Texas Pastor Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Flower Mound recently shared why he believes the “mark of the beast,” as mentioned in the Bible in Revelation 13, is “active even now.” In a video posted to Instagram, Chandler spoke on the mark of the best and that people his age view it as a credit card, a phone, or a chip embedded in people’s hands. In his view, however, Chandler says that perspective is “to miss the point that’s being made” in Revelation.
“The perfect number is number seven, and so if seven is complete, six is incomplete,” he explained. “We also know that the number three means complete. And so 666, the mark of the beast, is really to show that the work of the enemy is completely—three sixes—incomplete. And so this is, really, what the enemy produces: complete incompleteness.”
The mark of the beast “is not Elon Musk putting something in our brains or something like that,” Chandler continued, noting the number 666 on people’s foreheads represents “ideological belief,” and the number on people’s hands depicts “the practice of that ideological belief.”
Chandler went on to contend that the mark of the beast is currently active in society.
“I think the way you’re even seeing this today,” he said, “is there are certain, especially in the business community now, ideological beliefs you must have in order to participate in the economy. And I think we’re going to see this get worse.”
“That means I believe the mark of the beast is active even now in this moment of history that we’re in,” he concluded.
As reported by Church Leaders, Chandler recently published his latest book, “The Overcomers: God’s Vision for You To Thrive in an Age of Anxiety and Outrage,” which uses Revelation to outline how Christians can live in victory in the present time.
“Revelation read rightly doesn’t have you forget the present at the expense of the future,” Chandler told Dr. Ed Stetzer on The Stetzer Church Leaders Podcast in a recent interview. “It anchors you in future hope for present boldness.”
Image Courtesy: The Village Church Facebook
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
