Free Republic

The key to understandmg the mark of the beast is to examine its imagery, based in the language of OT sign commandments, the Decalogue, and the Sabbath in the light of the thematic, theological, and structural features of the vision it is embedded with. When all is taken together, a consistent pattern emerges. The first table of the Decalogue and the Sabbath are the objects of the dragon's attack. The mark of the beast functions like a sign commandment and a direct parody of the Sabbath. The last rebellion of the dragon is an attempt to simultaneously draw the whole...