Revelation is full of prophetic language from the Old Testament, and IMO the phrase is a prophetic metaphor meant to invoke the language of Deuteronomy 11:18-19:
You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.The verse in Revelation IMO is meant to refer to how an entire generation has learned to think (the "mark on the forehead") and act (the "mark on the hand"). My view is that in the Tribulation, it will be impossible for anyone to do business without thinking and acting like an unbeliever, because that entire generation (and probably those that preceded it) will not have been instructed by their parents in Biblical morals and guidelines for conducting business (i.e. in violation of the command in Deuteronomy).
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Ah, that was sorta what I was trying to say. You expressed it much better than I.
Doesn’t mean I agree, or disagree. As I said, I threw it out as a question.
Thanks for the reply.