The Mark Of The Beast (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:01) Who is the Antichrist? What is 666? The (00:00:04) mark of the beast, the false prophet. (00:00:05) We're going to look at all of it from (00:00:07) the first century Hebraic and Jewish (00:00:09) perspective, which will change (00:00:11) everything. And then we're going to find (00:00:12) out exactly how AI fits into all of (00:00:15) this. I'm telling you, you're not going (00:00:16) to want to miss this broadcast. We're (00:00:18) going to unpack all of it right after (00:00:20) this. (00:00:29) Hello everyone, Jim Staley, Passion for (00:00:31) Truth Ministries, and welcome to this (00:00:32) week's broadcast where we are going to (00:00:34) be diving into the Antichrist. We're (00:00:37) going to be diving into what is 666, the (00:00:39) number of his name. What about the mark (00:00:41) of the beast and even the false prophet? (00:00:44) If we get time, we're going to do all of (00:00:45) this from the first century Hebraic (00:00:47) perspective, looking through the lens of (00:00:49) the first century Jewish author John (00:00:52) from the island of Patmos, that book of (00:00:54) Revelation that has been just right (00:00:56) outside of almost everyone's reach, but (00:00:58) the Bible says there is great wisdom and (00:01:00) blessing for understanding it. So, we're (00:01:02) not going to pretend that we're going to (00:01:03) understand everything, but we're (00:01:05) definitely going to look at a few (00:01:06) things, and I think it is going to be (00:01:08) eyeopening for sure. So, make sure you (00:01:10) stick around to the very end. Um, if you (00:01:12) have not seen the first two episodes in (00:01:16) this series, I would really encourage (00:01:18) you to go back and check them out. The (00:01:19) first one really goes in depth of what (00:01:23) AI actually is and the three different (00:01:25) types of AI, the narrow AI, the AGI, and (00:01:28) the ASI. If you're not familiar with (00:01:29) that and the evolution of what's coming, (00:01:31) it is critical foundation for (00:01:33) understanding really everything else (00:01:36) that's going to be unpacked in our (00:01:38) lifetime here. actually in the next (00:01:40) probably 5 years, 10 years at the most, (00:01:42) everything is going to change. And so, (00:01:44) it's important that you watch that. Last (00:01:45) week, we talked about Babylon. We talked (00:01:48) about the beast, the woman that rides (00:01:50) the beast, what does that look like, and (00:01:52) the system that's being set up right (00:01:54) now. Um, and we are going to dive into (00:01:56) even deeper topics today. Now, we're (00:01:59) normally at this channel, if you're (00:02:00) brand new to this channel, um my (00:02:02) expertise is in first century Judaism (00:02:05) and Christianity and the original (00:02:06) language, culture, context, the (00:02:08) idiomatic expressions. So, we typically (00:02:11) talk everything about how do we (00:02:14) interpret the Bible from its first (00:02:15) century context. Uh and that means not (00:02:18) just the language, it means really (00:02:20) understanding the idioms and the (00:02:23) phraseology and the background that the (00:02:26) author had at the time. For instance, (00:02:28) when you read the Bible and talks about (00:02:29) the good eye and the bad eye, well, that (00:02:32) was actually a Hebrew idiom that meant (00:02:34) generous or not generous. So, if you're (00:02:36) stingy, you had a bad eye. If you're (00:02:37) generous, you had a good eye. And we (00:02:39) talk about all kinds of things like (00:02:40) that. So, we go verse by verse through (00:02:43) the Bible. And we've done Acts, we've (00:02:45) done Romans, we've done Hebrews. You can (00:02:47) check all those out on our website. (00:02:48) We've got tons of topics. If you're (00:02:50) interested in the feast days of the Lord (00:02:52) and God's prophetic calendar, I (00:02:54) encourage you to text feast day to (00:02:57) 844763-9543. (00:03:01) That'll give you a heads up uh and a (00:03:03) free cheat sheet download so that you (00:03:04) can get started on that. We've got tons (00:03:06) and tons of videos on our website. All (00:03:08) right, first and foremost, I want to (00:03:09) give you an overarching umbrella (00:03:11) statement to take all of the anxiety (00:03:14) out. Revelation is not written to scare (00:03:18) believers, my friends, but to simply (00:03:21) keep us faithful under pressure. That's (00:03:24) what this is about. The pressure is (00:03:26) going to come. And if like I believe we (00:03:29) are going to go through some sort of (00:03:31) tribulation and great as it may be, it (00:03:35) is all about being faithful under (00:03:37) pressure. So let's begin in Revelation (00:03:40) 14 8-10. And this is going to be kind of (00:03:42) like uh one of the foundational texts (00:03:44) for this broadcast. And another angel (00:03:46) followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is (00:03:48) fallen, that great city, because she has (00:03:51) made all the nations drink of the wine (00:03:53) of her wrath, of her fornication." Then (00:03:55) a third angel followed them, saying with (00:03:56) a loud voice, "If anyone worships the (00:03:58) beast in his image, and receives his (00:04:00) mark on his forehead or in his hand, he (00:04:03) himself shall also drink of the wine of (00:04:04) the wrath of God, which is poured out (00:04:06) full strength into the cup of his (00:04:08) indignation. He shall be tormented with (00:04:11) fire and brimstone in the presence of (00:04:12) the holy angels and in the presence of (00:04:13) the lamb. Now look, this is a pretty (00:04:16) foundational text. It's actually kind of (00:04:18) scary. Whatever it is, we don't want to (00:04:20) take the mark of the beast. And so we're (00:04:22) going to talk about what that looks like (00:04:23) because a lot of people believe they're (00:04:25) going to accidentally take the mark. Um, (00:04:27) and that the COVID vaccine was the mark (00:04:30) and all this. What if we got the mark? (00:04:32) Well, we're going to talk about that and (00:04:33) hopefully resolve all of this uh (00:04:36) anxiety. Okay. First of all, in (00:04:38) Revelation, there is no term called (00:04:42) antichrist. Now, it talks about the man (00:04:45) whose name is 666 is anti- messiah in (00:04:48) every sense, but scripture never calls (00:04:50) him the antichrist because John is (00:04:52) warning us about a repeating system, not (00:04:55) a one-time super villain. All right? Now (00:04:57) the reality is if the last anti- messiah (00:05:01) will be the antichrist. But the reason (00:05:04) why John doesn't talk about an (00:05:06) antichrist the antichrist because he (00:05:09) talks about there being a lot of (00:05:10) antichrist is he's he's trying to get us (00:05:12) to look at a a pattern a character uh (00:05:17) descriptions something that is a system (00:05:20) again not a one-time super villain. And (00:05:22) what Christianity has typically done (00:05:24) when we're talking about end times stuff (00:05:25) is we're trying to figure out who (00:05:27) Babylon is, who is the Antichrist, who (00:05:30) is the false prophet. And that may be (00:05:32) fine, but I'm telling you, it will be (00:05:34) after the fact. You are not going to (00:05:36) know until it's over. So once it's (00:05:40) revealed, everyone's going to know. So (00:05:42) there's no sense in trying to figure it (00:05:44) out. What we really want to do and what (00:05:46) the purpose of John and why it's such a (00:05:48) blessing to understand the book of (00:05:49) revelation is we're supposed to (00:05:51) understand the patterns. If you see the (00:05:53) pattern, then you can stay away from (00:05:56) what is forbidden. Okay, that can harm (00:05:58) us. So, some of the characteristics of (00:06:00) the quote antichrist is in Daniel 9:27, (00:06:03) he's a desecrator of the temple. So, (00:06:04) he's going to uh desecrate the temple uh (00:06:08) 3 and a half years before the end of (00:06:09) time, which begins the great (00:06:10) tribulation. Daniel 11, he's a (00:06:13) self-exalting king. In 2 uh (00:06:16) Thessalonians 2 3 and 4, he's called the (00:06:18) man of lawlessness. That's a fascinating (00:06:21) term uh because traditional Christianity (00:06:23) does not believe in the law of God being (00:06:26) relevant for Christians today. And so (00:06:28) that makes this difficult because (00:06:30) there's only one law of God that existed (00:06:33) in the first century when Thessalonians (00:06:35) were written. So when Paul is writing, (00:06:38) there is only one law of God that God (00:06:40) gave Moses that all of believers used in (00:06:42) the first century. And it says here at (00:06:44) the end of time, the Antichrist is going (00:06:46) to be against the law. He's going to be (00:06:48) lawless. Okay? You can't be lawless if (00:06:51) there's no law. There has to be some (00:06:53) sort of code. And of course, the only (00:06:54) code that the Bible gives is God's law. (00:06:57) Revelation 13 says it's the final beast (00:07:00) embodiment. Okay? So the idea of a last (00:07:03) climatic anti- messiah is absolutely (00:07:06) biblical and that's where we're going to (00:07:08) land today. Revelation 13 18 says this. (00:07:12) Here is wisdom. Let him who has (00:07:14) understanding calculate the number of (00:07:16) the beast for it is the number of a man. (00:07:19) His number is 666. (00:07:22) Now everyone and their brother has been (00:07:24) trying to figure out what is the 666. Is (00:07:26) it the is it the number of his name? So (00:07:29) we calculate it using numerology or (00:07:31) gamatria. Well, yes and no. What we're (00:07:34) going to do and what we continue to do (00:07:35) on this channel is maintain a consistent (00:07:38) position. We're going to look through (00:07:40) the eyes of the Jewish author that's (00:07:42) writing and his audience because they (00:07:45) understood it. He knows what he's (00:07:47) saying. And we have to look through his (00:07:48) backdrop. You cannot come in and go, (00:07:50) "Okay, from a Hebrew mindset and a (00:07:53) Hebrew language, we're going to switch (00:07:55) this over to to Greek or to Roman (00:07:58) numerals and try to figure it out." No, (00:07:59) it's not. Or English. It's not going to (00:08:01) work. Okay? So, John is speaking to a (00:08:04) very Hebrew audience who understood (00:08:06) Hebrew concepts in Hebrew numerology or (00:08:08) what's called gumatria. Each Hebrew (00:08:10) letter represented a number. ALF was (00:08:14) number one. Bait was number two. Gimmel (00:08:17) was number three. And so on and so (00:08:19) forth, right? So ALF, Bet, Gimmel, (00:08:20) Dalot, Hey, Bob, Zion. All the way down (00:08:22) you got numbers one uh and then they (00:08:25) jump to 100, 200, 300. And so you simply (00:08:29) just take the Hebrew letters, add them (00:08:31) up, and that'll tell you exactly what (00:08:32) they name. Now, okay, what's important (00:08:34) for you to understand is that the book (00:08:36) of Revelation is layered. There's a (00:08:38) layer that's found as the template in (00:08:40) the first century. And John's audience (00:08:43) knew exactly what he was talking about. (00:08:46) He couldn't because of oppression of (00:08:48) Rome come right out and say that the (00:08:51) modern antichrist in the first century (00:08:53) was Nero Caesar. But that's exactly what (00:08:56) his audience would have come to (00:08:58) conclusion of. Why? Because the beast (00:09:01) was Rome. Every description uh in the (00:09:04) first century that John gives in (00:09:05) Revelation fits that including the city (00:09:07) on seven hills which is exactly what (00:09:09) they called Rome. the city on seven (00:09:11) hills. And the beast who is ahead the (00:09:14) head of that entire Babylon system was (00:09:18) Nero's imperial name, Nero Caesar, which (00:09:21) just so happens to add up in Hebrew to (00:09:23) 666 (00:09:25) Now, to just verify that and double (00:09:27) check that, we have ancient manuscripts (00:09:30) that were written in the Latin that (00:09:32) don't say 666. It says the number of his (00:09:34) name was 616. (00:09:36) And that's even more fascinating because (00:09:39) when you spell Nero in Latin, uh, it (00:09:42) actually comes out to 616. (00:09:45) So the writers of the book of Revelation (00:09:48) knew that he was talking about Nero, but (00:09:50) couldn't say Nero, probably would lose (00:09:52) his head. So he did it in a mystical (00:09:54) way, a hidden way that his audience (00:09:56) would know. But what we also know is (00:09:59) this is a pattern that's going to show (00:10:01) up at the end of time and something that (00:10:03) we can look for again. Okay? Now, it's (00:10:06) also really important that 666 is not (00:10:09) Allah Akbar. All right, we see many (00:10:11) people have been sharing this online (00:10:14) that the Islamic jihadists are wearing (00:10:16) headbands or hats with with this Allah (00:10:19) Akbar and it's supposed to have some (00:10:21) sort of uh it looks like a six six and a (00:10:24) six. Well, that's a problem uh because (00:10:27) Revelation 13:18 explicitly invites the (00:10:30) reader to calculate the number and that (00:10:33) calculation is grounded in Hebraic (00:10:35) gamatria, not Arabic numerology. John is (00:10:38) a Jewish author writing to assembly (00:10:41) shaped by Hebrew sculpt uh scripture, (00:10:43) Aramaic and Hebrew wordplay and second (00:10:46) temple interpretive methods. There's no (00:10:48) textual justification for shifting to (00:10:51) Arabic, a language that did not even (00:10:53) exist in the Quranic form in the first (00:10:56) century was unknown to John's audience (00:10:59) and operates on a completely different (00:11:01) letter number system. So once you (00:11:03) abandon Hebrew, which is what this (00:11:05) channel tries not to do, you abandon (00:11:08) John's instruction. And that's (00:11:11) problematic because we're going to end (00:11:12) up with all kinds of crazy things. (00:11:14) People have even looked into Disney and (00:11:16) said, "Oh, there's a six there. There's (00:11:18) a six there and a six there." The (00:11:19) problem is is that there was no numeral (00:11:22) six in the English language in the first (00:11:25) century. These are Hebrew letters and (00:11:30) that that have numbers attached. He's (00:11:32) not talking about what looks like an (00:11:35) English letter six. Uh that is absurd (00:11:38) honestly on a linguistic level. And this (00:11:40) is where hermeneutical principles (00:11:42) matter. the art of inter biblical (00:11:44) interpretation. If we just interpret (00:11:46) based on what we think, we're going to (00:11:48) pull out of the scripture something that (00:11:50) doesn't exist. And so if somebody buys (00:11:52) into the idea that uh that the Arabic of (00:11:55) of Allah Akbar is 666, then their entire (00:11:58) mindset is now looking for an antichrist (00:12:00) that's coming out of that and they will (00:12:04) miss the antichrist coming out of this. (00:12:08) And so that's why this is so important (00:12:10) and why we're talking about this, my (00:12:11) friends. Um, look, scripture does not (00:12:13) call believers to hunt for a name or a (00:12:17) number first, but to recognize the (00:12:19) nature. That's what we're looking for. (00:12:21) Nature of the beast. We have Esau. We've (00:12:23) got Jacob, right? We've got Isaac. We (00:12:26) have Ishmael. There are natures of those (00:12:28) that we're looking for. The danger is (00:12:30) not missing the Antichrist identity, but (00:12:33) giving allegiance to a system that (00:12:34) opposes God before that identity is even (00:12:37) fully revealed. If we wait till the (00:12:39) leader of that beast is revealed, it (00:12:41) could be too late. Your allegiance, (00:12:43) according to Revelation timeline, comes (00:12:46) before the Antichrist even shows up. The (00:12:50) allegiance comes to the beast. (00:12:53) You're already going to come in (00:12:54) allegiance with Babylon. You're likely (00:12:56) not even going to know it. It's too (00:12:58) alluring. You won't even know that the (00:13:00) beast is there, that Babylon is writing. (00:13:02) you'll and then allegiance is mandated (00:13:05) and you won't even know it until the (00:13:08) antichrist shows up and it will be (00:13:10) already too late. So your allegiance (00:13:12) could already have been secured. (00:13:14) Scripture directs us to recognize the (00:13:16) beast by its nature and actions. The (00:13:18) number 666 appears at the end of the (00:13:21) chapter, not the beginning. And it (00:13:23) represents and it's presented as (00:13:25) confirmation, not predictive. (00:13:28) So now let's move to the mark of the (00:13:30) beast because 666 is just not relevant (00:13:33) and uh when it comes to the beginning of (00:13:36) the book of revelation are making sure (00:13:37) that we don't give our allegiance. And (00:13:39) one other thing that's fascinating when (00:13:41) you look at 666 (00:13:44) it is the number of man. And if you know (00:13:46) anything about Hebrew interpretation, (00:13:48) anytime a number is multiplied, okay, or (00:13:52) a Hebrew concept or instruction or a (00:13:56) phrase is repeated more than once, it's (00:13:58) called Hebrew parallelism. And it is (00:14:00) means it's it's increasing in intensity. (00:14:04) So the real underlying interpretation of (00:14:06) 666 is that is one short of man. So 777 (00:14:11) is perfection with God at the center. It (00:14:14) is man at his best with God and no (00:14:18) flesh. That's Yeshua. That's Jesus. (00:14:21) That's Christ. He was the perfect man (00:14:24) who submitted his flesh 100% underneath (00:14:27) God. So there was no gap. There was no (00:14:29) missing number. It was perfection. 777. (00:14:33) Man, on the other hand, is the number uh (00:14:35) six. That's when man was created was on (00:14:37) the sixth day. He's one short. And our (00:14:40) goal in life is to add God, the number (00:14:43) one. All right? Uh there should be no (00:14:46) other gods but me. We add God to us as a (00:14:49) six. And we end up in seven. We end up (00:14:52) in rest. We end up on Shabbat. That's (00:14:56) the whole whole message could be given (00:14:57) there by the way, the six days of (00:14:59) creation. But when you add God, there's (00:15:01) rest. And that's the whole point of the (00:15:03) Sabbath each and every week is to add (00:15:05) God to your life. Don't leave him out (00:15:07) and work 247. Okay? So when you multiply (00:15:11) six, you have an increase in man's (00:15:14) flesh. When you multiply it the third (00:15:16) time, it is the epitome. It is the (00:15:19) highest level of man without God. And (00:15:23) that's exactly what the the beast is (00:15:24) going to be. That's what the Antichrist (00:15:26) is going to exhibit is man at his (00:15:29) highest capability without God. And AI (00:15:32) is going to fit into all of this. So (00:15:34) hold on to the end because we're going (00:15:35) to talk a lot about that. Let's move (00:15:37) over to Revelation 13 where the mark is (00:15:39) introduced only after worship is already (00:15:42) established. And the order matters. (00:15:44) First the beast is revealed. Then the (00:15:48) world worships the beast. That's (00:15:50) Revelation 13:4 and 8. Then the image is (00:15:54) enforced. And only after that does the (00:15:57) mark appear. So everyone's looking for (00:15:58) the mark of the beast. Oh, it's (00:16:00) something it's a computer chip in your (00:16:01) hand and so on and so forth. I'm telling (00:16:03) you, the order is nowhere near what most (00:16:06) believers think it is. We're looking for (00:16:08) the wrong thing. If you start looking (00:16:10) for stuff that's at the end of the (00:16:12) chapter that shows up way after the (00:16:13) fact, you will miss everything before (00:16:16) that and potentially get ourselves in (00:16:17) big trouble. The sequence tells us (00:16:20) immediately the mark is not random. It's (00:16:22) not secret. It's not the starting point. (00:16:24) It's the visible consequence of (00:16:26) allegiance that's already been granted. (00:16:30) No first century Jew would have ever (00:16:32) read this as technology first, worship (00:16:34) later. Okay? It's not about technology. (00:16:37) And we're going to see that. I hope you (00:16:38) will appreciate looking at this from the (00:16:40) original u uh first century Hebrew (00:16:43) perspective because most everything out (00:16:44) there is coming from a totally different (00:16:46) angle. And I'm not saying that they (00:16:47) might be wrong. I'm saying that we need (00:16:49) to look at this from the original (00:16:51) author's intent and then go from there. (00:16:54) All right. So now first the word (00:16:55) translated mark in revelation is the (00:16:58) Greek kuragma and in the first century (00:17:01) it referred to an impressed sign like a (00:17:04) stamp a brand or official mark of (00:17:07) ownership or authorization. It was (00:17:10) commonly used for imperial seals right (00:17:12) the king put his his uh ring into the (00:17:15) soft wax that is a kuragma that's a (00:17:18) mark. All right, it's a stamped (00:17:19) documents, authorized coinage, (00:17:22) certificates of compliance, all of that (00:17:24) is the description of the mark. It (00:17:26) doesn't mean a microchip, an implant or (00:17:28) any hidden device. Those ideas are (00:17:30) totally anacronistic, meaning taking (00:17:32) something in our century and then (00:17:34) transporting it back to the text. We (00:17:37) can't do that. That's reading back into (00:17:38) the text called isog Jesus. What we want (00:17:41) to do is exesus, meaning exeet, is pull (00:17:44) from the scriptures what the author (00:17:46) intended. All right, that concept is (00:17:48) completely foreign to the world in which (00:17:49) Revelation was written. So the language (00:17:52) of the forehead and the hand is (00:17:54) covenantal, not anatomical. John is (00:17:58) deliberately echoing the shama out of (00:18:00) Deuteronomy chapter 6. This is (00:18:01) phenomenal, you guys. As believers, we (00:18:03) don't know the Torah. We don't read the (00:18:05) what I call the front of the book, the (00:18:07) Old Testament. We miss incredible (00:18:09) nuggets. When John is talking about the (00:18:12) mark being on the forehead and the hand, (00:18:14) every single Jewish believer and every (00:18:17) Christian believer, Gentile believer (00:18:19) who's encased in uh Hebrew culture at (00:18:22) the time is going to absolutely (00:18:24) immediately immediately go back to (00:18:26) Deuteronomy 6 in his mind. And it says (00:18:28) this verse 4-9 here. O Israel, the Lord (00:18:31) our God, the Lord is one. You shall love (00:18:34) the Lord your God with all your heart, (00:18:36) mind, soul, and strength. And these (00:18:38) words which I command you today shall be (00:18:40) in your heart. You shall teach them (00:18:43) diligently to your children. And you (00:18:45) shall talk of them when you sit in your (00:18:46) house, when you walk by the way, when (00:18:48) you lie down, and when you rise up. You (00:18:50) shall bind them as a sign, listen, on (00:18:52) your hand, and they shall be as (00:18:54) frontlets between your eyes. You shall (00:18:57) write them on the doorpost of your house (00:18:59) and on your gates. Now, what's (00:19:01) fascinating on one level, most of us (00:19:04) believe that Jesus was the one that made (00:19:05) up, "Love God with all your heart, mind, (00:19:07) soul, and strength, and love your (00:19:07) neighbor as yourself." But no, this was (00:19:09) a tenant of Judaism. Uh, he was simply (00:19:12) saying what everybody already knew. He's (00:19:13) pulling it right from the Torah, right? (00:19:15) But in point for what we're talking (00:19:17) about, he wants them to take the (00:19:19) commandments of God and put them on (00:19:22) their hand and between the frontlets of (00:19:24) their eyes. And that was a Hebrew (00:19:27) understanding, a Hebrew idiom that (00:19:28) simply meant, "Think about them (00:19:32) and do them. Put them on your hand and (00:19:35) do them. Keep them between your eyes." (00:19:37) Everybody knew that. That's why David in (00:19:38) all the Psalms is like, "I I I I (00:19:41) meditate on your commandments day and (00:19:42) night." It was a total understanding (00:19:45) that this was a Jewish idiom. Oh, if you (00:19:47) take this in its original format and how (00:19:49) they understood it and then you apply (00:19:51) that back into the text in Revelation, (00:19:54) you can see that the whole context is (00:19:57) talking about allegiance. It's talking (00:19:58) about where your loyalty lies. It talks (00:20:01) about what you're going to be thinking (00:20:03) about and what you're going to be doing. (00:20:06) And so when someone crosses over in the (00:20:08) mark of the beast is uh a a system where (00:20:13) your allegiance is given uh meaning that (00:20:15) you've bowed your mind, will and (00:20:17) emotions to that beast and you are now (00:20:20) doing what the beast wants you to do. (00:20:22) Then you've taken the mark. Every first (00:20:26) century Jew would have understood this (00:20:27) as covenant language. The forehead (00:20:29) represents the mind, allegiance, and (00:20:30) identity. And the mind and the hand (00:20:32) represents actions, obedience, and work. (00:20:34) This is not about physical placement, (00:20:36) but total loyalty. And the mark of the (00:20:38) beast deliberately imitates this (00:20:41) covenant framework by redefining what (00:20:43) you believe, how you live, and who you (00:20:46) serve. This is the true mark of the (00:20:48) beast. Buying and selling function as (00:20:51) the enforcement mechanism of the mark, (00:20:54) not its definition. For how many decades (00:20:57) has Christian esquetology moved into the (00:21:00) definition of the mark of the beast as (00:21:02) being buying and selling? That is the (00:21:04) final enforcement. (00:21:07) You will have already taken the mark. In (00:21:09) Revelation 13:16-17, (00:21:11) John writes, "So that no one can buy or (00:21:13) sell unless he has the mark." The text (00:21:15) is clear that economic activity is the (00:21:18) just the pressure point. It's not the (00:21:20) essence of the mark itself. It doesn't (00:21:22) define the mark. The mark represents (00:21:25) allegiance already given while control (00:21:27) over buying and selling is the means (00:21:30) used to enforce that allegiance. This is (00:21:33) exactly how Rome operated, leveraging (00:21:35) economic participation to compel (00:21:38) loyalty. They would simply lock you out. (00:21:41) In the Roman world, citizens were (00:21:43) expected to honor Caesar as Lord with (00:21:45) participation framed as civic duty and (00:21:48) refusal treated as rebellion. At times, (00:21:51) proof of compliance was required, which (00:21:53) could include offering incense to (00:21:55) Caesar, making a verbal confession of (00:21:57) loyalty, or receiving a certificate of (00:21:59) compliance, later known as a labelis. (00:22:02) Without such compliance, individuals (00:22:04) could not trade freely, could not (00:22:06) participate fully in society, and face (00:22:09) the risk of being reported, fined, in (00:22:11) prison, or even killed. Sound familiar? (00:22:14) Cancel culture existed back then. (00:22:16) There's no implant that was required, (00:22:19) only public loyalty. And this is what (00:22:22) I'm trying to get across. The text says (00:22:24) on, not in the forehead and the hand. (00:22:28) And that distinction really matters (00:22:30) because this is symbolic language rooted (00:22:32) in Torah, not a description of an (00:22:35) internal implant. The language (00:22:37) communicates visible identification, (00:22:40) recognizable allegiance, and observable (00:22:43) compliance. In other words, people could (00:22:46) tell who belonged to the system and (00:22:48) that's the entire point. So whatever the (00:22:51) mark is, it is going to be allegiance (00:22:53) and everyone's going to be able to know. (00:22:56) It will be obvious. There's a lot of (00:22:58) people that believe that somehow they're (00:23:00) accidentally going to receive the mark. (00:23:02) Scripture is clear that the mark is a (00:23:04) choice. It's not a trap. And this (00:23:07) matters. In Revelation 14:9-11, judgment (00:23:11) falls on those who worship the beast and (00:23:13) receive the mark. Both of which are (00:23:16) conscious deliberate actions. The text (00:23:19) does not describe accidental (00:23:21) participation or deception by stealth (00:23:24) that there somehow, you know, if you got (00:23:26) uh a vaccine that now the mark of the (00:23:28) beast is on the inside of you. No. (00:23:31) Chosen allegiance. It's always been that (00:23:34) way. People have a choice. When we (00:23:38) choose Christ and we confess with our (00:23:40) mouth that he is Lord, we are saved. It (00:23:42) is a choice. No one accidentally (00:23:45) receives Christ, no one accidentally uh (00:23:48) decides uh to not follow God. It is a (00:23:51) choice. It cannot be a judgment without (00:23:54) a choice. That is a anxiety point for so (00:23:58) many millions of believers out there. (00:23:59) And I think it's important for us to (00:24:01) understand there will be a choice. And (00:24:04) what John's entire point here is to know (00:24:08) what the system looks like. Be ready for (00:24:11) the mark. Be ready for allegiance. Be (00:24:14) ready for the system. And don't join it. (00:24:17) Now, without a doubt, there's parts of (00:24:20) the medical infusions, let's just say, (00:24:23) that they're trying to give in the (00:24:24) future that might definitely have tech (00:24:26) built into them. Might be part of the (00:24:28) beastly system. The entire monetary (00:24:31) system is part of the beastly system. (00:24:34) There's almost nothing that the beast is (00:24:36) not going to use. AI will no doubt be (00:24:39) used by the beastly system. The (00:24:40) internet, commerce, uh all of our health (00:24:43) care, everything is going to be under (00:24:45) control of ASI and the beast system (00:24:47) without a doubt. It's not the control (00:24:51) that matters. It's do you give your (00:24:54) control to the one who wants it in place (00:24:58) of God. It's that pressure that the book (00:25:01) of Revelation is talking about and (00:25:02) trying to warn us of. A first century (00:25:05) believer would have understood the mark (00:25:07) as a public sign of loyalty tied (00:25:09) directly to worship and authority (00:25:12) enforced through economic pressure and (00:25:14) deliberately counterfeiting God's (00:25:15) covenant signs. Its function is to (00:25:17) separate the faithful from the (00:25:19) compliant. That's the whole point of the (00:25:21) beast. There's no mystery, no hidden (00:25:23) technology, no surprise bait and switch. (00:25:27) So, how is the beast going to control (00:25:28) everyone? That's very simple. Through (00:25:31) AI. Once we get to the point where we (00:25:33) recognize what the beast system looks (00:25:36) like. And we're not looking for names, (00:25:39) we're not looking for numbers, but we're (00:25:42) looking for who has authority and (00:25:45) control. And what are they asking from (00:25:48) us? That's when we need to be careful. (00:25:52) That's what we should be focused on. (00:25:54) Who's in authority? What are they (00:25:56) asking? Do I need to submit? Now, the (00:26:00) entire world is going to change here (00:26:02) with AI. AI is going to be what the (00:26:05) beast uses and what the head of the (00:26:08) beast, what we call the antichrist, is (00:26:10) going to absolutely use. It's going to (00:26:12) be AI because AI has pattern (00:26:13) recognition. It can predict everything. (00:26:15) It is phenomenally optimized. Has facial (00:26:18) recognition technology that can go (00:26:20) across millions of cameras. Voice (00:26:22) recognition, behavior tracking. It will (00:26:24) simply, it doesn't need to come to your (00:26:26) house and kill you. It will simply (00:26:28) quietly lock you out. This is how the (00:26:32) whole buying and selling is going to (00:26:33) work. All of us are already part of the (00:26:35) system, but there'll become a point (00:26:37) where the beast becomes more obvious and (00:26:40) it will go from voluntary to obligated. (00:26:43) The beast and the one that is in charge (00:26:45) of it will make sure there's allegiance. (00:26:48) And this is where it gets scary because (00:26:49) we will have already been locked into a (00:26:51) Babylonian system that we won't even (00:26:53) know that we're locked into because it (00:26:55) is beneficial to all of us. We're using (00:26:57) it already to unplug from that system is (00:27:02) like not being able to buy things off of (00:27:03) Amazon. Now, that's just a small thing. (00:27:06) Imagine if you were completely locked (00:27:07) out of everything. Survival becomes (00:27:11) difficult to say the least. the (00:27:13) decisions that are made under that (00:27:15) pressure will be far more difficult than (00:27:18) if you make the decision now. So, so far (00:27:21) we've talked about the Antichrist. We've (00:27:23) talked about 666. We've talked about the (00:27:25) mark of the beast. I really wanted to (00:27:27) get into the image of the beast and the (00:27:30) false prophet, but I think I'm going to (00:27:33) wait until next week to do that. But in (00:27:35) the end, look, the book of Revelation (00:27:37) was not given so believers live in fear. (00:27:40) That's not why John wrote it. That's not (00:27:42) why the Holy Spirit inspired him to (00:27:43) write it. It's so that we'll remain (00:27:45) faithful in the present and faithful (00:27:48) under pressure. John does not tell the (00:27:50) churches to panic, to decode timelines, (00:27:52) or to hunt for villains. He told them to (00:27:55) endure. That means that there's going to (00:27:57) be something to endure, to refuse false (00:28:00) worship, and to keep their allegiance (00:28:03) clear. (00:28:04) AI doesn't change the heart of (00:28:06) Revelation's warning. It only explains (00:28:08) how the ancient pattern is going to (00:28:10) operate on a global scale. And so at the (00:28:12) end of the day, my friends, it is our (00:28:14) responsibility to not try to figure out (00:28:16) everything in the book of Revelation. (00:28:18) I'm telling you, so many people that I (00:28:20) know and care about, in my opinion, (00:28:22) waste so much time trying to understand (00:28:26) something that is hidden. And it is only (00:28:29) hidden until the end. And we're not (00:28:32) there. Not that we can't study the book (00:28:35) of Revelation, try to figure things out. (00:28:37) But at the end of the day, there's so (00:28:38) much in the other 65 books that we don't (00:28:41) understand that we should spend our time (00:28:42) with that will draw us closer to the (00:28:44) father and will create so much fruit in (00:28:47) our lives. The point that the Holy (00:28:49) Spirit is trying to make to the book of (00:28:50) John in Revelation is stay close to God. (00:28:55) know what the image of God looks like, (00:28:59) which we'll talk about next week, and (00:29:00) you'll know what the image of the (00:29:03) Antichrist and the beastly system is. (00:29:05) It'll be the opposite. God says, "Put my (00:29:08) commandments on the doorpost of your (00:29:10) heart, your gates. Put them between your (00:29:12) eyes. Think about them. Meditate on (00:29:13) them, and do them." This whole concept (00:29:17) that the enemy has infused Christianity (00:29:19) with God's law, don't have to do that. (00:29:22) You don't have to keep God's (00:29:23) commandments anymore. Even though in the (00:29:24) book of John, 1 John 5:3 says, "Here are (00:29:26) those who love God, those who keep his (00:29:28) commandments, and his commandments are (00:29:30) not burdensome." Paul says in Romans (00:29:32) 3:31, that he upholds the law of God. (00:29:34) It's the centrifuge. In in chapter 7, he (00:29:36) says it's the one thing he wants to do. (00:29:39) And he ends up not doing it. And the (00:29:41) very thing that he wants to do, he (00:29:42) doesn't do. It's keep God's (00:29:44) commandments. Ladies and gentlemen, this (00:29:45) is the point that Solomon said in (00:29:48) Ecclesiastes of all things, (00:29:51) keep God's commandments and love people. (00:29:55) It is the whole duty of man. (00:29:57) This is what the antichrist is going to (00:30:00) go after. Revelation 12:17, he goes (00:30:04) after those who keep the commandments of (00:30:07) God and hold to the testimony of Jesus, (00:30:11) of Yeshua. It's not just those who claim (00:30:14) Christ. The threat is from those who are (00:30:16) keeping the commandments because the (00:30:18) commandments are what causes you to be (00:30:20) in deeper covenant and more powerful in (00:30:22) the spirit. When you're in alignment (00:30:24) with with God, meaning that you're doing (00:30:27) what he asked you to do and you claim (00:30:29) Christ, that's a greater threat. And I (00:30:33) think that should say something to all (00:30:34) of us today. Are we keeping God's (00:30:36) commandments? And are we keeping them in (00:30:38) the spirit? Are we keeping them in what (00:30:40) we do? or we just talking and thinking (00:30:42) about them. We need to know what we (00:30:44) believe and we need to already make the (00:30:47) decisions of faithfulness now before the (00:30:50) pressure gets so great that we make the (00:30:52) decision out of haste. And many will do (00:30:56) that. That is what I think is the great (00:31:00) falling away. It's those who can't make (00:31:04) the faithful decision under pressure. (00:31:06) It's too difficult. Food and water will (00:31:10) absolutely be at the top of the list and (00:31:13) people will choose to deny God to save (00:31:17) their children. (00:31:19) We need to make those decisions now. Put (00:31:22) it on the doorpost of your house and on (00:31:24) your gates now (00:31:26) and put it in concrete. All right, my (00:31:29) friends. Don't forget about next week (00:31:31) where we're going to finalize this and (00:31:32) talk about the image of the beast. What (00:31:34) does that look like in the false (00:31:36) prophet? In the meantime, uh, I'm Jim (00:31:38) Staley. Thank you so much for spending (00:31:40) time with us. Thank you guys for being a (00:31:41) part of our life and ministry. You can (00:31:43) go to passionfortruth.com if you want (00:31:45) more content or go on our YouTube (00:31:48) channel. We've got hundreds of videos on (00:31:50) almost every topic. In the meantime, I'm (00:31:52) Jim Staley with Passion for Truth (00:31:53) Ministries and I'll see you next video.