People are commenting here without recognizing that the matter is a bit without meaning if it is addressed as a standalone issue with no context or agreement on some of the related issues and a clear definition of the terms….
- Who is a Christian as referred to by MacArthur in this context? I’m sure you’ll find that MacArthur’s definition of a true Christian will include the words “born again, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, giving one’s heart to Jesus, repenting of one’s sin and to be unshackled of the bondage of sin, denouncing one’s former ways, now is a devoted servant/slave to Jesus Christ etc.”
- Christians who are alive before the return of Christ are raptured away… they don’t go into the tribulation period at all. This of course is the position of the pre-tribulationists which not everyone takes as being the correct interpretation of scripture. Regardless, I’m sure MacArthur’s beliefs are pre-tribulationist so by definition, his statement about “taking the Mark of the Beast and still being saved” are only referring to those who become saved after the rapture. Thus there are no Christians on earth who remain at the moment the rapture occurs…. and no, this is not in conflict with Revelation 7 which discuss the 144,000 who will be sealed and arise to minister to the world during the tribulation period.
- As a significant rabbit trail to the previous point, there is a position taken by many that the only people who can become saved after the rapture are those who did not have the opportunity to become saved before the rapture…. i.e. those who had the opportunity before the rapture to become born again in Jesus Christ but made a conscientious decision to reject the offer of salvation cannot be saved if they go into the Tribulation period. As noted, that is a rabbit trail to the discussion but obviously a very important one….and I don’t believe I’ve heard MacArthur’s position on this.
- In the King James version, the term isn’t “taking the Mark of the Beast” which makes it sound like a bunch of willing people showing up at a clinic to get their inoculation. The word in the King James is ‘causeth’ which sounds much more forced and mandatory and without a connotation of it being an optional choice…… Revelation 13:16 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: 17 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 6:9-11 is very clearly speaking about Christians who are slain for their beliefs during the Tribulation period. So… by definition if you subscribe to the forgoing, these are people who were not saved at the time of the rapture but were saved at some point during the Tribulation period.
Let’s take an extreme case to examine… the tyrannical governments that exist during the tribulation period begin their mass program of giving everyone they can find the Mark of the Beast and they do it by force. There is no indication in scripture as to how successful this program of ‘forced marking’ will be but let’s say it’s 100%.... However, based on Revelation 6-11, it’s clear that individuals will become saved during the tribulation. This being the case, it would seem logical that MacArthur is on fairly solid ground with this teaching that an individual can simultaneously be saved and take the Mark of the Beast during the Tribulation Period…and since all this is a time of mass confusion and bloodshed, there doesn’t seem to be a point to considering whether the Mark is given to individuals before or after they are saved.
This thread is about MacArthur saying it is okay to take the Mark of the Beast; regardless any other position, it clearly contradicts Scripture.
Revelation 14:9-12
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.