I can imagine when you read the title of this piece, The Mark? Who’s Mark? the first place you went in your mind was to the famed, mysterious and pivotal “mark of the beast” of Revelation 13. That’s understandable and that mark is part and parcel to this piece being written, but in the view of God, that mark is not the focal point. The center of attention here is His intercession. Because whether we know it or not, the intercession of God is like a javelin discharged from His mouth and He hits the mark in our hearts. And He does so as One who meets one or presents Himself unsought. Acts 19:2
This is the benchmark, ground zero, for this exploration and examination of the mark. It’s the bullseye point of reference, stable and unmovable that everything else is measured against. That is, the markof God as defined by the word intercession [g1793], has already hit the markin our hearts. Wether we believe in Jesus or not, that mark has hit and it’s His persistent and continual draw in us toward Him.
Romans 1:19 states, that which is known about God is evident within us; for God has made it so. Jesus gave us this same understanding in Luke 17:21 when He said to the unbelieving Pharisees, “The kingdom is within you”. Indeed it is, life is in the Spirit He breathed into us at creation and the living word of God is sown in the hearts of humanity by Him through His intercession. The word of life [Phil 2:16], is the word of His power, upholding all things right now [Heb 1:3]. At the very least it’s our breath and heart beat, but with the deeper aim of drawing us to Himself in Christ for purification. Without this reality of God in us, there is no genesis in our hearts or mind about God, toward God or for God. His word hits the mark to attain us and with it there comes an incumbency in us to acknowledge His gift and accept Him as Master. His voice, the word of Life is seeking an ear to hear, a heart to follow and a tongue to confess Him as Lord.
The Bible says in Deut 30:14 The word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.Yes, it is. Nearer then I was ever taught. If you are familiar with the recent post A Heart After Godthe word used for heart in Deut 30:14 is what God formed in us at creation without blemish. This heart was made to conform to and express His image. This heart is initiated by God to draw us to come “after” God. Again, He confirms His intercession, the initiating spark within us, the word that is very near to be observed.
The Hebrews 4:12 living and active word precedes all things life [Col 1:15-20]. It is in us, believer or not and speaks into us before we could even think or ask [Eph 2:20]. Stop and Ponder that! This is the word that is near us, in our hearts and in our mouths. It pierces to the division of the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. [John 16:8] This word is sown in the heart, spoken into us and is either met with an ear to hear in repentance or it is not.
Make no mistake, whether one believes it, understands it, or not, God speaks by His Spirit to hit the mark in our hearts first. With His word, He seeks to imbue us, to steep us in His glory [g1391], His, opinion, judgement and view of everything. To bring a baptism and a full immersion of the Spirit of TRUTH. And because He has made Himself evident in this way, in the end when He opens up the Book Of Life, many shall weep and mourn for hearing the words of this mark being read back to them, that went unacknowledged or followed with honor for Him [John 12:48]. What was done with the mark of His intercession, the word sown in our hearts will be seen and known, either receiving it in adoration and worship, stealing it as our own or ignoring it completely. There will be no excuse. [Rom 1:20]
I am explaining “Living Off Of His Intercession In Repentance”. My acknowledgement of the mark I receive and embrace in my heart. Like a seed in the soil, it has rooted and blossomed into a full and flourishing garden in my soul. I’m not speaking of perfection on my part to always listen, nor do I always understand the groanings of the Holy Spirit that truly are “too deep for words”. His advocacy in me is for His sustaining voice that continually speaks, without regard for this vessel, calling for an ear to hear. Because it’s the persistence and bounty of His intercession that awakens, cleanses and transforms us into the image of Christ and this is unsought by us. His voice speaking into our hearts is the grace and mercy of God by which we are called, transformed and saved. It is not of ourselves Eph 2:8. It is received 1 Cor 4:7.
When Jesus began to explain the parable of the sower to His disciples in Matt. 13:18-23, He confirmed, the word IS sown in the heart like a seed. He affirmed Deut. 30:14 that the word is in our mouth and in our heart to be observed. By extension, He was also letting us know, that the word of God hit the markin Adam too. But like the first seed in the parable, God’s word was snatched away from Adam by the adversary, eaten by the birds of the air.
Jesus proves His word IS sown in the heart. It’s not a maybe, nor does it have anything to do with our awareness or understanding of what it is or how it even happens to appear in God’s Gap. It just is. The word of God is first in us and in ALL. This word sown is The Alpha and in the end when the books are opened, will be proven as the Omega as well.
As the definition for intercession describes in Strongs Concordance and I have continually repeated, His word of intersession comes in, by and with us to hit the mark.His word is discharged from His mouth like a javelin or arrow to reach, attain or obtain our hearts, to become Master over us. He meets us and presents Himself in our hearts unsought. If there is any chance for us to be partakers in His life, this word must be acknowledged and embraced as His. This word spoken into us, through His intercession must be pondered, considered and heeded, because it is the Life and apart from Him, apart from His living word, we can do nothing [John 15:5]. This is the mark, His signet, His private mark and it is to be met in repentance.
Having firmly established the above, as I have been compelled to do for nearly 6 years, we will now look into the finer detail and nuance that spawned the title question, The Mark? Who’s Mark? Just like the children of God, the Revelation 13 beast who follows the dragon is not any different than the voice it follows either. As John 8:38-40 confirms, Everything bares the image of the word followed, the TRUTH or the lie.
I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” …as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the TRUTH, which I heard from God…
Succinctly: We are the word we follow in our hearts.
So to begin with, Let’s stipulate some things. Jesus the Way, the TRUTH and the Life said, Satan is the father of lies and a murderer, John said the thief only comes to kill, steal and destroy and Paul said he is the god of this world or age. And in Luke 4:6 the devil himself said to Jesus, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
I won’t rabbit trail you on the word glory here because that’s already been done in, “Glory? To God” and “The Glory Of His Intercession”, but from the beginning Satan is the deceiver, he is Lucifer perverting the TRUTH of the living Word of God, even appearing in his former angelic light. Everything he has came from the Word, the Almighty God, the Everlasting Father as he admits in Luke 4:6, but he does not honor or acknowledge God for his existence. Given this, we can now look at this Revelation 13 mark “of the beast” and conclude, what it is must have come before, purposed of the Father. This brings legitimacy and a deeper intrigue into the question, The Mark? Who’s Mark? And indeed, in a search of the Scriptures, passages do arise that betray his theft. Behold, The Word of the Lord!
Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark [h8420a] on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark [h8420a]; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple. Ezekiel 9:3-6
In the passages that reference foreheads and hands, I found that “marks and signs” accompany quite a few of them. Ezekiel 9 appears to contain the most blatant passage of Satan’s theft. God marked, then killed those that hadn’t received it. Log that.
In Deut 6:6-8 and 11:18 Israel was told that God’s word being commanded shall be in their heart, impressed into their heart. He was revealing to them that He had already “hit the mark” in their hearts and they were to memorialize their remembrance and consent to that word with these signs, distinguishing marks or tokens [h0226] on their forehead and hand.
These two passages in Deuteronomy also appear to be the place where the second beast expands on his theft from God taking on the combination of the forehead and hand and more specifically, the right hand as his target. And what does Bible have to say about say about the Right hand? A lot! But first and foremost for this writing, scripture tells us Jesus is seated, right now at the RIGHT HAND of the Father! And what is He doing there? Yes indeed, He is forever interceding the living word of God, hitting “the mark” in our hearts in unity with the Holy Spirit, speaking according to the will of God.
Dragons and beasts being what they are, murderers and thieves who “break in” and steal, we will need to receive and hold ultimate trust in the word that comes from the Right hand of God; Because it appears that the Father is warning us of Lucifer’s plan to break in and steal the word of His intercession and it will begin in His Sanctuary. How that might take place will be discussed in greater detail in part two of The Mark? Who’s Mark?. But I believe what I’ve been told about the Holy Spirit being the most important asset the Bride is entering into the most critical hour. The imperative of the Holy Spirit in me points to the absolute necessity of having ears to hear the voice of the Shepherd. Knowing His voice is knowing His word. We should read it and listen for it as if our Life depends on it, because it does.
Returning to Ezekiel 9, The Bible tells us the marking is done by the one clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins, who in earlier chapters is described as having fire below his loins and glowing metal above. No wonder of who this might be, but it’s fair to say they were not marked by human hands, because humans couldn’t be described as such and still be… well? Human.
The Bible tells us that the one’s who came to utterly slay could see the mark. The Bible does not tell us the marked could see anything on themselves or whether the unmarked could see anything on the marked. But we are told there is a great distinction existing between the two, one of life being spared in those who sigh and groan for the abominations in their midst, the others receiving a death sentence for what appears to be their failure to do likewise.
Something was received inside and acted upon and it counted as life.
We are the word we follow in our heart.
And in Ezekiel the killing began from His sanctuary, with the elders who were before His temple.
If you have any idea what God has revealed to me about His intercession being met in repentance, the bolded italicized prepositional phrases should give pause. The Father is very serious about us understanding our need to come with, after and behind His presence and residence in the temple. If you desire to know, I would encourage you to read and listen to the work done on The Journey, and all it’s prepositions to ponder.
Carrying on with the idea of the seen and unseen, Paul chastened the Galatians for demanding the sign or mark of circumcision in the flesh as a required step in our relationship with God. But the TRUTH is, the word of Christ being heard and fully received in the heart is the first step and true mark of circumcision. This is what Abraham took on from God. He followed the word sown in his heart and carried forward with the external expression of circumcision in the flesh as commanded. The Pharisees were chastised by Jesus for being all about the signs and marks that could be seen, yet being unwilling to acknowledge the word of God impressed into their hearts, unseen. Jesus also commended Abraham for his works in John 8. The word heard in the heart and followed, repentance.
Scripture is filled with the testimony of the word of God sown in the heart. In the secret place, He hits the mark. In receiving this seal or mark [g4972], He opens us up to His baptism, the full immersion of His living water poured into us. And through His groanings that are too deep for words, He leads us according to the will of God [Rom 8:27], draws us out and delivers us from the Abominations in our midst. Maybe this paints a clearer picture of what really took place in those folks in Ezekiel 9 and offers a hint to what we might need to look for in a future second beast thief and deceiver?
The Holy place in the kingdom within, is the temple of the living God, the temple of the Holy Spirit within us. It has been so from the beginning. The Father has always planted His word in our hearts. He has always sought for our acknowledgement, embrace and worship by His Spirit in this temple, that was not built by human hands. So what shall we say of the second beast thief to come? The one who set’s himself up in the temple displaying himself as God?
2 Thes 2:3-4 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
1 Cor 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
1 Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
This should give us pause and make for A Ponder Stop. And the reason being is I believe most of what we’ve been told through the institutions of religious indoctrination about the Temple, the last days and the Book of Revelation specifically, are lies. Or at best, missing the mark in grand fashion, because their leading is in the glory [g1391], the opinion, judgement and view of men, who do not listen for and receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit as the witness of the Bible. This defection from TRUTH will also be flushed out in part two of The Mark? Who’s Mark?.
As described in Eph 1:13-14; Eph 4:30; 2 Tim 2:19; John 3:33 and 6:26-28; Rev 7:2-3 and Rev 9:4, the God who does not change, marks us with His seal. It’s His stamp or impression into us, a privatemark or signet of genuine authenticity that we come to follow in faith. Refer back to the earlier definitions of Strongs g4972 for the roots I am pulling from. By this seal, this mark, God meets us and presents Himself unsought, He hits the mark in us seeking to draw us into separation from this world. And the word of His Spirit embraced and echoed, spares us the death and destruction of the abominations in our midst. Are you seeing this?
I know with certainty that the seal, stamp or private mark of the Holy Spirit is only visible to the eye, through our actions and the demonstration of His power and authority at work in us, to do as Jesus did. And at the risk of cooking your doctrine, I believe it was the Holy Spirit within, that was also at work and observed in Ezekiel 9 in the sighs and groans of the marked just like Romans 8:27. I’m convinced that acting on the word of His presence is what motivated the sighs and groans. Marked and unmarked were distinguished by the response to His living and active word being spoken to their hearts about the abominations in their midst. Those with an an ear to hear responded in repentance. This is what lacked in the Pharisees who had marks all over themselves, but were continually warned by Jesus for not hearing His word. This is why Jesus told them they would die in their sin [g0266], missing “the mark”.
I believe the Father spared those in Ezekiel who followed with, after and behind His unseen mark of the Holy Spirit. Just like today, immersed in His draw for deliverance, the Spirit sighs and groans in the same call to us to separate and come out of the world.
All around, the abomination that causes desolation is found in our midst.
So as the Holy Spirit leads into our final descent and conclusion of the first leg of this excursion, the basic framework is now set and will carry us into part 2 of The Mark? Who’s Mark? The seeds of understanding begin with the invisible God [Col 1:15] who seeks to demonstrate Himself in us by His Spirit. Those who have been baptized and fully immersed into the Holy Spirit know they are marked, yet that mark isn’t visible till the demonstration of His word and power comes through their heart, to their hands and feet or their mouth.
The deceiver is seeking to pervert and steal this design and pattern of God’s work in us and many will be deceived because the reality of the beast causing ALL to be given a mark hasn’t been comprehended, through His Spirit. The lies and misdirections of experts, minimizing the The Holy Spirit in His church, to be our teacher, has blinded many to the mystery of Christ and what the power of God to save truly is.
We have been told to disembark and as we enter into the scurry of the terminal to catch our connecting flight, remember that Jesus told us, His sheep know his voice. The enemy of our souls has spent decades and centuries, steering people away from the power of Holy Spirit who speaks to us within and reminds us of His words. Countless institutions and their indoctrinated progeny have been paraded in front of us as experts of God, sent forth in certain misunderstanding and possibly outright deception as it pertains to our connecting gate. Like Ezekiel 9, I believe missing those groans that are too deep for words will leave us stuck in the terminal.
There is a mark to be embraced. It is His voice, the word of His power that is present to reveal and discern the TRUTH of Christ. We don’t need experts, we need ears to hear. But trust in the experts is deeply ingrained in all societies today, though many woke up over the last 2 years. Trust the experts is a grand fallacy that will send many to Hell because, their hearts have been steered away from the anointing that remains to teach us [1 John 2:27]. The One who will lead us into ALL the TRUTH [John 16:13], with the groanings too deep for words, that hit the mark [Rom 8:27].
The path is narrow and the gate is small and there are many encumbrances on our journey through the terminal to arrive there. The test of our resolve to live in repentance, laying down our lives for Christ in the power of His name will be challenged. We’ll be brought to the brink of our physical extinction, but our lives are hidden in Christ.
With our ticket scanned, we move down the jetway, enter in and take our seats. It has been suggested that we ALL buckle up now, cuz this next flight is going to be extremely turbulent. The current conditions for our flight path are showing many signs, false wonders and deceptions on the horizon. And because the Rev 13:16 “He causes ALL…” has not been spiritually discerned, many will be deceived believing they have failed Jesus before they even reach their destination.
Revelation 13 is a counterfeit of God’s work. The day of Revelation 13 will be met with A Mark, but the question still remains, Who’s Mark.