The Mark involves obedience. One will obey the Beast by receiving its Mark with faith in it, or obey God by receiving His Mark with faith in Him. Over the centuries men have had to choose whose Mark they would bear. The key to identifying the two Marks is found in Revelation 14:12: “… WHO KEEP (ALL) THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.” Those who keep God’s Ten Commandments will refuse to take the Beast’s Mark because it involves breaking one of the commandments, thereby making one a worker of iniquity (Lawlessness)–a sinner. First John 3:4 tells us precisely what sin is–the breaking of the Law (the 10 Commandments–God’s stone-etched, eternal, unalterable Law of life): “To transgress the Law is sin; for sin is the transgression of the Law.” James 2:10 warns that to break even one of the commandments (often called “laws”) is to break the entire Law. This is the same Law Jesus told the rich man he had to obey in order to inherit eternal life (Mk. 10:17-22). Learning that the man had obeyed all 10 Commandments all of his life, Jesus told him that only ONE THING separated him from salvation. Note that by obeying the 10 Commandment Law he had done EVERYTHING ELSE he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Note it: Jesus Himself told the man that ONE SIN SEPARATED HIM FROM SALVATION: “One thing thou lack ….” The man believed Him and went away sad, knowing that he would miss eternal life because of one sin. Though bearing the Mark of the Beast is only ONE SIN, it will cause many to be denied eternal life.

The Scriptures tell us that one must obey ALL TEN COMMANDMENTS in order to receive what God has promised–eternal life. The breaking of any one of them, thereby breaking all ten (Jam. 2:10), disqualifies the believer outright. By this we know that the Mark of the Beast involves breaking one of the 10 Commandments. Which one does mankind break repeatedly? The 4th Commandment. For some 1700 years the Mark of the Beast has been the rejection of the 4th Commandment–God’s commanded 7th day Sabbath–and the substitution of Satan’s Sunday (sun god day) sabbath in its place. Over the centuries only a tiny remnant–God’s church–has kept His Sabbath, obeying His command to “… REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY AND KEEP IT HOLY” (Exo. 20). One can REMEMBER only something he already knows. God’s people had passed on knowledge of His Sabbath from generation to generation until the time of Christ’s earthly tenure. He tells us, as He told the rich man, that in order to be saved one must continue to observe it. Let us now examine the Scriptures to see when God created the Sabbath and for whom.

God “made” His Sabbath on the 7th day of creation and declared it “very good.” He later commanded His people to REMEMBER IT and KEEP IT HOLY just as He had made it–“very good.” God made His Sabbath for mankind forever. There were no Jews in the Garden of Eden. The first Jew was Judah, the son of Jacob, who would not be born for hundreds of years following the death of Adam and Eve, who were not Jews. Contrary to popular opinion, the Sabbath was never a “Jewish law.” It has always been God’s Law–His Mark or “sign.”

The church has rejected God’s Mark/sign and has embraced Satan’s Mark/sign. By calling “good” “evil” and “evil” “good,” as God predicted man would do (Isa. 5:20), man has obeyed Satan while proclaiming his allegiance to God. He has declared God’s Sabbath “evil” and Satan’s sun god day “good.” God’s response: “Woe unto them.” He labels as “woes” three of the plagues He will pour out on the wicked in Revelation. Those who are alive and under the control of the False Prophet (the Second Beast) during the Great Tribulation will suffer all three woes, as well as the seal and bowl plagues. Reason it out: If the “very good” Sabbath can be called “evil,” be rejected and replaced by man, why cannot the other nine commandments be rejected, called evil and replaced? Why cannot every Word in the Bible be subject to acceptance or rejection by man? Answer: They are. The process is officially called “Higher Criticism” in which man, using his superior intellect, passes judgment on God’s Word and thereby judges God. Paul warned in Romans 3:1-4 that man would do this. Here he said that man would judge God’s “sayings,” and would be overcome by Him because “… You (God) are judged” by  such men. God calls such men unbelievers because they have the “oracles” (Words) of God but do not believe them. Such is the case of the Counterfeit Church.

Remembering that to break any one of the 10 Commandments makes one a lawless Law-breaker (iniquitous), why did Satan choose the 4th Commandment with which to draw men away from God and to himself? We are not told. But I surmise that it is the one commandment man has no qualms about rejecting and replacing. I also believe that, knowing this, God used the 4th Commandment to test those who call themselves by His name as recorded in Exodus 31:12-17. He still uses this “test commandment” to separate those who “… prove all things” from those who accept as truth what is preached and taught by their “hirelings” (Jn. 10:12,13).