The mark of the beast is a favorite theme of prophecy enthusiasts. Speculation about the mark is rampant. Popular candidates for the mark of the beast include retail bar codes, credit cards, tattoos, RFID chips and worshiping on Sunday. The mark of the beast is discussed in Revelation 13 and mentioned again in Revelation 14.

The mark of the beast is a mark that everyone who worships the Antichrist will receive in their right hands or in their foreheads. Those who refuse to worship the Antichrist will not receive the identifying symbol. The mark of the beast is not received voluntarily. It will be required for any commercial transaction so those without the mark will be unable to buy or sell anything.

Imagine a worldwide government requires a specific form of identification for any commercial transaction. When people go to their local government office to receive the ID they must worship an image of the Antichrist before they will be given the required token. Any who refuse to worship the Antichrist will be denied the mark. This scenario is probably not be the way it will play out but the government of the Antichrist will in some way require all people to worship the Antichrist before they receive the mark of the beast.

The mark of the beast will be associated with the name and the number of the name of the Antichrist. Revelation 13:18 says the number of the Antichrist is six hundred sixty-six. The mark of the beast will bear some kind of direct relationship to 666, possibly it will be the number itself or in some way will include the number.

Will this mark be a tattoo, an embedded chip, a permanent sticker, a bioluminescent injection or some unimagined technological innovation? We don’t know. The Bible gives no other details about the nature of this mark because the technology used to give the mark of the beast is not important.

The most important aspect of the mark of the beast is its relationship to the worship of the Antichrist. All those alive when the Antichrist reigns will be divided into two clearly defined groups of people. The minority group will be those who trust Jesus for salvation and refuse to worship the Antichrist. They will not refuse the mark itself. They will refuse the worship of the Antichrist required to receive the mark. Because they refuse to worship the great world leader they will be sentenced to death and forbidden the mark of the beast.

The majority of mankind will receive the mark. They will reject Jesus and instead offer their worship to the Antichrist. They then will be allowed to buy and sell, but the Bible warns that all who receive the mark of the beast will suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire. (Revelation 14:9-11) Just to be clear, they will not be condemned by God because they have received the mark of the beast. They will be condemned by God because they rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The evidence of their rejection of Jesus is their willingness to worship to Antichrist.

The mark of the beast will only appear in the second half of the Tribulation after the Antichrist has risen to power. It will be visible proof that a person has worshiped the Antichrist. The mark of the beast will be the clear dividing line between those who follow Jesus and those who reject Him. Only the saved will refuse the mark of the Antichrist because their allegiance is given to Jesus alone.