I know because the Scripture declares it—if you have spiritual discernment. Trying to interpret God’s Word by relying on world news, technology magazines, or YouTube videos is, quite frankly, foolish.
You will
never understand what the mark of the beast is until you first understand who the beast of Revelation 13 is. The word “beast” (Greek
therion) means a wild animal. In Scripture, the beast often symbolizes those who rise up to destroy the Lord’s people. It represents hostile powers—dangerous people, kingdoms, or rulers that oppose the children of God. These beasts are spiritual predators, made up of those who possess the spirit of antichrist—the natural enemy of the saints.
The second beast of Revelation 13, described as having “two horns like a lamb but speaking like a dragon,” represents
unsaved people within the congregation of God who fight against His elect. They are false prophets and false christs who arise after Satan is loosed. Outwardly they appear Christlike (horns like a lamb), but their words are Satanic (speaking like a dragon). In other words, they are professing Christians who
look like God’s people but secretly oppose Him.
These are people within the church who claim to bring peace and reconciliation but actually bring deception. They speak lawlessness, yet appear clothed with the authority of Christ. They masquerade as sheep, but they are wolves. For example, we see professing Christians who claim that homosexual marriage should be accepted in the church, that women should serve as pastors, that divorce and remarriage are permissible, that salvation can be earned by works, or that the church will escape tribulation, they believe is the wrath of God, through a secret rapture. These are not God’s doctrines, but the dragon’s.
Why does Scripture use the image of a beast to describe unsaved man? Because the carnal, unregenerate man acts without the fear or knowledge of God. Man was uniquely created in God’s image, with the ability to think, reason, and discern—something animals lack. Beasts live only by instinct; they cannot judge or seek wisdom. When man rejects God and lives lawlessly, he descends to the level of beasts. As David confessed:
Psalm 73:22 – “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.”
When humanity lives without God, it loses its true dignity and becomes beastlike—ruled by
fleshly instincts (ie. carnal) instead of spiritual discernment.
Thus, the second beast represents the body of unsaved people
within the congregation of God. They are the false prophets, false christs, and the deceived who remain in the church after God seals His elect. When the testimony of the Two Witnesses is complete and Satan is loosed,
this beast will compel all in the church who are not sealed by God to receive the mark of the beast. This mark is a sign of Satan’s ownership. These people may profess Christ outwardly, but inwardly they do not belong to Him. God gives them over to deception as judgment for their unfaithfulness. This is the judgment of a whore which must take place BEFORE the Second Coming.
And what is this mark? It is not physical—it is spiritual. The right hand represents
doing the will of Satan, while the forehead represents
thinking or being in agreement with Satan’s doctrines.
Therefore, you do not need to search for physical marks—whether debit cards, papal addresses, numeric codes, world governments, microchips, forehead scanners, Hebrew numerology, or even AI. All of these are distractions. The true meaning is revealed in Scripture alone.