What mark on a human being would make you afraid to kill him?
I have never seen any good speculation on this question. Except this one…
In the ancient Mediterranean world, marking the forehead with a hot iron brand or a forced tattoo (stigma) was a severe method used by Greeks and Romans to punish runaway slaves, signal ownership, and deter flight. Romans called heavily marked slaves frontes litterati ("lettered foreheads").
Putting a "mark" on a person tells everyone that no one is allowed to harm this person or kill them without answering to the person who has literally put their brand on them. In Adonai's case, it would be an overwhelming sensation to get away from Cain.
The name of Yahweh was tattooed on Cain’s forehead, meaning he was branded as belonging to God, is a possibility. Because it would scare people. They would be afraid to kill Cain because he was God’s property and God would get revenge on you.
Revelation 13:8-9, 15-17 says,
“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. If any man have an ear, let him hear ... 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.”
Revelation 14:9-12 describes the awful destiny for all those who receive Satan’s mark, saying,
“if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: And they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
The fact that the converse company to the beast’s devotees are described as being Christ’s from the “foundation of the world” (Revelation 17:8), or, the elect of God of all ages (past, present and future), would confirm that the beast’s adherents relate to all those that reject Christ in this life and therefore end up in hell. It is they that commit the unpardonable sin in this life – namely stubborn, continuous and wilful rejection of the convicting promptings of the Spirit of God. The mark of the beast is the devil’s invisible spiritual sign of ownership on the damned. It confirms a man’s final rejection of Christ and his eternal allegiance to Satan. These Christ-rejecters have received their final stamp from Satan signifying his eternal ownership. Just like slaves were once marked by their owners in olden times, so these spiritual slaves are eternally marked by their owner Satan. It is this company that are eternally doomed.
Jesus warned in Matthew 12:31-32,
“Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”
While it seems proper to understand the mark of the beast as a spiritual brand it would be wrong to relate it generally to all who are unregenerate. It is more than a sign of or on the unsaved. It is something greater than that because all who receive it are damned for all eternity. They can never be saved. It has to be the sign of all those that have went over the line of reprobation. If someone does not repent of their fallen state in this life then this leads to ultimate reprobation and Satan final stamp of eternal damnation. Scripture depicts election as being in eternity, whereas reprobation is in time.
The mark of the beast has to be the mark of reprobation that ensures a man will never see heaven. Men are obviously either saved or unsaved – but not all unsaved men have yet taken this mark of reprobation (mark of the beast). Many will eventually be saved at some future juncture. The message for them is to repent lest they receive this spiritual mark and spend eternity under the wrath of God as a consequence. The Lord is still evidently in the saving business. However, when men go over a line of disobedience (set by God) they will never again be saved.
The beast’s adherents that carry his mark certainly experience this awful irreversible unpardonable sin and are therefore separated forever from the presence of God and are eternally punished. It must be they, then, that are in view, whom the Holy Spirit identifies admire and marvel at the beast and who subsequently carry the beast’s spiritual mark. It is the wicked of all ages (past, present and future) who throughout their earthly sojourn reject Christ that finally succumb to this awful irreversible stamp of reprobation. If the mark of the beast isn’t the mark of reprobation on a man’s life then it is interesting that it does the exact same thing. It guarantees him eternal punishment with the devil and his angels. It offers him no way out or no option of backtracking. It is final and eternal.
In short, those that carry the mark of the beast speak of the full company of the unsaved that commit the unpardonable in this life – “whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” As a result of their rebellion they end up damned and doomed in a Christless hell. The antithesis company to this is the elect of God whom the Father “hath chosen … in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4) and whose names were “written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” An interesting fact that should not be overlooked in our examination is the fact that those individuals that are written in the “book of life from the foundation of the world” (namely the elect of God) are the only ones that withhold their adoration and affections from the beast. Significantly, those incorporated within this great favoured number include not only the current believers that have trusted in Christ but also all those that will eventually come unto the Lord in salvation. After all, they too have their names “written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.”
