Tangible Idolatry 3/3: the mark of the Beast <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
 
In articles 1 and 2, I proposed that scriptures predicted a return to myths and the worship of tangible idols.  I also proposed that the false prophet in Revelation causes all commerce to be an act of worship; funding the image of the anti-Christ that he caused to be made.  I now wish to consider the "mark of the Beast" in light of events documented in Genesis 6:3 where angels had intercourse with women who gave birth to corrupted half-breeds - the paradigm of "tangible mysticism" that I covered in earlier articles.  I propose that Revelation describes a world returning to this time of tangible mysticism that led to its destruction in the time of Noah.
 
Revelation 9 describes a terrifying event, something very evil that has been held captive is reintroduced to the world.  Spiritual beings are loosed to afflict all humankind without exception who do not have the seal of God on their forehead mentioned in Rev 7:3.
1Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. 2He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. 3Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. 6And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.  7The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. 10They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. 11They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
 
The beings that are described are not something that was born or created in the abyss, they were put there by God, reserved for to be used in future judgment.  That they are spiritual is obvious because no "normal" life can live where they come from.  Both Peter and Jude mention these beings. 
 
2 Peter 2:4, "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;"
Jude 6, "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,"
 
We know for certain that fallen rebellious angels were cast into the abyss awaiting the Day of the Lord at the end.  Scholars have linked these same angels to the "sons of God" who sinned with the women of Genesis 6:3.  In other words, the same beings that were responsible for corrupting the whole world at the time of Noah are loosed back onto the earth.  Moreover, we are told that these creatures do not interact with anything but humans.  They sting humankind for five months.  I propose that this is not an allegory but something that literally happens as described.  I am proposing that these fallen angels are unique and this is why God locked them away and separated them from humanity.  Somehow, perhaps in fornicating with women and becoming "one flesh," these spiritual beings still have the power interact with humanity tangibly.  Their "sting" is something that corrupts humanity and introduces "fallen angel" into men.  I see this as something like a virus or inoculation.  After being stung, humans are "marked" by the angels and have become extra-human.  During this time they experience some sort of "limited immortality" and cannot die even if they wish to – something man has pursued since the fall.  Neither can they "repent" from this new status anymore than we can repent of catching smallpox.  I am proposing that the event described above is the mark of the beast we read about elsewhere in Revelation.
 
I would find Revelation 13 a parallel passage describing the same event from a different perspective.
 
11Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth…And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
 
In Revelation 13, we see that the false prophet "causes" all humanity to be marked.  Elsewhere in Revelation when we hear of this mark it speaks of those "who received" the mark; they are the passive recipients in 14:4, 14:11, 19:20, and 20:4.  I am proposing that this passage literally means that ALL who are not sealed by God are literally stung by fallen angels and marked and corrupted.  The process takes the angels five months to cover the entire earth and touch every human.  All who receive this mark participate in commerce and in the worship of the anti-Christ and his supernatural image.  At this point in time, there are literally only two categories of people left on earth – those sealed by God and those marked by the beast.  This will be manifested in their physical bodies and be visible to others.  Currently, the condition of our heart before God is known only to God.  Our status before God is "hidden" and we cannot determine the salvation of a person from their physical appearance.  This will change.  I am proposing that scriptures describe the return of "tangible mysticism" and a time when we can physically and objectively discern a person's standing before God by the mark of the beast.
 
From this point on, all those marked by the beast are beyond repenting.  They have become extra-human and no longer simply the seed of Adam.  In effect, because they have been physically corrupted by the devil's angels, Jesus no longer died for them any more than He died for the devil.  Those marked will inherit all that God has planned for their father the devil, the lake of fire for eternity.  When they received the mark they will be beyond repenting and only objects of God's wrath.  The same false prophet that causes all people to be given a mark also causes an image to be made of the beast and "gives breath to it."  I believe that the spirit of the image and the spirit of the mark are identical.  Humankind is literally of one spirit and unified in their worship.  This achieves something that has been sought after since Genesis 11 building the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />tower of Babel, unity.  There is one spirit on all with the mark and only those sealed by God are outside of this system and in disunity with the beast.
 
Conclusion
I am proposing that much of what has been interpreted allegorically in Revelation is literally true and is the reappearance of something that God destroyed in the flood and eliminated at the time of Moses.  Humankind has lusted for direct unmediated experiences with spirits and this is what they get when God allows the abyss to be unlocked.  Fallen angels "sting" every human that is not sealed by God and all humankind has a shared spiritual experience, but it is not as pleasant as they had hoped.  During this process humans experience a "limited immortality" in which they long to die but are unable to.  Through these stings humans transcend humanity and become gods, visible manifestations of the spirit speaking through their living idol.  They are beyond repenting and will only be recipients of the wrath of God to be poured out upon them.