H
Hitch
Guest
MOB
I wonder if there has ever been and end time sermon
on Christian TV or radio concerned with the 'Mark of
the Believer". In contrast practically every day one of
the 'gang' has a new reason to extol the anti-Christ
(Anti-Christ does not appear in any text) But what’s
really cute is that the biblical 'Mark of the Beast' is
attributed to the anti-Christ. (These terms appear in
entirely different books of the bible.) And always in the
name of literalism! Go figure...
The first ‘mark’ I know of is from Gen. 3; 19, and it
Interesting just where its found,,, on the forehead. The
'Mark of the Beast' (MOB) though, is a counterfeit of
the marks found in Duet, 6; 8 and Ex. 28;36. The first
is a simple idea of a sort of bracelet with the
Commandments written in the design and worn on
the right wrist. There is also mention of the 'frontal'
the little box you may have seen modern Jews wearing
, on their foreheads in photos from the 'Wailing Wall'.
In Exodus we see the High Priest with golden
letters,again across the forehead, HOLY TO THE
LORD.The obvious question then is: What is of greater
import, the mark (or seal) or the reason and heart
behind it ?.
Reading the Sermon on the Mount should leave us
with little left to question. The real value of the seal is
contained in the thoughts and intents of heart of the
individual. Remember Jesus told the viperous brood
"You search the scriptures daily." To no avail. But
this seal would be an outward show of the devotion of
a devout believer. A proclamation of God's greatness
and protective will. It is the lawyer class (Pharisees) that
inevitibly elevates the seal over the intent. Well that
class was the religious elite in Jesus day and we are all
well aware of their various problems. They ,no doubt
were sure to wear the frontal and make every
outward show. The first century audience of the
Apacolypse was well aquainted with the seal of God, as
described above, and thus the allusion to a sorry
counterfeit of the same by the enemy wouldn’t seem
strange at all. And as Christ is the Stumbling Block to
unbelievers so becomes the frontal of scripture to
apostate Jews bent on persecuting our Lord through
His church. The very thing which sets apart the
believer,the Word, becomes a witness against the
Scribe.
This treatment of our Lord is prophetic in that the same
argument was used against the church by the Jews. The False
Prophet has denied the true faith and ran after foreign gods.
Namely Caesar. In filthy apostasy they continued the practice of
choosing the god of State ,Caesar, over the God of Abe. Pursuing
and killing church leaders and organizing economic sanctions
against all who would defiantly call on Jesus (acts 20;19,
,,4;1-3,,,5;17,18 acts is full of such references)
So the Mark (the frontal) that should have set them apart to God,
and helped incur the greatest blessings, become the mark that
seals their doom, even as Christ the Deliverer is Christ
the Wrathful Judge. They had a 'day' in which to choose whom
they would serve, they chose poorly and paid dearly.
So I reckon the MOB found in the Revelation was the once a token of
glorious Word of God, so abused as to become the device for the
regicide and thus becoming a witness as the blood of Abel. But
whether the frontal was actually the mark or not makes no
difference.
Whether a literal mark existed or not makes no difference. The
point is; at that particular time in history the last generation of
Old Covenant Jews murdered the Great King's Son, and His
servants as well. And that not being evil enough they did their
best to see that all in Israel had to make the same choice...
And some took the Mark, we will not see them. Some were
faithful to the end and we are blessed by their bravery and faith
today as they are the foundation of the church.
Take care
Hitch
I wonder if there has ever been and end time sermon
on Christian TV or radio concerned with the 'Mark of
the Believer". In contrast practically every day one of
the 'gang' has a new reason to extol the anti-Christ
(Anti-Christ does not appear in any text) But what’s
really cute is that the biblical 'Mark of the Beast' is
attributed to the anti-Christ. (These terms appear in
entirely different books of the bible.) And always in the
name of literalism! Go figure...
The first ‘mark’ I know of is from Gen. 3; 19, and it
Interesting just where its found,,, on the forehead. The
'Mark of the Beast' (MOB) though, is a counterfeit of
the marks found in Duet, 6; 8 and Ex. 28;36. The first
is a simple idea of a sort of bracelet with the
Commandments written in the design and worn on
the right wrist. There is also mention of the 'frontal'
the little box you may have seen modern Jews wearing
, on their foreheads in photos from the 'Wailing Wall'.
In Exodus we see the High Priest with golden
letters,again across the forehead, HOLY TO THE
LORD.The obvious question then is: What is of greater
import, the mark (or seal) or the reason and heart
behind it ?.
Reading the Sermon on the Mount should leave us
with little left to question. The real value of the seal is
contained in the thoughts and intents of heart of the
individual. Remember Jesus told the viperous brood
"You search the scriptures daily." To no avail. But
this seal would be an outward show of the devotion of
a devout believer. A proclamation of God's greatness
and protective will. It is the lawyer class (Pharisees) that
inevitibly elevates the seal over the intent. Well that
class was the religious elite in Jesus day and we are all
well aware of their various problems. They ,no doubt
were sure to wear the frontal and make every
outward show. The first century audience of the
Apacolypse was well aquainted with the seal of God, as
described above, and thus the allusion to a sorry
counterfeit of the same by the enemy wouldn’t seem
strange at all. And as Christ is the Stumbling Block to
unbelievers so becomes the frontal of scripture to
apostate Jews bent on persecuting our Lord through
His church. The very thing which sets apart the
believer,the Word, becomes a witness against the
Scribe.
This treatment of our Lord is prophetic in that the same
argument was used against the church by the Jews. The False
Prophet has denied the true faith and ran after foreign gods.
Namely Caesar. In filthy apostasy they continued the practice of
choosing the god of State ,Caesar, over the God of Abe. Pursuing
and killing church leaders and organizing economic sanctions
against all who would defiantly call on Jesus (acts 20;19,
,,4;1-3,,,5;17,18 acts is full of such references)
So the Mark (the frontal) that should have set them apart to God,
and helped incur the greatest blessings, become the mark that
seals their doom, even as Christ the Deliverer is Christ
the Wrathful Judge. They had a 'day' in which to choose whom
they would serve, they chose poorly and paid dearly.
So I reckon the MOB found in the Revelation was the once a token of
glorious Word of God, so abused as to become the device for the
regicide and thus becoming a witness as the blood of Abel. But
whether the frontal was actually the mark or not makes no
difference.
Whether a literal mark existed or not makes no difference. The
point is; at that particular time in history the last generation of
Old Covenant Jews murdered the Great King's Son, and His
servants as well. And that not being evil enough they did their
best to see that all in Israel had to make the same choice...
And some took the Mark, we will not see them. Some were
faithful to the end and we are blessed by their bravery and faith
today as they are the foundation of the church.
Take care
Hitch
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