Popular pastor, Matt Chandler, who oversees The Village Church recently came out and made a statement about the mark of the beast that is leaving Christians across the world shocked and potentially a little frightened. According to Chandler, the mark of the beast is “active even now in this moment of history that we’re in” before going on to address what he believes are common misconceptions that people have concerning the number 666, which comes from Revelation 13.
via The Christian Post:
In an Instagram video posted over the weekend, the 49-year-old Texas-based pastor said many people are familiar with the idea that the mark of the beast could be advanced technology, like a credit card, a phone or a chip embedded in people’s hands.
However, Chandler emphasized that these interpretations miss the core message of the book of Revelation. According to the pastor, the key to understanding the mark of the beast lies in the symbolic use of numbers within Scripture.
“I think this is to miss the point that’s been made in the book of Revelation,” the pastor remarked.
“The perfect number is number seven, and so if seven is complete, six is incomplete,” Chandler went on to say. “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.”
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Chandler then took an opportunity to explain in the video that the mark of the beast “is not Elon Musk putting something in our brains or something like that.” Rather, the number 666 being placed on the forehead of those who are unbelievers is meant to represent an “ideological belief” and the placing of the mark on the hand is a metaphor for the “practice of that ideological belief.”
In today’s world, Chandler said he sees parallels in the increasing ideological requirements within certain sectors, particularly in the business community.
“I think the way you’re even seeing this today,” he went on to say, “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 finished.
Chandler is currently promoting a new book called, “The Overcomers: God’s Vision for You to Thrive in an Age of Anxiety and Outrage,” where he digs into the book of Revelation in order to instruct Christians that no matter how big, bad, and scary the world seems, they are “uniquely wired, uniquely gifted and uniquely placed for this moment for all of God’s purposes.”
In a recent interview with The Christian Post, the pastor explained that over the last 150 years, Revelation has been “hijacked,” read solely as a prophecy for End Times events and shaped by modern circumstances like conflicts and natural phenomena.
“But [Revelation] actually got hijacked in the ’70s, in particular, and it became this really scary, terrifying thing. It’s always been a bit confusing because it’s apocalyptic,” he said speaking of the apocalyptic literature that’s the final book in the New Testament.
“For 2,000 years, [Revelation] put steel in the spines of Christians, empowered and encouraged them to live boldly as overcomers,” he continued to explain. “I’m taking that phrase straight from the letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, where Jesus says, ‘To he who overcomes.’ To each one of the churches, He has this promise that if you’ll overcome, here’s the reward.’”
“I’ve got this burning belief that however disorienting these times are, they’re times God’s placed us here,” Chandler added. “Nobody’s coming to bail us out. … C.S. Lewis isn’t coming, G.K. Chesterton isn’t coming to assess the political climate. And God’s not panicked about that; God’s actually pretty excited. He thinks He’s got the right team on the field.”
These are some solid teachings from Chandler. Hopefully, his words in both the video and the book will provide believers with some comfort and encouragement in the times we live in.