Have you received The Mark?...Yes You Have!

by Steven Masone

To understand the true meaning of the mark of the beast, something must be kept in mind – The Book of Revelation is a Jewish, anti-Roman document. Once we realize that, we need to remember that the central Jewish Torah text that was recited twice daily stated, “‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” It had another, less famous, but an integral part: “Bind them (God’s commandments) as a sign on your hand and they will be on your forehead.” (Deut. 6:4-8) Jewish people, both today and in antiquity, fulfill this commandment by literally tying the words of the Living God found in Torah to their hand and head almost every day of the week. This Practice is called, “the laying on of a tefillin.”

If the Book of Revelation is read with an awareness of the first-century Jewish context, it becomes clear that we should not imagine that one day the entire world will undergo a medical procedure that will insert a chip under the human skin (as some Bible teachers speculate). Instead, we should understand the mark of the beast to be an inward or outward expression that opposes the Law of God in the life of a human being. As the enemy of God and His people, the evil Beast would naturally want to replace the mark of God that goes on the hand and head of the worshiper with his own mark. 

Revelation 3:12 Jesus said “and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” Judges 12 >> King James Version

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1And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. 2And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. 3And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? 4Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites arefugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. 5And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; 6Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

7And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

8And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.

11And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

13And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. 14And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. 15And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.

Shibboleth (shĭb`ōlĕth), in the Bible, test word that the Gileadites made the Ephraimites pronounce. As Ephraimites could not say sh but only s as in "Sibboleth," this was regarded as a test of an Ephraimite; 42,000 Ephraimites were thus detected. 

Transliteration: shibboleth a flowing stream
Short Definition: flood

Word Origin
from the same as shobel
Definition
a flowing stream
NASB Word Usage
flood (2), flowing stream (1), shibboleth (1).

Hosea 13

1  "WHEN EPHRAIM spoke with trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended and became guilty in Baal worship, he died [spiritually, and then outward ruin came also, sealing Israel’s doom as a nation].2  And now they sin more and more and have made for themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding [as it pleased them], all of them the work of the craftsmen. To these [very works of their hands] they speak or pray who sacrifice to them; they kiss and show homage to the calves [as if they were alive]!3  Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that passes early away, like the chaff that swirls with the whirlwind from the threshing floor and as the smoke out of the chimney or through the window.4  Yet I am the Lord your God from [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt, and you shall know or recognize no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.5  I knew (recognized, understood, and had regard for) you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.6  According to their pasture, so were they filled [when they fed, they grew full], and their heart was lifted up; therefore have they forgotten Me.7  Therefore I have become to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk by the way [to Assyria] and watch them.89  It is your destruction, O Israel, that you have been against Me, for in Me is your help.1011  I have given you a king in My anger, and I have taken him away in My wrath.12  The iniquity of Ephraim [not fully punished yet] is bound up [as in a bag]; his sin is laid up in store [for judgment and destruction].13  The pains of a woman in childbirth are coming on for him [to be born]; but he is an unwise son, for now when it is time [to be born], he comes not to the place where [unborn] children break forth [he needs new birth but makes no effort to acquire it].14  Should I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Should I redeem them from death? O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Relenting and compassion are hidden from My eyes."

So we see here in Judges that the Ephramites were 'marked' by their inability to pronounce "Shibboleth" and when Judgement of death found them, it was this 'mark' that condemned them. In the following verse of Hosea, we see that the punishment of Ephraim's spring and fountain drying up was prophesied to be his end as a tribe.

  15  For though among his brethren [his fellow tribes] he may be fruitful, an east wind [Assyria] will come, the breath of the Lord rising from the desert; and Ephraim’s spring shall become dry and his fountain be dried up. [Assyria] shall plunder his treasury of every precious vessel.16  Samaria shall bear her guilt and become desolate, for she rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword, their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women shall be ripped up.

Shibboleth means "a spring or stream of flowing water" while this seems to have hidden understanding to most bible commentaries from a 'cessationist' viewpoint...it is clear to those born of the Spirit that this is  The speaking of tongues ...which is the initial evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost (being born of the Spirit), a prophetic allegory pointing to the Mark of Rev. 13 and a type of knowing a 'tare' from 'wheat.'  The tare can never bear fruit as wheat can...if the wheat has the living water in word and deed, he will bear fruit. That which is born of flesh is flesh... John 3 :⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

 ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 ⁷Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

 ⁸The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

"so is every one that is born of the Spirit! And...you will hear the sound thereof: Shibboleth...rivers of living water...not once, always... 

John 7:37-39 (King James Version)

 ³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

 ³⁸He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (Shibboleth!) The key understanding here is "rivers Plural! Not just the initial evidence but a life of Ezekiel 47 waters flowing from God's temple.

 ³⁹(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Just as God marked Cain, he has continued this pattern in scripture. Also we see the biblical stamp of the Antichrist in vs 6 of Judges 12 previously6Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said : sibbolet for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand . Forty two is the reign of months in Revelation by the Antichrist.

Forty two  were destroyed by the two she bears (2Beasts) in :2 Kings 2:24 (Young's Literal Translation)

 ²⁴And he looketh behind him, and seeth them, and declareth them vile in the name of Jehovah, and two bears come out of the forest, and rend of them forty and two lads.

Here we see Elijah as a type of the last ministry (11th hour) of the church before Elijah is (raptured) caught up by the whirlwind, and Elisha (2nd coming of Christ) ends the 42 month reign of the Antichrist. see http://http://endtimetruth11thhour.blogspot.com/2011/02/time-of-end.html?spref=bl

Now those who are marked  by the Beast...do not have "streaming rivers...living shibboleth waters flowing from the inner man.

So to simplify "The Mark" of God is on  those who are letting the Holy Ghost flow out from their TEMPLE...using the power thereof...( not just a tongue talker who... like a tare, is almost identical up to a point) but bears fruit from ministering "Shibbboleth" " And it hath come to pass, every living creature that teemeth, whithersoever the streams come, doth live: and there hath been great abundance of fish, for these waters have come thither, and they are healed; and every thing whither the stream cometh hath lived".

Ezekiel 47

 ¹And he causeth me to turn back unto the opening of the house; and lo, water is coming forth from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the front of the house [is] eastward, and the water is coming down from beneath, from the right side of the house, from the south of the altar.

 ²And he causeth me to go out the way of the gate northward, and causeth me to turn round the way without, unto the gate that [is] without, the way that is looking eastward, and lo, water is coming forth from the right side.

 ³In the going out of the man eastward, and a line in his hand, then he measureth a thousand by the cubit, and he causeth me to pass over into water -- water to the ankles.

 ⁴And he measureth a thousand, and causeth me to pass over into water -- water to the knees. And he measureth a thousand, and causeth me to pass over -- water to the loins.

 ⁵And he measureth a thousand -- a stream that I am not able to pass over; for risen have the waters -- waters to swim in -- a stream that is not passed over.

 ⁶And he saith unto me, `Hast thou seen, son of man?' and he leadeth me, and bringeth me back unto the edge of the stream.

 ⁷In my turning back, then, lo, at the edge of the stream [are] very many trees, on this side and on that side.

 ⁸And he saith unto me, `These waters are going forth unto the east circuit, and have gone down unto the desert, and have entered the sea; unto the sea they are brought forth, and the waters have been healed.

 ⁹And it hath come to pass, every living creature that teemeth, whithersoever the streams come, doth live: and there hath been great abundance of fish, for these waters have come thither, and they are healed; and every thing whither the stream cometh hath lived.

 For his sins and refusal to repent, God marked Ephraim and disinherited that tribe. While we read in Judges 12 that both Ephraim and Mannaseh were given a portion of the Land, Ephraim was not among the tribes sealed by God in Rev 7.

Revelation 7

 ¹And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

 ²And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

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

 ⁴And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

 ⁵Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

 ⁶Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

 ⁷Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

 ⁸Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

 ⁹After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

 ¹⁰And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

 ¹¹And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

 ¹²Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

 ¹³And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

 ¹⁴And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 ¹⁵Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

 ¹⁶They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

 ¹⁷For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

On earth, the Levites recieved no land...but Dan and Ephraim are excluded from the SEAL of GOD. Manasseh was sealed. So we see clearly where covenant was broken and names removed from the Book of Life.

The Seal is the name of God...JESUS is his name. But the Name can only be given by The Spirit which also is our Seal of redemption and has it's Mark. Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The Gospel Preached in Samaria Acts 8
4	¶ Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
5	Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6	And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7	For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them:and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8	And there was great joy in that city.
9	¶ But there was a certain man, called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
10	to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
11	And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
12	But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13	Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
14	¶ Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15	who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16	(for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17	Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. Verse 12 shows clearly that people believed...were baptized in the name of the Lord, but had not yet received the Holy Ghost ( vs 15-17) proving by scripture it ( the Holy Ghost) is not automatically given at point of belief. It is a separate distinct experience given as God prescribes, not man's doctrinal heresy and or deception.  Paul at Ephesus Acts 19 1  And it came to pass, that, while Apol'los was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, 2  he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3  And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 4  Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. Mt. 3.11 ·Mk. 1.4--0.8 · Lk. 3.4, 16 · Joh. 1.26, 27  5  When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6  And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (Again, separate from point of belief and or baptism) No Spirit...No Name! Matthew 7:  21Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out demons? and in your name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.

 Revelation 3:12 Jesus said “and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”

So, to the question: Have you received the MARK? The answer is YES! God's or Satan's? 

 The Mark of the Beast will be on those who could not answer rightly concerning their calling and purpose...

 Matt 25

¹`And whenever the Son of Man may come in his glory, and all the holy messengers with him, then he shall sit upon a throne of his glory;

 ³²and gathered together before him shall be all the nations, and he shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd doth separate the sheep from the goats,

 ³³and he shall set the sheep indeed on his right hand, and the goats on the left.

 ³⁴`Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

 ³⁵for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me;

 ³⁶naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me.

 ³⁷`Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, and we nourished? or thirsting, and we gave to drink?

 ³⁸and when did we see thee a stranger, and we received? or naked, and we put around?

 ³⁹and when did we see thee infirm, or in prison, and we came unto thee?

 ⁴⁰`And the king answering, shall say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] to one of these my brethren -- the least -- to me ye did [it].

 ⁴¹Then shall he say also to those on the left hand, Go ye from me, the cursed, to the fire, the age-during, that hath been prepared for the Devil and his messengers;

 ⁴²for I did hunger, and ye gave me not to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me not to drink;

 ⁴³a stranger I was, and ye did not receive me; naked, and ye put not around me; infirm, and in prison, and ye did not look after me.

 ⁴⁴`Then shall they answer, they also, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or infirm, or in prison, and we did not minister to thee?

 ⁴⁵`Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of these, the least, ye did [it] not to me. ( But that's what my tithes and offerings were for, for the ministry to do that for me, right?)

 ⁴⁶And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during.'

The ones on the left, could not say shibboleth!

So one way or the other we are marked! By God or The Beast...man cannot serve two masters...

 Matt 67:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Can you say Shibboleth?