So Stop What Youre Doing and Just Start All Over Evert Again Jesus or Genome

May 20, 2022 Post a Comment

by Matthew L. Halsted, PhD

In an article published last calendar week on theLAB, COVID-19 and The Marker of the Beast, I claimed that the mark of the fauna (666) is most likely not a concrete or visible marker (Rev. 13:16). The biggest objection I received from readers had to exercise with this very point: how could the mark be not-concrete and invisible if having the mark was what immune people to "buy or sell" things (Rev. 13:17)? Wouldn't the mark demand to be visible in society to practise that? Furthermore, isn't in that location enough bear witness that the vaccine is the "number" of the animate being, including a bill currently earlier the Business firm of Representatives (6666) and the very letters "C-O-R-O-N-A" themselves? ¹ These are proficient questions, and I recall a response would be helpful. Simply beginning, we demand to start from square one and do some background work.

Letter of the alphabet to the Churches

Beginning, we must think that Revelation is a kickoff-century letter to seven churches in Asia Small (Rev. 1:four, 11). Letters in antiquity are much similar modern letters—situational, personal, and contextual. To understand a letter between two people (or groups of people), yous really demand to know a thing or two well-nigh what necessitated the sending of the letter in the first identify. In other words, you demand context. In order to rightly interpret the letter of Revelation, nosotros need to investigate these churches' historical state of affairs.

Many evangelicals tend to skip over this pace and leap straight to application. This is a grave mistake. If we completely detach our mod-day applications from a text'southward original, historical context, nosotros risk misapplying the text—sometimes in embarrassing means. Revelation thirteen:17 ("no 1 can purchase or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its proper name," ESV) is 1 such text. In society to interpret information technology rightly, we need to know its context. Nosotros demand some historical data from the letter's time period in order to gain clarity into its meaning. Is there whatever such data that might shed some calorie-free on this passage? As it turns out, there is.

Worshiping the Emperor

If y'all desire to reconstruct the historical context of Christian people living in first-century Asia Small-scale, you must accept into business relationship the Roman imperial cult. There's simply no style around information technology. The cult itself presented clear challenges to early Christians. Just what do I mean by "imperial cult"?

For starters, Roman emperors were often deified later on they died, becoming "gods" for Roman citizens to worship. For example, after Julius Caesar died, he was deified. His adopted son, Augustus, took for himself the title "son of god." ^two The logic was simple. If his father became "god," then he got to be called, well, yous guessed it: "son of god."

Though information technology was true an emperor would be deified subsequently he died, many Greeks living in various cities throughout the eastern parts of the empire jumped the gun; they would worship the Roman emperor while he was all the same alive. ³ It is interesting to annotation that this was true of Ephesus (simply like the letter to the Ephesians). ⁴ The urban center of Pergamum, too, had long been a hotbed for purple worship. ⁵ Smyrna needs to be thrown into the mix as well. ⁶ The list goes on. In fact, this was likewise true of the other 4 cities to which John directed his letter. ^vii

The more despotic emperors of the start century sought to be recognized equally gods while they were notwithstanding living. Nero was one such emperor; Domitian was another. ^viii Suetonius, the well-known aboriginal historian, says Domitian demanded to be addressed as both "Lord and God" (Suetonius, Dom. 13). The situation was such that Domitian was "everywhere hated and feared" (Dom. 14).

Keep in mind that most scholars believe Revelation was written during the reign of 1 of these 2 tyrants. Either way, if you were a Christian, you lot very well might have been plagued with angst, fear, and uncertainty. After all, Nero was infamous for murdering his ain mother, also as killing innocent Christians by turning them into tar-covered human candles to light upward the night. Suetonius tells a story of how Domitian in one case wined and dined his palace steward, lavishing on him kindness and generosity. And so the next day Domitian had him crucified. Why? Simply because he could (Dom. 11).

It is perhaps understandable, then, why other ancient texts came to refer to Nero and Domitian as a "animal." This is documented in places like Pliny's Panegyricus, the Sybilline Oracles, and Vita Apollonii. ^nine I'd say the shoe fits.

"666": The Number of the Creature

Years agone, I remember hearing how some had taken President Reagan to exist the finish times "beast." The reasoning went like this. When you take his full name, Ronald Wilson Reagan, yous can see how each name contains exactly six letters. No wave of the wand or hat-trick was needed to encounter how that dreaded, mysterious number was embedded in the president's proper noun. To say this is airheaded is an understatement. (How odd that John wrote in such a way that only a person who was familiar with both the English language and modern American politics could rightly interpret his message!) In order to avert embarrassing interpretations like this i (and similar ones that seem to prevail in 2020), nosotros must deal with the text's original context. Once more, you can't simply jump to modern awarding without dealing with the historical context.

Scholars often acquaintance "the number of the beast" with Nero Caesar. At that place's actually good reason for doing so. For instance, we know from Suetonius that many people were at the time toying with the numerical values of Nero's name (Nero 39). This practice, known as gematria, took a letter of the alphabet and assigned it an equivalent number. So, for example, in the instance of Greek, the kickoff letter alpha would be given the number i. The second letter beta would exist understood as two, and and then on. When you take Nero's name (Neron Kaisar) and transliterate it into Hebrew, the issue is the number of the beast: 666. ^ten

The Image of the Beast

Recall that in Revelation "the mark of the beast" is tied closely to the worship of the animate being's image (Rev. 13:15; 20:4). Since we have a pretty skillful idea almost the identity of the animate being, is there any other historical information we could expect to that would link the worship of the animal's image with the worship of Caesar'due south paradigm? Over again, the respond is yeah. From the writings of Pliny, for example, we acquire how professing Christians' faith were put to the test by having them worship the prototype of Caesar (Pliny, Letters, 10:96-97). ^eleven

The emperor's epitome was everywhere, particularly on coins. Mod folks are used to this. In my country, images of former national leaders are on our money. Simply Rome was slightly different. Caesar'due south image would exist on coins forth with his merits to divinity. Quite literally, the emperor's boast that he was in some way "divine" was etched (dare I say marked?) on money, decrees, and the similar. One scholar observes that, "One could do little in commerce . . . without treatment such a 'mark,' because allusions to the emperor's divinity appeared on many coins and even shipping bills and other documents." ¹² During this time period, involvement in local economies would have often required some sort of participation in pagan worship. For instance, trade guilds frequently had feasts that centered around the worship of idols. If you were role of the order, then your participation in these feasts would have been compulsory—that is, only if you wanted to be able to buy and sell. ¹³

Buying and Selling

What, then, tin can we conclude about that "buy/sell passage"? When information technology comes to the creature, his marking, and the worship of the fauna's image, the historical data seems to be pointing u.s.a. in i management: Information technology'southward just a reference to how the royal cult impacted one'southward participation in the local economy. If the "mark" is an innuendo to the emperor'southward claim to divinity (symbolized on Roman coins, statues, images, etc.), then a person in the beginning century could genuinely be said to "take the mark of the beast" by participating in the economy at the expense of their faith in Jesus. That last part is key. In other words, at certain times and in sure locations in the empire, the only way to be a skillful-standing citizen would have been to simply expletive Christ and worship Caesar'southward image (see again Pliny, Letters, 10:96-97). Over again, this would have been a detail problem for Christians in Asia Pocket-sized. They would often find it impossible to make a living and worship Christ exclusively.

Of grade, a person could respond by proverb, "Yes, but the text says the 'mark' is placed on the 'right mitt or the forehead.' Does this non therefore necessarily imply a physical marker?" The reply is no. Craig Keener offers helpful thoughts on this point. He notes how "the mark of the brute" in Rev. xiii acts as a parallel to the "seal" that is placed on the foreheads of Christians in Rev. 7:3-4. This "seal" actually has an Old Testament basis, namely, in Ezekiel 9, where a "mark" was said to have been placed on the foreheads of God'south people (Ez. 9:one-6). Keener likewise points to another Jewish text of the period (known as the Psalms of Solomon) that describes a mark placed on evil people. He observes how the 2 marks in Ezekiel and the Psalms of Solomon are clearly "symbolic . . . visible simply to God and his angels, not to people." ^fourteen And so it is quite reasonable to conclude that the mark of the beast, like the seal of the Lamb, is also symbolic.

So is the Vaccine the 666 Marking of the Fauna?

Growing up, I never heard any of this stuff. I reckon that most people in my evangelical tradition haven't either. But without all the background information, people are being tossed to and fro past endless speculations and fears. Sadly, some people—many of them sincere Christians—are terrified that they will exist forced to take the marker of the beast (no, it'due south non Neb Gates) in the near time to come. Could it be the vaccine? Is it a estimator chip? What if I get tricked into taking it?

With these questions in mind, permit me offer a few remarks almost modern-day awarding. First, the historical data does not let us to think the "mark of the beast" is something you tin can accidentally take. It's a mark of loyalty and worship, which requires full cognitive and heart-felt awareness of what you are doing (otherwise it's not worship). If in that location is some future mark imposed on people by some nefarious person, then to take that mark, you'll know exactly what you are doing—namely, cursing Christ and pledging devotion to his enemy. Scripture and other aboriginal writings from that timeperiod point us in this direction and, quite bluntly, there isn't much elbowroom on this point (although yous can debate me in the comments, if you wish).

Second, exist conscientious and wise with how you use these texts. Let me requite an case. Right now, in my own country (and it'south been this manner for a long time), a person might notice it very tricky and difficult to operate within our local economies without a government-issued social security number. Let me be equally clear equally I possibly tin can about this: There is no biblical reason to think that accepting government-mandated social security numbers is the equivalent of taking the marker of the animal. Whatever the electric current upshot may exist (vaccines, SSN, chip implants, SIM cards, etc), we need to be careful most confusing our personal and/or political convictions with the meaning of a biblical text. Some public policy ideas are skillful; some are terrible. Merely either style, unless "They" crave you to forsake your organized religion in Jesus every bit the exclusive object of your worship, They have no relation to the marker of the animal. Once more, given what we know virtually the historical context of these biblical texts, the "mark of the creature" must be tied back into worship if it is to be applied properly.

To accept all of these things into business relationship allows a much-needed moratorium on all the pointless anxiety and fear-mongering. The message of Revelation beckons u.s. abroad from angst and worry. Information technology bids us to gaze upon the slain Lamb—to worship him with loyalty, devotion, and commitment. Let's brand Christ our focus, not endless speculations that, at the finish of the twenty-four hours, have very piddling to do with the message of Revelation.

*Correction: An earlier version of this mail stated that the Senate had a bill before information technology, when information technology is the House of Representatives.

Comments? Leave them below. Also exist sure to read Dr. Halsted's earlier article, Covid-19 and the Marking of the Creature.

I recently saw somebody construct a numerology from the word "COVID" that goes something like this:
C = three

O = fifteen

R = 18

O = 15

N = 14

A = 1

6 66
Floyd O. Parker, "'Our Lord and God' in Rev 4,11: Evidence for the Late Date of Revelation," Biblica 82, no. 2 (2001): 213–xiv.
Craig South. Keener, Revelation (The NIV Application Commentary; Thou Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 37.
Come across over again Parker, "'Our Lord and God,'" 213–14. See also Tae Hun Kim "The Anarthrous Yios Theou in Marker 15,39 and the Roman Imperial Cult." Biblica 79, no. two (1998): 221–241.
Mark Wilson, "The Early on Christians in Ephesus and the Appointment of Revelation, Again," Neotestamenica 39, no. one (2005): 171.
Duane Warden, "Imperial Persecution and the Dating of 1 Peter and Revelation," JETS 34, no. two (June 1991): 211.
Keener, Revelation, 37-38.
On Nero, see Wilson, "The Early Christians," 177–78. On Domitian, see Warden, "Imperial Persecution," 207–8. Even taking into account Warden'due south cautions about overplaying Domitian's claims to divinity with respect to the dating of Revelation, his conclusions are still insightful. See also Keener, Revelation, 37.
Wilson, "The Early Christians," 185.
See how the values work in Wilson, "The Early Christians," 184. For a helpful introduction to "666," I recommend Keener, Revelation, 354–56.
Keener, Revelation, 351.
Keener, Revelation, 352.
Keener, Revelation, 353.
Keener, Revelation, 353.