An Article of Faith

We’ve come to the final book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. To grasp the relevance of the Book of Revelation you have to understand two things: First, the historical setting of the book; and second, the nature of apocalyptic literature.

What is happening in the history of God’s people at the close of the first century – around A.D. 95 or 96 – when John writes the Book of Revelation?

It’s clear that the general historical background involves the Roman empire’s persecution of Christians. For even John himself, the author of the Book, is in exile because of his commitment to Christ: “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos [—a small rocky isolated island used by the Romans as a place to banish criminals who were forced to work at hard labor in the mines and quarries of the island] because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9; see also 2:10, 13; 6:9; 17:6).

Even a casual reading of Revelation is sufficient to show that the background is one of conflict between the ruling power of Rome and the Christian church. The great representative of this “opposing party” – the Roman empire – is personified in the figure of a “Beast” who is evidently meant to represent the reigning Roman emperor at the time, Domitian.

The focus of attention wherever this “Beast” is mentioned is his demand for universal worship and his insistence that all should bear his “Mark” – the Mark of the Beast: “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the Beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has under-standing calculate the number of the Beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six” (Rev. 13:16-18).

Identifying this particular mark is not as important as understanding the purpose of the mark. The “Mark of the Beast” is designed to mock the “seal” of the living God on His faithful followers in Revelation 7:2-3: “And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads’” (Rev. 7:2-3; see also Rev. 13:16).

The seal of God in Rev. 7:3 is the exact opposite of the “Mark of the Beast” in Rev. 13:16. These two “marks” place people in two distinct categories: (1) those who belong to God and (2) those who belong to Satan. Just as God “marks” His people with a “seal” on their foreheads to save them from His coming judgement, so likewise Satan “marks” his people to “save them” from the persecution he is unleashing on God’s people (see Rev. 14:9-11).

“And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them” (Revelation 14:13).

(Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.)