Mike:
Let us take today. There is no official sunday law in effect today. But are there people confirming their decisions for Christ or satan today? When that confirmation is accepted by God what would you call it, today?

There is no intent, or attempt, to lessen the final crisis issue of the sunday legislation issues. That event will become clear when it arrives. My thought is that close of personal probation, unpardonable sin, sealing, signing, marking, are all ways of saying that a person has taken a position that God can not get them to change. That position, for me, is the mark of the beast.

I guess I'm getting hung up on the specifics. Would you say that the person who closes their probation before the sunday crisis has received the MOB according to the prophecy in Rev 13 and 14? I think that's where I'm getting stuck.

If the MOB can be anything that seals our destiny then what is all this stuff about sunday laws, the catholic church, the USA, etc? You see what I mean? I'm having a hard time between a and the MOB and the fulfillment of prophecy.

Mike:
Obviously all of Revelation 13 has not been fulfilled yet. When the mark of the beast, in chapter 13 is fulfilled we have ample evidence that the issue will be the sunday law. In the Daniel 3 typology the worship issue was not sunday but bowing to the image. In the Esther issue it was Mordecai bowing to Haman. In the Jesus story it was selecting Barabbas and Caesar over Jesus. The issue obviously can change but the principle is the same.
Again, I do not want to lessen in any way the prophetic clarity that Sunday will be the last testing issue for the world. We also have testimony that one of the last satanic efforts inside the SDA church will be to make of none effect the Spirit of Prophecy. If we reject that light, or if we reject the light of 1844 according to Early Writings the light will go out, we will stray off the path and we will fall to our damnation. No sunday, per se, but damnation none the less because we would have chosen to believe satan over Jesus.
I hope this is helpful to you. I do not desire to mislead you in any way. My desire and intent is to firm up the Bible understanding of the concept of mark, seal, and salvation.

Hello brother Greg

I had a modern day type of "awl" driven into my ear in my rock & roll days. It was to pierce my ear, and have a large, diamond stud put in.

Before you send me off; wait for my explanation.

This was a time in my life when I totally gave myself over to rock & roll, drugs, booze, and other things I cannot mention. I was also into witch craft related things. The ear ring, and all the other "trappings" was my way of expressing power, rebellion, & control of my insane life at the time. I was totally dedicated to satan and his ways...

Did I then, during some point of this period of my life, receive the mark of the beast?

Well, I will share a testimony about this when I next come back to the forum on Sabbath.

But before I go; I want to point out something, that I believe will build upon a very essential principle that you have brought up.

We are a people of the Word, so we like to say.

I am talking about how, when we study the Bible, that we need to start looking more at the "internal evidence," for a point we are making, or an answer we are seeking.

What do I mean by "internal evidence?"

Basically, looking right within the text itself, for more clues, as to what God wishes to convey.

So let us apply this briefly to the subject at hand:

There are seven separate texts in the Bible which mention "mark of the beast."

My favorite text of the seven, is as follows:

Revelation 13:17 "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name".

Why is this my favorite one?

I see it as giving us the most complete picture of this "mark."

But, the main point I want to focus on is something we see in all of these passages.

Have you noticed a little three letter word in these Scriptures?

In every case, we read: "THE mark of
THE beast."

It does not read "a" mark. Nor does it read "one of the marks."

It says "THE mark of THEbeast."

Why do you suppose God inspired John to express it this way?

I believe you are correct, in saying we can express our beliefs by the Bible only; however, this study looks quite interesting, and I hope you will forgive me if I slip a short quote or two from Ellen White.

Greg, now I understand what you're getting at. Thank you. I had never thought of comparing the MOB to other situations and circumstances in the Bible and throughout life. Great observation. Again, thank you. I can see how that would help other people grasp the continuity of the concept of compromise. Do you have any other thoughts on this subject?

David, thank you for the thoughts you shared. I look forward to any further thoughts you have in mind.

Mike:
Thanks for the feedback.
David:
I will be interested in your feedback. I am not trying to minimize "the" mark of the beast. I am only posing the concept that there have been marks of the beast before the end starting with the mark of cain.

Greg, you are equating the mark of the beast with circumstances where ultimate destiny is decided. I think that is a fair comparison, but is only part of the picture. I read somewhere else that the mark symbolises any form of enforcement of a religious law by human means. And a prime example is when we try to obey the commandments in our own strength. Could the issue of Sunday law enforcement be simple to bring about because most of christendom has been busily creating their own personal "image to the beast" in their lives? That is, enforcing righteousness in themselves by gritting their teeth and trying harder? One day, will it not seem the most natural thing to force people to obey a religious law "for their own good" because that's how people have done it personally up to that point?

Ellen White said that righteusness by faith was the third angel's message "in verity".

Zyph:
I think your question starts in the garden of eden. In Genesis 1:26 God says "Let us make man in our image." Jesus made man in His image. When man was totally in tune with God then man was not only in the image of God but his mind, and behavior were in tune with the mind and behavior of God. When you saw man you saw an image of what God was like. Man was not exactly God but he revealed as much of God as man had been designed to reveal. When man sinned he marred the image of God, and became recreated in the image of satan. Whoever you obey you become servants of that which you have surrendered to. The plan of salvation is to recreate the image of God in man. The image of the beast is to maintain the image of satan. satan was a liar, a murderer, an adulterer, a idol worshiper, a parent abuser, etc from the beginning. When any person chooses, Jesus died to give us freedom of choice and the opportunity to come to Him for recreation, to live out in his life the principles of satan he is made in the image of the beast. Everything about him, even his talents, are in tune with the personality of satan and he naturally does the things of his lord and master.
To me the last conflict is the natural outworkings of these principles. We will see on earth the battle of armageddon which is just a rehash of the battle in heaven described in Rev 12. The principles are the same, the leaders are the same, the particpants are different. When anyone has chosen Jesus, or satan, and there is nothing more that can be done to change their minds, by either God or satan, then they are sealed. The seal of God is the Sabbath, and all the rest of God's revealed will, or the sunday and all the rest of satans will.

But "seal" doesn't equal "mark" does it?

Check in the concordance. In greek and hebrew there seems to be a difference in the term, but I don't think the functional difference is significant. An interesting study is to check the word for mark in Genesis 4:15 and the token in the Exodus 13:16 which they were to place on their hands and forheads. I would appreciate your feedback.