Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The wicked work of the Antichrist’s false prophet extends beyond the quasi-religious to the economic realm: “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: 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. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six” (Revelation 13:16-18). The fact that the forces of Satan will have to resort to such draconian governmental measures is a revelation of the inefficiencies and failures of rule that is not derived from God and His goodness. (Think, for example, of a government that fires people who will not get an, at best, unnecessary vaccine.) The mechanism for this Satanic branding could be microchip technology or newer nanotechnology. The existence of these systems (and others that may be developed) should cause unbelievers to ponder the predictive power of God’s Word. Of course, it is possible that Satan will employ his unusually pervasive Tribulation power to achieve this malignant marking in a supernatural manner. What we should note is that Satan’s power is always authoritarian, always striving to control. Conversely, the sealing of the Tribulation saints by God (see Revelation 7:3) is purely positive and protective.