A Ready Remnant Part 4
A Ready Remnant • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Marked by the Spirit
Marked by the Spirit
Obi-wan Keno-by looks like most peoples Jesus. That picture of that white European Jesus, is not Jesus the Christ. In fact, why is it that now in our age, Jesus needs a good marketing plan as if His has not worked for thousands of year. The whole “He get’s Me” campaign reeks with inclusivity, indifference, and tolerance. Jesus washed His disciples feet and it was a transfer of dominion through humble leadership. The campaign implies Jesus repenting to sinners instead sinners repenting to Jesus. Instead of Jesus bowing at our fee it should images of us bowing at His feet at the cross. That Monster drink mark is not the Mark of the Beast. That is not even how you write 666 in Hebrew. We are living in the greatest days of deception.
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
For decades I have watched Christians trying to figure out the “Mark of the Beast.” Now in our digital age, there are all kinds of conspiracies from embedded computer chips to tattooed QR codes. We even have Artificial Intelligence (AI) that man has basically given the ability to speak and think for people, to some degree. In Revelation 13:15-18 we read:
And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
One eschatological theory of such passages, is that a man will arise and be a strong political leader among the nations. He will usher in a “One World Order.” He will be the Anti-Christ spoken of in the book of Revelation. He will then unleash Hell on the Christians. He will also bear a mark of the number 666 and force others to be marked as well or be persecuted or put to death.
Many people hold to the deep theological assumption that this man will arise from either America, China, or Russia. He will be a part of NATO. He will be a technological wizard. And his entire focus is on Christians who will not denounce Jesus Christ.
To understand this theory, you must totally disregard that the Apostle John or Yochanan יוֹחָנָן was a Jewish Apostle, writing a Jewish letter to a “church” that was both Jewish and Gentile, and the fact that he was under extreme persecution during a time when Rome ruled most of the Known World.
It is much like most people’s interpretation of Matthew 16:17-19.
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Again, many good intending Christians are left with the idea that Jesus went around speaking primarily Greek. You would have to assume that He loved gyros and attended toga parties. You might say, but wasn't the Renewed Covenant written in Greek? Well, then why all the Hebrew idioms and words that did not translate? But that is another argument for another day. Therefore, with this assumption one would have to believe that Yeshua יֵשׁוּעַ, a Jewish Rabbi, would rename Simon Bar-Jonah with a Greek name such as Peter (Petros Πέτρος meaning rock or stone) instead of a new Hebrew name. Or, would He have used a different word here? Or, are we just missing the entire context?
There is another Hebrew word commonly used in place of “rock” and it is “stone”. That word in Hebrew is אֶבֶן ‘even. It means a precious stone, a builders stone, a cornerstone. It is what God said to Moses when He stood him on a rock, or a stone, to pass by (Exodus 33:21). It refers to something that secures or establishes. In fact, to Peter, Jesus is referencing Isaiah 22.
and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.
The word for “peg” here is יָתֵד yāṯēḏ meaning a nail, that which secures, or a firm and stable abode.
So, there is another approach to understanding Revelation 13. If we look at I Kings 10:14 it reads:
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,
This was gold given to build the First Temple. Could it be then, that Solomon was the Anti-Christ with all of his sexual immorality and 666 talents of gold? As well, in the beginning of creation, the values for light, dark, day and night add together into the sum of 666. Could it be that God was creating the “Anti-Christ” in Genesis? Well, these would be crazy to assume. Here is another crazy example of how we often interpret Scripture with assumptions.
“When Joseph becomes second in command of Egypt, Pharaoh renames him צפנת פנעח (Zaphnath-Paaneah). The value of this name is 828. He demands Benjamin come down to Egypt. בנימין has a value of 162; 828-162=666. In regard to what 666 is in creation, it then fits in context of the Joseph narrative and the fulfillment of his final dream before his brothers threw him into the pit.” (Is the number triple-6 good, bad, or neutral in Judaism? So, was Joseph the Anti-Christ? (Found at https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/31399/is-the-number-triple-6-good-bad-or-neutral-in-judaism on 12 March 2024)
The numbers 666 is the Aramaic word תרסו Thrasso dating back to the Second Temple period meaning “to oppose”. (https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/aramaic-666-and-possible-meanings.104811/). Some other manuscripts have it as 616 in the Revelation of John. Most Biblical Scholars believe the 666 in Revelation represents Hebrew gematria of the Greek title Neron Kaisar (Nrwn Qsr) or the Latin title Nero Caesar (Nro Qsr), respectively. Keep in mind what we read in Revelation 13, “the name of the beast or the number of its name.”
But what does Scripture say elsewhere about “the antichrists”?
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
I give you all that background and illustration to open your thinking and unveil the strongly held presuppositions that the biggest part of the church maintains. Most Christians think that they will be good to go when Christ returns, as long as they do not get a number on their hand or forehead, or a computer chip embedded in their hand or a QR code tattooed on their foreheads. Folks, there is so much more to it than this. If you are a barroom theologian or a one toke Bible scholar, then I am about to slay your sacred cow.
Let’s first break down the presuppositions we hold regarding the word “mark”.
Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
Abba Arika believed that God made a horn grown out of Cain’s forehead making him a devil unicorn. Rashi says that God put His name on Cain’s forehead. While in the days of slavery in the United States, Protestant Christians claimed that God made Cain’s skin black and this was justification for their slave ownership. This is the result deep fried southern religion. This is why religious ignorance is a mockery of God’s righteousness.
The Hebrew word for “mark” here is ‘ot אוֹת which initially means a sign, a warning, an omen, or a standard. The root of the word means an agreement. So, what was the mark of Cain? It was the agreement God made with Cain that is right there in the Scripture.
We see another mark in the book of Revelation.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
In both cases the “mark” is used as a seal. It is a seal of covenant. It is from the root word chatam חָתַם meaning to restrain, seal up, to reveal, to complete, to make an Impression.
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
This has to do with having the mind of Christ and living in the Holy Spirit. Have you ever heard the phrase, “They left their mark on the world”? Or how about, “They really left an impression on me”? The seal or the mark of God has to do with the impression Christ has made on your life. If being a Follower of Christ has not changed how you live and who you are, then you are not following or you are following from afar. It is a issue of being complete in Him. It is about, not just restraining, but crucifying the flesh that the revelation of who Christ truly is becomes evident in who you are. John revealed the truth this way in Matthew 3:11.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Here we find the “mark” of God. It is a repentant life. It is a life that has been transformed by a permanent impression of the work of Christ. It is the life lived with the Holy Spirit in fire. And this does not mean just speaking in tongues. This does not refer to just signs and wonders or the working of miracles. This is the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns away everything that is not pleasing to God; everything unholy; everything that opposes the nature of Christ; everything that is idolatrous in your life. When the Holy Spirit has burned all this away in you, what is left is holiness and the image of Christ. This is the mark. So, whose mark does your life bear? Put the whole of Scripture together and let he who has ears to hear, hear.
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
What “spirit” are you marked with? Does the Spirit of Christ, does the Holy Spirit mark your life? Because, any other spirit, that is not the Holy Spirit, is a spirit in opposition to the Spirit of Christ.
https://jubileechurch.simplecast.com/episodes/a-ready-remnant-part-4
