And it causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bondmen, that they should give them a mark upon their right hand or upon their forehead;
A mark now falls on every class of person on earth, demanded not by the first beast but by another who enforces submission to him. Commentators ask three questions: who demands the mark, what it means on the hand or the forehead, and why a person's eternal future hangs on taking it or refusing it.
The demand does not come from the first beast himself.
This wicked man will claim religious authority over everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave. To enforce his authority he will demand public submission to the first beast, shown by a public mark on the right hand and on the forehead. Without that mark, humanly speaking, life will be impossible: no one will be able to buy or sell.
The three pairs of people named are not a random list. Together they close every loophole.
In those terrible days the Beast crushes out all individual thought and action. He demands the most complete submission to the worst tyranny ever seen, and nobody dares refuse. The classes named cover everyone within reach of his influence, and they come in pairs. No one escapes — neither the lowest in rank nor the highest. Neither riches nor poverty can buy or find exemption from his iron rule.
The two places on the body say two different things about the person marked.
The mysterious mark on the forehead, whatever it turns out to be, announces the person to everyone as a follower of the Beast. On the hand it points to active support — a willing worker for the Beast's interests.
God marks His own people before the beast marks his.
As the Seal, the Spirit marks us off as belonging wholly to God. We are God's possession, marked as such, just as a farmer who buys sheep puts a mark on them at once, so they can be known as his. In Revelation we read that the coming "beasts" will make everyone "receive a mark" (Rev. 13:16). Those who do receive that mark will have to face the fierce wrath of God, as the next chapter shows. And Revelation 7 tells us that God acts ahead of the beasts' wicked plan: He puts "the seal of the living God" on His own.
The next verse names the mark, the beast's name and his number. These are not three separate items.
The mark is the general term, and it consists of either the name or the number of the Beast. The name and the number are included in the mark and explain what it is. God has not told us the name of the Beast… We do not say it is impossible to know who and what the name and number mean. But God will surely give full light and understanding on these points to the saints who are there at the time, to whom such knowledge will be most useful and even necessary… Those who receive the mark of the Beast, in either its name or its number, are doomed to eternal misery.
Commentators differ on what physical form the mark will take. Scott leaves it open. Another writer points to present-day technology:
Experiments have already been reported in the United States that put a thin layer of liquid plastic under the skin, as a backing for an invisible number that only a laser scanner can read. When something like this is forced on the population, so that people are either subject to the Beast's authority or not allowed to buy or sell (v. 17), believers will have to refuse this identification with the Beast completely, as though they were his property.
Today a person can avoid taking sides. Under the beast, that option disappears.
In the days of "the beast" there will be no room for neutrality. There will be no room for men to be satisfied, as many are now, with making no profession at all. Men must be either for God or for Satan… Everyone who refuses to worship the beast will then be sentenced to death. Those who do worship him will receive a mark, so that those who refuse to bow to the beast can be picked out, and known as men that nobody should buy from or sell to.
Two marks, two masters, two destinies — and the decision cannot be reversed.
In these solemn times there will be followers of the beast with his mark on them (Rev. 13:15-18), and followers of the Lamb with His mark on their foreheads… As someone has said: "The choice must now be made between God and Satan, between Christ and Antichrist, between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Once made, that choice is final and cannot be reversed, and the results are eternal and unchangeable." To refuse the mark of the beast, to obey God, and to be true to Jesus will call for the endurance of the saints.
The principle behind the mark applies long before the beast appears.
We cannot carry two marks, if the one mark, that has been placed upon us, is God's mark. He is a jealous God. The mark that is upon us is exclusive… Take great care, O young Christian! for the world is ever seeking to put its unholy marks upon you, as though you belonged to it. You do not belong to it, you belong to God; so be careful not to wear the seals and badges it wishes to put upon you.
- Ownership claimed. The man who enforces the first beast's authority demands a public mark of submission to him, and without it no one can buy or sell.
- Ownership total. Three pairs of people are named, and together they cover everyone: no rank, wealth or poverty buys exemption.
- Ownership displayed. The forehead announces a person as the beast's follower; the hand marks him as an active worker for him.
- Ownership countered. God seals His own first, so the beast's mark is a copy of something older and better.
- Ownership decided. Neutrality ends. Every person carries either the Lamb's mark or the beast's, and the choice cannot be reversed. Refusing the beast calls for the endurance of the saints.
and that no one should be able to buy or sell save he that had the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of its name.
The previous verse lists who is marked: small and great, rich and poor, free and slave. One writer shows the ban leaves no exit.
In those terrible days individual thought and action are crushed out. He demands the most abject submission to the vilest tyranny ever seen, and none dare refuse. None, however low in station, none, however exalted, can escape. Neither riches nor poverty can buy or find exemption from the iron rule of the Beast. All, from the least to the highest, are equally his slaves. To resist his will means losing the right to live, for in effect he controls all commerce. It means inviting certain death.
The verse names a mark, a name, and a number. The same writer argues these are not three separate things, and says who will be given the name.
The "mark," the "name," and the "number" are not three separate, independent things. The mark is general, and consists of either the name or the number of the Beast. The last two are included in the first, and explain the mark. God has withheld the name of the Beast from us... No doubt God will give full light and understanding on these points to the saints who are then in the scene. Such knowledge will be most useful to them, and even necessary, so that they may know the true character of the Beast... Those who receive the mark of the Beast in either its name or its number are doomed to eternal misery.
Commentators differ here. Another writer takes the mark as the brand of a slave, and sees the name or the number on the man who rises to rule inside the system.
A person might be a ruler or leader in this system. Then, though not a slave himself, he would have the character of it stamped on him even more permanently and knowingly.
The mark is more than a permit to trade. Walter Scott explains what it declares about the one who wears it.
The mark on the "hand" would show that the person branded was an active slave of the Beast. Stamped on the "forehead," it would serve as a public acknowledgment of slavery... It was usual to brand slaves with the name or special mark of their owner.
Today a person can decline to take sides. In that day no one will have that choice.
In the days of "the beast" there will be no room for neutrality. Men will not be able to satisfy themselves, as many do now, by making no profession at all. Men must either be for God or for Satan. Then the words of Jesus, so glossed over now, will be fully proved — "Whoever is not with me is against me." It really is so now, only it is not visible. There will be the sentence of death then on all who will not worship the beast. Those who do worship will receive a mark. It will set apart those who do not bow down to the beast, and mark them out as men that none should buy or sell with.
One company stands outside this vast trading union. Its members carry no brand. A record written before the world began names them.
So he will form a vast organization. It will include all except those whose names were written from the foundation of the world in the slain Lamb's book of life. Outside of it, trade will not be lawful. Under the pretence of the welfare of the empire, this dreadful tyranny will fall on all. The penalty is the loss of the most ordinary liberty of the individual.
God is not caught off guard by this branding. Another writer points out that He seals His own first.
Those who do receive that mark will have to face the fierce wrath of God, as the next chapter shows. And Rev. 7 shows us that God anticipates the wicked action of the beasts by putting "the seal of the living God" on His own.
Writers noted that shutting a person out of trade to force his conscience was not an unfamiliar tactic even in their own day.
He uses one terrible power for evil, forcing all men, small and great, rich and poor, to receive the mark of the beast. Certainly this has not been fulfilled yet: Satan is trying it as a cruel power for evil at this moment, and it is a new thing in the earth, and it bears the name of a living man, one of its cruel victims. It is called Boycotting.
- Mark. One brand in two forms: the beast's name, or the number of his name. It marks a slave and names his owner.
- Market. The beast controls the mark, so he controls all trade. Food and work hang on one act of submission.
- Reach. Small and great, rich and poor, free and slave: no class, fortune, or rank buys exemption.
- Refusal. Neutrality ends. A person is either marked for the beast or shut out of buying and selling, and death follows refusal.
- Record. Those outside carry no brand. Their names stood in the slain Lamb's book of life before the world began, and God seals His own before the beast brands the rest.
Here is wisdom. He that has understanding let him count the number of the beast for it is a man's number; and its number [is] six hundred [and] sixty-six.
The chapter about the two beasts ends with a riddle — a number to count, and it belongs to a man. Two questions have followed it ever since — what does 666 mean, and who is meant to solve it?
The verse asks for wisdom. One writer says the key is spiritual, and the full answer belongs to one moment:
This symbolic number holds divine wisdom. It is the only place the number occurs. Only spiritual understanding can unlock the mystery in it. No doubt its full, exact and final answer will be clear to the wise or godly in the coming crisis. Then the Beast's power, under Satan's craft, will display the highest human development in pride and irreverence. It will oppose God and His Anointed in both religion and politics. That, in general, is the moral meaning of 666. The saints it concerns will see the meaning, and it will call them to reject the Beast and his claims at once.
People have long counted up the letters of a name, hoping to reach 666. The results have followed the quarrels of the moment:
I do not pretend to solve this question. It would be easy to repeat what others have thought. Some of the early Christians thought it was "the Latin man." Irenaeus, the devout Bishop of Lyons, was one of them. Others have found various names, in line with their own quarrels and prejudices. Roman Catholics found in it a riddle pointing to Luther; Protestants, the name of more than one Pope. People have imagined Mohammed in ancient times, and Napoleon in modern times. But are such notions better than riddles? It is not the way of the Spirit to occupy God's people with counting letters or numbers in this vague fashion.
If no one can crack the number in advance, that is not a flaw. It is timing. The instruction aims at people who will live through what is described:
Many have tried to unravel this mystery, but all have failed. Judging by how Scripture works elsewhere, we conclude that no one can discover the secret before the beast appears. When at last he comes on the scene, those who have the wisdom of God will identify him by the number given. God will have warned them in advance. So the direction given here is for those who will be in the circumstances described.
The verse itself says the number is a man's number. Commentators trace the digit six through Scripture:
Six hundred and sixty-six is man's number. The unit six was stamped on him at his creation and through his later history. Man was created on the sixth day. His appointed days of labour and toil are six. The Hebrew slave was to serve six years. For six years the land was to be sown. The number seven means what is perfect or complete. Six falls short of that, so it means human imperfection and toil.
Repeated three times, six pushes that character to its limit — man at his most impressive and most godless:
Six is the highest number short of seven; six sets out what is nearest to perfection. 666 is the strongest emphasis of this... "The Beast" rises out of the sea, and is seen in its final Head. Does it not mean that he will present to the world the Superman so much talked about? He will be the finest specimen of fallen human nature, but without one feature that is of God. No doubt such a person will have a perfect body, a brilliant mind and a powerful will. His statesmanship will be unmatched, and his military skill of the highest order. Now put all this in a man who has no regard for God and His word. Under God's control these fine qualities would be magnificent. In him they become frightful instruments for enslaving and ruining mankind.
The same six that measures the height of the boast also measures its ceiling. Six days are working days; the seventh is not his to take:
The 6 is repeated three times. It speaks of labour and not rest — of failed effort to reach the divine 7. It declares that evil at its highest is limited and in God's hand. This number is, after all, we are told, "the number of a man"; and what is man? He may multiply responsibility and judgment. But the Sabbath is God's rest, set apart to Him. Without God, he can have no Sabbath. This 6, 6, 6 is the number of a man who is only a beast, and doomed.
- Wisdom — the verse calls for spiritual understanding, not letter-counting. The real answer is moral before it is mathematical.
- Man — six is stamped on man from the start: the sixth day, six days of labour, six years of service. It is the number of toil that never reaches rest.
- Height — tripled, six pictures the finest specimen of fallen human nature, with no feature that is of God. Gifts that could have blessed the world ruin it instead.
- Timing — no one can name the man before he appears. When he does, those who need the warning will get it.
- Doom — six never becomes seven. The boast is limited, held in God's hand, and the man behind the number is a beast already doomed.