Seals and Marks (Q & A)

By: John Spellman  (Updated 10-10-2014 7:39 pm)

Q. Is the Mark of the Beast a physical tattoo, chip, engraving, mark, or some other physical marking that a person must literally receive on the hand or the forehead?

 

A. With so much speculation about the Mark of the Beast, I’ve come across differing opinions as to what this mark actually means and what it will be. Some of the most common views are that the mark is a computer chip, a physical mark, or a tattoo placed in either the hand or the forehead. However, does this viewpoint really coincide with what the Bible teaches? When one looks up the word used for “mark” in “Mark of the Beast” many feel that it must be a tattoo and argue that the Bible teaches and warns us against piercings. While it is indeed true that Christians should not tattoo themselves, the Mark of the Beast is more complicated than a tattoo. The following is evidence that suggests why the Mark of the Beast could not be a physical mark, though physical marks may or may not be used in support of the authentic Mark of the Beast.

Warning: This study assumes that the reader has a working Bible knowledge and / or that the reader has attended one of our classes on the prophecies of Revelation. It takes for granted in some places that the reader understands particular basic concepts covered in the series. If the reader hasn’t attended any of these sessions, it might be helpful to view our earlier content if the reader finds him/herself lost. This study assumes you know the basics. If you don’t, please review our prophecy recordings and then read this article. As you read, keep in mind that in the Bible the words seal, sign, mark, and token are used interchangeably (Compare Genesis 17:11 with Romans 4:11, and Revelation 7:3 with Ezekiel 9:4).

Physical marks can be forced

First, if the final controversy of Revelation 13-14 came down to a matter of a physical mark that was forced upon people, there would be some salvation-related theology problems. Physical marks, tattoos, chips, etc. can be forced on people. For example, if, during a time of persecution, one was captured and such a mark was placed / branded on them, proponents of the idea that the Mark of the Beast is a physical mark would be saying that salvation comes down to luck rather than choice. This is because if one is captured and the mark is placed or branded on an individual it is done by force not by choice. If the government were willing to put people to death or place them in jail over a tattoo or computer chip, people could easily be captured and branded before being placed in jail. In such a case, they wouldn’t be willingly choosing to obtain the mark, but it could be forced on them physically. 

The idea of the mark being something physical, that one physically receives, therefore creates a problem: physical marks, tattoos, brands, and chips can be forcefully placed on individuals without their consent. If this were the case, and the Bible warns against receiving the mark for any reason, many people would lose their salvation through no fault of their own or even their own choosing. 

Rev 13:15-17  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 

The above verses indicate that through force the Mark of the Beast will be given to human beings. Verse 17 mentions particular economic consequences for not adhering to it. However, verse 15 manifests a death decree for those who are not on board with the world’s agenda. If this is the case, through threat of economic sanction and death, the mark will be enforced across all nations.

Let’s assume, for a moment that much of the Christian world is correct in saying that the Mark of the Beast is a tattoo, chip, or other type of physical mark. If Satan is indeed behind this agenda and knew that anyone with the mark would lose their salvation, it would stand to reason that all he would need to do is to capture and brand individuals with or without their consent. Thus the theology that suggests that the Mark of the Beast is physical is a theology that leaves salvation to mere chance. If one is captured and forced to receive the mark, without consent, salvation would be taken from them by chance since they were powerless to defend or make an informed decision. Revelation suggests that the mark is accepted or rejected by choice. Therefore the issue must be something greater than a mere physical branding with either a tattoo, computer chip, or other physical “marking”. This theology doesn’t support the spiritual aspect of the mark and the freedom of choice. 

Think about it: If you reject a tattoo (for example), but an officer grabs you and forcefully puts that tattoo on you: have you received the Mark of the Beast? This wouldn’t make sense. If the government were willing to kill and economically sanction those who don’t receive it, could they not also capture and forcefully place the device on a person? Would they? If salvation were based on whether or not something were forced on you, rather than your own freedom to choose between two paths, what would that be saying about God and the plan of salvation? The mark, therefore, must be something more than what is merely applied physically.

Secondly, scripture states that the final conflict will be in the context of worship. Thus, receiving the mark is less about what happens to a person (being branded) physically, or what one chooses to happen (tattooing one’s self) physically – and more so about one’s allegiance in worship. 

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13 states that all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast. The worship context is what makes this matter about the mark a spiritual matter. For these reasons, the Mark of the Beast has to be more complicated than a simple mark, tattoo, chip, or engraving. If a mark is forced on a person it is not an act of worship (especially without consent). 

Third, we can look at the text more deeply and find some hints about what the mark really is. In contrast to the Mark of the Beast there is the “Seal of God”. If we can understand some things about this seal, it may give us some understanding about the Mark of the Beast. We know that the Seal of God is given by the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). However, is it a literal seal or something different?

The Seal of God 

Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 
Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 
Deu 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 

Rev 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 

Notice that similar language is used in reference to the seal of God as that which was used to describe the Mark of the Beast. Both the seal and the mark are placed in the hand and head. But was this symbolic or literal? For example, see Proverbs 7:3; Proverbs 6:21; Proverbs 3:3. Were these examples meant for people to practice literally or in principle? 

Isa 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 

According to Isaiah, the law is what is sealed among God’s people. This makes sense when one takes a look at the New Covenant. God states that He will write the law on human hearts and this act will signify that He is their God and they are His people. (Hebrews 8:10-11) Thus, Paul could later write that one who was a Jew was not one who was Jewish outwardly, but one who was circumcised inwardly (Romans 2:28-29). By this, Paul was not talking about literally circumcising an organ of the body, but symbolically referring to the New Covenant promise that God would transform the human heart from stone to flesh (Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26) writing His law upon it (Jer 31:33). According to Paul, writing the law on one’s heart (Heb 8:10) meant that the person was transformed in that they did naturally the things contained in the law (Romans 2:11-15). In this way, the Law was sealed among the disciples through the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit there is no way one can keep God’s law; However, by the act of putting the Holy Spirit into a person, God causes the individual to walk in His ways (Eze 36:27) and thus writes His law on their heart because they naturally obey His law as a result of the Holy Spirit’s influence and transformation of the individual’s life. Thus the seal of God is the Holy Spirit’s grounding and settling of an individual’s decision to be saved and in the truth. One who is sealed will therefore keep all God’s Commandments including the 7th day Sabbath.

The Sabbath commandment is unique in that it appears at the heart of God’s law and also contains God’s office, His territory, and His name. It states that God is creator and is often referred to as His sign or mark (Exodus 31:13; Eze 20:12, 20). Seventh Day Sabbath keeping is therefore a sign of sanctification: an outward symbol of what has been done inwardly. It is the visible sign of sanctification. Sanctification is what the Holy Spirit has completed inwardly. Thus, the seal of God is the work that the Holy Spirit does inwardly (writing God’s law on the heart)—the outward symbol of which is Sabbath keeping. 

Biblically speaking, therefore, the seal of God is not a literal physical seal that is placed on one’s body in the head or hand. Rather, it is the law that is sealed [in the heart] of God’s disciples (Isa 8:16).

The Greek word used for “Seal” as in the “Seal of God” is “sphargis”. It means a stamp impressed, signet, or seal. It could be used as a literal seal that a book could be sealed with, needing to be literally broken. Or it could also be figurative, describing an assurance of something. A literal seal was usually used by an authoritative figure: for example Caesar. When applied it meant that the document or item carried Caesar’s authority and was guaranteed by virtue of the invested power. Thus a “seal” can be a literal seal or a figurative seal implying assurance of something.

Given what the Bible says about how God seals us through the Holy Spirit, it is clear that scripture is not talking about a physical seal. Although the Greek word can be interpreted as a literal physical seal, scripture shows us that the term “seal” is a symbolic term used to represent something spiritual that takes place. Otherwise, in addition to believing that Satan is causing people to be tattooed with technology or implanted with chips—we would have to believe that God also has some technology that he implants His people with. But, given the evidence above, this is not the case. The seal of God should not be thought of as a literal physical seal, but a symbolic seal: symbolizing the transformation of one’s heart. It is undeniable and irrefutable that the law is what is actually sealed among God’s disciples (Isa 8:16).

Ezekiel gives us further insight:

Eze 9:3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; 
Eze 9:4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 
Eze 9:5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 

In this prophecy, the prophet Ezekiel sees angels with inkhorns. A mark (or seal) is set on those who are grieved by wickedness the people were doing. Those with this mark were untouched, while others were slain in judgment. The mark served to inform the angels about who was to be saved while others were lost. Yet, in reality (outside of Ezekiel’s vision) no ink was ever placed on these individuals. Clearly, Ezekiel was seeing symbols in prophecy that were depicting the reality of God’s judgment. There was no angel literally branding people with an inkhorn. Unlike Passover, where the Israelites literally had a mark above their door posts and their enemies did not, this scripture depicts a vision of something similar that doesn’t literally happen in the same way. In this case the seal represented God’s remembrance of those who had not performed these wicked actions, but were instead grieved by them. The people were not literally branded with ink.

This demonstrates that there are examples in scripture in which marks, seals, etc. are not literal but figurative or symbolic. Even though the words used may suggest actual markings or executive seals, they are used symbolically in prophecy and are clearly not meant to be taken literally.

With this understanding of the Seal of God, we have a better chance at understanding the Mark of the Beast. Although the Greek word for seal can mean a literal seal, we learned that the seal of God was not a literal physical seal, but a spiritual one. Could this also be the case with the mark?

The Mark 

The Greek word used for “Mark” as in “Mark of the Beast” is “charagma”. Aside from its context in the “Mark of the Beast” throughout Revelation, this specific Greek word is used once in Acts 17:29 meaning “graven or marked by art”. This could carry the idea of etched or sculptured artwork usually done with wood and overlaid with gold and other precious metals. In Acts, it refers to graven images. This also seems to be (or could be) a translation of the Hebrew word “pesel” as this is the word used to describe graven or carved images.

In Leviticus the commandment against tattoos uses a different word for this practice than what is used for “Mark of the Beast”. In fact the Greek word “charagma” is not used in the Old Testament (LXX) or any other place aside from Acts and Revelation. In Lev 19:28 “gramma” is used to describe what is done in the flesh. It basically is describing making or cutting lettering in one’s flesh (thus tattooing).

So there may be some room to question whether the Mark of the Beast and tattooing have any common ground by virtue of the different Greek words used to describe both. However, even if the word used for “mark” can be translated literally “tattoo” throughout Revelation, one must remember that the word used for “seal” could also literally translate “seal” as in the signet or seal that an emperor would use to seal a document. Thus, the word use alone is not enough evidence to suggest that the Mark of the Beast is a literal tattoo. As we saw previously, literal objects (like seals and signets) can be used symbolically in scripture. It’s also worthy to note that the Sabbath was considered a “sign” (Eze 20:12, 20) while Cain was marked (Gen 4:15). In Hebrew, “oth” is the word behind “sign” in the Ezekiel texts and “mark” in Genesis 4:15. In one place it is translated “sign” while in the other “mark”. Was Cain literally marked? Or was the “mark” spiritual? Was the Sabbath a literal-physical stamp engraved, etched, or stamped on a person as God places it on an individual, or was it a symbolic sign or stamp meaning that one kept the Sabbath and this was a signal to the world that God had sanctified that individual? (Hint: It would be hard to engrave a day of the week on a person’s body since a day is a concept and not a material thing.) 

So, if the word alone is not enough to determine whether the “mark” is a tattoo or a symbol of something else, how can we know which it is? Since the Seal of God is the counter-part of the Mark of the Beast and it is symbolic (not a literal seal), it is reasonable to conclude that the Mark of the Beast is also symbolic and not a literal tattoo. Secondly, the same language is used to describe both: they are received in the forehead and / or hand. Third, we have a few examples that show how marks or seals can be interpreted symbolically in other scriptures of a prophetic context. Fourth, marks, brands, tattoos, etc. can be physically forced on a person and don’t require a choice to be received. The context of Revelation 13-14 shows specifically that the matter is judged based on human choice. Fifth, the Mark of the Beast is introduced in the context of “worship” and receiving a tattoo alone or being forced to receive one is not worship (especially if it is done by force). For these reasons, the mark cannot be a literal physical mark, tattoo, chip, implant, carving, technology, etc.

It is also worthy of mention that historically, the technology didn’t exist to give people a chip or advanced tattoo capable of being scanned. Yet, Paul stated that in His time people were “sealed unto the day of redemption”. (Eph 4:30; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13) This shows that the mark / seal controversy is not a technology battleground. While some conspiracy theories suggest that the technology existed, this is challenged by the historical records and the evidence aforementioned. Such conspiracies would be considered laughable by archeologists with a working knowledge. Often, documentaries asserting these ideas do so for monetary compensation and sparking curiosity or imagination. While documentaries suggest the existence of alien technology during the Egyptian empire, we should also consider that the same types of documentaries promote the possibility for vampires, werewolves, mermaids, Megaledon the Monster Shark, Sasquatch, Big Foot, and a host of other things. If the reader believes all of the above, we need to have an entirely different conversation.

Furthermore, in addition to the textual evidence, we have the testimony of the “Beast” itself. They are not shy about telling us what their “mark” of authority is. When one has all the scriptural evidence suggesting the mark is not something literally placed on the skin and the confession of the “Beast”: one would have to turn a blind eye to all the evidence in order to still interpret the mark of the beast differently. Here is what they had to say:

“The Church is above the Bible; and this transference of Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday is proof positive of that fact. Deny the authority of the Church and you have no adequate or reasonable explanation or justification for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday in the Third - Protestant Fourth - Commandment of God.” Catholic Record “Sabbath Observance” (September 1, 1923)


“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act…And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” (Letter from C.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons on October 28, 1895)

Thus, the Beast power itself claims that the mark of their ecclesiastical power and authority is the observance of Sunday. This is more in line with the Biblical perspective because the central issue in the controversy is about worship: God’s way or man’s way. The mark is spiritual and not physical. It is placed on the hand like God’s commandments as a symbol of what we choose to do. It is placed on the head, like God’s commandments, as a symbol of the mind and the seat of the heart. Thus the Mark of the Beast represents a centering and settling of one’s decision not to keep God’s commandments—of which Sunday worship becomes an outward expression of that decision, adhering to the dictates of man (Rome) and man’s (Rome’s) ecclesiastical power and authority rather than God’s. 

Several Bible texts (Exo 31:13; Eze 20:12, 20) refer to the Sabbath as a “sign” (mark, token, or signal) of God’s sanctifying. Why? Through observing it, we acknowledge God’s sovereignty as well as His creative and redemptive work: unlike the rest of the world that rejects these principles for evolution and rejects every creation principle for something counterfeit and adverse to the model of creation. 

Sanctification means to be “set apart”. The Sabbath is a sign that one is sanctified (or set apart) from the rest of the world by God. If Sabbath sets one apart from the world and makes one distinctly God’s, it stands to reason that the mark would set one apart from God and make one distinctly Satan’s. If God’s Sabbath is the distinctive sanctifying sign, as a memorial of God’s creative power – Satan’s counterfeit must also undermine this sign [the Sabbath] and make one distinctly in opposition to God. Thus, Sunday worship undermines God’s distinctive sign and the memorial of His creative and redemptive power. 

This interpretation solves the problems that the previous interpretation could not. Both the seal and the mark are symbolic of decisions one makes in regard to worship which show allegiance or lack of allegiance to God. The battle is no longer about technology (in one form or another) but about worship which can only be done with the heart. Even in the event that one was dragged into a church, they could still not be forced to worship. Worship is a voluntary act (See Daniel 3 – The 3 Hebrew Boys story). Much of the Bible follows the theme about who one chooses to worship. Thus, the idea of a tattoo or chip being a deciding factor makes the final conflict arbitrary. Parallel passages speaking of the Antichrist (Beast) power seem grounded in a worship context.

Counterfeiting Worship 

One needs to understand the intricate link between Daniel and Revelation. Much of Revelation can’t be understood without the book of Daniel. While this document will not explore all the similarities between the prophecies, it is worthwhile to note that Daniel and Revelation tell the same end time story. Prophecy follows a pattern of repeat and expand: since Daniel (in prophecy content) covers a timespan from the Babylonian kingdom to the end of the world, it stands to reason that Revelation will cooperate with and support the prophecies of Daniel since it covers prophetic history from the early Christian era to the end of the world. The two books can’t tell different stories about the end time. 

The Beast power of Revelation 13-14 is first introduced in the book of Daniel under different symbolism. When one compares the “little horn” power with the beast, the similarities demonstrate that the powers are the same entity. The book of Daniel emphasizes the fact that the antichrist power seeks to counterfeit everything that God has established. 

The word anti-christ comes from the Greek words “Anti” and “Christos”. The word “Anti” carries the idea of opposition, substitution, or something being “in the place of” something else. The Antichrist, like Satan (Isaiah 14:12-14), seeks to stand in the place of Christ (2 Thess 2:2-4).

Satan is the power behind the antichrist. Because Satan’s goal is to be “like the Most High”: he wants to take the place of God, he wants to be above everything and everyone else, and he counterfeits in order to take God’s place, receive God’s worship, and direct attention away from God onto himself. (Isa 14:12-14) Therefore, Satan copies and distorts everything that pertains to God and that directs a person toward God so as to counterfeit and mislead people away from God. It’s not only a matter of misleading people away from God, but it is also about receiving worship that belongs to God. So, he counterfeits in ways that specifically direct God’s worship to himself (whether knowingly or unknowingly). In short, if Satan is trying to take the place of God and copy everything that God has, the antichrist, endowed with Satan’s mindset, will do the same (2 Thess 2:2-4; Daniel 11:36-37).

One should understand that the Papacy claims to be the “vicar of Christ”. The word “vicar” means “one who acts in place of another” or “a substitute”. This is fitting because the antichrist seeks to counterfeit, thus taking the place of Christ. When one understands these principles about the antichrist, it is easy to perceive that the antichrist seeks to counterfeit everything that Christ does. (Matt 24:24) Through counterfeiting, this power takes the attention and worship of individuals away from Christ. While the details of this are more intricate than the scope of this document will allow, a few points are necessary for understanding:

1) We have Jesus Christ as our Messiah and High Priest --Thus mediator (Heb 8:1-6). Satan counterfeits with an antichrist, a man that claims to be the replacement of Jesus on earth with the ability to absolve sins and mediate.

2) We have God’s Commandments. The antichrist seeks to change times and laws. (Dan 7:25) In their place he gives commandments of men. 

3) We have Christ’s ministry (the daily) in the heavenly sanctuary (See Heb 8:1-6 and 1 Tim 2:5). The antichrist counterfeits, and as prophesied in Daniel 8, takes away and casts down the daily. 

4) We have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The antichrist counterfeits with deceptive demons working miracles in the name and appearance of angels of light. (2Cor 11:13-15; 2 Thess 2:7-10; Rev 16:14)

Understanding that the antichrist counterfeits everything that God does (2 Thess 2:2-4) is crucial to understanding the Mark of the Beast. Satan seems to have a counterfeit for everything God has. For Creation, Satan has evolution. For the Seal of God, Satan has the Mark of the Beast.

As we follow the counterfeiting nature of the antichrist in Daniel we find that he blasphemes, changes God’s law, attacks and persecutes the Saints, and takes away the daily ministration. All these things have an impact on worship and make a solid case for the final conflict (as portrayed by Daniel) being a controversy over worship. Daniel 8:25 suggests that this counterfeiting power will last until the end of time when it is “broken without hand” (An eschatological phrase implying divine judgment—See Daniel 2:34). If the controversy around the antichrist (little horn) power lasts until the end of time and, as Daniel suggests, and the central issue is about worship: why then do we interpret Revelation’s depiction of the same power to be literally about tattooing or chips? Daniel 9:24-27 makes reference to the Covenant and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. Daniel 12 also carries the theme of everlasting righteousness and worship. The book of Daniel as a whole suggests that the central issue will be about worship and character. A tattoo is never mentioned. If Revelation made the central issue about a tattoo or chip technology enforced by the government, it would contradict Daniel’s depiction of end time events.

Instead, Revelation cooperates with Daniel once we understand that the “mark” is figurative. The central issue is still over “the daily” and the changing of “times and laws” as expressed in Daniel. The taking of “the daily”, in short, is the setting up of a counterfeit system of worship. Praying to saints rather than directly to God, man having power to absolve one of their sins rather than going through Jesus, going through Mary as a mediator / intercessor, etc. These things directly contradict and counterfeit God’s system of worship. In fact, by drawing people’s attention away from what Christ does for us in the Heavenly Sanctuary, Satan hinders Christ’s ministry and directs God’s worship to himself. For example, if no one goes to Him for forgiveness of sins – and everyone goes to Mary instead—though one can’t physically remove Christ from Heaven, one makes His ministry in Heaven of no effect. Setting up a counterfeit system of worship was the only way that Satan could effectively attack Heaven since he could not win militarily (Luke 10:18 and Daniel 8: 9-11). Through this means Satan plunges the world into darkness (or spiritual blindness) concerning the character and the love of God.

Revelation picks up where Daniel left off, picturing the same conflict. If we know what the Seal of God is we need only understand what the counterfeit (the direct opposition or substitute) of that seal would be. If the seal is the centering in God’s truth – being sealed with the law and Sabbath keeping acting as the outward/visible sign of this figurative seal: then, the direct opposite would have to be a mark in which one is grounded and centered in disobedience, of which Sunday worship (the counterfeit Sabbath) would act as the visible outward sign of this figurative mark.

Moreover, to understand the Mark of the Beast, the Bible student must grasp that this final controversy is not just about getting people to bow down and worship the devil directly. Satan doesn’t just want any kind of worship, he wants God’s worship! This controversy is about counterfeiting what God has and deceptively receiving the worship that is due, and normally would be given, to God. The view that the mark is literal ignores the counterfeiting nature of this end time crisis. Literal tattoos don’t directly counterfeit anything in God’s worship system (it would not be an appropriate counterfeit for the seal of God given what we know the seal really means); in contrast, changing the solemnity of the Sabbath to a counterfeit day historically used to honor the sun does have worship related consequences.

In summary, the power mentioned in Revelation is the same power that took the “daily” (Daniel 8) and hindered the high priestly work of Jesus in the Heavenly Sanctuary. This shows that the final conflict has much more to do with worship than other themes. The same power thinks to change “times and laws” (Dan 7:25) which again references a conflict over the Sabbath. Daniel never mentions anything about a tattoo. The weight of Biblical evidence, therefore, falls on the Sabbath / Sunday question being the final conflict and the matter of choice of “worship” being the deciding factor in who will be saved or lost.

It should be noted that the Bible never makes mention of any technology being used to enforce, give, or receive the Mark of the Beast. Speculation about chips, scan-able tattoos, etc. are purely man’s conjecture and have no basis in scripture. In order to suggest that the Mark of the Beast will be some technology related thing that is placed on or under one’s skin, one has to step out of the Bible and make a prediction based on one’s own bias. No form of technology is mentioned in the Bible in relation to the mark. People are assuming that the recent developments must be the fulfillment of the prophecy because things appear to line up based on their own thinking. Again, this is conjecture. 

If we allow the Bible to interpret itself and allow the Beast power to speak for itself, we arrive at a totally different answer. The Mark of the Beast is not and cannot be a chip, tattoo, implant, or any other technology related thing. The movies have it wrong.It is possible that these items may be used to help enforce the Mark of the Beast, but will not actually be the mark itself (they don’t directly counterfeit acts of worship). Character is more important here. There may be individuals without the tattoo, chip, etc. that will still have the mark and won’t know it!