25 Bible Verses about the Mark of the Beast

In the book of Revelation, there are several passages that describe the Antichrist as a beast arising from the sea, who will mark his followers, with signs upon their hands and forehead. These Bible verses include descriptions of the Antichrist’s appearance, his power, and his attempt to rule over the world.

Who Is The Antichrist?

The Antichrist will appear as a man who claims to be God. He will be powerful and he will control the entire world.

The idea of a worldly ruler who opposes God and persecutes his followers is first found in the book of Daniel. He will "speak great words against the most High and wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws" (Daniel 7:25).

While some Jewish writers applied this prophecy to the Hellenistic ruler of Palestine, Antiochus IV, other early Christian writers applied Daniel’s prophecy to the Roman emperor Nero and other political leaders who persecuted Christians. 

These leaders were called antichrists because they opposed Jesus and his followers.

1 John 2:18

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.

The Apostle Paul warned the church about a leader who would not only oppose Christ but would entice people to worship him as god.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

The book of Revelation describes the Antichrist as a powerful leader who will control the world and its economy. He is portrayed as a Beast coming from the sea who is aligned with Satan, the great Dragon, in his plot to rule the world. Together they deceive the world and draw people into false worship.

Revelation 13:4

And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

What Can You Do To Prepare For the Coming of the Antichrist?

Throughout history God's people have been oppressed and persecuted by worldly leaders. The Bible has a lot to say about resisting the temptations of the world and persevering in faith.

Christians resist worldly leadership and demonic influence by putting their faith in Jesus Christ and preparing for his kingdom through their faith and good deeds. Opposition to Christ in any age is not a condition for worry, but an opportunity to draw close to God and to stand firm in the faith, practicing Jesus' teachings to love God, love others, and even to love those who persecute us.

Those who stand fast to the end, will be given the crown of life.

James 1:12

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Revelation 2:10

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

God will reward those who remain faithful to Jesus Christ. We need not worry about the temporary condition of the world, or leaders who deny Christ and his Kingdom. God will sustain his followers through persecution in the future, just as He has done in the past.

The following Bible verses about the Mark of the Beast help can help us to better understand the persecution of Christians and how to endure with bold faith.

What is the mark of the beast?

Revelation 13:16-17

He [the beast of the sea] also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark.

To understand the Mark of the Beast we need to understand several important symbols found in the Bible.

Revelation is written in the genre of apocalyptic literature, a highly symbolic style of writing. Apocalypse means “to lift the veil.” John uses several symbols found throughout the Bible to “unveil” the spiritual conflict that takes place between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. 

In Roman culture a mark (charagma) was made on a seal of wax or branded with a branding iron for the purpose of identification, much like a logo might be used today.

The connotation is that anyone who receives the mark of the beast, is identified as a part of the beast’s kingdom and thereby is allowed to engage in the commerce of his nation. Those who refuse loyalty to the beast, and the dragon whom he serves, are prohibited from participating in the beast’s national economy.

What do the numbers 666 mean? 

The mark of the beast in Revelation is the number 666 which is branded on the hand and the forehead. It is used to identify those who follow the beast of the sea and participate in his economy.

Revelation 13:18-19

This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

The number 6 is symbolic of “man” in the Bible, while the number 7 is symbolic of perfection. On the sixth day God created man.

Genesis 1:27,31

So God created man in His own image…Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So, the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Man was to work for 6 days. The seventh day of the week was set apart as the Sabbath, a holy day to rest.

Exodus 20:9-10

Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

The number 666 symbolically represents the height of human power and work. It is the mark of a civilization built by human knowledge, apart from God. Those who receive the mark of the beast are participating in a rebellious kingdom, one that refuses to acknowledge God or to submit to God’s authority. One that is at war with God and his saints.

Revelation 13:5-8

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

While those who bear the mark of the beast may prosper for a time by participating in the economy of the beast’s kingdom, their end will be destruction.

Revelation 14:9-11

If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. 

What is the mark of God?

In contrast to the mark of the beast, those who are faithful to God are also given a mark.

Revelation 9:4

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Just as the mark of the beast identifies those who bear the mark with their leader, so does the mark of God. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded to mark their hands and their foreheads as a memorial to God’s saving grace, reminding them of how God saved them from slavery in Egypt. 

Exodus 13:9

And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

Again in Deuteronomy, Moses instructs the Israelites to mark their hands and their foreheads with God’s law as a reminder to fear God and keep his commandments.

Deuteronomy 6:5-8

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

Marking the forehead (frontlets) symbolizes shaping one’s thoughts and beliefs with God’s law. Christians are encouraged to share the mind of Christ, to think like Jesus by sharing his humility and a desire to love and serve one another. 

Philippians 2:1-2

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Marking the hand symbolizes obedience, putting God’s law into action. A true follower of God can be identified by their acts of obedience. A life of faithful obedience will reflect God’s image.

James 1:22-25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Those who belong to God will be conformed to the image of Christ.

Romans 8:29

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.

Who is the Beast in Revelation?

There are two main beasts described in Revelation. The first beast is the Beast of the Sea, a political leader, who is given power and authority by Satan (the dragon) to govern for a time.

Revelation 13:1-3

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

The second beast, the Beast of the Earth, is a false prophet who promotes the first Beast, enticing people to worship it.

Revelation 13:11-14

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

The symbolism in Revelation draws upon Daniel’s vision of four political powers each represented by a different beast.

Daniel 7:17

These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.

Daniel 7:2-7

Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings.

Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’

After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

In Daniel’s vision, the beasts (political powers) are given dominion over the earth for a time, but their rule comes to an end. 

Daniel 7:11-12

And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

After the Ancient of Days (God) defeats the kingdoms of the earth, He gives the Son of Man power and authority to rule the nations of the earth forever.

Daniel 7:13-14

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

“Beastly” political powers are contrasted with the “human” rule of the Son of Man. Humanity was created in God’s image and given dominion to rule and to govern the rest of God’s creation. 

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Instead of obeying God, and building a civilization that reflected the image of God; Adam and Eve listened to Satan, represented as a serpent, a beast of the earth, deciding for themselves what was good and evil. Instead of using the authority God had given them to rule the beasts of the earth, they succumbed to the beast, and humanity began to act in “beastly ways” toward one another.

Genesis 3:1-5

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Romans 1:22-23

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

The kingdoms that followed the fall of man were built to honor the greatness of man, not God. The tower of Babel became an archetype for such civilizations.

Genesis 11:4

Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

Daniel’s apocalyptic vision of beastly kingdoms, and John’s vision in Revelation unveil spiritual truths to their readers. Human kingdom’s have been influenced by Satan to rebel against God. Satan entices people to build civilizations to honor the creation rather than the creator. 

Who is the Son of Man?

Jesus is the Son of Man who gives the apostle John his visions in Revelation. The Son of Man judges the nations of the earth, reaping the righteous who are faithful to God, and destroying the “beasts of the earth” who oppose God’s rule. In the end, Jesus will reign over the earth with those who remain faithful to the end.

Revelation 1:11-13

“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

Revelation 14:14-16

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Revelation 19:11-21

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.

These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Conclusion

In summary, the mark of the beast is a symbol that identifies people who oppose God and his church by their thoughts and actions. Those who receive the mark, align themselves with the Antichrist and his attempt to draw worship away from God and to himself. In contrast, the mark of God is a symbol given to people who believe in God’s grace and who put God’s law into practice by faith.

God will ultimately destroy earthly kingdoms that oppose God’s rule. God will establish his eternal Kingdom through Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, who has been given authority to rule the nations.

Additional Resources

The following books provide more helpful commentary to understand the mark of the beast and its implications for contemporary Christian life.

The Book of Revelation by G.K. Beale

The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation by Craig Keener