Mark of the Beast: How You Can Stay Spiritually Beast-Proof in the End Times
Excerpted from The Spirit of Elijah.
There comes a point in every evil regime when their day of reckoning transpires.
Concerning all the malfeasance and anti-God behavior initiated by Jezebel—her harvest had finally arrived. For in every generation, the spirit of Antichrist takes the opportunity afforded to it, to dominate the culture until the opposing force of light rises to meet it. What is necessary for those who are keepers of the truth, those who are carriers of the light of God in their time—is not to faint but rather stay strong and encouraged while resisting the powers of hell.
Elijah did this until his mantle was transferred to Elisha. Next to Elisha was Jehu, a strong, brazen-faced man whom God raised as part of a correction to the nation. He was an agent of rightsizing the wrongs.
It was due time for Jezebel’s destruction. She painted her eyes and adorned her head as she looked through the window. She made her accusatory statement, and Jehu responded, “Who is on my side?” This was a call from Jehu stating that there was about to be a new sheriff in town, and his shout suggested it would be wise to cooperate. The two or three eunuchs heard Jehu and acted accordingly, launching Jezebel out of the window. Her body exploded on the ground, spattering her blood against the wall.
Jehu then had lunch before thinking, “Well, we should go bury the accursed witch.” It was too late for that; she had been eaten by dogs.
If the righteous will not faint and not retreat, there comes a day of justice against those who hate God and work diligently to destroy His people. Nothing is more accurate when considering the ultimate end-time enemies. The Antichrist, who will be a man, is likely possessed by Satan himself. In a perversion of the incarnation, a cheap attempt to copy Jesus, the God-man, will emerge. In the end, the beast, his false prophet, and every power who has stood against the Son of the One True Living God will be cast down and defeated, like Jezebel, only in a far more dramatic and violent way.
Remember, in the end, Jesus wins, and so do those who are His.
The Beast
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name (Revelation 13:1).
Most scholars believe that another name for the Antichrist is the beast. This beast will have a system, but the spirit of Jesus, working through His Church, is anointed to stop the spirit of Antichrist from taking over. The Church acts as a restraining force. The actual Antichrist cannot simply rise at will.
There will be a second beast, which will rise out of the sea. Generations of ink have been spilled, penning vantage points as to exactly who and what this beast is. What can be said with certainty is that this beast appears to be mimicking a resurrection. The second beast gives life to the first beast.
Beast System
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name (Revelation 13:16-17).
The Church is Beast Proof
The restrainer must be taken out of the way before the beast can take the world stage.
And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7).
We who stand firm in the Lord Jesus and bind ourselves to Him and His will being accomplished on earth are part of the Ekklesia and are “beast proof.” When considering the power of the Ekklesia that Jesus explained to Peter, it becomes clear that the system of hell and the complete governmental power of the literal Antichrist cannot appear until the force of the Ekklesia is removed. In better terms, the Antichrist is being held back from appearing until the Church is removed. We are the restraining force against his revealing.
The Ekklesia Cannot Be Overcome
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
That dispensation will be different from our current one. We are in the Church Age, and Jesus declared in Matthew 16:18 that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against His Church. Many speculate that this is because the Church of Jesus Christ will be caught up in meeting the Lord in the air before this dreadful time.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The Greek word harpazo is translated as rapiemur, the proper tense of rapio, the root of our English words “rapt” and “rapture.” Deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (Latin Vulgate) “Rapture” comes from the past participle of the verb rapia.
One cannot deny that the word appears in the appropriate tense as literally “rapture” in the Latin Vulgate.
The gates of hell cannot overcome us unless we permit it or lay down, not enforcing our authority.
In this dispensation of grace, also known as the Church Age, we, the corporate body of Christ, can stop the gates of hell—a distinction in the Church during the Age of Grace, which means the time of the New Testament.
Shortly following the resurrection of Jesus, a tremendous encounter took place. Acts 2 describes the divine occasion when the Holy Spirit was poured out in power upon all gathered in the upper room. Not only did the baptism in the Holy Spirit occur, causing the believers to speak in different tongues, but it was the arrival of a new power with new authority. The Church, now born during this event, kicked off the last days and arrived to enforce something that had never been seen before. A united group of people were given the authority of God to enforce what Jesus accomplished.
New terminology was used, such as “believers,” “brothers and sisters,” and “baptism in the Holy Spirit,” even the terminology “the Church” was brand-new during that time, and never had anyone been empowered by the Holy Spirit in this manner. God came and dwelt among men through Jesus and took it a step further by making a way for man to become that habitation of God. Anyone who called on the name of Jesus could be saved! Powerfully united against the present evil age, these brand-new species of believers, filled with God, became a global power to be reckoned with.
…These who have turned the world upside down… (Acts 17:6).
The Ekklesia
Ekklesia was a governmental word used in ancient history, meaning the called-out people or assembled body of free citizens in the public affairs of a free state.
The ekklesia was summoned by a “herald” or “messenger” with public authority to represent the kingdom they served. A clearer picture would be the local church coming together at the summons of a preacher.
A broader definition of the Ekklesia reaches beyond the local church and includes the global body of believers. The Greek defines it as “those who anywhere, in a city or village, constitute a company, and are united into one body, making up the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth.” This is a working picture of the Church, both locally and globally.
Understanding the Ekklesia (the Church) that Jesus told Peter about makes it clear that it is a powerful entity that He built! Hell, with all its systems and evil, cannot withstand the actual Church!
How is it then that we do not see more victory and taking of territory? Allow me to present you with a thought. What many label the Church today might, in fact, not be the Church, at least not the Church Jesus described. What many well-intending believers have labeled their church as might, in reality, be an institutionalized version of an effectual church impacting the culture.
“Church” was a new moniker. The Old Testament never mentioned it; you might say it was concealed. Many thought the Messiah would come and deliver Israel from all the outside governmental oppression. Groups such as the zealots pressured Jesus to “storm the castle,” so to speak, yet He explained the purpose of His coming was not for that. It was to seek and save that which was lost. In His second advent, He will come and take over the world. First, He arrived as the Lamb of God Him as the Lion, as King Jesus.
“Grace” is the label given to the age we live in. It is a unique moment in history when the gospel is to be preached to the ends of the earth, and then the end will come (Matthew 24).
Jesus referred to the body of believers as “His Church,” “and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.” The word “church” here is the Greek word ekklesia.
Beast Given Power to Overcome the Saints
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations (Revelation 13:7 KJV).
Revelation 13:7 describes an end-times scenario in which the Antichrist will rule on earth. He will also be granted the ability to make war with the saints and overcome them.
Tribulation Saints
Those who remain will still be able to discover the truth of Jesus. Some will give their lives to Him, becoming end-time saints. Today’s believers will not experience the tribulation. This is why the Word says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Jesus made a way so that no one has to experience the tribulation and all that comes during that time. It’s our goal and commission to bring as many of God’s lost creations to Him so they don’t have to go through the tribulation.
Power Over the Nations
And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations (Revelation 2:26).
One day, I spoke with a dear friend, Pastor Mark Cowart. We were discussing the issue of Jezebel in the Church and holding control over high areas of leadership around the world. Pastor Mark said something that rang like a bell in my spirit. “You know, the church of Thyatira was told that whoever overcomes Jezebel and all her workings would gain power over the nations.” This is what Revelation 2:26 means. I had read that scripture many times, but it was illuminated in Pastor Mark’s statement.
It is true! As the Church of Jesus, and if we are going to seize the day in our generation, Jezebel, along with all the corrupt issues surrounding that demon, must be overcome, and through it, those who overcome are to keep the works of Jesus until the end.
For every believer who has ears to hear, gaining power over the nations is attained through this understanding. Defeat Jezebel, overcome and keep His works until the end.
