Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 13-16.

When the dragon gives its power to the first beast, I am reminded of Jesus was tempted in the wilderness.  Both passages teach us that those who seek to transform the world using political power serve the devil.  As I read this, I am struck by the degree to which the stated goals of organizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) can be read as the same as the actions of the beast.  Understand, I am not saying that the WEF is either of these two beasts, just that an uncharitable reading of its goals can be seen as creating a government over the world like to the one attributed here to the two beasts.  I am aware that there were groups before the WEF which promoted the same ideas.  In fact, I believe that any attempt to harness political power to transform the world into a human concept of the perfect world will end up serving the devil, because accomplishing such a transformation will require people to worship, in place of God, the government (or whatever organization is carrying out this transformation).

The other interesting thing I see, which is something I have never noticed before, is the contrast between the mark of the beast and the seal of God.  Earlier in John’s vision he saw God’s seal being placed on the foreheads of those who served God.  In today’s passage, John sees those who had received that seal on their forehead again just after witnessing the second beast forcing everyone to get its mark on their forehead or hand in order to buy or sell anything.  To me it seems clear that those who serve God will be unable to get the mark of the beast because they already have God’s mark on their forehead.  Perhaps the most important part about this comparison between marks is that God places His seal on the foreheads of His servants before the arrival of the beast.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.