By Greg Holt
Recently while doing research for an article that I wrote: John MacArthur Has Died – But His Deeply Troubled Past Still Follows Him, I came across MacArthur’s video explaining why one could take The Mark of the Beast – and still be forgiven and go to Heaven.
You can view a video of JM explaining his position on this here: The Mark of the Beast Will not Condemn You
The Bible verses in question are in Revelation 14:
“9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:9-11
One of John MacArthur’s (JM) reasons for stating that one can take the Mark of the Beast and not go to Hell, is that in Revelation 14:9, the three conditions mentioned – worship of the beast, worship of his image, taking the Mark of the Beast, are all connected by the word “and,” (I looked for a source for this for almost two hours, I read a statement of JM’s stating this, but I could not find it anywhere).
The idea here is that since the conditions are listed with “and” in between them, then this means that all three conditions must be met, or the penalty that is to be imposed will not apply. The comparison here is that if just one condition of the three is enough to damn one to Hell, then the connecting word would have been “or.”
I don’t buy this explanation whatsoever at all. I believe JM is committing a cardinal sin (A figure of speech, not a literal sin), as far as Bible reading and ones’ resulting understanding of the Word goes. What is that “sin”? Cherry-picking the Bible verse, and taking it out of context.
JM says all three conditions in Revelation 14:9 must be true in order for the sentence (Hell) to be imposed, those conditions are:
- Worship of the beast
- Worship of the beast’s image
- Taking The Mark of the Beast
To begin with, in my view and understanding, the “image” of the beast and the beast himself are one and the same. Second, those who worship the beast are going to take his mark, why wouldn’t they?
So, let’s say that one takes the Mark of the Beast, but did not worship the beast, then that person can be saved according to JM’s theology. That doesn’t even begin to make sense for two reasons. One, those who do not worship the beast will be executed, they will not have a chance to take the mark.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Revelation 13:15.
Two, taking the Mark of the Beast IS an act of worship, worship of a being that opposes God and all that He stands for! Think of it this way, those who do not worship the beast, they will NOT take his mark. The ONLY ones who will not take The Mark of the Beast are those who belong to God.
Consider Revelation 13:8:
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
There is of course another possibility here that I’m sure someone else has thought of, and it is this: there will likely be people who will pretend to worship the beast, and will simply take the mark in order to survive, remember – only those who take said mark can buy and sell. Then some will invariably state that since some only did it to survive, they can be forgiven – NOT so.
There are now many people who are sitting on the fence where God and Jesus are concerned. These folks think that they have time, and maybe they do, or maybe they don’t. The point here is this: if you are one who is sitting on the fence, or in other words – refusing to make a choice about Jesus, then as far as Jesus is concerned, you HAVE made a choice. Your choice is to reject Jesus, and you will therefore wind up in Hell as your eternal destination.
It will be no different with those who take the mark to survive. Going along to get along, is one and the same as rejecting Jesus, period.
Another reason JM gives, is that countless Gentiles will be redeemed, as well as Jews, specifically the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation during the second half of the tribulation. Therefore, if no one takes the mark, then no one would be saved, according to JM. The problem here is that the 144,000 are sealed close to the beginning of the tribulation period (Revelation 7), not in the second half when Antichrist is revealed as to who he really is – his true character, when he breaks his covenant with the Jewish people. Lastly, it really does not matter when the 144,000 are sealed, when these men are sealed, there is no force on Earth or in Heaven that can or will affect them unless God permits it.
As for the Gentiles being saved, I don’t believe taking the Mark of the Beast will be an instantaneous event that is world-wide. It will take time; this is of course only my thoughts. As in any other time, I also believe that there will be an active underground alive and well during this time. There will also continue to be babies born, meaning obviously that there will continue to be people who will have a choice to make.
Then there is also the fact that if the 144,000 are witnessing to people about God, then it stands to reason that there are people available to be witnessed to, and they will NOT be those who have taken the mark.
It is said that there will be people from every nation who will be saved, during the great tribulation, as the following verse suggests.
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;” Revelation 7:9
It may surprise you to learn however that many Bible commentators hold a different view of the above verse. What is this view? That the “great multitude” that comes out of great tribulation, is none other than ALL those throughout time who have endured their own tribulations as having chosen Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It’s not that people will not be saved during the tribulation period, but that this diverse group of people standing before the throne of God will be made up of all those who were and are saved, from the beginning of man, to the actual period of time known as the tribulation, or, the time of Jacob’s trouble.
Consider these last two Bible verses:
“20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Revelation 19:20-21
The remnant will be slain, I believe this will include all who have taken the Mark of the Beast, those still living obviously.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4
Again, we see those mentioned in Revelation 14:9: those who – did not worship the beast or his image, or take his mark. There are two groups of people seen in Revelation 20:4: those who were martyred for their faith in Jesus, and those who did not submit to Satan and remained faithful to Jesus, meaning all who worship and follow Christ, yesterday and today, and forever. These are those who sit upon the thrones. This reinforces the fact that all who take the Mark of the Beast are condemned, there is NO forgiveness.
Just a note for those who will jump on the fact that I did not mention the apostles here: those stated to be sitting on the thrones may or may not include the twelve apostles of Christ, read the following:
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matthew 19:28
Remember also that the names of the twelve apostles will be on the twelve foundations of the new city of Jerusalem (Revelation 21:14).
If you doubt the layout of verse 4, consider the following:
“5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:5-6
All those, past, present, and future who receive Christ, will be a part of the first resurrection. All those (Including all who take the mark) who refused the gospel, who refused Jesus, will NOT be a part of the first resurrection.
Those who denied Christ will instead be a part of the second resurrection, which will happen after the 1000-year reign of Christ. These will be judged, and sent to Hell. This is the second death, permanent separation from God, with NO hope of reconciliation with God, this is eternal, forever.
My last thought on this – is it really worth risking your eternal soul to take the Mark of the Beast because MAYBE (Not in my view) you can be forgiven? That’s playing Russian roulette with even poorer odds, and MUCH more severe consequences.
Categories: Bible Study, Blaspheme, Christian misconceptions, god's wrath, gospel of Christ, news, Resurrection day, tribulation, Updates from ICB News
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