The Antichrist and His Goal in Revelation 13 (Understanding the Mark of the Beast: Part 1)

Approximate Reading Time: 7 minutes

(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.)

For decades, Christians have wondered and speculated about a variety of things being the Mark of the Beast from Revelation. Is it a microchip or barcode? Is a cellphone or a vaccine the mark? Much of our understanding about the mark of the Beast is found in pop culture, sensationalized opinion, or things we’ve heard other Christians say. As a result, we often live in unbiblical fear of this mysterious “mark” and are constantly accusing things we don’t like or understand as being the “mark of the beast.” 

Before we can understand the mark, we need to understand the Beast it represents. Knowing his purpose will give us a clear understanding of what the mark means and whether Christians should be afraid of accidentally accepting it today.

A note before starting

When I discuss things like the End Times, I do so from a Progressive Dispensationalist interpretation. If that term means nothing to you, the most important things to know are:

• The prophetic events of Revelation haven’t taken place
• Christ will immediately remove His people from the world (aka the Rapture)
• There will be a literal a seven-year tribulation and a thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth before the final judgment

If you believe that the beast was Emperor Nero or that the “mark” was just Roman currency that had his image “marked” on it, this article won’t make much sense. However, if you’re reading this because you’re curious about the mark of the Beast today, odds are very good that you also believe a similar interpretation. So let’s look at what God’s word reveals to us about the Beast, his mark, and what that means for us today.

What do we know about “the Beast”?

A kingdom and a man

The Beast is spoken of in two different ways in the Bible. During one of Daniel’s visions, he saw it in part of a series of “beasts” that, in hindsight, we know represent great kingdoms throughout history. And based on Daniel’s brief description of what this fourth “beast” was capable of, it certainly sounds like a kingdom or government more than an individual:

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7)

From this kingdom, it seems that an individual will rise to power and serve as a sort of godlike figure for people. We see this as Daniel continues describing his vision, with further clarity in Revelation. This individual is also popularly known as “The Antichrist” warned about in 1 John 2:18, which is the name I’ll be using for him to avoid confusion with another beast mentioned later in Revelation 13.

I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. (Daniel 7:8)

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Revelation 13:1-4)

Without trying to speculate too much, it seems that this “little horn” is an individual who will rise out of a great kingdom or government system. Its head will be wounded, whether through a literal head wound (as reinforced in Revelation 13:14) or by falling from power. Upon its resurrection/recovery, people of the world will worship this person. This may be god-like worship like we see in modern-day North Korea, but perhaps it will be similar to how people worship politicians today. Regardless, worship of the Antichrist will be a worldwide thing done by everyone who doesn’t worship Christ.

A direct enemy of God

We also know this Beast will not just be a normal enemy of God like we might describe anyone who hasn’t placed their faith in Christ. Rather, this person will clearly and directly speak against God:

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:5-6)

A direct enemy of God’s people

We will also see this beast explicitly target God’s people on Earth. God’s people all around the world will be imprisoned or executed as part of the world system created by the Beast, but God will call for them to endure and stay faithful rather than make war against the Beast (a biblical concept that may offend our Western sensibilities):

Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 

If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. 

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:7-10)

His best friend, the False Prophet

In the midst of the Antichrist’s rise to power, another beast will come on the scene to reinforce worship of the first. This person is later named the False Prophet in places like Revelation 19:20. A fitting name, since we see that his primary purpose is to use the power granted to him by the Dragon (Satan, as revealed in Revelation 12:9) to perform signs and wonders that drive people to further worship the Antichrist, and those who refuse to worship it may be killed.

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. (Revelation 13:11-15)

An unholy trinity with a clear purpose

It’s  hard not to draw parallels between the members of the Trinity and the three beings we see leading the world against God:

• God the Father and Satan are both heads of their respective trinities and give authority to their “sons”
• Christ and the Antichrist are both sent by their “fathers” and worshipped
• The Holy Spirit and the False Prophet both call people to worship the second member of their trinity

These comparisons are interesting, but it’s okay if these connections seem weak. The key takeaway of Revelation 13:1-15 is this: The Antichrist will create a clear, unambiguous divide between those whose citizenship is in Heaven (God’s people) and those who “dwell on the Earth” (unbelievers). It won’t be a matter of Christianity being unpopular, or only certain parts of the world persecuting God’s people. The world will get to a point where people are literally choosing sides, and the team you represent will have a huge impact on what your life looks like no matter where you live. 

Antichrist and the worship he demands

The End Times and the Antichrist (also known as the Beast) will set the world against God and His people. There will be no harmony between Christians and non-Christians. The world will grow to hate God to such a degree that everyone will not only worship this Beast, but they will be on board with his desire to imprison or execute those who follow Christ. We will be enemies of the world in every possible meaning of that word. 

Summed up, the world we see in Revelation 13 is all about worship. We will worship and serve Christ, or we will worship and serve the Beast. There will be no in-between, no “cultural Christians,” and no way to live in peace and just enjoy our Christian lives.

Although the world has always had a fairly fuzzy line drawn between living for Christ or living for the world, the future we see demands absolute worship of one being and absolute rejection of another. Serving Christ will have a cost that few of us today can truly comprehend. Understanding this black-and-white world of “worship the Beast or else” is key to understanding what the mark of the Beast really is.