Mike:
I see the mark of the beast, the Sabbath/sunday, issue as only the culmination of the war between Christ and Satan. It is my thought that the more Biblically aware of marks of the beast the more comprehensive and Biblically sound our presentations will be.

Greg, I agree. The whole great controversy motif is one of the main things that helped me understand and accept nearly every other truth.

Isaiah 8:16 ¶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

Ezekiel 20:12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

Ezekiel 20:20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

Ephesians 1:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

2nd Corinthians 1:
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

It seems context sets the tone. The MOB is contextually refered to differently than the (MOC)mark of Cain, though the spiritual process to qualify for these marks is similiar in many ways except a few notible ones.

The MOB is a capital crime that exhausts the patience of God. The preflood world did not receive mention as receving (MOC), but they did enter the process by following Cain.

The MOB is worldwide. So was the judgement & destruction by the Flood.

The MOB is in direct defiance of the knowledge given by the three angels & direct defiance of the power of the forth angel. PreFlood worldwide sin in direct defiance of the knowledge given by Noah & direct defiance of the example of the animals coming 7 x7 & 2 x 2.

The process is very similiar but the specific mark is not - no beast power yet - even though the kingly power of society in Noah's day also was confederations of centralization in their nature also.

The process seems similiar, but the exact name given each manifestation seems to set each rebellion culminating in these described times of labeling unto reservement for destruction, by specific characteristics represented by each different name. Sorta like nameing & dateing items to be processed. Like obituary notices written in their foreheads before they are dead for those reserved unto damnation's judgement. Each lable carrying the nature of the crime as part of it's lable.

Ed:
It seems to me that the flood story is a close of probation. The people were warned by Noah, and PP goes into some detail as to what they were doing. The test for them was to repent which they didn't. The sign was to walk the plank, which they didn't. The "latter rain" came upon them when they saw the animals go into the ark. Everyone had opportunity to be saved if they would just walk the plank. No big problem but it struck at pride, the sin of lucifer. When the time of judgment was finished the Lord shut the door (always good to have a shut door doctrine). Those inside were saved, those outside were lost. After a short period of time then destruction came.

This example is repeated over and over in the Bible. The last one has many of the same markings as you stated in your post. Each example is different but has all the markings of a test. The issue is will we walk the plank or not stand out in the crowd, or will we choose Jesus to be our King. The Sabbath will be the great test.

The whole kit and kaboodle of the great controversy is acted out in both major and minor events. While we can gain spiritual insights from a certain perspective, is it accurate to say that a prior recorded event is always a "type" of another event just because of common attributes? What I'm trying to say is past events all contain the struggle between good and evil. The mark of the beast, while it may indicate having chosen for all time the path of evil, is about a particular event at a particular time, and involving particular people. The circumstances differ from simply "good versus evil". Here we have a religious power enforcing a religious rule, not a serpent tempting to open sin. The detail of the event can be used to assess whether other situations match the process. But my (limited) understanding is that the expression refers to an event, not a sequence. I have a way of missing the point, so please clarify if you will.

Here is a line of reasoning that we have not been down yet. In the Revelation 13 story of the mark of the beast the mark can be on the hand or on the forehead. The Bible does not say where the original mark of cain was, on the forhead or on the hand or both. In the Passover experience Exodus 13:9 it says that the Passover should be a sign upon the hand and a memorial between thine eyes.

It is my desire that as we study the mark of the beast that rather than just make a statement as to what it is, there should be a Bible study on all the issues involved. As we explore the study we will find many connections and issues that we did not originally see.

Again, it is my hope that when we present the mark of the beast to new people we will have a Bible study not just a set of conclusions to give that person. I would like all SDA concepts solidly based on Scripture.

Is it comparing pears with peaches to compare a figurative mark with literal marks? And doesn't that reinforce the literal mark concept rather than what the mark represents?

Goodchild: It is my understanding that the mark of the beast and the number of the image beast teach two completely different things:

The mark of the first beast has something to do with authority. The mark of the kingdom which this beast represents, is the mark of her authority. It is the mark of the usurped authority of this beast in her spurious claim to have received power from on High to alter the law of God, even to change the time of worship as it is stated in the fourth commandment. We know that this beast has deleted from the law the second commandment forbidding the worship of images.

It is no secret to any one who has studied history that the papacy alone has made these changes. "It is the mark of our authority," she says boastfully, claiming to have received power to change the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. And she rightly asserts that by showing respect to the first day of the week as the day of worship, the "protestant" world is giving allegiance and paying homage to her and to her alone rather than to the Word of God which enjoins the seventh day of the week as the day God blessed and set apart. So the mark of the first beast of Rev.13 is the mark of her usurped authority to change what cannot be changed in any way, shape, or form!

Now the number of the image beast is the number 666. This number has something to do with probation as shown in Exodus 21:1-6. Here we have an object lesson of the gospel. The slave was to serve his master for six years. After six years he could choose to go free. If he loved his master and chose to remain his servant, his ear was pierced with an awl and he remained a slave to his master for ever. Here we are given the meaning of the number 666. The number 6 has been in application since the days of the flood. The antediluvians received the number 6. They had had a taste of slavery to sin but they rejecting deliverance from it through the preaching of Noah. They were guilty and received the number 6.

The Jews were twice as guilty as the antediluvians for rejecting Christ. They had the number 66. Those who reject the loud cry will be three times as guilty as the antediluvians. They will have the number 666, the fullness of guilt and rejection. All these people chose to remain slaves to their slave-master, after they were offered deliverance from it. But the last generation will be the guiltiest because they will reject the accumulated light of all ages!

So, as we can see, the mark of the beast and the number of the image beast are and mean two different things!

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: adventbeliever ]

AB, perhaps this is off the subject, but it seems pretty clear from the Bible that the number of the name of the man of the beast is 666.

Revelation 13
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.
13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.

Revelation 15
15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

These scriptures make it plain to me that the number 666 must be counted or calculated according to the number of the name of the man of the beast. The word "his" in Rev 15:2 refers to the beast, not the image beast. The definite article "the" in Rev 13:17,18 and 15:2 also identifies the beast, not the image beast.

What do you think?