Question:
Dear Greg,
Do
you believe in the charagma, soon to be injected into the hand or forehead?
How do we refuse this mark?
Barry
Answer: Dear Barry,
I
do not believe that any biblical passage can be literally interpreted to teach
that any mark is “soon to be injected” into the human anatomy.
Any biblical interpretation that allows for that meaning fails miserably
to understand the historical milieu as well as literary genre of the book of
Revelation. The mark described in
the book of Revelation has been part of our culture and society since the book
of Revelation was written, so that there is no “soon to be”, as opposed to
“never was” tense or meaning. The
mark of the beast concerns all activities, practices, behaviors, and attitudes
that are aligned against God, and a wholesale participation and support of such
attitudes/practices constitutes an acceptance of the beast—anti-God and
anti-Christ. The idea inspired by God, given to John in vision, is much the same
as those who take the field of sport or battle, arrayed in a uniform—you
either wear the uniform of Christ, the whole armor of God (Ephesians6) or you
wear the uniform of Satan’s forces and evil wiles.
In
Christ,
Greg Albrecht