrysostom, in his homilies on Romans, taught that civil authority is ordained by God and that rulers are ministers of divine justice...not autonomous agents of their own will.

St. Basil the Great insisted that those who govern bear a heavier judgment precisely because their authority is borrowed from above.

The American Founders, whether they knew it or not, were working within a framework the Church had articulated for over a thousand years: that legitimate authority flows downward from God, not upward from the consent of the governed alone.

But we must check our own hearts. The “City on a Hill” is the Church, not the United States of America.

America is a beneficiary of Christian truth, but it is not the source of it. We fall into a dangerous trap if we idolize the nation. As it is written, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help” (Psalm 146:3).

If we make America an idol, we lose the very faith that made America possible. Jesus is the King of Kings, not just the President of Presidents.

We defend the heritage of this nation because it provided a cradle for the faith, but we must not confuse the cradle with the Savior.

True patriotism is the sober recognition that our freedom is a fragile gift, maintained only by the grace of God and the virtue of the people.

Penny's Cookbook

I post a lot of my favorite recipes on here. I have, however, composed a cookbook through Create My Cookbook that you can order should you want to get all of my most loved recipes.

Follow this link to view and order.

I do not get a commission from this. The books are rather expensive to purchase because they are printed as they are ordered.

There is also an ebook version should you wish to get these recipes as an electronic version, and this is the cheapest option.

Count the Cost (song)

Satan- Where Did He Come From, Where Is He Now, & What Is His Fate?

Satan wasn't always bad. In fact, his name wasn't always Satan. He was a musical creature at his creation- one of 5 cherubim which surrounded the throne.

Ezekiel 28:13-15- Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Isaiah 14:12-15- How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

His pride caused him to fall. Originally, he was the "anointed cherub" that covered the throne. When John tells us about what he sees in Revelation, he says there are four cherubim that surround the throne of God.

Revelation 4:2-3,6-8 - And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

When John describes them, you almost get the idea that each of these cherubs has his own unique face- a lion, a calf or an ox, a human, and an eagle. But when you compare other Scriptures, you find that's not the case. 

Ezekiel 10:14- And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

The Cherubim are an interesting creation of God. They have four faces each; it's quite impossible for our minds to comprehend this.

However, originally, there was a fifth, and this last cherub had the face of a serpent.

Revelation 12:9- And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 20:2- And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

This is why he appeared as a "serpent" which could talk when he tempted Eve.

The Bible isn't written in chronological order. Some events are written as if happening all at once, and yet they are thousands of years apart. We aren't told exactly when he was created, but we know they were some of the original creations.

Job 38:4-7- Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

These morning stars are angels triumphing at God's creation!

Revelation 1:20- The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Lucifer was the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God. He was suppose to lead the choir, shall we say, but every time he looked down all he could imagine was himself being on that throne. It was his pride that was the first sin in history.

I imagine that if the cherubim had a fifth face, that of a serpent, that it would have been on top of their heads (where else would it go?). And that when Lucifer looked down at the throne, he saw himself around the throne staring back and that's what encouraged his prideful rebellion. This is just my understanding of the story.

Lucifer fell before Genesis 3, and was in the Garden of Eden in his fallen condition. However, he was given a new name- Satan. He was no longer the light bearer (which is what Lucifer means) over God's throne; He is now the accuser of the saints.

He wanders earth right now, and still has access to heaven, though he doesn't live there.

Job 1:6-7- Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

He goes to heaven often and tries to make trouble for Christians. He will continue this until the middle of the Tribulation when he is kicked out of heaven for good.

Revelation 12:7-9- And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Did you notice that he has his own angels? He didn't create them; God did. But he did corrupt them. These fallen angels are where the devils and demons mentioned in the Bible come from.

Satan will rule the earth for 3.5 years during the Tribulation. He does this by going into the body of the Man of Sin- the politician that has been "ruling" over the one world government. Once this man of sin is assassinated, Satan inhabits his body and raises him back to life- he is now the AntiChrist, the devil incarnate.

Revelation 13:2-3,5-8- And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that 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.

His reign, however, is only for three and half years. When Jesus Christ comes back at the Second Advent, after the end of the Tribulation, Satan will be bound and cast into a specially prepared prison for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:1-3- And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

He will be loosed for a moment after the thousand years before He faces eternal judgment and damnation.

Revelation 20:7-10- And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

You might be wondering why God would damn one of his creations to everlasting torment instead of trying to redeem them. But, I believe that it is Satan's fault that he can't be redeemed.

Do you remember when Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? God has a small discussion with the other members of the trinity, but he abruptly cuts it off without finishing the thought.

Genesis 3:22-23- And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

God says, Lest he eat of the tree of life and live forever. Almost as if someone had done just that. I believe that Satan did eat of both of those trees- giving himself ultimate knowledge along with everlasting life. He cannot die and lose the evil that is now forever in his body. He put himself past the point of redemption, and now God must confine him to everlasting torments (because he cannot be consumed by these torments they will never end).

God, in his mercy, drove Adam and Eve from the garden so they wouldn't be condemned to live in an evil existence for all eternity.

Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), but when Adam and Eve sinned they made that destination the default of the human soul. When Christ died on the cross, he enabled an escape from that default, but only if you accept the terms of the arrangement.

Romans 10:9,10,13- That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

You have a choice. Follow Satan's lead and spurn God's gift of eternal salvation for your soul, or humble yourself and accept Christ as your Savior.