I’ve had people email me with questions concerning the topic of the coming Beast power and this “mark of the beast”. One lady ask me “can you unwittingly take the mark, and not know that you just did?”
The tribulation will be a time of God’s wrath and judgment upon “them that dwell upon the earth” (See Rev. 6: 10; 8: 13; 11: 10; 12: 12; 13: 8, 12, 14; 14: 6; 17: 2, 8). He will keep the believer “from” this time of tribulation rather than “through” it.
One of the mistakes Christians make in reading the Bible is caused by our tendency to look at everything through “Church colored glasses.” By that I mean we read it as if it all applies directly to us without regard for the context or historical background. I know Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4) but that doesn’t mean it was all written to us or about us. It means we’re supposed to learn from the experiences of those who came before us. A prime example of this kind of mistake can be found in our interpretation of the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25). I’ll show you what I mean.
In our last sermon about this subject, we discussed Jesus teaching what the signs for the end of the age would be and who would be the recipients of these signs.
We know that it is more proper in context to use the “end of the age” as when Jesus comes back to rule for 1000 years, it will be on this very earth we now populate, but with major revisions to return the earth to it’s former glory when Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden.
We are examining the latest Hollywood entertainment offering of a supposedly biblical nature. Noah, film-maker Darren Aronofsky’s high-dollar film, surpassed by far what the movie money gurus expected, grossing over $44 million out of the starting blocks.
Can there be any doubt that conditions and activities which God’s Word predicts will be prevalent while the end of the age approaches are now being played out before our very eyes?