MARK OF THE BEAST!!!
John
MacArthur is a very well known heavyweight Bible teacher (supposedly)
of
many years. A statement made by him during a Q&A session in
1980 has recently come to light; he actually stated that you will still be able to be
redeemed if you take the mark of the beast! MacArthur still has the
recording and transcript on his website and maintains this position.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/1301-I/
MacArthur
puts such little importance on the shock-horror reaction to such a
dangerous statement that he has not even bothered to respond to the
criticisms personally. His spokesman Phil Johnson has responded
however:
“
Revelation
19:20 indicates that multitudes will take the mark of the Beast
because they are deceived. Scripture does not say that they are
thereby automatically hardened forever against repentance. That is
not the point of the strong warnings.”
http://mykingdomtube.com/index.php?topic=2539.0
The
above response is completely irresponsible. The scripture is crystal
clear - the Book of Revelation gives us an unequivocal
answer:
And
another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If
anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his
forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s
wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be
tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and
in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their
torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or
night, these worshippers of the beast and its image, and whoever
receives the mark of its name.”
(Revelation 14/9-11)
And
the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its
presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had
received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image.
These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with
sulphur.
Then
I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key
to the bottomless pit
and a great chain.
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and
Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
and threw him into the
pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive
the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After
that he must be released for a little while.
Then
I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to
judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been
beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and
those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not
received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to
life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the
dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This
is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in
the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but
they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with
him for a thousand years. (Revelation
19/20 – 20/4)
The
double qualifier in the above passages is that people receive the
mark and they worship the beast or its image. These two
things are synonymous:
It
(the
false prophet/second beast) 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. Also it causes all, both
small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,
to be
marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or
sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the
number of its name. (Revelation
13/12-17)
The
only part of Phil Johnson's response which is correct is that
multitudes will be deceived (Matthew 24/4-5; Revelation 13/14; 2
Thessalonians 2/9) They are deceived by false signs and wonders
performed by the false prophet (Revelation 19/20). However, this delusion is sent by
God for the very reason that they might be damned:
And
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians
2:11-12).
There
is no room for any doubt whatsoever that those who worship the beast
or its image and take the mark will be thrown into the lake of fire
at the end of the millennium to suffer eternal torment. On
this basis we must reject John MacArthur as a competent Bible
teacher. Anyone teaching that it is forgivable to take the
mark of the beast has completely lost all credibility. This is so
very critical since we cannot play Russian roulette with God's Word
or try to rationalise what is unequivocal. Some believing that
MacArthur and his ilk are competent Bible teachers may actually take
the mark thinking that they will be able to repent.
PRE-TRIBULATION
RAPTURE?
MacArthur is also a pre-tribulationist:
“the imminent pre-tribulation rapture is not stated, but is between
the lines of the verses.”
The
pre-tribulation theory originated in 1830 with dispensational cult leader John Nelson Darby who was a Freemason and an occultist. There is speculation that Darby may have plagiarised the theory from a heretical group of people called the
Irvingites. In any event, the pre-tribulation rapture theory was
unknown in the church prior to 1830.
The
timing of the rapture is an extremely complex subject. Below are
just some
points to consider which make the pre-tribulation theory
problematic.
Imminency?
Is
the rapture imminent (meaning that it could occur at any moment) as
MacArthur states? The pre-tribulation theory is the only view that
allows for the immanency of the rapture. Other theories allow for an
approximate estimation of where the rapture fits into end time
events, in other words other things will precede it. If other things
precede the rapture then it is not imminent by definition.
The
early believers did not expect the imminent rapture of the church,
they expected things to precede it. e.g. Paul said he must go to Rome
- Acts 23/11; Peter would die when he was old (John 21/18).
The
Last Trumpet
…..in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet.. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we shall be changed.
(1
Corinthians 15/52 [Isaiah 27/13]) The last trumpet is sounded by the
seventh angel towards the end of the tribulation period. (Revelation
11/15-19) A pre-tribulation view necessitates that the last trumpet
in 1 Corinthians 15/52 is different from the last trumpet in
Revelation 11/15.
The
Marriage Supper of the Lamb
The
marriage supper of the Lamb occurs in Revelation 19/7-9 towards the
end of the tribulation period not prior to it as the pre-tribulation
view necessitates.
The
Day of the Lord
The
Day of the Lord or The Day of His Wrath is not the Tribulation
Period.
The
pre-tribulation view maintains that God has not destined the church
for wrath (1 Thessalonians 5/9). However the Bible does not support
the view that the tribulation is The Day of the Lord or the Day of
His Wrath as this view necessitates. In various passages of
scripture, The Day
of the Lord
is the wrath of God poured out on the ungodly, i.e. unbelievers, and
it is preceded by various cosmic signs:
Isaiah
13/6-11
- The Day of the Lord comes to destroy sinners;
to punish the
world
for its evil and the
wicked
for their iniquity. For
the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give
their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will
not shed its light.
(verse 10)
Joel
3/12-15
- The Day of the Lord is near – to judge wickedness of the
nations.
The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their
shining. (verse
15)
Joel
2/31
-The sun shall be
turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and
awesome day of the LORD
comes.
Malachi
4/5 -
“Behold, I will
send you Elijah the prophet before
the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”
If Elijah is one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 (as is
generally agreed), he appears during the last half of the
tribulation which precedes
the Day of the Lord as above.
- Matthew
24/29-30
– Jesus Christ places the cosmic events which accompany the Day of
the Lord after the tribulation. He describes the rapture of the
elect after
these cosmic events, prior to the Day of the Lord when the nations
will be judged.
the
sun will be darkened,and
the moon will not give its light;
the
stars will fall from the sky,
and
the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
Then
will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the
peoples of the earth
will mourn
when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with
power and great glory.
And he will send his angels with a loud
trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other.....
Revelation
3/10 - Because you
have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep
you from
the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those
who dwell on the earth. The
phrase, τηρεῖν ἐκ occurs elsewhere in the New Testament
only in John 17/1,
when Jesus prays for his disciples:
“I do not
ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep
them from
the evil one.” This
suggests that Revelation 3/10 is protection during the hour of trial
(tribulation), not escape from it. The Greek τηρέω (tereo)
means to watch over, to guard (Strongs No. 5083). We cannot twist
this word to mean what we want it to mean.
Tribulation/persecution
is not
the wrath of God according to the Bible:
Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for
so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew
5/10-13)
Now
concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and
our being gathered together to him (rapture),
we ask you, brothers,
not to be
quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken
word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day
of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any
way (the King James
Version says by any means).
For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the
man of lawlessness
is
revealed, the son of destruction,
who opposes
and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship,
so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself
to be God. (2
Thessalonians 2/1-4). Paul the apostle was very concerned that
believers would be deceived in this very area.
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (Matthew 24/36)
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25/13)
Who or What is Restraining the Man of Lawlessness?
The
assumption made by the pre-tribulationists is that the restrainer
preventing the Antichrist from appearing is the church. In their
view once the church is removed at the rapture, the Anitchrist will
appear and the tribulation will begin. However once again scripture
is not specific about who or what the restrainer is. The Thessalonian
church knew what the restrainer was because Paul had told them:
Do
you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these
things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be
revealed in his time.
(2 Thessalonians 2/5-6).
It
does seem odd that Paul should refer to the restrainer in this way if
it was the church. Paul refers to the restrainers identity as
something they knew
about,
but would he have said this if it was themselves i.e. the church?
Many
have taught that the restrainer is the Roman Empire, some say it is
the Papacy, some say that it is the Holy Spirit, some say that it is
Michael the Archangel etc. The fact is that we cannot say with any degree
of confidence who or what the restrainer is!
PRETRIBULATIONISM
IS A THEORY
Lets
remember that pretribulationism is a theory
and nothing more than that, particularly in light of conflicting
Bible passages. MacArthur and others teach the pre-tribulation
rapture theory presumptuously.
The consequences of this lethal doctrine will be dire for those
Christians who do not expect to enter the tribulation; they will be
unprepared for persecution; they will be thrown into confusion and
they will be at great risk of abandoning their faith.
CESSATIONISM
MacArthur
is also a cessationist (the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased with the
apostles). Yet again, we have MacArthur making assumptions which are
not stated in the Word of God. Where is his Biblical evidence for
this? Paul actually encouraged Christians to earnestly seek the
gifts of the Holy Spirit:
And
God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping,
administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are
all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess
gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But
earnestly desire the higher gifts.
(1 Corinthians 12/29-31)
CONCLUSION
MacArthur's
grand finale concerning acceptance of the mark of the beast is
unspeakably dangerous, having untold consequences, both for
believers and unbelievers. How many will be eternally lost because of this
man's teaching? MacArthur has actually set people up for eternal
damnation – the very antithesis of what the Christian message is
all about!
This
man is an enemy of Christ – and he is all the more dangerous because
he has the façade of orthodoxy. I really do wonder how MacArthur
dares to promote such teachings without one jot of evidence from the
Bible and also in contradiction to the book of Revelation concerning
the mark of the beast. What a judgement this man will face for
leading people astray in such a wicked way! The book of Revelation
carries with it a terrible warning for those who would change it:
I
warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if
anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in
this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and
in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation
22/18-9)